Authoress/grins/ okay, my wonderful readers…I am in such good mood…having just checked my reviews for our last chapter…and I have some comments I'd like to make public…

To bamf2me-thank you again for such a wonderful review…and I'm glad to see someone liked Pakkun's (short) part to the story and how loyal he was…and /hugs/ you are the reason I'm writing this chapter so soon after putting up chapter three!

To blockofthewritingkind-I totally agree with you, no one's perfect (no, not even Iruka), so you'll be glad to know Kakashi will get the upper hand…eventually…

To ATG and snow887-I love a conniving Iruka…/huggles snow887/ I feel so appreciated now..

Now that that's done…on with the next chapter, dedicated to Fanfiction's very own bamf2me!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…don't you wish I did, though? Iruka would sooo have more of a kick-ass character (and more screen time!)…and Kakashi…well…that mask would be one thing we'd never let him be seen with…and I don't own either…I'm just a Yaoi-loving fan with loads of time on her hands!

Chapter Four

(third person POV…hehe…)

Iruka couldn't hold back his chuckle as he carefully flipped the fish over, making sure that it was beginning to brown. His moment of mirth was caused by the outburst he had heard from the bathroom. Kakashi, obviously, hated being itchy-guessing from the string of curses and whines his ears had been subject to for nearly half an hour. Iruka, having calculated how long it would take before the burning pain would become unbearable for the jounin (two hours, considering Kakashi's tolerance for pain had to be high), knew Kakashi was just uncomfortable right now. But, with a half-sigh, half-laugh, Iruka turned down the heat on his oven and went to check on the Copy-cat Nin.

"Aaah!" Kakashi glared at his tingling arm, knowing it would only get worse if he itched, so he sat on the rim of the bathtub, praying that the unfamiliar sensation would go away soon. He was about to give up on his 'no itching' remedy when Iruka stepped into the room. The chuunin raised an eyebrow at the half-naked jounin, noticing that there weren't any scratch marks on his pale body. Iruka smiled, realizing that Kakashi had an amazing amount of willpower.

"Do you want something for that?" Iruka asked nonchalantly as he walked to his vanity, which held Kakashi's soaked clothing, and opened the medicine cabinet. The jounin wasn't able to help the glare he gave to Iruka's back as he watched the brunette sift through a mass of bottles, finally pulling one out. Kakashi adjusted his glare to the unusual white liquid in the glass container, unable to figure out what kind of medicine it was. As if reading Kakashi's mind, Iruka handed the bottle to Kakashi and explained, "it's a soap that'll get rid of the itching." Kakashi eyed the thick liquid as he shook the tiny bottle, slightly apprehensive to use something Iruka had given him. He was sure that the conniving chuunin had something to do with his sudden itching fit. "I didn't poison soap, Kakashi-sensei…"

Kakashi looked up at the smiling brunette and sighed, realizing Iruka was right. He wouldn't have done something as terrible as to play more than one prank on Kakashi. Thinking about it, the jounin realized he didn't actually do anything to deserve one of the infamous teacher's tricks. Kakashi turned his head to lazily look at Iruka's shower and then to the chuunin. "…maa…"

"You can take a shower here, Kakashi-sensei…I'll find some clothes for you to wear while yours dry," Iruka stated calmly while inwardly doing an 'Inner Sakura YoshÔ.' He watched as Kakashi slowly stood up, which put the jounin only a hands length away from Iruka in the tiny bathroom. Iruka craned his neck to look up at the man and smiled. "Dinner will be ready by the time you're done…" As if on cue, Kakashi's stomach growled loudly and the jounin smiled sheepishly.

"A-arigatou, Iruka-sensei," Kakashi replied, bending slightly so he could look at the chuunin eye-to-eye. Kakashi's heart thumped when he realized that he was so close to the brunette-close enough to see the specks of gold in the chuunin's soft eyes, close enough to smell that distinct clean smell that he had begun to associate with the academy teacher. Letting his gaze drop, Kakashi noticed that Iruka had changed out of his wet shorts into loose-fitting black pants and a tight black t-shirt. For some reason, the Copy-cat Nin's visible eye zeroed in on Iruka's midsection, where he caught a glimpse of bronze. Iruka, feeling slightly uncomfortable under the jounin's gaze, moved to leave. Kakashi watched Iruka walk out of the room, his eyebrow raising as he observed the chuunin's snug shirt slide up his body slightly as his paints slipped in the opposite direction.

