Hello kittens- it's been a while since I updated this story and I thought it was time to get a new chapter up. However before any of you read this, I want to mention something that the goverrnement is trying to pass as a law.

It's called the protect Ip law- and I strongly suggest that all of you look it up because it could cause civil war to break out here in the US if it's passed.

(***************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************)

"Kakashi-sensei-" Kakashi inwardly cringed at being called sensei. After all sensei's were supposed to protect their students weren't they. And he'd failed miserably at protecting Naru. It was on the tip of his tonque to snap at her and tell her not to call him that anymore when he seemed to remember that she had no memory of what had happened and bit his tongue instead. Then once the urge to snap at her had passed, he sighed.

"Yes, Naru. What is it?"

"Why are you looking out the curtain like your paranoid?" Kakashi snorted at her silly question as his mind hissed, Because I am paranoid. He had every reason to be after the past few day's he'd had. And he was pretty sure that Naru would have felt the same way if she could remember anything that had occurred. He was silent for a moment or two then said logically.

"I'm looking to make sure that the sun is out." Naru looked at him from her seat on the bed and cocked her head to the left and gave him an uh-huh look before pointing to the window and saying.

"Wouldn't you know if the sun was out just by looking at the sunlight streaming through the curtain?"

"No one likes a smartass Naru." Kakashi said softly without moving a muscle. Naru frowned and wondered what was so damn fascinating outside.

"Who's being a smartass?" Naru muttered in an offended tone before continuing. "I'm merely pointing out what should already be common sense to a man your age." Naru said, hoping to get her sensei to look over at her. It didn't work. And because it didn't work, she was starting to get nervous.

"No one likes a smartass Naru." Kakashi repeated, his voice slightly tinged with something unfamiliar to her yet still noticable though she couldn't place it.

"I'm not being a smartass Kakashi-sensei. But seeing you look out the window like that is starting to make me nervous." Kakashi blinked for the first time in ten minutes and slowly turned his head to look at her. Naru looked-er, well...like herself. Though Kakashi could plainly see that she was anxiously wiping her hands on her skirt and chewing on her lower lip.

He sighed and moved away from the window to go sit down somewhere out of the way. "Sorry Naru." He said as he walked by her and crossed the room to the small table they had eaten at earlier and grabbed one of the chairs and pulled it out then let himself drop down into it and made himself comfortable. Or as comfortable as a man in his situation could be, that is.

Everything was quiet for a moment or so before Kakashi said softly in a coaxing tone. "Naru, why don't you rest for a while longer. I'm not sure when the others will be here but I imagine that the wait will be long and boring."

Naru looked at him for a second, wondering what was wrong with him but realized that whatever it was her sensei didn't want her to know about it. In fact he was going through great pains to hide something from her and while she wanted to ask him what was wrong, she got the sense that whatever it was; it was bad enough for him to keep it to himself in an effort to sheild her.

Not only that but she was sort of still tired. So maybe laying back down wouldn't hurt anything. "Okay sensei, I'll lay back down for a bit."

"Arigato, Naru." Kakashi said in a strained tone that made her pause for a second before standing up and walking over to him and stopping right in front of him. Kakashi started and looked up at her in wide eyed surprise as she reached out and started to put her hands on his face- he recoiled slightly but couldn't escape. The chair he was sitting in didn't allow for escape when someone was this close.

She put her hands on either side of his face and held him still in her gentle grip and said firmly, "If you need me for anything- Anything at all. You know I'm right here." Kakashi stared at her with his unblinking dark blue eye and slowly nodded his head in understanding. Knowing that she was trying to tell him that should he need her for any reason, she was there for him.

It made his heart ache that he couldn't say the same to her. It made him want to wrap his arms around her waist and bury his face against her dress and cry because this hurt so much.