Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own the rights to anything, much less Naruto.

A/N: this was written for the lovely and talented Miali. This section was in fact printed out and given to her before Christmas came, but the rest of the world it seems will have to read this as an either belated story or an uber early one. Take your pick. I really don't mind either way. Beware of future crack.

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Iruka avoided the inquisitive, slightly lecherous stare of the jounin to his left. He leaned over his bowl of ramen and attempted to use the steam coming off the food as an excuse to why he was blushing so hard. Kakashi reached over his kitchen table and grabbed Iruka's chin, gently forcing the chuunin's eyes to meet his own. Iruka made a futile effort to keep his eyes on the table cloth, but this was his Kakashi he was dealing with, and he slowly gave in. His looked into Kakashi's one visible eye and smiled.

"Yes?" Iruka tried to pretend he hadn't been muttering to himself, or that he had known Kakashi was there the whole time. Iruka could just tell from looking at the man across the small table that underneath the mask, Kakashi was smiling. The miscreant.

"What was that you were saying? Ne?"

Iruka shrugged casually and finished his noodles calmly.

Kakashi stared Iruka's pony-tail down. He would've stared at the man face, but that was hidden from view since Iruka had gotten up and turned around rather quickly.

"Secret keeping is never nice, but considering the holiday season…." Kakashi quietly rose from his chair and snuck up behind Iruka. Iruka was so focused on washing the dishes for whatever reason that he didn't notice the older man's advance.

Suddenly, two strong arms wrapped themselves around Iruka's middle and Kakashi's breath was tickling Iruka's poor defenseless ears.

"It's even less nice." You could hear the frown in Kakashi's voice. "So…..what were you muttering to yourself that caused you to blush…?" Iruka felt Kakashi's face mask against his cheek. "Like that?"

Kakashi pointedly commented at the rouge that had somehow managed to tint Iruka's cheeks yet again.

"Ah, err, well nothing much. I think I was just thinking about how nice the Kwanza season was…." Iruka knew that both men could obviously tell this was a lie. He mentally slapped himself as he put the dishes away and dried his hands. Iruka didn't even celebrate Kwanza; he didn't know the first thing about it. Kakashi knew that too.

"You don't celebrate Kwanza. You leave cookies out for Santa Claus…"

Iruka slipped out of Kakashi's arms and busied himself as he got ready to teach the morning's class.

"Oh, no? Really….well, thank you for reminding me."

Iruka looked up at Kakashi and immediately wished he hadn't. The jounin's curious eyes were piercing. Iruka fumbled with whatever was in his hands.

"I wouldn't mind getting cookies from you on nights I visit, you know." Kakashi subtly poked at Iruka's words. It was obvious he wasn't going to let this go anytime soon. Iruka told himself if he didn't leave now, he'd be late for class.

"Seriously….I was just muttering. Don't worry about it." The door to the residence shut soundly as Iruka made his not-so-ninja escape. Kakashi was left to stare at the inside of the door. He silently peered at the door handle where Iruka's hand had been not seconds earlier, and pondered.

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" So, I'm thinking he doesn't want to tell me anything because he was planning either my Christmas gifts or he's too embarrassed to thank me for the royal treatment I gave him last ni-" Kakashi was cut short by an overly enthusiastic hand to his face.

"ETERNAL RIVAL. I HAVE AGREED TO LISTEN AND HELP BECAUSE THAT MEANS YOU ADMIT MY SUPERIOR SKILLS, BUT I DO NOT WISH TO LEARN OF YOUR NOCTURNAL ACTIVITIES!"

Kakashi stared blandly at Gai's eyebrows, wondering how anyone could concentrate on what he was saying while they were up on his face dancing, as Gai expressed himself in every movement possible.

"You've got it wrong. I'm just thinking out loud. You're the one who saw me, sitting by myself, and decided to invite yourself into the conversation. I never asked for your help. Trust me, I have a brain."

The harsh, clear modern truths spewing from Kakashi's mouth were too great for Gai. He recoiled in his rival's glowing brightness. Kakashi marked his place in the orange book of love, and set it down on the counter top. Outside the soft snow began to fall.

"What are you doing?"

"REVELING IN THE POWERFUL WORDS, MY ETERNAL RIVAL."

Kakashi blinked several times, shook his head and went back to his book. Gai's logic was beyond his mentally healthy comprehension and besides, he had more important things to worry about. He had made it his mission to, in any way possible, to get Iruka to confess what it was he had been mumbling. The chuunin had just been way too pleased with himself as he mumbled earlier that morning, and Kakashi's stubborn side wanted to know why. He had a sneaking suspicion that he had somehow been included in Iruka's rambles.

"AHA! THE FACT THAT YOU CAN IGNORE ME PROVES YOU ARE TRULY WORTHY OF BEING MY RIVAL!''

Kakashi didn't even bother to gaze up from his book. Lazily he asked Gai,

"Gai, don't you have little boys to stalk?"

Not surprisingly, Gai shot up from where he had been crouching and posed. He looked to and fro determinedly. After several minutes of this, he paused, confused. Looking down at Kakashi, who was still comfortably reading, Gai wondered if he could help him.

"I WONDER IF YOU CAN HELP ME!"

"…….yeah…..?"

"YES! I AM WONDERING IF YOU KNOW WHERE MY STUDENT IS!"

Kakashi sighed, the chapters of his book having been ruined by the unrelenting assault of Gai's presence. He took his time responding. Gai stood there waiting as if no time passed at all. Really, some one needed to drain that man of his energy.

"If you mean Lee, the last time I saw him he was with Naruto and Sakura. I think they were playing the "if I were Sasuke" game. I have no clue where the other two are."

"THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP. I WILL NOW SEARCH THEM OUT AND GUIDE THEM IN LIFE." Gai stated proudly and promptly ran off.

Kakashi smiled contently to himself and nodded to his book.

"Best of luck with that." As Kakashi went back to reading his novel, he found he had the same dilemma he had been struggling with earlier. He was so intent on discovering what Iruka had said, that he could no longer concentrate on anything else for very long. Things like this had happened before, but never had anything come between him and his books.

This both disturbed Kakashi and intrigued him all the more. If his instincts were this bent on unraveling the mystery of the dolphin's words, the secret must be very good indeed. Kakashi closed his book with a clap. He paid the fee for his glass of eggnog and left. He was now on a mission. And nothing was going to come between him and Iruka. Santa be dammed.

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Yeah, this is late and all, but pretend it's still the christmas season with me. Actually, i guess it's the christmas season until the three kings arrive and what not. Oh well, i love reviews! And happy New Year too! xD Go check out Miali's work. She's a bajillion times better than I at writing.