Kakashi can't stand being around Iruka: the man is too overemotional. He wears his heart on his sleeve and always lets the world know exactly what he thinks about it. It's unbecoming of a ninja… so how does he find himself on the teacher's doorstep?
A one shot in three parts.
A/N: I always make Iruka a gently blushing, cute little thing, so trying something a little different with him this time. Let's see how long I can pull this off. Not entirely OOC, just…different from what I usually read him to be. Hopefully. Coz tough Iruka is tough.
Emotional
-Too Much-
"Hatake, I am full aware of my responsibilities, but why is it that, if you're such a genius, you are incapable of filling in a simple mission report like everybody else?!" Iruka demanded, his patience finally snapping at that horrible little curve in the copy-nin's visible eye that is constantly taunting him, "Just because you are Konoha's number one jounin copy-nin sama," he continued, voice dripping with sarcasm, "does not mean you can expect everybody to bow to your every whim. Especially not me. You are not royalty, and you shouldn't expect to be treated as such," he said, aware of the silence in the room as everybody stared at the two men. Nobody daring to breathe in case they risked having Iruka's wrath re-directed upon them.
"Iruka-sensei," Kakashi said quietly, the infuriating grin still in his eye, "I expect you to know your place," he said, bravely ignoring the flame that just ignited in Iruka's eyes and the deep growl starting in his throat, "You are a shinobi of Konoha, a chuunin, no less. It is unbecoming of one to be as emotional as you are. Especially not towards someone who outranks you," he finished calmly. He almost flinched at the loud thump as Iruka slammed his fist into the desk, a few splinters of wood flying up from the impact.
"I don't care if you outrank me, Hatake!" Iruka roared, sending a couple of his co-workers scurrying out of the room in alarm. No amount of curiosity could sway them into risking their lives if they got caught in a fight between Sharingan no Kakashi and Iruka-sensei-when-he-was-mad. "I respect your skills as a warrior, Hatake, but I cannot possibly respect you as a person, when you seem to have no idea how to acknowledge anybody else besides yourself!" yelled Iruka, his eyes blazing with fury.
"Iruka, that is enough," came a voice from the door. Iruka's eyes widened.
"G-Godaime-sama," he said awkwardly, looking down at his dented desk.
"Iruka-sensei, you're off duty for today. Go home and cool off a bit," said Tsunade gently, her eyes softening at the sight of the usually friendly man standing with his fists clenched and his shoulders taught.
"Hai," said Iruka shortly, bowing briefly before disappearing out the window without a backwards glance.
"Brat!" Tsunade turned to face the jounin, her eyes immediately hardening, "What the hell did you do?" she demanded.
"Maa…I just told him that it was his job to fill in the paperwork, not mine," said Kakashi with a shrug, rubbing the back of his head, "I was just kidding," he muttered. Tsunade sighed.
"Don't you have any tact whatsoever?" she asked, sounding exasperated. Kakashi shrugged again. The jounin even had the nerve to pull out his infuriating orange book before he disappeared from the room. "No manners whatsoever," the Hokage muttered to herself, shaking her head.
***
Iruka opened his door a crack, a frown on his brow.
"What?" he asked suspiciously.
"Iruka-sensei. I'm under the impression that you'd expect an apology in this kind of situation," said Kakashi, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed.
Iruka's eyes simply narrowed as he wordlessly waited for the jounin to continue.
"Well, I will apologize for what I said about the paperwork. I've realized that it is not your fault that your skills limit you to being a chuunin, and that entails paperwork, and you do not need to have this fact rubbed in your face," said Kakashi blandly, noticing the twitch that suddenly appeared on the teacher's brow, despite the continued silence, "I appreciate that you will not treat me differently just because of my reputation or my rank. This is something that I can admire in you. But I will not apologize about what I said afterwards. You cannot deny that you are far too emotional, and that would be detrimental in a mission when you are faced with an enemy. It is a sign of weakness. But I suppose this is why you have remained a chuunin," Kakashi finished, his eyes fixed firmly on the teacher's face.
Iruka took a deep breath and closed his eyes slowly.
"Did you come all the way to my home just to insult me, Kakashi-sensei?" Iruka asked, the strain audible in his voice.
"I wasn't' insulting you, I was bringing to attention an important flaw in your character," Kakashi said.
Iruka sighed, the tension suddenly slipping out of his shoulders. He looked up at the silver-haired man, noticing the surprise on his mostly covered face.
"Kakashi-sensei, I am not on a mission, and you are not an enemy," Iruka said patiently in his teacher voice, "I understand that you are not comfortable with expressing your emotions, but you cannot tell other people not to express theirs just because you do not know how to deal with them," said the teacher.
"Fair enough. Similarly, it is unfair on me that you insist on being over-emotional around me, knowing that I am ill-equipped to deal with it," Kakashi said. Iruka stared at the man, a disbelieving look on his face.
"Hatake, I am only ever 'over-emotional' around you because you taunt me," said Iruka, the patience starting to slip from his voice, "You are constantly late, your mission reports are a mess, you are impolite and you continuously insult me," Iruka said, ignoring Kakashi as he opened and shut his mouth, trying to get in a word, "You use your higher ranking against me, knowing that I hate it, and that it never gets you anywhere except yelled at! You never apologize, even when you know you're wrong! It's like you're trying to get a reaction from me!" Iruka continued, his voice slipping further and further away from the patience he was trying to maintain.
"You see what I mean? If you wear your heart on your sleeve, you can't be surprised if somebody gets dust on it," said Kakashi, the infuriating curve starting to appear in his eye.
"Don't you grin your eye at me Hatake!" Iruka yelled, his patience snapping for the second time that day, "I hate that stupid curve! You hide behind it, thinking that everyone will think you're grinning, as if nobody notices that your mouth isn't smiling behind your stupid mask, and maybe nobody else notices but I do! What do you want from me, Hatake?" Iruka demanded, ignoring the wide eyed look that appeared uncharacteristically on the older man's face. Iruka's fist tightened around the doorknob as he glared angrily at the jounin on his doorstep. "What are you even doing here? I certainly didn't invite you. I don't 'insist on being over-emotional around you', Hatake! If you hate it so much, stop drawing it out of me. Do you think I make it a habit of being angry with you?" Iruka growled.
Kakashi stared at the younger man fuming before him, his eyes no longer wide that Iruka, of all people, knew the true purpose of his grinning eye, but his heart still pounding in his chest at the impassioned look upon the chuunin's face as his breath came in puffs after his stream of yelling. He couldn't take it anymore.
"Kakashi…wha—," Iruka muttered, his eyes widening at the clouded look that suddenly appeared in Kakashi's eyes before the jounin leaned forward, pulled his mask down and pressed his lips against Iruka's, which had parted slightly in surprise, much to the older man's delight. Suddenly he saw stars as a sharp pain shot through his stomach and he fell back, coughing as the breath was knocked out of him.
"Wh-what was that for," Kakashi coughed, grasping his torso in pain. The chuunin packed quite a punch.
"You…" Iruka said, his voice a low whisper, "This is what I was talking about… You deliberately do things to infuriate me…I…!" he backed up, glaring down at the jounin on his doorstep, "If you're trying to prove a point, Hatake, you've gone too far. But I get it. If it's so bloody important to you, I wont 'wear my heart on my sleeve' around you anymore. I hope you enjoy your little victory," the chuunin said, his voice low as he shut the door with a click. Kakashi stared at the wooden door, the sound of footsteps slowly fading away behind it.
"Damn," Kakashi softly cursed, pulling his mask back up. He scowled at himself for losing control. This is why he didn't like showing his emotions. They always messed up.