A/N: I finally got down to writing a sequel after an almost 2 years of hiatus. My apologies to everyone to whom I had promised before that I would write one. Not that I haven't been writing, but I just didn't have as much time as I wished I had to write. And I don't want to post something when I don't have an idea on when I'm gonna complete them. But here's a story to mark the end of 2013, and a new beginning for 2014, where I hope to get new inspirations and time for my stories.

Chapter 1: When Misunderstandings Abound

Iruka walked down the snow-covered street, his hands shoved in his pocket as he glanced at the newly constructed buildings. The battle with Pain was still stretched clear in his mind. He shuddered a little at the memory as he made his way back to the temporary shinobi living quarters, the pain in his head which had been plaguing him since morning refusing to go away. He pulled his coat tighter around him as the wind blew and chilled him to the bones.

It was a good thing when reparations in Konoha were getting off track after the village was almost devastated by the Akatsuki. But the recent rare bout of cold winter that had come to Konoha had delayed the progress. On days where the snow fell heavy and the wind blew strong, all reparation works had to be stopped. This was putting a strain in the completion schedule for restorations in many sections of the village, including the academy which Iruka had hoped to see the completion of the building, so that the students would have somewhere proper to study.

Though, he was glad that things were beginning to improve for Konoha. Shinobi were beginning to get dispatched out of the village for missions to sustain the still weak economy of the village. The Fire Country council and daimyo had given them a budget to fix up the village, everyone was being cooperative and working well together – more so than Iruka had ever seen before. And Tsunade had finally woken up from her coma.

Above all, Iruka was immensely proud of the fact that Naruto had been hailed a hero for ending the battle with Pain, and Kakashi had been praised and admired for his part in the battle.

Glancing off into the distance, Iruka could see some newly erected apartment buildings, which from what he heard, were meant for the jounin. He had heard Genma and Kakashi talking about it one night in the quarters when the buildings were still under constructions.

The chunin frowned a little at the thought of his silver-haired lover. After all the misunderstandings they had, they were finally back together. But then, the chunin felt that things were still shaky between them, perhaps even a little uncertain.

While jounin and chunin alike had been out and about, going on missions, patrolling the borders to prevent attacks, and doing information gathering to ensure that the village will not suffer a second attack during this fragile time, Kakashi was mostly in the village, discussing strategies and other important matters with the Hokage and the jounin commander, Shikaku. But even so, the chunin felt they were spending lesser time together, given that the aftermath of the attack had kept the jounin extremely busy.

Iruka frowned. Kakashi was still affectionate towards him, showing it in his embraces and kisses when he returned to the quarters, sometimes late at night. But the chunin could sense that there was something off. His lover had been behaving strange as of late.

Like the time when Genma was talking to him about the new apartment buildings, Kakashi had appeared out of nowhere, cutting the honey-haired man off and steering Iruka away.

Flashback

"Iruka, fancy seeing you here so early in the morning." Genma grinned as he shoveled a pile of damaged concrete slabs and debris out of the way.

"Genma-san, good morning." Iruka smiled and bowed politely. "I'm on my way to see what we can salvage from the academy. What are you doing?"

"Supervising the reparation works." Genma yawned. "I've been up the entire night. This is endless."

Iruka's brow furrowed with worry. "Do you need any help, Genma-san? I could help out for a while and you can get some rest."

"Oh no. Don't worry about me." Genma chuckled. "If Kakashi finds out that I had shoved my responsibility to you and head back to sleep, he will probably drown me in that bucket of wet cement over there. He's protective of you." The jounin flashed an overly broad grin at the younger man.

Iruka rubbed the scar across his nose in embarrassment. "You are exaggerating, Genma-san. We all have to do our part to restore the village. There's no way anyone will fault you."

Genma laughed. "Anyway, that aside. Have you heard that the construction of the jounin apartments have been completed? Finally, we won't have to sleep on stiff futon and crowded rooms." The tokujo leaned in nearer to the chunin. "So, have you heard from him yet?"

Iruka blinked confusedly. "Who?"

Genma rolled his eyes. "Kakashi, who else? So are you gonna mo – "

A gloved hand clamped over Genma's mouth and pulled him backwards. A second later, Kakashi's masked face appeared from behind him.

