Naruto 1. The Report

**Title: Pursuit of the Mizuchi**

**Rating: M**

**Summary: Kakashi comes back from a mission,**** and finds a mysterious coded note in his Icha Icha. Iruka tries to attract the jounin's attention, all the while Tsunade fears for the safety of Konoha's greatest secret. What secret can possibly force an unlikely partnership to protect it? **

**Warnings: Yaoi! AKA male x male! You don't like then don't read. **

**Main pairing: Kakashi x Iruka****, other pairings later on. **

**Disclaimer:**

**Me: Hey, Iruka!**

**Iruka: Yes?**

**Me: Can you get Masashi-san to sign these? *hands over a folder***

**Iruka: Sure. *takes the folder* **

**Me: Success! *the folder bursts into flames* Noes!**

**Kakashi: Nice try, but it'll take more than that to get ownership of Naruto.**

**Me: Hmph! Rub it in why don't you? I'll never own Naruto at this rate. *pouts***

**A/N: ****Konichiwa! I'm Manga and welcome to the prologue of 'Pursuit of the Mizuchi'. This will be my first Naruto fanfic, so I most certainly will be a fact or two wrong. This story is rate M for a reason and that 'reason' will come 'round in the future and also for future violence. **

**Enjoy the prologue!**

**The Report**

Dark, swollen clouds rode across the sky, enveloping the sun light. It was not unusual for sudden down pours to happen in Konogakure during the spring time, but that did not mean that Kakashi had to like it. The Copy Nin was five minutes from the gates, but if he continued at the speed he was leaping from branch to branch, he was sure to slip and pummel to the muddy ground below.

Silver strands matted themselves to his forehead and the water ran down into his eye, temporarily blinding him. If Kakashi did not get a day off from missions, he swore he would fall over dead, if not from the cold in the least. What he wanted most now, was a warm shower and diving under the thick covers of his bed sleeping the unpleasant weather away. But no, he had to give a detailed report to the Hokage upon his return.

The Copy Nin flew past the gates, giving a brief acknowledgement to the shinobi on duty. Kakashi was nothing more a silent patter on the rooftops as he made his way to the Hokage Tower. Kakashi soon found himself inside the warm walls and facing the Hokage's doors to her personal quarters. Last time he checked, it was a bit after midnight, so, Kakashi doubted Tsunade would waltz out of bed to open the door for the hungry and very wet jounin.

Deciding that his Hokage could survive another few hours without a report, he turned on his heel, only to be face to face with the said person he was about to avoid.

"Any particular reason you're here, leaving a lake on my doorstep brat?" Tsunade asked, knowing full well why Kakashi was there.

The shinobi took a moment to look down at himself. He really did leave a rather considerable amount of water dripping from his drenched body onto the polished wooden floors. Kakashi looked up at his disinterested Hokage and let an apologetic smile cross his lips, even though Tsunade would not see it behind his mask. It was the thought that counts they say.

Tsunade sighed, cradling a bottle of sake in her arm as if it were an infant. "Well, are you going to move aside or are you going to just stand there and freeze to death while I warm up with a fresh bottle of sake?"

Kakashi dead-panned himself, of course she would have a bottle on hand, not caring if he really was freezing himself to death. The Copy Nin stepped aside to allow the older woman to get to her front door.

Tsunade held her hand to the door, her palm flat against the cool wood. A small pulse of her chakra surged into the door, momentarily deactivating the ninjustsu traps. The Hokage pushed the door wide open, leaving it so the jounin could follow her in.

"Get your ass in here brat!" she raised her voice at the silver-haired man, irritated that he suddenly developed some form of decency in the dead of night.

Kakashi obeyed his Hokage, closing the door behind him. He followed, Tsunade through her home, but he could make out little of what it looked like. The place was completely consumed in darkness. He could barely make out the silhouette of the surrounding furniture, he could, however, conclude that it was spacious and presumably filled with enriching, yet humble decorations. The Hokage of Konohagakure did have a permanent residence within the village, but Tsunade decided to make use of the personal quarters in the Hokage Tower, allowing her to be anywhere in the village within no time if there was an incident.

Tsunade slid open a fusuma, flicking a light, almost blinding the jounin. Kakashi waited for his eye to adjust to the light. Once his eye was in focus, he noted that he was in what appeared the Hokage's study.

The blonde woman threw herself down in a chair behind an elegantly carved desk. She immediately opened a drawer and drew out a cup and planted it down on the desk. Tsunade generously filled the cup and took an extensive swig of the clear alcohol before addressing the jounin again.

Kakashi sent that time looking about the room. The floors were of dark, polished wood and the walls a warm beige in colour. From his position in the doorway, Tsunade was drinking happily behind her desk to his left and parallel to her was an entire wall lined with book shelves. It did not take a genius to figure out that most of the books were on the topic of medical phenomenon.

The silver-haired man quietly shoved his hands into his pockets, trying to keep himself from snapping and telling his leader to go take a hike, he wanted to sleep, even if the world was coming to an end. Kakashi walked into the study, leaving a wet trail behind him. He sat himself down in the chair opposite Tsunade, without invitation.

"Hn, I see your manners didn't last that long," she said absently, taking another drink from her cup. "Hand me your report so that I can drink in peace." Tsunade said, tapping her fingernails on the desk. The older woman set her cup down, resting her chin on her now free hand and propped her elbow on the desk for support.

The Konoha leader waiter for the silver-haired shinobi to submit his sheaves of paper –which had to be a hefty amount of field notes and summaries from four whole months in a foreign country.

"Hatake…"

Now Kakashi knew he was in for it. The only time, Tsunade called him that was when he was in serious trouble. He waited to be thrown across the room or out the fourth storey window for not writing his report.

A tired sigh drew his thoughts back to reality. Kakashi looked at a tired Tsunade, rubbing her temples with exhaustion. For the first time, he noticed that his feared leader was dressed in a baby blue yukata, and her hair a little more than tangled.

The Hokage opened her eyes and gave her favourite shinobi the sweetest smile she could muster. "That is not a problem; just submit your report to, Iruka tomorrow at noon and the classified report must be in my hands BEFORE midnight."

Kakashi whined mentally. It was not that he was avoiding the academy sensei; it was just that the man usually gave Sharingan no Kakashi a lecture about the necessity of orderly mission reports every time the chuunin saw his reports. It seemed that, Iruka did like giving lectures, but the silver-haired jounin could think of much better ways in which to use the sensei's mouth.

"Hai Hokage-sama," Kakashi sighed out the words. The shinobi got up and quickly made the required hand seals for a transportation jutsu and left Tsunade's study in a plume of smoke.

Kakashi reappeared in his apartment, not bothering to look around if anything was stolen for tampered with. Who would dare to break into the Copy Nin's apartment in the first place?

His feet moved with their own consent, making a tedious journey to the bathroom. Kakashi unzipped his flak jack and threw the wet article onto a corner, making a mental note to pick it up the next morning.

He opened the shower knobs, stepping back to remove the rest of his wet clothing and threw them into the laundry hamper by the door. Kakashi stepped into the warm spray of water and as relaxing as the water thundering down his body was, he desired sleep more. He washed off all the dirt and grime he had accumulated from his trek back to Konoha and got out of the shower.

Kakashi dried himself, slowly padding his way out of the bathroom and just collapsed onto his bed with his towel barely draped over his hips. The shinobi soon found himself giving in to the blank bliss of sleep.

XxxxX

The sun peered lazily through the slit in the curtains. The warm ray light roused a chuunin from his pleasant sleep. He opened his eyes and leisurely stretched his arms over his head, ready to take on a new day.

Like most shinobi, Umino Iruka was a creature of habit and like most of them he liked to start his morning with a cup of steaming green tea. The sensei practically jumped out of bed, tossing his bed sheets aside. Iruka walked down his apartment, pausing once he reached his living room.

The walls were of a warm beige colour and the floors decked with a dark wood. The teacher looked about. His forest green couch was paperless, the low coffee table - paperless. He felt a smile spread on his lips and made his way to the kitchen, passing the kitchen table which on many occasion doubled as a desk for mountains of tests, which today was paperless.

"Ah, the wonders of school holidays," Iruka sighed in content. It was only a week long holiday, but it did give the chuunin some time to himself.

The chuunin drank his tea by the table in peace, not having to hurry to be at the Academy ten minutes before any student. Iruka set his cup in the sink and took a quick shower and dressed in his standard gear, closing the drawer of his dresser. He took his hitai-ate in hand and proudly tied it to his forehead, pausing before he left his room to glance at the only reminder he had of his parents, an old framed black and white photograph. They were both smiling proudly at the small bundle in his mother's arms, idly reaching up to tug at his mother's long hair, his father smiling like the proudest man on earth at his new-born son.

Iruka absent mindedly traced his forefinger down the simple frame which held his greatest treasure. Smiling to himself, the chuunin left his room, making a slice of toast and wolfing it down before he embarked to the Missions Office.

The chuunin-sensei found himself humming a tuneless melody while manoeuvring through the throng of civilians, giving a nod or polite reply to students, former-students and other acquaintances alike.

Iruka opened the doors of the Missions Office and found it empty –to his delight– save for the on-duty chuunin. The sensei gave a smile to his friends, taking a seat and preparing himself for a busy day that mainly consisted of yelling at battle-hardened jounins that cowered under his gaze.

"Ohayo, Izumo, Kotetsu," Iruka sat behind the long desk, waiting for one brave soul to venture in. "Aren't you two supposed to be slaving away for Hokage-sama?"

"Well, we were put on normal desk duty today. Thank Kami-sama for that. Oh, by the way, Hokage-sama informed us that you are to expect a report from, Kakashi at noon," Kotetsu said with a sly smile. "And, if his report is not handed in on time or you find it unsatisfactory, then you are free to use any methods necessary to throttle a report from that jounin."

Iruka made a very audible squeak at the mention of his latest assignment. He eyed the man next to him, looking for a sign that it was some sort of joke that they usually played when it came to the very mention of the Copy Nin.

Izumo rested his elbows on the desk, cupping his chin in his hands. He gave the teacher a smile that he knew all too well. "Think about it for a moment, Kakashi always hands his reports in late and the reports themselves are written in some coded language. This is the perfect opportunity to try and seduce him."

Iruka knew his face was a cheery shade of red by now and made no effort to hide his heated cheeks. He had secretly… admired the jounin since he took over his role as sensei to Naruto. The chuunin stilled remembered the first time he had asked Kakashi about adopted little brother's wellbeing. It was embarrassing that there was a blush plastered on his cheeks for the duration of their awkward and short conversation.

It was now Kotetsu's turn to torment the chuunin-sensei. He snaked his arm about Iruka's neck, pulling him close and huskily whispering in his ear. "You can always… 'punish' him for the bad report you know." Kotetsu could practically feel how his comrade's face heated up.

"Th-that's ridiculous!" Iruka shrieked and shrugged Kotetsu's arm off of his neck.

"Aw, you're no fun!" The wild haired chuunin teased. "A dark room and some light bondage and any man will be putty in your hands. Right, Izumo?" He sent a sly glance at his lover. Sure, he would get a stern reprimand later for being so immoral, but the make-up sex was always worth it. That was why he often shirked his duties and was eating out of a jar of syrup one time as seductively as he could, licking his fingers slowly and sucking on them hard, shirking his duties in favour of the simple act. Needless to say when they got home that night, Izumo had even given up on his lecture half way through in favour licking the syrup his lover had dripping down his fingers at the time. He claimed to be 'cleaning' him, but when Izumo did kinky acts like that, Kotetsu did not mind his lover's germaphobia in the least bit.

"Leave me out of this." Izumo snapped, busying himself with paperwork.

"See," Kotetsu said confidently, folding his hands behind his head.

Shinobi of different ranks started to pile into the Missions Office with a steady flow, keeping all three chuunin busy. Iruka had out their discussion at the back of his mind but a little voice in his head kept on chiding him to act on what Kotetsu had suggested.

When noon came by, Iruka found himself looking at the door, actually expecting the silver-haired jounin to casually stroll in and hand him that damned report. However, the chuunin experienced no such luck and started thinking over how he was going to get a decent report from Kakashi.

Time stretched by and it was time for Iruka's shift to come to a close. The sun was sinking down into the horizon, bleeding out soft red and orange hues. The chuunin gathered the reports he had yet to read and rewrite before filling it away to the archives. He took a sturdy leather satchel he kept in the Missions Office for the very purpose of taking work home with him.

Iruka had no idea where to find the Copy Nin could be at that hour, but he guessed he was lounging about Konoha too absorbed in his book to care. He did not know where the silver-haired shinobi lived, so there was no point in trying to harass him at home.

The sensei slung the hefty satchel of reports over his shoulder and set on his way. Iruka unlocked his front door, toed off his sandals and left them there. He put the satchel onto the kitchen table, sighing to himself, thinking how naïve he was in thinking he could turn in early for once.

Iruka padded his way to his bathroom, freed his chestnut hair from the confines of his hair-tie and untied his hitai-ate and put both article carefully on top of his dresser. He unzipped his flak jacket and tossed it onto his bed that he hardly remembered making that morning. He stepped into his bathroom, enjoying the cold tiles underneath his feet.

The chuunin shed himself of his leg wrappings and laid them onto the counter by the sink. He undressed himself fully, throwing the uniform in the laundry hamper, pulling pack the partially see-through shower curtain and opened the hot water.

Iruka stepped into the shower, immediately taking a bottle of shampoo in hand and roughly massaged the liquid into his scalp, feeling his day-long migraine slowly fade to a dull ache. The sensei was out in maximum of seven minutes, drying his body with a fresh, fluffy, white towel with a dolphin patch on; it had been a birth-day gift from Naruto a few years back. Iruka tied the towel securely about his waist. He grabbed a smaller towel to dry his hair. The chuunin quickly combed his fingers through his damp locks of hair, smoothing out any knots he may have gotten.

Iruka walked out of the bathroom and gathered his flak jacket in his arms, and walked through his apartment with nothing but towel to clothe his waist. He hung his flak jacket in its appropriate place on a hook right by the front door.

The chuunin moved over to the kitchen, boiling some water for tea. He opened is pantry, debating whether or not to eat Cup Ramen or make some chicken stir-fry. Deciding on the latter he gathered his ingredients and laid them out on the laminated counter tops and took out the various cooking utensils he required.

"Maa, Iruka-sensei, if that's the way you prepare your food then I certainly wouldn't mind to order some room service."

Iruka nearly jumped out of his skin, dropping his green pepper and whirling around to see Kakashi lounging comfortably on his window sill as if he owned it.

"Hatake-san what you doing in my apartment?" The chuunin asked in mild distress, more concerned about the man being there than catching him in his lack of dress.

Kakashi smiled with his eye. "Well, would you believe me if I said I came to admire the scenery?"

"Wha-"

Iruka took a moment to realize that the jounin was referring to him and he looked down at himself to see the towel riding very low on his hips. Completely embarrassed, he pulled his towel higher and tightened the knot, all the while looking down at the floor as if it were the most interesting subject.

"I-is there something you wanted, Hatake-san?" The sensei asked timidly, his nose and cheeks coloured a rosy shade of red.

Kakashi laughed to himself. Well, there are many things I want, just from seeing that rare sight, the Copy Nin though to himself. The jounin pushed himself off of the window sill, toeing his sandals off in the process. He walked across the living room to where the chuunin stood with a blush that put a tomato to shame.

"I just came to hand in my mission report," he handed over the said documents, smiling with every feature of his face behind his mask.

The sensei took then gingerly, looking over each page. Iruka sighed, making a mental note to add the new report to the ones he had to rewrite before ten o'clock the next morning. The chuunin set it down by his satchel, not really caring if he was parading about in a towel with a cute little dolphin patch on it.

"You do know that your report is seven hours late, Hatake-san." Iruka had switched into 'teacher mode' and was using the same harsh tone he used to reprimand his pre-genin.

Kakashi liked that the other was acting so casually around him now, even though he was invading the man's personal space. "Gomen…" The jounin wanted to tell him of how he had to help this street urchin find his way back to his parents but something had caught his eye.

Iruka had noted how the Copy Nin had trailed off and looked up at the man to see he was looking at something in his apartment. He turned around to see what he drawn the jounin's attention so much. The chuunin-sensei was smiling when he realised that it was his post of hard wood that was tucked away in the furthest part of his living complex.

"Ah, that is just what I use to practise on when I have time to spare." Iruka said sheepishly, scratching the tip of his scar.

"I haven't seen a practise post like this before," Kakashi said moving closer to the said post.

It was seven foot long and as thick as a fully grown sprout of bamboo. The entire surface of the post was dented and worn out from years of use.

