Just a little one-shot I thought up a couple days ago. Enjoy the KakaIru cuteness!

Kakashi liked Iruka Umino.

Kakashi did not admit to liking people very often.

To this day, he had yet to admit that he liked Gai, and the blue beast was as close as he could get to calling someone a best friend.

But Kakashi liked Iruka Umino.

The schoolteacher was always so warm. Even when he was yelling at him. His voice was so passionate, and his face would flush an interesting shade of red – the very color of warmth.

When the chuunin had first suggested they have tea together to discuss Naruto's progress, many moons ago when the genin had just come under Kakashi's tutelage, the jounin had been surprised. And hesitant. He didn't really want to, but he obliged, hoping it would be over with quickly, and the other man would leave him alone thereafter.

Iruka, however, did not leave him alone.

He wanted to keep meeting for tea. Several times a month, in fact.

Kakashi told himself he was putting up with it simply because he didn't know how to turn the sensei down yet. He was just being polite. Contrary to popular belief, he was not a completely rude, cold-hearted bastard. Every time he accepted an invitation to tea, he told himself that it would be the final time. That he would find some way to make it clear at the end of their conversation that he could no longer find time in his busy elite jounin schedule to have tea and chit-chat with a teacher just to tell him about his old student.

But every time, Kakashi would walk away with a smile on his face and suddenly realize that he had just nodded and agreed when Iruka had said "see you next time." Crap.

It took a good 6 months for the great copy-ninja to just accept the fact that he kept going because he enjoyed it.

Iruka was funny, when he let his teacher/strict mission room desk worker persona drop. Kakashi had been shocked, to say the least, the first time Iruka had responded with a lecherous grin and equally perverted comment to the jounin jokingly describing his latest Ichaicha book to him. Kakashi had spent most of the rest of their time together blushing at his hands… which Iruka was also quick to tease him about, what with him supposedly being the shameless pervert and all.

Kakashi also liked to hear Iruka's stories. The teacher always insisted that his tales about the classroom were boring, but Kakashi disagreed. They were funny, and heartwarming, and a nice break from the jounin's usual world of battle horrors. He liked being reminded that there was a world beyond assassination missions and shady back-room politics.

And he liked the way Iruka smiled when he talked about his work. He had never met another shinobi, save Naruto, who genuinely seemed to love life and his place in it. And Iruka had a very cute smile.

When his team had disbanded for a couple years, Kakashi had felt the loss in multiple ways. He hadn't been expecting to miss his tea time with Iruka so damn much though.

It had only taken about a month of not seeing the sensei for Kakashi to break down and start memorizing his schedule so that he could 'bump into him' at random places and chat. If the chuunin had ever figured out that's what he was doing, he was kind enough not to mention it. But considering that Iruka enjoyed teasing him, he highly doubted that was the case.

He was very proud of his elite jounin sneakiness.

By the time Naruto returned to the village, they had become good enough friends for the meetings over tea to start up again almost automatically. This time, in fact, Iruka had just started a cooking class and would often bring his latest treats to compliment the tea. And Kakashi liked treats.

And he liked Iruka.

What Kakashi did not like was when Yamato started elbowing in on his time with the chuunin sensei. It started when Kakashi had been out of town on an extended mission, shortly after the Akatsuki attack. He came home and had met Iruka in the mission room when handing in his report and apologized for not being around to update the other man recently. Iruka had smiled at him good-naturedly and told him that Yamato-sensei had been filling him in.

Kakashi had smiled back and said "that's great," but inside, he had felt a very weird twinge. But he ignored it, determining to himself that now that he was home where he belonged, things would go back to normal and he would be seeing Iruka just as often soon enough.

But he didn't.

For the next couple of months, Iruka had shirked their time together in favor of Yamato. And every time Yamato would tell him that he had been at tea with Naruto's old instructor, Kakashi had gotten angrier and angrier.

Yamato was drinking his tea, and eating his treats with his Iruka-sensei, dammit!

