Chapter 23
"Mah, Keigo, you'll get cold if you stay here a little longer"
Keigo's face broke into a smile when he realized who had spoken.
"Happy to see me?" Kakashi asked
"I'm always happy when I see you" came the answer. Kakashi had to look away from the bright eyes directed towards him.
'Great Keigo, way to go. Next time tell him right away that you love him' he thought as he blushed.
"Here you can take this"
A long-sleeved shirt was extended towards him. While he wasn't looking Kakashi had taken off his shirt leaving himself only in his tank top.
With a murmured thank you Keigo put on the shirt, it was a little too big for him considering he was a little shorter than Kakashi but overall it fitted him quite well.
Kakashi's smell of electricity and fire soaked into the shirt and he couldn't help but melt into it.
Now that he thought about it was unusual for Kakashi to be on this side of the village so late at night, his apartment was too far away for him to casually pass by the tower.
The silver-haired in front of him, upon closer inspection, looked tired.
Like Keigo he hoped a moonlight walk would bring sleep.
"Stop looking at me with those eyes" Kakashi whispered bringing his attention back to the one who continued to haunt his thoughts.
"What eyes?" Keigo looked away with a blush that rivaled his hair, "this is my normal look, yes absolutely normal, in fact, I grew really tired so I think I'll head to bed" flustered, Keigo stood up to climb down from the roof but an oddly gentle hand took his.
Their hands were intertwined perfectly, holding each other gently.
For once they were used for something other than holding weapons.
Their faces were so close that their noses almost touched, their gazes fixed on each other, their breaths aligning.
Keigo saw Kakashi's eye glance briefly at his lips and then return to his eyes a silent request in them. The distance between them continued to decrease, their lips now almost touching.
"Keigo how many times have I told you to close the window when you come to the roof"
As if by magic the moment was broken, Keigo pulled away flushed as his father's voice reached him.
He couldn't believe it, he was about to kiss Kakashi.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming down now anyway"
He replied absentmindedly as he shyly waved goodbye to Kakashi as he quietly left so as not to be heard by his father.
Keigo was absolutely and undeniably in love with Kakashi Hatake.
It was Kakashi Hatake or nobody for him.
After that evening Keigo saw no sign of Kakashi until Team Ro had to leave for Itachi's recovery mission.
Despite the feelings swirling within him, the mission was the priority, so he didn't speak about what had happened.
Their journey to the Fire Capital was quick, the time window they had was short so they had no time to waste.
The city that welcomed them was enormous, buildings that had never been seen before in Konoha, the amount of people walking through the streets at every hour of the day and the almost complete lack of shinobi shocked Keigo slightly.
They walked around the city looking for signs of Itachi without finding anything for half a day until all hope seemed lost when towards the northern outskirts of the city Keigo sensed something.
He swore that at the edge of his sensor awareness was Itachi's familiar chakra.
They ran trying to reach him but he was always there just out of reach.
Aside from a shadow in the distance they didn't even see a flash of Itachi.
They had failed.
Disappointment came pouring out from all three members of Team Ro.
The two-day journey home was spent in silence.
At the entrance gate of the village waiting for them upon their return were the hokage, Obito and Sasuke.
Keigo saw the way his father and Obito's shoulders slumped when they saw that only three of them were back.
"Cousin Obito, where's big brother?" Sasuke looked around eagerly for his lost brother. When he didn't find him a crease began to form between his eyebrows.
Keigo knew he shouldn't have done that, that it was protocol but he knelt down in front of the boy and moved the Duck mask to the side of his head.
"I'm sorry Sasuke, we couldn't catch him this time, it won't happen again"
Sasuke threw himself at Keigo his small fists hitting his chest, tears streaming down his face and sobs escaping his lips.
"You promised, you promised me that you would bring him home"
Keigo did nothing but accept the punches.
"I know, I'm sorry"
As had become habit, Keigo was taking a walk in the moonlight, trying to clear his thoughts for sleep.
His bare feet hit the ground without hesitation, they knew well the path they were following.
The river in front of him was as it always was.
The water kept flowing, no matter if Keigo failed a mission or his life was turned upside down, the water always kept flowing the same way.
That's why he loved the water so much and sought refuge in it.
His shirt was already on the ground and he was starting to take off his pants when the sound of a twig breaking sent him into alert.
"I knew I would find you here" Kakashi spoke as he stepped out of the shadows of the trees.
"You always know where to find me" Keigo replied with a sigh.
They hadn't spoken since that evening and despite the butterflies in his stomach and the almost certainty of reciprocated feelings he still didn't know what to say.
The air between them was thick with tension but that wouldn't stop him from taking a midnight bath, so he shook off all his troubles.
"Shall we take a dip?" Keigo asked with a childish smile.
He didn't even give Kakashi time to respond before he dove under the water.
When he resurfaced he was alone.
Keigo turned but there was no sign of Kakashi, he had disappeared into thin air, maybe crappy-Keigo had scared him enough to make him rethink if it was worth it.
When his stupid thoughts were about to take a tragic turn, a pair of muscular arms gently wrapped around his waist from behind.
Keigo stiffened at the unexpected gesture.
"Were you looking for someone?"
Kakashi's voice came from his right ear and a shiver went down his spine at the murmur.
Keigo turned in the other's grip until he was looking at his face, his hands resting on Kakashi's bare chest.
His eyes widened in surprise as Kakashi's beauty mark was fully visible to his eyes.
He had abandoned his mask and headband.
Keigo could only see the smirk Kakashi had on his face for a few moments before a pair of lips crashed onto his.
It was far from perfect, the cold water was slowly freezing them, Keigo's lips were dry and his mouth was half open, but in that moment they both felt like they were in heaven.
Only they existed, the way their bodies fit together perfectly, as if they were created to be together.
When they broke away they moved away just enough that their noses were still touching, their breathing labored from the lack of oxygen and their pupils dilated.
"You like me? You really like me? Like, true feelings for me?"
Even with overwhelming evidence Keigo needed voice confirmation.
"I don't like you" Keigo's face fell, "I love you"
"You love me?"
"Oh baby, how can I not love you?" Kakashi's eyes shone with emotion as he spoke, his hand resting on Keigo's cheek, thumb gently stroking his cheekbone.
"My heart only wants you"
Keigo had no words, he could only pull Kakashi towards him to kiss him with even more feelings.
They spent so much time in the water exploring their new love that the cold froze their feet.
As they went out to dry themselves, tripping over each other, Keigo could do nothing but comment,
"You have a tan line, you know that right?"
His laughter could be heard all the way to Kakashi's apartment as Kakashi chased after him, both still soaking wet and in their boxers.
They were lying in bed on their sides facing each other, the sheet bunched up around their waists.
Kakashi was tracing with his finger the scar that Kurama's claw had left on him eight years ago.
Keigo was twirling Kakashi's hair between his fingers.
"Promise me you'll stay" Kakashi said.
Keigo then pushed Kakashi onto his back and then snuggled into his chest, his cheek pressed to his heart to feel his heartbeat.
"Trust me, I won't leave. If you're staying, I'm staying"