"It's an ude makiwara." Iruka followed in step behind the jounin, who appeared to be fascinated by his sparring post. "It was used mainly by Isshin-ryu practitioners; however the material art soon became forgotten, lost in the pages of old jutsu scrolls."

The silver-haired man was fascinated. He never expected Iruka, the loving chuunin-sensei to have a profound interest in material arts. Granted, the man was a shinobi but he never seemed like he was highly skilled in taijutsu.

"Then who taught you?"

Iruka lowered his head, brushing his fingertips fondly against the post as if it were a beloved friend. "Sandaime taught me, after he made it apparent that he was determined to teach me and ultimately get me out of my trouble-making ways." The chuunin found a smile cross his lips. "After months of training, I suppose the discipline of Isshin-ryu, coupled with raising Naruto, made me into the man I am today."

Kakashi glanced at Iruka, who was caught in his memories. "A rather fitting taijutsu for you, Iruka-sensei."

The said chuunin snapped his head back to Kakashi. "What do you mean?"

"Isshin-ryu, One Heart Method; the style suits you."

Iruka didn't know what to say. He sucked some air into his lungs and tried to fight down an on-coming blush. "Th-thank you." It was all the chuunin could manage.

The silver-haired shinobi felt a small smile tug at his lips from behind his mask. Kakashi could see that there was something the chuunin wanted to say. He wanted to run his fingers through those dark, damp locks or fist them to pull the sensei into a kiss.

"Hatake-san," Iruka knew that it was now or never.

"Hm?"

The brunette sheepishly scratched the edge of his scar out of a nervous habit. "Well, I was wondering if you would like to stay for some dinner – I mean… I was already making some and to make more wouldn't be a problem." Iruka mentally face palmed himself at how lame he sounded.

Kakashi was a little taken back by the sudden invitation to dinner. Before the jounin gave his answer, a stern reminder from his Hokage regarding his classified report came to him.

"I would have loved to join you for dinner, but, Tsunade-baachan is expecting me." The silver-haired man would have given anything to have dinner make by the subject of his wet dreams as of late. However, if Kakashi did not hand in his report then Tsunade might just send him on more tedious mission, as if he wasn't spread thin enough already.

"Ah well, you best be going then."

The jounin nodded in agreement. As the silver-haired man turned his back, Iruka had an idea spark in his mind. Kakashi was at the window, putting his sandals back on and was about to leave, but not without a back glance at the siren in the apartment. The image of the chuunin-sensei in nothing but that towel of his was going to haunt the jounin for some time.

"Have a pleasant evening, Hatake-san."

Kakashi smiled. Iruka was always so formal. "Thanks, but I have a favour to ask: call me Kakashi." In truth, having someone calling him that made him feel old.

The chuunin bowed his head a little, looking at the window sill the silver-haired shinobi was occupying. "H-have a pleasant evening, Kakashi."

"Maa," the jounin smiled. "The same to you too, Iruka-sensei." With that said and done, Kakashi slipped out the window.

The silver-haired shinobi jumped across the rooftops of Konoha and soon found himself at the Memorial Stone. With nothing better to do, he sat at the base of the memorial and slipped out his latest volume of Icha Icha.

He opened from where he had last stopped and to Kakashi's surprise, a slip of paper fluttered out from his book's pages. The shinobi cautiously picked the paper off of his lap. It looked like a normal square cut of paper that was often used to write notes on. Kakashi flipped over the page and found writing on the other side. Neat numbers were written across the page: **1 4 3**.

A code? It was the first thing that came to mind, but this was unlike any other ciphered message he had seen. That was saying something in itself since the jounin was a master in cryptography.

The Copy Nin sat there, thinking over what those three little numbers could possibly mean. What Kakashi found more disturbing was the fact that someone was able to sneak a note into _his _Icha Icha volume without him even noticing the change in weight.

When the silver-haired jounin bothered to look up at the sky, he noticed that the moon was just about setting. He was beyond late for his meeting with Tsunade. He tucked his book into his pouch and pocketed the note.

Kakashi made his way over to the Hokage Tower, stopping outside Tsunade's personal quarters. The jounin knocked on the door for a few times and then waited for the Hokage to storm out to throw him out the nearest widow for bothering her at such an ungodly hour.

"BRAT!" The door flung open and Kakashi was met with the sight of a very angered Tsunade. "Your late!" The older woman forcedly pulled him into her home and dragged him all the way to the study.

"You better have some good damn information or you'll be begging to Kami-sama that Iruka was the one in charge of your punishment." Tsunade sat herself down and automatically poured herself a cup full of sake.

Kakashi remained standing, now completely serious. "Hokage-sama," he started, immediately getting her attention. "Four months ago you sent me to Kirigakure to see if I could acquire any information regarding the current whereabouts or plans of Uchiha Madara."

Tsunade nodded. That was indeed what she had sent him to do. She did however fear for Kakashi. To send him into the loin's den was suicide, but he proved her wrong and came back alive and in near perfect condition.

"I was unable to find his whereabouts; however, I did attain certain information." He paused to look at his Hokage. "He continues in his search for the Juubi and during his research he had set his eyes on Konoha. I do not know if he is after Naruto this time or seeking some other artefact."

Tsuande bowed her head. "Well done brat. I have one question: Where did he acquire his research?"

Kakashi did not understand why it mattered when his student was in danger. "He stole scrolls from archives hidden beneath the Mizukage's Palace. The place was heavily guarded with traps but he got past all of them and the scrolls he attained seemed to have been from before Kirigakure was even founded."

"I see," the woman folded her hands in front of her face, propping her elbows on the desk. "You're dismissed."

The jounin preformed a teleportation jutsu and left the Hokage in her study. The said woman filled her cup again and looked down at the liquid, deep in thought.

"Kami-sama help us."

**A/N: Yays! The prologue is complete.**** I hope you all enjoyed the prologue. You may have noticed mistakes in my grammar or spelling and that is because English is not my first language. This story is also completely un-beta'd. So please forgive me if there are factual mistakes, especially by the material arts. I'm no expert. More will be on the way, but some chapters will be shorter or longer than others and I will try to up date as regularly as possible. I'm still in high school, a dedicated art student and I do not have regular internet access so it may take up to a month to update at times but please bear with me.**

**Reviews would be appreciated. I accept criticism but flames are going to keep me warm this winter. **

**See ya next time! **

**EDIT: I only saw the stupid mistakes after I posted the chapter and hopefully ****it's all fixed now. ^.^; **


	2. The Broken Present

**Hey, I did not expect to update so soon. I want to thank everyone that reviewed and put alerts on this story. There was one question: Is Madara looking for the 1-9 tailed beasts for the Juubi or the Juubi itself. In this one he is looking for the Juubi itself. **

**There is some SasuNaru in this chapter and will probably be throughout the length of this story. Who I decide to pair characters with is my decision and though I do value the opinions of you readers, this is my decision so please just bear with it. **

**Well enjoy the first chapter:**

**The Broken Present**

Iruka stood in front of the blackboard, writing out the tactical basics of shurikenjutsu, all the while keeping his ears in tune for… Ah, there it was. That week of quiet time had flown by as if it had never happened in the first place.

"Tanaka, I suggest you write down these notes and put away that straw filled with a gum ball," he said, without even needing to look over his shoulder.

"Ah, Iruka-sensei!" the boy whined. "You weren't supposed to pick up on what I was doing until the gum ball hit the back of your head!" He jumped out of his seat and fisted his hands, pointing angrily at his sensei. "Just wait, Iruka-sensei, I'll get you someday!"

"Even a monkey would have seen through your plan." The chuunin sensei sighed, facing his class. They were all snickering at Tanaka's latest failure to lure his sensei into an amateur prank. "You are too noisy, so sit back down." Iruka turned back to the blackboard, continuing with his teachings. He made a mental note to scold Naruto and Konohamaru about creating such a nuisance –an amateur prankster on top of it– over diner the next time he saw him.

The chuunin continued on until the lunch break, and even then he sat down at his desk to get a head start on the tests he had to grade before tomorrow. Taking a red marker in hand he started the tedious task of trying to find marks beneath dozens of different variations of the first rule of being a shinobi. He had barely made a dent in the tower of papers when the students started flooding back into the class.

Iruka simply continued from where he had left off with the lesson and gave them a page essay about the purpose of shinobi saying number twenty-five. He ignored the high pitched pleas and name callings.

"Well, if you put it that way," he paused, just to get their attention, "then I really have no choice but to give you a test for tomorrow instead… what a shame."

"I-iruka-sensei, w-we didn't mean! Really!" His plan had worked, now all the students were agreeing to the essay, anything to get out of a test. The students packed their back and ran out of the classroom, leaving the chuunin in peace.

The sensei gathered all remaining tests and put them in his satchel. He looked over his lesson plan for the remainder of the week. He altered it so that he could fit some weapons practice in before the weekend. It was nearly four-thirty when he was satisfied with it and finally left his classroom.

Iruka went straight to his apartment, not really feeling like putting on a cheery smile for people. He made a quick stop at the grocer to get some milk and fresh vegetables.

"Oi, Iruka-sensei!" His plan was not turning out to much success.

"Oh, hello, Shikamaru-kun," he greeted politely, putting that cheery smile on his face. "Is there something I can help you with?"

The young man walked up to his former sensei in no immediate hurry. "Nn. Hokage-sama is looking for you and she wishes to see you immediately."

"Why now all of a sudden?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "How would I know such a troublesome thing? She told me to wait until you finished your day at the Academy."

Iruka mentally sighed. He really was hoping to postpone the inevitable, but it could not be helped. The sensei said his thanks to the younger man and left to go see Tsunade. There was really no doubt about why she wanted to see him. It has been a good three months since he last had to see her over such a matter.

The chuunin set his path now to the Hokage Tower. Sure, he was instructed to get there immediately, but it was not as if he could just run over there with an armful of groceries. It took him a good ten minutes to reach the doors to Tsunade's office. Iruka gently put down his packet and knocked on the door. He heard a tired sigh and tempered 'come in'.

"Good Evening, Hokage-sama," he greeted, bowing before looking at the woman. Tsunade was practically buried in paperwork, something that the chuunin-sensei could sympathize with.

"Ah, Iruka-sensei," she greeted, looking at him from behind her mountain of work. "I was wondering if you got my message."

"Gomen nasai, Tsunade-sama, I had a long day at the Academy before I got the message from Shikamaru-kun."

Tsunade sighed, getting up from her chair and making her way to the chuunin. "Well, let's get going, I'm not getting any younger you know."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Iruka followed her –reluctantly- to the Konoha Hospital. He looked around for any signs of Sakura, but the pink-haired medic was nowhere to be seen.

Tsunade worked her way through the maze of white corridors, finally stopping at a private examination room. She opened the door and went right in, opening the window to let a cool breeze draft through the sterile scented room. Unlike the other examination rooms, this one was only used by Tsunade to check up on the most critical cases. Jounin had to come to this room bi-annually for a full body examination. This room was one, Iruka knew well.

Nothing had changed. The white curtains were as crisp as they were the first time he had an examination with the Godaime. The examination table was even covered with the same exact shade of swallow white. The chuunin did not even have to be told what to do; he methodically stripped himself of his flak jacket and shirt, toeing off his sandals before he sat down on the bed.

Tsunade was on the far end of the room, shifting through medical files, taken, most of them belonged jounins, in fact the entire collection of cabinets were filled with jounin medical files alone, however, she had put Iruka's file in the same cabinet. He was a special case and Tsunade did not want to get the file through means of passing hands. She had kept the file with all the other off-limit files that belonged to jounins and ANBU members.

"Don't look at me with that face," she said, putting the file on the empty desk. "You know as well as I do, that you need nearly monthly appointments, but with all the hassle lately, I haven't been able to do a check-up in three whole months."

The chuunin could not help but sigh. "Hai Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade opened the file and flipped through the pages to the last details of the last check-up. Closing the file, she walked over to Iruka, who had already lain down on his back, staring blankly at the white tiled ceiling.

The old woman focused chakra in her hands and let them roam over the expanse of tanned flesh in front of her. "Have you been feeling different lately?"

"No." He just wanted to leave.

"Has everything been functioning properly?"

"Yes," he said monotonously. "As you can see I can still wriggle my fingers and toes."

Tsunade clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth. "Don't fool around, you know what I meant."

Iruka knew what she meant but it should have been obvious. "Yes, everything it functioning as it should be."

The Godaime sighed. She knew he hated doing this, but it was a necessity. "Alright, then show me."

XxxxX

The sun was starting to set, and Konoha was slowly preparing to retire for the day. However, that was not what a certain blonde had in mind. He sprinted through the trees, barely being able to contain his excitement of returning home after a two week mission in the Stone Country. All Naruto wanted was to return home and embrace a heart-warming welcome from his lover. The gates were in sight now. A wide grin spread on his lips.

A small patch of silver was seen in the corner of his cerulean blue eyes. The blonde came to a complete holt, having an internal debate whether or not to investigate it. In the end, his curiosity got the better of him. He leapt over the wide branches to where he had seen that little patch of silver. Exhaling, he crept nearer to the tree, ready to draw a kunai if he needed to.

What he saw was the last thing he had expected to see.

"Kakashi?" Naruto called out, crouching near his former sensei. The jounin did not even twitch. "Eh, Kakashi!" The blonde practically shouted his name, but even then it drew no response from the older man.

"You over worked the Sharingan again, didn't you?" He asked rhetorically. "Well, looks like I'll just have to haul you over to Tsunade-baachan then."

The blonde lifted the silver-haired man over his shoulders. The jounin was a bit heavier than he had expected. Naruto sped through the forest to the gates and even then he did not stop. He went straight to the Hokage Tower. Naruto barged right into her office without knocking.

"Tsunade-baachan, I have a present for you!"

"I don't want anything from you," she said coolly. The Hokage had her nose buried in reports and some other paperwork.

Naruto grinned at that. "Sorry, this one doesn't have a return slip."

Tsunade looked up from her work. She was exhausted; she had spent her entire day at her desk and on top of that had to perform a full body exam on Iruka earlier. What she wanted was a big cup of sake. "What the hell do y-" Tsunade could not believe her eyes. Naruto stood there in the middle of her office with none other than Hatake Kakashi over his shoulder. The Godaime gave a long sigh. She should have expected this to happen; she was working the silver-haired brat a bit too hard lately. Back-to-back A and S rank missions meant he would have had to resort to the Sharingan from time to time.

"Take him to the hospital; I'll be there in a minute." Actually she would give anything to get out of her office. Tsunade just needed to tell Shizune, otherwise hell would freeze over when she found that the Godaime was not at her desk.

Naruto whined but did as he was told, carrying Kakashi to the hospital and went to the Hokage's exam room. The blonde put the older man on the examination table, then residing to one of the walls and waited for Tsunade to come.

"OH, you're still here, Naruto?" The Godaime said in a surprised tone. "Well, you can leave now. This brat just over did it this time. All he needs is plenty of rest."

"Hm." Naruto bid his farewell and hurried on home. The blonde opened the front door of his apartment and took off his sandals, letting his shoulders sag a fraction. He was finally home. Naruto finally understood how Kakashi had felt when he was –is– sent on missions like he was a machine. He had often joked about it to his former sensei, saying he was just getting too old for that kind of activity. Now that he was a jounin himself, he could sympathize.

Something smelt like heaven. Naruto followed his nose and found Sasuke in front of the stove cooking dinner. He could not be happier; coming home to his lover and a delicious meal, it simply did not get any better.

"Are you just gonna stand in the door way or are you going to come here so I can give you a kiss?" The brunette asked, looking over his shoulder.

Naruto smiled. He went over to taller man and wrapped his arms about his neck, turning him around. The blonde brushed his lips over the others, staying like that for a moment before he put his lips onto Sasuke's. They stayed in that position, simply enjoying being in each other's presence.

Sasuke soon wanted to deepen the kiss and snaked his tongue into Naruto's mouth, exploring every available surface of that warm cavern. The blonde stiffed his body closer to his lover's, just wanting to feel their bodies pressed against each other.

The Uchiha was the one to break their kiss, smiling at Naruto's slightly disappointed expression. Sasuke stroked the blonde's cheek affectionately. "Later love, first you need to eat. I didn't make all this just to have it go to waste."

Naruto's body agreed wholly with that statement, his stomach letting out a painful growl. Sasuke shooed the blonde out of the kitchen. Making him lay the table. The food was done not long after and the Uchiha set down the last bowl, looking at his eagerly waiting lover.

"This looks great, Sasuke!" Naruto grabbed his chopsticks a grin wide on his face. "Itadakimasu!" The blonde wolfed right into his meal, making sighs and moans of delight.

The brunette went at a slower pace, enjoying that his food was much appreciated and would not go to waste. Those moans, however, were too distracting for him to enjoy his meal.

