[Closed] You see I struggle to sleep at night, but it's fine..

[mokutonno]

Who: Yamato, Kakashi (Obito and Neji)

When: February 1st onwards.

Where: Konohagakure (Yamato’s apartment and various)

What: The incident in Kiri involving the Hoshigaki holdings, stirs up old memories, worse dreams and Yamato struggles to cope.

 

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[mokutonno]

His mouth twitched at Kakashi's incredulity, enjoying every moment he managed to one up the other man and would have been happy to leave the matter there..

..If it hadn't been for that flicker, a flash of darkness across Kakashi's usually unreadable features, there and gone and easily missed if Yamato hadn't of been paying such close attention to begin with.

Gods help him but he couldn't leave that.

The reassurance of Kakashi's trust in his own abilities was a confirmation he needed, some part of him still seeking the confidence that the older Jounin inspired in him, especially on such unsteady ground, but there was clearly still more between them that needed closer inspection and he couldn't take this comfort without returning what he could in kind.

A small smile touched his lips "..Thank you. You always did have more faith in me than anyone else." That same smile underlined a searching look; Yamato raising his hand from Kakashi's jaw to brush silvery brows and the corner of a dark eye. "But..that look. What was that?"

[scarecrowboy]

The marred scarring joined in a perfect line over his sharingan as he closed it, and his unscathed eye regarded Yamato with an apprehensive look long after the man had finished speaking. He knew he wouldn't be able to wriggle out of this one, despite how much he wanted to make a fuss over the tea getting cold and use it as a distraction to change the subject... Yamato wouldn't let that lie. Not now.

"I..." he began, then paused. His hand shifted of it's own accord, pressing a bare palm across the back of the hand Yamato had on his face; a mirror of the way Yamato had held Kakashi's hand to his face as they woke in the new year. He kept Yamato's touch close, constant, cradling and supportive. He knew he'd need it.

"I know you forgive me for what happened, I understand you don't hold anything against me.. But I can't forgive myself for what I did. Maybe it would be better if I'd done it purposely and repented somehow, but... I didn't. I didn't think for a moment what leaving unannounced might do to you. I broke your heart, Tenzou," He didn't even spare a moment to re-track and correct the name - he was on a roll and wouldn't stop till all the words had fallen out. "And I had no idea. How could I hurt someone I care about so much, so badly, without realising?"

[mokutonno]

The guilt hit him like a wave, Kakashi's and his own colliding in a messy sprawl inside his chest almost as painfully as he'd expected. His thumb brushed over pale lashes and a paler cheek, comforting and careful as Yamato could manage while he gathered the words he needed.

A pause, a hard swallow, a frown of concentration, all displaying his struggle with exactly how he could explain his thoughts.

"At the time..I didn't know. I couldn't figure out what that pain meant besides loss and if it could be dealt out by the living, as well as the dead, well.. I wanted no part in it.." He pursed his lips, tracking Kakashi's expression before continuing "..And I never found words for it until recently. Until I saw you hurting, until we lashed out, until the mission and the moment when I thought I'd lost you all over again.."

Yamato took a breath and not for the first time wondered exactly how people did this easily or on a regular basis, because each word felt like pulling his own teeth.

"You were everything to me, Kakashi. You walked into my life and my head like you'd knocked out the guard and picked all the locks and put your feet up at the end like you owned the place, but that's because I let you. I didn't know any better back then, not really. It just felt so natural to be around you.."

He was probably crossing wires somewhere, stumbling through his thoughts almost as badly as he had his teenage years in general and the blush heating his cheeks at each admission was damn dear impossible to stop.

"..We were a mess, together and apart and that's- It's how I can forgive you, because I don't think either of us realized just how close we'd let each other get.."

That theory had been made all the more apparent with how Kakashi had ambushed him with a life times worth of delayed praise and had trusted him during their final ANBU mission. Each step had been faltering from his end, but Kakashi's trust and will to make good had been constant at every stage.

