Okay... last chapter. Yes, I know. There WILL be an epilogue, to tie up the billion and one loose ends, but I just have no idea when it will get written. Online wellness is somehow taking up all my time. Can't believe it's required to graduate. So, anyway... I hope you've all enjoyed this story! Thank you to everyone that reviewed!

Kakashi was waiting by Iruka's side when the Academy teacher finally woke up again.

Iruka's head was turned to the side on the pillow when his eyes slowly fluttered open, and what he saw in his waking moments was so strange he honestly didn't know whether he it was a dream or not.

Kakashi was sitting right there next to him, just as he had when he had last awoken, and the sight of him made something thrill inside of him. He was wearing pale scrubs, again, just like last time, but now he was also wearing a lab coat and a surgical mask that clashed a rather comically with the fact that the lower half of his face was primarily hidden by a bright orange Icha Icha.

The jounin turned a page with one latex-gloved hand and giggled, and the sound made him so happy he could've died right then and there and not regretted a thing.

Iruka cleared his sore throat and winced a bit, but Kakashi dropped his book at the sound and his single grey eye widened in happiness. "Iruka!" he whispered, shutting his book and stowing it away before leaning forward eagerly. "How are you?"

He grinned. "Just fine, Doctor Hatake."

Kakashi's anxious face relaxed into a leer, and he tugged on one of the fingers of his glove, stretching the elastic before letting it snap back to his hand. "You like? I'm actually wearing it because the cutest dolphin is in need of a gorgeous man like myself to help him feel better, but, if you really like it, I think I could keep it on."

"Who is this cute dolphin? I thought I was the only one you called cute. Is there something I need to know about?"

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask and slowly leaned closer to him, moving his good arm over him for balance after tugging down the sheer cloth to bare his lips. "I don't think you have anything to worry about, Ruru."

All the desires that Iruka had suffered through when he had first woken up, a furious need to wrap his arms back around Kakashi and hug him and tell him he loved him, they rose to the forefront and he couldn't help himself. Iruka raised his arms around Kakashi's form in an embrace that started off as a kiss and ended with him lying in Kakashi's arms, hugging him tightly. The Copy Ninja's head lowered to rest against his shoulder, silver hair tickling his neck and ear while Iruka strengthened his hold on him and inhaled deeply.

Unlike before, Kakashi smelled just like himself. Unlike before, his grey eye wasn't full of pain and his voice wasn't trembling with the weight of guilt and regret. Unlike before, Kakashi was just as Iruka liked him- joking, smiling, and happy.

If anything was enough to convince him that this, all of this was real, that was it.

Iruka let out a pained breath, releasing all his fear and anxiety with it, and smiled when he felt Kakashi's hand reach up to tangle in his hair. The man had always loved playing with it, even more so when it was down. One morning, Iruka had woken up to a braid and a triumphant Kakashi, and all day his students had wanted to know why his hair was so wavy, even in its ponytail.

Kakashi had gotten him into a lot of trouble that day… he was very good at doing that.

That night, Iruka had returned home fully prepared to rip his boyfriend a new one, but when Kakashi had glomped him as a welcome home and used his new position to shove a bite of food into his mouth, saying that he was trying out a new recipe for dinner and wanted to know how it tasted, all those the things Iruka had been going to say were forgotten.

Now that he thought about it, that had probably been Kakashi's plan all along. He smiled.

When Iruka blinked, his eyes opened to the stinging feeling of tears. But, for the first time since Kakashi had ever left on this accursed mission, they were tears of joy.

Kakashi cleared his throat, beginning to murmur into his ear. "I know I have a lot of explaining to do, but-

"Love, you don't have to explain anything. All that matters is that you're here now."

Kakashi chuckled slightly, the motion making his chest vibrate, and when his heart sped up, Iruka could feel it as it beat cheerfully against his own chest. "So delightfully cliche and romantic, Ruru. You could have a future writing Icha Icha, you know."

Iruka smiled broadly, shifting a little so Kakashi's form fit more easily next to his own. "That's your dream, isn't it? Me writing porn?"

"Absolutely not. My dream is you writing porn, just for me."

