A/N: I just couldn't resist going back to the 'Little white feathers' AU-verse. I had so many little idea's as to what could happen after the initial 'bonding' session it made my head spin and for once they WERE NOT YAOI! I very rarely just write these two as just friends and I feel it is something I have sorely missed out on, so I thought I'd give it a shot. There is also a reason behind this fic (Can I ever write just for writings sake? Lol ^_^) but I'll explain that at the end... Anywho enjoy. (Or not as the case may be ^_-).

Disclaimer: Not mine, but I can dream can't I?

Ruffled Feathers.

Hatake Kakashi sat in the small bar and glanced at the clock, his visible eyebrow arching in amused surprise. Iruka was late, the brunette had never been late in all the time they had meeting up. The Jounin smirked under his mask knowing he had something to bait the other man with, after all Iruka always moaned about his tardiness.

It had been two months since Naruto had forced his two sensei to socialise and get to know one another better. After their initial night out the two men had been meeting up about once a week for drinks, catching up with the goings on of team seven and the rest of the village. This had pleased the blonde jinchuuriki immensely and he had finally called off his threats, much to Iruka's relief. That had been two weeks ago and now the two men were comfortable enough with one another that meeting up didn't seem like such a chore.

Kakashi glanced at the clock once again his previous amusement fading and a small kernel of worry beginning to curl in his gut. What was keeping Iruka? The Chuunin's lack of punctuality was beginning to worry the Jounin. A few minutes he could understand, but the brunette was nearly half an hour late and that screamed foul play. His worries were unfounded as Iruka stormed into the bar a look of absolute thunder on his face, causing everyone in his path to quickly and none to subtly scarper out of the raging mans way. Kakashi almost felt himself shrink back from the intense aura of anger the man was giving off but quickly caught himself, it didn't matter that the other man was just a Chuunin. He was damned scary when he was pissed off.

With a growl Iruka threw his satchel into the booth and quickly followed it landing heavily on the plush seat. Without even asking he grabbed hold of the sake bottle and downed a large mouthful, coughing slightly as the strong alcohol hit the back of his throat. Aghast the silver-haired man just gaped, the impulsive and vastly out of character move shocking him to the core. Warily he took hold of the bottle, half expecting it to be thrown at him or at the very least snatched away, and set it down on the table.

"Something wrong Iruka-Sensei?"

Dark eyes narrowed into a glare that screamed 'thank you for stating the obvious jackass' and the brunette picked up the bottle once more, this time a least pouring the liquid into a cup before downing it in one.

"Fucking bastards..."

The curse passed through the teachers lips and again Kakashi had to wonder just what had upset the other man so much that he would be acting this out of character. That was assuming it was Iruka, it could very well be an enemy in disguise for all he knew. Either way he watched the man carefully waiting for the picture to become more clear, Kakashi knew it would resolve itself one way or another. The Chuunin took a deep breath and seemed to melt into the chair as his body began to relax. Iruka's ire was still apparent but the brunette appeared to have finally gotten it under control and he sighed as he took another deep, calming breath.

"Feeling better Sensei?" Kakashi asked, although he had a feeling he already knew the answer.

Deep brown eyes locked on the Jounin's single grey, a myriad of different emotions rushing through them like a tempest.

"Not really but give me a few more of these and I will be." He held up the small glass to emphasise his point.

The silver haired man shrugged as he poured his companion another drink, reasoning that although this was probably a bad idea it was definitely what the brunette needed right now. He sat back as he watched the other man finally slow down and sip at the drink rather than down it in one, waiting for an opportune moment to broach the subject of Iruka's lateness. Minutes passed and finally the alcohol began to work on the brunette, the fierce aura began to fade and instead an air of melancholy surrounded him.

Kakashi couldn't tell which he preferred.

"Sensei...?"

Iruka rested his chin on his hand and stared blankly into the small cup.

"It's not fair..."

The words confused the Jounin but he kept his confusion to himself waiting for the brunette to clarify his statement.

"I... People can work so hard for something and because of one little thing they are considered inferior and pushed to one side."