It's not like Iruka was ignoring him though. He still accepted his reports and asked him how he was and waved to him when he saw him on the streets. If the chuunin hated him now for some reason, he sure had a funny way of showing it. The only thing Kakashi could conclude was that Iruka liked Yamato better than him.

And Kakashi was not used to being second-best.

Everyone looked at him like he was nuts when the bright orange Ichaicha bounced off Yamato's head and landed in the dirt at his feet. His team was finished training for the day, and Yamato had just announced that he was off for tea with Iruka-sensei and turned away to leave.

Kakashi honestly didn't even remember making the conscious decision to chuck the book in his hand at his fellow teacher. He was a grown man, after all. Grown men did not throw things at other peoples' heads… unless they were trying to kill them. And a book was not a very viable weapon, and Kakashi was not trying to kill Yamato. You didn't kill someone over something as petty as having tea with 'your' friend.

But alas, before he could really think about it, the book had left his hand and was heading straight for the other man.

Yamato, Naruto, Sakura, and Sai stopped in their departure to gaze up at him in his perch in the tree, 'WTF' looks stretched across their faces.

But the glare their jounin sensei was giving the other instructor made the three students very aware that this was not something they should stick around for. They bolted out of the clearing right before the fighting started.

It didn't last long as it wasn't a serious fight to begin with, and Kakashi obviously wasn't thinking clearly. He was extremely embarrassed when he eventually ended up admitting, during the shouting portion of their match, that he was upset that Yamato was getting to spend so much time with Iruka, but the other man didn't really seem to be grasping the situation without it spelled out for him. The copy-nin didn't get to see his comrade's reaction to his confession, however, because he ran away as soon as he said it.

And now he was sitting on a bench far away, nursing his swollen cheek through his mask, and silently calculating exactly when he would be able to show his face to Yamato again without feeling like a fool.

He figured a year was a reasonable amount of time.

The jounin stiffened and felt a small wave of panic come over him when he sensed a familiar chakra signature land right behind him. He cursed his inattentiveness for leaving him with no time to flee before the tan man was leaning over the bench and giving him a tired look.

"Soo… you wanna tell me what's up?"

Kakashi flicked his eye over to the teacher, trying to look as bored and unfazed as always. "I don't know… what up are you referring to?"

Iruka sighed and walked to the other side of the bench, seating himself beside the jounin. "Yamato-sensei didn't show up to tea with me this afternoon. When I finally tracked him down, he told me you two got into a fight."

"Figures," Kakashi grumbled under his breath.

"What does that mean?"

Kakashi looked away and stared at the ground. "Nothing."

"No, what did you mean by 'figures'?" Iruka demanded.

The copy-nin remained silent.

The chuunin rolled his eyes, used to the other man's stubborn behavior. "Anyway," he continued. "I tried asking him why, but all he said was that I needed to ask you."

Silence.

"Soo… why did you get in a fight? …Are you mad at him about something? … Does what you're mad about have anything to do with what you grumbled under your breath? … Are you gonna make me ask 17 more of these?"

Silence.

Iruka sighed and stood. "Fine. I'll just go talk to him again."

Kakashi snorted. "Of course."

"Ok, seriously! What is up with you?" The teacher rounded on him again. "What's with the snippy comments and random violence and weird half-silent treatment?"

"Why do you care?"

"What?"

The jounin continued to avoid his gaze. "I said why do you care? It's not like we're friends."

Iruka started slightly, looking taken aback, then hurt. "Oh… silly me, I didn't realize we weren't friends. Guess I don't care then." He started to leave, but Kakashi turned to him finally.

"Wait!"

Iruka looked back.

"I didn't… I didn't mean it like that."

"Then why did you say it like that?" Iruka snapped.

Kakashi scratched the back of his head, becoming sheepish under the teacher's intense glare. "I just meant… I didn't think that you thought of us as friends."

The other man sighed disbelievingly "Why would you think that?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Haven't seen you around lately."

