Kisame watched Haku and Kakashi exit the pool area out of the corner of his eye. From the moment they had entered the room he had moved to always keep his back to them and Iruka in front of him. It was easier to do then many would think as Iruka was almost constantly flat in the water while Kisame stayed standing and he was able to use Haku's voice to gage roughly where they were in the room. After they left he waited a few moments to make sure the cost was clear and so that Iruka could finish the exercise they were working on.
"That's great work Umino-sensei." Kisame praised as he helped the man to the side of the pool. "At this rate you'll be able to toss those canes away in no time."
Iruka beamed, "I hope so because it's getting really annoying having my students walk circles around me rather than run them. And please call me Iruka, Umino-sensei makes me feel old and the canes are doing a good enough job of that as it is."
Kisame let out a heart felt laugh. "Sure thing Iruka. I must say you have made me re-evaluate my stance on teachers. I used to hate them as you could probably tell I wasn't exactly a saint in school. But now I think I really like them. You're the best client I've ever had hands down; you listen to instructions and are able to follow them to a tee. Seems to me teachers make the best students."
Iruka blushed at the compliment. "I don't know about that. I find teachers are the worst students as most of them know all the tricks in the book."
"Well then you are certainly the exception." Kisame smiled. "Just so you know, you may find your muscles are a bit sore for the next day or two even after your massage. That's normal as you're probably using muscles you aren't used to using. Dull pains are ok but if it gets worst call us right away, alright. Did you have any questions before you leave for your massage?" Kisame asked just as Itachi was making his way over to the steps at the corner of the pool.
Iruka took a moment to think about it as he was climbing up the stairs to where Itachi was waiting with his canes. "I don't think so; you were very thorough in your introduction earlier."
"Good," Kisame smiled, "Most first time clients are so intimidated by my looks that they don't pay attention to my introduction and end up asking me all sorts of questions later on."
Iruka laughed at this as Itachi handed him his robe and canes. "Well thank you very much for the session Hoshigaki-san. I look forward to our next one." With that Iruka bowed politely.
"Please, call me Kisame; Hoshigaki-san makes me feel old." Kisame chuckled as he too exited the pool.
Iruka smiled, "Sure thing." And with that Itachi began to lead him towards the exit.
While holding the door for Iruka, Itachi sent Kisame a questioning look. Kisame simply smiled back to reassure Itachi that everything went well. Itachi smiled at this and then exited through the door after Iruka.
Kisame let out a long sigh. Thank god everything had gone well or Itachi would have sent him to the couch for a month at the very least! If he didn't love the man as much as he did he would have certainly considered going after such a rare find as Iruka.
"Right this way please Sannin-sama." Haku bowed as he greeted Orochimaru at the door to the change rooms. He dutifully led Orochimaru and his lackey towards Shizune's room for his chemical peel.
As they turned the last corner, Orochimaru smirked as he was graced with a clear view of one of his two favourite employees. Itachi was leading a client in the opposite direction as he was going so it gave him time to admire the view without appearing to obvious. He took a brief look at the client but quickly turned back to his prize upon seeing the canes. Imperfection was not even worth his precious time in his mind.
However, said client did not go unnoticed by his lackey. The man took his time to properly size up a potential prize for himself. Chocolate seemed to come to mind as he admired the expressive eyes, rich hair and tanned skin of the crippled client.
Upon reaching the room, Haku opened the door for them and informed them that Shizune would be right with them. After that Haku left leaving the two men alone.
"I don't think I'll be needing you to stay for the next while. I don't feel like doing any business while I'm being worked on today. You may linger until I'm done but don't leave the premises. Understood." Orochimaru instructed as he headed for the dressing screen at the back of the room.
"Understood Orochimaru-sama." The lackey bowed and exited the room.
Once the door was shut though, a purely sinister smirk appeared on his face. He knew for a fact that Orochimaru would take several hours and if the chocolate client was heading towards the massage rooms, he'd be done long before Orochimaru would be, giving him plenty of play time.
With that in mind, the lackey made his way towards the change rooms.
"Tsunade will be your massage therapist to start with. She's a little heave handed sometimes so don't be afraid to tell her to ease up if you feel it's too intense." Itachi explained as Iruka was undressing behind a screen at the back of the room. Iruka emerged with his towel in place and though he loathed admitting it, he was grateful Itachi was there to help him up onto the high table.
After Itachi left, assuring him Tsunade would be right there, Iruka took a moment to look around the room. It was tastefully decorated in neutral colours and soft lighting. The burning incense in the corner was relaxing and the soft music was just the right style and volume. A moment later the door swung open and with the height Iruka was situated at, the first thing he saw was by far the largest endowments he had ever seen. How could anyone stand up straight with those!
