Disclaimers: I do NOT own Naruto, just the plot line of this story and any random side characters that do not exist in the real Naruto.

Yes, this is a romance story. ^ 'Kash is probably super OOC, and I apologize for that before hand.

So with nothing left to say; here we go!

_*.*_

Chapter One

A small tanned boy, about the age of seven, walked out into the sunlight of Konahagakure. His chocolate eyes closed as they got used to the bright light, and a hand went back to tighten his ponytail.

Iruka Umino grinned childishly, and turned to look back at his home, his scarred nose scrunching a bit as he saw his mother standing there, hands on her hips.

"Be back before lunch! And don't bother anyone!"

"Okay!" Iruka called, and he bounded away happily, glad to be out of the house for once. He was even happier that he was allowed to leave alone.
The young boy wanted to watch the genin train. He wouldn't fully be disobeying his mother's words on not to bother people, now would he?

As Iruka passed by the gates that lead into the outside world, he paused as he saw them open. Curious, he stopped to watch. A boy about the age of eleven walked into the gates, followed by two other nin, both who were grown. Iruka paused, watching them talk as they returned in from the outside.

Though the older nin were an interesting sight, the boy at the front kept the seven year old's interest the most. He had gravity defying silver hair that decided to stick up to the left, and a mysteriously masked face. He had his hitai-ate covering his left eye.

'Strange...' Iruka thought to himself, listening to the ninja talk as they walked past.

"That was an easy mission." The tallest of the three stated simply, putting his hands behind his head. He looked over at the other two nin, grinning. It seemed they all were relieved to be home, even though the silver haired boy didn't seem to show it.

"We got that brat from here to there in four days. I'm surprised I didn't kill her myself." The second adult mused, her eyes glancing to her companions.

"She didn't seem too bad." The boy said after a moment. It was the first words that Iruka had heard him say and he couldn't help but to smile softly to himself.

"That's only because she liked you. Like pretty much everyone else of the opposite gender around your age, Hatake-San." The woman snorted, and rolled her eyes.

Iruka stumbled a bit - having been following after them without noticing it himself - and fell to the ground with a small 'thud!'. The group of chūnin turned around, eyebrows shooting up.

"Who's the kid?" The man asked, an looked between the silver haired boy and Iruka. "Someone you know?"

The young nin rolled his half lidded eye a bit. "No." He responded, and walked over, crouching next to Iruka. "Are you alright?"

Iruka blinked his large chocolate eyes, and looked up at the pale boy. Now that he was up close, he could make out a bit more of his features. Though his face was still indecipherable, Iruka could make out a thin jawline, a slightly balled nose, and the outline of a lower lip. The lone, smoky gray eye scanned his face, as if making sure nothing was out of place.

He opened his mouth to say something, but the words didn't form. So he just nodded, and sat up, giving a light bow of his head, his face flushing in embarrassment at being caught following them.

"H-hai...Uhm...Sorry." He said, catching his voice once more and rubbed his scarred nose out of a bad habit to show he was flustered. "I didn't mean to follow you or listen to your conversation!" He said, glancing away from the boy who was only around four years older than he was. He was afraid of being yelled at.

Giving Iruka a stern look for only a moment, the gray eyed boy watching the brunette's face change from embarrassment to slight anger and hesitation. His visible eye curved up, and his whole demeanor changed. Iruka could tell that he was smiling, and he let out a soft sigh of relief.

"It's fine!" Came the cheery reply from the masked boy. He helped Iruka up to his feet, and watched as the smaller male patted the dust off. He couldn't help but to think that the other was rather adorable, and found him a bit on the feminine side. He smiled a bit wider under the black cloth as he studied the child before him. Iruka was shorter than him, with long, shoulder length brown hair that was pulled back, a rounded face with tanned skin, and a scar that stretched across his nose. His nose was a perfect little button, and his lips still had that natural pout to them that young children had. Guessing by judgement, he would have to say that the boy was a few years younger than himself.

"Your teammates left you-" Iruka pointed out, looking past the ninja to where the adults has scampered away, snickering and laughing to themselves at the children's studies of each other. The silver haired boy raised his thin brow, and turned to go look. His smile turned into a small frown, and he cursed under his breath.

"Ah, oh well." He shrugged, and turned to Iruka. "So, what's your name?" He asked, his smile returning back into his voice.

"Umino Iruka!" The brunette replied, and smiled. "I heard your last name, Hatake-san." He added after a moment, and smiled happily. The silver haired boy nodded, signaling that it was alright for Iruka to call him so if he pleased.

The two boys walked and talked around the village, stopping to sit down under the trees' shade. They were having a very heated discussion about different jutsus and other fighting methods. Iruka would have to admit that he had learned a lot. The boy currently beside him was a genius! He couldn't believe it, to be truthful. It had seemed to him that the elder was a lazy, just-enough-to-get-by kind of guy. How mistaken he was.

"I think my favorite type of jutsu would have to be substitution." Iruka said, and smiled a bit, twiddling a blade of grass between the pads of his thumb and forefinger. He was still in the academy, and still learning all he could. He wanted to know everything there was to become a good ninja. He studied hard, but sometimes he just didn't get it.

"It's probably one of the most important ones out there! I mean, it saves ninja from getting killed, and just is really cool!" He paused, hearing a soft noise coming from the other boy. "Are you laughing at me?!" He demanded, pouty lips turning into a scowl, his hands going onto his hips.

The laughing boy watched as the scar on Iruka's nose scrunched up in the other boy's slight anger. It was both hilarious and adorable at the same time.

"Maybe I am. Maybe this is all just an illusion." He teased, which made Iruka blink - obviously surprised - then he huffed, turning away from the other.

"Jerk." He grunted, folding his arms across his chest, pouting. He jumped a bit as he felt a hand on his shoulder, and slowly turned to see the chūnin. It seemed as if the silver haired male wanted to tell him something, but a loud call of the brunette's name silenced him.

"Iruka!? Iruka! There you are! I told you to be back before lunch! It's almost dinner!" His mother scolded him, and she walked over. Though, she looked mildly surprised at who her son was talking to. She smiled a bit, and gave a small bow of her head, greeting the chūnin before turning to Iruka.

"Let's go." She helped the scarred boy up, who looked disappointed. His brown eye met the lone gray one, and he saw a bit of disappointment there as well.

"Bye, Hatake-san." Iruka said, giving a small, sad little smile.

"It's Kakashi." The nin smiled beneath his mask, his eye curling up to prove that fact.

Iruka's face spread out into a wide grin. "Kakashi." He repeated. "I hope we can talk another time!" He waved, laughing softly, still grinning as his mom took him away.

Kakashi waved back slightly. "Yeah. Hopefully soon."