Fear and Love Part I (Kakashi X oc Story)

Team 10 and 7 vs. Kakuzu

Tsuki, Yamato, Naruto, Sakura, and Sai were sitting in a tree observing the battle that was ongoing between the single Akatsuki member and team ten minus Shikamaru.

Tsuki activated her visual prowess and saw that the black blobs with masks each contained a natural chakra affinity. It looks like one mask had been destroyed and there was now three left, lightning, fire, and wind. Then the lightning mask suddenly merged with the seemingly dead Akatsuki member, reviving him.

"That must be Kakuzu." Tsuki said aloud as she watched Kakuzu form into a monster with grey strings extending from his arms, legs, and mouth. He looked like a true monster. She watched as Kakashi advanced to attack but Kakashi was quickly stopped when the strings began to dig into his chest as he screamed out before cutting the strings with a kunai and ripping them out of his chest. Tsuki almost jumped the gun and ran into battle to aid Kakashi before Yamato grabbed her by the shoulder issuing her a look that reminded her that they needed a plan before they entered into battle.

Tsuki kept her eyes on Kakashi, she had never seen him so disheveled. His mask was slightly torn, his ninja headband, flak jacket, and fingerless gloves were nowhere to be seen. He looked tired and he was definitely fighting on his last leg. Tsuki eyed the black blobs once again and saw the fire mask begin to charge for an attack she knew that Kakashi didn't have the energy to block or dodge.

"The fire mask is going to attack! Yamato, Naruto can you combine your Jutsu to do that Typhoon Water Vortex Technique we talked about on the way here to block it? After that I can swoop in and destroy the wind mask with a fire style technique!" Tsuki said with urgency. They all agreed and began to execute their plan.

Yamato and Naruto jumped down and dissolved the fire mask's attack with their combination Jutsu just in the nick of time.

Tsuki made a few hand signs and went in after them to break the wind monster's mask,"Fire Style: Palm of the Tiger!" She formed a fire ball similar to a Rasengan into her hand and attacked the wind monster breaking it's mask in two causing the black blob to collapse. She landed in front and began to dodge Kakuzu's grey strings as they made their advance toward her.

"Whoa she took out a mask all by herself!" Choji yelled from behind her.

"You little brat!" Kakuzu yelled as he finally grabbed ahold of Tsuki with his strings and plunged them into her chest aiming to literally rip her heart out,"The heart of someone who possesses the Chojougan eyes will be useful considering I'm a fan of nature chakra!" He let out an evil laugh.

Tsuki reached for a kunai from her satchel but the pain of him cutting into her chest froze her limbs and she couldn't do anything but scream.

"Tsuki!" Kakashi yelled as he took of after her without thinking.

"Wait Kakashi-sensei, it's too dangerous!" Ino yelled after her. But he didn't care, he was not going to lose Tsuki to this maniac.

He dodged multiple attacks from Kakuzu before grabbing Tsuki and cutting the strings with a kunai, effectively freeing her from his grasp. He took her into his arms bridal style and zoomed back to where Ino was. He decided to let Yamato and Naruto handle the situation while he focused on Tsuki. Sakura and Sai had already gone to aid Shikamaru in his fight.

"Ino!" Kakashi yelled with urgency,"Help Tsuki now!"

"Oh no! Tsuki-sensei!" Ino crouched next to her as Ino's glowing green hands hovered over her chest to assess the damage.

"One of the strings is wrapped around her heart, I'm going to have to take that one out first!" Ino said as she began to concentrate. Tsuki's vision was becoming tunneled as Kakashi's face took up most of the view. He stroked her hair and held her hand as Ino began removing the grey strings wrapped around her heart.

Tsuki screamed bloody murder. The pain was unbearable.

"Tsuki, it's gonna be okay. Ino is just doing what she has to." Kakashi tried to sound confident but his voice was trembling at the sight of seeing her in this much pain as she almost broke his hand from squeezing it.

It felt like an eternity, but the string finally came out and Ino successfully removed the others without causing any damage.

Tsuki was drenched in sweat and her breathing was shallow as it hurt to take in air too deeply. But she was alive. Kakashi helped her sit up and she was able to catch a glimpse of Naruto using the Wind Style Rasenshuriken to destroy the final mask and Kakuzu along with it. Tsuki smiled, proud of Naruto for completing the Jutsu.

"He did it.." Tsuki said weakly

Kakashi was relieved she was speaking after she had nearly lost her heart,"Well he has a great sensei." He said to her

"Oh shut up." Tsuki said joking as she lightly punched his arm, causing Kakashi to smile.

Sakura and Sai returned with Shikamaru to report that he was also successful in killing the Akatsuki member, Hidan.

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Team Kakashi and Team Asuma began walking back to the leaf village, Yamato was dragging Kakuzu's body so that can be researched back in the village. Followed by Kakashi who was carrying Tsuki on his back, followed by Ino and Sakura, and lastly the boys behind them.

"Damn I landed one hit on the guy and then immediately got taken out" Tsuki joked, making fun of herself for getting caught up in Kakuzu's attack so quickly.

"Yeah, you kinda suck." Kakashi joked back.

Tsuki pinched his ear,"Ok Mr. I lost my flak jacket, my headband, and my gloves in this fight!"

"Ouch!" Kakashi squealed, causing them both to laugh.

Yamato smiled hearing the interaction behind him. He had known Kakashi for a long time and had never seen him so open and joking around before. He was always a darker, mysterious character up until now and he used to be much more cold of s person. He couldn't believe Tsuki managed to break through his shell.

"Umm Sakura, I have a question." Ino turned towards Sakura as they were walking

"What's that?" Sakura replied

"Are Kakashi-sensei and Tsuki-sensei dating?" Ino asked.

Sakura choked on air at the surprising question,"WHAT?! Kakashi-sensei dating?! There's no way, I mean he's kind of a closet pervert since he reads those weird books Jiraiya writes but there's no way he's totally closed off and he seems like a total loner when it comes to girls. What on Earth would make you think that they were dating?"

"I don't know, when Tsuki-sensei got injured and I went to heal her. Kakashi-sensei was right by her side with the most worried look on his face. He wasn't even paying attention to the enemy! He was holding her hand and stroking her hair and when she woke back up, just the way he looked at her....I mean let's just say I would want a guy to look at me like that." Ino explained.

"Oh my God no way!" Sakura said excited slowing her pace so that Naruto and the boys could catch up,"Naruto! When you trained with Kakashi-sensei and Tsuki-sensei, did you notice anything odd about them?"

"Odd like what?" Naruto said confused.

"Like did it seem like they were acting weird, like they might be dating?!" Sakura said getting more excited.

"Dating? Kakashi-sensei? Dating Tsuki-sensei?!" Naruto said getting more confused.

The group heard Kakashi and Tsuki laugh up ahead.

"Now that I think about it, I did see them hug for a long time right before Kakashi-sensei left for this mission! And they always seem to be smiling and laughing together. And Kakashi-sensei is always staring at her whether she's looking at him or not. I never gave s second thought to it since Kakashi-sensei seems so closed off in that way." Naruto said, a lightbulb switching on in his head.

Ino and Sakura squealed.

"Oh my God, I hope they are! If they aren't were gonna make it happen." Sakura said with determination.