Disclaimer: Don't own.

AN: Takes place in the "Ours" universe. Enjoy!

Kakashi quietly hummed to himself as he walked to the mission. He walked through the double doors of the building and down the hall. He wondered if Iruka was still there, the thought alone made him sigh. He found it rather annoying that Iruka was scheduled either before or after his shift, but he was glad that his shift was only about a couple of hours a few times a week.

"Kakashi-san!"

Kakashi was brought out of his musings when he heard Shizune's voice call after him. He hopefully glanced at the general direction of the mission room as she made his way to him, "Shizune-san," he greeted.

"Tsunade-sama wants to see you," Shizune said, "It's important."

Kakashi's brow quirked, Why would the old hag want to see me? His brow furrowed, It better not be what I think…

Shizune made a gestured for him to follow, "She's been waiting, and it doesn't help that you were late to your shift."

Kakashi sighed and unwillingly followed her. They made their way to Tsunade's office, Shizune gave a courtesy knock before letting them in.

Tsunade looked up from the piles of paperwork on her desk and gestured for the jounin to come closer, "Kakashi, how have you been?"

Kakashi shifted his weight, putting his hands in his pockets, "Alright."

"And Iruka?"

Kakashi nodded, "He's doing fine."

Tsunade nodded, "How is he doing? You know, after Minoru left."

Kakashi took a moment to think about it. It had been hard since Minoru left for his first long term mission with his genin team. The first few weren't so bad, they were short, and didn't last more than just a couple of days. But this one was expected to last a couple of weeks, the first week was fine, Iruka had a good control of his worries, and had Kakashi to distract him. But as the days grew, and the date got closer, it was only natural for Iruka to grow more worried. It was common for the return date to be past the expectation date, but it had been a long time since either one of them had to deal with someone they loved and cared about left for a mission. And it didn't help when Minoru didn't come back on his expected date. They were being patient and trusting both their son and the jounin mentor for a safe return. "He's been alright," he answered simply. It wasn't necessarily a complete lie.

Tsunade nodded and looked at the jounin in front of her, "Kakashi," she hesitated and leaned forward on her desk, resting and folding her hands on her desk, "We lost communication with Team 8."

Kakashi's heart skipped a beat, but his exterior stayed calm, "…what?" he knew his voice sounded off, but he didn't really care at that moment.

Tsunade sighed, "We lost communication with Team 8. You know protocol with long term missions with genin teams: communication of updates once a week or after three days if the mission is expected to take shorter than a week," Tsunade sighed again and leaned back in her chair, "But we lost communication with Team 8 nine days ago."

Kakashi's mind did the quick math, His expected day back was three days ago…

"I'm sure there's nothing to worry about," Tsunade said with a calm voice, "The last time we had communication with Team 8 there were no difficulties, and things were going smoothly. But these things happen, you know this. I just…I felt that I should tell you."

Kakashi narrowed his eye, "Tsunade-sama…without due respect, do you really expect me to believe that?" Tsunade's lips tightened, "I've been on countless missions, not only on my own but with teams as well. You don't expect me to believe that 'things are going smoothly'." He noticed his voice sounded hard, but his heart was still racing, "If I may ask, what rank was the mission?"

Tsunade looked at the jounin, "It was a rank C mission."

Kakashi knew perfectly well that meant. Knowing how the system worked, a lot of the time C rank missions involved body guarding, escorting, but like all missions, there were always complications, "I need to know what was said with the last time there was communication."

Tsunade nodded in understanding, "In short, it was a body guarding assignment, and the last time we received communication was that they were being followed, and they didn't know by whom yet," Tsunade shook her head, "We waited for more information but it has been overdue." She looked at how calm Kakashi looked, but she couldn't only imagine what was going through the genius head of his. "I know it's hard to believe when I say that things will be alright, but you have to try not to worry."

Kakashi didn't say anything, It's possible, if they were being followed, communication was cut off out of safety, his gaze dropped slightly when he realized that Iruka still didn't know, How am I supposed to tell him?

Tsunade waited for some sort of response, when the jounin didn't seem to have one, she continued, "You have to reassure Iruka that they're okay, but he has to know."

Kakashi nodded, shifting his weight, "Is that all, Tsunade-sama?"

