[FIC – A flash of pink

AN: Now with all new section breaks!

Chapter 1

CRACK! Kakashi felt like screaming as the first few fat and frigid drops fell from the clouds - they were only a few hours fast run away from home. After a few minutes it became obvious that they would not be able to continue to leap through the trees as their visibility was reduced to a few feet. Landing with a wet 'splat' in the mud below the trees Kakashi growled his distaste for the weather. Turning to check that Sakura was OK he began trudging through the mud towards home.

This supposedly simple mission with Sakura had gone from bad to worse.

They had been on an information gathering mission posing as a civilian father and daughter. They had tagged along with a trader for their journey to the little village like any other civilians and Kakashi had spent the entire time fending off the traders' daughter who was apparently looking for a new husband. Once they finally reached the village that their mark was living in they had found out there was only one hotel. That hotel had only one room available - a tiny loft room with a double bed, no couch and no private bathroom.

Kakashi had been forced to take the room as moving on was not an option – it would have looked far too suspicious for them to come back to the village everyday. There was no way in hell that Kakashi was going to share that bed with his underage student so his nights had been spent very uncomfortably cramped into the small space on the floor between the bed and the door.

Their mark had been easy to find however it being such a small village, gossip about the man who had taken only a single room with a double bed for himself and his daughter had already spread. Never mind that it had been the only room available. Needless to say, the entire village and consequently their mark as well had gone out of their way to make life difficult for him. His meals had always been underdone or overdone and he couldn't get service no matter where he went - even when he went to visit the shrine that was the only reason that people ever came to the village.

Sakura on the other hand had been treated like a princess. Her every little whim catered to with grace and alacrity. Their mark had even made an effort to get to know his student; Sakura hadn't had to do anything. The information had been extracted, with excruciating slowness, by Sakura whilst he hid himself away in their tiny room or went for walks in the surrounding forest. He hadn't even been able to read his favourite book as he strongly suspected that he would have been stoned out of the village if he'd tried.

After two long and torturous weeks they finally had all of the information that they needed and had departed, only to be set upon by a small group of missing-nin. They had been easily despatched but the fight had got Kakashi's blood up. Great, just what he needed to make this mission absolutely perfect – a fight-induced erection. Even telling himself it was nothing to be ashamed of it and that it happened to everyone at one time or another due to the adrenaline rush didn't really help. Taking a deep breath he used his chakra to help calm his body down – he would deal with this when he got home.

He quickly he checked over the corpses for anything interesting or incriminating. Divesting them of their weapons, food and med-packs he stacked the bodies neatly and immolated them with a quick fire jutsu.

"Let's get going before it rains" he murmured to Sakura, turning an accusing eye upon the sky. With how his luck had been going it would probably bucket down.

Finally after 5 hours of hard slog they reached the gates, it was late enough that the great gates were shut for the night but Sakura would not be deterred. She was cold, wet, covered in mud and thoroughly miserable, nobody was going to delay her getting home and having a hot bath. She pounded on the gates so hard that they shook on their hinges. Hastily the ninja who were on gate duty winched the gates open just far enough that two soaked and shivering shinobi could squeeze through before she could completely destroy them.

After arranging to meet with the Hokage first thing the next morning he insisted on walking Sakura to her parents' house despite her objections. Sakura's mother had glared at him when she had rushed to the door at the sound of it opening and seen the bedraggled state of her daughter. Hustling Sakura inside whilst babbling about hot soup and hotter baths she had slammed the door in his face. Feeling more wretched than ever Kakashi turned and began plodding towards his apartment, he didn't want to just jutsu in as it would spray everything inside with freezing mud and water.

As he turned down a side street on a quick shortcut he suddenly heard he name being called out in a familiar tone. Glancing up he saw Iruka leaning out of a doorway on the second floor of an apartment block, he appeared to be sniggering at the sight below him. Kakashi pouted, just because his hair was plastered to his head and he was covered in mud was no reason to laugh. Smiling Iruka asked if he'd like to come up, have a shower and share a hot meal.