"That was wonderful." Naruto commented, running his hand over his full belly.

The Uchiha nodded and stood up from his chair, stopping beside the blonde. "Go take a shower while I clean up here." The taller male kissed the other's cheek tenderly before taking the empty dishes in hand.

Naruto did as he was told, actually glad to have the opportunity to clean himself. The blonde ventured straight to the master bedroom and by the en suite bedroom. Which combined was bigger than his previous apartment. The bedroom had a king sized bed that proved to be more than big enough for the two jounin. The room was equipped with two walk-in closets. The blonde unzipped his flak jacket and tossed it onto the bed and trudged his way into the bathroom, which was equally as luxurious –by Naruto's standards– as the bedroom.

Naruto opened the flow of warm water and undressed, stepping into the spray of water. As relaxing as it was, the blonde spent surprisingly little time in the shower. The jounin dried his hair with a spare towel and walked out the bathroom with a towel around his waist.

Sasuke just dried his hands, satisfied that everything was clean. The brunette padded his way to the bedroom and thanked, Kami-sama for perfect timing. The Uchiha put his weight up against the door frame, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

Naruto was oblivious to his on-looker and let his towel pool down to his ankles. The blonde retrieved a pair of baby blue boxers with little frog faces printed on them. Naruto was in the process of stepping into his sleepwear when a large had caught his wrist and a sinewy arm wrapped about his middle.

"You won't be needing that tonight." Sasuke latched his mouth onto the nape of the blonde's neck, swiping his tongue eagerly over the sensitive, tanned skin.

Naruto moaned at the sweet sensations. The taller man's hand had started to wonder, ghosting over taunt abdominal muscles and the brunette laved at his neck was overly wonderful.

"What took you so long to get home?" The Uchiha had moved his kisses up the blonde's neck, kissing up and past his jaw, stopping to nib at that soft earlobe.

Naruto barely registered that his lover had spoken to him. He really needed talk to Sasuke about his awful habit of talking during foreplay. It did nothing to help the matter that the said man was tickling his fingers down to Naruto's growing arousal.

The blonde was panting, his lips slightly parted as Sasuke started to lightly stroke his member. "K-kakshi… was passed out near the gates." He paused to moan as the brunette started to pump him. "Ah… I-I took him to Tsunade-baachan and came here as soon he was in the hospital.

"Hm." The brunette busied himself with licking the shell of Naruto's ear. "You're such a good Samaritan. Let me … repay you for your kind deeds." Sasuke maneuvered them over to the bed and pushed the blonde down onto the mattress. The Uchiha stood up and pulled his skin-tight, black ANBU shirt over his head, his muscles flexing as he swiftly removed his clothing. Sasuke crawled over to the blonde and was a bit surprised when he had gotten no response from the jiikirubi as he tried to take off his pants.

The Uchiha moved over so that he was hovering over Naruto and his fears were confirmed. The blonde was sound asleep, snoring lightly. Sasuke sighed, rolling over to lie next to him and pulled the covers over the two of them.

XxxxX

Tsunade was in her study, plowing through totems of medical encyclopedias to find the best method to repair multiple muscle structure damage throughout Kakashi's body. In plain, the jounin's body was an utter disaster; hardly anything wasn't damaged to some degree. The tricky part was finding something that would not leave the silver-haired shinobi paralysed. She needed the answer and needed it now. Closing the book, she put it beside the many others that had not shown her such answers. Kakashi was suffering from chakra depletion and had used his body's energy and covered it into chakra, running on that alone for the past few days. He had literary burned his body inside.

That brat had nearly destroyed his own body for the sake of completing the mission. Given that shinobi were expected to sacrifice themselves, because the mission came first. But what he Copy Nin had done bordered on madness. He was one of Konoha's most valuable assets, and so Tsunade decided that she was going to have to teach him a lesson once he fit enough for it later.

She needed to distract herself. More precisely, she needed a drink. Tsunade opened the bottom drawer and took out a bottle of sake and a cup. The Godaime filled the cup to the brim with the clear liquid and raised the cup to her lips, drinking steadily.

Tsunade opened her eyes that she did not even know she had closed. The honey-coloured orbs travelled over her expansive shelves of books. She decided to take a little break. Tsunade was curious about Iruka's early life, the one he had lead after he had lost both his parents. She opened a different drawer and took and took out the said man's career file, however, it was a little more than the average one. The front portion was like any other, a complete track of completed missions, individual abilities and such. The chuunin's folder was thick and she had already read through fifteen pages. It seemed however that only those few pages were dedicated to his shinobi career.

The greater part of his file was mission reports on attempts to capture the Umino. Even ANBU members had failed to catch him. Tsunade soon knew of the infamous prankster that even put Naruto to shame, She found it hard to believe that it was the same gentle Academy teacher that was loved by everyone. From what she had read, back then he was almost loathed by everyone.

A few of the pages were written by Tsunade's former sensei himself, the Sandaime. He had often commented on Iruka's precise chakra control and sensing abilities. One page had caught her immediate attention. It was not what she had been expecting to find at all.

It was a highly detailed report on how he had destroyed, or more effectively, obliterated a playground single-handedly. No one knew how it had happened, save for the Iruka and three other children, but they were put into trauma counseling afterwards and were not available for interrogation. Iruka had become withdrawn from society for a time. The entire case went unsolved.

Tsunade was about to close the file when it seemed another page caught her eye. The chuunin's file seemed to be full of surprises and now she understood why his file was only accessible to the Hokage. The Godaime smiled. She had just found her answer and it came in the form of a certain chuunin-sensei. There was hope for the silver-haired brat after all.

XxxxX

Iruka was out and about before the sun had yet to rise. The chuunin ate his toast and got up to put all the graded tests in his satchel. He returned to the kitchen to drink the rest of his tea and put the cup in the sink to be washed at a later stage.

The brunette was out of his apartment and into the cool spring breeze. The streets were relatively empty, save for the few shopkeepers getting their shops ready for a new day and stray shinobi returning home from a mission. As usual, he was the first at the Academy. Iruka unlocked all doors and windows he had access to and retreated to the staff room to get a warm cup of tea. Teachers slowly started to trickle in and Iruka went to his classroom after he finished his tea. At about 7:30 all his students were seated and chatting happily amongst themselves.

"All Right everyone, quiet down." Iruka raised his voice to sound over the energetic chatter of his class. "Today we will be looking into – H-hokage-sama?"

Tsunade stood in the doorway with Shizune and Ton-Ton in tow. The children all looked in awe at the legendary female Sannin.

"Ohayo, Iruka-sensei," the Godaime greeted.

Iruka was about as stunned as his students at the unexpected visit, but quickly regained his composure. "Is there something I can help you with, Hokage-sama?"

"Yes, there is," she gave a small smile. "You are coming with me to the hospital. Don't worry; Shizune will take over your classes for today."

The brunette stood there for a moment. Okay, so Shizune was taking over his classes, but he let a bit worried over the matter. Throughout the entire Academy, he was given the worst troublemakers.

"Alright everyone, I want you all to show respect and listen to, Shizune-san." The chuunin turned to leave and could practically feel their little malicious smiles. Iruka reluctantly followed Tsunade down the hallway.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine," the Hokage reassured him.

"SIT DOWN!" Shizune's voice vibrated from his classroom. Instead of fear for the assistant, he now feared for his poor students.

Tsunade put a firm hand on the chuunin's shoulder. "Told you not to worry, and she's not violent, about the worst crime she can commit is taking away the sake."

"Tsunade-sama, there are only children, therefore too young to drink any sake." He glanced at her than turned his attention to the fine weather once they left the Academy. As expected, civilians cleared the way for their Hokage but gave polite smiles to the chuunin-sensei as well.

"Ahh… Tsunade-sama, why are we going to the hospital?"

"Well, I got a present late last night, but it's a bit broken," she said with a heavy sigh.

What? Present? Broken? Now, all Iruka wanted to do was run before it was too late, but he stayed by his Hokage's side.

Tsunade saw his worried expression and gave him a soft smile. She worked her way through the hospital and came to one of the few private recovery rooms. The Sannin went right in, but Iruka stayed at the door, not wanting to intrude on whoever was occupying the room.

"Come right in, Iruka," she said, waving her hand. "It's not as if this brat is going to run amuck about you being in the room anyway."

The brunette did as he was told and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. He turned his attention to the occupant in the bed. With that silver shock of hair there was no doubt about it. "Kakashi?"

"Yup. Naruto was coming in back from a mission when he saw him passed out near the gates and brought him to me." Tsunade busied herself with checking the jounin's vitals.

"But what does this all have to do with me?" he asked curiously. Iruka looked over the jounin. His mask was still in place, it must have been cut from his shirt so that the medics could dress him up in bandages.

"That idiot was running on nothing and was suffering from chakra depletion. The brat converted his bodily energy into chakra, and practically charred his muscles." She paused to look back at Iruka. "The only one that can heal him without leaving permanent damage is you, Iruka."

The statement hit him like a rock. The brunette gingering scratched the edge of his scar. "I see you read my file, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade nodded in acknowledgement. "I did and there are things I wish to discuss with you later. But, first we have to fix up this troublesome brat."

**There is chapter one. I hope you all enjoyed it and I will try to update soon. Well, please tell me what you guys think. And again, thank you for the reviews and alerts. Oh, and I promise there will be more KakaIru in the next chapter. **

**See ya soon!**

**EDIT: I hope I fixed all the spelling mistakes, and I decided to change some things around. **


	3. Iruka's Jutsu

**Hello there! I hope you enjoy this. Here is the second chapter: **

**Ryuusuihada**

Iruka did not know what to do. The Godaime had very effectively back him into a corner. The chuunin did want to help Kakashi, he really did. He had just hoped there was another way to do it. The brunette roughly rubbed the back of his neck, deep in thought. He really had no other choice.

"It's safe to say you read everything?" It was a bit uncalled for or rude, but he needed it know.

"Of course," she said, motioning for Iruka to come closer. "I want you to do this today, if possible."

The chuunin sighed, looking back at Kakashi. "Alright."

Tsunade smiled at him. She did not want to force the sensei into doing it. At least he co-operating and that made everything easier. "Thank you Iruka. I secured an area by a waterfall not too far outside of Konoha and ANBU will be nearby if anything goes wrong. The only have instructions to intervene and your say-so, they won't be monitoring you at all. You have my word."

Iruka knew he could trust her, but still, the entire ordeal made him feel ill at ease. "There are some things I need before I treat Kakashi-san. I will come back once everything is ready." Iruka bowed his head, leaving the Hokage and the jounin. Once he closed the door, the brunette slumped against the nearest wall. "What a mess."

The chuunin left the hospital quietly, making his way through the bustling streets, not really paying mind to his surroundings.

"Iruka-sensei" Just what he needed right now.

"Long time no see, Naruto." The blonde ran up to the brunette, smiling brightly. "I heard you came back some time last night. It's good to see you again." The chuunin gave Naruto a quick hug and a tired smile. "I know we usually have a Ramen after you come back from a long mission, but I am very busy."

"Aw that sucks." The blonde started to pout. "Then instead you have to come and have dinner with Sasuke and I some other time this week."

Iruka smiled. 'I'll be there."

Naruto returned the gesture and said his farewell, leaving just as quickly as he had come.

The chuunin continued on his way to his apartment and hurriedly put what he needed in his pouch and left to return to the hospital. He was outside Kakashi's room and knocked on the door before he went in. The brunette found Tsunade sitting in one of the chairs reading what looked like a mission report.

"Konichiwa, Hokage-sama."

"Ah, Iruka, come here there is still one last thing I want to tell you before I take the two of you to the waterfall." Iruka had a bad feeling about what was to come. "After you heal Kakashi, I am going to put him on a two week medical leave. During that time I want you to look after him and make sure he does not overexert himself."

The chuunin felt his jaw drop. "H-hokage-sama, why are you putting Kakashi-san in my care, when it would be better to monitor his conditions by keeping him in the hospital?"

Tsunade sighed. "Well firstly the brat hates hospitals, and I am not going to try and put up with him for two whole weeks. Secondly, you are the one doing this and you pick up any problems much quicker than the nurses."

She had a very valid point. "Very well."

"Good, now get over here so that I can take you and this brat out of here." The brunette walked over to the Godaime's side and before he could even blink he was blinded by the smoke a teleportation jutsu.

Iruka looked about them as the smoke started to clear. Lush green grass was beneath their feet. A wide waterfall was in front of them, the spray of the water misting over to them, creating a cool breeze. The chuunin looked around them and then back to the Godaime.

"I will leave you to it then," Tsunade wished him luck and left in a plume of smoke from a teleportation jutsu.

Iruka stared perplexedly at the place the Godaime had occupied just moments ago. The chuunin crouched down to look more closely at the comatose jounin. He prayed that Tsunade's soporific would hold out until he had successfully completed the jutsu. Iruka looked at Kakashi, bringing his hand up to brush away stray locks of silver that had fallen over his brow.

The brunette straightened himself and went to the lip of the river, just a few meters away from the waterfall. The chuunin walked across the water and stood as near to the centre as he could estimate and began a zazen*. Iruka's breath became near non-existent as he sat on the water, focusing all the chakra he would need for the first stage.

A steady flow of the chuunin's chakra began to flow into the water and give off a slight ethereal glow of cerulean blue. Iruka released a long puff of air once he was certain he had embedded the water with enough chakra. He stood and ventured back to Kakashi.

Now it was time to stage two.

Iruka hated this part of the justu, but he could not proceed without doing it. Methodically, the chuunin untied the white hospital robe and put it to one side. The brunette focused his attention elsewhere, anywhere, as long as he did not look at the bared jounin before him. The temptation was too much for him to resist and coyly let his chocolate brown eyes travel from one point down.

The first feature he noticed was how pale the jounin's skin was. Iruka looked at that relaxed face and ventured down. The thick muscle of Kakashi's neck was half covered by the remains of the black mask, but that did not make it look any less appealing to the chuunin. His shoulders were strong, yet slim and met defined biceps and down powerful curves of his arm that would have made other shinobi jealous. Iruka led his eyes back up to sharp collar bones and drank in the hard chest that gently rose and fell. Hard abdominal muscles packed over his stomach, and the brunette just let his eyes flow down to that slim waist.

Iruka stopped himself before he completely forgot about the reason behind stripping Kakashi in the first place. The brunette sighed and scooped the silver-haired man into his arms, one arm under the bend of the jounin's knees while the other was wrapped tightly about his shoulders. He was certainly heavier than what Iruka had originally thought, but fortunately it was only a little way to the water.

He gently lay Kakashi down onto the water, the chakra embedded in it keeping the jounin afloat. Iruka sat right beside him, crossing his legs and trying to get into a comfortable position.

It was now on to stage three.

The chuunin clamped his teeth onto his right thumb, drawing blood. Iruka let out a heavy puff of hot air and started writing small characters onto the jounin's pale body. Firstly he drew them into a circle formation around Kakashi's navel, and then started drawing out the first of the six arms. The brunette had started with the lower ones, two of the arms down each leg. While he drew them swiftly, he had to execute each one precisely; otherwise the rest of the jutsu would fail. The vine of characters wrapped around the entire leg and ended once they had coiled around the chakra pathway underneath the foot.

Iruka straightened his back for a moment then went to do an exact mirror image of the first leg. The brunette moved back to the origin of the characters and started with the third arm. Now Iruka had no choice but to look at the jounin's genitals. The brunette swiftly draw over those fine hairs that travelled south and as gently and quickly as he could, wrapped the characters over Kakashi's member like he had with his legs.

Iruka let out a sigh of relief now that what he considered the most difficult part of the jutsu was over. He started the three remaining arms, taking the first vine of characters up the smooth chest and then down his arm. Like the other limbs, he wrapped the red vine of characters around the muscle and turned Kakashi's hand up to coil characters tightly in his palm. He repeated the image onto the opposite arm.

Now there was just one arm left to complete. Iruka reached back into his pouch and withdrew a pair of scissors. The brunette glided the blades over the material, taking care not to cur any of the mask that his face. Really, all he needed was to expose Kakashi's neck, nothing more. Anymore and that would have been invading his privacy. Putting the tool away, he started to travel the characters up the neck, stemming it out six times, but never linked them. Iruka swept the character over the underside of the jounin's chin then drew back to admire his work.

The brunette inhaled the moistened air; the sound of the waterfall behind him relaxed him. Iruka put out his hands in front of him and waved through a whole series of hand seals. "Ninpo, Suiton, Ryuusuihada." (Ninja Art, Water Release, Dragon Water Skin) The chuunin sensed the water flow around him and respond to him.