Iruka laughed weakly, his relief still an overpowering emotion that made it hard for him to feel or do anything else right now than just lie here with Kakashi. "Kashi, love, you'll be lucky if you get so much as a kiss from me after all that we've been thrown."

"Mmm. Really. I could test your resolve on that, you know."

"I'm sure you could; it won't change a thing."

A moment passed in companionable silence before the jounin spoke again, his voice having lost its playful edge, the mood now somber. "…Iruka, you fought Hidan for me. After that… and what I put you through these past weeks… whatever you want. A personal assistant to do all your grading… a piggy back ride to your class every single day… me in a candy-striper outfit… whatever you want."

The more than slightly perverted sample requests were probably Kakashi's attempt to lighten the mood, but Iruka wasn't having it. The mention of Hidan made it feel like someone had just doused him in a bucket of ice water.

How would you feel if I told you how Kakashi screamed your name when I took him from behind?

Iruka gritted his teeth in anger and shook, feeling his blood boil with hate. He closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to see Kakashi's face and forced out a question, feeling his hands open and flex as if they could strangle Hidan's throat in fury. "What happened to him? …Hidan?"

Kakashi stiffened slightly. The hand in Iruka's hair stilled and his breath hitched, and he almost wished he hadn't asked before the jounin replied steadily. "Your jutsu worked. Sai kept a clear head and cut his body up into pieces before transporting him to Konoha. He's with Ibiki."

Normally, the mention of the frightening, certainly sadistic torture specialist made Iruka shiver and back away uncomfortably. But now, the thought of the man that had tortured Kakashi, that had raped Kakashi, being tortured himself…

The thought of this pleased Iruka, and that, in turn, scared him.

Shivering slightly, Iruka wrapped his arms a tad tighter around Kakashi, pulling him snugly and protectively against him. "Good."

"…I wish you hadn't been so reckless, though, Iruka. Why did you go off to fight him alone? You had such a strong team with you… and Hidan is someone you only fight solo if you have a death wish. I know that you're strong, you're capable, but… your only plan was one you knew would almost kill you, at best. Why? Why did you do that? What did Hidan do to make you lose your head and go after him?"

Iruka shook his head, eyes stinging as he began to trace a pattern on Kakashi's shoulder with a shaking finger. "It doesn't matter."

"It does to me." Kakashi pulled back a little so he could see Iruka's face and he lightly caught the one tear on his fingertip, grey eye wide in earnest concern. "Ruru… what…"

Iruka choked back a sob and closed his eyes. "He tried to tempt me, and I was stupid and fell for it, that's all. But it doesn't matter, Kakashi; I'm alive and I got him, that's all that's important."

Kakashi sighed sadly. "No, Iruka. I know you're level-headed in a fight; you can think on your feet and you don't let the enemy get to you. I want to know what Hidan did to change that."

"No… no. I can't tell you that, Kakashi. Ask me something else."

"How can you expect me to leave it alone now, after you've said that?" Iruka felt Kakashi's hand stroke lightly along the side of his face and the chuunin shuddered at his warm touch, trying not to picture what Hidan had once made him. "Ruru, tell me. I have to know what he said to you."

"Why? Why can't you just forget about it?"

"Because whatever it was hurt you, and I have to know what it was so I can make you feel better."

Iruka shook his head, turning to nestle his cheek against Kakashi's palm. "You don't have to 'make me feel better'. I can take care of myself. And, besides, taking out Hidan is all I wanted to do. That makes me feel fine enough."

"Well, then tell me so I can feel better. You're scaring me, Ruru."

Iruka laughed weakly, reaching up to rest his own hand over Kakashi's, tracing the many fine scars over his skin. "S-class missing nin don't scare you. You're telling me I can? Right."

"You can. Remember? You're the one who told me once. You said it's easier for the people we love to scare us, easier for them than Iwakagure or Orochimaru or the Akatsuki. You told me that after I came home a week late from a mission, because you couldn't handle the constant thought that something had happened to me. You were furious I hadn't even tried to contact the village and tell them I was safe, just late, and I didn't understand why I could scare you so much. You said that… that you knew it was stupid, but you wanted to be able to protect me from anything that so much as gave me a paper cut and the thought of me maybe being captured, tortured, killed and you couldn't do anything to help was too much for you to handle."

