Kakashi was reading before bed. It wasn't an Icha Icha book—he only read those outside. Porn was a wonderful way to keep people away. Actually he was reading Jraiyia's other book, Tale of the Gutsy Ninja. His sensei had been very fond of the book and named his son after the main character. Kakashi's mind was on it a lot since he took Naruto on as a student. He hoped the boy could live up to his namesake.

Kakashi stroked his masked chin as he read. The mask was a part of him, another thing he hid behind and was so apart of him he hated ever taking it off, even to shower. He sometimes didn't even take it off to sleep.

So he didn't hesitate to open the door when someone knocked. He knew before he reached the door that it was Sasuke, his chakra was too familiar not to recognize through the door.

"I can't sleep," was all the boy said.

Kakashi moved aside to let the boy in. "I was just reading."

Sasuke looked around, this being his first time here. They had only been a team for two months and they had just returned from their mission in the Land of Waves.

"It's tiny," Sasuke said.

"All I do here is sleep and read." Kakashi noticed the small backpack Sasuke wore. "If you want to stay the night, you're welcome. Bed, floor, whatever." It wasn't like they didn't sleep in close proximity during missions. They spent the last month sleeping in the same room with Naruto in Tazuna's house.

"Thanks."

One day Kakashi would have to teach this boy to speak.

Sasuke looked at the pictures and plant on the windowsill. He recognized the boy with young Kakashi as a fellow Uchiha. "Is it his eye?"

"Yeah. He was dying and I had just lost my eye. Rin, the girl there, she was a medical-nin."

"Mr. Ukki?" Sasuke asked upon seeing the plant with the name on the pot.

"Naruto gave me that plant and named him."

"Hn."

Sasuke took off his backpack and changed by the door while Kakashi put his book away. He was already dressed for bed in black pajama pants with a kunai pattern and his normal shirt/mask.

"Want the bed?" Kakashi asked.

"Is there enough room for two?"

Kakashi detected just a little bit of embarrassment in his tone. "Barely. Wall or edge?"

"Edge."

Kakashi turned off his light and got into bed, folding the bedding back for Sasuke who had changed into shorts and a comfy shirt. Kakashi turned to the wall on his side. Sasuke kept his distance. Kakashi almost laughed thinking about Sasuke falling out.

When Kakashi woke up, he was on his back, looking up at the ceiling in the dim predawn light. There was something different this morning: he had an Uchiha wrapped around his arm. Kakashi smiled at him. As mature as he was and as adult as he tried to be, Sasuke was still a child. A child who couldn't sleep all alone.

But Sasuke had been alone for the last . . . Kakashi rubbed his good eye. Four years. It had been four years since Itachi had killed everyone and abandoned his brother. But why did he have trouble sleeping now. Then again, he may have been having trouble sleeping all this time and this was the first time he had someone he felt he could come to.

Kakashi eased his arm from Sasuke's grasp. He didn't want to embarrass the boy by letting him know that he was caught clinging to him like a child. Kakashi carefully crept out of bed and started his morning routine. No reason to wake Sasuke yet; he'd probably wake up on his own like Kakashi did.

But Sasuke didn't wake up even when the sun rose. Keeping well away from the sleeping Uchiha, Kakashi said his name. Sasuke stirred and slowly woke up. "Not yet, nii-san," he whined.

Kakashi's hair stood on end and his blood went cold. Yeah, Sasuke was still a kid. Kakashi rubbed his face through the mask. At some level, Itachi was still his brother and Sasuke loved him.

Sasuke was asleep again. Kakashi wrote a note and stood it up on his desk and went out. He didn't know how to deal with children.

xxxxx

Sasuke wasn't woken by the sound of the door, but he woke up once his sixth sense alerted him to the fact he was alone. He looked around and shivered. He didn't like being alone. He blamed Naruto and Sakura. One was always challenging him and the other always trying to stalk him and hang off his arm. For sanity's sake, he came to Kakashi for company.

