I'm sorry for being so late about this next chapter, really, I am. School just started for me so I won't update...like I did before, which wasn't very much anyway but still, you readers have a right to know. So enjoy!
Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me, he is copyrighted to Kishimoto and company. Only this idea belongs to me. these change every chapter, have you noticed?
Warning: A little boy love in this chapter, so if you don't want to read it then don't.
Chapter 4: Names and Noodles
It was around noon when Iruka figured they should stop lessons for the day. "Ne, Kakashi-sensei, what do you say we stop for today?"
The man in question looked over from his current place of residence, which happened to be atop a large and obnoxious blue dolphin floating device. Really Iruka wasn't sure what to call it, but no matter how much he wanted to hate the…thing (and Kakashi for even bringing such a ridiculous object with him), he couldn't because he found it rather adorable. The inflatable dolphin, that is, not the manfloating on top of it.
"But Iruka-sensei, I was just beginning to kick back and relax." Kakashi protested, and as if to further prove his point, he stretched himself languidly across the dolphin, his limbs hanging loosely over the side.
The Chuunin just rolled his eyes as he swam over to Kakashi. "Honestly, Kakashi-sensei, you're worse than my students when it comes to laziness."
"Maa…Iruka-sensei, you don't have to be so mean."
Iruka managed to resist the urge to roll his eyes again. "Please, Kakashi, there's no need to exaggerate."
Kakashi raised a silver eyebrow in response, bringing his head up slightly in order to look curiously at the brunette. "Huh? I didn't realize we had gotten so familiar with one another, Iruka."
Iruka's eyes widened and he looked away, seeming embarrassed at his sudden slip up. He scratched his scar nervously as he floated in the water. "A-ano…I…. It was an honest slip up. I'm sorry Hatake-san." He mumbled, trying to will away the blush that stained his cheeks.
Mentally, Iruka scolded himself for being so careless… To think, he was acting friendly with the legendary Copy-nin as if he were one of his own academy students. This made him feel worse because Kakashi could consider that as insubordination and, as a result, rightfully demand a proper apology.
What he hadn't expected was a soft chuckle followed by an amused voice commenting: "No need to worry sensei, I wasn't insulted…just surprised. But, if you're going to call me Kakashi, then I'll return the favor. Now, sensei, what do you say to having lunch with me?"
Iruka snapped his head up in surprise and his blush deepened, though whether that was from being asked to go out to lunch or because he had been given permission to drop the suffixes, he wasn't sure. "I…well, sure. I'll join you for lunch today."
Kakashi's lone eye curved upwards, and he slowly rolled over into the water below, causing it to
burst up and splash on Iruka, who sputtered as water crashed down on him. He glowered at the all too innocent-looking Kakashi.
"Ne, I thought your face was getting a little red from the sun, sensei, so I thought I'd cool you down with some water. But apparently it's not working because you're getting redder."
Iruka rubbed the bridge of his nose, attempting to calm himself down because there was no reason to get annoyed over something so silly. And yet, Iruka wanted to throttle the masked man just because he had purposely gotten him wet and he had the nerve to act all cute about it.
"I'm cute, am I?" A husky voice whispered into Iruka's ear suddenly, warm breath caressing the skin and causing a small shiver to run through the brunette. "How flattering, sensei, but I was preferably going for another set of adjectives. Want to know which ones I'm talking about?"
And just as sudden as the voice had come, along with the heat, it was gone. Iruka blinked; a bit dazed as he forgot what exactly he had been annoyed at before.
Before the Chuunin even had a chance to ask what the hell had just happened, Kakashi had already moved out of the water and was crouching at the edge of the pool, staring curiously at him. "Coming Iruka?"
Flushing a deep scarlet, Iruka scrambled over to the edge and pulled himself out as well, ignoring the bemused look Kakashi gave him when he stumbled over a lawn chair. It wasn't his fault that he was distracted andas a result had forgotten the chair had been there!
Sighing, he trudged into the locker room, trying to figure out the Jounin's words.
Plopping down into an overly familiar seat, Iruka ordered two large bowls of pork ramen before Kakashi could even sit down and say a word otherwise.
Once more, Kakashi seemed entertained by Iruka's confidence. Leaving Iruka all the more confused because the brunette was certain that when he had been outspoken before, Kakashi had been thoroughly insulted.
Not that Iruka could blame the man; after all, a mere Chuunin had been questioning his –as well as Asuma's and Kurenai's- judgment as well as his mental health in front of the Hokage and other ninja. And it was because at that point in time, he was certain no one sane enough would volunteer their just-graduated team of Genin for the Chuunin examinations. But he had been proven wrong, which hurt more than Iruka was willing to admit. And that was only because it just further proved that maybe, just maybe, he didn't know his students and Naruto as well as he thought.
Then again, maybe he was just over-thinking this situation, and he wasn't being all that outspoken. Maybe Kakashi understood that he was doing this all accidentally and so forgave him. The thought managed to comfort Iruka greatly, and so he broke the silence by off-handily commenting with: "You're a quick learner, aren't you Kakashi? I'm rather impressed by the speed at which you've picked up what I've taught so far. Maybe tomorrow I'll have you start putting the arm and leg motions together…"
By the time the words escaped his lips, Iruka realized how stupid he just sounded. He was impressed by how quick Hatake Kakashi, the man who became a Chuunin at the age of six, was learning to swim?
