Adventurous
It happened like a drive-by shooting; ninja-style. Iruka cradled his head in his hands. He'd never stood a chance.
Chapter 1: Shot
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It happened like a drive-by shooting; ninja style. Iruka had been grading papers, up to his usual daily routine. Nothing special about the day; there was nothing special about any day anymore. And that was okay.
Monotony was the safety-factor that Iruka highly valued; adventure was just not his thing. At least, not anymore it wasn't. He actually enjoyed knowing exactly how every day would play out, every problem that could arise and exactly how to fix it. Today was a bit different from usual, but the damage to his routine wasn't too bad. It was just a different person summoning him.
Tsunade summoned him every first Monday of the month to check on the children's progress. Again, Iruka had been sitting in his desk, grading papers, pressing the butt of his red pen to his bottom lip in concentration when he found a particularly hard to read handwriting. The knock at the window almost shocked him out of his chair; but he turned slowly to see a grinning mask blocking the precious golden sunshine from flowing into the room.
He got up and walked over, curious despite himself, and opened the window.
He didn't feel particularly irritated or anything, but it was strange; he didn't really know Kakashi, and the few experiences he'd had with the young gray-haired jounin hadn't been particularly…friendly. So why was he grinning so wildly now? And with a book of porn dangling so openly in his hand.
"Iruka-sensei," The man drawled in a lazy, happy voice. It shouldn't be unusual that he know his name, Iruka thought to himself. "Hokage-sama asked me to summon you on my way out." The tan man only nodded, turning away before the man finished with a mumbled "Ja."
He returned to his papers, collecting them to file away for later. He hadn't sensed the incoming escapade; he was blissfully unaware, the best kind of bliss the world has to offer. He'd gone to Tsunade's summoning, he'd returned to his normal routine. Nothing out of the ordinary. This blessed monotony had survived a total of three more Mondays that passed like this, Iruka summoned by the usual nameless chuunin or genin or whomever other than that gray-haired fiend. His classes were going well with the children, almost suspiciously so. They all paid attention so well; every little pair of eyes narrowed to the front, little smiles on all their faces almost every day.
Iruka took a deep breath, readying himself to go into the classroom for morning classes. He was standing in the workroom gathering the graded papers. Most would think the children would get better scores for how well they were paying attention. A rap on the window startled him into dropping the folder, scattering the papers everywhere. Irritation leaked into the man's brain as he attempted to smile cordially at the jounin currently opening the window.
"Iruka-sensei" The low voice slithered into the tan man's ears and Iruka stopped the unpleasant thoughts. It was his own fault the papers were dropped; he had absolutely no right to be angry at anyone but himself. He looked at the man to signal he was listening before stooping to gather the papers again. After a second of silence Iruka looked up. Why wasn't he talking?
Kakashi was simply crouching there, smiling giddily with his one visible eye half closed with the forceful twist of his lips. He was just waiting for Iruka to finish, not bothering to help, and for some reason that bugged the tan man even more.
"You can go ahead and relay the message, Kakashi-sensei." He kept the irritation from his voice as much as possible, but if a little leaked it wouldn't harm anyone. Iruka went back to gathering the papers. The silence continued. He'd finished gathering the papers and stood accordingly. Annoyance was already clear in the lines of his face. He'd be late to class.
"Kakashi-sensei, I need to get to class now. What was your message?" The gray-haired man dropped the smile a few broad inches, cocking his head to the side slightly. He watched Iruka with intelligent eyes that made the tan man shiver. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, being watched like that.
"Tsunade-hime needs you in her office." What? Confusion was clear on his features. It was Tuesday. And on top of that, it was time for morning classes. It must be urgent.
"Ah, alright. Thank you Kakashi-sensei." The young jounin just smiled, muttering his usual "Ja" before poofing away. The strangest man, really. Iruka shook his head. Now he'd have to find a substitute to watch his class. Shikamaru could do it. He'd been napping on the lounge couch all morning, just waiting to be put to use. Tsunade-sama had ordered him be productive if he was going to take a day off just because. Iruka gathered his patience and walked through the door to get his day started.