He saw the note. Didn't want to wake you since we've no mission today.

Sasuke changed back into his clothes from yesterday, packed his night clothes and went home.

Sasuke's apartment was cold. It was a lovely studio with a large balcony, but it was lonely. He lay down on his bed—much more comfortable than Kakashi's—and hugged one of the three large pillows he kept. This is why he had so many big pillows, to hug. He absently looked at the calendar. It wasn't marked, but his birthday was in four days.

Filled with sudden anger, Sasuke whipped out a kunai and speared July 23rd. That gave him a small spark of satisfaction. He got up and grabbed his weapon pouch and covered the damn calendar with kunai.

He wasn't going to do it this year, he vowed. He wasn't going to try to stay awake all night to catch the person who left him a gift every year since his family was killed. He'd never gotten a glimpse. Those were the only presents he ever received. He knew that wouldn't be the case if he didn't hide it from all the girls his age, but it wasn't about the number of gifts. No one really cared about him. Just that one mysterious gift giver.

xxxxx

Kakashi didn't see Sasuke that day, not until the next when they were sent out to deliver a semi-important message. A day to their destination and a day back.

Kakashi understood that Sasuke was lonely so once they reported in and Sasuke unceremoniously walked away, Kakashi followed Naruto who kept Sakura too busy to follow Sasuke.

Once Sasuke was out of earshot, "Hey, you two. Sasuke's birthday is the day after tomorrow. See ya." And he vanished.

xxxxx

Sasuke arrived two hours later with his backpack. Kakashi let him in and Sasuke slept next to him again.

With a sharp, but quiet intake of breath, Kakashi was awake. Sasuke was curled against his back, digging in closer to the source of warmth. Kakashi went back to sleep.

Sasuke was still curled up against him when he woke up in the morning. Kakashi's attempts at moving without waking his bedfellow didn't work this time. Sasuke, as disgruntled as ever, got up and dressed in silence. Not even a 'good morning' passed between them.

Just as Sasuke was about to leave, Kakashi asked, "Breakfast?"

"You paying?"

"I don't on principle."

"Then no. No wallet."

"For you, I'll break a custom," Kakashi relented.

Kakashi chose a quite restaurant that had high backed booths. Their meals were brought and they ate in silence for a while.

"What was your Uchiha teammate's name?" Sasuke asked out of nowhere.

"Obito. I think he was your second cousin."

"Tell me what happened."

Sasuke didn't ask, he ordered. But Kakashi told him the whole story, including his father's death. He'd never intended to tell Sasuke or any of his students, or anyone else for that matter, about his past, but he felt he owed it to the Uchiha.

Sasuke listened while he ate, not always looking at Kakashi. Kakashi was forced to eat slowly due to talking so much.

"Even though it was only for a day, I consider Obito my best friend."

"Hn."

Yep, Kakashi really needed to teach Sasuke to speak. He paid and left Sasuke with, "Mission tomorrow. Meet you at the bridge."

xxxxx

Sasuke walked home slowly. He knew Kakashi never spoke about himself. There was so little Sasuke knew about the man. It occurred to him how odd that was considering how much he trusted him. Kakashi knew his cousin. Obito had died long before Sasuke was born. Maybe, just maybe, the one who left the gift for him every year was Kakashi.

xxxxx

Sasuke knew what day it was. He arrived at the bridge to await his team like every other morning. Naruto arrived grinning like an idiot—sort of normal—and Sakura arrived with a shy smile and adoring look on her face—also pretty normal. And Kakashi was late—the definition of normal.

Sasuke inwardly sighed. Good, no one knew. But it hurt just a little deep inside his heart. If any of those girls really cared they could have found out his birthday. Sakura too. Sure, he had told Iruka never to tell anyone, but if they really wanted to know, they were fucking shinobi in training! Steal some damn records or drug Iruka! They didn't really care. No one cared.

