Mask Off, Spot On

One shot III

Truth or dare:

Night-time had fallen upon Konoha, as you and the rest of Team 7 finally arrived to the village because of a mission.

"Geez, we're finally back but I don't feel tired at all..." Sakura whines, as she stretches her arm backwards.

"Neiter am I, y'know?! We should celebrate, since the mission went so well! And anyway, at this hour, Kakashi-sensei will only be reporting to grandma Tsunade tomorrow, right?" Naruto beams, as I simply nod in response.

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to spend some time with my students... to get to know you all a little better." Kakashi answers, laughing as he finishes his sentence. Everyone goes quiet with it.

"Well.. either way, what don't you know about us? We've all known each other for years." You answer.

"I mean, it's true that Kakashi-sensei knows us since we left the academy, but to say the least, we don't actually know that much about him. Thinking about it twice, you're a mystery to us as well, [Y-N]." Sakura says, smiling, as you simply laugh nervously in response.

'Ha ha, well, y'know, I'm just your fellow otherworldly neighbour.'
You think.

"Then, which method will you use to get to knows us better with?" You smirk, awaiting their response.

"How about a game of truth or dare? It's a pretty effective tactic if you ask me." Sakura snickers, making a shiver run down your spine.

'Well, for all that they know, I don't remember a thing about before they met me, so I guess they'd ask me nothing related to the past, in the least.'
You look back at Kakashi-sensei, trying to make out they way he felt about the situation, but you found no response. Instead, you only heard a rumble coming from Sasuke's way.

"Hmph, how ridiculous. I'm going home, there's nothing in it for me."
When he says this, Naruto suddenly runs up to Sasuke, snickering, and whispers something to his year, as he suddenly seems to have caught onto an interest in the game. Again, you felt like this was going to end badly for someone.

"Hm, hm! Then, it's all settled! We're all playing!" Naruto beams.

"How about [Y/N]'s place?" Sakura offers.

"Hey--"

"Great! Then let's go!"

"--....Guys...."

*****************

You finish serving everyone to some tea, and as you all decided to sit down on your knees around your coffee table, you place an empty bottle in the middle, and turn it, to see who'd go first.

1- From Naruto to Kakashi-sensei.

Naruto clears his throat as if preparing for something big, before asking:
"Truth or dare, Kakashi-sensei~?"

"...Truth." He answers, making Naruto click his tongue in response.

'Obviously he'd ask for sensei to take his mask off, no doubt in that.'

"Ok, fine! Tell us, what's under your mask?!" Naruto asks, looking triumphant towards everyone in the room.

"My face." Sensei answers, a smile visible through his eye, as Naruto recieves a bump and glare from Sakura and Sasuke. "Way to lose opportunity to make a worthwhile question, Naruto", they seemed to say.

2- You turned the bottle once again, and it pointed at you, so you turn over to Kakashi-sensei to await his question.

"Truth or dare, [Y/N]?" He asks, still smiling.

"...Truth." you answer.

"Hm~... who's your favourite person?" He asks. Sakura looks at him with wide eyes, not expecting such a question, and so did you.

"Is this a trick question...? It's the Hokage, then." You answered, trying to play it safe.

"Which?"

"That's another question already, but I meant the current one, of course."

The room fell silent for a couple of seconds before Naruto began to spin the bottle around again, which surprisingly, set on Kakashi-sensei once again.

"Is this bottle loaded, by any chance?" You sensei asks, but you simply turn back to him.
You glance over to the rest of your team, and notice the longing in their eyes, which makes you sight.

'Might as well give them what they want for once...'

3- "Kakashi-sensei, truth or dare?"

"Truth." He answers, smiling once again.

"As expected. Then, tell us... why is it that you wear a mask?" You ask, almost able to hear Sasuke and Sakura fist bump the air with joy for the right question beeing asked.

"Hm~.... well, it's actually..."

"Isn't it harder to breathe while wearing it? Theres no use in saying that it's to filter the air or something if that's the case, then." You add, even though you already had a rough idea of what kind of answer you'd get.
You were surprised to hear a soft laugh coming out from his direction.

"Well, I've always worn it, courtsy of my father. I simply decided to keep on doing it, thinking my face would... get in the way, I guess...?" He smiles, making a soft blush tint your cheeks. You weren't expecting him to answer so truthfully. In fact, you more less expected him to, as always, find a way to go around you question regardless. In fact, you knew that if he wanted to, he could've done so, which was probably the main reason why you were surprised the most.

On the other hand, your other teammates seemed to be even more curious about your sensei's masked mystery now.

*****************

The night was still young, and as it went by, the Team 7 was able to find out a bit more about how you enjoyed to read; how bad you were at house chores when you first came here, living on your own, and how you got so much better over the years; how you used to have a celebrity crush with a kind of name they never thought existed when you were younger...

Regardless, unlike you, Kakashi was able to make his answers much too vague for anyone to find out anything new and relevant about him.

It was almost 4 a.m., and everyone got ready to leave your apartment, and as they left, Kakashi was the last one left behind.

As you stood on the doorstep, waiting for him to go, he turns over to you, smiling.

"You know, [Y/N], I just thought of one last question for you." His words picked your interest, so you looked up at him, motioning him to continue.
"Who's your favourite Konohagakure's jonin?" He asks.

You looked at him with you eyes half closed, as a wave of tiredness suddenly reaching you.

"...Is there anything specific you'd like for me to answer...?" You ask, wearing a playful smile on your lips. As he simply kept smiling in response, you decide to just answer his question. You were a bit embarrassed to admit this, especially to him, but it was a fact that you always had a preference in him as a character, and you truly thought of him well here, so heck with it, you thought.
"Hm... Gai-sensei is pretty fun to be around of, I guess..." You say, looking up to your sensei, searching for a reaction, but instead, you only got to see a strange glint in his eye, though his expression remained the usual, calm and collected one.
"Though, I suppose Kakashi-sensei is cooler." You say, smiling wryly at him. That is, you were only spelling out your true feelings.

You suddenly felt a hand fall on the top of your head, ruffling up your hair. You feel yourself blush as you look up to see the soft expression Kakashi's eye sent upon you, and remained, frozen in place, as he waved you goodbye and left.

The flame inside you simply continued to rise, though it was still much too small for you to notice.