Kakashi raised a silver brow. "What do you mean Iruka-Sensei?"

Iruka looked uncomfortable as he realised he'd probably said more than he should have.

"I...nothing, nothing. Forget I said anything..."

"No way. Whatever this is must be pretty serious to have you so out of sorts. I would like to know what has you so riled up."

The brunette just sighed and swirled the small cup absentmindedly watching the liquid slosh around the small ceramic vessel. He knew the Jounin was not going to drop this; his curiosity was almost as legendary as his abilities. The problem was that when he really thought about it really had nothing to do with him. He had let his emotions get the better of him and blown the situation well out of proportion, even if it had been truly warranted. Iruka ground his teeth thinking over the meeting he had just arrived from.

"I had a meeting with the school board concerning a student in my class... It didn't go very well."

Kakashi looked a little confused but didn't push any further, he knew the brunette would talk when he was ready. Iruka took a deep breath collecting his thoughts.

"I... I got too involved and just ended up making things worse."

"How did you make it worse?"

"It's me... how do you think I made it worse? I lost my temper and tried to take on the entirety of the school board."

The copy-nin resisted the urge to laugh judging that it probably wasn't the wisest move right now; the brunette's mood was already volatile enough without giving him more ammunition.

"So what happened?"

"The student in question has had some difficulties with their studies to the point where the headmaster was becoming concerned. I tried to explain that the child was struggling because she needed more specialised one on one tuition, which I had offered to give but..."

"But?"

"They just laughed at my suggestion, called Kinome useless right in front of her and then suggested she be expelled from the ninja training program."

"If she can't keep up with the training then maybe it's for the best..."

Brown eyes flashed dangerously and Kakashi realised that he may have put his foot in his mouth.

"Er..."

"I should have known you'd be the same as them Hatake... You spout all this shit about looking underneath the underneath and then never think to actually look."

Iruka stood up slamming his fist down on the table causing the bottle of sake to fall over and spill. Kakashi stood up with him feeling annoyed, how could Iruka accuse him of being so one dimensional?

"That isn't fair Iruka-sensei."

"It's perfectly fair. You are just like them... You look at the outcome not the reason behind it. Kinome is a fantastic student, she understands the material brilliantly and her physical activity is through the roof..."

The Jounin looked confused. "Then why is she lagging behind?"

"She has dyslexia, although she understands the material it just takes longer to show it to her because she struggles to read the textbooks."

Suddenly a lot of thing made sense and although he could understand Iruka's point of view he could also understand exactly where the school board were coming from. But what Kakashi couldn't understand was why Iruka was fighting so hard for his one child. The Sensei quite often went out of his way for his students but this seemed even above and beyond even for the brunette. It was like he had an emotional investment in the child but the silver-haired man just couldn't see the connection.

"So would you toss her aside now you knew the whole truth?"

"I don't know... Why are making such a big deal over this?"

Iruka stopped his rant, eyes wide. "I am not making a big deal over this."

"Yes you are Iruka-Sensei; you are making a really big deal over this."

The brunette glared and sat back down, picking up the spilt bottle and placing it upright on the table once more. Kakashi sat back down with the Sensei and an awkward silence passed behind the two men. Finally Iruka broke the silence, sighing deeply.

"I'm sorry Kakashi-Sensei, please excuse my unprofessional conduct."

The Jounin narrowed his eyes "Not accepted..."

"What?"

"I said not accepted Iruka-Sensei... I won't accept it until you tell me why you are taking this so personally."

The brunette stared wide eyed at the Jounin, a mixture of anger, regret and oddly enough shame reflected in the umber depths. After a few moments Iruka just shook his head and laughed hollowly and collected his things together.

"So be it Kakashi-Sensei. Now if you'll excuse me..."

Kakashi gaped beneath his mask, he hadn't expected Iruka to just up and leave. Had he misjudged the situation? What had he missed here? Suddenly the brunette's earlier words echoed through Kakashi's mind.

"I... People can work so hard for something and because of one little thing they are considered inferior and pushed to one side."

