"I...lo....I don't hate you Kakashi. You're the most important person in the world to me." You wrapped your arms around his neck. "I'm scared Kakashi." Kakashi could feel your body shaking as you tried to control your tears. He gently began rubbing his hand up and down your back. "What are you so scared of?" His voice was much gentler than it had been moments before. "I'm scared of losing you Kakashi. Every time I care about something I lose it, and I can't lose you. The world could be destroyed and everything else gone, but as long as I have you I'll be ok." You leaned back, tears finally breaking free, and you looked at Kakashi. "You already hold so much power over me, and if I were to lose you as we are now it'd break me completely. I'm scared to let you in even more, to let you have an even stronger hold on my heart, cause one day we will lose each other and I don't want whoever is left to be destroyed." Kakashi opened his mouth to say something, but you cut him off, "We are shinobi. Shinobi don't live long. Our lives are stolen from us all too easily. What's the point of romantic relationships when any day could be the last for either one of us? I love you too damn much to open you up to that kind of pain! You've experienced so much pain already, so I don't understand why you would want to open yourself up to more. Who signs up for that kind of torture? Dammit Kakashi, why-" You were cut off by Kakashi pulling down his mask and slamming his lips to yours.

You sat there shocked for a moment as Kakashi kissed you with desperation. You tried to push him back, but his hands had dug themselves into your hair while his arms locked against your back. You managed to pull back, gasping for air, but as your mouth opened to draw in air Kakashi slid his tongue into your mouth. The taste and feel of him in your mouth overwhelmed your senses and you lost your ability to think for a moment, a light moan escaping you. Hearing yourself moan made you snap your eyes open and you pushed at his chest again, this time he withdrew. He pulled back, licking his lips before pulling his mask back into position, "No matter what Uta, you can't take back what you just said." Your eyebrows furrowed in anger and confusion, "What the hell did I say to make you think that that was ok?!" Kakashi smiled, "You said you love me." "No I ...." You thought back to everything you'd just said and your face flushed an even darker red as you realized he was right. Kakashi stood up, placing you on your feet, and adjusting his pants, "And to answer your question Uta, I want to be with you romantically because it's more painful not to be. It's far more torturous to love you and not be able to touch you or tell you how I feel. I've chosen the less painful way, trust me. And yeah our lives tend to be short as shinobi, which is all the more reason to get every bit of happiness out of life while we can." He ducked his head and whispered against your ear, "Let me in Uta. You'll be happier for it. Let me ALL the way in." You shivered at the way he said the last words. Such an intimate tone, and with your body still burning from his kiss, it was extremely effective.

You stepped away from him quickly. "If you think I'm gunna give in to you that easily Kakashi, you're wrong." He smiled and stepped past you, "Oh I don't expect you to give in to me easily, but now I know for sure that you love me back, so it's only a matter of time." He stopped and smiled over his shoulder, "And when you do I'll blow your mind." He closed his one visible eye in a way that you knew was a wink and that small action simply fanned the flames that burned within you.

How dare he make your body so uncomfortable! You reached into your bag for something blunt to throw at him. You felt something that would be hard enough to teach him a lesson, but not too hard that it'd actually hurt him. You hurled it at his head without bothering to check what it was. You hit your marks and Kakashi fell over, having not been prepared for that, "Uta that hurt!" You stomped past him, getting back onto the road and heading in the direction that you'd seen Kakashi's team go, "Good! Maybe that'll teach you not to mess with me!"

After a minute or two Kakashi caught up with you and silently led you to Tazuna's house, not giving back what you'd thrown at him.

~~Time Skip to After Dinner~~

"I can't believe this." You muttered darkly to yourself as you looked at the two futons in the small room. Tazuna's family had welcomed you and invited you to stay until the bridge was finished, which you'd happily accepted. What they hadn't told you was that you'd be sharing a room with Kakashi. Tazuna's daughter bowed again, "I'm really sorry, but we just don't have the extra room. The three genins are sharing a room, then father, Inari and I are sharing a room, so this was the only room with enough space to fit you in." You instantly felt bad for your comment. "No this is alright. I was just a little surprised and I just don't like the idea of sharing a room with Kakashi." The woman blinked, "How come? I was under the impression that ninja's didn't mind sleeping in close quarters with each other." You were about to explain, but right then Sakura was walking by and you didn't want to make her think poorly of her sensei, "Uhh he snore's is all." The woman laughed, "Oh I have cotton plugs for your ears if you want. My father snore too, so Inari and I use them quite often." Kakashi walked into the room, limping slightly, his injuries and over use of chakra catching up with him, "I do not snore!" He sounded completely indignant and you sighed. This was just not going well for you. Tazuna's daughter smiled at him "Ah Hatake-san, would you like some ointment for your injuries?" He nodded and she rushed out of the room to go get it. You sighed and set your bag down by one of the futons, "I'm going to change for bed. Get out." Kakashi jumped at your harsh tone, but did as you asked, knowing better than to antagonize you right now.