[scarecrowboy]

Kakashi's mouth pulled into a tight line behind his mask, Yamato's words managing to saunter past every barracade and wall he'd placed around his heart and it's weaknesses. The things Yamato said hit him hard - so hard in fact that he almost found it difficult to breathe as he stared back into those large, dark eyes. He was right, of course; that Kakashi hadn't noticed how close he was letting Tenzou get until it was too late to back-track... and now Kakashi wondered how he'd ever spent five years treating the other man to nothing but radio silence. Yamato was one of the few people Kakashi could be broken around, and one of the few people who could fix him again. Yamato knew things about Kakashi's psyche that no-one else did, just as Kakashi had seen similar moments of raw vulnerability in him. There was something comforting about that, though he couldn't quite place why.

He nodded his head, pressed his covered mouth to Yamato's open palm in the ghost of a kiss, and let out a heavy exhale that seemed to unwind the tenseness to Kakashi's frame.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, softly. "I wanted to avoid hurting you by disappearing, but.. I know that's not the way it works. It won't happen again."

He let that small moment of quiet spiral, and then suddenly opened his good eye and shifted back into a sitting position.

"And for making this about me.." he added gingerly, with an awkward laugh as his hand furtively tucked his mask a little better over his nose, the fabric masking a little dusting of pink creeping up from behind the fabric. "My bad..."

[mokutonno]

Yamato let out a low sigh of relief when the other man relaxed, happy that he'd managed to articulate himself correctly. It was easy to sound like he was making excuses for them both, but he'd never been in the habit of doing so and that Kakashi knew that, made his stumbling attempts at expressing any sort of emotions eternally easier.

The kiss made him smile and it only grew broader at Kakashi's embarrassment, banishing the ache that the change of subject had summoned. He shook his head at the apology, resettling against the jounin's shoulder and pulling his blanket tighter around himself.

"It's alright, on both accounts. I feel..calmer? It's not so close and I really should be thanking you..for being here."

He rubbed his cheek against Kakashi's shoulder, genuinely feeling at ease, if still delicate in his own mind. Sleep would be the true test and Yamato wasn't anticipating anything but a rough night; still, he was no longer seconds away from shaking apart, so that at least was progress.

No doubt Kakashi's presence had been a factor and Yamato's cheeks warmed again; he'd returned to company instead of the quiet emptiness of his home and it had apparently made all the difference for now.

Either way, Yamato was too exhausted to entertain letting his mind get it's own way again lifted his chin to nudge his nose against Kakashi's jaw, seek attention.

"Did you mention something about food earlier?"

[scarecrowboy]

The weight of Yamato fitting against his side once more was more comforting than anything Kakashi could think to name, and he reverted back to resting his head atop the brunette one on his shoulder, a slow breath leaving his lungs to be replaced with a wash of relief. Talking about his problems was proving itself more and more as a good thing, and Kakashi almost caught himself wondering why he didn't do it more often - before he realised what a silly question that would be.

Not even the mention of food could bring Kakashi out of his comfortable reverie.

"Hm, food? No, not me.." he muttered, wrapping his other arm around Yamato in a strange half-hug, soaking up the contact like he was starved of it.

[mokutonno]

Yamato chuckled at the denial and turned into the awkward embrace, nudging Kakashi to shift against the arm of the sofa instead and make the position a little less uncomfortable for them both. He ended up sandwiched between the jounin's side and the back of the couch and couldn't find a single complaint, even going so far as to share his blanket.

The affection was soothing; the fact that they were sober and still able to seek this kind of contact, something of a mile stone for them both and Yamato was keen to make the most of it just as much as Kakashi.

Head pillowed above the older mans heart and free hand splayed against the prominent bones of his collar, Yamato made a pleased noise and relaxed into the sofa and Kakashi's steady warmth.

"..You'll just have to help me make something later then."

It was said with a smirk, mumbled into the soft fabric of Kakashi's sweater.

[scarecrowboy]

"No problem," Kakashi murmured quietly as he tucked the blanket around them both, his legs shifting up to fold against Yamato as his body turned to accommodate the other man. This comfortable contact was what he'd craved subliminally enough to stay in Yamato's apartment waiting for his return after the events of his day, and he was relieved to finally have it.

Kakashi was very aware of Yamato's use of the word 'later' and smiled to himself as he pressed the younger man a touch closer, loathe to move. He willingly supported Yamato's weight and the weight of his nightmarish experiences. He knew peace wouldn't be as easy as a few understanding words and a little physical comfort, but it was a start.