Stay With Me

The moon had just risen over the quiet village of Konoha, but one Naruto Uzumaki hardly took notice of the celestial orb as it began it's ever constant journey through the star-speckled night sky. Instead he was focusing on packing only the essentials for this forbidden trip in his back-pack. Naruto knew, he just knew in his heart of hearts that tonight was to be the night that he left. He had to. He looked over at the small table beside his bed and saw the picture that was framed and sitting there innocently, not knowing the impact it had on the young ninja. It was of himself, and his team mates Sasuke and Sakura, along with their former-teacher Kakashi. He glanced from his small back-pack that was already loaded with various forms of clothing and weaponry and a bit of food, to the picture once more. An annoyed and angry sigh cutting through his lips "I guess it won't hurt…" He whispered, because he felt like if he spoke too loud someone, somewhere would hear him and know that he was planning a fool's mission. A suicide mission.

He scooped the frame up from its place beside his bed and popped the back off to remove the picture. Examining the glossy surface he turned to put the picture in his bag with the rest of his things. His heart nearly stopped, a shout erupting from his throat as he took in the sight before him. His former teacher and current friend Kakashi was standing there holding his bag, pawing through the contents of it. The one visible eye of the man was crinkled in amusement "Really Naruto, these are not the proper things to bring with you on a mission. As a chunin you ought to know that."

Naruto snatched the bag from Kakashi's hands and said "Get out of here Kakashi, I mean it." There was a weariness in his voice that just didn't match his general happy go-lucky attitude. Kakashi set the bag down on the bed where he had retrieved it and moved to turn a lamp on. Naruto flinched at the light in the room "Kakashi, nothing you can say can stop me. I'm a real ninja now and an adult." Kakashi didn't ask him what he was going to do, he didn't have to. Everyone was still having trouble dealing with yet another Uchiha betrayal.

Sitting on a chair that was positioned below the window, Kakashi almost instinctively reached for a very familiar book that rested in his pocket but didn't. Naruto watched him with an almost amused expression. With the moon pouring in behind him, Kakashi's white hair was bleached to an almost glowing appearance. The man's eyes held a command in them that Naruto couldn't deny, that he didn't want to. He moved to the edge of his bed and sat in front of his friend "What?" He asked softly, the need to still hold the silence of the night retuning.

"I know you want to go and look for him Naruto, I know Sakura wants to as well. He was your friend and you want answers. It is understandable." Kakashi's voice was annoying calm and Naruto found that he was angered by the voice of reason and he jumped to his feet, turning away to hide the sorrow on his face "You don't get it Kakahshi, we were just another trio of snot-nosed brats you had to watch over – we don't even matter to you! Not like we mattered to each other." He knew he was wrong and he knew he was being unfair but he was hurt and angry, and tired and scared, and a thousand other negative emotions.

He felt the presence close in behind him and tensed, waiting for the verbal or physical lashing that Kakashi could and should give him for being so rude. Instead though, the man just set his hands on Naruto's shoulders and said in a low voice "You should know better than that Naruto." His hands tightened "You always meant the world to me."

Naruto heard the hitch in Kakashi's voice and turned suddenly to look into the man's face, he could see the anguish in Kakashi's one visible eye, but beneath it there was something else…something that made Naruto's stomach clench "I'm sorry Kakashi…I just…." He shook his head and let it drop, Kakashi's hands rested on his upper arms again for a moment before he pulled him into a hug. Naruto gasped at the sudden action, but let the hug happen and sighed as he leaned into the safe, warm confines of Kakashi's arms. The strength of the ninja's body made Naruto want to just stay there forever, and something told him that Kakashi wouldn't mind that either.

He heard Kakashi sigh and then felt him lay his head on top of Naruto's, which surprised the younger ninja. He gulped, but didn't say anything – just let Kakashi hold him. It was Kakashi who broke the silence after a few moments of comfortable quietness, first his arms tightened around Naruto's figure and then he said "I had tried to ignore this…" His voice was soft, almost defeated like he was giving in to some great evil. The sound of his voice almost scared Naruto so he pulled away just enough to see into Kakashi's face – he looked just as his voice sounded…like he was in pain.

