Iruka limped toward the office in dismay. After last night, he couldn't even lay in bed without feeling it.

Why did he have to deal with this?

'I brought the files you wanted, Lady Tsunade. Is there anything else you'd like me to do?'

'Yes actually. I have a mission assigned to you. I would like you to go and investigate into the sound village, there seems to be some disruption on it's borders.'

'I'll leave as soon as possible.'

'And another thing.' Tsunade added. 'I'd like you to go with Kakashi, incase you run into trouble.'

'What? Can't it be someone else?' Iruka whined. He couldn't face him for at least another week or so.

'Is there a problem, Iruka?' Tsunade questioned.

'No my Lady, there is not.' Iruka replied.

'Of all the people...' Iruka moaned to himself. He couldn't handle a mission in his current condition, and now he had to partner with Kakashi? It was all too difficult for him to even comprehend. Was this a set up?

Then Iruka spotted Kakashi reading Make-Out Paradise by the stream. He was laid out and looked relaxed.

Iruka couldn't help but find his pose seductive, and blushed. Why today?

'Hey, Kakash-!'

Kakashi jumped up and hugged Iruka.

'Iru! I thought you were ignoring me! I missed you!'

'It's been less than a day since I last saw you!' Iruka whined, trying to breathe.

'I'm so glad that you came to talk to me! I don't know what I would've done if I hadn't heard your voice!' Kakashi told him.

The thing was, he sounded genuinely happy.

'I thought you hated me again, after last night and all...'

He had a distant look in

his eyes. Iruka cleared his throat.

'Anyway, Lady Tsunade has a mission planned for us. She wants us to go to the Sound Village borders and find out what's causing all the disruption.'

'Oh.' Kakashi said. 'Why didn't you say so? Wait, I get to go on a mission with you?'

'Yeah, we have been on missions together before, remember?'

'Yeah, but not whilst we're going out!'

'What?'

Kakashi whistled all the way to The Sound Village. He had only ever been this happy when Iruka had invited him into his house, just before they did 'that'. Why was he so cheerful?

Iruka had had to explain to Kakashi that they weren't going out and that it was just another mistake, but despite agreeing, Kakashi was still in a strangely joyful mood. But why was this bothering him so much?

"Could you keep it down? I'm trying to think over here!" Iruka yelled back at the man. But by no means could Kakashi keep his mouth shut. He loved everything about it. Even if they weren't going out, Kakashi would hold on to the feeling of being so close to Iruka forever. He couldn't complain. If Iruka didn't want to be with him, that was fine. But he wouldn't conceal his own affections at that. He would feel the same way forever, and he knew that, and keeping those feelings at bay was going to be a struggle. But if Iruka wanted it that way, that was the way it was going to be.

Besides, he was going to get to go on a mission with him. A whole few days together alone. He had to be happy!

Once they arrived at the village, Iruka sighed. It was a large one, not like they hadn't been there before. Lots of people bustled around. Iruka sniffed the air. He could smell stand food. He hadn't eaten in a few hours. Why not get something now? He looked around a little and found a small takoyaki stand. It smelled great and it was really drawing him in, but first he was going to have to find Kakashi. He had just realized that he had lost him throughout all of the food searching, and now he had no idea where he was himself. And anyway, Kakashi was the one with the money, wasn't he?

Kakashi wandered down the road. Iruka had been here a second ago, so where was he now? He cursed to himself. He was here to help Iruka out, and here he was, leaving him somewhere. And wasn't he just thinking about how he loved him so much?

Just then, he came across a small stall selling trinkets and such. There were kunai and shuriken, some scrolls and some other things that would be really useful. Plus, they were all cheaper than back home.

Kakashi saw two things out of the corner of his eye. One was a large wooden box that was polished. Inside was a pair of katana. They were in good condition and they were one of his favorite makes. The other thing was a small, red velvet box. Inside was a ring that was very plain, but made of gold. It was studded with a few dimonds but nothing much. He bought them both and placed the ring into his pocket.

Now to look for Iruka.

Iruka walked down an alleyway, confused. He was sure he had been down this road before. He had seen that same takoyaki stall three times now, he was sure of it. Just as he was passing another alleyway, someone's hand appeared and dragged him in. They were strong as Iruka couldn't resist, holding a kunai to his neck.

"Don't yell or I'll kill you." Said the male voice above him.

Iruka began thinking of a way to escape somehow.

"I've been watching you since you came here, you know." It said.

Iruka's eyes narrowed.

"Who are you? Do you know me?" Iruka asked.

"I know you well enough. I only needed to see you to know that I wanted you." Iruka could feel his breath on the back of his neck.

Iruka took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself down. He needed and escape route. He needed to think.

"I love men like you. Foreign ninja with battle scars. They really turn me on." He said.

Iruka flinched. Things were getting bad. He was too weak to fight him off, and he was secured into position so he couldn't move. He couldn't even speak without the probability of being killed. What was he supposed to do?

Suddenly, the man placed his hands into Iruka's underwear and grabbed his pride. Iruka yelled out. He couldn't help himself. This man was sexually assaulting him in the darkness, and he couldn't do anything about it. Was he going to be raped?

The man painfully twisted Iruka onto his back. He pinned him down and, still grabbing his pride, bent over Iruka and started licking up his neck. Iruka was stuck. He yelled. He had only ever done this once before and that was with Kakashi. Tears filled his eyes.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Someone asked from above. Iruka looked up to see Kakashi standing over them.

"And what do you want?" The man asked.

"I want my guy back, jackass. Get your own." Kakashi replied, scowling. He looked down at Iruka and saw the tears in his eyes.

"You're going to get it now."

He swiftly kicked the man in the face and sent him flying into the wall.

"You okay, Iru? You look upset. Did he touch you?" Kakashi asked Iruka. Iruka stood up and ran into Kakashi hugging him tightly and crying into his chest. Kakashi looked at him wide eyed, but then rapped his hands around him.

"It's okay now."