Looking at Iruka, Kakashi felt rotten and awful. They sat next to one another on Iruka's bed and, though they were only inches apart, the chuunin's icy silence made the space between them feel infinite. Kakashi had left his outdoor gear on in case the argument they were about to have ended in his being asked to leave. Iruka, for his part, wore that look on his face that said, 'I'm not angry. I'm disappointed.' It made Kakashi want to lean over and kiss him until he was forgiven - or at least until he could make Iruka forget his indiscretion under the heat of his tongue. But, he didn't think that would work this time. He had definitely pushed too far.

Earlier that evening, Kakashi had pinned Iruka to a fence in a side alley not far from their respective housing blocks. It was so cold that he could see his partner's breath rising in small wisps. Yet, he was in no hurry. He mumbled against Iruka's skin, "Stingy chuunin, give me a little more."

"So needy, Kakashi-san," he scolded, removing Kakashi's roving fingers from the waistband of his pants. "Can't you wait until we get home?"

Kakashi found the way Iruka crinkled his brow in disdain adorable. It made him wonder how much more he would have to needle the mercurial school teacher before they were tumbling over one another in the snow. "You're so cute when you're mad."

"You only think that because you've never actually seen me angry," he hissed. "Stop. Someone will see."

"So? Let them watch."

Kakashi flicked his tongue over the spot at Iruka's neck that they both knew made him weak in the knees and was rewarded with a full body shudder. He supported Iruka's weight with an arm around his waist A few more passes and he had him biting back whimpers.

Then, Iruka fell silent and stiffened under him. It was an unusual reaction, one that alerted him to the fact that they were no longer alone. He glanced up just in time to see that it was far too late to conceal what they were doing from a wide-eyed kunoichi who stood gaping at the mouth of the alley. His heart did a back flip. He couldn't imagine what Iruka's must have been doing.

Kakashi was the first to speak. "Do you see something you like?"

Iruka hid his face in Kakashi's flak jacket and made a sound like he was choking while she stammered, "I... um-"

He found their reactions amusing. On impulse, he pressed further, "Or could it be that you care to join?"

She seemed at a complete loss for words. She shook her head, treading a few steps backwards. Then, all at once she disappeared around the corner.

Before sound of snow squeaking under her sandals had faded Iruka began to radiate an ominous aura. It wasn't the intent to kill. It was the desire to maim. It reminded Kakashi of the static air around Ibiki when the interrogator said things like, 'I wonder how many skewers we can shove under your gums' or 'Who really needs fingernails anyway?'

"Woah." Raising a placating hand, he shrank away from the bristling chuunin. "Calm down. Just a joke. No harm done."

"You twat! No harm done?" Iruka spat. "You just propositioned the guardian of one of my students."

Kakashi wanted to make a quip along the lines of 'They're starting younger and younger, aren't they?' But, something about the way Iruka's speech dissolved into the most creative, colorful display of profanity Kakashi had witnessed in years told him to keep his comments to himself. When he had exhausted his supply of obscenities, Iruka turned and trudged home without saying another word. Kakashi followed - quietly and a safe distance behind. Iruka refused to look at him. With each step they took towards the dormitories his heart sank lower. A dark corner of Kakashi's mind found humor in that, after all he'd seen, a desk-jockey could spark such dread in him.

Though, once they reached his rooms he just felt like hiding. He could think of at least two places in the small studio he could squeeze himself into and remain unseen indefinitely. He was good at hiding. What he was not good at was dealing with Iruka when he was upset. He was one of the few people Kakashi had ever encountered, Tsunade and his sensei among them, who was completely immune to being smooth talked. Sometimes he thought Iruka knew that what he was about to say would be bullshit before it even came out of his mouth.

So, he stood meekly at the door until Iruka indicated that he should come in and sit beside him on the bed. Despite his best efforts to say I'm sorry, all Kakashi managed to do was watch his hands rest in his lap. Damn Iruka. He could make him feel shame in places he wasn't even aware could feel shame. He could make him feel as though he was totally unfit for human interaction. He pressed his knee into Iruka's for the simple comfort of contact.

"Do you think you can treat me like a doormat because you don't respect me?" he asked suddenly.

