I do not own Naruto. Purely fanwork, nothing else.
Warning: Yaoi, possible OOC. Any misspellings or wrong grammar is unintentional. I am my own beta. I could have missed some stuff.
Written for Kakashi's birthday challenge at the KakaIru LJcommunity. Was originally 700+ words. Had to hack it down to 500. That was SO not fun.
IT'S TOO LATE
Iruka was a un-shinobi like. He was emotional, a school teacher with an explosive personality but had the respect of nearly the entire village. Everyone loved Iruka-sensei.
Kakashi didn't get it.
Nevertheless, he watched over Iruka. He was important to the Hokage afterall. It was a personal mission; Kakashi... did not understand himself then. They rarely spoke to each other except after Naruto was granted the robes and title and Iruka was watching the young man with a smile so bright beside him.
"He'll be great." He said, turning the smile to Kakashi. "And you'll watch over him won't you?"
Kakashi was taken aback by the smile directed solely at him. "Of course."
But war had broken out amongst the villages. Units were being sent out continuously, the order 'kill on sight' finally dispatched.
They were a team of five - Kakashi, Gai, Iruka, Izumo, Kotetsu. It was a team that normally wouldn't be dispatched. They were all exhausted from fighting. Only pure will kept them moving. They were supposed to cut off the enemy's routes to Konoha.
Their enemy wasn't supposed to have a battalion as their back-up.
Kakashi was only vaguely aware of what happened, bordering between chakra depletion from excessive use of his Sharingan alongside fatigue. The objective a litany in his head, he didn't foresee Izumo's fall, didn't foresee Gai rushing to aid their teammates from an upcoming barrage of shurikens. He couldn't get away. How could he? He was paralyzed on the spot. He didn't have enough energy to summon protection, nor the chakra to even aid his evasive leap.
A heartbeat later, he registered the impact of a deflecting chakra-shield, a desperate tactic. Then he was staring into a pair of brown eyes, a bloody bright smile and a dying Chuunin. Iruka had managed to deflect most of the damage, but not all.
"Go. Warn them." He choked, blood splattering everywhere. "Help Naruto. Live, Kakashi."
For the first time in years, not just his Sharingan, but both his eyes watered as Iruka slumped against him, dead. Cold.
He didn't remember how they escaped or how his throat became so raw.
But he stood there, hours later, before Naruto's desk, handing the grown man a pair of dogtags, still bloody and more than just a little dead.
Naruto said nothing. He never spoke these days, Kakashi realized. Always silent, always holding the fort.
Kakashi turned away, to rest for a few hours. Sitting in his bedroom, under the dim light, Kakashi recalled one summer's day, when the crowds were cheering for their new leader and a Chuunin smiled at him; only at him. A smile that made his heart stop for a whole minute. A single moment that changed a million after it.
He never did get over his late-habit. But right then, clenching a bloodied forehead protector against his chest, he wished he had.
FIN
Kiss me?