Hate
Fear
Disclaimer: This is a purely fan-made piece that is using the world and characters from Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto and is made entirely for enjoyment. No financial gain has been made in the making of this piece. All situations, plots, and other parts have been constructed by me and are my own creations
Summary: Hatake Kakashi hates Umino Iruka
Author's Note: For Kiterie for being patient whilst I was so damn slow. Un-beta'd and kinda angsty
Constructive Criticism is always welcomed
Published: 10 November 2012
Rating: T
Hatake Kakashi hates Umino Iruka. He hates him deeply and with a passion that surprises him.
He hates Iruka for being weak. Strong people are like rocks: Emotionless, unmovable, and permanent. Iruka, on the other hand, is water. Changeable. Emotional. Flowing. He can go from steaming hot to a raging tycoon to a babbling brook in the space of a heartbeat and Kakashi hates how fluid he is, how adaptable.
But for all of his weaknesses, he never breaks and Kakashi hates him for that, as well. Despite everything that has been thrown at him, Iruka never shatters. A few tears might be shed-yet another weakness-a few cuss words screamed, and a few punches are thrown, but he never fails to pull himself together and rise above it all.
He hates how little regard Iruka has for the natural order of things. Iruka is just a chunin, one with average chakra levels at best. Yet he thinks nothing of going head-to-head and toe-to-toe with ninjas of thrice his skills and calibre. He doesn't know when to quit and he doesn't back down.
And people seem to think this is an admirable trait. They bow to him because he's-to quote Genma-'not some dumbass pushover' and they don't realise that Iruka's stubbornness is just how he manages to get his own way all the time. Kakashi hardly things that refusing to do things (like filing your mission report) by being thick-headed and nit-picky and disagreeable until the other ninja caves is something worthy of admiration.
He hates how Naruto idolises him, like he deserves it. Naruto has the potential to go so far, but if he keeps holding Iruka up as the Ideal to Strive For, he's going to fall short and he's going to fall flat. And there's no reason for that to happen.
Naruto isn't the only one. Sakura thinks Iruka is an excellent role model, right after Tsunade and Shizune. Shikamaru still occasionally goes to him for advice. Chouji and Chouza have both been known to drop off a bento box for him every now and then. Tsunade will reconsider things if Iruka speaks out against them. Hiashi even seems to think Iruka might maybe have some potential for someone not of a worthy clan. The list of people goes on and on.
He hates how little Iruka cares for personal boundaries and space. That stupid chunin is always right there, flinging himself at the Kakashi's carefully constructed walls and pushing-always pushing-for more. More information about his day, more interaction over Naruto, more details in his reports, more time away from his precious books, more trips to have coffee or tea or ramen or drinks or something. He's even worse than Gai because at least Gai has the decency to go away when Kakashi tells him to and stays out of Kakashi's dreams.
He hates Iruka's smiles. Equal parts genuine and fake, they're always on his face. They convey too much—too much joy, too much sadness, too much hope. They sometimes are used for deception and Kakashi seems to be the only one who can see that Iruka's smiles can hide as much as they reveal. He can always see when a smile is going to lead to a screaming fit or tears or ramen for Naruto or another look that will haunt Kakashi's subconscious later that night.
He hates Iruka's ponytail, almost as much as he hates Iruka's physique. Both of them are always teasing, flirting, hinting. It's always a flash and then it's gone, but he knows that the chunin does it purposefully because Iruka is underhanded in that way.
He hates how Iruka always manage to worm his way into Kakashi's thoughts and subconscious. Everything seems to loop back to that infuriating chunin now and he can't seem to shake it. Nothing is safe from Iruka's insidious reach any more—not his random thoughts, not his wet dreams, not his mental imagines from Icha Icha, not his idle musing. No matter what he does, he can't shake the chunin out of his head.
Kakashi hates Iruka because he has to. If he doesn't hate him, he would be forced to re-evaluate everything he's ever been taught, everything he's stood for, everything he's known about life, emotions, and bigger things that go beyond lust. And he's not prepared to do that. It's too scary.
Hatake Kakashi isn't afraid of anything, so he hates instead.
x Fin x