Iruka placed his right palm against the cool skin of Kakashi's stomach, covering the origin of the character. Chakra flowed into the jounin, the red characters moving throughout the pale body, like snakes about a captured prey. With his free hand, Iruka formed more seals and from what he had heard, there was another that had the same ability. The boy, however – Haku was it? From what Iruka had heard, he had died and, but he died protecting someone that was precious to him. The brunette wished he would be able to protect someone precious to him. Naruto was on his way to becoming the Rukodaime Hokage, so the chuunin highly doubted that the blonde would ever need his protection.

Iruka shook his head and returned his thoughts to the matter at hand. He formed the more seals and thin columns of water twisted their way out of the river and search for their mark. The cool water glided over Kakashi's skin, like the touch of a lover. The chuunin watched as the water intermixed with the characters. The brunette made the final seals and closed his eyes in concentration. The water gave off the ethereal blue of the chakra inside. The water seeped into the jounin's skin and started to flow underneath that thin layer of skin, mimicking the pathways of the characters on the surface. The water stretched and flowed over the jounin's charka pathways.

Iruka focused on making the water shift to all the injured muscle and tissue, first repairing the damaged ones. Once that task was complete, the brunette collected the water where the muscle had been burnt away. Iruka focused some healing chakra on his palm and then injected it into Kakashi, making the water absorb the green chakra. He had to concentrate; if he manipulated his chakra with a millimeter of inaccuracy then it would permanently damage the silver-haired jounin.

Come on. Come on. Those words were chanted in Iruka's mind like a mantra. The brunette willed the chakra to be more flexible. Holding up a jutsu while trying to heal an entire body was taxing, but Iruka forced himself to see it through.

The muscle started to regenerate and the chuunin felt slightly relieved. H stayed there until each muscle was fully formed again. Iruka let out a quivering breath. He drew his hand back from Kakashi's abdomen. The characters started to slither back into the circle about the jounin's navel and faded from view.

Iruka sat back and let himself rest for a moment. He was thoroughly drained. Iruka looked up at the sun. He had been there for a few hours and it was nearing sunset. Iruka felt the water wrap a tentacle about his hand, nudging his fingers into the water. It was as if the water had sensed that he was about to depart. He smiled and dipped his hand into the cool water. It brushed its currents against his hand, as if urging him not to leave. Iruka waved his fingers and created ripples on the water's surface. Small bubbles of water rose up and floated in the air like faery lights he had been told about as a child. The chuunin felt like he could sit there for eternity with the water and play with its shape, but he had a jounin to take care of.

Iruka pulled his hand out of the water, the small spheres of water falling back into the river. The chuunin straightened to sit on his haunches. The brunette took Kakashi into his arms again and walked back to the soft grass. Once he was there, he performed a teleportation jutsu with the last of his chakra.

The brunette sank to his apartment floor, taking Kakashi with him. He sat there for a moment, catching his breath. Minutes passed before Iruka finally got up and carried the jounin to the spare room that had once been Naruto's.

Iruka laid the jounin gently on the bed and left to go and find clothes for the man. The brunette raved through his closet and came upon a pair of black, baggy sweatpants and an over-sized white t-shirt. He returned to Kakashi, relieved that he was still unconscious. He started to dress the jounin and gently as possible before throwing a warm blanket over him.

The chuunin went back to his own bedroom, taking a quick shower and changed into a blue t-shirt that hugged every curve in his body and a similar pair of sweat pants that he had clothed Kakashi with. The brunette left his hair down and let the wet tresses dry by themselves as he walked into his kitchen.

He searched through his cupboards, uncertain f what to make for dinner since he had a guest. What did Kakashi like? Was he allergic to anything? His safest option had to be a soup of some kind and it was also the safest, considering Kakashi's overly sensitive body right now. He opened his fridge, hoping some sort of inspiration would come lashing out at him. Finding nothing of interest, he returned to the cupboards.

His chocolate brown eyes looked over everything and then settled on one packet tucked away in the corner. Dried wakame*. That could work, he told himself. The chuunin went over to his bookshelf, taking a recipe book that he had inherited from his mother. The book had a brown coarse cover and the pages were yellowed at the edges. The book was older than he was and was well used. Every recipe in it was hand written by his mother, making it all the more precious to him. Iruka paged through it, finding dough splatters all over the pancake recipe. His mother always allowed him to help with the coking.

Smiling to himself, he referred to the index at the back. Wakame soup*. Wakame soup. Iuka ran his finger down the page, finally finding the page number he was looking for. The chuunin walked back to the kitchen, putting the book down on the countertop, he searched for his ingredients.

Okay he needed: 2 chicken thighs, 1 clove of crushed garlic, half an onion, a pinch of sea salt, 1 cube of chicken broth, shiitake mushrooms*, and some ginger.

Iruka got everything he needed, putting the chicken into the microwave to thaw and started to crush the garlic, its sharp smell filling his nostrils. Taking a pot from the cupboard, he filled it with water and put it on the stove to bring to a boil. Once the chicken was thawed, he put the chicken, garlic, onions, and sliced ginger into the pot of boiling water.

Leaving that for the moment, he soaked a handful of the dried wakame in water for five minutes. Iruka cleaned the shiitake mushrooms and sliced them into thin slices and added them to the soup, as well as the now green wakame. He turned the heat of the stove down to allow the flavor of the chicken and wakame to richen.

Iruka was so too absorbed with his cooking that he failed to notice the grunts and moans of discomfort coming from the rousing jounin. Kakashi moved his arm, but found that difficult and somewhat painful. With effort, he sat up, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. The sound of cutting and low humming made Kakashi curious and got up on wobbly legs.

The silver-haired man looked at the clothes he was wearing. He knew he did not possess any of the items he was wearing, but to his relief found his mask still in place. Kakashi put his hand up against the wall for support, making his way over to the door. The jounin looked down the hallway and what he saw made him gasp.

Iruka heard something from behind and looked over his shoulder, only to nearly jump out of his skin. "Kakashi-san! You're awake?"

"Iruka-sensei?" the jounin asked in a gruff voice and noticed that he was extremely thirsty. He took a moment to realize he was in the chuunin's apartment. "What am I doing here?"

Iruka walked over to Kakashi, resting his hand reassuringly over the other's arm. "Please come and sit while I make some tea." He smiled lightly and guided his guest to a chair at the dinner table.

Once the jounin was seated, he finished the tea and brought a steaming cup to the tired looking silver-haired man. "You should drink it while it is warm, Kakashi-san."

The said man did not need to be told twice as he lifted his mask over his lips to take a sip. The jounin noticed that Iruka had his back turned to him and was fussing over something at the stove. The chuunin got clean plates bowls and put two of them beside the stove.

"I hope wakame soup is alright," he said. "I had no idea what you liked so…"

"It's fine. I haven't had it since I was a child." Kakashi answered, imagining just how worried the brunette must have been to prepare a meal for him. The jounin though it was a sweet gesture.

Iruka filled both bowls to the brim then took them to the table, putting Kakashi's down in front of him and then his across the table. The chuunin went back in the kitchen to get his own tea and chopsticks for the two of them. He handed a pair to Kakashi, casting down his eyes to avoid eye contact.

"Ah, Kakashi-san-" The brunette started.

"I thought I asked you to call me Kakashi?"

Iruka felt a small blush creep up his cheeks. "W-well Kakashi, you don't need to rush your meal, especially while you are recovering. I will keep my eyes cast away and allow you as much privacy as possible."

Kakashi's eye widened at what the chuunin-sensei had said. He was unlike any one the jounin had ever met, the rest just wanted to see what was underneath his mask. People took him out to dinner and such, just to get a glimpse of his face, but he was quicker and more intelligent than they were. He had successfully kept his identity hidden for years. Now he was in front of the man he secretly admired and loved. The fact that Iruka was averting his eyes made the jounin love him all the more.

"Thank you." Kakashi took his chopsticks in hand. "Itadakimasu. This looks delicious."

Iruka blushed at the compliment and started to eat as well. It did not taste right, not like the way his mother had made it. He wondered silently if she had added something more to it. The brunette looked grimly at his soup, shifting the shiitake mushrooms and wakame around with his chopsticks.

"Is something the matter, Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi asked. He could practically feel the somberness radiating from the chuunin. He also observed that the man had barely touched his food, only playing around with it.

"Gomen," the brunette said softly. Thankfully the older shinobi did not pry. Iruka ate his soup until the bowl was empty, but kept his eyes downcast as Kakashi was still eating.

"You can look now," the silver-haired man informed him, smiling as the other looked up shyly. "I really enjoyed the meal, thank you."

Iruka smiled, looking at that half covered face, though he kept his left eye closed and hidden behind silver strands. "It was no problem."

Kakashi was about to stand up and take his bowl in hand when Iruka was next to him in less than a second, telling him to sit down and relax while he did the dishes. The jounin watched as the brunette continued with his domestic activities as if he was not there at all. Kakashi wondered how he had landed up in the chuunin's apartment. Not that he was complaining so anything. But the last thing he remembered was blacking out in the forest outside Konoha. He remembered the red searing pain that jolted through his body, but all that remained now was a dull ache in his muscles.

"Iruka-sensei."

"Yes?" The said man turned his attention to his guest, drying his wet, soaping hands with a dish cloth.

"How did I get here, because the last thing I remember was passing out from pain? Unless I sleep walked all the way here." The jounin figured that Tsunade had healed him, but other than that he drew a complete blank.

"Well, Tsunade-sama asked that I look after you while you recover from your injuries." The brunette told him. "Speaking of Tsunade-sama, she will be coming over tomorrow to do a check-up on your condition."

Kakashi nodded. "Why was I not kept in a hospital like every other time?"

Iruka sighed, not knowing how to answer that without telling the jounin that the brunette was the one that had healed him this time. "You will have to ask Tsunade-sama tomorrow when you see her, I cannot tell you."

"Okay."

That was surprisingly easy, the brunette thought.

"Oh, Kakashi, could you tell me where you apartment is so that I can get you some clothes for the duration of your stay?" He was lying; the Godaime had already told him where it was but just going there without the jounin's consent did not sit well with him.

"It is easy enough to find." Kakashi gave him the directions.

"Is there anything specific you need?"

The jounin thought for a while. "Well, my clothes that got taken from me after the mission. They had my Icha Icha and a little note that I would like to have. Other than that, no there is nothing else I need."

Iruka smiled. Of course he could ask after that damn perverted book of his. "I'll ask Hokage-sama to return them to you when she comes and visits." The chuunin left for Kakashi's apartment, stopping himself before he left. "Make yourself at home and use this place as if it were you own."

The chuunin walked down the near empty streets to Kakashi's apartment. He went in, only getting what he needed and went back out again. He did not bother looking around when it was none of his business anyway.

He was back at his apartment within ten minutes and found the jounin lying on his couch reading one of his books. Iruka nearly choked on his own spit when he saw what he was reading.

Kakashi had taken the chuunin up on his word and had wondered over to the bookshelf in his absence. The jounin looks with mild interest, but took the one that had caught his attention. He flopped down onto the couch and started reading.

"Did you find it easily, Iruka-sensei?" The jounin asked, not taking his attention from the page.

"Y-yes, I did." Iruka stuttered a bit, trying to get over his initial shock. "I'm going to put your clothes in the closet."

"Hm." Was all the reply Iruka had received. The jounin was too absorbed in the book to take notice.

The brunette walked into the spare bedroom and put the older man's clothes in the closet neatly. He returned to the living room to find Kakashi where he had left him. Sighing, he wadded over to the kitchen and made some fresh tea. Taking the two cups in hand, he went back to the living room, putting Kakashi's on the low coffee table in front of the couch. Iruka sat on one of the cushiony arm chairs, sipping at his warm tea.

"Uh, Kakashi why are you reading that book?" the chuunin asked shyly.

The said jounin looked up from the pages and at the brunette. "It's not that surprising that I'm reading other books, now is it?" He answered with a question.

"It actually is, because the only book any one ever sees you reading is one of those dirty porn novels. To say that you are reading the _Tales of Genji* _is truly surprising." Iruka answered truthfully.

Kakashi smiled, and even though the chuunin could not see it, he could see that gentle curve of his eye as he smiled. Well, contrary to popular belief, I was not raised reading Icha Icha. I was raised reading a lot of classical literature, but the _Tales of Genji _was one I have yet to read."

Iruka looked at the jounin in disbelief, but the man gave him no reason to not believe him. The brunette had a smile on his face. The two sent the larger part of the evening talking about their mutual in classical literature and their views on the value and meaning of the works. Around midnight, both shinobi bid each other a good night and went to sleep in their respective rooms.

XxxxX

Morning came by swiftly and Iruka was the first to wake. He jumped out of bed, taking a quick shower and dressing. The brunette slipped past Kakashi's room quietly and started some breakfast. The jounin joined him a few moments later, still looking tired and leaning against any available surface for support.

The chuunin made some scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. It was a simple breakfast, but he did not have much time to prepare for anything more than that. Iruka told Kakashi to expect Tsunade around noon and told the jounin that he would be back before dinner.

The brunette left, telling Kakashi to leave the dishes well alone. The jounin was not willing to test the chuunin-sensei so he decided to take a shower once Iruka had left to the Academy. The silver-haired shinobi got some fresh clothes and went to the small bathroom opposite his room. It was small, but at least he could have a decent shower. Kakashi saw a fresh towel hanging on the railing for him and smiled at Iruka's thoughtfulness.

**Phew. I was worried I would not be able to finish this chapter in time before I left to go back home. Well, I made up the name and everything for the jutsu that Iruka used. I had a hard time trying to get suitable name for it. **

**Also concerning the wakame soup, I was actually going to make Iruka prepare some ramen for Kakashi, but I was able to have some actual ramen myself a few days ago. I must say that now I understand why Yamato said it was such a heavy food and considering that Kakashi is recovering it would not be such a good idea to feed him some. I was browsing through my gran's pantry when I came upon a packet of dried wakame. (It was five years past its expiry date so I didn't get a chance to make some wakame soup.) The wakame soup recipe was thanks to **_**The Art of Japanese Cuisine, **_**a friend's cook book I lent. **

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, because this all you are getting for a while. School starts again on Tuesday so I'll be busy with that. But, I promise to see you guys again soon.**

**Zazen – position taken when sitting to meditate **

**Dried wakame – dried seaweed **

**Wakame Soup – Seaweed Soup**

**Shiitake mushroom – an indigenous mushroom in Japan**

_**Tales of Genji **_**– It is famous novel written by Lady Murasaki in the 11****th**** Century.**

**EDIT: There were some things I added and took out or rearranged nothing too major. The next chapter will come soon; I just want to fix some of the mistakes I did not pick up on previously before updating. **


	4. A Day at the Academy

**Here's chapter 03! Enjoy.**

**A Day at the Academy**

Kakashi picked up the book he had left on the coffee table, and opened it where he had stopped the previous night. The jounin lay down on the couch, marveling at its softness. He brought his forearm behind his head and used it as a pillow. He felt much better to be wearing his own clothes again, especially a whole mask again.

The silver-haired shinobi was starting to nod off as he continued reading and around noon he fell asleep with the book open and sprawled his face. He was slipping into a comfortable sleep when loud knocking, or rather banging woke him up again. Kakashi sat up, the book falling into his lap. He felt groggy and stiff. The jounin got off of the couch, laying the book onto the coffee table again.

He took his time walking to the door. Kakashi knew he was supposed to be expecting someone at noon, but it could not have been lunch time already. Could it? The jounin unlocked the door and pulled it open. Tsunade stood at the doorstep, looking at the silver-haired man expectantly. "Ah, Hokage-sama."

The said woman looked at him, narrowing her eyes. "Are you going to just stand there or invite me in?"

Kakashi gave a nervous laugh, sidestepping for her to enter the apartment. Tsunade looked around, ignoring Kakashi like a doormat. She was interested to see how the chuunin lived, especially after she had read his file. It was a simple apartment, it was home. She realized that this was the one place where Iruka had no need to worry over children or reports, but Tsunade doubted he let himself relax that far.

The jounin was about to sit down on the couch when the Godaime caught his ear. "What do you think you're doing?" Her grip tightened on his sensitive flesh.

He was really hoping it was a rhetorical question, but the look in her eyes told him otherwise. "Uh… Sitting?" Really, what else was he doing? But, obviously it was the incorrect answer. Tsunade pulled him upright, pain running down the jounin's neck.

The blonde folded her arms under her chest. "Gather all your things!"

"Eh?" Now the Copy Nin was really confused. Didn't his current disposition require rest? Tsunade was tossing him about like a rag doll. To make things worse, she was in a fowl mood to begin with and the last thing she wanted was lip from the silver-haired brat. "Look, I don't want you loafing off of Iruka-sensei, even if I gave him orders to care for you."