Tsuande nodded and watched as the jounin took his leave, the door closing behind him. She looked over at Shizune and gave a half-hearted smile, "I think it's time for a break."

Shizune nodded in understanding and moved to prepare Tsunade's sake.

Kakashi walked in the house after his shift, toeing off his sandals at the entrance and taking off his vest before hanging it behind the door. He took off his gloves as he moved through the house, checking the bedroom before the kitchen. He moved to the backyard where he found his husband on the swing, looking up at the starry sky above. He stood there for a moment, looking at the younger man, his gaze softening when he noticed the solemn expression on the tan face. Iruka's attention turned to him and gave him a soft smile. Kakashi moved and sat next to the younger man, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, "How was your day, Ruru?"

Iruka snuggled in closer and rested his head on a strong shoulder, "Okay, seemed to drag on though."

Kakashi hmm'ed in agreement and slowly rocked the swing, "Did you eat?"

Iruka shook his head, "Not really. I had lunch, but nothing since then."

Kakashi slipped his masked down his chin and leaned his head on the brunette's, "We need to eat, we don't want Minoru coming back and finding us looking like skeletons."

Iruka chuckled and nooded, "I made dinner, it's on the stove, I just don't have an appetite," he raised his head and looked at the older man, the lone blue eye returned his gaze, "I'm worrying too much, right? He's only late a few days…" he trailed off when he noticed a look in the lone eye, one that he couldn't quiet place, "What is it?"

Kakashi was contemplating if he should tell Iruka about what Tsunade told him earlier, it wasn't really a question about if he should, but more like when. He was mulling it in his head since he got the news, and worked out scenarios during his shift in the mission room. Some involved not telling the younger man, but then that would result in anger and a sense of betrayal, and he just simply wouldn't be able to do that to him. Other scenarios involved waiting for the next day, maybe morning. But in the end, he realized that there really wasn't a good time to tell him.

"'Kashi?"

Kakashi came back from his thoughts at the sound of the soft worried tone, "Iruka…" And then there was the problem of even being able to say it. The younger man shifted in his seat to turn more towards him. He noticed the concern in the chocolate eyes, he was beginning to question if he could even tell Iruka now.

Iruka watched as Kakashi's averted his gaze and a pale hand came up to rub at the back of his neck, fiddling with the silver hair there. He knew these signs all too well, "There's something you need to tell me…" Kakashi nodded and sighed. "But you don't know how…" The silver head gave another slight nod. Iruka swallowed, "Is it about Minoru?"

Kakashi looked at the concerned look on Iruka's face, hesitating before speaking, "Tsunade called me into her office today…," he noticed that his voiced sounded strained, and it wasn't helping, "she told me that they lost communication with Team 8 about nine days ago."

Iruka's heart dropped. He didn't know what to think, losing communication meant too many things – too many things that he didn't want to think about. His gaze moved to the house, and then the grass, Kakashi's lap, and then back to the house, as if he was looking for something. A pale hand took a hold of his, and gave a firm squeeze, drawing his attention to his lap where the joined hands rested. He opened his mouth to say something but his voice failed him. His chest tightened, What if something happened...It was getting harder to breathe, What if they're hurt? What if he got hurt? What if –

In the back of his mind, he knew he was having a panic attack, although it didn't register with him. And if it had, and he tried to remember the last time he felt like this, the last time he had a panic attack, it would be when Kakashi was extremely late from a mission. When he was called into Tsunade's office so he could be informed of the loss of communication. If it would have registered, he would have realized that the last time he felt like this, it was because someone he cared for and love so much risked the chance of not coming back home.

But Kakashi took notice, "Iruka?" concern in his voice, the tan hand in his tightened its grip and the younger man's breathing quickened, "Iruka?" He couldn't remember a time he had seen Iruka in this state, and since he couldn't remember, he didn't know what to do. But from the tense frame, the rapid almost strained breathing, he knew Iruka was panicking. So, he did what came first to mind, it seemed logical enough and worked when Iruka reached other extremes in different emotions.

Kakashi pulled his husband closer, wrapping him in a safe embrace with one arm around his slender waist as a pale hand came up to pull Iruka in by the back of his neck. He felt the younger man's yelp of surprise as their lips met in deep kiss, it took a moment but he couldn't help but smile when he felt fingers thread into the hair in the back of his head. The kiss was deep and passionate, and managed to calm Iruka down enough to the point where he was sighing into the kiss. He gently pulled away and smiled at the dazed look on the tan face.