"Why Genma? I thought Tsunade-sama had orders for you to supervise the reparation works?"

The honey-haired man pried off his friend's hand and glared at him. "I am. I just stopped for a bit to talk to Iruka. What are you doing here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be in a meeting with Hokage-sama and Shikaku-san?"

"It's done." Kakashi walked up to his lover and slipped a hand around his waist. "Heading back now."

Genma snorted and turned back to Iruka. "So, about the apartment – "

"Genma, I think someone is calling for you over there." Kakashi cut in again, with a one-eyed smile.

The senbon specialist turned his head and looked around in annoyance. "Who?"

While his friend was distracted, Kakashi turned to the man in his arms. "Let's go, Iruka."

The chunin gaped as his lover manhandled him and guided him down the path, away from the honey-haired man, not even giving him an opportunity to bid goodbye.

End of flashback

Iruka sighed as he felt a headache coming up. He stopped at the entrance of the quarters and treaded carefully up the stairs to the third floor, entering the jounins' quarter and lying down on his futon for a rest.

He had asked Kakashi about what Genma had been trying to say. But the jounin just shrugged it off or gave noncommittal answers. And even when Iruka had probed about the jounins' apartment buildings, Kakashi had simply told him that nothing had been confirmed and then proceeded to shut him up with a kiss.

He turned to the side where Kakashi's futon lay and smoothed it out with his hand. It was still early in the evening and he doubted the older man would return anytime soon. He frowned slightly as another memory, two days after he met Genma, came unbidden into his mind.

Flashback

"Iruka-sensei!"

The chunin smiled at the exuberant voice, knowing who it was before he even turned around. He chuckled lightly when he turned and saw the blond running up to him excitedly, with Sakura following behind with a laugh.

"Iruka-sensei! I missed you!"

The chunin was almost thrown off balance when Naruto threw himself on him with a bone-crushing hug.

"We just saw each other two days ago." Iruka laughed and ruffled the messy blond spikes when the teen finally released him from the grip.

"Yeah." Naruto scratched the back of his head. "But, after what happened, I'm just glad to see everyone precious to me still alive and well."

Iruka's eyes softened in understanding. Naruto never ceased to amaze him with his big-heartedness and compassion. Something that was almost unheard off in the shinobi world.

"Iruka-sensei, good day to you." Sakura smiled as she finally caught up with her team mate.

"Good day to you, Sakura." Iruka turned his attention to the young lady. "You look tired."

"Sakura-chan is awesome!" Naruto cut in with a big grin. "She's been healing people after people without rest. Tsunade baa-chan just recovered. Shizune nee-san said that she can't use her chakra to heal people yet, so Sakura-chan is taking it on all by herself."

Iruka frowned. "There are still more casualties?"

"Nothing serious." Sakura assured her formed teacher. "Most of them are the ones still recovering from the attacks. Every once in a while, we get a civilian coming in with injuries sustained from the reparation works."

"That's good to hear." Iruka broke into a smile. "Well, you had better take care of yourself too. It's no fun if you suffer from chakra depletion."

"I would assume so." Sakura said with a wink. "And I think you may have had first-hand experience of witnessing it from an elite jounin who always pushes himself too hard for his team and comes home with an extreme case of chakra depletion on more than one occasion."

Iruka eyes widened and he blushed at the kunoichi's statement, realising that she knew. His blush deepened when he glanced at Naruto and the teen seemed to understand what his team mate was saying and was grinning broadly at his favourite teacher, a mischievous look in his blue eyes.

"Ho… How did you two…"

"We heard it straight from the horse's mouth." Sakura laughed. "We didn't know what got them started on that conversation. But he told Tsunade-sama right out that you two were together, even though he knew we were both in the room."

Iruka was stunned for a minute before it dawned on him that the jounin was being serious when he said he will not hide their relationship anymore. He couldn't stop the smile that was forming on his face.

"I heard that it had been going on for a while. I'm still unhappy that you didn't tell me earlier about you and Kakashi-sensei." Naruto pouted and folded his arms, with feigned anger.