No one but the one who left those small gifts on his windowsill or on his balcony.

It was a simple mission today. They were escorting the Daimyō's sister to the next town. Sasuke tried to take this mission seriously, walking with his back straight and keeping his attention on his surroundings, but it pissed him off that this woman needed an escort and that it was a job for shinobi. But he did his job.

Done, they headed home; it was still early afternoon. Sasuke resisting grumbling about the waste of resources. Kakashi would just point out that they were genin. Naruto was probably complaining in his stead anyway; he could hear the idiot talking, but he didn't register what he was saying.

He was pissed and aggravated and irritated and hot—it was July—and twitchy and didn't sleep well and and and. And he'd stayed up like he vowed he wouldn't. He'd slipped off for a few seconds or a few minutes and the gift was there.

Naruto laughed and that was all it took to make Sasuke snap. He threw a kunai into a tree. "I'm going ahead." And he ran leaving the other three too stunned to say anything.

xxxxx

Sasuke threw his pouches against the wall and sat on his bed and hugged his pillow. He felt like screaming. Then he pushed his face into his pillow and did scream. He screamed as hard as he could to the point he felt like his meager lunch would come up.

His curtains were closed, but the room wasn't completely dark. He turned his head to rest it on the pillow. He looked at the calendar. It was still covered with kunai. He wished he could forget his birthday and his secretive gift giver would forget it too.

He noticed a dark shape behind his balcony curtains. He got up, hoping it was a burglar so he could beat someone. He pulled the curtains, but the person was gone. There was a note on the ground with a kunai used as a weight.

Please be happy on your birthday. Seeing you depressed kills me. Your parents loved you, they would want you to be enjoying your life.

Nothing else. But it didn't make Sasuke feel any better. He went back inside and cried.

xxxxx

Sasuke had fallen asleep, but only for an hour before someone was knocking on his door. He hadn't slept well last night and he was tired from crying. He didn't even look in a mirror. He opened the door to find Kakashi standing there.

"Am I being chastised for running off?"

"It's your birthday, we were going to take you out to dinner."

"You all knew it was my birthday?"

"Yeah. I got the easiest mission I could so we'd be home in time. What's wrong? Why'd you run off?"

"They aren't here?"

"No, they're waiting below; I wanted to talk to you alone."

Sasuke tugged at the baggy sleeve of Kakashi's sleeve. Kakashi came in. Sasuke shut the door and pressed his head against Kakashi's chest and cried again. Kakashi held him.

Of course. Sasuke's birthday must hurt since his family was dead. Fugaku would never have been called affectionate, but Mikoto was and so was Itachi. Birthdays weren't a big deal in Kakashi's family so he didn't miss them—he believed it was to anesthetize him and his father from this sort of pain when his mother's birthday came around.

"It's okay, Sasuke, you're not alone anymore." He hugged him tight and mused his hair. When Sasuke finished crying, Kakashi said, "Clean up and come down and go to dinner with us."

Sasuke nodded.

Kakashi mused his hair again and let himself out.

xxxxx

Kakashi warned both of the others not to say a word about Sasuke's temper tantrum, not to ask him what was wrong, or anything of the sort. "Some people just really don't like birthdays," he explained. "But Sasuke needs to relax and try to have a happy birthday."

"Aren't the people who hate birthdays usually older?" Sakura asked.

"It's not just getting a year older and a year closer to death. I also think Sasuke dislikes being the center of attention. So no saying anything loudly or singing or anything like that."

The two agreed.

When Sasuke came down, he looked fine. He wasn't about to apologize for running off. He noticed all three had wrapped gifts. He sighed. "Can we do this part here so we don't have to carry that stuff everywhere?"

Without waiting for a response, Sasuke led them up to his room. As soon as he was inside, he grabbed the calendar and threw it behind the kitchen island which was also a breakfast bar in the studio. They didn't need to know he'd done that.

"Wow," Naruto said. "You've got a great place."

