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So here’s what Naruto knows: he’s twelve, he’s in the hospital, and Kakashi-sensei is sitting beside his bed (and since when are the hospital beds this soft? Is he even in Konoha anymore?) looking mildly concerned and rather amused.
But-
But when did he lose the Sharingan? Has he figured out how to turn it off or something? “Kaka-sensei, how come your eye’s all normal looking? Sasuke-teme didn’t really make you get rid of it, did he?”
The infamous Copy Ninja blinks. “It’s definitely him, Shizune.”
Shizune-nee?
“Oi! Don’t ignore me again , you’re always doing that! How did I even get here, anyway? And how come everything’s so fancy-looking?!”
“Rokudaime-sama-”
“Just Kakashi, please, Shizune. I’m not wearing that ridiculous hat anymore.”
Rokudaime!?! What the heck-
“Ne ne! Am I in the future or something? Who’s the Seventh? Is baa-chan okay?”
Kakashi sighs, waving Shizune off; she slips out of the room silently. “Tsunade-hime is fine, Naruto. And yes, I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that somebody tested out a new jutsu on you. What I don’t really understand is how your soul can exist in the same period of time in two different bodies.”
That’s all well and good, except Naruto doesn’t really care about the science behind it. What he does care about is the fact that Kakashi-sensei is ignoring most of his questions.
“No fair, sensei. You didn’t answer any of my other questions. Do you not want me to know anything?” He flops back against the pillows behind him. “Man, nothing ever changes, huh?” Naruto glances toward the window, crossing his arms over his chest.
“That’s not true.”
His sensei’s voice is just a whisper, but Naruto has always had good ears (at least, when he feels like using them).
“You went through a lot of pain and suffering. You saved the world. You’ve just become the Seventh Hokage. We haven’t told him you’re here, or he’d want to talk to you, as well.”
Naruto pushes himself up, turning to his sensei. Does he look as amazed as he feels? He knows he can do it, of course he does. Naruto has to believe in himself because nobody else ever had until Iruka-sensei came along.
But hearing that one day, he gets to live beyond the dream he’s working toward…
“Ne, Kaka-sensei… I can tell the future-you this without the past-you hearing it, so…”
“Naruto-”
“I really, really like you, sensei!” He finishes his confession with a firm nod, ready to glare at Kakashi-sensei if the man says anything rude.
After a moment, though, Kakashi-sensei hums, leaning back in his chair. “I know.”
“You know ? Does that mean I never get over this stupid crush?!”
Now he laughs, both eyes smiling at Naruto. “I suppose I can get away with telling you this. By the time you turned twenty-one, I became your husband. So, I guess the answer is ‘no’, you don’t.”
Husband? Kaka-sensei is Naruto’s… husband?
“That’s awesome!”
/
When Naruto wakes, something has once again changed. First of all, the bed he’s occupying isn’t nearly as comfortable as the one from before. Also, though Kakashi-sensei is still sitting beside his bed, he’s no longer wearing a kimono and his left eye is covered up again.
His nose is buried in one of Ero-sennin’s porn books.
At least that’s back to normal.
“I’m home!”
One dark eye suddenly meets his, catching for a moment before the book in his hands snaps shut and he looks away. “So it seems.” His book disappears and his elbows move to rest on his knees. “Where did you go? Were you summoned somewhere? Did one of the other villages have you? Or Akatsuki?”
“No, sensei,” he chirps. “I was in the future! You didn’t let me meet myself, but you kept me company while I was stuck there.”
The man blinks. “The future?”
“Yep! And guess what! You were married!”
A moment passes in silence. “That’s… not possible.”
“Don’t be silly, sensei, you told me yourself!”
“But I’m not interested in women.”
“I know!” Naruto rolls his eyes.
“Wha-”
“But I never said you were married to a girl, sensei! And you told me your husband was really awesome!” He pouts. “I didn’t get to meet him, though, ‘cause he was super busy. But you showed me your ring! Isn’t that cool?!”
Kakashi-sensei flounders, obviously lost for words. “...ring?”
What’s with this guy? “Yeah, sensei, your wedding ring!”
/
When Naruto returns from his training trip with Jiraiya, the thought occupying his mind the most is actually quite simple: I wonder if I’m old enough for Kakashi to start seeing me differently.
The answer is less simple: maybe, it’s possible, but Naruto hasn’t quite reached a maturity that matches Kakashi’s; not at first glance, that is.
Of course, then the Akatsuki move against Gaara; following that, Naruto must create a new jutsu (a power move if there ever was one).
Jiraiya dies.
Naruto trains with the toads and invents a new way to gather sage chakra, so when the village is destroyed he is forced to fight Pein all the while quite aware that he can’t sense Kakashi’s chakra at all (and Kakashi would never be out of the village at a time like this), which means the man he’s supposed to marry is dead.
But Nagato makes a sacrifice.
Kakashi catches Naruto when he falls.
One after another, things escalate, and before he knows it, he’s fighting in a war that spans across the continent. A war that he wins. They win.
He fights Sasuke.
Kakashi is the Hokage.
/
Naruto is studying for his jonin exam one evening when his window slides open and the Rokudaime collapses onto his sofa. “Can I ask you something?”
Naruto hums, not bothering to look up from the textbook in his lap.
“When you got jutsu’d into the past, did you know all of this horrible stuff was going to happen?”
Oh, so now he believes me? He hums again. “No. You told me that I would go through a lot of pain and suffering, but that it would ultimately turn out okay in the end. That it would be worth it.”
“Hmm.”
“You also told me that I’d save the world.” He shoots the Hokage a smile. “So, of course I knew we’d win the war.”
A moment passes. “What else were you told?”
He’s pretty sure Kurama turns his smile a little feral, but Kakashi doesn’t falter. “How awesome I am.”
The man snorts, but he doesn’t look away.
“Oh,” he continues, nonchalant, “and I know you’re gonna get married within the next four years.”
Kakashi chokes, spine going ramrod straight. The fact that he towers over Naruto when he isn’t slouching does not go unobserved. “That is… soon .”
“Well, yeah. What, are you planning on waiting until you’re old or something?” He’s oblivious.
“I am old.”
“Ha.” Naruto plops his study material onto the coffee table and turns to face his Hokage, curling his legs underneath himself. “You’re really gonna make me wait forever, huh?”
Dark eyes blink once, twice, three times. “ Oh ,” Kakashi breathes, features softening. He rubs at the back of his neck, copying one of Naruto’s nervous habits. “You mean… I don’t have to move on in the next four years?”
Naruto shakes his head, overwhelmed with affection for this man. “No, dumb-Hokage. I’ve been in love with you for, like, ever.” He doesn’t miss the light dusting of pink that peeks out from under Kakashi’s mask, across his cheekbones.
“ Oh .”
Naruto grins. “But, we can save the wedding planning for another day,” he teases, closing the distance between them by lifting one leg over Kakashi’s lap until he’s straddling the other man’s thighs. He places a light kiss over masked lips. “And, f.y.i., I’ve already seen your face, and I’m perfectly aware that you're quite handsome.” Kakashi’s face has gone bright red, but his arms circle around Naruto’s hips, pulling him closer.
“I love you,” he breathes when Naruto has pulled his mask down, tugging him into a real kiss. And then, “You’ve really known about this since you were twelve?”
Naruto rolls his eyes, knocking their foreheads together. “Yes, Bakashi. You told me yourself after I admitted to having a crush on you.”
“Did you know I was going to end up with this stupid hat?”
Naruto kisses him to shut him up, but truthfully, there’s no place he’d rather be. Actually, he can’t wait to tell everybody else.
(But that’s a story for another time.)