Bells

Three years after Itachi left the village, Kakashi left ANBU. He spent the better part of the next year acclimating to the life of a Jounin. No midnight assassinations, no covert operations shrouded in mystery and denial, actually getting to see the sunrise from his own window, from his own bed on occasion. But the best part was actually having time to really enjoy reading the Icha Icha Paradise series.

Of course, he still went on missions, usually as a team leader, occasionally alone, and he spent more than enough time drinking with Asuma and proving to Gai that he still reigned supreme in all things ninja. The only downside to the ANBU-less life, besides the unwavering dependability of his comrades, was the Genin.

Every time the Academy decided to graduate a new batch of snot-nosed children, Kakashi got saddled with a team. After the first group disappointed him miserably on the first D-rank mission, failing to find a lost cat and return it in one day, Kakashi started formulating a way to rid himself of them.

Fortunately, the shortage of high ranking Jounin in village meant that he still received "S-Class" missions, and gave him a respite from his new charges. When an assignment to Amegakure arose, he practically leapt at the chance. Not only would he get some time away from his new students, but he would have something to keep his mind off him.

Every time his new Genin smiled or laughed, flashed him the look of pure adoration possessed only by the young in awe of a skilled teacher, Kakashi saw Itachi's face, his expressive black eyes, vibrant body language. It was part of the reason Kakashi retired from ANBU: he couldn't focus on the mission, jeopardizing his team mates. As time passed and his memories faded, his focus waned further.

A new mission, complex reconnaissance, promised to consume enough of his time that he wouldn't think of Itachi, wouldn't wonder what became of his raven lover. That the mission took him to the opposite side of the ninja world from Akatsuki's layer proved a bonus. The exact specifications seemed vague. Kakashi only knew that something seemed amiss in the Village Hidden in the Rain, and he needed to find out what, and why, if he could manage to slip past the border guards.

…

I enjoyed kicking Deidara's face in. The smallest things in life bring the greatest joy.

As the clay clone collapsed, Deidara launched another attack, sending a barrage of bombs at me from the very walls of our training facility. With the Sharingan, I evaded all of them easily and pinpointed his hiding spot. A particularly well aimed Fireball brought the artist out of hiding.

"Ow! Damn it, Itachi! What the hell is your problem? This is just training and you're trying to kiln me!" Deidara ranted, patting out the small fires leaping along the red clouds of his cloak.

"Not nearly strong enough, Deidara." I watched him absently, slowly allowing the Sharingan to fade. For a moment my vision blurred, turning Deidara into a quivering blob of blond spotted with red, but the effect faded after on a few moments.

Leaving him to his own fire-extinguishing methods, I left the building. Instantly, the perpetual rain left me soaked to the bone. The sodden hems of my sleeves dragged across my knuckles, the bottom of the cloak slapped against the backs of my calves. At first Amegakure irritated me, and I longed for the perpetual sunlit forests of Konoha, but there was something appealing about the city of steel and rain.

It seemed barren, on the surface. A cowed people in a broken city. But beneath that, there lurked a bitter resilience that appealed, resonated within me, even as I moved outside its vein of life.

Nothing there reminded me of Kakashi. Not the broken people or the harsh skyline, not the rain or the rasping of the wind between the buildings. Only in the depths of night, alone in my bed and unable to sleep did I see his face, burned into my retinas, frozen in a cocky, confident, genuine smile.

I paused outside the door to my apartment. Pein's instructions upon our arrival here had been painstakingly clear: training rooms, home, or on a designated path between them. No leaving the city, no interacting with the denizens (except for Konan, but the people had to have their Angel). In the distance, just beyond the borders of the Hidden Rain, I could see a forest. A perfect place to practice my Fire Jutsu.

Pein never had to know.

Leaving a shadow clone at my apartment, I set out for the trees.

….

Kakashi landed silently in the treetop. The unmistakable explosions of large jutsu reverberated through the trees again, the source obviously near. Kakashi could see flashes of light, but at that distance, in such a dense part of the forest, he couldn't make out what type of jutsu, or the ninja wielding it.

He crept closer, knowing that the border with Amegakure lay only a kilometer to his right, and what he sought might well be a trap or a conflict between another nation's ninja and the border guards, but knew the Hokage would be irritated if he didn't investigate. Kunai in hand, the Copy Ninja crouched in the arms of an oak at the edge of a large clearing. An Akatsuki, head and neck obscured by an oversize straw hat, cloaked in a pattern of red clouds, stood near the center, breathing heavily.

Seizing the opportunity to eliminate one of Konoha's top threats and gain valuable intel, Kakashi jumped from the tree, seized the Akatsuki, and pinned him against the nearest tree, kunai poised over his jugular. With his elbow, Kakashi knocked the hat off and pushed his hitai-ate off his Sharingan eye.

"Hello, Kakashi." A pale man with eyes and hair the color of a raven's feathers stared at him. Deep lines etched the man's face, making him seem permanently exhausted. His long black hair formed a simple tail at the nape of his neck before disappearing into his cloak. Only one of his arms actually went through the sleeve of the garment, the other roamed inside, as if reaching for a weapon, though Kakashi noted that his captive bore no weapons pouches of shuriken or obvious holsters of kunai. A long moment passed as recognition dispelled the Copy Ninja's disbelief.