Not even close, even if he could understand how Iruka would be under that impression. "No."

It occurred to Kakashi that Iruka was using his teacher voice but that this was definitely the wrong instance to point that out to him. "So you act childishly because you want me to treat you like a child?"

This hit a bit closer to home than Kakashi was prepared for, "Perhaps."

"If that's the case I should send you to be by yourself until you're ready to act like an adult."

"Don't."

"Then what should I do about you?"

He couldn't help but think Iruka was going to get up and walk away, so he wrapped his arms around him and rested his forehead on his shoulder. Iruka felt tense and unyielding under his touch. He wanted to tell him that he hadn't acted like this towards anyone in a very long while but it seemed an inappropriate time to, in any way, start revealing the depth of his feelings for him. Instead, he closed his eyes so he could almost imagine he was talking to himself and confessed a marginally more simple truth:

"I have been self-centered. I've spent more time in the company of books and dogs and the dead than I have with people. Sometimes I think I either forgot how to be civil or I never really learned. I am never entirely sure how to get what I want without scheming and subterfuge. So, I behave badly because I like to imagine that you enjoy correcting this in me. I crossed boundaries today. I apologize."

"I see," he replied in a gentle tone that Kakashi had a great deal of difficulty reading.

'Damned Iruka,' he repeated to himself, swallowing hard against a flare of guilt clawing in the pit of his stomach. Even as this overwhelmed him with the desire to soothe his lover with a caress, he loosened his grip. He chided himself for having let his emotions carry him away. He guessed he should go find somewhere to lick his wounds before the sad look on Iruka's face was the death of him. It made him want to beg forgiveness in ways that his pride deemed completely off limits. He rose to leave.

"Stupid, addled jounin," Iruka growled, catching him with a hand around his wrist and pulling him back down to the bed. "Come here. I wasn't actually going to make you go."

Kakashi was sure that wasn't entirely true. He waited for Iruka to say something more anyhow. They both considered the contrast of Iruka's dark hand on Kakashi's pale wrist for a long moment before he continued, "Apology accepted -tentatively."

The displeasure in his eyes mellowed with compassion and was sparked by something darker that Kakashi had a hard time identifying. He had known from the start that Iruka was one of those who was as quick to forgive as he was to anger. Nonetheless, he was fascinated by how suddenly his emotions could shift and by how plainly they were written on his face. Kakashi prayed that God have mercy on his soul when Iruka fully realized what power this mysterious ability gave him.

"Don't give me that kicked puppy look," Iruka sighed. " I'll admit it's not entirely your fault. You're very easy to indulge. I've spoiled you."

"What are you going to do about...?"

"The parent?" He let down his his hair and began massaging his temples as though the very mention of her was so vexing that it caused his head to ache. "I'd really rather we didn't talk about it."

"How about we kiss instead?" Kakashi asked hopefully.

"You are an insufferable brat," Iruka complained bitterly but didn't resist.

Leaning in, Kakashi pulled down his cowl and brushed aside the fall of Iruka's hair to kiss him on the bridge of his nose. Their hitai-ate clicked together when he took his lips. It sent an electric pulse through his body that made him wonder why he knew most acutely that this man was someone to be treasured whenever he was afraid of losing his attention.

He hid his gaze under his eyelashes and said, "I feel badly Iruka-sensei." His mouth twisted into a wry little smile. "It's unfair… the things you do to me."

Iruka stroked his fingers down Kakashi's jaw. "I have a way I could make you feel better."

"How's that?"

"Well…" He pulled back and rubbed the scar running under his eyes in what Kakashi recognized as his coy way of hiding the color rising in his cheeks. "Maybe not. Maybe since I'm still sore, I shouldn't."

"Here," Kakashi tapped his cheek. "Whisper it."

Steadying himself with a hand on Kakashi's thigh Iruka breathed against his ear, "You would feel better if I punished you and had it over with."

Damned clever chuunin! His heart jumped as if it was trying to escape from his ribcage. He could not believe what he was hearing. He hoped that this wasn't written plainly on his face. However, that was doubtful since - even though he felt like he should contribute something meaningful to the discussion - all that came out of his mouth was a shaky, "Yeah…?"

