(Super short chapter! But it'll be worth it.)

"Kakashiiiii." Your voice whined out and Kakashi's shoulder's tensed under your hands. "Uta, could you please not shout right into my ear?" You burst out laughing and snuggled your face into his neck, but went quiet.

Kakashi was carrying you on his back, taking you home from the party. You'd nearly collapsed from alcohol after talking to Anko. You'd assured everyone that she hadn't been the one to upset you, but after you'd made a mess of yourself no one had believed you. Kakashi decided to take you home before you could drink any more than you had.

Kakashi walked up to your door and used his key to get in. He set you down gently on the couch, "Stay here. I'm going to go get you some water." He smiled gently at you then went to the kitchen. You stared after him for a few minutes before standing up and staggering over to the two masks that hung above your work desk. You leaned close to the mask of your brother, "What a mess we are hey Usa? It's like we're cursed eh? I've had to kill you once, and now I gotta give my life in order to kill you again and keep everyone else I love safe." You heard a glass shatter behind you. You slowly turned your head and looked for the source of the noise.

Kakashi stood only a few steps behind you, water and glass covered the floor from him dropping the glass he'd been bringing for you. You didn't register the look on his face when you pushed away from the wall, "Jeez Kakashi...I liked that glass." You staggered and swayed over to him and bent to pick up the glass pieces.

"What. Did. You. Just. Say?" You hummed slightly, reaching for the last piece of glass, "I said that I liked that gla-" "Not that! What you said before that!" Kakashi voice was much louder and made you jump, causing you to cut your finger on the glass shard. You turned your head to look up at him and finally saw how pale he appeared. You tried to think for a moment about everything you'd said, but the alcohol in your system made your short term memory fuzzy, even though you were already starting to sober up. "I honestly couldn't tell you what I said..." Kakashi suddenly kneeled in front of you and his hands gripped both sides of your face, "You said that you'd have to give your life in order to kill Usa!" You paused and glanced to the side, "Oh...that. I didn't mean for you to hear that..." Kakashi shook you slightly, making you look back at him, "Why would you say something like that?! The Hokage said he'd make sure that you wouldn't have to kill Usa, never mind having to give your life in order to do it!" You raised your hand and gently tugged his mask down before cupping his cheek, "Kakashi...I had suspicions that Orochimaru would make it so that I'd have to be the one to kill Usa all along, and Mitarashi-san informed me that she had similar suspicions. She told me that Orochimaru is cruel and that I would be the only one to that could do it."

You noticed Kakashi's eyes looking glassy and realized that he was far more upset than he'd let on, "I still don't understand why you'd say that you'd have to give your life to kill him. You are an incredible shinobi..." You swallowed nervously, not wanting to tell Kakashi about all the fears you'd had since your mission, but as Kakashi stared into your eyes you broke down and began talking.

"Usa....was different. The Usa that Orochimaru brought back had none of Usa's compassion. He also seemed to not recognize me at all. Kakashi...Usa was much stronger than me when he died, and the only reason I could kill him the first time was because he was dying anyways. If I had to face him in a fair fight, at full strength, I wouldn't have stood a chance. And now...I'm out of practice and my emotions are dangerously unstable. So I'm much weaker than the last time I saw him AND Usa has been turned into an emotionless killing machine. The odds are that I won't survive my upcoming fight with him. I know that you know it too."

Kakashi squeezed his eyes shut and pulled you into a tight embrace. You could feel his body shake and heard him draw in a shaky breath. You felt moisture hit your shoulder and realized that he was crying. "You can't Uta....You can't die...I won't let you." You sighed and held your tears back, "Kakashi..." His grip tightened, "NO! Uta I won't let you leave me behind! You can't go where I can't remain by your side! If you die, it'll kill me... It'll kill me..." You clenched your hands into tight balls before wrapping your arms around him. "I will do everything in my power to not die. I don't want to leave you behind, not even for Usa. But I'm only human Kakashi. I'm not immortal!" Kakashi and you remained in your tight embrace as Kakashi's silent tears continued to soak your shirt.

After a while Kakashi calmed down and he took several deep breaths, "That settles it then...I can't leave your side even for a moment. You can't die if I'm there to protect you!" He pulled back and looked you in the eye, his gaze intense and his expression serious.

"I swear that I will protect you."

He then leaned in and kissed you deeply. You'd never gotten a kiss like this from him. It was passionate and full of all of his love, but tainted with desperation. It felt like he was trying to engulf your entire body within himself.

You pulled back for breath, "Ka-" His lips covered yours again. He pressed himself against you so firmly that your lips began to feel slightly bruised. The intensity of his feelings frightened you slightly, but you felt the same intensity within yourself. You opened your hands, dropping the glass that you'd held clenched in your hands. They hit the floor along with a few drops of blood. Your hands gripped into Kakashi's vest and you clung to him, allowing every emotion you'd hidden even from yourself to flow out in the kiss. All the pain and fear you'd felt since seeing Usa again along with all the love your felt for Kakashi, and also the longing for all the time you wouldn't be able to spend with him in the future. Everything.

Your instincts told you that even Kakashi wouldn't be able to save you from your fate when the time came to face Usa. It made you angry that you'd lose the happiness that you'd finally found for yourself, all because of Orochimaru. You gripped onto Kakashi even harder and allowed even the anger to flow through the kiss.

You might have to leave him soon, but you weren't going to miss out on anything with him until the moment that you'd have to be separated.