This is a short story I was inspired to write for y'all for the holidays. Just a little KakaxIruk - set the winter before Naruto's graduation. Please enjoy and leave comments!
Note: This is rated T for male/male romance (Yes, Virginia, that is yaoi.) I tried to keep it sweet, legal and in the spirit of the season.
I do not own Kakashi, Iruka, Konoha etc. - they are the intellectual property of Masashi Kishimoto.
Edit 12/22: Cleaned up a few minor plot points and added some extra author content.
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Iruka wasn't sure who was more ready for Christmas vacation, he or his students. He looked down at his list, checked it twice, then twelve more times. It was his "To Do" list of all the things he had to get done before Christmas morning, and he hadn't done a one of them yet. He placed a finger between the cowl of his shirt and his throat and swallowed. This was not good. Why did he always end up leaving things until the last minute?
He gazed out the window and tried to take a few calm, deep breaths. They ended up being more like sucking gasps, and the tightness in his chest refused to go away. There was so much left to do! And here he was, stuck handing out busywork to a group of kids who, he noted out of the corner of his eye, had taken his assignment, folded it into origami throwing stars and were currently trying to shoot each other's eyes out.
He looked back out the window, which had inexplicably become blocked by a nonchalant, pointy-headed, ninja-shaped shadow. "'jo" said the shadow, and the Copy Nin Kakashi stepped into the room. A paper shuriken glided to an easy stop in the spiky silver nest of his hair.
Giggles from the class were quickly silenced with a death-glance by Iruka. He didn't like the appearance of a higher level ninja in his classroom; it was not usually a good sign. "Students, please stand and show respect to the Jonin who has entered the classroom." ...through the window? he thought, but didn't say it out loud.
The class stood, if not as one, then as close to one as a herd of antsy children with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads could muster. They bowed, and the Copy Nin returned the gesture. They sat, but Iruka, a look of concern on his face, asked quietly, "is something wrong?"
The strange man, his face doubly obscured by a mask and by the fact that his forehead protector was set diagonally across one eye, somehow managed a range of facial emotions that was quite extraordinary. He looked at Iruka questioningly, then relaxed and smiled. Or at least, Iruka suspected he was smiling, owing to the way his eye curved upwards into a happy crescent-shaped squint.
"Oh no. I'm fine." He took a few paces forward and laid a hand on Iruka's shoulder. "How are you, Iruka-sensei?"
Iruka blushed, taken aback. What was this all about? There were more murmurs from the class, but he ignored them. Forsaking respect for a moment, he shrugged off Kakashi's intrusive touch and took a step backwards.
"I'm fine. At least I was before my class was interrupted. Now please state your business. It's not fair to waste the student's valuable time."
"Valuable Time?" Kakashi questioned, and his eye rolled up to look at the paper still wedged in his hair. He took it out and tossed it away. "I think I can help." He turned and faced the class, and before Iruka could register what was going on, the Jonin said, "all right! Your new assignment is to have a Merry Christmas! Class dismissed!"
The class erupted in happy shouts and cries, and the cacophony of shifting desks and chairs, book bags being flung over shoulders and coats being snapped shut drowned out any attempt of Iruka's to regain control. Meekly, he sunk back to his desk and acknowledged the wishes of "Happy Holidays," "Happy Solstice," and "Merry Christmas" (screamed at him by Naruto) from the children as they barreled out the door.
Once they had left, a snowstorm of paper in their wake, he sighed and looked back at his list. Kakashi had dismissed his class only a few minutes early, he now realized, and he mine as well get started on his list. But before he could settle his thoughts long enough to decide what item to tackle first, the list was snatched away from him.
"Hm," said Kakashi, rubbing his chin and reading the list.
"Hey!" Iruka said, reaching up to take it back.
"Is this what is stressing you out, Iruka-sensei?" He began to read, and Iruka felt his face grow hot with embarrassment. "Present for Hokage - Book? Bake fruitcakes for Jonins. Do laundry. Visit Naruto - bring cookies."
Iruka gritted his teeth and tried again to snatch back his list. Kakashi barely seemed to move, but every time he reached up to grab the paper, he shifted just enough to obscure Iruka's attempts. The man was extremely good, and Iruka couldn't help but be impressed. Still, Kakashi was breaking one of Iruka's cardinal rules: never use your skills just to impress or annoy others.
"I think I can help," Kakashi said, and in an instant, the list disappeared in a puff of smoke and flame. "It is my duty to make sure you have a Merry Christmas this year, Iruka-sensei."
Iruka let out a strangled little sound, grasping futilely at the ashes that fluttered down. "No! What are you doing; are you crazy?"
"I won't say that ' you'll thank me later' but, well," he grinned again. "It's vacation, relax. Here, maybe a little light reading will help." He set a book down on the desk and promptly disappeared.
Iruka felt hollow. He wasn't sure if it was the empty classroom, the loss of his list, or the sudden appearance and then disappearance of the quirky Jonin. And what the hell was all that about? Why had the Copy Nin, a person he recognized but didn't really know, barge into his classroom, excuse his class, and destroy his Christmas list? He rubbed the soot of the old list off his hands and looked around the room; it was a mess that he'd have to clean up. That would be the first entry on his new list. He reached out and picked up a piece of paper and began to write from memory.
He glanced out the window, and felt a shock run through him at the sight of Kakashi leaning against the frame, his arms crossed over his chest. "No more lists," he said, and Iruka yelped as he incinerated the paper as before. "Besides, Jonin don't like fruitcake."
And he was gone again.
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Oh man, why I can't ever write short stories? Well, I will upload more later. Please let me know what you think!
