"Yo."
Iruka didn't bother turning around.
"Mmmm."
He never managed to sense the other ninja approaching. He didn't mind now, but before when that guy had first snuck up behind him, it was slightly... Unnerving. If the other ninja hadn't ducked, he'd have found a shuriken decorating his forehead protector.
Kakashi moved to sit next to Iruka. Copying Iruka and swinging his legs over the side of the Hokage Tower. They sat ontop of the building in companionable silence. The sky had just began lightening, streaking the darkness with purple.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
Kakashi looked over at Iruka curiously.
"That's why I come up here. Where I can breath and see my home in all it's glory. I see this vision and it's all worth it. This is what my parents died protecting. And this is what the children I teach, will one day risk their lives to protect. It's comforting in a wholesome way. It fills me up, and the darkness fades away. Just a little bit."
Kakashi glanced back at the horizon, pearly pink clouds came into view, highlighted gently. The Hidden Leaf took on a soft glow. He remembered what it was like first time, walking up here after a mission. Seeing the world awakening and Iruka surveying it almost regally. The scene had seemed so private but Kakashi had barged in anyway. He didn't want to be callous. But he had really wanted to feel the peace and tranquility reflected in Iruka's eyes. He wanted to be unguarded, vulnerable and strong. To feel invincible and at stake... And then he dodged a shuriken.
"Hn."
"Gomen, I'm making no sense neh?"
"No. You're not. You make perfect sense." Kakashi would have said this but he didn't want to risk being sent to the asylum. Instead he settled for a non-commital, "Hn."
Iruka laughed selfconciously, the morning light stroking his features. "Gomen again, Kakashi-sensei. It's just that up here. It seems as though the meaning behind all this is just out of reach, you know?"
Kakashi dragged his eye away from Iruka's face, "Yeah, I suppose I know."
The Chunin nearly fell off his perch, "You do?"
"I do. It's like the feeling when I see the cover of the new edition of Icha Icha Paradise."
This time Iruka did fall, landing square on his bottom. "Ano, Kakashi-sensei, that's not really what I meant."
"It's not?"
"It's not... And how do you manage to look puzzled without showing your face? It's one of the things that puzzle me. How can you be so expressive with a mask on?"
Kakashi grinned, Iruka was far more, blunter and honest in his speech than most ninja's. It was a refreshing change and probably one of the reasons Kakashi was inlove with him.
"It's one of the mysteries of life I suppose."
Kakashi reached out a hand to the Chunnin, and when he took it, pulled him back into his seat. They sat in comfortable silence for a while. The sky steadily lightening.