"Ah, Naruto." Iruka scratched the side of his head, remembering why he couldn't say anything during the time they had been together before the attack. "It was… We were…"

The blond seemed to realise his former teacher's discomfort. He grinned and leaned in to look into the chunin's eyes. "You are hiding something from me. But I will pursue this matter another day." He tapped his fingers on his chin as he stared into the distance. "Speaking of Kakashi-sensei, didn't baa-chan told him something the other day? About some apartment thing."

"Oh yes." Sakura's eyes sparkled with a cheeriness in them. "She said the apartment building is almost ready and she had set aside a unit for him as per his request." The kunoichi shot a knowing glance at her former sensei. "So, Iruka-sensei, has he said anything yet?"

Iruka blinked, befuddled. "What?"

"You know," Naruto perked up in excitement. "Like asking if you would like to mo –"

A gloved hand clamped itself over the blonde's mouth, very much like what happened to Genma a couple of days back. Kakashi popped his head between his two protégés and gave a one eyed smile to his lover.

"Tsunade-sama is looking for the two of you. So run along now."

"For us?" Sakura pointed to herself, then her team mate as she looked at her jounin team leader. "Without you?"

"Yes." Kakashi straightened his posture. "Something about the casualty report."

Sakura paused for a bit before it hit her. "Oh! I forgot about that!" She immediately turned on her heels. "Thanks, Kakashi-sensei. See you around, Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka watched as the pink-haired teen ran down the street. Naruto turned to look at the jounin.

"I have nothing to do with the casualty report. So why is she looking for me?"

"You need to protect Sakura, don't you? What if some enemy nin attacked her on her way there?"

Kakashi had barely completed his sentence when the blond turned and ran down the street to catch up with his friend.

"Don't worry, Kakashi-sensei! Leave Sakura-chan to me! Bye Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka frowned at the obvious diversion. "Kakashi, what –"

"Let's go get lunch." The jounin cut his lover's protestations off, as he pushed the younger man gently to get him moving. "I'm hungry."

End of flashback

Iruka awoke with a start. He rubbed his head, as he sat up in the futon, feeling the dull throbbing pain in his head. He didn't even realised he had fallen asleep. He stretched a little as he eyed the only clock in the jounin quarters. It was a little past seven in the evening.

The door opening had him turning his head and the action brought on another wave of pain and dizziness. He sighed as he closed his eyes and tried to keep the pain at bay.

"Are you all right?" A familiar voice rang beside him. Iruka opened his eyes and smiled at the person beside him who was eyeing him with concern.

"I'm fine. Just a little headache." Iruka caressed the face in front of him and pressed a gentle kiss on the masked lips. "Welcome back."

"Should I get Sakura or Shizune to take a look at you?" Kakashi's brows furrowed in worry, as he removed a glove and placed his palm against the chunin's forehead.

"I'm really all right. They should conserve their energy for the more needy ones." Iruka chuckled lightly. "It's just a headache. It will go away after a while."

Just as soon as he had finished speaking, a sneeze escaped the younger man, and then another. He sniffled and grinned sheepishly at the jounin who was looking at him with a raised brow. "And maybe a slight cold. But I'm really all right."

Kakashi sighed as he handed his lover a bottle of water. Then he dug into his weapons' pouch. "I think I may have some medicines here."

The jounin smiled when he found what he wanted and he held them up to the younger man. Iruka stared at the open palm in front of him and took the pills gratefully.

"Thank you."

"Wait." Kakashi stopped the younger man before he could swallow the pills. "You shouldn't take these on an empty stomach. Let me go get something for you to eat."

"Do I have to?" Iruka frowned slightly. The idea of getting out of bed wasn't too appealing at the moment with his throbbing head. He just wanted to take the medicines and sleep it off.

But the jounin would have none of it. He swept the loose strands of hair from his lover's face, as he kept his gaze firm.

"You know you have to, Iruka." The jounin pressed a masked kiss on the tanned forehead. "Wait a while. I will be right back."

Iruka grabbed the older man's arm before he could leave, as he tried to stand on his feet. Kakashi frowned as he steadied the chunin by his arm and watched him silently.

"I'm coming with you." Iruka smiled as he finally stood from the futon. "A little fresh air would perhaps relieve the headache."