"The academy has been under a lot of pressure recently – you know that. Plus I've been pulling double shifts in the mission room to help with all the incoming paperwork. I've been busy."

"You always seem to find time to have tea with Yamato," Kakashi supplied accusingly.

"To discuss Naruto."

"I'm still his teacher too, you know…"

"I know that," Iruka shot as though he was offended that Kakashi even felt the need to tell him that.

Kakashi didn't respond, and a tense silence stretched between them for a second while the wheels in Iruka's head turned. A surprised look crossed his features as he gazed at the copy-nin. "Oh my god… is that why you're upset? Are you mad that I've been going to Yamato-sensei to talk about Naruto lately instead of you?"

Kakashi didn't answer, but his shoulders drooped, and the chuunin took that as confirmation.

"Oh my gosh, Kakashi…" Iruka smiled at him adoringly. "You're jealous that I've been hanging out with him and not you!"

The jounin huffed sullenly.

"Aww, I had no idea you enjoyed our talks so much! You miss me!" A wide, cocky smile stretched across the teacher's face. "And here I thought I was giving you a break by not bothering you all the time. If you missed me so much, you coulda just said so."

Kakashi scoffed and turned away to hide the blush starting to creep onto the exposed part of his face. "It doesn't matter," he tried to save face now – though he knew it would fail miserably.

"Ah ah ah," Iruka hopped closer and waved a finger in his face. "You totally just admitted it. You can't take it back now. You so like me."

Kakashi rolled his eye, but he knew the chuunin wasn't fooled. Kakashi did like Iruka. He liked him a lot.

The chuunin in question was still grinning like a Cheshire cat down at him. But he cleared his throat, and tried to ask politely, "Kakashi-sensei… would you like to get some tea with me?"

Kakashi tilted his head, scratched his chin, and pretended to think. "Hmm… no."

Iruka's smile fell. He blinked. "What?"

Kakashi looked up at him casually. "I don't want to have tea with you anymore. That's yours and Yamato's thing now. It's not our thing anymore."

Iruka's eyebrows rose. "Are you serious? You're not going to have tea with me anymore?"

"Hmm… no," Kakashi repeated, and Iruka looked like he was about to blow up. "But I will take you out to dinner."

The chuunin's face instantly snapped back to shock. "Huh?"

"We need a new thing – just you and me. I vote dinner."

The teacher gave him a weird look, then chuckled nervously. "Dinner makes it seem like a date, Kakashi."

"So, what if it is?"

Iruka recoiled in surprise. His gaze bore into the other ninja's eye, looking for a hint of teasing. But he couldn't find it. "Wh… what?"

Kakashi cocked his head. "Well, if Yamato gets tea, then I think I should get dates. After all, I've known you longer."

Iruka gaped a second, not entirely sure how to respond.

Kakashi's eye curved into a smile. "Are you surprised, Iruka? You said it yourself – I sooo like you."

The chuunin stuttered and blushed, staring at the ground. Kakashi patted himself on the back for being able to turn the tables like that. He stood, still grinning at the other man. "Meet you at Ichiraku's in an hour?"

Iruka stammered and blushed some more, then finally nodded.

"Great." The jounin sprung away, leaving the flustered man to compose himself on his own.

Kakashi hummed as he started the trek home to clean himself up.

He wondered if Iruka would wear his red shirt to dinner. The teacher looked so good in civilian clothes, especially his red shirt. Kakashi liked his red shirt.

He also wondered if Iruka would wear his hair down. Kakashi liked Iruka's hair. It was so shiny and looked soft. He thought about the possibility of finally being able to run his fingers through it and test that hypothesis.

He started planning all the naughty innuendos he would make at dinner. He wondered how many times he could make Iruka blush. He liked it when Iruka blushed. And when Iruka tripped over his words nervously. And when he smiled that shy little smile into his hand.

Kakashi just liked Iruka, overall.

No, it was true that Kakashi didn't admit to liking people very often.

But Kakashi liked Iruka.

Yes…he liked Iruka very much.

DixieGoddess