Notes: Disclaimer and warnings in first chapter. Sorry this is a bit short. Next chapter will again be Sasuke and Naruto… and hopefully Gaara will show up? ^_^
Chapter Three: Road and Stop
Kakashi had discovered that whining annoyed Iruka, so he promptly began to take on the voice of a bored eight year old. "Are we theeeere yeeeet?" And he began to pull on Iruka's sleeve. "Why do we have to waaaaalk? It's coooooold…" At the sight of Iruka's bright red face and clenched teeth, he grinned and pulled away. "Just kidding," he said in his normal tone of voice. "You don't have to get so worked up about it, Iruka-kohai."
The younger man gritted his teeth and growled, "I wouldn't be so worked up if this wasn't the TENTH TIME you've done that!" His black eyes snapped. "I'm beginning to wonder if Hokage-sama sent us together to test my patience!"
"Oh please, you work with children all the time. You have to have patience." Kakashi crossed his arms behind his head and tilted his face up towards the sky. Clouds were beginning to gather across the crisp blue expanse and the setting sun had turned them to huge grey shadows.
"Well, you have Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura…" Iruka made a bit of a face. "They're wonderful kids, but… putting Naruto and Sasuke together wasn't the most brilliant idea the Hokage had. Plus with Sakura in there… it must be hard."
"Actually they work together quite well," Kakashi said seriously, bringing his arms down to his sides. "Of course, they have difficulties, but Naruto is really bringing Sasuke around to forget his past. And Sasuke, in turn, is helping Naruto to reach new heights. And Sakura is really wonderful at not only stopping their fights, but keeping them on task." He turned and smiled at Iruka. "They're a great team."
"I see." The chuunin could feel his face flush a little. Once again, he had managed to put his foot in his mouth where his beloved students were concerned.
Fortunately, Kakashi pointed ahead and drew his attention off the subject. "Hey, look. We're earlier than I thought." He turned towards his companion. "Do you want to stop here tonight or keep pushing on since we're a little early getting here?"
"Uh-"
"My thoughts exactly. Let's stop so that we can start early tomorrow."
"Uh… okay." Iruka resisted his teacherly instinct to reprimand the man for rudeness. And to his surprise, he found that it was only instinct and not irritation that prompted him to scold the jounin. Strange… how someone could wear on you like that. Kind of like a pair of socks that you get from the Hokage that are really ugly and gross, but when you put them on, you find that they're really comfortable. Maybe this journey wouldn't be one of utter annoyance and humiliation.
Kakashi led him to an inn with a cheerful looking front. In fact, it was almost childlike in its cheerfulness. There were two large stone cats sitting on opposite sides of the doorway and red flags hung out as if a festival was going on. The curtains of each window were made of thick red cloth, and lit from behind, they made the windows glow crimson. Iruka could just make out the sound of music seeping from underneath the doorway.
The two ninjas entered and were greeted by a black haired woman who wore a bright green dress. She smiled at them, bowed, and gestured to the front desk. "If you would like to sign in for a room, I would be happy to help you out!"
Iruka tugged at his jacket and removed the small roll of cash that had been given to him by Tsunade to cover business expenses. "A room with two single futons, if you please," he asked, readying his money to pay.
The woman smiled brightly at him. "For one night or two?"
"Only one," Kakashi said, leaning his elbow on the desk and staring lazily at her.
"All right, then." She told Iruka the total, and, after he gave her the bills, she returned some coins to him. "If you are hungry, we have an adjoining restaurant just off to the left. Your meal is automatically taken care of with the payment for the room. Any alcohol, however, is extra." And, with another bright smile, she handed them a key. "Your room is the third door on the right on the second floor. Please enjoy your stay!" She bowed again.
~ * ~
It was uneventful up until they crawled into bed. Kakashi behaved incredibly well at dinner, despite never taking off his mask when Iruka was looking. The chuunin tried to catch him at it out of curiosity, but after a while he gave up. The meal was good, too. Roast chicken over rice with a side of some strange looking greens that Iruka had never seen before. All this was served with a type of cider for Iruka and sake for Kakashi. For dessert, they were given pancake rolls stuffed with candied fruits. Kakashi wasn't much of a talker while they ate, so Iruka had contented himself with observing the other guests. At one point, he almost felt like he recognized a certain long haired man with black eyes, but it was only the tilt of his head.
The two men brushed their teeth and Iruka showered before they turned in. Kakashi slipped under the covers of the futon nearest the window, and Iruka took the one closer to the door. Iruka was just drifting off when he felt something smack against his back. He glanced over his shoulder, and was half amused and half irritated to see that Kakashi had flung out his hand and accidentally hit the younger man. A loud snore emitting from the silver haired man clued Iruka in to his current state.
The chuunin moved away from the hand that had rudely awakened him, and tried to fall asleep again. Unfortunately, he was again disturbed by a thumping sound from behind him. He turned, again, and found that Kakashi had rolled off his futon and was now sprawled out, still sleeping, across the floor. At least now, his hand was off Iruka's bed.
The younger man sighed deeply and plumped up his pillow before laying down on it again. Outside, he could hear a wind picking up. Snuggling down in his blanket, he felt that it was satisfying to be inside and warm in bed. Suddenly, he felt something press up against him from behind. Though he knew it was only Kakashi, Iruka nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise. He turned over again and found that the jounin, still apparently sleeping, had snuggled up next to him on his futon.
Iruka resisted the urge to shove a kunai up his ass and instead tried to get to sleep again. But Kakashi was not done with him. In a final move, the silver haired man flung his arms around Iruka and began to cuddle him like a teddy bear.
At this, the dark haired man stood up, shaking the sleeping jounin off him easily. Growling in irritation, he stalked across the room and claimed Kakashi's futon for the night. That was when Kakashi spoke up. "If you didn't want to cuddle, you could have just said so." His voice was a bit muffled by Iruka's pillow.
The chuunin sat up in surprise and mild disbelief at this man's boldness. He had wanted… had tried to CUDDLE. "I-uh- just stay over there!" he finally said desperately. "Stay… over… there."
Kakashi made a sound that was almost a sniffle.
Silence.
Another little sniff. "You don't want to cuddle?"
"No."
"Oh."
Silence.
"Sometimes Kurenai
cuddles with me. Or Asuma."
Silence.
"Once, I got Ebisu to cuddle."
"Please, Kakashi-san! Just… go to sleep."
A deep sigh. "All right."
Silence.
Another sigh.
"And I'd better not wake up to find you cuddling me!"
"Irukaaaaaaaaa…"
The chuunin sat up and glared across the room in reluctant defeat. "Fine," he said. "But if you touch me inappropriately-" He was cut off by Kakashi's heavy body landing almost completely on top of him. And he would have yelled, except that his mouth was covered by the cloth of Kakashi's shirt. And so, he tried to relax and sleep.
Needless to say, the next morning, Kakashi woke up cheerfully at four o'clock. Iruka had bags under his eyes and was seriously beginning to doubt the sanity of his companion.
To be continued…
End Note: Kakashi may or may not be out of character. I never know with him. So sorry in the event that he is. He's so unpredictable… *dies*