Kakashi knew he would not be able to dissuade the younger man, so he just let out a sigh before giving the chunin a smile and a nod. Keeping his grasp firm on Iruka, he headed out of the shelters and towards the nearby tea house.

Iruka couldn't understand why their friends had turned quiet the moment he and Kakashi stepped into the tea house that had recently begun operations recently near to where the temporary living quarters were located. The place was quiet, with only a few tables occupied, since most shinobi had opted for the other newly open food joints around the area. But the few that occupied the tea house were familiar faces to Iruka.

Izumo and Kotetsu were eyeing them intently as they sat at one of the tables with Iwashi and a couple of other chunin. He could have sworn he saw Izumo frowned darkly when his eyes had laid on the silver-haired jounin. Iruka was a little puzzled at what brought on his friend's annoyance. He had after all, been the first one to give his blessings when Iruka had decided to go back into a relationship with the jounin.

On the other table, Genma sat with Raidou, Anko and Aoba. The purple-haired kunoichi was busy digging into her food and Aoba was reading through the menu, not bothering with what was going on. But Genma and Raidou were looking at the two from the moment they had stepped into the tea house, with strange looks on their faces.

If Kakashi had sensed the glares and stares thrown their way, he certainly didn't seem too bothered. He and Iruka sat down at one of the tables in the corner while the tea house attendant brought them the menus.

Genma chose to walk over to them while the two were browsing through the options before them. He patted Kakashi gently on the shoulder and signalled for the man to follow him.

Kakashi raised a brow at the serious look on his friend's face and turned to Iruka. "Go ahead and order something. I will be back in a while."

Iruka watched curiously as the two jounin walked to a table at the far corner of the tea house and began speaking in low voices. A sudden shadow casted over the table and he glanced up in surprise, into the eyes of his friend.

Izumo took the seat that Kakashi had vacated and watched Iruka carefully.

"I heard you aren't planning to move to the jounins' new apartment blocks." Genma spoke casually as he fiddled with his senbon.

Kakashi shrugged and gave a noncommittal grunt.

"Did Iruka refuse to?" The honey-haired man eyed his friend carefully. "I mean I can understand if he feels uncomfortable having jounin for neighbours and doesn't want to…"

"No, I haven't told him anything." Kakashi leaned back in his seat and folded his arms. "I have other plans."

"I hope your plans include him." Genma leaned back in his seat too as he tried to appear relaxed.

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow at his friend's words and apparent uneasiness, despite his attempt. "What do you mean?"

There was a moment of silence as the other jounin scratched his head and fiddled with his senbon.

"Well?" The silver-haired jounin raised a brow.

"There are..." Genma finally spoke, giving a little shrug. "…rumours circulating around."

"Oh?" Kakashi snorted. "About?"

"You and Iruka." The tokujo fidgeted under the silver-haired jounin's intense gaze.

Kakashi let out a deep sigh. "I don't know what's circulating around and I am not interested in finding out. If anyone has any opinions about me and Iruka being together, then get them to tell it to my face. I will have them know I'm not giving up Iruka, no matter what anyone says."

Genma grimaced. "Cool it, Kakashi. No one's asking you to give him up. I'm glad that things are going well between you and Iruka." The tokujo tugged at his bandana and he let out a sigh of his own as he continued in a more subdued voice. "I was just worried when I started hearing things going around. It hadn't been exactly easy for you two to clear things up. But well, rumours are just rumours. It will die down soon. Sorry I brought it up."

"No, thank you for being there for us." Kakashi rubbed his temples after a long pause of silence, deciding to be honest for once. "I know it hadn't exactly been easy. That is why, I'm not going to listen to any rumours and let it cause a drift between Iruka and myself."

"Don't worry." Genma grinned, returning to his cheery self to ease the worries on his friend's mind. "I'm sure everything will turn out fine. So what are your plans regarding the apartment?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I don't have the finer details of things yet."

"Well, my only advice is, tell him your plans soon. The sooner, the better." Genma gave a brief nod in the direction of Iruka. Kakashi casted a glance over his shoulder and watched as his lover interacted with Izumo, who was by now, joined by Kotetsu and another chunin.

"I know." Kakashi scraped the chair back and stood up. "I should head over now. Iruka isn't feeling too well so I would like to go back soon and let him have some rest."