He slid the door shut behind himself, but you could hear him lean against the door, so he wasn't going to be giving you real privacy. You began pulling out an oversized shirt and some black shorts when you heard Tazuna's daughter come back, "Oh, Hatake-san, why are you out here?"

You heard Kakashi sigh, "Uta kicked me out while she changes clothes." Tazuna's daughter giggled, "Well that's to be expected. While she's changing would you like me to put the ointment on you?" You'd been changing during this exchange and had just been putting your old clothes into your bag, but hearing her offer you nearly choked on the air. Was Kakashi seriously that popular with the ladies?!

"No that's quite alright. I'm sure Uta will help me with the application. We're close after all." You could hear the disappointment in her voice when she answered, "Aww are you sure?" You stood up and stomped over to the door, throwing it open and pulling Kakashi in. You plastered a fake smile on your face, "Yes he's sure. As a fellow ninja I'm sure I am more familiar with his type of injuries and can treat them better than you could. Thank you so much for the offer though." With that you took the jar of ointment from her hands and pulled back into the room, "Have a good night." You slid the door shut between yourself and her before unceremoniously dropping Kakashi onto his futon. He fell over since your actions had caught him completely off balance.

You glared at the closed door for a few moments until you heard Tazuna's daughter walk away. Once she left you heaved a sigh of relief, at which Kakashi began shaking with laughter. You whipped your head around, "What?" Kakashi pushed himself into a sitting position, "Nothing. It's just, jealously is somewhat cute on you." You huffed a breath, "I was NOT jealous. I was merely concerned that someone that doesn't have any training with treating injuries would cause more harm than good. She should know better." Kakashi nodded, "Uh-huh, all I'm hearing is 'I don't like the idea of another woman touching my man.'" You kicked a pillow at his face, "Shut up Kakashi. And take your shirt off." You began unscrewing the lid of the ointment. Kakashi began pulling his vest off, "Oh trying to get me undressed already?" "I said shut up." He continued to chuckle, but he winced as his torso moved while taking his vest off.

You moved over to him and grabbed his vest, "Jeez, let me help you. I didn't realize you were that injured."

Kakashi was about to tease you again, but the look on your face, combined with your hands moving against his body to remove his clothing made him stop. How long would it be before he had your hands moving on him like this again?

He shifted his arms back so that you could slide his vest off easily. Your chest brushed against his as you finished pulling his vest off. You then leaned back and tugged the hem of his black shirt loose from his pants. There was a massive tear across the shirt and it was heavily stained with blood. You were aware of Kakashi's intense stare as you began sliding the shirt up his torso. Once you had the shirt up to his chest he began to lift his arms, but flinched again. "Don't raise your arms. I can get your shirt off without." You slipped one hand under the shirt and moved it along his arm, tugging the fabric loose. Kakashi shivered as you moved to repeat the action with his other arm, "I'll never know how you've kept your hands so soft throughout the years Uta. They almost feel like silk." "My hands aren't soft. Your skins just so tough that they feel soft to you." Kakashi chuckled, "Can't you ever just take a compliment and say thank you?" You pressed your lips together and pulled his shirt off over his head, "Thank you so much Kakashi~" you sang in your girliest voice while fluttering your eyelashes.

He burst out laughing before wincing. "Don't do that Uta! That's so disturbing and unlike you." You smiled and giggled. "I know, that's why I did it. I haven't made you laugh in quite a while. Now lean back." He did as you asked, bracing himself on his elbows, while you inspected his main wound. It was a long gash across his torso, but it wasn't terribly deep. "You let yourself get hit didn't you?" "You can tell huh?" You nodded before you grabbed the jar of ointment and began dabbing it to the wound, "Against someone like Zabuza any actual hit would've been much deeper."

The two of you fell into silence while you finished dabbing the ointment to his wounds. Once that was finished you rummaged through your bag and found some dressings and began wrapping them around his chest.

"There, all done." Kakashi shook his head, "No there's still one more thing you need to do." You tilted your head trying to think of anything you forgot to do. "You need to kiss it better." Kakashi gave you a close eyed smile and you narrowed your eyes. You doubted that he actually expected you to do it, so you decided to surprise him. You tucked your hair behind your ears and leaned forward, planting several light kisses along where you knew the cut was. Kakashi's entire body tensed at the first kiss, but not in a way that indicated pain. After you placed the last kiss near his collar bone you sat back and smiled innocently, "There. All better!"

Kakashi's face was so red that you could even see it around his mask. Your smile widened before you crawled over to your futon, "Well let's get to bed. Night night Kakashi."

You turned your back on him and began digging through your bag, hearing him mutter behind your back, "Dammit Uta..."