Chapter 11 Team 7 Mission Hidden Waterfall Village

I heard my alarm going off, the ringing was so loud and annoying I slipped my arm out to the side making a fist punching my alarm clock until it stopped. When it stopped I began to open my eyes to see the sun peaking through my window. I was about to turn over when I felt something heavy on my shoulder. I looked over and saw an arm resting on my side. I followed the arm to where I was holding the arm's hand. My eyes went wide in surprise, who's arm was this? Why am I cuddling this hand?

I turned my head peeking over my shoulder to try to get a glimpse of who that arm and hand belonged to. I saw his silver hair, I knew exactly who it was. Kakashi was lying down next to me and he looked to be asleep still. He was still in his ninja uniform and his headband covered his left eye.

I stared at his face for a moment giving a smile to how peaceful he looked. My cheeks went hot as I slowly tried freeing myself from his hold. When I got out I laid his arm down back on the bed.

I wiped a bead of sweat from my forehead, thank goodness he didn't wake up. As reality hit me, I was confused again.

Why was he in my bed? Why was he sleeping with me? What happened last night?

I looked down at my hands as I remembered, we were out eating ramen. I had that burning sensation that took over. I remember sitting in the alleyway and seeing Kakashi come after me…after that, it was all a blank.

I looked from my hands to Kakashi sleeping, I was in my home. Did he take me home last night? I mean he must have since he's lying here with me. I wondered why he stayed though…I would have been fine by myself.

I wasn't really complaining because honestly, I liked waking up next to him. I then felt nervous and heat rose to my cheeks. I shook it off as I started going towards the kitchen.

I began preparing breakfast for myself and my silver-haired guest. I started mixing the pancake mix as the tea water boiled. I was finishing mixing, making my way to get a pan when I heard footsteps. I stood up and caught eyes with a sleepy Kakashi. He was stretching and yawning trying to wake himself up. He was never a morning person, so him getting up this early really surprised me. He was more of the sleep-in, always late-to-everything type.

When he finished yawning and opened his eye he looked over at me with a smile.

"Good Morning Isamu."

I nodded to him and smiled as I put the pan on the stove making sure to get it heated up.

"Good Morning Kakashi, Did you sleep well?"

I smirked and laughed a little to his face turnning red as he tried to find an answer.

"I slept…well…thank you."

I rolled my eyes as I began pouring the batter into the pan. I started flipping the batter. Once they were done cooking I placed them on two separate plates. I placed the fruit on both plates and held one plate in each hand. I walked out of the kitchen area and caught Kakashi leaning on the kitchen table, his chin rested on his palm, and he was staring at me.

Was he watching me this entire time? He is so quiet…weirdo…

I giggled as I placed one plate in front of Kakashi and one in front of where I was about to sit. I sat down and let out a sigh of relief, I was so hungry I could eat my plate and Kakashi's!

I prepped my pancakes and as I started to pour our tea I saw Kakashi pull down his mask so he could begin to eat. I smiled at his gorgeous sleepy face and that half-opened eye. Once he took a bite of his pancakes his eye shot open. I could see a glint of a happy smile on his face.

"Wow Isamu…these are really good."

He said with his mouth full, I laughed as I began to eat my breakfast. Once we were finished I placed the plates in the sink. I heard a knock at my front door, I looked back at Kakashi who shrugged at me. I rolled my eyes and walked to the door. I opened it to greet an anbu standing in the doorway. He held his hand out to greet me.

" Isamu…you and Kakashi have been summoned by Lord Hokage. Please meet him as soon as possible."

With that, the anbu disappeared out of nowhere. I closed the door behind me slumping my back against the door. Kakashi got up and crossed his arms looking at me.

"Let me guess…Hokage sent for us?"

I nodded, as I stood up I started walking toward the shower room

"Yup you are right...I don't know about you but I am showering before we go. The Hokage can wait, no way I am going anywhere looking like this."

I motioned to my crazy bedhead and Kakashi laughed as I turned and went to get into the shower.

I was now getting ready and Kakashi took his turn to get in the shower. I finished putting on my uniform by fixing the headband around my neck. I saw Kakashi coming out fully dressed and ready to go.

"Let's make our way over."

We both nodded in agreement and went out the front door. We began jumping from rooftop to rooftop until we made it to the academy's front doors.

We both walked up to Lord Hokage's office and were allowed in.

"Isamu and Kakashi…thank you for meeting me this morning. I have a mission for you."

