Quietly

We love things we love for what they are

-Robert Frost

~xXx~

Ayame woke up. Blinking at the alarm clock across her room, she noticed it wasn't even four in the morning; frowning, she wondered what had pulled her out of sleep. The teenager was given an answer a moment later when she heard a tiny thunk at her window. Getting up, the brunette slipped on her slippers and smoothed her bedhead down as she headed for the little balcony her bedroom connected to. Pushing back the curtain, she squinted and saw a familiar figure.

Heart hammering in her chest, she hurried to open the sliding door and stepped out.

"What are you doing here!?" She called in a hushed yell. "It's not even daylight!"

Sticking his hands in his pockets, the ninja gaze up with his lone eye. "Can I come up?" He asked.

Rolling her eyes in frustration, Ayame made a pointing gesture to the spot beside her. A blink later, he's next to her; momentarily awe and jealousy grip her in equal parts. "Maybe you should teach me how to do flips like that sometime," she suggested.

"Sure," he replied half-listening as his lone eye darted at all the things around them besides the brunette. Just a bit annoyed and feeling quite bold, she reached up and put her hand on his face.

Catching his stare, she asked; "What's up 'kashi?"

He covered her hand with his and something about it felt awfully desperate. Just a bit frightened, she attempted to pull back. He wouldn't let her. "Have you ever wondered why I have only one eye?"

Ayame had in fact, but had always been too scared to voice any question and too respectful of her friend's privacy to breach such a topic without him starting it. So, with great care she answered "A little, I've heard a rumor or two from time to time, but..."

He took his hand away and pushed up his forehead protector. The brunette gasped. That eye, it was an Uchiha's; Kakashi, he wasn't one though, was he? The ninja was quite for a couple minutes, but then he leaned down and kissed her through his mask.

"I want to be more than friends with you, Ayame," he explained; "But I can't do that to you in good conscious without you knowing the whole story."

Just a little excited and maybe falling more in love with this broken man than she should, the teenager took his hand and nodded at him. "Tell me everything," Ayame told him. "I love you and I don't think it will change my opinion of you, but if you need to, please do."

Kakashi sighed. "You met me after the attack, you know? I never once saw you before."

"I know."

"I was a different person before the war."

"Everyone was," the brunette countered.

Kakashi shook his head at her. "I was a real jerk before the war," he whispered. "All I cared about was completing missions and being the best of the best-I didn't think I needed anyone at all. Not even my sensei," he shifted and clenched his hands into fists. "I was so arrogant and you know who paid because of that? Not me."

Fear in her gut, Ayame murmured; "Who paid Kakashi?"

He threw his head back to stare at the dimming moon. "My teammate," he replied. "His name was Obito and he...he had dreams Ayame. I didn't have those-sometimes I still think I don't have any. I got him killed by putting the mission ahead of my teammates and by thinking I was invincible." He looked at her then, his sharingan leaking tears. "I was an absolute ass to him the entire time we were teammates just because I thought he was weak, Ayame. But do you know what he did in the end? He, the kid I looked down upon from the beginning, was the bigger man and gave me his Sharingan to replace the eye I lost on the mission."

"Do you regret it all?"

"Every bit of it."

Stepping forward, she wrapped her arms around the stunned man. "Then you are good 'kashi."

"How can you say that?" He whispered. "How can you look at me and not hate me for the life I ended?"

Pulling her head away, she gazed up at him. "He was a different boy," she mumbled. "You though," she pressed a kiss to his chin. "You are the man I love."

"Thank you," he mumbled into her hair. Hugging her like she'd just given him the world. "Thank you for not hating me."

Tugging down his mask, she kissed his lips. "I couldn't if I tried," she imparted. "I've loved you too many ways for hate to find foothold."

A smile cross his unmasked face, Ayame thought of all the mornings to come. All the mornings where they'd be like this and all the mornings where he'd be gone. Grinning back at the ninja, she knew these intimate moments together would make up for all the ache he caused with his absences. Sun rising up on them, she never once looked away from him.

(And he never looked away from her).

It's been quite a while, hasn't it? You'll be happy to know it was so I could think about this story! After a lot of sifting, plotting and tweaking, I realize this is the very best ending I can imagine. They are together, what more could we possibly want? That was the whole point of this fic. Also, the reveal of the Sharingan is thanks to a little prompt from Mijubuki where she asked for Kakashi revealing it to Ayame.

To reviewers, Harvestangel99, YLCourt, The Goliath Beetle, CaptainBeer, Fluffpenguin, Zane Walker, Owlsrawesome, Mijubuki, Gibbles, and Daydreamer1024 thank you all! I love you all! You are the best and most awesome people ever.

Since this is the end, I'm kind of a drift. I don't know what I want to do next or who I want to write about next; I love Kakashi's character...but someone new would be cool too. Does anyone have ideas for stories? I can't say I'll write them, but some stimulation would be awesome.

In the meantime, check out some of my other fics! Like my multi-chap fics And I Struggle or Youthful Endeavors and then I have my one-shots like Back to Days and The Pursuit of a Perfect World. If you like more than Naruto, I also have Harry Potter fics (mostly Malfoy family-centric) and there are some Hetalia fics I have too. Plus the odd Frozen and Teen Wolf fic.

Hopefully the can keep you all sated until I get around to doing another Naruto fic!

Thanks again for reading this fic and if you will, please review!

P.S. If you haven't ever, vote on the poll I have on my page! I need nine more voters before I feel I can share the data I've pooled together!