Iruka blinked and a slight blush crept onto his cheeks, a soft smile tugging on his lips, "Thank you."

Kakashi chuckled and shook his head, his hand moving to tuck loose dark strands behind an ear, "No need to thank me, Ruru."

Iruka sighed, his hands moving to rest on the strong chest in front of him, "What did Tsunade tell you?"

"She explained to me that the last time they received communication was that they were being followed, " Kakashi pursed his lips, "And they didn't know by who…they waited for more information, but…" he broke off, a tan hand moving to cup his cheek. He leaned into the caress with a small smile, "We have to be patient, Iruka. He's going to come back home safely," his smile grew to a grin, "You have to remember who trained him."

Iruka laughed, "You know," he said, stroking his thumb down the vertical scar, "Sometimes I forget. Sometimes I forget who you were: the copy nin, Sharingan Kakashi, the jerk I yelled at when you said that Team 7 was ready for the chunin exams," he laughed at the memory, "The man you were before you retired, but you were always the man that I fell in love with." He smiled and leaned in to give his husband a chaste kiss, "And I have remember that the Kakashi you shift into when it comes to training and missions, trained our son. And before that, Naruto. And both of them have proven to be strong shinobi."

Kakashi smiled fondly at the younger man who leaned into him and wrapped him in a warm embrace, "I was worried too," he said, slowly rubbing Iruka's back, "but then I remembered who trained him – and I'm not just talking about myself either." Iruka pulled away to look up at him, "I'm talking about you too, Iruka."

Iruka brow furrowed, "What do you mean?"

"Iruka, you have to remember who gave Naruto's foundation. It was you. Same goes for Minoru," he planted a kiss on the tan forehead, "We seem to forget all these small details and become solely parents when our son goes off on a mission. But these details will help reassure us that he is coming back home safely."

Iruka smiled at the truth behind Kakashi's statement, "Why are you such a genius?"

Kakashi chuckled, "I think it's time for diner, hm?"

Iruka nodded in agreement, "One more thing." Kakashi made a questioning noise before he pulled into a tender, passionate kiss. Iruka sighed when arms pulled him closer and the kiss deepened. He slowly broke the kiss, letting their lips linger, "I love you," he whispered

Kakashi smiled and kissed the scarred nose, "I love you, too."

Iruka and Kakashi were startled awake when the bed under them bounced. Kakashi had to hold back his natural instincts when he recognized the familiar chakra, "Minoru!"

The boy bounced once more, "I'm back!" He flopped onto the bed and gave his dads a hug, "I missed you two!"

Iruka took his son into his arms and gave him a tight hug, "Minoru! I'm so glad you're back home! You had us worried!"

"Iru-dad! I can't breathe!"

Iruka released his hold and let their son sit on the bed, "How are you? Did everything go okay? What happened?"

Kakashi chuckled as he noticed Minoru's expression that couldn't quiet keep up with the questions, "Iruka, I think Minoru would think better with some food in him." And as if on cue, their son's stomach declared its hunger. Minoru gave a sheepish smile.

They ate breakfast, and Minoru told them what happened. How there were some enemy nins following them, and they had to cut off communication out of safety reasons. He admitted that a battle did happen, but they got the couple they were escorting safely to their destination. Iruka and Kakahi couldn't help the sense of pride they felt towards their son, and how proudly Minoru spoke of his team and sensei.

"I'm really glad I'm back home," Minoru said happily, and before he excused himself from the table to go take a shower, he turned to his parents with a wide smile, "I wanted to thank the both of you, I couldn't have done what I did if it wasn't for you." He beamed and headed off to the bathroom.

Iruka smiled, feeling relieved and happy all at once. He turned his attention to Kakashi when he heard a subtle sniff, and noticed that the silver head was still turned towards the kitchen exit, "Kakashi?" The silver head slowly turned to him, and Iruka's eyes widened when he noticed that sharingan eye was crying.

"Obito is such a crybaby…" he said simply.

Iruka laughed and placed his hand over the pale one on top of the table, and didn't say a word when he noticed that the sharingan's pair was also glistening. It was a wonderful feeling to have their family back together again.