We both nodded our heads waiting for the Hokage to resume. He placed a report file on the desk in front of us.

"You will be going on this mission...Kakashi, you are going to take team 7 with you. The mission is to return Lord Hazune's son to him in the Waterfall village. This will be an escort mission. There have been many sightings of ninja and bandits on the trail to the Waterfall village so he needs a safe route home."

I walked up grabbing the file to get a good look at the details and the image of the Lord's son.

"Lord Hokage, why do you need us and team 7 for a simple escort mission? I think we could handle the mission just the two of us."

Lord Hokage took a puff of his pipe and sighed.

"There was also sighting of members of the Akatsuki organization, with this information we need to ensure there is enough protection if one of them does show up."

Kakashi stepped forward gesturing so he could take a look at the report.

"Why would there be Akatsuki sighted by the Waterfall village? That's a very small village with not much to offer."

I shot Kakashi a death glare, he backed away with his hands in his pockets shrugging.

"Well…this will be fine. We will move out this afternoon."

Lord Hokage nodded as he summoned one of the anbu to his side.

"Aramu please see to it that Lord Hizune's son is greeted by Isamu, Kakashi, and team 7 at the main gates at 12pm and no later."

Aramu nodded and in a second disappeared. Lord Hokage dismissed us and we were off again. We reached the street just in front of the academy.

I looked at Kakashi and smiled.

" Kakashi I'm going to get some food and water for our trip…think you can get our team together. We can meet in the courtyard before we have to head to the main gates to meet Hizune's Son."

Kakashi gave me a nod, but as I was about to head toward the market area he grabbed my hand. I stopped turning around looking at him puzzled.

"Kakashi what is it?"

He was continuing to hold my hand as he sighed.

"Isamu…you had me worried last night…I need you to tell me right away if you start feeling anything again like that."

My heart skipped a beat, oh yeah I forgot he saw that. He experienced what I was going through and he wasn't sure what was going on with me. Hell, I didn't know what was going on with me.

What happened with me last night had only happened to me once when I was in the academy. Since then I haven't experienced anything like it, not even on my solo mission. I couldn't understand why it happened last night, I understand Kakashi's worry and I appreciate him dearly for being there for me. I think his presence in the alley helped me calm down sooner than I would have on my own.

I squeezed Kakashi's hand giving him a caring smile.

"Of course Kakashi…you have my word. I will tell you the first moment I feel something off."

He let my hand go as he sighed, I could still tell he wasn't fully convinced of my promise. I can understand though, all my life I have been very independent. I always wanted to do things on my own. Always thinking I was strong enough to actually go through everything alone. It was how I was raised, how I lived most of my life so the habit was hard to break. I also know that Kakashi cares for me and I really don't want to worry him more than he already is. That wouldn't be fair, so I will keep my promise the best I can.

He let me go as we went our separate ways. He went to go round up the rest of the team as I went into the market to find what supplies we needed.

I stopped at a stand realizing they had different kinds of rice balls and dumplings. I gave the stand keeper money as they gave me my order of both red bean paste rice balls and dumplings. The stand keeper was nice enough to fill up my water canister. I waved giving the keeper a bright smile as I began walking to the courtyard.

Not many steps in I was greeted by Kurenai.

"Isamu! There you are!"

I smiled as she ran into me giving me a large bear hug. I hugged her back trying not to drop all of the food in my hands.

" Where did you go last night Isamu? We were all worried about you! Kakashi ran out after you and never returned...so we worried."

I gave Kurenai the most convincing smile I could as I hugged her close.

"Kurenai…thank you…you are one of my best friends and from one girl to the next…I really was not feeling well so I had to walk away. I think…being surrounded by everyone got me really anxious making me sick. I'm sorry for making you all worry…but I am fine now."

She let me go standing back with her hands on her hips giving me a smirk.

"Okay, I'll let this one slide…for now! Can you at least tell me where you guys ended up going?"

I blushed as I averted my gaze. I felt Kurenai's eyes were on me the whole time. I knew I wasn't getting out of this one without telling her something. I sighed as I rolled my eyes and I gave a half smile.

"Okay Kurenai…I'll tell you but this stays between us understood?"

Kurenai smiled putting her hands together in a silent clap excited to hear what I had to say.

"Kakashi carried me home because I wasn't feeling well. For some reason, I'm not sure why he stayed the night. When I woke up I was cuddling his hand and my back was against his chest."

