Authors note: um, well hi. This is my first story here, and I really hope that it's okay. I've had it in my head for a while now and finally my friend Jasmine made me write it out with the help of my new laptop, so thank her, it's all her fault! …Not really. But please be nice to me, this means no flames. You can see my position on flames on my page, so I won't tell you here because that would take up both too much time as well as too much space…and I'm just plain lazy. But really, please do send me your thoughts, because if you don't, my head might stop filling with ideas. And that, my friends, would be very, very bad. I hope you like.
I don't own, so you don't sue!
Yaoi, do not like, do not read!
Iruka's thoughts
Kakashi's thoughts
Tsunade's thoughts
"Sigh." I'll never be good enough for him. Iruka thought to himself as he watched Kakashi walk through the doors of the missions' room. Let it go Iruka, just let it go. You know that you could never have that with him, he could never think of you that way. Just give it up.
Even though Iruka had told himself that a hundred times, he would find himself watching him whenever he had a chance, whenever he could pass off any questions that he might receive with an excuse that was believable.
It's been getting worse now, Iruka reflected. Whenever I see him, I zone out, thinking about how he smells, sharp like the deep, dark places of the forest. Or I think of the touch of his pale skin to mine. Or how he would taste, what I wouldn't give to kiss him just once. Just once! But that will never happen; I just need to stop thinking about him. That's all; just stop thinking about him…….do I really think this will help? Iruka snapped out of his self pitying mode with a sigh and looked up to see Kakashi giving him one of his one-eyed smiles.
"What's the matter, Iruka sensei?" Kakashi asked him.
"well, I'm having this problem with this idiotic jounin who doesn't turn his mission reports in on time and am trying to find the best way to show him how aggravated he makes me sometimes. Should I ignore him completely, or should I throw sharp, pointy objects at him? What do you think, Kakashi sensei?" Iruka asked the silver haired man standing in front of him with a very serious voice. Kakashi chuckled at the comment.
"Well, if you ignore him, he most likely will never turn in his reports, so option number one is out of the question…"
"So I should throw sharp, pointy objects at him instead?"Iruka asked while hiding a grin.
"Oh, I don't think that you should do that either." Was the response he was given.
"Why not?" iruka's only reason for wanting an answer to his question was to hear what the jounin would come up with to save himself.
"Well, would you really want to inflict pain on the hottest nin in the entire village, would you?" Kakashi asked Iruka with a wink and a smirk.
"Well," Iruka answered while trying to suppress the blush that was starting to form on his cheeks. "There wouldn't be the issue of sharp, pointy things if you would just turn in your paper work when you are told to!" Iruka snapped at the smiling jounin.
"But Iruka sensei, there was this whale and it was stuck between these two trees…" Kakashi trailed off.
"Kakashi sensei, are you trying to tell me that you found a whale stuck between two trees…in the middle of the forest?"
"I'm so happy that you understood, it save me time explaining the circumstances to you." Kakashi seemed slightly put off when all he got for his comment was an annoyed sigh.
"Do you have your report or not?" Iruka snapped at Kakashi.
"Right here." Kakashi put the paper down in front of Iruka. "Have a good day, Iruka sensei!" Kakashi called as he practically skipped out of the room. After he was gone, Iruka allowed his head to slip from his hands and land on the desk in front of him.
Why? Why does that man bring up such feelings in me when he infuriates me so much? Why?! He brought his head up from his desk when he heard someone approach his desk. Tsunade was staring down at him.
"Oh, hello Tsunade Sama. What can I do for you?"
"Well, for starters, you could answer my next question absolutely truthfully."
"Um, sure." Oh crap! What could she possibly want? Did Naruto do something unintelligent again? Tsunade sighed as she watched Iruka's expression to a slightly panicked one.
"Nothing bad will come of this." She promised the worried teacher.
"Um, alright Tsunade Sama, I will try to answer your questions as truthfully as possible."
"Good, so on to the first question!" Tsunade began with a slightly sadistic smile.
Her smile is not doing anything to make me feel more at ease…if anything, it's making me feel as though it was a very bad idea to agree to this… Iruka snapped out of his despairing thoughts as Tsunade asked her first question.
"So, how long?"
"I'm sorry, but how long what Tsunade Sama?"
"How long have you liked Kakashi sensei?" she asked cheerfully. "Oh, and remember Iruka sensei, you promised to tell the truth, and I really wouldn't do to break your word to the Hokage."
"What?! I don't… I mean… I could never… I mean! Um…what gave you that impression, Tsunade Sama?" Iruka almost yelled at her while his entire face lit up like a Christmas light.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe because you watch him whenever he is around, you blush every time he talks to you, oh, and let us not forget the outburst you just had. I mean, you lit up like a light bulb! Those are my reasons to suspect this." When Iruka did not respond, just look at his desk while blushing heavily, she sighed and asked her question again. "So, how long have you liked him?"
"Um, since around the chunin exams…" Iruka responded in a very small voice while continuing to examine his desk very closely.
"Alright, I'm glad that we are getting somewhere. Next question!" She said as she memorized every word that came out of the chunin in front of her.
"Wait, you have more questions?!" Iruka asked as he began to panic.
"Of course. Now, do you think that he knows about your feelings towards him?"
"Oh, god, I hope not!" Iruka answered as he turned pale.
"Why would you hope that if you are in love with him?" Tsunade asked, slightly confused.
"If he were to know, I am afraid that he would hate me even more than he does now." Iruka told her with a sigh.
"Why do you think that Kakashi hates you, Iruka sensei?" Tsunade asked, growing more and more confused with each passing second.
"During the chunin exams, I overstepped my boundaries when I opposed his decision about team seven taking the test. After that there is no reason to think otherwise about how Kakashi sensei feels about me…or will ever feel about me for that matter."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that Iruka sensei." Tsunade said to him with a knowing smirk.
"What do you mean?" now Iruka was the one that was confused.
"Well, the way that he acts around you is completely different than they way he acts around anyone else, to start with."
"That could be explained with him hating me, if it were true, which it isn't. Tsunade Sama, he acts no different around me than he does around everyone else."
"Oh yes he does, Iruka sensei. You are the only one he acts like that around, you just can't see it."
"Again, you can explain that with him hating me. Besides, what could Kakashi sensei possibly see in me? I'm just a chunin, a teacher! He is the famous copy nin! Everyone knows him, or at least knows of him! How could he possibly feel like that towards me?"
"Iruka sensei, you need to give yourself a chance, let him give you a chance. If you don't do that, he can't either. Have a nice day." Iruka watched in shocked silence as Tsunade walked from the deserted room.
Is it possible? Could he actually feel that way toward me?