This reaction must have been what Iruka had been hoping for because he continued, "If I put you over my knee I bet you could remember to behave. Your first lesson should be learning to use your words and ask for what you want plainly. How about it. Can you tell me you need me to discipline you?"

His pants tightened. Damned clever, seductive, irresistible chuunin. Kakashi swore he could have mistaken the sound of his pulse rushing in his ears for the sound of his reason shattering into a million useless pieces. He tried not to think too hard about what the psych-nin would have to say about the fact that he was so thrilled by the words that he had difficulty speaking them aloud. He rehearsed them silently before he finally succeeded in saying - in a voice much calmer than he had expected. "I need you to put me over your knee and teach me my manners, Iruka-sensei."

"That's," he could hear the satisfied smile in his voice, "what I thought. Take off your gear now, please."

He stood and did as he was asked while Iruka arranged himself cross legged on the mattress. Then, with no warning whatsoever, Iruka reached to unbutton Kakashi's trousers and pulled them down, boxers and all. Kakashi felt an awful urge to laugh rise in his chest. He was convinced the only plausible explanation for this was hysteria because there was absolutely nothing about Iruka's abrupt and unceremonious exposure of his arousal that he found funny. He spread himself over Iruka's lap immediately when it was offered, just to give himself some inkling of decency in hiding part of his nakedness.

In turn, Iruka carefully untied Kakashi's hitai-ate and set it aside. This action made Kakashi feel small in ways and for reasons he, in that moment, could not entirely comprehend.

Iruka asked, "Are you comfortable?"

An odd question, but he was comfortable. The position was more than comfortable, it was comforting. Something about it felt right, as though he was satiating an appetite he was only vaguely aware he even harbored. Still, an instinct endemic to him as a man and as a ninja impelled him to conceal just how much he actually liked it. As good as it felt - as safe as he felt - his mind rebelled at the idea of losing control. He hugged Iruka's knee but couldn't bring himself to answer in any other way.

Even so, Iruka responded, "Good. You're doing well. I'm proud of you."

His heart skipped a beat. He wanted to say, 'Thank you.' Instead, even though he realized full well the ridiculousness of the statement given his current position, he could not help but hide his blush against Iruka's leg and growl, "Don't patronize me."

"Sh... relax." Iruka affectionately stroked the nape of Kakashi's neck. "If this is too much, just say stop and I will."

"Alright."

"However, I'll only start treating you like an adult again when I think you deserve to be treated like one."

Iruka punctuated his statement with a firm crack of the flat of his palm against Kakashi's ass. Something about the sting and the tingling warmth that followed made Kakashi's cock jump. It was as though his beating heart was trapped between his stomach and Iruka's lap. The feeling was absolutely delicious. It spoke to a part of Kakashi's mind that hadn't evolved past regulating his body temperature and the rhythms of his sleep cycles. Distantly, it occurred to him that what would feel even better would be to let this part of himself take over. He wanted to be nothing more than the sensation that made him jump and gasp under Iruka's very capable hands. So, as the subsequent blows fell, Kakashi allowed himself to relax. He silenced his mind and let go as much as he could.

He fell so easily into the rhythm Iruka set that he was surprised and almost a touch annoyed when he suddenly stopped and politely asked him to, "Please, open the top drawer of the bedside table, find the lubricant and my hairbrush."

Kakashi did as was told. He knew what was coming but he still found himself making a sound somewhere between a hum and a moan when Iruka's slicked fingers began to stroke and tease him just the way he liked. There was an odd sort of power in knowing how much Iruka liked to draw these sort of reactions out of him. Kakashi took great pleasure in the way they made his partner's cock stiffen and his breath come short. He could hear it through the silence and feel it on his stomach through Iruka's pants.

"Pervert," Iruka admonished sternly as he spread him open and slowly inserted the first digit. There was irony in his voice, as though he couldn't entirely keep himself from smiling. "You make the exact same slutty little noises when I finger you as you do when I spank you. What sort of depraved man likes to be punished, hm?"