A clearing of a throat cause Iruka to strain his head backwards to look up into a pair of golden eyes filled with mirth looking back at him. "Contrary to what you may think, there are bigger ones out there than mine and yes it is a bitch to stand up straight with them."
Iruka blushed bright red at that and buried his face back into the table. "I'm so sorry, I didn't me to stare. You were just at eye level when you enter and… Oh dear." Iruka babbled as he tried to burry himself in the sheet on the table.
Tsunade laughed as she closed the door and rounded the table to the cabinet with her supplies. "Oh don't you worry; I know you don't swing that way to begin with."
Now that caught Iruka's attention. "Eh?"
Tsunade sat down on a chair and rolled over to the front of the table so she could look Iruka in the eyes without him having to strain his head backwards or have his voice muffled by the table. "No, no one told me, I'm just old enough to spot the difference without being told. That's why I said what I did. You know you're quite cute when you blush." This time her smile was full of sincerity and warmth like that of his late mother's and Iruka was immediately put to ease.
"Oh I know already. I'm reminded of it as least once a day by my students and co-workers." Iruka sighed.
Tsunade nodded in agreement. "Students can be brutally honest. By the way, I'm Tsunade. Don't worry about any titles; I get them too often when I'm teaching at the university."
"That's fine. I'm Iruka and the same for me, no titles are needed please." Iruka smiled.
"Good, now that that's settled, let start with your assessment shall we?" Tsunade asked as she crossed one leg over the other and placed a clip board on her lap.
Sasuke and Sakura were back again at the front desk chatting with Kurenai while they waited for their next clients when another well known client walked through the door. Sasuke was beginning to think the gods were mocking him at this point.
"I thought you were too busy with work today Dobe to grace our 'shady' business with your presence?" Sasuke asked as a man who could rival the sun in brightness approached the front desk.
"I am, but not till after lunch. Dad said I wasn't needed until a big meeting with our rival company which isn't till 2pm. So, since I have some free time I was planning to pick up Iruka-sensei and take him to lunch. He told me about his appointment for today and I wanted to see how it went." Naruto explained while he hugged Sakura in greeting and waved to Kurenai.
Naruto had remained good friends with Iruka-sensei after he graduated. He also still visited the spa a lot since some of his good friends worked there and his Dad's company used their services a lot. He knew about the other side of the spa and after growing up around his godfather Jiraiya he was hesitant to use the services available. If he really wanted a massage he'd book with either Sakura or Tsunade as he knew he could trust them. Sasuke on the other hand…
"Sounds good. Iruka is almost finished and I have some free time till my next client so I'll take you to the change rooms where you can meet him there. After his first session he may be a little sore and need some help. Though I'm sure he will deny it if he is." Sasuke smirked at the last part. With that Naruto said goodbye to Sakura and began following Sasuke down one of the many hallways.
Kakashi knew something was up by the time he was finished with Gai. The man had been particularly long winded today as if he was trying to distract Kakashi from something and keep him longer then usual. He couldn't afford to be late for an important afternoon meeting so he had used that as an excuse to end his session early. His muscles didn't feel as relaxed as he'd wanted them to be but he could always book a proper appointment for later in the week. He'd question Itachi later on what was happening. With his session over and not bothering to wait for an escort, he made a direct beeline for the change rooms.
Iruka felt like a hunk of pizza dough that had been thoroughly worked over. Tsunade was good and he had listened to Itachi's advice and politely warned her when the treatment was becoming too intense. The two had talked about their teaching carriers, his at the high school and hers at the university. The distraction of conversation had helped as the session had been brutal but he knew it was well worth it. He just hoped he could survive the rest of his sessions.
Once Tsunade was finished she gave him some final instructions, asked if he had any questions and then left him alone to take his time in getting up and redressed. Once finished he had exited the room to find Itachi waiting for him out in the hall.
"How was your massage Iruka-sensei?" Itachi asked as they made their way to the change room.
"Well, besides having a new appreciation for the pizza I order once a week, sore but good." Iruka smiled back as Itachi chuckled at the comparison.
"As long as you aren't in any bad kind of pain, sore muscles are a good sign." Itachi said as they reached the door to the change room. "Feel free to use the showers to wash off the rest of the massage oils. There is complimentary shampoo and soap plus plenty of towels if you need them. There are intercoms in several locations throughout the change area. If you need anything just press the blue button and someone will answer right away."
"Thank you again Itachi. I shouldn't take long." Iruka nodded as he entered the change room.
Itachi leaned back against the wall to wait for Iruka and to keep an eye on who went into the change room after him. He hadn't heard anyone in the change room when they got there and most of their current clients were still in the middle of their sessions so there was no worry of having missed someone…