XXX
Nothing interesting happens to teachers, especially teachers who aren't interested in anything remotely exciting or 'interesting'. He didn't want any part of it. Excitement usually just leads to suffering and Iruka was just not 'interested' in his life becoming anything similar to a soap opera. He just wanted to revel in the ordinary life he'd built brick by brick. He smiled warmly at his students, turning to the chalkboard to begin the lesson. A few giggles behind him had the teacher turning back and the children quickly sealed their lips. The girls were blushing; the boys were flushed from hiding laughs.
Iruka stared at them oddly before returning to his chalkboard, wincing at the screech it let out as more giggles erupted behind him. The tan man bristled slightly, setting the chalk on his desk with a controlled gaze.
"What is so funny?" He growled. The students stared at him with wide, innocent eyes. Was there something on his back? Iruka pretended to scratch it, feeling all over his vest; nothing out of the ordinary. He turned back to the blackboard, readying himself to whirl at the sound of giggles again. They occurred soon enough and the man turned quickly to catch several pairs of eyes trained on the window to his right, warm brown eyes followed the gaze to the open window. There was nothing there.
The man headed over, looking out at the bushes below and all around, finding nothing. He snapped the glass shut and turned back to teaching. The rest of the day passed in a blur of familiarity.
The months were a dripping mess of his constant life uninterrupted, every Monday Iruka hoped not to see the gray-haired man at his window, knocking with that ridiculous smile. What's the point of a smile if it's covered by a mask? Other than that, he stayed as close to his routine as humanly possible, the only breaks being when he took Naruto out for ramen when the boy was in town. The close-coming graduation of the eldest class occupied the main part of his mind. They were all good kids; he would miss them like he missed every one of his former students.
Iruka sat his groceries on his small, dully shining countertop. He wasn't all that hungry, really. It was a part of his deadly routine to buy groceries on his way home every night for dinner. All the store staff knew him by name and a warm greeting. He'd just needed something to console him in the form of tedium. He'd seen Kakashi on his way home and they'd actually talked for a few moments. Not only was it shocking that the conversation between the men was rather civil despite their previous interactions, it was actually a teeny bit…interesting. Fun, even. He smiled fondly at the memory, putting away the groceries. Maybe one day they could become friends…perhaps.
He went to bed in a good mood.
XXXX
"Kakashi-sen-" The tan teacher caught himself with a slight blush "Kakashi" he felt uncomfortable with the lack of formality, especially since they weren't really friends or anything special. The man in the windowsill smiled lightly "yes, Iruka-sensei?" He colored further.
"You may call me by just my first name, Kakashi, since you're allowing me to." No response. Iruka sighed heavily, something he did often nowadays, when the young jounin had become the regular messenger for the Hokage. They talked for a little while now almost every first Monday of the month to the point where Iruka would sometimes catch himself pondering what he would say the next time they met. He would look for him on the streets, although those chance meetings were even more unusual than the summons.
He cleared his throat. "You really don't have to use the window; the front door is kept unlocked." He hinted, to be honest, he was starting to get tired to being shocked out of his wits every time Kakashi rapped on the glass.
The gray-haired man didn't bite. "That's alright. I don't mind one bit." He threw the man a playful wink before disappearing with his usual "Ja". Iruka turned away, red to the tips of his ears. If he'd known how he'd review and re-enact every part of that conversation in the future, especially that suggestive wink, he'd have stayed home that day.
As it was, that morning consumed the forefront of his mind the rest of the day, confusing his words as he taught class. Needless to say the children didn't learn much. He felt disappointed in himself for that; it was wrong of him to deprive them of a proper day of education just because of his own stupidity. He craved his usual uniformity more than ever, just because he craved those interesting conversations more than ever. It was…fun to have such an unusual acquaintance. He rolled over in bed that night, unable to sleep, the world tainted with a hint of morbidity.
It felt like he slept through life until the next month, on the first Monday. He'd barely prepared for his presentation for Tsunade; another disappointment. He'd always been so punctual about his reports; maybe she would sense how muddled his mind was with excitement. It was ridiculous. But it was addicting. He wanted to keep that little bubble in his chest fed and alive, knowing the whole walk to school that he should just squash it flat.