Kakashi let his mouth hang open for a bit. It wasn't like the Hokage could see it anyway. "Loafing? Maa, Tsunade-sama, who says I don't repay him in kind?"

Tsunade grabbed Kakashi's collar and reeled him in to have him face-to-face with her. "Don't you even think about it Hatake!" He's not just some common fuck for you to play around with." Anger seethed from her words as she spat them out at the jounin.

Kakashi didn't even dare to breathe. The jounin held perfectly still, the words still ringing in his ears. He knew the chuunin was pretty much liked by the entire village, but for Tsunade, the Hokage to react like this. The brief moment of shock faded and was replaced with a calm demeanor. The silver-haired shinobi had his dark eye fixed on the Godaime's hazel ones.

Tsunade sighed and released her hold of the other's shirt. "Look, Iruka doesn't need complications in his life right now," she said, averting her eyes for a millisecond. "Just go and get all your things and then we'll head off to your apartment." The Godaime walked over to the window and look out to the rest of the peaceful village.

Kakashi wanted to ask what she had meant by it, but let the question go unanswered. He went to the guest room and took out a duffle bag he had seen lying in the closet earlier. The jounin started to casually pack his clothes and pulled the bag shut. He thought that Iruka would not have a problem with him borrowing the man's bag, plus it gave the jounin another excuse to see the man.

The jounin left the room and stood in the middle of the chuunin's cozy apartment. He didn't want to leave, but the Hokage's word was final. Tsunade noticed his presence and motioned towards the door. The two left the apartment and walked down some of Konoha's older, quieter streets. For that Kakashi was grateful. He didn't want anyone to see him lagging behind Tsunade, a fifty year-old woman.

The blonde woman stood at the jounin's apartment and took out a key from her pocket. "It was in you flak jacket," she said, before the Copy Nin could ask. "Your clothes have all been cleaned and are in your apartment." Tsunade walked into his place and looked around with mild interest. "Iruka-sensei told me that you asked after particular items." She took out a bright orange book from her obi belt.

Kakashi closed the door behind him, not really listening to what she had said. He scanned his apartment out of habit. The walls very freight crème colour and his dark wooden floors were due for a polish. To his left was his lounge; a large black couch with two similar arm chairs on either side of it and s low coffee table in the centre of the three A little beyond that was a corridor leading to two bedrooms and a bathroom. To his right was his kitchen. It was so sparse and clean that hinted to the fact that he rarely used it. A dinner table was near the furthest right-hand corner of the room, and that too look unused. Lastly there was the wall which Tsunade was facing. It was a wall equipped with four bookshelves, of which one was entirely dedicated to his Icha Icha collection. All in all, the entire place seemed impersonal.

Finally the jounin looked to Tsunade, who he saw was holding up his newest edition to his collection. Kakashi snatched the book out of her hand and hugged it lovingly to his chest.

Tsunade frowned at the sight. She briefly wondered if he was the fearsome shinobi called the Copy Nin. "There was also that note that was found in a hidden compartment inside you jacket. I put the note inside the book."

Kakashi blinked. He had completely forgotten about it. He opened the book and there it was, those three black letters mocking him. "Thank you Hokage-sama."

Tsunade had noticed how his mood had changed once he saw that note. The Godaime knew what was on the paper, but she had no idea what it could have meant. "So brat what do those numbers mean?"

The jounin sighed and ran his hand through his silver hair. "I wish I knew." It was all he was going to tell her. There was no way he was going to tell her how he had found it, that would just give her reason to torment him. "Well, just lie down so I can get your check-up down with. Shizune probably found more work for me to do."

Kakashi was complaint and answered when necessary. Satisfied with what she had seen, Tsunade stood up. The jounin gave a sigh of pure relief and proceeded to sit up when his body spasmed half way and fell back into the soft cushions of his couch. Tsunade put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down when he tried to get up again.

"Don't push yourself brat. You know moving around will only make it worse. But I also know that you never really listen to me so I'll make you a deal." She said, looking to see if she had his attention. "I'll let you roam around, only if you stay right next Iruka-sensei at all times. Understood?"

Kakashi let out a small whine. "But, Tsunade-sama, he only goes to the Academy and then had shifts at the Missions Office afterwards."

"That's exactly why I'm going to make you stick to him like glue. He rarely moves about and he can keep a close eye on you at all times –"

The jounin let out another whine, but in his mind he was rejoicing. He now got to spend the whole day with his favourite chuunin-sensei. Kakashi knew that the Godaime was still speaking, but he was so happy about the turn of events he just tuned out her voice entirely.

"I'm sorry; did you say something, Hokage-sama?"

"That's it!" Tsunade grabbed his arm and pulled him in the general direction of his room and threw him in. "Get dressed!"

XxxxX

Iruka was watching as his class started to file in from recess and too their seats. They just spent twenty minutes screaming and running about and they still made a ruckus in his classroom. The chuunin massaged his temples with his forefinger and thumb.

"Okay, quiet down now!" The chuunin raised his voice and the children looked at him attentively. "Iruka-sensei, can we do some shuriken practice today, pleeeeeeaaase?" Iruka sighed, wishing he had some of that boundless energy that his students possessed.

"No, I have an important lesson to teach, but if you all behave yourselves, I might consider it." The children cheered, now motivated for the lesson. "Today we will be looking at the purpose and meaning of nindo – the way of the ninja."

The class gasped, looking at their teacher with wide, glossy eyes. "Now before I begin, I want to know what you all think it is." A dark-haired girl raised her hand. "Yes, Yui?" She cast her doe eyes to the desk in front of her. "I think that it is to protect and serve the village."

"Yes, that is one of the possibilities, but nonetheless important," he said, smiling at his students.

"But, Iruka-sensei isn't that what a ninja is supposed to do?"

The chuunin let himself smile happily. "Yes, that is only the foundation. There are many means to an end – that end being a shinobi's service and loyalty to Konoha." Now the children were utterly confused as to what their sensei was trying to get to. But, it was easier to teach them that way.

"Okay, let's start off with a simple question: Who founded Konoha?" Iruka had moved over to his desk and sat down on the edge of the wood, placing his arms at his side against the desk for support.

"The Shodai and Nidaime." The class answered in practiced unison.

The chuunin pushed himself away from his desk and stood in the middle of the classroom. "That's right and what do you think their way of the ninja was?" Iruka waited and watched as blank faces looked right back at him. "They wanted to protect everyone that was precious to them and who believed in them. They wanted to protect Konoha – their family."

One child in the back rows raised his hand. "But that way don't people die?" Another child started to speak soon after the previous. "But jounins and ANBU go on missions all the time, killing people. Doesn't that cancel out what you just said?" The entire class decided to bombard the poor sensei with one question after the other, eventually completely leaving the original topic.

"Quiet!" The class of pre-genin stopped immediately, hoping not to anger their sensei further. "Well, I guess you are all too young to understand the concept fully, but I'll try to make it simple." He said. "There is a difference between hurting or killing someone to protect others and just plain blood-lust. ANBU, jounins and even chuunins kill to complete the mission and do so for the betterment of the village. Killing others and sacrificing oneself for the mission and Konoha is what is expected of a ninja."

"There are a long line of people who sacrificed themselves to protect the people they loved. The Sandaime and Yondaime are the people who sacrificed the most to save the village."

The children started to whisper amongst themselves. "Iruka-sensei, what is you way of the ninja?"

Iruka looked at his students, smiling knowingly. He was waiting for that question to pop up some time or another during the lesson. A shout from outside his classroom distracted the chuunin. He looked expectantly at the door, wondering what was going on. The door flew open and a silver-haired jounin was thrown into the classroom.

Kakashi regained his balance with a rather feline grace. He looked to the shocked teacher. "Yo," he said. The jounin put up his hand in greeting and smiled, closing his eye in a crescent curve.

"Kakashi-san?" Iruka frown, wondering what he was doing in his classroom of all places; the jounin was supposed to be resting, but lo and behold, he was standing in front of the chuunin dressed in full uniform no less.

Tsunade stepped into the classroom, her eyes ablaze. "He's your problem now!" she shouted. "Don't let this brat out of your sight. Understood?"

Without thinking, Iruka bowed his head. "Hai Hokage-sama." With that said, she left in search of a drink.

Whispers began as the class of pre-genin watched Kakashi like a hawk. They could hardly believe that the famous Copy Nin was standing in their classroom. Soon, their whispers turned into chattering as they told each other what they had heard from their parents about the jounin's adventures.

The chuunin sighed and looked to the jounin who was busy reading his Icha Icha novel – as was to be expected. "Kakashi-san please put that book away. You are in front of children."

Without taking his eye off of the page he replied, "But I've been dying to know what happens next and they're old enough to know how the world works."

Iruka felt his eye twitch. One of the children stood up, seeing one of the first signs of their sensei on his way to exploding. Everyone tried to avoid angering the chuunin, because the last time it happened the class was buried with assignments and lectures non-stop.

"Hatake-san, what is your way of the ninja?" the student asked feverishly, hoping spare the silver-haired jounin from the on coming storm.

The question was one Kakashi did not expect from a pre-genin. He looked to Iruka. "What on earth are you teaching them?" he asked. "Is it wise to teach them something like nindo? They seem too young to be able to grasp the true meaning of it." It was the truth, Kakashi told himself, even if it seemed somewhat like a harsh remark.

"I beg to differ. Naruto was only a little ways older than them when he learnt its true meaning and they are this year's senior class." Iruka said, holding no grudge against the jounin for criticizing his teaching. "True that they might not know the true meaning just yet, but I believe that each student will discover it in their own way – it is not something that can be taught."

Kakashi sighed, admitting defeat. If someone had told him five years ago that he even had his own way of the ninja he would have told them off, but his genin team had taught him many valuable lessons. He would never have admitted to even having a nindo, much less speak to anyone about it. The jounin stood a little straighter and buried his hands in his pockets.

"My parents are the heaven and earth,

My home is my body,

My power is my loyalty,

My magic is my training,

My life and death is breathing,

My body is control,

My eyes are the sun and the moon,

My ears are sensitivity,

My laws are self protection,

My strength is adaptability,

My ambition is taking every opportunity with fullness,

My friend is my mind,

My enemy is carelessness,

My protection is right action,

My weapons are everything that exists,

My strategy is one foot in front of the other,

My way is ninjutsu." *

Kakashi let out a long breath. The entire classroom was silent. The jounin looked up at the students and most had their mouth open in sheer awe. "Ah, Iruka-sensei, I think I might have broken them." He gingerly pulled his hand out of his pocket and rubbed the back of his head, closing his eye.

Iruka stood there, a similar expression gracing his face. His mouth did not hang open but his eyes were wide with… well, he didn't even know himself. The chuunin had read about shinobi that had followed that particular principle. It was believed to be a dead order, but it seemed that one stood in front of him now, very much alive.

The silver-haired jounin continued to ruffle the back of his head in a way that was almost second nature to him. "Did I say something wrong?"

Iruka returned to reality, and found Kakashi staring at him. His tan cheeks heated up in a light blush. He couldn't help it, it was a defence mechanism. The chuunin shook his head and turned his attention back to his class.

"Okay, I want everyone to file out the classroom in an orderly manner for some weapons practise," he said. The class cheered and did as instructed.

The two shinobi followed after the pre-genin. Iruka quickly slipped into the supply room and took out bagful of shuriken for the practice session. The chuunin led the children through the door and to the field like a Shepard with his flock. Iruka walked around the Academy building and stopped at the training area. Wooden logs were lined up by a wall to their right and a bench sat to the left for the sensei.

The chuunin laid the bag down and the class gathered around him, waiting for further instructions. Kakashi observed how they waited almost overeagerly for Iruka to give them the shuriken. It was an amusing sight to see.

"Alright, I want to show you all something before we begin," Iruka said. "How many different types of shuriken are there?"

The students whined. There was no way Iruka-sensei would ever just allow them to have without teaching them something before hand. "Um… one?"

The jounin sat down on the smooth wooden bench, still watching the chuunin-sensei. Kakashi could not help but chuckle at the naïve answer. He watched Iruka, wondering what he had up his sleeve. What the Academy taught in terms of weapons only scratched the surface of the tools available to a shinobi.

Iruka sighed. He reached back into his pouch and left his hand there for a moment. "That is incorrect." The chuunin felt around for the desired object and withdrew it to show his class. Held between his forefinger and ring finger was a shuriken that had its four blades bent at a ninety degree angle, the tips under in a clock-wise direction. "This is a Mikazuki shuriken."

The children pushed and showed at each other to get a closer look at the shuriken their sensei held. Kakashi bit back a laugh at the childish display. The jounin wondered what else Iruka knew and hoped he would share more of his knowledge – not that he would out right ask him.

"There are nine known shuriken variations, can anyone name one other?" Iruka knew he was gunning a bit far but it never hurt to try. One time, Neji was able to name all of them and point out the advantages and disadvantages of each. It seemed that this year he was not graced with a genius.

"The nine would be*: the Mikazuki, the Happo star and circle variations, the Juji leaf and arrow variations, the Nademaji, and the Fuuma shuriken."

Iruka was stunned. He knew none of his students had said that. The chuunin turned around to look at the silver-haired jounin lounging rather casually on the bench, reading his book. "T-that's correct." Iruka thought he wasn't paying attention to his teachings.

Kakashi looked up from his book and to the blushing chuunin. Iruka noticed the jounin's gaze and turned to his students. They got to work quickly. The chuunin walked past them, correcting a stance of hand position along the way. Once they were all in an easy rhythm, Iruka retired to the bench alongside Kakashi.

The jounin shifted his position to make room for the chuunin-sensei. Iruka sat down with a sigh and watched his students attentively. Accidents were bound to occur and he preferred to avoid them when he could.

"Why did Tsunade-sama throw you into my classroom – better yet, why were you even waking around and dressed in full uniform?" Iruka didn't care if he sound like he was scolding Kakashi like a child, or what Naruto called 'mother hen mode'. The jounin's injuries may have been healed but he was a far cry from recovered.

"Maa, Tsunade-baachan came to your apartment around noon like you had said, but the next thing I knew, she was dragging me down the street and back to my place." he said. "She said something about you not needing complications in your life… or something to that effect." The chuunin raised an eyebrow. "After she did the check-up, she started roughing me about like a rag doll and then she shouted at me to get dressed. And here I am." The jounin gestured at their surroundings.

Iruka knew that the older man was leaving points unsaid, but let it be. "I take it she forced you back into your apartment for the duration recovery?" Kakashi inclined his head to one side. "Well, that just makes everything more troublesome for me." Iruka sighed, quickly glancing to the location a little yelp. Seems like little Yui got a bull's-eye.

Taking a glance at his watch, Iruka stood up and walked past his students again, checking on each of them. The chuunin-sensei ushered them back into the building when school ending for the day. He gave them a one page assignment to write about each of the nine shuriken they learnt about and expected it on his desk within two days.

Iruka was grading some papers at his desk while Kakashi was sitting in one of the front desks, entertaining himself. The jounin had stopped reading, for he didn't want to finish the book too soon. It was still another two months until the next one would be on the shelves. Digging around in his pockets, his fingers brushed past the note. With nothing better to do Kakashi decided he would at least try to figure out what those numbers would mean.

"Iruka-sensei, can I use that blackboard for a moment?"

The said sensei looked up, raising an eyebrow. "Sure, just clean it when you're done."

The jounin got up, and walked over to the blackboard, taking a piece of white chalk in hand. He wrote out the numbers that had been plaguing his mind for the last few days. Kakashi began writing out some words, writing down letters that allocated with the numbers. The word that came out was utter nonsense so he decided to try doing it by using the alphabet backwards and still the same result – nonsense. Kakashi was determined to crack the code and continued on.

Iruka lifted his red marker from the page. He was curious as to what the jounin was writing. He looked to the board and was shocked to find that there was hardly a hair's breadth of green left on that board. Mathematical formulas, letters and words were sprawled across the surface. Half of the letters were in a different language entirely. Iruka could tell that it was more than one foreign tongue.

"Uh, Kakashi what are you doing?"

The said man was too deep ion thought to register that Iruka had spoken. Letting out a frustrated sigh, he put the chalk down and took a step back to look at almost a half an hour's work. It was completely fruitless. Those three little numbers still made no sense. He ran a hand through his silver hair, pulling ever so lightly.

"I'm trying to crack this damn code," the silver-haired shinobi said, "and after using four different languages - including Russian - I still can't crack it."

Iruka leant forward a bit onto his desk to get a better view of the board and smiled at the cause of the jounin's problems. He kept quiet and continued his marking. "Maybe you are looking at it wrong."

Kakashi frowned at the tanned shinobi, almost daring him to try, but that would lead to questioning on how he got it and he was not really prepared to admit how he had come across it.