Luckily, before Iruka made a further fool of himself, the two bowls of steaming ramen were set before them followed by two glasses of ice cold water.
The Chuunin reached for his bowl, carefully slurping up the broth before setting his bowl down to eat the ramen. When he looked over to ask Kakashi something, his eyes widened as he found the other man's bowl to be completely empty.
"Ah, Kakashi…you could rival Naruto with the speed at which you eat your food." He commented as he brought a large bundle of ramen to his lips.
"But sensei, you're not amazed at the speed in which I eat. Aren't you worried I might choke? Or has Naruto already spoiled the surprise by telling you this?"
"I wouldn't say I'm worried about you choking (though there is a very high possibility you might), but I'm going to assume that you, the legendary Copy-nin, would not be beaten by a bunch of ramen noodles. And yes, Naruto's told me about the speed at which you eat. At first I didn't believe him but….well, it seems he's right."
Iruka continued, munching thoughtfully on his noodles all the meanwhile. "Kakashi….if you don't mind me asking, why didn't you just sign up for one of the civilian swimming classes if you wanted to learn?"
The Jounin stared at Iruka for a moment, not seeming taken aback by the question but instead like he was almost expecting it and, as such, had an answer already prepared.
"You're a good teacher. Besides, I didn't want to end up in a class with a bunch of whiny children who get tired easily or don't understand." Kakashi explained, lightly shrugging.
"Would the children have bothered you that much? I mean they'd probably all respect and admire you. And, how would you know I'm a good teacher, Kakashi? You've never seen me teach my students."
The last part came out more of a question because, for all he knew, Kakashi could be stalking him in his free time to see if he was a good enough teacher.
"Maybe they would but that's beside the point. Tsunade saw it fit to make a mission out of this for me because I wasn't going to willingly do this. It's ironic that she chose you though, because I probably would have gone with you myself if I had been allowed to choose anyway. As to knowing you're a good teacher, Naruto's always spoken highly of you and your abilities. And besides, Tsunade thinks you're good enough to teach me so that must mean something, right sensei?"
Iruka wasn't sure what to say to that, and as a result he just continued to silently eat his noodles, nodding. "Yes, I suppose you're right…" he murmured before suddenly realizing something.
"Kakashi, must you call me sensei? I thought we'd agree to call each other by our names and so far, I'm the only one doing so."
Kakashi just grinned in response, his eye curling up once more, "You're my Sensei, aren't you?"
The Chunnin sputtered, "W-well, yes I suppose so….but that's honestly beside the point. You can just call me Iruka, honestly."
"Ne, it's much more fun this way Sensei. I've always wanted to play the school boy scenario with someone."
Iruka stared blankly at Kakashi, looking rather confused but also weary because he didn't like the sound of where this conversation was going. It was almost liked Kakashi was talking about…
"Like in Icha Icha Volume Three, the female student seduces her sensei in their after school sessions. This is something similar, wouldn't you say….Sensei?"
The undertone of Kakashi's words and the way he purred the word sensei did not escape Iruka's ears and mind. Actually, it stopped his brain while the words continued to ring clearly in his ears.
A bright red slowly began to crawl up the brunette's tan skin as he just stared at Kakashi, too mortified to even do anything yet.
Kakashi just smirked, looking rather pleased with this result as he brought up a hand and lightly ran a hand over Iruka's brilliantly white scar. "Ne, sensei, you might want to do something about that blush of yours. You're as red as a tomato."
Iruka gulped, brown eyes widening slightly as he enjoyed the strange tingle that lingered after Kakashi's fingers moved on. "K-Kakashi-sensei…." He whispered softly, his tone perplexed but pleased.
The Jounin leaned forward smoothly going by Iruka's face and roughly stating: "Iruka, I thought we discussed this already. Call me Kakashi."
Iruka jerked his head in the opposite direction, leaving the warmth behind to instead focus on what was left of his noodles. Besides, he needed to catch his breath and get his heart to slow down because it was beating too loud and too fast.
"A-ano, Kakashi… Would you like me to pay for the food?" He questioned after an uncertain silence, during which Iruka noticed the man move back to his seat before pulling out his book to read.
"Sensei, who do you take me for? Unlike Naruto, I'll pay for both our meals. It's the least I can do." Kakashi commented, not bothering to look up from his book as he replied.
The academy teacher just nodded, not up to arguing with the other at the moment.
As Iruka managed to convince himself to finish off the rest of the noodles, he heard Kakashi's chair move back as he stood up. "Money's on the table. I'll see you tomorrow, same time, Iruka."
And with a final wave over his shoulder that head of silver headed for the door, his nose buried deep into his book.
Iruka weakly waved back before turning back to his noodles that were becoming less and less appetizing by the second.
When he took this mission, he knew it wasn't going to be easy…and Kakashi just seemed to be making it worse.
"Stupid Kakashi…"
Whoo...what is Kakashi going to do next? I feel bad for Iruka, Kakashi's so difficult to handle. Suggestions are welcomed and, in case your wondering, I've found a beta though I still need to work out a few things with her.
And now, for a big thanks to my reviewers who get all my love; With A Midnight Smile, itsSwitzerlish, Babycobweb, Asuka Hyuuga, sunkissedkelsey, Ally Plz, Ryu Earth, and Alex Yagami-Tai's cousin-. Plus, thanks for all the Alerts and favorites :)
PLEASE read and review, I enjoy your reviews, as always. They make me laugh!