"You..."

"Excuse me Kakashi-Sensei?"

"You... That's why you're taking this so personally. You're the same."

Iruka stopped dead in his tracks, back still turned to the copy-nin but even from this distance the silver-haired Jounin could see the slight shake of the shorter man's frame.

"If you'll excuse me Hatake-san I'm leaving right now." Iruka's voice was as soft as a winter breeze and just as cold.

Kakashi frowned behind his mask and stood up quickly, grabbing the man by the bicep. He hadn't meant to offend the other man with his observations.

"Iruka-Sensei..."

"Let go of me..." The brunette growled.

"I didn't mean to offend..."

"I SAID LET GO!"

The whole restaurant went completely silent as Iruka's voice echoed around the room. Twenty or more pairs of eyes swiveled around and fixed on the two men, curious to the disturbance. The brunette flushed under the intense scrutiny and glared at the Jounin who still hadn't let go of his arm.

"Kakashi-san please let go of me, you're causing a scene."

"Not until you answer my question."

The onlookers peered on in anticipation and Iruka could feel their eyes boring into him, judging him. The Sensei felt a panic attack beginning to overwhelm him, his head spinning and heart pumping wildly. It was like he was twelve years old again, his peers waiting for him to mess up and make fool of himself.

But he wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

Taking a deep breath Iruka reigned in his panic and settled his nerves. Steeling himself he glared at the copy-nin's chest, unable to meet his disgusted gaze and attempted to wrench his arm away but still the stubborn bastard wouldn't relent.

"Iruka-Sensei... Look at me."

Kakashi's voice was soft and warm and Iruka couldn't stop himself from looking up. He prepared himself for the look of disgust gracing the Jounin's face but was surprised when he saw nothing but understanding in the cobalt grey eye.

"I think we should leave."

The brunette couldn't bring himself to speak and nodded dumbly as they left the restaurant only stopping briefly to leave some money on the bar for their drinks. Outside the two men began walking in silence toward their apartments. Kakashi didn't let go of the Sensei's arm, not really caring about what they looked like. He was afraid that the second he did the brunette would disappear from sight and he hadn't finished this conversation, not by a long shot.

"Doesn't it seem kind of hypocritical that you moan about my mission reports when you can't read them properly."

Kakashi knew it was a low blow but he always found Iruka to be more receptive and talkative when riled up. The brunette bristled but refused the look the annoying man in the eye.

"I complain about your reports because it generally looks like a dog has vomited on the page. Not because I can't read them, I can read and write just fine thank you."

"Really so you're not dyslexic?" There was shock in Kakashi's voice, he'd been convinced he'd had the right idea.

"No!"

"So what is wrong you..." The Jounin could feel himself getting close to an answer.

"There is nothing wrong with me!"

"You're lying.."

Iruka seemed to sag with defeat. "You're not going to let this drop are you?"

Kakashi shook his head he felt a little bad about harassing the Sensei about this but he needed to know, for Konoha as well as himself. If Iruka had been hiding some unknown disabillity he could be putting himself and more importantly his students in danger.

"I don't have dyslexia, I have dyspraxia.*"

The brunette's voice was solemn, quiet and Kakashi could feel the shame radiating off of the other man.

"Dyspraxia?"

"It's a bit like dyslexia, except it affects motor functions and dexterity rather than the visual functions. Mine isn't a particularly serious case but it does cause me problems."

The Jounin's mind reeled at the new information, a condition that debilitates motor functions, how had Iruka managed to make Chuunin? Never mind that how had he made Genin? Even the most basic ninja arts required pinpoint motor functions, even the slightest discrepancy could cause a catastrophic failure. The look of shock must have shown on his face because Iruka chuckled darkly.

"You're so transparent Kakashi-san, I know you're trying to figure out how I managed to make it this far as a ninja."

"How did you..."

This time Iruka laughed more genuinely if not a little sadly.