Genma nodded as the copy nin walked away. His brows furrowed with worry. The rumours that he had been hearing, albeit various versions, boils down to just one conclusion. He wasn't worried about Kakashi – the man would just brush off the rumours. But for Iruka, he wondered if the chunin would be affected by it, considering how his relationship with Kakashi had gone previously.

But the bond between Iruka and Kakashi seemed strong. Surely, such petty rumours would not cause any cracks in their still fragile relationship.

Right?

Izumo watched as Kakashi and Genma talked at the other table. Then he turned back to his friend who was watching him curiously.

"Izumo, are you all right?" Iruka frowned with concern in his eyes.

"I should be the one asking that question." Izumo sighed.

The frown deepened. "Did something happen?"

Izumo rubbed his temples, as he tried to figure out how to bring across what he wanted to say, in the gentlest possible way to bring about minimal distress to the other man.

"Izumo?"

The voice brought the long-haired chunin back to face his friend. Finally, he let out another deep sigh.

"How have things been going on between you and Kakashi-san, Iruka?" The chunin asked in a deceptively calm voice.

"Things are going well." Iruka answered carefully. "We have been getting along fine."

"Really?" The other chunin frowned as he tugged at his bandanna. "Iruka, if there is anything, you have to tell me. I won't let you stay on in an unhappy relationship."

"What are you talking about, Izumo?"

Izumo rubbed his face tiredly, as frustration took reign of his emotions. He folded his arms on the table and watched Iruka intently.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush, Iruka. Not when your happiness is at stake."

The scarred chunin nodded slowly, as he felt a mild fear gripped him at his friend's words.

"Iruka, have you heard of anything from anyone of late? About you or Kakashi-san?" Izumo's lips were pressed together into a straight line as he tried to rein in his anger.

"No. What is this about?" Iruka could feel the throbbing in his head worsening with every passing moment. Perhaps he should have defied Kakashi after all and took the pills.

"Then have you heard anything from Kakashi-san? About getting an apartment together when the village has been rebuilt, or anything along that line?"

"It's a little too early to talk about that, isn't it? Right now, all reparation works have been halted. No one knows when the reconstruction is going to start again, much less the completion." Iruka frowned, trying to figure out where this whole conversation was going.

"Iruka!" Izumo let out a deep sigh. "Answer my question. Did he or did he not?"

Iruka was surprised at the forcefulness of the question. He and Kakashi were just beginning to adapt to each other after the brief moment of separation they had. It was still probably a little too early to be talking about living together. Slowly, he shook his head.

"No. No, he hadn't. He didn't say anything at all. We hardly even spend time together, with all the chaos going on and him being summoned by Hokage-sama all the time. I don't think he even has the time to think about what you had just mentioned. Besides, I really do think it's still a little too early to be talking about this. Even I have not thought about it."

Izumo had an unreadable look on his face as he stared at his friend. Finally, he looked away resigned.

"It certainly doesn't seem like it's too early for him to think about living with someone." The chunin spoke so softly, that Iruka almost did not hear him. "I was hoping and praying that you would tell me he had already talked to you about it; that you would be the one he is going to live with."

"Izumo, what –"

"I can't believe that you actually didn't hear a word of it. Especially since everyone is talking about it." Izumo cut his friend off, as he pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I can't believe he's actually doing this to you again. Not after he had promised us he would not."

"Izumo?"

"There are rumours going around. I didn't want to believe it at first, but Iwashi confirmed it!" Izumo said tiredly. "Kakashi-san had been assigned an apartment more than a week ago. And I heard he's planning to move."

Iruka stared at his friend blankly, as he digested this new piece of information, a frown slowly forming n his face. Kakashi is going to move in to a new apartment? Why hadn't the older man told him anything? Surely one week had been more than enough time for him to inform Iruka about it. And it wasn't as if they hadn't seen each other in the entire week.

"I heard he's moving in with someone." Izumo's voice cut into his thoughts and he looked at his friend as he listened attentively. But the next sentence that left the long-haired chunin's mouth left him in a state of cold fear.

"Everyone is saying that Kakashi-san is moving in with a woman."