Iruka was stacking the papers neatly and placed them in the top drawer, and started packing his things. Sighing, Kakashi took the chalk duster in hand and started to erase all his hard work. By the lime he was done, Iruka was closing the last of the windows and motioned for Kakashi to follow him out of the classroom. Sighing, the chuunin locked his class and set off to go, saying good-bye to the janitor. For a moment he almost completely forgot about the silver-haired shinobi trailing slowly behind him. Almost.

"Would you like to have some ramen with me?" Iruka asked, looking the other way and habitably scratched at his scar, a pink blush spreading across his cheeks.

Kakashi thought it was the most adorable sight on earth. "I would love to." The two of them walked along side one another as they reached the Ichiruka ramen bar.

Iruka set his satchel down next to his seat. Kakashi sat next to him, observing him closely. The chuunin was sitting with his arms over the counter; his elbows propped up to support himself. A calm expression graced his tanned features as an aroma of deliciously cooked food drifted over them.

"Welcome! Oh, Iruka-sensei we haven't seen you in a while." Teuchi appeared from behind the counter, smiling at the patrons. "And I see you brought a friend. Speaking of friends, where is Naruto?"

Iruka smiled at the concern in the old man's voice. "He just came back from a mission and I suspect Sasuke is pampering him thoroughly at the moment – don't worry, knowing Naruto you'll see him soon enough."

"Good to know. What'll it be?" he asked, flapping a cloth over his shoulder.

"I'll have some pork ramen please."

Teuchiturned his head to the silent jounin. "I'll have the same." Kakashi never made a habit of eating too much heavy food, especially foods like ramen. The old man quickly disappeared behind a door leading to the back. "So, what you teach was never in the curriculum when I was at the Academy, especially the shuriken."

Iruka's face heated up for no apparent reason. "Well, those are just some topics I like to teach them, even if they never end up putting it into practice, they'll have the extra knowledge."

"So, weapons are a personal interest then?" Kakashi propped his elbow onto the counter and held his chin, looking at the chuunin from the side. He smiled to himself when the blush darkened over the tan cheeks. "You are full of surprises, Iruka-sensei."

**This chapter just did not want to work with me. I guess you can call this a sort of filler-like chapter. If something seems disconnected at some point, I am sorry. It has been a hectic first two weeks of school. I wanna thank everyone that has reviewed, faved or alerted this story, and I am sorry that I did not say that in the previous chapter. *Oops, but please take a cookie as a peace offering.* I wanna thank Kick-Aft and Prescripto13 for the support they have shown since the first chapter. **

**I just had to kick 'Kashi out of Iruka's apartment, simply because I don't think that they'll get anywhere by seeing each other every other second. I could not go through with them eating the ramen, because of the simple fact that I am starving and would kill for a bowl of hot ramen right now. **

**I edited the previous chapters and shifted some things around, nothing major. **

**I hope I didn't make any one too OOC. If I did, I'm sorry. Oh, regarding an anonymous review... That was just uncalled for – I mean, I did say that I was going to be writing about pairings that I support. I like reviews, I accept constructive criticism, but to out right shoot down the story because you don't support a pairing it not nice. *Gosh I feel like toddler right now.* **

***The quote that Kakashi said was from an anonymous Yamabushi warrior, monks who were believed to be the founders of ninjutsu. That info might be wrong, but meh, I have limited resources, and it doesn't affect the story in any way. I just thought it would be a nice piece of useless info. **

***Regarding the shuriken, I did research and they all are actual shuriken variations, but I don't know if there are more in the Narutoverse like the Fuuma shuriken that I may have missed. **

**To the rest of you, I will try and get the next chapter out as soon as possible. Well, see ya next time people. **


	5. Confession

**Chapter four****: ****Confession **

Iruka yawned, leaving the unmarked tests in favour a stretching and returning some feeling to his legs for a moment. The chuunin stalked over to the kettle and boiled some water for tea. He leant against the counter and ran a hand over his face. Stray strands of hair were hanging over his eyes, and instead of just brushing them aside, he took out his hair tie and slipped it around his wrist.

He raked his fingers through his chestnut brown hair. With a sigh he poured the water in a cup for his green tea. Taking the cup in hand, Iruka sat back down at the kitchen table and started marking again. He was halfway through the tests and he was fed up with them. The chuunin had a fleeting thought that he might just as well pass them all, sparing him the trouble of marking. But, that would be a bad idea in the long run.

Iruka held the cup to his lips and enjoyed the tea at a leisurely pace. His days were busy, doubly so with a jounin trotting behind him everywhere he went. Between the Academy and his shifts at the Missions Office, he barely had time to check up on Kakashi. The silver-haired shinobi was healing well, but Iruka had a feeling that the Hokage would keep him from any missions for some time to come.

Glancing at the clock, Iruka put his cup down. Maybe it was time to call it a night. The chuunin was obviously not going to return to marking so he might as well get some sleep. Standing up, he set his cup down in the sink and proceeded to turn off the light when a light tingling sensation passed over him. His body froze in place, his senses alert. He wasn't alone.

Iruka heard something by his window. Dressed in a t-shirt and sweatpants, his weapons pouch was in his room and the nearest weapon was a kitchen knife. The chuunin silently walked backwards to the sink and felt about for the said knife. His fingers grazed the grip and he immediately curled his fingers around it, holding it at the ready in front of him.

The latch to his window was being picked at. The brunette stalked over to the window as silently as he could, pressing himself against the wall, waiting for the person to pull back the curtain. All Iruka could hear was his pulse thundering in his ears and the sharp click of the latch as it opened up. The window was opened and a gloved hand pulled the curtain aside. Before the intruder could set a foot on the inside, Iruka had lunged out at them, pinning the person to the floor and holding the knife up to their throat.

It took the chuunin a moment to take in the sight before him. Hatake Kakashi, the infamous Copy Nin was pinned to the floor, with a knife to his throat. Iruka didn't move, even after he had identified the intruder.

"What are you doing breaking into my place in the middle of the night?" he asked, drawing back, freeing the jounin's hands and relieving the pressure from his throat.

Kakashi knew he was being talked to, but the initial shock of being taken by complete surprise for the first time in years, was taken over by the appearance of the sensei straddling his waist. It was nothing special, but Iruka had his hair down, something the jounin had never seen the chuunin do in public. The dark waves of his hair framed the sides of his tanned face and fell to lightly rest on his shoulders, and with that knife he held in his hand, made him look all the more sexy in Kakashi's eyes.

"Maa, I was bored and couldn't sleep," he said, not making a move, in case it would cause Iruka to move from his current position. "I came by to see if you were awake."

"It's the middle of the night. What made you think I would be awake at this hour?"

"Well, you're an Academy teacher and you do shifts at the Missions Office, so I assumed you would be up marking either tests or redoing mission reports." Kakashi found it was worth all the trouble of breaking in when Iruka blushed down at him when the chuunin finally realized what he was sitting on.

Iruka said nothing and got off of the jounin in a fluid motion. Sighing, the chuunin sat down at the kitchen table, taking his red marker in hand. He might as well get it over with, now that he was wide awake again.

"Maa, Iruka-sensei?" the said man did nothing more than 'hn' and continued marking. "How many missions have you been sent on?" Kakashi sat down on the edge of the table, the only part that was not littered with paper.

Iruka lifted his head from the papers, a frown creasing his brow. The question came out of the blue and the brunette was suspicious about the jounin's mind in asking it. He answered the question on the less.

"288 D-rank, 183 C-rank, 90 B-rank and 12 A-rank missions, adding up to a total of 573 completed missions."

The jounin shrugged a shoulder, his back to the brunette. "And in the last year?"

Iruka wondered what Kakashi wanted to accomplish from his questioning. "None, I have been busy at the Academy." He said. "Kakashi, what is this all about?"

The silver-haired shinobi slid off the table and turned around to face the tanned chuunin. He leant forward, pressing his hands flat onto the table and looked Iruka hard in the eye. "You completely masked your charka, making it seem non-existent. I didn't even know you were waiting for me to get inside, and not to mention the traps. Those traps are more complex than that done by an ANBU, and trust me; I've seen plenty of those." Iruka's frown deepened. "You would be a much greater asset to Konoha by doing missions and from what I have seen; you are more than capable of it."

The chuunin huffed out hot air that had collected in his cheeks. "Teaching the children to become shinobi is more important." He met Kakashi's glare.

"Are you afraid of something – is that why you won't leave your little comfort zone?" the jounin asked, seeing a small glint of emotion in the other's russet eyes. "Our comrades are risking their lives while you sit here behind the village walls too afraid to protect something important." Kakashi saw he hit a nerve on that last one.

Iruka abruptly stood up, making his chair scrape across the wooden floor. "What makes you think you can just go and assume that I'm afraid of something?"

"Because I can see it in your eyes!" the jounin yelled at him, hands clenched at his side. "What is it – are you afraid of death, is that it?" Kakashi felt his stomach churn at the thought. He had lost so many of his friends and loved ones, but he wasn't going to cry in a corner about it.

"You know nothing about me!" Iruka slammed his palms onto the table, causing papers to flutters to the floor. "Do you think I want to sit around while my former students – my little brother go around fighting in a war where they could die at any given moment?" Iruka paused, his breath a little ragged from his shouting. "I'm not some coward that will cower away in a hole while others risk their lives. I sit here because I have no other choice!"

Kakashi narrowed his eye. "What do you mean you have no other choice?" The chuunin gasped and quickly tried to control his erratic heart rate.

The brunette lowered his head; waves of his chestnut coloured hair fell in front of his face. The older man tried to see the emotions that were playing across the tan, but he could not see beyond the thick curtain of hair.

Iruka looked up at Kakashi again, a calm expression in place. The jounin saw doubt in those hazel orbs and sighed, running a hand through his hair. The damage was done and now he had to try and selvage the situation.

"You doubt yourself don't you?" the silver-haired shinobi carefully watched the chuunin. "You're afraid that you are not strong enough to protect everyone, afraid that someone will die on your watch." The brunette gave no reply, but stared at the floor. "You are a talented shinobi and Konoha could use you."

Iruka said nothing and left the room, shutting himself in his bedroom. Kakashi wanted to stop him, to catch his wrist as he passed by but let him go. The jounin knew there was no way he was going to be able to get anywhere the rest of the evening. He put on his shoes and left through the window, closing it behind him. Kakashi decided that he would just apologise the next morning when he saw the chuunin again – that was if Iruka did not make a point of avoiding him.

XxxxX

Iruka stood there, with his back pressed to his door, listening to the older man walk about his apartment and then heard his window close, guessing that Kakashi had left. The brunette stayed there for a few more minutes before throwing himself onto his bed. He hugged a spare pilled to his chest, sighing out into the feathers.

He couldn't believe how stupid he was to let that little piece of information slip his tongue. It was probably the worst thing that he could have let slip… well, maybe the second worst. Iruka let go of the pillow and threw himself on his back, staring at the ceiling.

The chuunin thought about the argument that had just come to pass and he knew Kakashi right in questioning him about it, so there was no real reason to blame the jounin for anything.

"But I had to throw a little fit like a toddler," Iruka said, snaking his arm over his eyes. But he was so angry about the assumption that older shinobi had made. Is that what everyone thought, he asked himself.

Sighing he turned over to his side, trying to sleep but only managed a fitful sleep that only last a few hours. Waking up for what seemed like umpteenth time, Iruka got up and decided to get ready for the day ahead.

His shower was short and dressing seemed like a chore. Iruka made his bed, smoothing out any creases in the cotton sheets and cleaned his room methodically. In a way, cleaning always seemed therapeutic, like it had a calming affect on the chuunin's busy mind. Once everything was folded and put in its place, Iruka went to the living room, his spirits dropping at the sight of test papers scattered about the floor.

The brunette proceeded to pick them up, thinking back to the argument he had had with Kakashi. It was sort of a routine that the chuunin would appear at the silver-haired shinobi's apartment to make breakfast for the two of them, but he wondered if Kakashi was up to seeing him again.

Iruka tapped the papers neatly into place and put them in his satchel. He needed to apologise to him anyway and Tsunade did tell him that the jounin was his responsibility until he was fighting fit. He knew that Kakashi still some trouble moving about. Iruka slung the satchel over his shoulder and put on his shoes and locked his door behind him.

The sun was rising up by the time the brunette reached Kakashi's apartment. The chuunin took out a spare key the older man had given him and opened the door. Iruka nearly went into cardiac arrest when he saw the silver-haired shinobi awake and in front of the stove with nothing but a pair of pyjama pants riding low on his hips.

"Maa, good morning, Iruka-sensei," Kakashi said, looking over his shoulder, smiling behind his surgeons mask. "I was beginning to wonder if you were coming today, especially after what happened last night." He flipped over the fish he had in the pan. "I hope broiled fish with okayu* and nori* is alright."

Iruka was speechless. Kakashi had gone through a lot of trouble to make the breakfast and there was no way the chuunin would stay mad at the man after all his effort. The table was already laid out with the okayu and nori, along with two plates and glasses.

"I didn't know you could cook."

The jounin gave a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. "I can't, this is all compliments of Sakura. She left a few minutes before you got here and truth be told the only thing I did was cook the fish." Taking the said fish, Kakashi put the two broiled fish into a plate and laid it down on the table. "Please, sit."

The brunette complied and sat down, looking at the wonderful breakfast in front of him. "Well, either way it looks wonderful. Thank you." He offered a small smile to the jounin before he took his chopsticks in hand. "Itadakimasu." Iruka took his fish and some of the okayu and two nori put them in his plate. He loved the fish, it tasted so refreshing. As per usual, he kept his eyes down cast, allowing Kakashi as much privacy as he could.

"You don't have to look away, you know," the jounin said after he finished his meal. "It just makes it awkward."

The chuunin smiled, looking back up. Kakashi put his mask back in place, but it didn't bother him. Who he was underneath the mask had nothing to do with the brunette. "Well, thank you for breakfast." He said. "You can go shower while I clean up."

The jounin did not like the idea of Iruka cleaning up the mess he made, but he agreed in any case. He left the brunette to clean to his hearts content, skidding away to his bathroom. Kakashi opened the shower knobs and slid the glass door wide open. He stepped out of his pants and removed his mask, stepping into the hot spray of water.

Kakashi could still see the hurt and doubt that his words had cause Iruka in his mind's eye. The brunette had the talent to be a good shinobi, something more than an Academy teacher; he just needed to prove it to him somehow. The jounin was thinking of various plots and schemes, but each of them seemed either too drastic or would take too much effort on his part. Dropping the issue, he started to worry that the relationship they had built was now all in flames.

Kakashi ran his shuriken calloused hand over his face. There was no way he could even call it a relationship. Currently it was all one-sided. The jounin got to know Iruka better; he got to see his raging temper and tranquil smiles. Kakashi was sure that if he did not have feelings for the man previously, he was sure that after a month in the chuunin's care, he was definitely falling for him now.

The only problem was actually expressing his feelings.

Sighing in defeat, he got out of the shower and dressed in his uniform, pulling his mask up and tilting his hitai-ate over his left eye. Well, he had an entire day – well, maybe more – to think of something. Kakashi joined Iruka in the living room. It was still early; they still had an hour before the chuunin needed to be at the Academy.

"Well, if you're done, we can get going," the brunette said, taking his satchel in hand. "I need to be there earlier to finish marking the tests I missed out on last night." He brushed the jounin and waited for him outside.

Kakashi followed suit, locking the door behind him. The entire walk was accompanied by a stiff silence. The jounin sat down in one of the desks and took out his Icha Icha and began to read. Time seemed to skid by as children started to trickle into the class. The silver-haired shinobi closed his book and put it back in his pouch, standing up to walk over to Iruka, who was finishing with the last of the test.

The brunette put the papers away in the top drawer and got up from his desk, standing in front of the blackboard. He waited for the class to settle down before he spoke. "Because today is such a nice day, we will be spending the majority of class today outside." The children cheered. "But I want you all to behave, otherwise we will come right back inside and continue with the history of Konoha."

The class of pre-genin listed to their teacher like little puppies. Kakashi sat near them on a bench in the cool shade of a tree. The morning had gone by in a flash as the jounin watched Iruka instruct the children in the proper use of a kunai. He found it cute, the way the brunette's eyebrow twitched when he was asked a stupid question and the way he gave a small smile when one of the children got something right.

The chuunin-sensei called them all to attention. "Alright everyone, gather round!" he yelled out to the pre-genin scattered across the field. "Now I want you all to partner up and practise those taijutsu stances and moves I taught you a few weeks ago."

"But Seeeeeeenseeeeeiii," one pre-genin whined. "We don't remember what you showed us. Can't you just show us again?"