Iruka remembered it well. He remembered how the days had passed and, with no sign of Kakashi, his terror had risen until he could hardly concentrate in class. Every sound had made him to jump and look to see if it was the Copy Ninja, come home safe and sound. He hadn't been able to think about anything except for Kakashi, his imagination going wild with each horrific possibility of what could be happening to him…

With a jolt, he realized that Kakashi was feeling exactly what he had felt like all those years ago.

Iruka had to swallow the lump in his throat before he could even make an attempt at talking. But he had no choice now; he had to talk.

"Hidan said… he told me how…"

"Yes?"

"He t-told me about how y-you… you… when he would t-torture you, th-th-that you would… 'scream for me'… that h-he… h-he…" Iruka shook his head and buried it against Kakashi's shoulder. It was too horrible to go on.

Kakashi didn't speak for one terrible moment, and then his arms were tight around him and his hand was caught up in his hair. "Shh. Shh. It's okay. You can tell me. I'm fine now. Hidan will learn a lot from Ibiki; he didn't know what he was doing. That wasn't torture-"

"Don't lie to me!" Iruka snapped, abruptly pushing Kakashi away so he could look him in the eye. "Don't lie about this, Kakashi! He was Akatsuki! He was a dammed masochist; you can't tell me he didn't know how to torture! Don't you dare lie to me like I'm fragile and can't take it! You have no idea what you did to me when I thought you died; if I survived that, then I can take knowing what he did to you!"

Iruka didn't realize how badly he was shaking until Kakashi's hand hesitantly came to rest on his shoulder, trying to still him. He blinked as his silver-haired lover slowly tried to comfort him, grey eye watching him carefully as his light touch turned into a caress. "I'm sorry, Iruka-koi," he murmured after a moment, and his expression betrayed just sorry he really was. "You're right. I shouldn't have lied. But it's okay; I'm fine now. What else did he say? You can tell me; I promise that I'm okay now. It's okay, Iruka-koi."

Iruka just shook his head at Kakashi's attempt to be comforting. He shut his eyes tight but the horrible words came flowing from him anyway; the horrible words that he couldn't stop thinking about and that had made him snap."He said when he 'took you from behind' and I just couldn't stop myself." He spat Hidan's words out in disgust and shuddered through a sob. "I wanted to kill him, Kakashi. Me. I never want to kill anyone, but him… when he said that…" Iruka shook his head. "I'm so sorry, Kakashi. If I had just figured out what you wanted from us sooner- if I had-"

"Shh. Stop it, Iruka. None of this was your fault. I'm sorry he told you that; I tried to make it so you wouldn't find out. But what he did doesn't matter; all that does matter is that I'm here and I'm fine and I'm not going to leave again. I promise."

Iruka shut his eyes tight and shuddered, taking Kakashi's hand in his own and shifting his thumb to feel the comforting beat of the jounin's pulse in his wrist. "God, love…"

"Don't think about what he said. Think about me. I love you." Kakashi turned so his lips met his cheek, his tongue lightly moving over Iruka's ticklish flesh. "I'm here now." The soft pair of lips moved closer to Iruka's, a hand moving from draped over his shoulder to rest on the side of his neck. "I'm alive." Kakashi's lips settled over his mouth, tongue pushing against Iruka. The chuunin opened his mouth, granting him access. Kakashi's other hand tangled lightly in his hair as he murmured, "I'm here, I'm alive, and I love you. That's all you think about."

Iruka tried. He let Kakashi kiss him and make the memory of the horrible things Hidan had said disappear, let Kakashi take them and lock them away where they didn't make his heart clench painfully and it couldn't hurt. Iruka felt his tense muscles slowly begin to relax and raised a hand to trace Kakashi's masked cheek, palming it gently.

"I love you," he whispered, opening his eyes to see Kakashi's mismatched eyes boring down into his own, Sharingan shining a sullen red, grey one full of emotion.

Kakashi smiled slightly, eyes curving up along with the corners of his mouth in a grin that made Iruka's heart swell to ten times it size. "Yes," he agreed. "You do. That's all that you have to remember."

Iruka chuckled weakly. "What, aren't you going to say it back?"

"I love you."

