Chapter Twelve

He could hear birds all around him. Thousands of them it seemed. He thought for a moment that it was the sound of Chidori. But the birds weren't screaming. They were singing.

When Kakashi opened his eyes, it was to the sight of sunlight filtering down through countless leaves above him. The air smelled fresh and green and alive, he was surrounded by such a sense of home that he could have melted into the ground in relaxation.

"Good morning sunshine."

Kakashi gasped at the sound of the Yondaime's voice. The last thing he could remember was two Iwa-nin, two senbon, and his teacher's startled expression.

He pushed himself into a sitting position and stared at the blond, who was sitting a few feet away, between the roots of a massive oak tree, smiling at him.

"Or should I say 'good afternoon,'" he said in amusement.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked, his throat felt incredibly dry.

The Yondaime tossed him a water canteen before he replied, "well, we were attacked by a pair of Iwa-nin," he sighed as he leant back into the tree, "and you managed to get yourself sedated."

"Sedated?" Kakashi blinked as he twisted the lid off the canteen, "it wasn't poison then?"

The Yondaime shook his head, "he was aiming for me. Matsura probably told them that they wouldn't get paid unless they brought me back alive."

"Makes sense," Kakashi pulled his mask down and tipped the canteen up against his lips, letting the water flow down his throat.

"Anyway," the Yondaime grinned, "while you were napping…"

"Napping?" Kakashi squawked in indignation.

"…I made quick work of that kunoichi," the blond went on, "and then I carried you back to Fire Country."

Kakashi glanced around him, at the trees and the lush greenery they were surrounded by and sighed, "how long was I out?"

The Yondaime cocked an eyebrow in thought, "mm, not long, just a few hours."

Kakashi goggled at the man, "a few hours? How the hell did we get back to Fire Country in just a few hours? We were days away!"

The Yondaime smirked at him, "well, I was once known as the Yellow Flash you know."

"Yes, but…" Kakashi's eyes widened. He had never mentioned that the blond was nicknamed the Yellow Flash, "how do you know…"

The smirk on the Yondaime's face mellowed into a smile, "ah, I um… remembered a few things while you were unconscious."

"A few things?" Kakashi breathed. It felt as though his heart had expanded, "what things?"

The smile faded from the Yondaime's lips, and Kakashi was suddenly gripped by an undeniable fear that the Yondaime was about to shoot Kakashi down in flames, that he would blame Kakashi for what had happened between them, that he would tell Kakashi that he should have put a stop to it. He had the inescapable need to apologise, to beg the man to forgive him for letting things go as far as they did.

"I thought you were dead," the Yondaime said softly, drawing Kakashi from his thoughts.

"Huh?" Kakashi shook himself and watched a small, sad smile return to the blonde's lips.

"I thought the senbon had been poisoned," he continued, "and I was absolutely terrified that you were dying and there was nothing I could do to save you."

Kakashi blinked and swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat, "oh."

"Then I realised that…" the Yondaime took a deep breath, "that I had felt that way before. That wasn't the first time I had seen you get hurt, and I started to remember things."

Kakashi nodded, utterly unable to speak.

"Then when we got back to Fire Country," the blond glanced at the scenery around them, "I remembered more things. I think being back here pushed some more of my memories to the surface."

"So…" Kakashi said quietly, "do you… remember everything?"

The Yondaime shook his head, "not everything. There are still some… holes."

A smile was blossoming upon Kakashi's face. Did this mean that he had his sensei back? Really back?

"Do you remember what Jiraiya gave me for my fourteenth birthday?" he asked.

The Yondaime frowned, "yeah! The old pervert! I never did teach him a lesson for that."

The smile blossoming upon Kakashi's face spread, "how about the time you cooked me kabayaki because you thought there wasn't enough protein in my diet?"

The Yondaime chuckled sheepishly and scratched his head, "how was I supposed to know the eel had gone off? I only realised once you threw up on me."

Kakashi's smile had turned into a grin. His soul was practically singing.

"I missed you sensei," he said finally.

The Yondaime looked startled for a moment, before he smiled back at Kakashi.

"I thought we agreed that you wouldn't call me that anymore," he said.

Kakashi's smile dropped away. He could hear the echo of the blond whispering 'I'm not your teacher any more,' before he pulled Kakashi's mask down and kissed him. It had only been the previous night, but now the Yondaime could remember, and Kakashi's heart cracked a little when he realised what that meant.

He would never be able to kiss him like that again.

The Yondaime frowned in concern at the look on Kakashi's face, "what's wrong?" he asked as he slid closer to Kakashi.

Kakashi shook his head, and gave his teacher a wavering smile, "nothing."

The Yondaime moved to sit beside him, and he smiled kindly as he combed his fingers through Kakashi's hair.

"You grew up without me," he said sadly as he dropped his arm around Kakashi's shoulders, settling Kakashi against him, "I'm sorry I missed it."

For some reason, Kakashi felt close to tears. He closed his eyes to keep them back and dropped his head onto the Yondaime's shoulder. He suddenly didn't want to go back to Konoha straight away. He didn't want to have to share the man with anyone. He wanted to keep his teacher to himself for a while. He would have to let the Yondaime be stolen away from him once they got home. The Yondaime would have to divide himself between the entire village, and in a moment of pure selfishness Kakashi just wanted to stay right there and be alone with the man.