"I'm a teacher, I have a sixth sense for obvious questions. It was a lot of hard work... I had to train myself constantly, it's part of why I was such a prankster. The traps were intricate enough to improve my dexterity and hand-eye coordination. The constant escaping improved my physical condition and muscle strength. I think the third suspected something and that's why he let me get away with so much... But I suppose that's all in the past, as is my ninja career."

Kakashi's eye widened. "What are you talking about?"

"You're going to tell Hokage-sama about my condition..."

The Jounin's jaw dropped behind his mask as he realised what Iruka was implying and the brunette thought it meant. Kakashi felt his heart clench in his chest at the resignation obvious on the Chuunin's face, did the brunette really think so little of him?

"Why would I do that?"

"I'm a liability, why wouldn't you?"

The silver-haired man felt his stomach churn unpleasantly at the man's underestimation of himself. Iruka was more than capable as a ninja he'd seen that with his own eyes and the fact he hard worked secretly through such a condition proved he had more worth than most of the ninja in the village.

"Because you're not a liability and I'm sorry if I made you feel so. In fact if I'm being honest you are one of the most capable ninja I know and knowing about your disabillity makes me respect you even more. Many of our forces get by with minimal effort but you have worked so hard to gain your position why would I dishonor that hard work by informing people of something that doesn't concern them."

Brown eyes went very wide at the heartfelt statement and Kakashi could see the tears beginning to form in the umber depths.

"Thank you Kakashi-san." The brunette's voice was filled with awe and relief.

"You have nothing to thank me for Iruka-Sensei." The Jounin replied honestly, eye crinkling in a smile.

Iruka rubbed surreptitiously at his eyes trying to wipe away the treacherous tears clouding his vision. Reigning in his emotions the Chuunin offered up a small but genuine smile to Kakashi who returned it in kind. Overhead the bells began to chime midnight and the two men grinned sheepishly knowing that their meeting had certainly come to an end.

"I should go, school and all that."

The Jounin nodded in understanding and let go of Iruka's arm. The two men parted and began walking their seperate ways and Kakashi was about to pull out his Icha Icha when a voice called out him. He spun around to find Iruka panting behind him.

"I...um, Kakashi-san I was wondering if I could ask a favour."

"Shoot."

"Um... Would you be willing to help me with Kinome-chan, she really is bright and there is only so much I can do in a classroom for her. You're more of a 'hands on' trainer and I think she would benefit from your experience."

The silver-haired man thought about it for a second, could he really deal with another brat? The answer was an obvious one and after what he'd unintentionally put Iruka through he felt he owed it to the other man.

"Sure, why not."

"Really?... I mean... Really?"

"Yes Sensei, really."

"Wonderful, I'll discuss it with you next week. That is if it's still okay to meet up."

Kakashi laughed lightly "Of course it is Sensei, as long as you're buying."

Iruka nodded beaming with happiness, before giving a quick wave and turning around waing off into the night. Behind him Kakashi shook his head in amusement, when he gotten himself involved with Sensei he'd expected things to be interesting. What he hadn't expected was quite how much.

Ah well, at least it wasn't boring.

~The End~

A\N: This has been lingering around on my phone for a while and an incident recently spurred me to finish it. In reality I work with people with severe learning and behavioural difficulties and some peoples opinions, that they are pointless and irrelevant really annoy me.

The reason I finished this was because my boyfriend recently had a group 'job interview' and I use the term loosely. At this 'interview' the group was given a piece of paper some straw thingies and asked to make an animal that described them.

My boyfriend suffers from dyspraxia, therefore this task was nigh on impossible for him to complete and he almost walked out. He tried to explain to those running the group about his condition but they weren't very understanding. He finished the interview (acing the 1 on 1 interview) and came home, convinced he'd failed miserably.

Imagine our surprise when the company rang and asked him to come back for a second 'interview'. When he went all they wanted to know was whether his condition would affect his work. (It doesn't he's been doing it for years.)

Cut a long story short he got the job and is due to start next week.

This was my venting over the arseholeness of the whole situation.

Thanks for listening to me ramble.

Smaell

*For more information on dyspraxia visit:

http:/ www .dyspraxiafoundation .org. Uk (take out spaces)