They smiled together, and then Kakashi's arm went around him, the silver-haired jounin easing away the last of the pain left behind from his death and Hidan's words. Iruka hugged him back, and for the first time since he had heard the words Kakashi was killed, everything was right again.

The tender moment was broken by a high-pitched scream.

"My eyes! It burns! It buuuuuurns!"

Iruka jumped, yanking his arms back to rest by his sides while Kakashi pulled away with a jerk. They both turned to look at the door to see a disgusted Naruto standing in it, his hands over his eyes, and Sakura, who looked a little mentally scarred herself from seeing her two teachers kissing.

Kakashi shifted so he was lounging by Iruka's head and pulled his mask up in the same moment. He wrapped his arm around the chuunin's shoulders, helping him sit upright and grinning while Naruto gave another mournful wail, hand still over his eyes. "It's all right, Naruto," he called cheerfully. "Your virgin eyes have been saved."

The blond hesitantly peeked out from behind his hand, and when he saw Iruka and Kakashi were no longer on top of each other, he scampered forward and glared at them both. "I told you, you guys can be happy together if you want, but stop doing things like that in front of me! It's freaky!"

"Really?" Kakashi asked mildly. "Then, I suppose it's good you've never looked in our window at night, because that would really make you-"

"Stooooooop iiiiiiiiiiitttt!"

Kakashi laughed as Naruto howled again, his hands now firmly over his ears, while Sakura winced and tried valiantly to keep her expression from changing at the mental images Kakashi was conjuring up. Iruka nudged him and glared. "Stop scaring him!"

Kakashi shrugged. "He's a ninja. If that scares him, then I've certainly failed as his teacher, and it's my duty to get him brave, now, isn't it?"

"Kaka-sensei, don't make me picture that! Gosh, I don't want to think of my two sensei doing anything… anything so… gah! I can't even say it!"

Kakashi smiled at Naruto while Iruka reached out and lightly ruffled the blond's hair. "It's okay, Naruto. Kakashi here is purposefully being rude. Kakashi, apologize."

"Hey, Naruto," Kakashi said with a chuckle, ignoring Iruka completely, "if you can't handle seeing us kiss, then how come you handle Iruka touching you with that hand? With all that places that hand has been and all-"

Naruto gave another squeak of alarm and ducked away from Iruka's hand, now reaching up and rubbing furiously at his own hair. "Kaka-sensei!" he yelped, shaking his head back and forth.

Iruka glared pointedly at Kakashi and elbowed him in the side. "You damn pervert! Stop trying to freak him out!"

"But it's fun!"

It took a considerable amount of time to coax Naruto into believing that Kakashi wasn't going to say anything else weird before the blond cautiously removed his hands from his ears. He cautiously pulled his hands back before pointing at Kakashi and frowning. "Oi, what's with the get up, Kaka-sensei?"

"Oh, this?" Kakashi tugged innocently on his latex glove, just as he had when Iruka had asked about the outfit, and grinned. "Well, if you must know, Iruka and I were having-"

"If you dare finish that sentence with the word kinky, or any synonym for it, you hentai bastard, you will never touch me with those hands again. You swore on your ninja's honor you would stop this!"

"Now, since when have ninjas had honor?"

Iruka glowered before looking over the Copy Ninja again and frowning. "Come to think of it, why are you wearing that?"

Kakashi shrugged happily and didn't answer, but Sakura pointed an accusing finger at her sensei and stepped forward with a vengeful smile. "You're trying to hide with that, aren't you, Kakashi-sensei? Jiraiya-sama's still looking for you! Shishou told me he was trying to get you to replace him as-"

"Ah, Naruto," Kakashi said rapidly, frantically talking over the pink-haired medic, "aren't you excited to see that Iruka's finally awake?"

"Oh! Yeah, that's right! Iruka-sensei, you're finally up! I've wanted to talk to you all week! You really scared us!" Naruto bounded eagerly up to the bed, all questions about why on earth Kakashi was dressed as a doctor forgotten and trampling all over Sakura's accusatory explanation.

Iruka shrugged apologetically. "Sorry about that. It was just a really dangerous technique that I used."

"Oh, that one?" Naruto exclaimed, clapping his hands together in excitement. ""The jutsu you used against that bastard Hidan- it was so cool! It's even cooler than my Rasengan!"