He didn't come that morning. So there was no reason to worry. His boring life was safe for the next month. Iruka felt heavy. He continued to feel the weight of disillusionment strapped to his calves, to his shoulders all through his meeting with the Hokage, who looked at him funny, then through the day until afternoon classes were almost over. He'd been unnecessarily harsh with punishments all day, irritated at himself. This was just another reason he hated excitement; the crash after something gets in the way of your hopes. It always happened; another part of the inevitability of his constant reality.
His chalk scratched an almost deafening shriek against the blackboard; he shuddered at the sound but kept writing. A few sparse giggles behind him and the man stiffened. He'd been preparing for this day for a long time, readying himself to catch whatever bastard (excuse the language) thought it was okay to interrupt his lessons. He smirked painfully. Today of all days. This prankster would get what was coming to him. He kept writing as if nothing happened, waiting like an agitated lion in wait.
As if on cue, the giggles came again and Iruka flung his missile. It hurtled towards its target with a whooshing whistle, smacking a puff of powder and knocking its victim off the windowsill with a grunt. The eraser had hit his target beautifully, even if it was thrown with a bit of excessive force. Iruka glowed; he was a chuunin after all. It wouldn't really hurt the prankster; just maybe leave whoever it was with a few good bruises.
"You killed him!" One little girl was near tears, gasping in shock and horror. Iruka sighed, remembering too late he'd been teaching the preschoolers today. Again, the unpleasant things excitement did to him.
"Shh, Shh" The class had turned noisy, some of the children berating their fellow for coming to such a conclusion, some following her lead in horror.
"It's okay, I didn't hurt him."
Whoever 'he' was. Iruka calmed the class thoroughly before heading outside to see if the person was still there. And there he was; Kakashi sat cross-legged on the grass, reading his porno-book with waning interest. He would have looked perfectly innocent, smile and all, except for the huge chalky eraser mark stamped diagonally across his masked face. Iruka put his hands to his hips. Of all the people; and a jounin, no less.
"Kakashi, what have you been doing at my window?" He felt odd chastising his superior, but it needed to be done. What in heck had the jounin been doing spying and distracting his class anyways? It was something more suspect-able from someone like Naruto.
The man looked at him as if he was torn between lying and telling the truth. He scrutinized the tan man's face for a second; Iruka felt his face heat up under that analytic gray eye, but he forced the boiling blood back down, blaming it on his anger.
"Maa, maa, Iruka-sensei. I was just a bit curious." He smiled charmingly, his one visible eye half-closed in an attempt to calm the teacher standing threateningly over him. He waved the porno book to show his innocence.
"You've been curious for the past few months?" the smile dropped and the man opened his eye again. Then the smile came back with a vengeance and something slightly insinuating. Iruka didn't want to decipher it, afraid of the answer he might find. He'd noticed over the past few months that Kakashi was something similar to a forest on the inside; he seemed fine on the outside, but if you delved in a bit deeper you might find yourself hopelessly tangled in some of the crazy things harbored there.
Another thing to show their huge differences; Kakashi exactly personified what Iruka didn't want any part of: excitement, adventure, danger, drama, spontaneity. The gray-haired man's eye glittered in the afternoon sunlight.
"I became interested. Then the kids saw me and it was fun to mess with them. And especially you." Iruka swallowed, trying to digest the man's heavy forwardness.
"So you just follow whatever happens to catch your fancy at the moment?" He felt his eyebrow twitch. This guy was something else.
"Yep!" the man looked up at him again, slowly putting away his book as Iruka tried not to do anything that could be seen as disrespectful.
Kakashi's gray eye gleamed in the light and Iruka's attention was drawn back to him.
"You're quite interesting, Iruka-sensei. Ja-ne." The man gave him another wink before getting up and dusting himself off, giving the now deep red teacher another dark look before poofing away.
Like he said at the beginning; this was a drive-by shooting, but ninja style. Only this wasn't just ninja style, this was Kakashi style. It seemed adventure was chasing him. The only question remained; could he run away fast enough?
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