Ai’s POV:
I looked him up and down with my Sharingan. Despite the intense chakra training today, he was still full of energy. I shook my head, realizing that me leaving had drained him, but coming back had gotten his spirits lifted this much. I promptly sat down and leaned against the posts, hating myself. Kakashi sat next to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I leaned against him, and he rubbed my shoulder.
“You ok?”
“Yeah…So. For the Mangekyo, we’re going to do the exact thing we did before, ok?” I said, standing.
He nodded and took off his shirt and mask, then raised his headband to show his Sharingan. I crouched into a fighting position, as did he. We fought for a while, and he ended up exhausted, on his knees.
Kakashi’s POV:
“Kakashi, you ok? You look tired, ready to give up?” she asked me.
“Yeah right. I’m fighting to the end.”
She smiled. “That’s my Kakashi,” she said. I felt a strange rush when she said I was hers. “Well done. Now come on, again!”
She looked at me with her Mangekyo that looked like hearts in her eyes, and I looked at her with my regular Sharingan. She started drawing a seal on my bare chest, and I felt a new power rush through me. Suddenly, a small vortex type thing appeared behind her. She looked at it for a second, covered my eye, and nodded as the vortex disappeared.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Kakashi Hatake, you are one of the, now four, people who can use the Mangekyo Sharingan. Of course, you wouldn’t have been able to do it without me. It’s because I’m so wonderful and amazing like that.”
“Yeah, and you have the smallest ego in the world, too,” I muttered under my breath.
“Aw, you know you love me,” she said jokingly.
Now was my chance to tell her how I felt. “You’re right, I do,” I said, completely serious.
She paused and looked at me, and I wondered if I had screwed up. Until, that is, she smiled for the first time in ages. That lopsided grin I absolutely loved. “I love you too, Copy Ninja,” she said.
I smiled and pushed her against a tree. I kissed her gently, holding her close to me. She smiled and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me closer to her. I smiled into the kiss as well, and she slowly pulled away. I rested my forehead against hers.
“Ai, I love you. I have for a while now.” I wanted her to say my name when she said she loved me. My mind craved it.
She smiled. “I love you, too, Kakashi,” she whispered, and tucked her head under my chin as she rested her head against my chest. I held her tighter. Hearing her say those five words alone made everything better. “Kakashi?”
“Yeah?”
“You don’t feel it, but you’re about to pass out. Go home and sleep, ok?”
“Too comfortable.”
She chuckled. “I know you are, but I don’t want you to pass out, either. Go home and get some sleep. For me?”
“Ok, ok,” I said, smiling.
I kissed her gently and started walking home after putting my vest, shirt, and mask back on. She started walking to the K.I.A. stone and sat on her knees in front of it, her hands resting in her lap. I took one of her soldier pills that she had given us to replenish chakra and walked to the edge of the clearing.
