Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto
Warning: OOC for Kakashi, Mild Boys Love
Pairing: KakashixYamato
Rate: T

This one took place some time during the time skip. Enjoy.

Self-Preservation

Two shinobi, clad in the standard uniform, trudged their way to The Hokage Office amidst the bustling of Konoha's street in broad daylight.

Their movements were slow, both men dragging their uncooperative limbs along with their luggage wearily. Fatigue was obvious in their features. The pathetic sight attracted some passerby stares. It was in fact, quite unsightly for the Konoha elite fighters to be seen in such state, but the pair couldn't care less. They had been away from the village for a full three weeks and just glad to be home again.

The brown haired let out an audible sigh.

"I don't remember The Hokage Office being this far away from the main gate."

The other one shrugged, his one visible eye never leaving the pages of hideous green covered book opened in his hand. "You'll get used to it."

"What?"

"Chakra depletion."

"In all my twenty five years of life... I think I never will."

"You're lucky you can still move."

"I just wish I had enough reserve to teleport straight into the office without getting incapacitated afterwards." He scratched the back of his head. "What about you, senpai? Can you-"

"Nope. I'm also drained."

"I can't believe I'm so out of chakra I can't even perform a simple body flicker. Damn hunter nins." He scowled as he recalled the ambush by several S class hunter nins from The Hidden Mist. Outnumbered, both men were forced to fight desperately for their lives. Luckily, they got away with just light injuries.

Again, his partner just replied with a simple monosyllable.

They resumed their journey silently until they reached the office's front gate. The taller man snapped his book closed and put it back in his pouch.

"Tenzou, can you take care of the report for me?"

"Not again…"

"I have some urgent business to take care of."

He frowned.

"See you."

Before Yamato could say anything, he disappeared with a Shunshin.

"Hey! That's not fair! Senpai!"

The ANBU guarding the front door stared at him through their animal masks. Yamato waved them with an apologetic smile and quickly entered the building.

As much as he loved working with Kakashi, the person he always look up to, he dreaded all the reports and paperworks he had to do afterwards. He was aware that his senpai would use any kind of reasons to talk his way out of the responsibility. And he knew that his senpai knew he would never refuse and always end up with a very neat and detailed mission report despite his reluctance.

He cursed his own benevolence before knocking on Godaime's door.

.

.

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After the usual boring business at The Hokage Office, the brunette decided to get some food and groceries on the way home. This time, home would be Kakashi's apartment, as both men often spent a night or two in each other houses after a long mission, just enjoying the company. He bought two portions of steamed rice and miso soup from the cafeteria and hoped that Kakashi had came back from whatever business he attended to earlier.

However, when he arrived at Kakashi's place, he found an unusual sight. The silver haired was already there, sitting on his bed, stripped down to only his dark blue undershirt and loose pants. He had a distant, somber look on his face and he's looking at the direction of the window before his bed. His mind was definitely elsewhere, he didn't even acknowledge Tenzou when he entered the room and put the groceries on the table.

The first thought came across Yamato's mind that it was one of those times when after a difficult mission or a near death experience Kakashi would reflect on everything going on in his life.

His past and present team. His friends. His teacher. His family. His memories. His failures. His lost.

Yamato would listen to the man's stories patiently, occasionally offered comforting or supporting words (even though he's not very good at it), and on some days, their role would reverse.

He quietly sat on the bed beside Kakashi.

"Senpai, what's wrong?"

The older man turned to face Yamato. He leaned forward unexpectedly, resting his forehead on Yamato's shoulder. The younger man, unsure what to do, lifted a hand and ran it through wild silver locks. He wrapped his one arm around the jounin.

"You okay?" He asked.

"I lost him." Came the reply.

Him? Who was it? Obito? Yondaime? Sasuke? Naruto? He couldn't be sure. He didn't want to say anything out of speculation, it might make the matter worse. Plus, he actually didn't really know what to say, so he waited.

"It was my fault." He murmured into the younger man's shoulder.

"Kakashi..."

"I lost Mr. Ukki."

"Mr. Ukki?" The strange name seemed familiar to Yamato.

"My plant."