After a token protest that he didn't want to intrude Kakashi accepted gratefully, free food was always a good thing. Traipsing up the stairs he was met by Iruka at the door holding a warm towel and pointing the way to the bathroom telling him to have a hot shower before he caught a cold. Inside the bathroom he found more warm towels and a pair of flannelette pyjamas in a shuriken print along with a strip of cloth that he could use as a makeshift mask. How did Iruka always know exactly how to make him feel so completely at ease?

Iruka smiled as he breathed in the fresh smell of rain - there was nothing else quite like it. Glancing out of his kitchen window he spied a familiar figure trudging through the storm. With his silver hair plastered to his head and mud splashed half-way up his thighs the copy-nin did not look like he was enjoying the downpour. Smirking to himself at his friends' misery, Iruka quickly opened the door to the veranda and called down to Kakashi inviting him up for a meal and hot shower.

Iruka was pleasantly surprised that Kakashi accepted with so little fuss as the man was always so nervous about entering his apartment. They had gotten to know each other through Naruto and had become quite good friends, growing even closer whilst the kitsune had been away training with Jiraya. Iruka would have liked to deepen their friendship into something more but Kakashi was so skittish that he didn't want to frighten the other man off.

Iruka grabbed a pair of clean pyjamas from his wardrobe along with a fresh flannel cloth and hung them on the heated towel rail in the bathroom along with several fresh towels. Grabbing a third fresh towel and casting a quick warming jutsu on it, he hurried back to the open door in time to see a shivering figure stumble up the stairs. Handing the bedraggled form the towel and ignoring his protests Iruka gently encouraged the other man towards the bathroom telling him to take a hot shower while dinner was cooking.

Whilst Kakashi was defrosting in the shower Iruka hurried to throw a quick meal together. Musing at the contents of his fridge Iruka decided that a curry was probably going to be his best bet, it was quick, it was easy and most of all it was warming.

Kakashi emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of steam just as Iruka was dishing up. Glancing up at the other man Iruka felt his heart do somersaults inside his chest, with his hair slicked back and the visible parts of his face still red from the heat, Kakashi was gorgeous. Sucking in a quiet breath,

"Dig in" he murmured gesturing to the empty seat as he placed the bowls on the table before taking his own seat opposite.

They ate in companionable silence, Iruka keeping his gaze on his meal in order to allow Kakashi his privacy. When he heard the bowl settle back onto the table and the sound of cloth being adjusted Iruka allowed his gaze to rise and moved to take the empty dish. His reaching hand was stopped by another, warmer hand and with a quiet chuckle both bowls were removed and spirited away into the kitchen.

"Maa, Iruka-sensei don't worry I won't break them." There was an alarmingly loud clatter and then the same mellow voice. "Why don't you have your shower while I do these?"

Feeling ever so slightly guilty at leaving his guest to do the dishes Iruka slunk off to the shower. It was pure torture. Just knowing that the man of his [wet dreams had been naked in this room only a short time ago, that the water puddling under his feet had slid off over that pale, pale skin had Iruka feeling all hot and bothered. It was tempting to just jack off in the shower but he also knew that if he waited until after Kakashi left, hopefully in the morning since he had accepted the offered pyjamas, then his release would feel even better. It was always better if he allowed himself to simmer first.

Dilemma solved, Iruka had a quick shower and then spent a few minutes calming himself into a fit state for company. Now all he had to do was somehow convince Kakashi to spend the night in his bed, preferably squeezed in with Iruka but he wasn't fussy, as long as Kakashi's scent got onto his pillows he was going to be a happy little ninja.

Emerging from the bathroom, Iruka found that Kakashi had done the dishes and apparently sat down on the lounge to wait for him to finish his shower. Iruka was amazed that Kakashi trusted him enough to snooze in his presence. With his head tilted back and resting on the top of the lounge and his feet on the coffee table he looked good enough to eat. It would probably be a very bad idea to attempt to kiss him but Iruka was tempted all the same.

Moving as if in a dream Iruka reached out his hand for Kakashi's face…