"Mmmm."

"Kashi, c'mon."

"But your neck tastes so good, Iru..."

"Fine. Since you have satisfied your appetite, this soup won't be of any use will, it?"

"Maa, you know I always have a spot for miso..."

"Especially at two in the morning!"

"Eh heh heh..." The silver-haired jounin scratched his nose before returning to nuzzling his lover's neck while giving him a warm hug from behind.

Iruka, for his part, concentrated on making the soup, not burning it, despite the attentions of his beloved. Recently, Kakashi had taken to eating late-night snacks before leaving on missions early in the morning, which didn't make sense to his boyfriend, because he got less sleep that way. But complaining about the man's strange habits had never gotten Iruka anywhere, so unless they specifically bothered him, he adapted. In this case, adapting meant eating with him and, tonight, making the meal.

"Hey...Iru...after we eat...do you care to join me for a little...ah...nightwear soiree?"

"Don't you have to leave really early tomorrow?" Actually, Kakashi hadn't told him that, but the late-night brew spoke for itself. "Besides, I think you just invited me to a pajama party."

"No pajamas allowed..."

"Then what do you call thaaa--"

The tanned man's question was cut off by a sudden movement of his boyfriend. With an expert hand, Kakashi reached around Iruka and palmed the lump in Iruka's crotch. With just a rub and a squeeze, he managed to get his lover aroused through his clothes. Iruka stopped stirring the soup and tried to take the hand away.

We shouldn't, he said in his mind, I'll be sore and you won't have energy tomorrow, don't you have an important mission in the Land of Rain?

"Nnnn...Kashi..." Was what he moaned instead.

Knowing how to get what he wanted, the jounin slowly and deliberately licked his lover's right ear before teasingly pushing his tongue in. Iruka jerked.

A few minutes later, Kakashi turned the stove off, because the forgotten miso was boiling over.

"See? I don't always start these things, and even when I do, it's you who ends up doing this..."

"Shush, or you get nothing," Iruka had paused to retort, and now he slid his lover's hardening member again into his mouth and sucked gently. He judged his ability by the way Kakashi's breath was hitching and near the end used his teeth a little bit. He could tell he was gaining skill.

Before meeting Kakashi, the thought of giving or receiving head had quite scared him, but now Iruka understood that in a relationship, you were allowed to toy with your lover's privates because there was trust involved. Kakashi trusted him to be gentle yet passionate, and Iruka always did his best to fill that role. Kami knew the jounin...

His thoughts were interrupted by hands tugging at his hair.

"Bedroom." Kakashi rasped out. "Now."

He didn't like to come in the kitchen.

He's behind me again, thought Iruka dimly as he pressed his face against the pillow, it's been a while since we've done this position.

Preparations done, the silver-haired ninja kissed his lover's waist tenderly and swiftly entered him. Iruka gasped. Entry was always painful, especially in this position, but once they settled into a steady rhythm the pain was gone, replaced by pleasure. Moaning, Iruka couldn't hold out much longer, his lover's fingers were too much. With a spasm, he came into Kakashi's stroking hand. Man, Mizuki was never this good...wait, what??

He soon forgot his train of thought when his lover's thrusts became more needy and erratic. Suddenly halting his movement, Kakashi always growled as he came. The feeling of his boyfriend's seed filling him made Iruka forget to think altogether for some time.

Piii piii piiii.Damn annoying alarm clock! Iruka moved to turn it off and realized it wasn't on his side of the bed. The annoying sound stopped, and a weight was lifted off the bed. He turned around to see Kakashi getting quietly dressed. The alarm clock told him it was four in the morning. I should've let him rest instead of doing it...Sleep was threatening to take hold of him, but he wanted to say something. Kakashi beat him to it.

"Behave while I'm gone."
"That's my line..."
The jounin kissed his boyfriend on the forehead and walked off. Bye Kashi, take care... Iruka didn't know if he said this or only dreamt it.

Mizuki...Why had that name come up? He hadn't thought about Mizuki in a long time...