"Well, it's also very dangerous," Iruka said, shaking his head at his favorite former student. "I nearly killed myself using it. You only got a broken arm from the fight, it seems."

Naruto looked down at the cast encasing his left arm, then practically squealed in excitement, shaking his head. "No, no! None of the Akatsuki did this to me! I did it!"

Iruka's eyes widened in horror while Kakashi sighed. "Naruto, breaking your own arm isn't something to be proud of-"

"No, you don't get it, Kaka-sensei! Remember how you were helping me come up with my own original move? I finally did it! During the fight with the Akatsuki! Fuuton: Rasen-Shuriken! It is awesome! Even better than the technique Iruka-sensei used! So much cooler than your Chidori and Yamato-taichou's Mokuton- even that stupid shark head didn't know what hit him! I can't wait to show it to you guys; you're going to love it-"

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed, grabbing him by the sleeve and whirling the boy around to face her. She glared into his eyes and snapped, 'Shishou told you that you can't use it again! It's too dangerous!"

"Aww, just once, Sakura-chan-"

"No! Do you have any idea how risky it is? You could lose the ability to manipulate Chakra!"

Naruto sighed. "But it's such a strong move! I think Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei would really like it-"

"What's the point of it being so strong if it hurts you more than the enemy?"

"Um, excuse me," Iruka said, clearing his throat, "still here. Sakura, what are you talking about? How did his own technique break his arm?"

Sakura scowled, still glaring down at her troublesome teammate. "It's so much power consolidated into such a small sphere his body can't handle the stress of holding it together. It wrecked the Chakra vessels in his arm."

Naruto pouted. "Well, aside from that, it still kicked that guy Kisame's ass!"

"He was still conscious, baka! What are you even bragging about; it didn't even knock him-"

"Sakura," Kakashi smoothly interceded, "Kisame is known as the Tailless Tailed Beast. I don't think there's one single jutsu that's strong enough to take him down. If this jutsu was strong enough to hurt Naruto himself this badly, I'm sure it's very powerful. It can be like my Mangekyou. Your hidden ace in the hole; its dangerous to use, but practically ensures a win."

Iruka sighed and rolled his eyes. "Encouraging Naruto to use a move that copies the suicidal nature of your Mangekyou; great, Kakashi. Naruto, don't listen to him. If a move hurts you this badly, don't use it. Didn't I teach you anything?"

Sakura nodded firmly. "See, Iruka-sensei agrees with me, Naruto. It's too dangerous to use; you can't do it again!"

"But Kakashi-sensei uses his Mangekyou sometimes! I think it's okay to use it sometimes, don't you?"

"No!" Sakura snapped. "His Mangekyou makes him tired! Your jutsu breaks your arm and would eventually destroy your ability to use Chakra!"

Kakashi smiled broadly, watching as his friends and his lover descended into an argument over the merits of Naruto's new jutsu versus the cons. He kept mostly silent himself, listening to the words and let them lull him into a sense of peace. Naruto gestured about and made loud sounds of an explosion, mimicking his jutsu, while Sakura glared at him and tried to convince him that his own health was worth far more than just a little technique. Iruka was shifted fully into teacher mode, shaking his finger at Naruto and lecturing him on the importance of a shinobi's own health, insisting that it did no good for him to kill an enemy only to drop dead himself from self-inflicted injuries.

He smiled again. This was his family, he realized, this was that mysterious, elusive concept he had lacked since he'd walked into his home to find his father dead. Minato had tried to help, tried to become a father figure, but Kakashi had been too wrapped up in trying to hate his dead father to realize he wanted an alive one. And then Obito had died, and Rin, and the guilt had stopped him from letting Minato help until it was too late.

But, here and now, this was his family. Two students that had taught him far more than he had taught them and a man who had loved him before he had even known what love was.

Perhaps Sasuke had torn a gaping hole into this small, tender family, but they had mended without him. And when they day came that Naruto brought his friend back to Konoha, they would be waiting for him. Because what made Konoha Sasuke's home was that his friends and his family were waiting for him there.

Just like Kakashi wasn't finally home again just because he was back in Konoha. All that mattered was that he was with Iruka, Naruto, and Sakura again; as long as those three were alive and okay, wherever they were was fine with him.