"It's so cool how you live on your own," Sakura said. "I wish I could."

If it had been Naruto, Kakashi would have hit him. Sasuke didn't look fazed. How this girl didn't know that Sasuke's entire family was dead except for the one person who had slaughtered them, baffled Kakashi. Either that or she was really insensitive.

Then, much like he did when Kakashi was promoted to jounin, Sasuke held out a hand. Kakashi smirked behind his mask and handed him a box. Sasuke opened it and pulled out a book: a collection of treatises on strategy including The Art of War with commentaries. Sasuke grinned.

Sakura gave him her gift. He unwrapped a box of chocolates. How clueless could a girl be? But Sasuke gave a polite "Thank you."

Naruto's gift was much larger. It was bottom heavy. A potted plant, like Mr. Ukki. "It's from Iruka-sensei's garden."

"Garden?" Sasuke said. "He lives in an apartment."

"The community garden."

"Oh."

"I help him out and picked this one for you." Naruto was beaming.

Sasuke gave him a more sincere thank you.

They took him to a sushi place since Kakashi had observed his taste seem to run that way more than ramen. Sasuke never cracked a smile beside that grin, but he wasn't rude, bored, or hostile. An improvement.

They separated at the restaurant and Sasuke walked toward home alone. He stopped and changed course to Kakashi's place.

Kakashi had just gotten home himself. "Can I stay the night?"

"Sure. You didn't bring your stuff?"

"I didn't go home. Thank you for the book. I feared at first that it was going to be a copy of Icha Icha Paradise."

"You're still too young for that."

xxxxx

Sasuke spent four more nights at Kakashi's over the next month. No one knew about it until Aoba landed on Kakashi's windowsill to give Kakashi a mission early one morning. Kakashi crawled over Sasuke carefully to open the window and take the mission scroll, totally unperturbed that Sasuke was seen in his bed since it was in truth innocent.

Kakashi dressed and wrote a note to let Sasuke know that he was being sent on a mission by himself and to tell the others.

Of course, Aoba felt he had to report this piece of possible misconduct, even if Kakashi was a friend. Sandaime decided not to just ask the boy if something was going on because if there was, he might deny it for any number of reasons. But perhaps it was time for physical exams.

Sasuke was summoned to the hospital for an exam. Ostensibly it was to check on his recovery after being turned into a human pin cushion by Haku. With a sigh he stripped and sat on the table. Before he knew what was happening, he was sedated with a shot of chakra to the neck. Then he was thoroughly checked for any abuse. None was found. They took blood while he was out as well and did everything else. He was perfectly healthy.

Sasuke was pissed when he woke up.

"You shinobi are notorious about needles, so we do it this way to avoid people as squeamish as your sensei," the doctor said with a smile.

"Have you seen these scars? I'm not afraid of needles," Sasuke growled.

"Most people who are seriously wounded by something, develop a fear; that's one of the reasons I put you out."

"I'm not afraid of needles," Sasuke growled again.

"Noted."

Sasuke redressed and walked out the door.

"You're healthy, by the way!" the doctor called after him.

The doctor hurried to report to Sandaime. "He doesn't appear to have been sexually assaulted."

"Good. Our fears very well may be unfounded. Thank you."

Nothing to do but wait until Kakashi returned.

xxxxx

If Kakashi wanted to continue assassinating people, he would have stayed in ANBU. He handed in his report to Iruka.

"The Hokage wanted to see you as soon as you returned."

Kakashi suppressed a sigh. He wanted to go home and shower; he still had blood on him. He went to the office and waited to be admitted. He wondered how Sasuke was doing and what kind of trouble Naruto got into.

He was finally shown in. "Yes, sir."

"When Aoba delivered your orders, you weren't alone."

"Sasuke was with me." Kakashi was bored and just wanted to get home. "He has trouble sleeping. Six times? Seven. He's been depressed. Especially on his birthday. Been over more times since then. Why?" he sighed. "Oh. You seriously didn't think that, did you?"