Iruka rolled over. His relationship with the other chuunin had started out a happy one. They had met in teacher training class and hit it off right away. Shortly after they started teaching formally, he had been invited to Mizuki's apartment. They spent an enjoyable night together.
After that, Iruka invited him a few times to his own apartment. Back then, everything had been smiles and roses.

And then, his companion had changed. Iruka had started to notice changes in his boyfriend a month after they started living together. If it was not work-related, Mizuki didn't talk to him. At home he was moody and demanding, occasionally even losing his temper at random stuff, like too much spice in the soup. His preference for sexual positions had gone through an evolution too: he now demanded that Iruka be on the bottom, and face down. The dolphin didn't know why their relationship was deteriorating and did his best to patch things up with Mizuki.

But despite his amiable nature, Iruka knew a line of respect had to be drawn, and if Mizuki crossed it he'd have to leave. If he crossed it, and Iruka stayed and forgave him, it'd be like giving him permission to treat him like a discarded old slipper, always stepped on, always ignored. There was one thing Iruka would never forgive Mizuki, or any other partner. It was exactly what the white-haired chuunin did.

It had been a Saturday night. The dolphin took them to a bar, hoping to cheer Mizuki up, to let him unwind a bit. Unfortunately, they met some colleagues from school and the office, so it didn't turn out the quiet evening together Iruka had been hoping for. In fact, by the time they got home, Mizuki was angry again.
"What the hell were you doing?? Flirting with everyone!"
"Flirting? Mi-kun, I was with you, and everyone knew it."
"Bullshit! You were quite happy talking with Tetsuo, refilling his sake cup over and over!"
"He was happy because he's going to get promoted, and I refilled his cup because it was something polite to do..."
"Don't talk back to me!!"

It may have been the alcohol hollering, but the slap across the face was 100 Mizuki. Iruka's retaliation was quite swift, slamming his ex-boyfriend against the wall and making him see stars. Iruka panted. He felt tears coming, and he didn't know whether they were from anger or grief, or both.

"You just crossed the line, Daitora-san." He hadn't used his last name since the day they had met.
Mizuki, for his part, looked dumbfounded at the blood dribbling from his broken nose and then at Iruka.
"I tried to make this work, I really did. You turned out to be a complete asshole in the end, despite everything."
"'Ruka I--"

But the scarred man wouldn't hear any excuses. He didn't want to hear his pet name called by a bastard either. He turned his back to his former love and went off to clear his stuff out of their place.

After that, Iruka dedicated all his energy to schoolwork. He volunteered to supervise as many extracurricular activities as his schedule would allow, and he taught his normal classes with renewed passion. Despite seeing him often at work, he never spoke to Mizuki unless strictly necessary. Mizuki, for his part, pretended their relationship had never happened, though he sometimes sent Iruka scalding glances.

The night Naruto stole the scroll, Iruka finally learned the reason for the change that had come over his lover. Mizuki had been power-hungry and had tried to gain power the quick way, not by his own achievement. Iruka brooded for a long time, wondering whether he could have saved Mizuki from jail and Naruto from that betrayal by paying better attention to Mizuki and his moods.

But then Mizuki never had said anything to him about it, not even when they joked about social differences between jounins and chuunins. In the end, Iruka concluded that lack of communication had killed their love. He also concluded that this communication had to be volunteered by both people in a relationship, not dragged out. Kami knew that he had hidden things from Mizuki, but not things that could get them in trouble with the law. He decided not to go out with anyone until he had gathered his thoughts and had more experience. He didn't want to rush things again.

But then the Sharigan Ninja arrived. Iruka didn't speak to him directly until he was told that he was Naruto's, Sakura's and Sasuke's teacher and that he had recommended them for the chuunin exam. He told him off for putting his beloved students in danger, of course, but something about the man's cool demeanor threatened to blow him off his feet. He started looking for droopy silver hair in the mission room. He also paid extra attention when Naruto complained in the ramen stand about "getting lost on the path of life" not being proper excuse for being late.

