Stray Dogs
Summary: How do you define a "home?" KakashixIruka
Rated: T (eventual M)
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Chapter 1
"I'm home," Iruka called into his house as he toed off his sandals.
Although Iruka lived alone it had became a habit for him to announce his return to his empty home. It made the house seem just a tad bit livelier to Iruka. But recently, Iruka's house hadn't been as empty as it used to be.
At his announcement, a blur came rushing out from the kitchen to tackle Iruka to the ground and plant wet kisses all over his face.
"Alright, alright, that's enough," Iruka laughed.
When the rain of kisses stopped Iruka opened his eyes to look at the man straddling his lap, and hugging his waist. At the man's exuberant face Iruka could not resist smiling. With a hand on the back of the man's head, Iruka pulled the man forward and kissed him on the forehead.
"I'm back," Iruka stated, softer this time.
The man grinned, pecking Iruka lightly and quickly on the lips before he got off and offered a hand to the academy teacher. Iruka took the hand and followed the man into the kitchen to a mouth-watering dinner bubbling on the stove.
When the routine first started Iruka had to control the urge to pull out his weapons or the urge to throw the man over his head judo style. Not to mention the exorbitant display of affection had Iruka stunned for the first couple of days. Reminding himself that the man was not a ninja and cannot easily overpower him helped Iruka to squelch the fight or flight instinct. The hugs and kisses were gestures that Iruka gradually grew accustomed to. After all, such innocent gestures were like a child seeking affection. Iruka found it harmless and adorable and eventually began reciprocating in kind, although not in quite the same abundance.
"Itadakimasu," Iruka said cheerily and picked up his chopsticks to begin sampling a foreign dish on the table. "Wow, this flavor is amazing," Iruka praised. The man smiled shyly, a contrast to his usual energetic manner, and began digging into his meal.
As the two men ate in silence, Iruka took occasional glances at his companion. With beautiful features and two scars; one running vertically over his perpetually closed left eye and another diagonally along his jaw line, the man was a rare sight to behold. Iruka so wanted to ask for the story behind those scars, but the man was a mute and cannot communicate with more than gestures. Iruka only managed to find out his first name on a shopping trip to the market. His companion was walking beside him. When they passed a corn field with a scarecrow, the man had dragged Iruka up to the dummy, pointed to the human imitation and then at himself several times. Iruka surmised that the man's name is Kakashi, and has been addressing him as such since then.
After dinner the two washed the dishes, and then Iruka sat at the table doing paperwork while Kakashi sat across from him watching him work. Under the table their legs were tangled together. Once in a while Kakashi would reach over and hold Iruka's left hand from anywhere between five seconds to ten minutes. Then he'd let go and come for Iruka's hand again after a few minutes.
This was Iruka's favorite part of the day. Something about the silence and the gentle touches made the moment sacred and sweet. Iruka came to realize how much he depended on this now whenever his day turned out stressful. It was surprising to him how he managed to survive everyday of his life before without this comfort to look forward to each day.
Iruka looked up and caught Kakashi staring at him. They shared a smile and Iruka returned to bowing his head over his paperwork. At moments like these, Iruka thanked the heavens that he had been the one to find Kakashi injured at the bottom of a hill next to a broken wheelbarrow. Iruka conjectured that Kakashi must be a villager who was unlucky during his work and got injured. Maybe he has a wife and children waiting for his return, but Kakashi made no indication to leave, or perhaps he is suffering from amnesia. It's hard to find out when the man can't speak and apparently is illiterate. Either way, Iruka intends to keep this godsend gift forever if he could.
When Iruka deemed his work done for the day, he headed off to take a bath. Kakashi followed Iruka into the bath. This had become another daily routine that the two would follow. Of course the chunin-sensei had protested vehemently at the start, going so far as to tie Kakashi down to the table while he took his bath, but when Kakashi remained persistent and showed that he could behave his hands- most of the time- Iruka had relented and taking baths together just became another normal part of his day.
It was actually nice to have someone else scrubbed Iruka's back for him after a long day, if he could just ignore the deliberate strokes to his tailbone and some of his more sensitive scars. Whoa, that finger was going a little too far south today.
"Kakashi," Iruka said warningly.
At his tone, Kakashi obediently returned his hands to scrubbing Iruka's back. But feeling a little daring today, Kakashi brushed a hand over Iruka's buttock which elicited a yelp from the chunin-sensei. Before Iruka could turn around and reprimand Kakashi, Kakashi was massaging his shoulders and back and doing such a good job that it turned Iruka into unintelligible putty, so Iruka decided to allow Kakashi to slide for the day. Hopefully he won't take the inch and turn it into a mile tomorrow night.
After bath time the two men brushed their teeth and got ready for bed. Iruka had rent this apartment as a single person living space, so Kakashi shares Iruka's bed each night. Iruka now has someone to say "good night" to every night. The funny thing is; Iruka has yet to say "good night" to Kakashi more than thrice. Due to his lack of voice, Kakashi had invented another way to say good night; he'd kissed Iruka on the eyelids and then pulled back to wait for his "good night." As always, Iruka relented to the puppy dog eyes and planted kisses on Kakashi's eyelids too. Then the two snuggled together and fell asleep without saying good night.
Author's Note: I am looking for a beta for this story who will give me constructive criticism. If you do not want to beta but have helpful hints on how I can improve my writing, please let me know. Also, let me know if you're enjoying my idea so far.