Kakashi sat upright, a malicious smile threatening to break his face in two. "Come on, Iruka-sensei, let's have a little spar to show these brats what taijutsu really looks like." The jounin got up from the bench and strode over to the tanned chuunin.

Iruka looked at him in disbelief. He, Hatake Kakashi, want to fight a chuunin Academy teacher. It hardly seemed fair in the brunette's eyes.

"It'll be fun," the jounin said. "After all, you did manage to tackle me to the ground once already, who's to say you won't get it right a second time round?" Kakashi eyed the chuunin, wondering how he would respond.

"I want everyone to stand on the far side, by the benches," Iruka said, accepting the older shinobi's challenge. "You should all stay there until, Kakashi-san and I are done." The children scampered off, eager to see their sensei fight.

Kakashi faced Iruka, his hands deep in his pockets. Pitting a jounin against a chuunin was hardly fair, but the silver-haired shinobi wanted to see what the brunette was capable of.

Iruka let out a long breath before get stood in an offensive stance. The jounin smiled, rotating his shoulders. He also took an offence, but was soon making his way towards the chuunin with the speed and grace he was known for.

Kakashi leapt up a few feet away from the brunette, bring out his right leg. Iruka narrowly made it in time to block what would have been a bone crushing kick to his ribs. The jounin was on his feet again, following up with another kick aimed at the chuunin's right shoulder.

Iruka stepped back, feeling the force of the kick swipe past him. The brunette crouched and swept hi legs out to try and upset the silver-haired shinobi's balance. Kakashi leapt up in the air, seeing an opening that could end the match immediately. The chuunin straightened himself, bringing the heel of his palm up to Kakashi's chin as the jounin was coming back down.

The Copy Nin flipped himself to land back on his feet. He never expected the chuunin to show him an opening on purpose, or that the brunette could put so much strength behind one blow. The jounin stood up as he watched Iruka get back into stance. Kakashi was grateful for the hours he spent sparring with Gai, learning his taijutsu, but the one the chuunin used was unknown to the jounin.

Kakashi came at Iruka again, raising his fist to strike the chuunin's jaw, but the brunette stopped the blow with his hand and proceeded to hit the Cop Nin. Kakashi used his free hand to block, slamming the fist away to the side, causing Iruka's balance to shift. Taking the opportunity, the jounin kicked the brunette in the gut.

Iruka felt all his breath leave him. He staggered backwards, switching his stance for a more defensive one. The older shinobi came at him in a flurry of punches, of which the chuunin's could either block or evade. Iruka knew he would not last long if he did not do something to turn the tables.

The chuunin grabbed Kakashi's right fist, and pulled him in closer. Taking advantage of the other's surprise, Iruka struck the jounin's lower abdomen, stomach and chest, jolting Kakashi's body with each hit.

The silver-haired shinobi let out a low grunt, his breathing a little hard than it needed to be from fighting a chuunin. Iruka was truly surprising him –he was far better than the jounin had initially thought- with his strength and agility.

Kakashi glanced over at Iruka. The tanned chuunin also had laboured breathing, but he held his ground. The jounin could feel the bruise on the underside of his chin starting to swell.

But the fun was far from over.

The jounin ran at Iruka, doing a set of low kicks that the chuunin blocked and evaded by jumping back – just like Kakashi wanted. The Copy Nin trapped one of the brunette's legs with his own, stopping him from moving. Kakashi stuck at Iruka's shoulder, feeling the chuunin's collar bone break under the thick flak jacket.

Iruka stumbled back letting out a sharp gasp at the pain that blossomed in his left shoulder. He knew that blow had to have broken something. The chuunin felt his back touch a tree. This made the chuunin realize just how far into the field they have fought. Iruka looked over Kakashi's shoulder for a second; his students were far away on the other side.

Kakashi pinned the chuunin to the tree, leaning in closer to the struggling brunette. Iruka shifted against the other's relentless grip, trying to break free but stilled when he felt warm breath mist over his neck.

Iruka blinked and saw how close the jounin really was. A bright blush swept over his tanned cheeks. Kakashi was very close, his body almost entirely pressed against his. Iruka gave a small squeak when Kakashi tilted his head to the side, bringing his head closer to the chuunin's.

The silver-haired shinobi wanted to do so many things to the younger man he had pinned to the tree, but he knew that if he did do it then he might get Iruka fired for public indecency in front of his class. Kakashi knew that if that did happen then the adorable brunette would never speak to him again. But, he thought it was too good of an opportunity to waste.

Kakashi shifted his weight to the other foot so that most of his own body was covering Iruka from view. The said brunette could only hear his erratic pulse beating in his ears. Kakashi let go of Iruka's hands and rest his palms to press beside the brunette's head on either side. The silver-haired jounin watched Iruka for some sign of resistance or disgust or anything, but when the chuunin stayed still, his blush deepening when Kakashi brought his right hand to his face, pale fingers brushing against the hem of his mask.

"K-kakashi… what are you doing?" Iruka asked in a feverish whisper, his pulse skyrocketing.

"Hn, well, something I wanted to for a while now." And I got to kill two birds with one stone today, he added as an after thought.

He got to spar with Iruka; almost getting his ass handed to him – though he would never admit it, not even to himself – and now he had the brunette backed up against a tree, blushing and all to himself. Kakashi curled his fingers into the black material of his mask and pulled it down to rest just under his chin.

Iruka gasped at the sight of the pale skin underneath the mask. The chuunin let his eyes roam over the exposed face in front of him. Kakashi had a strong jaw, soft looking lips that he had the desire to run his fingers over and a slightly crooked nose from countless time of being broken and reset. Kakashi's chin was starting to form a bruise and swell, but Iruka thought it only made him look even more handsome.

Soft lips brushed over the brunette's, finally pressing onto them in a light kiss. Iruka never thought that Kakashi – THE Sharingan no Kakashi would kiss him. The chuunin had always wondered how the older man would taste, but it was not a taste he was experiencing as much. The silver-haired shinobi had a scent of late autumn on his skin, along with a faint scent of herbs. To Iruka, it smelt like heaven, and he tasted those scents on the jounin's lips- not even knowing how that that was possible.

Kakashi drew back; the chuunin opened his eyes that he did not know he had closed in the first place. A bright blush dusted over Iruka's cheeks. The jounin smiled softly, placing a small kiss on the younger man's nose.

"I was actually stressing on how I was going to try and confess to you, but I guess I kind of acted on the spur of the moment." Kakashi let out a nervous chuckle, putting his mask back in place.

"Confess?" Iruka repeated.

The jounin had a pink tinge on his cheeks that was hidden underneath his mask, but it failed to help quell the sudden surge of nerves. "Ahaha… well," he started, rubbing the back of his neck. "I've liked you for some time and when you started to look after me, my feeling got more serious. But… I had no idea how to tell you."

Iruka was about to say something but Kakashi was suddenly pulled back. The chuunin wished he had something to hide behind. In front of him stood Tsunade, holding Kakashi by the collar, her eyes ablaze.

"You two get your asses to the hospital this instant!"

The jounin and chuunin did a transportation jutsu, reappearing in the Godaime's office. Tsunade was behind them. She pushed each shinobi to a bed and forced them down.

"Strip brat," she focused on Kakashi first, wanting to do a check-up on the chuunin afterwards. The jounin did as instructed. "What in Kami's name were you two doing, fighting against one another?" Tsunade felt along Kakashi's side or broken bones and was satisfied when it was only bruising.

"Ah, well…" Kakashi trailed off, not wanting to tell her about the real reasons he did start the fight, or how it ended.

"It was just a little demonstration to show the children how important taijutsu is to a shinobi, as well as showing them how to use it properly." Iruka quickly filled in.

Tsunade sent him a glare. "I doubt twelve year-olds need to know how to break bones and beat each other to death." Tsunade finished healing Kakashi and then told him to get up. "Okay, now scat."

"What?" The jounin still wanted to talk to Iruka and maybe pick up where they had left off.

"You know I have repeating myself." She said, ready to throw him out. "Scat."

Iruka smiled. "It's fine, I'll just catch up with you later." Kakashi looked at him, his eye softening a fraction and the left at the chuunin's request.

"Okay, do you know a jutsu that I haven't heard of yet?" Tsunade asked when the jounin closed the door behind him.

"Huh?"

"He listened to you," she said. "The brat immediately gave me lip when I told him to do the exact same thing."

Iruka blushed, knowing the only reason the Copy Nin had listened to him was because of the kiss earlier. "No, sorry, there is no jutsu involved."

Tsunade sighed, wishing she had that kind of power over the silver-haired shinobi – heck she was the Hokage and he was still quite the rebel when it came to some areas. "Well, in any case," she walked to her desk, opening Iruka's medical chart. "Take off your shirt so that I can examine you."

Iruka sighed. The brunette was surprised how quickly a month had flown by. He tugged his shirt off over his head, throwing the article of clothing down on the floor. Iruka sat on the bed patiently, wanting the whole check-up to end.

"From the swelling on your shoulder, I'm guessing the brat broke something," Tsunade walked over to her patient.

"Yes, why collarbone was broken, but its fine now." Iruka looked away from the Godaime, not wanting to meet her gaze.

"You mean you healed it?"

And so the questions began. "No, it healed me."

"So you can't use the charka for yourself?" The chuunin glanced at Tsunade. She moved around the bed and put a cool hand in between Iruka's shoulder blades, tracing the warm skin.

"You know I can, but I choose not to." He hated the check-ups and he knew that Tsunade was going to thoroughly interrogate him now that he healed Kakashi.

"Look," she said, walking back around the bed to face Iruka. "I'm tired of you keeping things from me – don't even try to deny it." Tsunade took a deep breath. "You took in Naruto, so why leave him to be trained by Jariaya when you are a jinchuuriki yourself?"

Iruka let out a quiet laugh, his shoulders shaking. "It's because I'm a bit more than that, Tsunade-sama."

**And cut. That's it for chapter 4. So, Kakashi finally got to tell Iruka how he felt… well, sort of now you all know Iruka's little secret. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. This chapter is of lesser quality, 'cause I'm sick and too tired to proofread anything. **

**Well, there is something I want to ask all of you. After watching an 8min remake preview (Which got cancelled) for ****Ai no Kusabi, The Space Between****, (if you guys don't know what it is, look it up, it's yaoi at its best, and I mean, come on Blondies rule the world in the story) and reading snippets of the first volume, I was hit over the head by a plot bunny to write a KakaIru AU. So, the question is, should I wait until I'm further along with this story before I write a new story? I would really like to know what you guys think. **

**Thank for the people who reviewed the last chapter and please, review so that I can know what you think of this story, because I'm no mind reader. Sorry, I cannot reply to reviews, because I don't have internet at home and use that of my friends and the school internet. **

*******okayu – Kind of a rice porridge**

***nori – Dried seaweed rolls with soy bean sauce. **

**I'll see you all next time! **


	6. Throwing Caution to the Wind

**Chapter five: Throwing Caution to the Wind**

I was sitting on a couch – Iruka's couch, staring at the ceiling, waiting for something to happen. I was bored out of my mind, tracing imaginary patterns in the ceiling. Suddenly, I feel warm hands gently run over my shoulders and down over my chest, from what I tell intentionally brushing over my nipple. I immediately tense up as those arms – strong, tanned arms fold over me, fingers tracing circles on my collarbone.

My shinobi instincts are on overdrive. I had forgotten to check the apartment. It was dumb, just fucking dumb. Even if the said apartment belonged to possibly the most liked man in Konoha, it was sloppy and it just told me that I needed to sharpen up. It was not an easy task to keep up with ninja of Naruto's generation over the age of thirty. I just need an intense workout, or so I told myself, but first, I needed to take care of the current problem.

I used my right to snatch the hand curled over my left shoulder –the intruder's right hand– and yank it off of me, pulling the man half over the top of the couch. I turned my head, my eye hard and calculating, ready to see an array of faces – faces of people who want me dead or people I have lost.

Who I see makes my breath stop short in my throat.

Iruka had a smile small on his face, his hair undone and falling in waves above his shoulders. He leaned in closer to me, our faces only centimetres apart. Iruka sealed his lips over my masked ones. It was a rather awkward position, so I pulled him over the couch and pushed him down. I hovered over him. If he wanted to tease me like that, then he should be willing to go further.

I pulled down my mask, looking at the sight laid out before me. Iruka was dressed in his uniform, but fortunately for me, he was without his flack jacket. I was having a hard time holding myself back.

I crashed my lips onto his, my tongue stoking his bottom lip, asking for entrance. It was soon granted and I plunged into that hot mouth of his, feeling out every available surface, gliding my tongue over his teeth and then the inside of his cheeks. He tasted so exotic. Iruka had a sweet taste to him, which I unconsciously pegged as cinnamon. I was never one for sweet things, but this I knew I would soon to be addicted to.

I moved around his tongue and to my surprise and pleasure, Iruka reacted. We soon had a heated battle for dominance which I won, but pulled away for much needed air. I looked down at Iruka, he was panting slightly from our kiss and his face brushed with a pink tinge.

I was focusing so intently on his face that I neglected to notice his hands had left his side, until they rested on my lower back. His fingers sneaked under the hem of my shirt. I felt his shuriken calloused fingers slide over every muscle, mapping out every dip and curve on my back.

"Maa, you sure are bold tonight, Iruka-sensei," I said, lowering my head to kiss him again.

This time, Iruka broke the kiss, looking up at me with his dark chocolate eyes. "'Kashi…"

I failed to hear what he had said. I saw his lips move, but loud banging replaced his words. Iruka looked up at me, as if he had just asked or said something important, but that loud racking continued.

Kakashi was roused out of his dreams. The jounin sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. Kakashi had to take a moment to recollect where he was. He was sitting on a green couch, in a vaguely familiar surrounding – he was in Iruka's apartment. He had decided to wait for the chuunin there and somewhere along the line he had fallen asleep.

The loud knocking came from the front door. Kakashi looked at it like it had just burned his favourite Icha Icha novel. The Copy Nin got up and stomped his way over to the door. Kakashi made sure he had his default expression in place; the one everyone said was a look of indifference and boredom. The jounin yanked the door open, eager to get rid of the pest at the chuunin's front door.

"Hey, Iru- What are you doing here, Kakashi? Where is Iruka-sensei?" Naruto shouted.

"Well, firstly, it's a free country, so I can be here if I want to. And secondly, if I knew, I wouldn't be here, opening the door for you," the silver-haired shinobi said in a bored tone.

The blonde gave Kakashi a pointed look for a moment. "Well, if you see him, tell him I want him to come to dinner tonight, Sasuke and I want to tell him something."

"I'll be sure to pass the message along the grape vine."

"Huh?"

Kakashi sighed. "I'll be sure to tell him."

Naruto smiled. "Great, thanks Kakashi!" The blonde jumped down the stairs, going home.

The jounin went back inside and closed the door behind him. Kakashi looked over at the clock mounted on the wall by the kitchen. It had been well over two hours since he had left the hospital. Kakashi remembered letting himself in through the window. In the first hour, Kakashi had reached his fifty page limit for the day concerning his new Icha Icha Violence, volume three. In his boredom, he had fallen asleep and had one of the best dreams he had had in a long time.

Kakashi ventured over to the book shelf, he took out the _Tales of Genji_ – he had yet to finish it since his previous visit was cut short. The jounin sat down, relaxing into Iruka's sinfully comfortable couch.

XxxxX

Iruka sighed. He looked across the room at Tsunade, who was at this stage of their discussion, was pouring her first drink. The chuunin was surprised that she even held out this long, since they started arguing not too long after Kakashi had left the room.

The Godaime sipped at her sake, trying to fight off an oncoming headache. The chuunin sensei certainly knew how to raise his voice and make a bombastic explanation. Tsunade set the empty cup down, using her free hand to pour more rice wine into the cup. She looked over her desk, and at the shinobi sitting on the other side of it. The two had moved their discussion to her office – there was no need to disturb the hospital patients or accidentally leak some confidential information.

"Are you at least going to consider the proposition?" Tsunade asked, narrowing her eyes at the brunette.

"Tsunade-sama," Iruka said, "I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Sandaime-sama: I'm not interested."

The blonde sat up, digesting the new bit of information that had been handed to her. "So, the Sandaime made the same proposition? How many times did you turn him down?"

Iruka sighed, thinking back. "Well, five times I think, I never really kept a track record of those things."

Tsunade felt her temper rising. "You're only holding yourself back, Iruka-sensei."

"And that's the way I want to keep it."

The Godaime grumbled in the back of her throat, gulping down what was left in the bottle. "You're impossible."

"It's just safer that way." Iruka chewed on his bottom lip, a nervous habit that refused to break. "If that is all, Hokage-sama, I will take my leave."

The chuunin got up. Tsunade grunted, waving her hand towards the door. Iruka bowed and left the blonde to her sake. Iruka knew that he had to meet up with Kakashi, but the brunette was not one for company at the moment.