Kurenai's mouth almost hit the floor and her face turned red as she giggled.

"No way! Seriously? You sure it was Kakashi? That sounds like something Kakashi wouldn't do…but…then again he does care for you so I could see that!"

I rolled my eyes pushing Kurenai playfully to tell her to stop teasing. She laughed and looked at the bags of food I had in my hands.

"Don't you think that might be a lot of food for one person to eat Isamu?"

I looked down shaking my head.

"No Kurenai I'm going on a mission today... this is food for everyone on our trip"

She nodded putting her finger to her chin in thought.

"A mission? You just returned home a few days ago and the old man already puts you to work? Wow…someone should teach him a lesson don't you think?"

I rolled my eyes at her no-threatening threat.

"No Kurenai it's fine…it's an escort C Rank mission. I'll have Kakashi and team 7 with me so it should be a walk in the park."

She nodded sighing in relief.

"Well, if you say so! When you return, come find me and we will go do something okay?"

I nodded giving her a quick hug before I started making my way to the courtyard. I walked through the open gate, and I saw Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto bickering under the Sakura tree. As I approached I held my hands up in the air with the bags of food.

"Alright everyone who's hungry?"

Naruto jumped up and down in excitement.

" Isamu Sensei! I am I am! What did you bring for breakfast I'm starving!"

I placed the two bags on the picnic table against the tree. I opened them and placed napkins out, one for each of them. I stood back gesturing for everyone to grab some.

"I picked up some freshly made red bean paste rice balls and dumplings. Also, the man at the stand filled my water canister so I have cold water too."

I smiled as the three students began to grab their food, sat down, stuffing their faces. I saw Naruto and Sasuke in a competition to see who could eat the most rice balls and dumplings in one sitting.

Kakashi brang me a napkin full of a few dumplings and a rice ball. He gestured for me to take it so I bowed slightly to thank him.

"Sorry about that…that's all the little trouble makers left for us."

I shook my head laughing as I saw them still at it at the table.

"It's okay Kakashi, they are growing boys they need their food….don't they remind you of someone?"

I looked up to Kakashi as he stared at Naruto and Sauske.

"Well…they remind me of you and Obito…"

I looked over at the two boys smiling as I remembered how Kakashi and Obito did the exact same thing. They were always in competition to prove which one was better, but in the end, they cared for each other.

Kakashi nodded his head slightly

"Hmm"

I decided not to go further into the subject since I know it's hard for both of us. I finished my food and had some water. I saw the three finishing up as I looked up towards the sky to determine what time it was. It looked to be about 11:30 am.

" Time to pack up and move out. We need to meet the Lord Hizune's son at the entrance gate in 30 minutes! "

I yelled my orders and the 3 nodded running to my side. I looked down smiling as I patted Naruto's head.

"Everyone is here ...good…let's go."

I started walking, Kakashi the caught up walking by my side. The other three were behind us now. I kept hearing giggling and snickering behind me. I gave a side glance to Kakashi who was too busy reading his porno book. I turned my head slightly to see if I could hear what they were saying. I fully turned my head as they all stopped talking and they became red.

"What's going on back there?"

Kakashi said lazily to the three behind us.

The three shuffled as they shook their heads in unison.

"Nothing Kakashi Sensi!"

Sakura blurted out for all three of them.

We made it to the main gate and I saw a young man standing next to an Anbu ninja. We all stopped when we were close enough to the two we could discuss our next steps.

"Isamu and Kakashi this is Lord Hizune's son Somato. He has already been briefed on everyone joining the escort mission. He is ready to head out when you are."

I nodded to the anbu as they disappeared.

" Somato, My name is Isamu…this is Kakashi and the three behind me are Sakura, Sauske, and Naruto."

Somato smiled at everyone nodding after their introductions.

"So shall we get going? I need to return as soon as possible to my father."

Somato was eagerly waiting for us to go, so we all started out west. The journey to the Waterfall Village is about a 3 day hike. With Somato not being a shinobi we would most likely hit that 3 days right on the dot. We were all walking, the two boys were arguing as Sakura was trying to keep them in check. Kakashi was reading his porno book as Samato was making his way up to my side.

Kakashi began eyeing him very closely.

"Isamu...that's your name?"

Samato asked confidently puffing out his chest.

"Yes it is."

He nodded giving me a pervy smile

"Isamu you are a very beautiful woman. How does a beauty like yourself get involved being a shinobi?"