Before he knew it, it had happened. He'd invited Hatake Kakashi, the Great Copy Ninja, for some tempura. The jounin had been cautious and even slightly suspicious at first; maybe he thought Iruka wanted to seduce him in order to obtain information or kill him. He was cold to the chuunin at first, perhaps to test his intentions, but Iruka coddled and pampered the pervy nin like a stray cat. He didn't know why, but he cared.

After a few months, Iruka was in a relationship again. But it was different from before.

Despite his endless teasing, Kakashi never really forced or coaxed him into sex, despite suggesting it almost every day. He listened to Iruka's rants about traps in the classroom and spelling mistakes in copied homework. He even cooked when the teacher was too tired from chasing the brats around, and Iruka was always grateful, despite the constant and obvious excess of salt. Iruka in return paid attention to Kakashi's words as well as his actions.

He learned that the silver-haired nin sometimes spoke with his body more than through his mask. Reading Icha Icha, he learned, meant a lot of different things. Depending on the posture, Kakashi was relaxed, concentrating, irritated, not wanting to hear about the outside world, or on his way to getting horny. If hit by a random bout of affection, he would leave some present in Iruka's desk on top of the attendance sheet, which somehow said I love you and you're not getting any sleep tonight at the same time. The brunette always thought it was terribly cute.

A week before, Iruka had told Kakashi he loved him. Despite everything they shared, neither had ever said it so bluntly and directly.

The jounin had looked caught off guard for a second before replying: "Yeah me too..." Iruka had expected some wild sex after the declaration. Instead, that night they only snuggled. Iruka reflected on how little and how much he knew Kakashi when the jounin's breath evened as he fell asleep against his chest.

He opened his eyes. Why was the sun so high, and why hadn't his alarm gone off? Oh yeah...it was Sunday...no school today. He rolled over, looking for a familiar warm body, and found none. Then he remembered the mission. He sighed and sank into the covers. He bolted upright immediately. Why was he acting like a newlywed housewife? He was a grown man; he knew how to entertain himself! He threw off the covers and decided to have a productive day, despite the lack of Kakashi.

It's been more than a week now...Iruka quietly put the dry dishes away. He could stand an extended time without his lover, but whenever he took three days on a mission more than he had promised, Iruka got antsy. This time Kakashi had failed to return after the promised four days. Iruka sighed and put the last bowl away.

Iruka remembered the first night they had made love. Despite his past experience, it had been the chuunin that started it. He'd maneuvered Kakashi into his bedroom and onto the bed. The jounin didn't protest or resist; he even responded with kisses and caresses, up until the point of undressing. Then he'd gone strangely limp.

Iruka had been dumbfounded. He'd assumed that Kakashi would take the lead at this point, but the blank stare in his boyfriend's eyes warned him that something was not right. In the end, the silver-haired nin had told him that the last time he'd been with a man in similar circumstances, he'd been hurt. The word "rape" flared in the chuunin's mind, and he felt a fury that made him capable of murder. However, Kakashi told him that the soulless villain that had been responsible had already been taken care of.

Iruka had felt helpless because he couldn't ease the pain of a past event, simply because it already happened. But in the end, Kakashi wouldn't let him call it off and for the first time in many months, Iruka topped. He did it gently. Afterwards, Kakashi joked that if he had gone any slower he might have fallen asleep and missed it. Iruka elbowed him in response, but he was glad that the pain had been forgotten.

He dried his hands with the kitchen towel while reflecting.

When he started going out with Kakashi, he knew that, because he was a jounin, not everything was going to be a bed of roses. He had been really glad that Kakashi hadn't pretended otherwise, not lying to him when he came back covered in mud and blood. On those nights, Iruka knew that making any sudden movements might get him killed. Sometimes Kakashi's tension was so bad that he feared he might leave and not come back. He always did his best to soothe his wounded jounin, to wash his wounds and get him warm, but sometimes that was not enough to drive the dark thoughts from his mind.