Ah, that Mr. Ukki. If Yamato could remember correctly, Naruto gave it to Kakashi years ago. You could never tell from the boy's demeanors that he was into gardening.

One day, the blonde decided to give Kakashi the potted plant currently settled on Kakashi's windowsill. For a shinobi who has a very vague concept of possession, it's actually a very thoughtful gift.

Well, at least it's better than a goldfish.

He observed the wilting plant. Some of the leaves had turned yellow, and some withered, dropped onto the soil below. Yamato could also assume that there's a case of twig dieback. Fortunately, the root hadn't totally dried up yet.

But overall, the plant was in a bad shape.

Yamato could see trails of water around the pot, traces of Kakashi's vain attempt in reviving Mr. Ukki. Kakashi secretly cherished the gift from Naruto, especially after the troublemaker went off training with Jiraiya. He had taken really good care of the plant, but he knew that sooner or later something like this would happen when he was sent to another long term mission.

It took some time for Kakashi to compose himself and even after that, he still spent the rest of the day brooding. What came next were routines, both men took a long shower, ate their meal in silence and collapsed onto the bed. Before that Yamato took the courtesy to treat their injuries with a first aid kit and Kakashi made sure that he watered Mr. Ukki once more. Yamato cringed at the amount of water Kakashi put into it, but said nothing nonetheless.

He just hoped that it didn't kill the poor plant.

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In the middle of the night, Yamato woke up. He rose carefully from the bed and eyed the figure beside him. The silver haired was still fast asleep, as always, after a long mission.

Concentrating, he calculated his chakra reserve. It's still low, but already in acceptable level. One of his injected gene perks was that his chakra would refill itself in quite a pace. It was a necessary attribute considering The Wood Release needed a great amount chakra to use.

The truth is, Yamato was forbidden to use his Mokuton on the plant, because Naruto grew it from scratch, thus the teenager had put a lot of effort into it and Kakashi didn't want it to be tempered with a jutsu.

But at this point, if he didn't do anything, there's a great chance that Mr. Ukki would not make it.

Clasping both hands, he focused on his kekkei genkai technique.

The effect was immediate, the leaves on Mr. Ukki started to turned back to his previous color. The drying foliages were replaced by vigor, healthy green ones, so did the twig. In no time, the plant was half restored to his prime.

Yamato stopped the jutsu and took some time to admire his work. He deliberately didn't make it too perfect, but it was sufficient. With a day or two of intensive care, the plant would be just fine.

He moved stealthily into the blanket and went back to sleep.

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He was shaken awake by his senpai very early in the morning.

"Tenzou, Tenzou... wake up."

The brunette groaned and opened his eyes slowly. From the faint light through the drawn shades, Yamato could assume that it was still dawn.

"Huh? What's the matter?" Without lifting his head from the pillow, he turned his head to see Kakashi, who was slightly bouncing on top of the bed beside him with an expression of a six-year-old getting a present on Christmas Day.

"It's Mr. Ukki, he's getting better!"

"Really?"

"Yup." Kakashi smiled happily.

"Good for you, senpai. Maybe because you watered him like crazy yesterday. I'm glad it turned out okay," He yawned, "If you don't mind I'm going back to sleep, I'm still-"

His words were cut off because suddenly Kakashi was on top of him, pinning the younger man firmly on the bed. The intense yet warm dull greys locked into Yamato's dark ones and the latter found himself unable to move under the gaze, let alone to utter a word. He couldn't help but stared at his senpai bare face, his gaze trailing down the scar all the way down from his left cheek to the seemingly soft thin lips which were so close from his own.

Then, without warning, Kakashi planted a soft kiss on the younger man's forehead and whispered into his ear, "Thank you."

With that spoken, the silver haired rolled beside him and slid back below the cover, a faint smile still plastering his face when he closed his eyes.

Yamato's tense features gradually relaxed and he released the air he hadn't realize he was holding the whole time. A similar content smile playing on his lips as he snuggled closer to Kakashi.

Neither men made another move or sound, just savoring the moment, until the sun came up and a familiar comforting darkness reclaimed them once again.

Fin.

Author's Note: Please do excuse my composition, grammar, and well... basically everything :D

Thanks a lot for reading :)
Cheers,
Sei