HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS

PART 1

Pulling down his face mask, the lone, worn-out shinobi finally let down his guard for the first time in so many days at the sight of his beloved village. Smiling to himself, he inhaled long and deep, taking in as much as the sweet fresh smell of the surrounding air and slowly, very slowly let out a sigh of relief.

After weeks of struggling and suffering, he, Hatake Kakashi was finally home.

Home….

Underneath the winter moonlight, Konohagure looked even more beautiful and the sight brought a warm feeling into his already chilled body. He missed his village, that was true enough; but if he was really being truthful especially to himself, he would admit that the heady feeling he gets each and every time he walked through the Great Gates after successfully completed a mission was due to the anticipation of being able to see a certain pony-tailed Chuunin-sensei again.

Home is where the heart is…..Kakashi remembered hearing those words from Maito Gai a long, long time ago. He did not really think much about it then, discarding the phrase to the back of his mind as one of Gai's Summer of Youth speeches. However, recently he found himself pondering a lot about such things and the thought of this sudden interest made him smile.

To have a special someone could be a person's source of strength as well as weakness. This was something Kakashi knew for a fact where Umino Iruka was concerned.

It took some time and a lot of soul searching and death defying incident to finally came to terms with himself and admit that what he had with the Chuunin-sensei has always been special.

Even from the beginning; from the moment Iruka had held his hand beside his father's grave on that fateful night twenty years ago, Kakashi could feel the strong bond between them. It was something that defies logical comprehension even for a twenty seven year old genius like himself and he often wander what exactly was happening between them.

One thing was definite. Iruka was his friend.

In fact he was the Copy-nin's best friend ever.

In spite of their contradicting nature, status and rank, both of them complemented each other perfectly. To Kakashi, his friend has managed to influence him like no other could, turning his grey dreary world upside down with sunshine and warmth. The Chuunin was the one who taught him how to live again, to be alive and to be human even though at times he found it very hard.

Because of that, Iruka in his own gentle nature was Kakashi's most precious person and has a firm place in Kakashi's well guarded heart.

Maybe that was the reason why the need to protect the village intensified of late.

The Copy-nin needed to feel secure that his village was safe and that his Iruka was also safe in it.

" Home is where the heart is " Kakashi whispered into the night and smiled when he finally understood the true meaning of the phrase.

I'm finally home Ruka….