Kakashi now made his way closer to Somato. Before I knew it, Kakashi was right behind him. I could sense some tension, but I wasn't going to pay much mind at the moment.

"Somato, where I am from that is our way of life. I never had a choice, it was what I was born into...it's in my blood."

I never looked at Somato as I answered him. I just deadpanned ahead feeling annoyed with his presence.

He shook his head and grinned.

"Well that makes you so much more attractive!"

I then saw Kakashi grabbing onto Somato's shoulder pulling him back a little.

"You say anything more like that to her I won't hesitate to make sure your mouth stays shut permanently."

I snapped back at Kakashi, he knew he was in trouble now. He let go of Somato and put his hands up.

"Kakashi…don't you start."

Kakashi put his hands in his pockets as the three students were laughing and his face went red. Kakashi turned around and flicked Naruto on the forehead. Naruto then started making a big scene. Kakashi ignored him and continued forward.

We had been walking for hours, the sun was setting and the forest was growing dark. We decided to take a hidden route to avoid any unnecessary encounters.

"Time to set up camp for the night. No use to keep going if we can't see where we are going."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Sasuke and Naruto you two go find some firewood and bring it back."

The two boys nodded and in a blink of an eye were off. They were probably making a competition out of it.

"Isamu Sensei what would you like me to do?"

Sakura looked up to me asking sheepishly.

"Sakura can you start unpacking and getting the tents set up?"

She nodded and off she went.

I looked over to Somato and Kakashi who were standing next to each other awkwardly.

"Kakashi why don't you help Sakura set up the tents, Somato why don't you take a rest we should have everything set up shortly."

The young man nodded as he sat down on a rock close to where we were setting up the tents.

After everything was set up Sauske and Naruto returned with the firewood putting it down in the middle of the campsite. They began putting the firewood into a pile, once it was done Sauske used his fireball jutsu to light the campfire.

I pulled out a big pot and some ingredients from the sack I brought along and started preparing miso soup for dinner. Sakura came to my side with a big smile on her face.

"Isamu Sensei can I help you with that?"

I smiled at her nodding, she then joined in to help put the ingredients together. As we were doing so, I looked over. I saw Kakashi, Sauske, and Naruto all talking about some jutsu that Naruto really wanted to learn. Kakashi looked over and caught me staring at him. He gave me his closed eye smile as I blushed and turned away to continue prepping dinner.

Sakura saw this and giggled as she spoke up to me.

"Isamu Sensei can I ask you a question?"

I gulped nervously nodding, I was going to regret this. I think I knew what she was going to ask me.

"Are you and Kakashi Sensei…you know... together?"

I felt my face burn up all the way to my ears. I then laughed nervously as I fastened my pace at putting the ingredients in the pot.

"No...me and Kakashi are close friends. You see, we were both on Minato's team when we were your age. We were on a squad for sometime and then parted ways. I just finished a solo mission and returned back home to the leaf village only a few days ago."

I saw Naruto run over to me bending over wanting to get in on the conversation.

"A solo mission huh? What kind of mission Isamu Sensei!"

I laughed looking at Naruto, I then saw that Sauske was next to him peering at me. I looked over at Kakashi and he was standing behind Naruto shrugging his shoulders. It looks like they all want to hear about my mission. Even Somato got closer to be able to hear me.

"Okay everyone, let's pass out dinner and as we are eating we can sit around the fire and I'll tell you about my mission…"

Naruto and Sakura nodded in excitement grabbing a bowl as they sat down around the fire. Sauske was following behind as was Kakashi and then Somato. I saw everyone was sitting down ready, so I took my bowl sitting down next to Kakashi.

"So the mission I was on was an 8 year mission."

Naruto's mouth dropped as he interrupted me right away.

"8 years Sensei! That is such a long mission!"

Kakashi sent him a scolding glare, I think Naruto got the message because he sat back down looking at me wanting me to continue.

"Yes Naruto it was 8 years…my mission was to spy on Orochimaru and the members of the Akatsuki Organization. I traveled all over Ninji, spending days and nights all over the place. I filled out reports to Lord Hokage about what I found and what I saw. I provided him detailed information on Orochimaru's whereabouts, his group, and where he stationed. I also found a few of the Akatsuki hideouts and provide that detailed location. I also observed some of the members skills... I even saw some in battle."

Sauske spoke up this time.

"How were you able to do all this without being caught by any one of these guys?"

I nodded as I crossed my arms.