"Ita-kun?"

Itachi's arm snaked out of the robe, his fingers clutching Kakashi's hair and drawing his face down for a kiss. Kakashi tensed instinctively, but felt his guard dropping. Itachi pulled back with a sound almost like a sigh and released him.

"You can kill me now."

"An odd request, considering." Kakashi kissed him again. "Besides, I can think of more interesting things we could do. That is, if I'm no misreading your intentions." The kunai fell to the ground, a lay there, forgotten beside Itachi's hat.

XXX

I let my cloak fall to the ground, pressing myself closer to Kakashi to get it off my shoulders. My fingers found his hair again as his worked at the knot on my hitai-ate. Eager for his hands to be elsewhere, the memories of that day and ghosts of his touches lingering on my skin, I ripped it off unceremoniously, and his followed. They collided on the ground with a metallic clank. All the while I kissed him like I was drowning.

His fingers slid down to my hips and danced there a moment before grabbing the hem of my shirt and ripping it off. Kakashi broke away for a moment to get the garment off completely, and took the chance to admire me.

"You're so thin…" he whispered, tracing my ribs while leaning in to nuzzle my neck. "Haven't they been feeding you?"

"I've been training, and I've been sick…" I started, only to be cut off by another kiss. Head spinning, I leaned back against the tree and blinked. "What was the question?" Kakashi laughed into the next kiss and pulled me close again. My fingers traced his spine and his hips ground into mine.

I moaned and pressed back, desperate for more contact. In moments, instants to fast to even process, he finished disrobing us both and pressed against me.

"I don't have anything suitable for this," he whispered. His fingers left no doubt in my mind as to what 'this' meant. Swallowing, I pushed back on his hand, smiling slightly.

"At this point, I don't think either of us really care." As if that was all the permission he needed, Kakashi sheathed himself in one fluid motion, slamming my back against the rough bark of the tree.

Never had anything hurt so much. My head spasmed against the trunk, bringing tears to my eyes, and Kakashi immediately froze. His fingers stroked my hair, and he whispered soothingly. His free hand traced my sensitive skin, distracting me. When the pain was bearable, I braced my arms on his shoulders and wrapped my legs around his waist. With my full weight divided between him, and the tree trunk, we moved as one into ecstasy.

…

I pulled my cloak over us, shielding our sweaty skin from the growing cold. He lay his head upon his crossed arms, stretching his lean torso into a perfect pillow. I couldn't resist laying my head upon his chest, my ear to his heart. Such a steady rhythm soothed me, brushing away my consciousness of the aches in my body.

So much time since last we met, and Kakashi had not been gentle, nor had I wanted him to. My blood, our passion, stained the ground beneath us, but we didn't care. We were warm, and alive, and that was all that mattered.

He spoke of Konoha, at my urging, and pressed me for tales of my life. He told me of the Genin, and I told him of Deidara and Tobi, of Amegakure and the chakra rain.

"Maybe you have an answer for me, Itachi." Kakashi absently stroked the back of my head and played with my hair.

"An answer to what?"

"My Genin problem. They don't understand—none of them understand—how to be a team. They are so used to being rivals, competing to be the best, they don't trust each other."

"I don't know…" I yawned and curled closer to him sleepily. Wind rustled the cloak and set the bells on my hat chiming softly. Inspired, I rolled over, pulled them from my hat, and pressed them into Kakashi's hand.

"Problem solved." I stated, then resumed falling asleep on top of him.

"How does a pair of Akatsuki bells do anything but create more problems?"

"Three Genin, two bells, one Kakashi." I could practically feel the exasperation rolling off him. "If I spell it out, can I sleep?" When I felt him nod, I continued.

"You said they are rivals, so make them compete. Only the two who get bells get to remain Genin. The loser goes back to the Academy. The catch is the bells are tied to your belt, and the only way three average Genin are going to get so much as a glimpse of them is if they work as a team. Give them a time limit. If they don't figure it out and come to terms with the fact that one of them is going to have to sacrifice his dreams for the group to succeed, they all fail. If they figure it out and work together, they pass."

"Sometimes I wonder about you." Kakashi sighed into my hair. "I don't think I would have passed something like that, when I was fresh from the Academy." I could hear the pain in his voice, and knew he was thinking of Obito.

"Maybe, but you learned your lesson in the worst way, Kakashi. I know you will never allow that to happen to your students.

"It wasn't your fault, Kakashi, that—"

"Itachi…"

I fell silent, not knowing what to say. I could never make the pain vanish, could never really understand his guilt. My own pain might match his, but I caused it. He would probably never realize that it wasn't his fault.

"When are they expecting you back?" he asked, fingers stilling.

"I left a clone. They…they don't know I left."

He rolled on top of me, forearms barely suspending him above my chest.

"Then you're mine." He said before kissing me slowly.