One night, Kakashi stormed into the house with leaves and sticks in his hair, and sand everywhere, not to mention the blood. Iruka had done his best to herd him into the shower and then into the kitchen, but the jounin refused to eat the fish onigiri offered and went straight to bed. Iruka tried to hug him when he went under the covers, but he got shrugged off. Oh well, everyone needs some down time, he reasoned and gave his back to Kakashi. Later in the night, however, he woke up to someone talking. Kakashi was half-moaning, half arguing in his sleep, rolling over incessantly. Iruka shook him gently.

"Kashi, wake up, you're having a bad dream."

His moans only got louder and more anguished. Iruka started to get worried, so he shook him harder.

"Kakashi! Wake up! Wake up!"

Without warning, the jounin's eyes flew open, and his hands went around Iruka's throat. Iruka couldn't speak for the lack of air and he looked with frightened and anxious eyes to his love. Then Kakashi recognized him. Release was automatic.

"Iruka! Oh Kami, what have I done? Are you all right?? Iruka! Iruka! Answer me!"

Iruka held his throat and gasped for air. Tears stung his eyes. Was this no different from Mizuki? He turned to meet Kakashi's eye. He looked devastated; he looked like he might even cry if Iruka didn't accept his apology. No...this isn't like Mizuki...he is honestly sorry...he didn't do it on purpose...

He pulled stammering Kakashi into a hug and said: "Just be more careful next time, OK?"

Kakashi hugged him back so tightly that Iruka feared his ribs might crack. Afterwards, he held his chuunin more often, even after missions.

Kaaaashi! Where are youuu? Iruka stretched out on the bed and prepared himself for another night by himself. He rolled over a few times; he was listless. So much for not being the impatient housewife...

The door opened. Iruka sat up as if someone had pinched him. Did he fall asleep on the bed over the covers and with his clothes on? Apparently, yes. But what woke him up? The door! He jumped off the bed and ran to the living room.
"Kashi!" Iruka almost glomped him, but he knew that was not the best of ideas with a jounin returning from a mission.
"Iru..." He sounded really tired, but he didn't look physically wounded. Maybe he had overused the Sharingan again? Pressed chakra points? Iruka decided to go with their routine. Without sudden movements, he took Kakashi's clothes off and pushed him into the shower, running hot water. There were some minor cuts here and there that he dressed.

The shower revitalized the jounin enough for him to get into his pajama bottoms on his own. Almost skipping with joy, Iruka jumped under the covers, took his shirt off and happily patted the place beside him on the bed. Kakashi almost lost his composure. Who could resist a huge smile like that, much less when the smile's owner was shirtless and in bed? But there was something hovering in his mind, and he couldn't do it with Iruka until he thought it over.
"Iru, I would love to, but I'm so freakin' tired..."
"Eh? Oh...it's all right! That was careless of me! Of course you need your rest! Come to bed, Kashi, I promise I won't do anything!" Iruka blushed at his slip. Man, how cute can you get? Kakashi thought as he slipped under the covers too and let himself be kissed to sleep. True to his word, Iruka left his pants alone.

Lying here won't solve anything...well, it will, but then it would cause more trouble...speak to her, yes, that's right...explain the situation...it can't go on like this... Kakashi rolled over. Years of battle experience hadn't prepared him to deal with a situation like this. He prioritized.

First and foremost: Iruka. He'd break the news gently, perhaps a bit at a time. If Iruka left him, then nothing mattered anymore for Kakashi, the world would be a bleak and barren place. Then there was himself. He liked to stay out of trouble, thank you very much, and the less he dirtied his hands, the better. Third was Iruka again, don't forget him...

And fourth was the woman. That scheming woman. She couldn't have planned ruining his life better. But there wasn't a chance in hell he would let her hurt Iruka. Hopefully they wouldn't even have to meet.

Kami, he needed some release from this tension. And the answer was sleeping right next to him.
Iruka awoke to his pajamas leaving his body.
"Eh?"
"What were you saying earlier about rest...?"
The tired part hadn't been entirely a lie. He happily let enthusiastic Iruka be seme. He owed him that much.