Only a few people knew about his secret; most of them had already taken the secret to their graves. Tsunade was one of the three living people that knew, and the deceased consisted of his parents, and the Sandaime. He had no one to confide in – not like Naruto. No, if Naruto knew, only disaster would be born from it. Tsunade was pressing him to do something he had been avoiding for years already, and he had no intention of doing it any time soon. The only people he could really talk to would be his parents and Sandaime.

Iruka left the Hokage Tower and made his way to the cemetery, taking the back roads in order to avoid most of the civilians and some shinobi. The chuunin stepped into the clearing and was happy to see that no one was at the memorial.

The brunette walked over to the Memorial Stone, pressing his forehead against the cool stone, sighing out his frustration. The chuunin took a step back, his eyes automatically falling on the names of his parents. He had not been to the Memorial Stone since the Sandaime had died and he felt a pang of guilt at the thought.

The brunette traced his fingers over the names, his mood disappearing like the ebb and flow of a wave. Iruka put a small smile on his face, knowing it would not fool anyone.

"Hey Mom, Dad," he said. "It's been a while."

Aan almost eerie silence filled the air. Iruka just stared out at the grey stone, his memories occupying his thought.

XxxxX

Kakashi buried his hand deep into his pocket, the other holding up his Icha Icha book. The jounin was making his way to the Memorial Stone. He had to tell Obito what had happened earlier that afternoon. In the past, Kakashi told his friend about more than his team and his missions, he also told the Uchiha about his feelings for the chuunin sensei. The least the jounin could do was get up and tell him that there would be no more moping on about a lost conquest for love any longer. He had also finished Iruka's book so it was partly out of boredom.

The Copy Nin walked calmly past the training grounds, looking at the logs where he had tied Naruto up and where the four of them had become Team 7. Kakashi looked back in front of him and stopped as he saw Iruka standing by the Memorial Stone.

"Maa, here you are, Iruka-sensei," he said, as he made his way over to the brunette.

Iruka looked at Kakashi, but did not utter a word.

The jounin noticed this and stood right by the chuunin, his shoulder slighting brushing against the brunette's. Kakashi glanced at Iruka and then to the engraved stone. They might have been there for different reasons – for different people, but the Copy Nin wanted to know what was weighing on the chuunin's heart. Kakashi knew it ran deeper than just standing in front of the Memorial Stone and getting lost in memories. However, he knew that it was neither the time nor place to ask.

The two of them stood there in silence, both content to be there to be comforted by the respective ghosts of their pasts. Rain started to pelt down from the grey, overcast sky. The fat, cold drops fell on the shinobi, quickly soaking their clothes through as they remained still.

Iruka was the first to break the silence. "We should head back," he said. "I don't want to have to nurse you if you get a cold."

Kakashi let out a low chuckle, happy to see the brunette smile again. The jounin followed Iruka back to his apartment, taking off his sandals at the door. He unzipped his jacket and hung it up next the brunette's.

"Would you like some tea?" Iruka asked, switching on the kettle.

The jounin walked towards the kitchen, and sat down in one of the chairs. "That would be nice, thank you."

The chuunin smiled at the silver-haired shinobi, giggling softly. Kakashi's usual, crazy lopsided hair was a dark grey colour and long bangs were plastered to the side of his face. Iruka left the room and came back with a towel, throwing it onto Kakashi's head. He dried the jounin's hair for a minute or two. When the brunette removed the towel, the jounin's hair was back to normal.

"There, that's better." Iruka left the towel on Kakashi's head and went to finish their tea.

The chuunin set the two cups onto the table. Iruka sat down, staring at the steam rising from his cup. Kakashi ignored his tea, too busy observing the other.

"So," he said, "about earlier." Kakashi saw a blush dust the chuunin's tanned skin. He was really too adorable for his own good. "When I said that I liked you – I meant it."

Iruka sat up, looking at the older man with wide eyes.

"You know those stories about jounin being bat-shit crazy? Well, they're true and I think the term started when people didn't know how to describe me. I just want you to know that if you do by some insane reason do decide to return my feelings, that I'm not an easy person. I'm paranoid, I'm caught up in the past and I don't know how to handle my emotions. On good days I just bury them. I often blame myself for Sasuke's defection to Sound. I think that if maybe I didn't push them to be in the Chuunin Exam that maybe, none of this would have happened. My entire life revolves around missions and protecting Konoha."

Iruka sighed, taking his tea in hand and took a long sip. Kakashi gave the chuunin a pointed look. There he was spilling his guts in front of him and the brunette was drinking his like the jounin was not even there.

"Why do you list your faults?" Iruka asked, putting his tea down. "Weren't you the one that told me to stop doubting myself?"

"I…" Kakashi thought about it and found that he was right. He doubted himself. Doubting if he could have a relationship with this warm hearted chuunin sensei who he had fallen head over heels for.

Iruka had a warm smile on his lips, it was small but it was sincere. The brunette stood up and walked over to stand in front of the jounin. Iruka laid a hand on Kakashi's face, his thumb tracing the rim of his mask. The brunette gently pulled the dark fabric down, feeling his heart swell that the jounin was allowing him to do it. Iruka held his breath, plant a chaste kiss on the Copy Nin's cold lips.

The chuunin drew back before Kakashi could deepen the kiss. The jounin whined and pulled the tanned shinobi down to sit on his lap. Kakashi cupped the back of Iruka's neck and pulled him in for another kiss. The Copy Nin stroked his tongue along the other's warm lips, wondering if his mouth was just as warm.

Iruka was uncertain. The jounin had only told him about his feeling only hours prior and the brunette felt that he was moving too fast. Iruka pulled back and looked Kakashi in the eye.

"I-I'm sorry," he said. A deep red blush heated his face. Iruka turned his head to the side, but made no move to get off of the Copy Nin.

Kakashi mentally slapped himself. How could he have been so stupid? He only confessed today and now he already wanted to practically take it all the way. It was Iruka he was dealing with – not some fuck buddy. Kakashi cupped the tanned shinobi's cheek and turned him to meet his gaze.

He said, "Hey, there is no need for you to apologise. On the contrary, I think I should be the one apologising." Kakashi stroked Iruka's cheek, feeling calm in doing so. "I wasn't thinking."

Iruka bit his lip and tried to hold back his laughter. The brunette failed miserably.

"What's so funny?" the jounin asked.

Iruka let out his laughter, burying his face in the crook of Kakashi's neck. "I'm sorry, it was just too hilarious."

The silver-haired shinobi still had no idea what the chuunin sensei had found so amusing.

"You had such a cute expression on your face, but I just couldn't take you seriously with that towel still on your head."

Kakashi grabbed the towel and threw it of into a corner. Iruka stopped laughing and got up. "Come on, you can take a shower and I'll give you a clean change of clothes. As I said before, I don't want to nurse you if you get a cold."

"Aw, I was looking forward to you giving me my medicine in bed, dressed in a sexy nurse's outfit." The jounin knew he was going to get a reaction from that and that was exactly why he said it. But, now that he thought about it, Iruka in a nurse's outfit didn't sound half bad.

"Maybe," the brunette said, getting behind Kakashi and taking right into his ear in a low, husky whisper, "or I can just wear a leather collar and a black thong with my hands tied above my head."

Kakashi didn't know what to say. He had to give the chuunin credit; he was not as innocent as everyone liked to think he was. The jounin never thought that the brunette would catch up to his little game and it seemed that the chuunin had won that round.

"Two can play at that game, remember that Kakashi," Iruka said, disappearing down the corridor to get the jounin clothes.

Kakashi smiled. Yes, games were always more fun when played in pairs. The Copy Nin started towards the guest bathroom, seeing that a towel was already laid out for him. His shower was quick and refreshing. Kakashi dried his hair vigorously and walked out of the bathroom with only a towel bound around his waist.

Kakashi could hear the shower running from Iruka's bathroom and for a second, the jounin entertained the thought of sneaking in and taking a peek. He quickly swept the idea aside, not wanting to scare the brunette. The last thing he wanted was for Iruka to kick him out because of his peeking.

The Copy Nin sighed, and told himself that within due time he could have the dolphin all to himself. Kakashi took the clothes that were neat fold and waiting for him on the bed. It was the same as last time, a t-shirt and sweatpants. It didn't matter to Kakashi, just as long as he could stay.

XxxxX

Iruka stood in the bathroom, looking at his reflection in a fogged mirror. His hair was wet and plastered to the sides of his neck and resting on his shoulders. It was getting longer and the chuunin thought he was due for a haircut. The brunette turned his attention back to the mirror.

Dark eyes staring back at him. Iruka looked at them closely, a malicious grin on his reflection's face. He wanted to turn away, but the chuunin could not unclench his hands as they gripped the countertop.

This was the last thing he wanted.

"Hello, 'Ruka-chan," his reflection said, the grin still wide on his lips. "You've been ignoring me lately."

Iruka let out a frustrated sigh, trying to break free of the genjutsu. It was no use, he always knew how to trap the brunette, and even if he did get free, there was likely more than one layer to the genjutsu.

"Now now, I don't appreciate the attitude."

"Like I give a damn! Why are you even here?" Iruka asked. "I thought you were sleeping."

"D'aaaw, tsk-tsk," the reflection wagged a finger, giving the chuunin a bittersweet smile. "Is that any way to talk to me – to a part of you?"

"What do you want?" Iruka asked desperately.

"Well, regarding your previous statement, I was sleeping. I just woke up from a little jolt of that man's chakra when he kissed you just now. Why did you pull away? I had half a mind to take over and finish it myself."

"Don't you dare! Kakashi knows nothing about this. I intend to keep it that by." Iruka looked sternly at his reflection. "What do you really want, Juubi?"

"Now that's more like it," the reflection smiled, opening its eyes to reveal vivid yellow demonic eyes staring back at Iruka. "There are only two left now. I sure as hell don't intend on being plucked out of my cosy environment. After all, I'm only a sliver of what I was and if they assemble all the bijuu then all they need is to track down the last fragment and suck it out." Juubi paused, looking over the other. "If that happens, then you'll die Iruka. I'm as much a part of you are you are me."

The chuunin frowned. It was a rather unusual for the youma to make. Iruka sighed, leaning forward and pressed his forehead to the cool glass of the mirror. He already knew. As a child it often gave him sleepless nights thinking that he was part monster. His mother used to tell him that it was only the tiniest part, but it was still a part of him.

The chuunin laughed a little as something randomly popped into his mind. His thoughts turned to the Sage of the Six Paths, or Rikudou Sennin as some called him. He had sealed the original Juubi in his own body and had divided the beast's foul chakra into nine portions, thus creating the bijuu and that the Juubi's body was sealed side the moon. It common knowledge but what people didn't know, was that the Juubi's body was not sealed in the moon at all.

The Rikudou Sennin had two sons, the elder being said to be the ancestor of the Uchiha clan and the younger being the ancestor of the Senju clan. One of them intended to carry on his legacy, and the other to help create the known shinobi world. There were so many things that were twisted into the fairy tale that are told to children at night.

"What are you thinking about?" the Juubi asked the brunette, pulling him from his musings.

"Nothing," Iruka said, sighing and standing back straight again. "Look, I'll think of something just don't get your tails in a twist."

"Fine, fine," the youma smiled knowingly at the chuunin. "I can smell how much he wants you, so put him out of his misery and fuck him already." With that, Juubi lifted the genjutsu and Iruka found himself staring at his own reflection.

The chuunin blushed at Juubi's words. There was no way that Kakashi had such strong sexual feelings towards him that the youma could have picked up on it. Iruka shook his head, shoving the thought aside and left the bathroom and dressed in a pair of blue pyjama pants and a t-shirt.

Iruka dried his hair with a towel and left his damp hair the way it was, making his way to the living room where the brunette found the older shinobi lounging on the couch with his Icha Icha in hand.

"Maa, I was beginning to think you slipped in the shower or something," the jounin said.

Iruka blushed, scratching his scar. "Sorry about that. What would you like for dinner?"

"Anything is fine with, as along as I get to have dinner with you."

The chuunin sagged his shoulders. It was not an answer to his question, but the comment was sweet nonetheless. Iruka went to the kitchen and searched through his cupboards. He was busy pouring rice into the pot when he heard Kakashi come into the kitchen.

"Mind if I sit here while you work?"

Iruka smiled, his back turned to the jounin. "I don't mind."

Kakashi made himself comfortable and watched how the chuunin eased his way around the kitchen. Soon, a plate of grilled fish and rice was placed in front of him. The two ate in a comfortable atmosphere, light conversation constant.

"Thank you for the food, it was delicious," Kakashi said, smiling at the younger shinobi.

Iruka returned the smile and stood to put their plates in the sink. "Please, it was a meal hardly worth that kind of merit, but thank you. I enjoyed having dinner with you."

The Copy Nin got up and pulled Iruka into the living room and gently pulled him down to sit with him on the couch. The brunette sat with his body half turned and pressed against Kakashi's side, a hand curled over his left shoulder and his leg hooked over the jounin's. Iruka had to admit that he was comfortable, especially when Kakashi had wrapped an arm about his shoulders to press him closer to his own body.

Iruka rested his head in the crook of the older ninja's neck, breathing in his scent. He was surprised at how smooth and cool the jounin's skin was against his cheek. Iruka was touched at how comfortable Kakashi looked around without his mask on or without his hitai-ate placed over his eye.

"Something on your mind Iruka?" Kakashi asked looking at the brunette as his chocolate eyes swept over his face.

Iruka's eyes met the jounin's. "Oh no, nothing. I was just…" The chuunin trailed off, not wanting the other to know what he really was thinking about. Iruka made a mental note to torture Juubi the next time he saw the crazy ookami.

"Well, you're blushing." Kakashi chuckled as he brushed strands of the brunette's hair from his face and tucked them behind his ear.

The jounin pressed a chaste kiss on the tanned shinobi's warm lips. Iruka closed his eyes, but saw Juubi's eyes. _Put him out of his misery_, it was chanted to him like a mantra. The brunette opened his eyes again, looking at Kakashi as the man planted soft kissed on his lips again. Iruka had always been a cautious man, but now he wanted to throw caution to the wind.

The kissed back and soon Kakashi was pressing his kisses harder until he bit on Iruka's lower lip, asking for entrance to the chuunin's mouth, which was immediately granted. The jounin delved his tongue inside the younger man's warm cavern, running his tongue over every available surface.

The jounin tangled his tongue with Iruka's. The Copy Nin was bursting with giddiness. Three hours ago –if even– the chuunin had stopped him and now, now he was having a make-out session with said man that was quickly steering into a different direction. Kakashi wondered what had happened while Iruka was in the shower, not that he particularly cared at the moment.

Iruka was pushed back to rest in the couch, his head lying on the armrest. Kakashi hovered over him, a predatory glint evident in his eye. The jounin planted, hot, open-mouthed kisses on the tanned shinobi's neck, scraping his teeth over the taunt muscle.

A hand threaded itself through silver locks. Iruka let out a moan as Kakashi nicked his teeth as a particularly sensitive spot at the brunette's nape. The jounin drew back and planted feather soft kisses along Iruka's jaw, wondering if he should – no could– take it any further.

Loud raps from the front door erupted, stopping the jounin dead in his tracks, his train of thought crashing down into the ground. If Kakashi was a lesser man, he would have whined about the irony of the situation, but he stayed quiet and opted for burying his face in the chuunin's hair instead.

"I need to answer that door, you know."

**A/N:** **Hiya! I wanted to put this up yesterday but I got a bit caught up with studying. Well, this chapter now marks the end of part I of the story that I'm gonna call the 'Amity arc'. I want to hand out some nice hot, homemade pork dumplings to everyone that reviewed/alerted/faved and if you're a vegan, then have a cookie or something.**

**Ah, recently there was a little confusion about my gender, and I just have to say that I'm a girl and a senior in high school. **

**Ahem. Well, Kakashi's and Iruka's relationship has moved on a bit. I know things a progressing rather slowly, but it'll pick up with the start of part II. Let's see what new developments are there… Oh, what do you guys think of Juubi? He's going to be a big part of the story so you'll learn to love him… I hope (he's kinda based off of two teachers of mine). **

**It'll take way longer to update for a while. I have streams of tests, along big projects. In my school the next term –semester, I believe that's what people call it overseas– is only two weeks long before the exams start and I need to start with my Visual Art prac and theory final as in, like now. I'm a bit of an art junky so it kinda takes priority right now. I hope you all will just bare with it for a month or two – I hope not longer. I'm apologising in advance - I'm sorry. **

**I'm starting to like reviews, so keep 'em coming. **

**See ya next time people! **


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Naruto, Romance, Supernatural