Iruka felt a cold hand closing over his heart as his eyes widened, as he tried to process what had just been said. In fact, he had difficulty trying to understand it. Kakashi? His lover? Moving in with a woman? That can't be right. He must have heard it wrong. Or Izumo must have gotten his information from a wrong source.

He realised he had spoken out loud when Izumo clasped a hand over his and look at him worriedly.

"I hope I'm wrong too." Izumo said in a hushed voice. "I've seen how you reacted that one time when he died and how overjoyed you were when he was revived. I can see how much you love him and I want you to be happy with him."

Iruka could hardly answer, as he fumbled with his thoughts, trying to find a logical explanation to it. Kakashi wouldn't do this to him. He promised he wouldn't. So why is he hearing something that sounds suspiciously like the jounin was cheating on him?

Then the memories of his meeting with Genma, Naruto and Sakura flashed into his mind. Kakashi had interrupted both conversations at a point when the topic of the apartment was being brought up. Did Kakashi not want him to know? Was the older man truly hiding something from him? Was the jounin planning on leaving him again?

The last thought had him clenching his fists in fear. Izumo was startled by the sudden movement under his hand and eyed his friend carefully, suddenly feeling a wave of guilt hitting him and he wondered if he should not have told Iruka about it. But then again, he didn't want his friend to be the last one to find out and suffer from another heartbreak. Izumo knew, if that happened, Iruka would not recover from it.

Kotetsu and Iwashi joined them at the table and gave Izumo a knowing look. The long-haired chunin shook his head in resignation and gently shook Iruka's hands, giving it a firm squeeze, snapping the other chunin out from his reverie. He gave a small smile that he hope was reassuring.

"Sorry we overheard your conversation." Kotetsu interrupted before Izumo could say a word. "But we couldn't help it."

Iwashi nodded from beside Izumo. "I know he's moving in with a woman, because I saw them coming out of the apartment building together. And I had seen them together a number of times around the village. I really thought you should know about this."

Iruka felt his blood running cold, as he closed his eyes and absorbed what was being told to him. He fought to keep his emotions under control. When did this begin? Didn't the jounin say that he loved him and wanted to be with him? Did Kakashi lie to him about having meetings with the Hokage when in fact, he was having a rendezvous with some woman?

Tears threatened and the pain that surged through him was beginning to engulf him.

Izumo growled at Iwashi beside him. He elbowed the man in the ribs to shut him up, when he realised that the academy teacher was at the brink of a breakdown. He quickly placed a comforting hand on top of Iruka's, trying to reassure him. Of what, he doesn't know.

"I'm sorry, Iruka. We don't mean to make you worry. We could be wrong for all you know and this could be just one big misunderstanding. Why don't you talk to him and ask him outright?" Izumo tried to cheer his friend up, truly regretting how the revelations had put the academy teacher in so much distress.

Kotetsu turned to face the academy teacher with a solemn look and a sigh. "You are a good friend, Iruka. I would hate to see you getting hurt. Rumours like these won't be spreading like wildfire if there weren't some truths to them. But still, Izumo's right. You should extract the truth from him instead of listening to what everyone else is saying. This is after all, your own happiness."

"But, what if…" Iruka finally spoke after a moment of silence before trailing off. He couldn't even focus enough to get a sentence out as the thought of Kakashi lying to him invaded his mind and chased away all forms of reasons.

"If…" Izumo swallowed hard. "If it is as the rumours say, and he is so readily giving you up, you still have us." The chunin forced a smile. "We will whack him up hard for you. Even if we aren't as well-versed in genjutsu, taijutsu and ninjutsu as he is, we are still better in pulling pranks. We will colour him red, green, yellow, blue and purple, douse him with honey and flour and pull every single prank until he comes begging for your forgiveness."

Kotetsu nodded as he laid a comforting hand on Iruka's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. Iruka gave a small, forced smile at his friends' concerns, despite the emotional turbulence in him.

Izumo glanced up and saw the jounin walking back to the table. Giving Iruka another firm squeeze on the hand, he stood up, ready to walk back to his table.

"Talk to him, Iruka. You've got nothing to lose." Izumo smiled.

Iruka could only nod dumbly as his friends returned to their seats and a moment later, Kakashi took his seat in front of him.