Kakashi simply smiled in response and leaned incrementally into Iruka's touch until it was hitting just the right spot. In response, Iruka added another two fingers - Kakashi suspected so that the sensation would be equally uncomfortable as it was pleasurable. Almost as soon as Kakashi adjusted to the invasion Iruka removed his hands and spread the remaining lube over Kakashi's cheeks. He began to scold him and punctuated his speech by raining down blows of the hairbrush.

In the missions office when you turn in your disgusting reports..." He was using his lecturing voice again. There was no anger in it. It was even and calm, as though he were patiently guiding Kakashi through a concept he had never before encountered. Only the slightest crackling undertone of energy gave away his excitement. "I think about putting you on your knees and fucking the smirk off that smart mouth of yours, right there with everyone watching."

And I think about bending you over the desk in my classroom." Iruka's timing was impeccable. He allowed for just long enough a moment between strikes for the sharp, electric sting to mellow to a warm buzz that left Kakashi craving another. "Then, after striping your ass, leaving you there with your pants around your knees and having you read aloud from those filthy books you tote around."

Or, in the field, when you inflict your piss poor attitude on your subordinates," The brush was much harsher than Iruka's hand. Kakashi found he had to school his body to stillness against the arch of pain. Even so, his head swam and the tension in his muscles melted away to nothing. "I think about making you go off into the woods to cut a switch just so I could humble you right there in front of them."

Iruka words were building his need to a single burning point that seared him from his fingers to his toes and ignited the air in his lungs. He felt the himself narrowing to the points where they contacted: the hairbrush, his voice, his lap. Everything was tension. Deep and low in his belly something was ready to snap.

"Would you bounce against my leg like this when I struck you if your teammates were watching?" he asked as though he was genuinely curious.

The edge Kakashi found himself on seemed both dangerously close and impossibly far away, "Iruka-sensei, shut your dirty mouth before..."

The tone of Iruka's response was gentle and understanding rather than mocking or malicious, "You embarrass yourself further by coming in my lap?"

Absolutely not. He stilled himself: held his breath, bit his lips, closed his eyes.

"Let go." Iruka encouraged, knotting his fingers in Kakashi's hair. "It's alright if you're ashamed."

Just as he felt he might be able to remain on the edge forever, Iruka pulled his head back so his body arched in a way that made it impossible to keep his prick from grinding against his thigh. Two more blows knocked loose last pins of his resistance. He came unraveled. Distantly, he was aware that Iruka was leaning down to kiss him. The world was the low throbbing pulse of fire in his veins and the irresistible desire to be closer, to have more. He spoke in tongues and Iruka soothed, "Good boy, that's right" as though he understood completely.

When finally it dissipated, he returned to himself, head reeling, to find his over-stimulated nerves tingled from the very pressure of the air in the room. He was mumbling something. And Iruka was rearranging his limbs, climbing on top of him saying, "No. No. No. How could you ever be sorry about something like that?"

He opened his eye to look at Iruka - beautiful and fey, pupils wide, lips plump and parted - and realized that he had never wanted to be fucked by anyone more in his entire life, at least not that he could remember in that instant. He pushed Iruka's hair aside and kissed him impatiently before beginning to help him out of off his clothes.

"Take me." Iruka started to move away. Kakashi caught him by the waist. What Iruka could possibly be distracted by was beyond him. "Now. Now. Right now. Now."

"Good lord, you're immature," he still retained a touch of his teaching tone even through his panting. "Lube, Kakashi. Lube. It's important."

"I know mystic palm technique. We'll be fine."

Iruka rolled his eyes. He found the bottle and poured a generous amount over himself, responding, "You are slap happy. I shouldn't have made you come."

"Prep-ing for surgery?" Kakashi asked as Iruka spread his legs.

"Shut..." He felt blunt pressure. "...the fuck." And there was a slow giving way as he was impaled. "Up."

If he wasn't still riding the blissful afterglow of his orgasm it might have been been painful. Instead, it was overwhelming in an entirely different way. Somehow the tightness and the discomfort of being filled was nauseatingly pleasurable. It made his blood run both hot and cold at once. Iruka buried himself to the hilt and stopped.

"Move." He wanted Iruka to make the bed complain under them, to make his teeth rattle with the flick of his hips, to make him think he was going to break in two. "I don't care if you hurt me. Faster."