"Kakashi…?" Naruto asked unsure of the entire situation suddenly. The man had seemed so happy, and in that happiness Naruto had found comfort, a sureness about everything going through his mind, as if Kakashi had read his thoughts and was accepting them. He knew that this was no longer about him leaving to go and search for his missing team-mate, but about something much bigger and, however hard it was to think it, more important.

Kakashi released one of his hands from around Naruto's shoulders and touched the younger man's cheek softly; a feeling like electricity shocked through Naruto and his eyes were wide "K-Kakashi?" He asked again, his voice coming out as more of a squeak than anything. A low chuckle came from Kakashi and oddly enough it relaxed him, it was such a familiar sound that Naruto smiled and couldn't help but lean into Kakashi's hand.

With a smile Kakashi removed his other hand from Naruto's torso and reached over to turn the light off, which caused Naruto to panic for a moment. The glow of the moon was almost completely blocked by Kakashi's body, but after getting used to the dark he was calm again "I want you to do something Naruto." Kakashi said taking his hand from Naruto's face and reaching out to grab Naruto's slightly smaller hand. Naruto licked his lips, that nervousness returning once again. He let Kakashi lead his hand up to his face, where the man let their entwined fingers rest on his mask. Kakashi removed his hand and said nothing. His look was enough.

Naruto instantly hooked his fingers into the edge of the mask and jerked it free, even in the limited light he could see the smooth planes of the man's face and he gasped silently, letting his hand touch the soft skin of Kakashi's face "Sensai…" He said softly, a touch of wonder in his voice. Moving to drop his hand Kakashi reached up quickly and held it there saying "No…keep it there Naruto." Naruto looked at him in confusion and said "Why?" Kakashi smiled "Because it feels good…I know how bad you have wanted to see my face, and you don't know how badly I wanted to let you." Naruto wondered if there was even a reason his teacher kept his face covered – he couldn't tell in the limited light.

For someone who had spent a great deal of time pondering why exactly Kakashi wore the metal plate over his face, he suddenly didn't care enough to further examine the skin there in a judgmental manner. He got to see the face, and for this moment in time that was enough.

Feeling braver, and much closer to Kakashi now that he was finally able to see him for real, without his mask to hide behind, Naruto said "There is something else I had wanted to do too," He murmured, dropping his eyes to rest at about Kakashi's collar bone, the braveness not wanting to last it seemed. The man looked at him, confused but anxious "What?" He asked, dipping his head and trying to read the expression that was on his former-student's face. He reached out and hooked his finger under Naruto's chin and forced him to look up "What is it Naruto…that you want?"

Before there was anything else to be said, Naruto stretched up on his toes and pressed his mouth firmly to Kakashi's, fully registering the shock that rippled through the man's body. He pulled away quickly and moved to step back, unsure as to why he thought it would be ok to do something like that – maybe it had been a look in the man's eyes or the sheer fact that he let him see his face. Either way, Naruto's body language was full of regret.

Kakashi stood there, shocked and stunned into stillness and silence. But when Naruto began to move away, seeming defeated he grabbed him "Don't you dare…" He hissed lowly as he pulled the young man back into him and pressed his mouth back over his. Naruto was stunned, as Kakashi had been but hope exploded into his chest as they kissed. When Kakashi finally broke the soft contact he remained close and Naruto knew that he wasn't leaving Konoha that night, not ever maybe. So he whispered to the man "Stay with me…tonight please don't leave me alone."

And Kakashi knew that he couldn't, ever.

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My first one-shot, I am pleased. I actually was commissioned to write this on a community-site I am on & decided I liked it well enough to see what everyone thought on FF.

I enjoy the tiny touch of fluff ^_^ If anyone would like to see this one-shot become a two-shot, maybe with a bit more sour fluff? Or more? Review it & let me know!