" I have a special barrier jutsu that I can use. It's similar to the one I used on Kakashi the other day when we battled in front of you. This barrier jutsu is how I was able to move around getting close enough to get all of this information. This barrier jutsu when activated can either shield someone else or me. This shield cuts off any detection of chakra. This means that when it was active no one could sense I was there. Now, I was still visible so I did still have to hide. This made it easier though to get closer because no one could detect any of my chakra or life force."

Sauske nodded as Naruto jumped up again

"Isamu Sensei! Teach me how to use the barrier jutsu! Please, please, please!"

I smiled at Naruto gesturing for him to sit back down.

"Maybe one day Naruto I will be able to teach you, only when you get stronger with your chakra control. This jutsu requires a lot of chakra and focus to create the perfect barrier. This also drains a lot of your chakra at a very quick rate. Which means you have to build up your chakra endurance. You have to learn how to spread it out so the barrier can stay active for long periods of time. If not, the barrier will either be ineffective or will only last a couple of moments."

Sakura looked to me raising her hand. I nodded for her to ask her question.

"So Isamu Sensei…with what you just said how long were you able to keep your barrier jutsu active during your mission?"

I smiled as I finished the last bit of my miso soup.

"I was able to keep the barrier active for about 6 hours at a time. It took me 7 to 8 hours to restore my chakra so I really had to time my barrier and my resting periods. I had to make sure I never ran out of endurance too soon. That could have been very fatal for me with where I was most of the time."

Sauske looked up giving me a half-smirk.

"Isamu Sensei…are you able to teach me this barrier technique?"

I smiled a bit as I went around grabbing everyone's bowl.

"Yes Sauske I can teach you, but you and Naruto both need to know training for this type of jutsu takes a lot of time, patience, and chakra endurance. It won't be easy and will take time to master. If you both are up for the challenge I can most certainly teach you."

They both looked at each other giving me a thumbs up in agreement.

"Then it's settled…we will set up time when we return with Kakashi Sensei to let me have you both to begin training."

I looked over at Kakashi and winked. He got embarrassed starting to rub the back of his neck as he leaned back.

The fire was dimming and everyone started to look tired. Somato was the first to go to his tent then followed Sakura, Sauske, and Naruto. This left me and Kakashi all alone sitting next to each other in front of the dimming fire.

I started to poke at the fire with a stick to keep it going. Kakashi got up putting some more wood on the fire as he slumped down next to me.

"Is that really what you were doing for the past 8 years?"

I looked at Kakashi shocked that he asked that.

"Yes Kakashi, I was on a solo spy mission for 8 years. I was then summoned home by Lord Hokage. I am not sure why, but I was able to provide enough information to help protect the Hidden Leaf. Information that will let the Hokage set up defenses where needed, investigate in specific areas, and be ready if they were to attack."

Kakashi nodded as he turned so that he was facing me fully.

"You know Isamu…those 8 years you were gone…"

He stopped and I could see his hands begin shaking a little.

"Those were some of the hardest years of my life."

My jaw dropped, I was in shock. I knew he had his moments and he cared for me, but this was the last thing I would have ever expected him to say. He's not the kind of person that shows much emotion physically or through words. He is closed-off, I can understand some of it though because of what we went through. I became shut off as well, even more than I was before I came to the Hidden Leaf.

"Kakashi what do you mean?"

He sighed as he raised his hand to caress my cheek. My face turned bright red as I looked down at the fire to avert from his gaze. I felt him grab a strand of my hair and started playing with it.

"You know…I really like your hair like this…it's so long and beautiful."

I gave a nervous smile as I blushed. I had to shake this feeling because he still hasn't answered my question.

"Kakashi…focus…why where the years I was gone hardest for you?"

He let my hair fall to my shoulder and he put his elbows on his knees bending over a little.

"You know how I was an anbu with you? You remember when we both became jonin and quickly after we were recommended to the anbu black ops and were made leaders of our own teams?"

I nodded while urging him to continue.

"When you had left for that solo mission it didn't feel the same. Something felt…off… I felt empty. I didn't pay much mind to it at the time. Then our peers started noticing differences in me so they went to the Hokage. They begged him to take me back as a Jonin and put me in charge of a team. They felt that if I was in charge of a team it would give me more purpose, keep me socialized, keep my mind busier than it was. I reluctantly accepted the offer, it didn't change much though for a while."