"I guess there's a lot I need to catch up on," the blond sighed, Kakashi could feel the man's breath in his hair when the Yondaime turned to rest his head atop Kakashi's.

"Yeah," Kakashi replied softly.

"Not yet though," the Yondaime mumbled into Kakashi's hair.

Kakashi wanted to wrap his arms around the man and simply hold him. His hands were twitching with the need to touch him, but he couldn't. He had such an unexpected sense of loss when he realised that the blond didn't feel the same way about him now that he had his memories back. The ache was not as bad as it had been before he had found out that the blond was really his teacher, but it was still there, gnawing away at him.

"Kakashi?" the Yondaime lifted his head from Kakashi's, "can I ask you something?"

Kakashi blinked his eyes open, relieved that they were still dry, and raised his head from his teacher's shoulder to look into his face.

"Now that I have most of my memories back," the man said, and frowned slightly, almost as though he were afraid, "is it still alright for me to kiss you?"

It felt as though a lead weight had been dropped heavily into Kakashi's stomach. He blinked in shock at the blond, unable to believe what he had just heard. The Yondaime was smiling nervously as he waited for Kakashi's response, but Kakashi couldn't force his voice to work. All he could do was stare at the man in unparalleled shock.

He had hoped… more than hoped, he had been willing to beg… but he couldn't actually believe it. He had been so sure that the Yondaime wouldn't want him if he could remember. But now that he had his memories back he still wanted…

The Yondaime's smile became shadowed with disappointment as he looked away.

"Right… just forget…"

As the Yondaime began to move away from him, Kakashi was suffocated by blinding panic. He hadn't been able to move before, but when the blond took his arm from around Kakashi's shoulders, Kakashi threw himself forwards. He didn't know how to communicate to the man how profoundly grateful he was, how completely overjoyed he felt because of that one single question, so he simply threw himself upon his teacher and kissed him.

The Yondaime gasped into Kakashi's lips when he fell back onto the ground, with Kakashi on top of him, holding him desperately. It wasn't possible for a person to be happier than Kakashi at that moment. The Yondaime was smiling as he kissed Kakashi back, he was wrapping his arms around Kakashi and then rolling them over, until Kakashi was lying on the forest floor and the Yondaime was kissing him hard enough to leave his lips bruised.

Kakashi felt weightless. Like the only thing keeping him pinned to the earth was the weight of the man on top of him. Suddenly everything was so perfect that Kakashi almost didn't trust it, nothing had ever worked out so wonderfully for him, it was all far too good to be true.

The Yondaime left his lips and clung to Kakashi as he nuzzled his neck, "you have no idea how happy I am that I'm still allowed to do that."

"Stupid," Kakashi smiled, "why would you think that I wouldn't want you to?"

"I don't know," the blond murmured, "I figured that I'd act differently now that I can remember, and you wouldn't be attracted to me any more."

Kakashi could have smacked up him upside the head, "idiot," he breathed affectionately, "I was afraid that you wouldn't want me if you got your memories back."

The Yondaime nipped him playfully, "stupid brat," he smiled into Kakashi's neck, "how could I not want you?"

Kakashi smiled just before the Yondaime descended onto his lips again, undoing him completely with a thorough kiss.

oO0Oo

The Yondaime stopped abruptly as soon as the gates came into view. His grasp on Kakashi's hand caused Kakashi to be pulled back when he stopped.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi asked. The Yondaime was looking towards the gates of Konoha with wide eyes.

"Huh?" the blond blinked towards Kakashi, "yeah," he smiled.

"Come on then," Kakashi smiled back, "we're nearly home."

"Kakashi," the Yondaime winced nervously as he looked back at the gates, "do you think he'll like me?"

Kakashi rolled his eyes, but he found himself smiling fondly at the man, "he'll adore you," Kakashi replied, "you're already his hero and he's never even met you."

The Yondaime smiled and looked back at his old student, "what if I don't live up to his image of me?"

"You'll blast his image of you out of the water," Kakashi informed him, "you're wonderful, didn't you know that?"

The Yondaime butted his shoulder against Kakashi's playfully.

"Come on old man," Kakashi grinned, "you won't get to meet him standing out here all day."

"Less of the 'old!'" the blond huffed, "In case you didn't realise," he smirked, "you're older than me now."

Kakashi blinked and turned to gawp at him, "what?"

The Yondaime laughed and strode forwards, tugging on Kakashi's hand.

"I'm your toy boy," the blond was shaking with mirth.

"You were born before me!" Kakashi argued.

"But you've been alive longer," the Yondaime chuckled.

Kakashi glared half-heartedly at his teacher, but the expression faded when the Yondaime's grin turned into a wistful smile.

"What's he like?" the blond asked.

"You've already asked me this," Kakashi replied.

"I'm asking again," the Yondaime said with a dazzling smile.

Kakashi sighed as the gates of Konoha grew closer, "well, he looks exactly like you…"

End.