"Yes, we did."

Kakashi scoffed. "I would have at least closed the curtains. Sasuke prides his honor and that of his family above all, he wouldn't let anyone touch him. He trusts me enough to come over when he can't sleep, he even cried once; I wouldn't destroy that trust for a roll in the hay when I can have my pick of the adults."

"Apologizes, Kakashi."

"You didn't ask Sasuke?"

"If you had power over him, he would have lied. But we did pull him in for a medical exam. No evidence."

Kakashi was annoyed. "If you're all done ruining my reputation for no reason, Hokage-sama, can I go take a shower now?"

"Yes. But don't blame Aoba for this, he was doing what he thought best, seeing a thirteen year old in an adult's bed."

"True. I won't hold it against him."

xxxxx

Kakashi took his time under the hot water. Damn them. He gripped his hard cock and slowly stroked it. Sasuke was a beautiful boy. As he pulled his hand over his cock, he imagined those thin lips surrounding him. When he gave himself another stroke, he tightened his hand and imagined it was the boy's tight, untouched ass.

Suddenly filled with guilt, Kakashi jacked off quickly and finished his shower. He dried quickly and was still at it as he opened the door. He was startled to see Sasuke standing there. "Oh, shit!"

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at him. "You didn't know I was here?"

"I was distracted."

"Hn."

"What are you doing here? It's not night yet."

Sasuke frowned. "I thought I should tell you about what happened while you were gone."

"Let me get dressed first."

Kakashi wasn't really shy about being naked around the young Uchiha—they'd been to onsens and bathed in rivers before—but he wasn't comfortable enough to have a conversation naked. And then he realized: the little bastard had finally seen his face. He knew he should wear the mask to the shower.

Kakashi dressed—complete with mask—and sat on the bed. Sasuke stood much like Kakashi did while in the Hokage's office.

"So, what happened? Naruto in prison? Sakura slip you a love potion?"

"They're fine. I, however, was pulled in for a bogus medical exam."

"Ah, so you knew it was bogus."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed further. "You knew about it?"

"I was just told."

"They knocked me out. From what they touched, I'd say they thought you were fucking me."

Sasuke's deduction and chose of words didn't surprise or faze Kakashi. "That is exactly what they were thinking. Aoba came to give me orders the morning I left and saw you in my bed and reported it. I made it clear that wasn't happening. I was apologized to. You can demand one if you want."

"Hn."

"Staying tonight?"

"I'd like to. I haven't had dinner yet though."

"You probably didn't bring your wallet again. I'll take you to dinner."

xxxxx

Kakashi was determined to stay facing the wall tonight. Those bastards were the ones who put the idea of fucking Sasuke in his head. Damn them!

He was awake when Sasuke snuggled backward against him. Oddly enough, that quelled Kakashi's libido and nerves. Maybe because it was a chaste touch. He fell asleep after that.

xxxxx

Sasuke had been offended that anyone would think he was being molested. And to knock him out and check! He was pissed.

But then he thought about it.

He was thirteen. He didn't have parents or an older brother to ask about his wet dreams, but a few hours in the library and he found his answer, checking books about puberty. When he masturbated, it was just that. He wasn't thinking about anything, just how good it felt to touch himself.

Now he was thinking about being touched by someone else. The thought made him excited. And he wondered what it would be like to touch someone else and even have sex. He may be young and a virgin, but he did quite a bit of reading and knew about sex and even homosexual sex.

But tonight, in Kakashi's bed, he felt too calm and comfortable for that. He liked what he had with Kakashi. He felt some tension from Kakashi, but he thought that was to be expected after being falsely accused of molesting one of his students. But he didn't care about the ball of tension behind him, Sasuke fell asleep, secure and relaxed. He trusted Kakashi completely.

The aforementioned affliction will get worse for our poor little Uchiha.