I looked up with caring eyes, I never knew he was going through such a hard time while I was gone. To be honest I figured it wouldn't phase him and I would be the only one thinking about him. My heart felt light and I'm sure it skipped a couple of beats.

"I see…so that is why you are a Jonin again and you are in charge of team 7?"

Kakashi nodded as he kept staring into the fire not looking away. I smiled as my eyes began watering over. I put my hand on his shoulder, he then looked back with a faint smile.

"What about now Kakashi?...do you still feel that way now?"

He grabbed my hand and squeezed it. He then did something I never would have expected. He turned to face me again, taking my hand and sliding it up his shirt so I was feeling his bare skin. He placed my hand over his heart as he smiled down at me. I felt his heart racing under my touch. I looked up with wide eyes.

I have never seen this side of him…for as long as I've known him. To feel how his heart races for me like mine does for him. It was an amazing feeling, I lifted my fingers a little under his shirt and started tracing a heart shape on his chest.

I giggled a bit as I could feel him tense up to my touch. Suddenly I heard a low rustling sound and quickly pulled my hand from his shirt grabbing my kunai. I looked towards the tent that was across from where we were sitting. I realized that the rustling was coming from inside the tent.

I sighed placing my kunai back in my holster as I rolled my eyes and stood up.

"Which one of you is up?"

Kakashi looked from me to the tent and kept his eye on the opening. I saw the sleepy Naruto slump out of the tent, stood up, yawned as he stretched out. He started to rub his eyes peering at me and Kakashi.

"Isamu Sensei? Kakashi Sensei? What are you guys still doing up?"

We looked at each other both blushing for a moment. I then waved my hand up to Naruto.

"Nothing Naruto, we were just finishing up before putting the fire out. What are you doing up?"

He rubbed the back of his neck laughing nervously.

"Yeah…well I have to answer the call of nature."

Kakashi laughed as I pointed towards the bushes to the side of where camp was set up.

"Go do what you need to do…but hurry back it's to dark and late to be off on your own for long."

He nodded running over to the bushes, and in a second he was out of site. I sat back down sighing as I looked up at the night sky. I saw many stars out, and just then, a shooting star. It was so pretty so I closed my eyes and made a wish.

Once it passed I opened my eyes tilting my head to see Kakashi sitting there staring at me in fascination. His eye was calm as he was resting his chin on his palm.

I laughed nervously looking back up into the sky.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

I must have not noticed him moving because then I felt his hand on top of mine. I looked from his hand to his face. He was giving me his closed-eye smile, I could see his ears were now red.

"You asked how I felt now…ever since you came back home…and Lord Hokage put you with me to help lead my team…I think I've been happier than I have for a long time…if not the happiest.."

Kakashi wasthe one to stare up at the night sky now. He was smiling under the moonlight still holding onto my hand. I slipped my hand out from under his and turned to face him. He was still staring up, so I don't think he noticed me shifting my position.

I slipped my arms under his, wrapping around his lower chest. I pulled myself in and nuzzled his chest. I felt him jump a little, but I didn't let go. No, I never wanted to let go. This feeling, being here and him sharing these feelings with me. It all seemed right, and I never wanted this moment to end. Then a clumsy Naruto tripped on a tree root and fell down right in front of us.

He turned his head laughing nervously, showing embarrassment on his face. He smiled up at us while he opened his eyes. His face turned red as he averted his gaze elsewhere. He slowly pulled himself up turning to face his tent.

"Oh…oops sorry about that! Well, I'm done I'm going back to bed, Good Night Sensei's!"

Before Kakashi or I could answer he was already inside his tent zipping up the opening. We both shared glances, he then looked down into my eyes. I realized I was still hugging him soI let go and sat back up clearing my throat as I rubbed the back of my neck.

"I-I'm sorry about that Kakashi…I don't know what came over me. I…well…I just wanted to be close to you is all.."

He smiled as he patted my head, just when I thought he was going to leave it at that he kissed my cheek. His mask was still on so I didn't feel much but the gesture was what really mattered. When I looked back up I saw Kakashi standing up and yawning as he was stretched. He looked down at me with a sleepy eye.

"Good Night Isamu…sweet dreams."

I nodded watching him as he walked over to his tent and disappeared. I saw him zip up the opening, I was alone in front of the dying fire now. I smiled as I stood and poured the rest of the miso soup on the fire to put it out.

"Yeah.. Kakashi…sweet dreams."

I went into my tent and fell straight on my futon grabbing my blanket, with that I slipped into a deep sleep.