"Reckless." He nipped Kakashi's shoulder, then soothed over it with a tiny kiss. "I like it like this. I want to take you like this."

It was always the way Iruka wanted it. His name fit the way he fucked like it fit everything else about him. He moved his hips like the tide coming in: slow, gentle and completely unstopable. Though, Kakashi could tell by the way Iruka shook that his resistance was being sorely tested. This wouldn't last long.

"Did you like being spread over my lap, Kakashi?" he murmured against his ear.

"I did."

"Maybe I should do that more often." He rocked slightly faster with each stroke. "Maybe, every day, as soon as you come inside I should punish you just so you remember your manners... in the kitchen while I'm cooking or on the floor while I'm grading papers. "

Kakashi smiled against Iruka's cheek, "Only if I can fuck you afterward."

"You know you'd love it," the bed began to rock with them. Iruka's voice trembled along with the rest of him, "if I marked you so that when you moved when you're out on missions you'd be reminded of exactly what's waiting for you when you get home."

"Yes, Iruka. Come in me. Come."

Iruka tensed. His thrusts became erratic. Kakashi grabbed him by the hips and pulled him deep. He brushed aside his hair so he could watch his lips fall open and his eyes soften as he fell over the edge. Kakashi hummed in appreciation and sympathy at the sight.

When his partner fell away Kakashi's limbs felt liquid. Iruka padded across the room to clean up but Kakashi thought he might be content never to move again. Vaugely, he was aware that Iruka might have been harassing him to change the sheets. But, he only roused at the edge of sleep when Iruka squatted down beside the bed so they were at face level with one another. He reached to hold one of Kakashi's hands in both of his.

"I'm sorry. I took that entirely too far. Are you alright?"

"Worry wart, I'm guessing you're not angry anymore. The sex was transcendent. I'm fine. Come here." Iruka allowed himself to be gathered and folded into Kakashi's embrace. "Better?"

"A bit. Except this. Look what you did. I can't believe you made my palm collide with your rock-hard ass so many times. It's bruised now." Kakashi looked and indeed it was. Iruka for his part stared into the middle distance as though he was considering a problem very deeply. After a pause he announced, "I've a confession to make."

"Yes?"

He frowned seriously, "You must promise to at least try not to be cross."

"I'll try," Kakashi responded, mystified.

He started, color rising in his face, "Well, you see..." then trailed off as if he had reconsidered. Kakashi waited. Iruka hid his face against the crook of Kakashi's neck and blurted his confession all in one rush of breath, "I lied. It was all an act. That poor woman you frightened? I've never seen her before in my life."

Kakashi had Iruka pinned face down to the bed so quickly that he surprised even himself. He let Iruka struggle underneath him for the simple satisfaction of watching him writhe helplessly. "I see. You're a very good actor. What about this flailing? Is that an act as well?"

"No!" Although his laughter was genuine there was still had a touch of panic to it. "I really did get carried away... I just wanted to see what you would do if I got mad then... your reactions were just so funny. ...the great Copy-Nin all timid and obedient. I thought 'This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I'll confess after I get him to admit he was wrong.' But, then you said that thing about wanting to be corrected and all I heard was, 'I'm a survivor guilt ridden battle addled jounin with a discipline fetish! But, I'm too emotionally constipated to realize my own fantasies. Ple~ase help me sensei.' And I couldn't turn down a request like that. Could I?" Here his laughter melted away completely and was replaced with an undertone of great concern, "But, I know I shouldn't have taken advantage of your trust. I've never lied to you before and I'll never lie to you again. I apologize."

Kakashi clicked his tongue and purred, "Oh, my hypocritical little chuunin, you are not nearly as sorry as you're going to be when I'm done with you. It's so obvious you need correction that you don't even have to ask me for it. From this point forward green means 'go.' Yellow means 'slow.' Red means 'no.' The word 'no' itself is meaningless. Other than being an adorable sound you make to express the absolute futility of your resistance to my desires. Got it? Say 'Thank you, jounin-san' if you agree."

"Thank you, jounin-san," Iruka mumbled into the pillow.

He was going to enjoy using his bare hands. He didn't need the hairbrush. He had Iruka moaning and begging before he even raised a finger.