DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, its characters, its plot, etc.

Reading Between the Lines

"But there's still one thing

That I cannot tell you."

- Kuraki Mai, Secret of My Heart

Iruka-sensei looked down at the piece of paper handed to him. He knew he shouldn't be surprised, but really, after so many years, was it a little much to ask? "Kakashi-sensei," he called to attention the ninja in question. Iruka supposed that he should take it as polite that the silver-haired man had bothered to look up from his book. In response, he stubbornly ignored the nerve that was starting to throb at the back of his neck. "Kakashi-sensei," he sighed, "how many times must I remind you about the periods?"

Kakashi blinked sleepily at the chunnin, slowly as though Iruka had the most intriguing face and he had never seen anything like it. It made Iruka want to hit him up-side the head like he often did with Naruto and Kakashi's next sentence did not help much. "Periods?" he murmured aloud, like tasting a foreign word.

"Yes, periods," Iruka insisted firmly. Most of the other helpers did not usually bother to really speak to the strange ninja more than they had to, let alone chastise him. The few that had tried had felt themselves strangely dissuaded after looking into Kakashi's hazy eye. However, upon Iruka arriving, the brown-haired man had gone on to prove that he was- though most already suspected this- not like most chunnin. Or like anybody else really. Iruka had always had a strong will and as such was not one to let Kakashi get away with his lazy behavior. Though he had always tried to be polite to the older man- Iruka never wanted to be rude if he could help it- Kakashi's attitude always managed to rub him the wrong way. It didn't help that he had this growing suspicion that Kakashi found him… amusing. "You need periods at the end of sentences."

"Aah…" Kakashi replied, yawn-like, looking up to the ceiling. Then he looked back down at the chunnin behind the desk, his one visible eye rolling up into a crescent. His fellow teacher remained straight-faced. "But I don't like periods."

The nerve behind Iruka's head gave a sharp throb. "It doesn't matter if you don't like them," he tried to put nicely. "You need to use them. Or it won't make any sense!"

"But we speak without periods," Kakashi pointed out, "and that still works fine."

Iruka felt like slamming a head into a table- and he wasn't too sure on whose. "But this isn't speaking, now is it?" he countered, holding up the thousand-folded report. "When writing, you need to use periods." He felt himself setting up for lecture-mode, but darn it if the ninja didn't need it. "When you neglect periods- or any part of grammar really- needlessly, it shows a lack of effort and a lack of caring. Now, Kakashi-sensei," Iruka looked sternly into the other man's one-eye, "tell me, why should I put my precious time and effort into something you obviously didn't feel was worth your own time?" Really, wasn't it enough he had to go home and deal with these exact issues? Wasn't it enough that he had to deal with enough people that obviously didn't care? It was something often bemoaned about by his fellow teachers. Precious time spent away from family and friends all in the name of something that felt like such a waste. Iruka, however, wanted to care and continued to care, but that didn't mean he was going to allow it being slapped back in his face.

"Hmm," the sound echoed out from Kakashi's throat, but his countenance- or what could be seen of it- looked more serious. "Are you saying, Iruka-sensei, that you take the time to go back over these and correct them?"

Iruka felt the tip of his nose go pink. "Don't be ridiculous," he renounced a bit too loudly. (The truth of the matter, however, was that he did just that. His habits as a teacher were a little hard to let go of at times.) "I just meant that I have to keep putting more time, more time than anybody else's, on your report, simply because you refuse to use periods."

For some reason, Kakashi looked almost… happy. "Ah, Iruka-sensei," Kakashi answered with a bit of dramatic flair. He closed his book and shaking his head, turned to leave. "Sometimes you have to read between the lines." With that, he tucked away his book and left the room. "Or something like that. I'm so awful with lines like that."

"What?" Iruka blinked. Then he leaned his head on his hand. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It was almost," a female voice spoke up, startling Iruka. He had completely forgotten about the people around him. "It was almost like he was happy that you spent extra time fixing his reports."

'Happy?' thought Iruka. 'Could it be...?' With a mental gasp, he jolted straight up in his chair. 'He wants me to use up my extra time so he can spend extra time with Naruto!' Anguished, Iruka clutched his head in both hands. 'Gah! Kakashi! I won't let you get away with this!' When he looked up again, his eyes burned with a fiery intensity most identified with Gai-sensei. 'You're not getting Naruto that easily!'

His neighbor felt a bead of sweat slide down the back of her head. She turned to the side so as to quietly giggle. In her own mind, she couldn't help but sigh what women have been sighing for centuries.

'Men!'

-END

For Sarah, who loves periods, and Taylor, who doesn't,

Because your argument inspired this.