Iruka, unaware at the fact Kakashi was catching glimpses of his exposed skin, flashed the jounin a pleasant smile before he slipped out of the bathroom and sighed as he closed the door. Unconsciously pulling his pants back up into their original position, Iruka softly chuckled and went back to fixing dinner.

Kakashi waited until he could no longer hear the faint padding of Iruka's bare feet then stared down at the tiny bottle in his gloved hand. All thoughts of itching his body left his mind as he furrowed his eyebrows. Did…Iruka…just flirt with me? Kakashi wondered to himself as he shook the bottle. That smile definitely wasn't a mere 'friendly' expression. Shaking his head, Kakashi smirked. It was impossible. Iruka was, if anything, a heterosexual--who was just cheerier than what Kakashi was used to and who had a wardrobe malfunction for a moment. But why would he wear such a tight shirt…and pants that are nearly falling off…Kakashi asked himself as he turned to grab one of the knobs in the shower, but his hand froze on the warm metal when he saw a red leaf resting on a shelf right above the metal handles. That's…iie…it can't be…Kakashi frowned, dismissing the thought. The leaf merely looked similar to one that he had heard of-but it grew only in the Village of Sand…and it was highly toxic. Iruka wasn't that evil; to poison Kakashi in such a sneaky way. The jounin refrained from touching the leaf, just in case, as he turned on the hot water and slipped out of what remained of his soaking outfit. Folding his mask next to the rest of his clothes, Kakashi jumped into the shower and, with the speed of a shinobi during a mission, he smothered his body in the soap and washed it off.

Breaking his last record, forty seconds, by nearly ten seconds, Kakashi was out of the shower and staring at a pile of dry clothing where his wet outfit had been sitting only a moment before, along with two fluffy white towels. How did he? Kakashi wondered as he looked at the clothing curiously. He hadn't heard the door open, hadn't felt a surge of chakra…nothing that would have told him the chuunin had slipped in the room during his thirty second shower. Kakashi was so impressed at Iruka's stealth, he didn't realize his body no longer itched until he was completely dried off and slipping on a pair of the smaller man's pants. Surprisingly, the navy blue pants actually fit Kakashi (which made the jounin wonder why Iruka had pants that were so tall), as did the tank top that, thankfully, wasn't as tight as Iruka's shirt. Kakashi, noticing that his mask had also been taken by the short chuunin, ran a hand through his hair as he wiped the bathroom's foggy mirror clean.

Kakashi's hand stopped in the middle of the arc he was creating, staring at his reflection. That…sneaky bastard…Kakashi thought to himself as he couldn't help but chuckle at the chuunin's creativity. Every inch of his hair, from his head to his eyelashes, was a neon pink. Kakashi turned his head to look at the prankster's handiwork, noticing that there was the barest hints of blue at the tips of his hair. Bending even closer to the mirror, Kakashi saw that even the stubble of his beard was dyed. Rubbing a callused hand along his jaw line, the jounin smiled at his reflection. He couldn't be mad at Iruka-even though he was now sure that the leaf he had seen was actually that poisonous plant from the Hidden Village of Sand. The chuunin had bested the great Copy-Cat Nin-without Kakashi even suspecting a thing until it was far too late.

"Kakashi-sensei…are you almost done?" Iruka's voice drifted through the door as the jounin bit his lip to stop himself from chuckling again. Kakashi could hear Iruka was losing his ability to control his own laughter as the jounin took a step towards the door.

"Iruka-sensei…that wasn't very nice!" Kakashi exclaimed, smiling at the faint traces of chakra he could feel on the other side of the door. He brought a hand up to his face again, wondering what he could use as a mask while his dried. Iruka's resolve broke when he heard Kakashi's whining, snickering as he leaned against the locked door.

"It wasn't very nice that you surprised me today, Kakashi-sensei," Iruka replied, resting his head against the door. The tan chuunin could tell Kakashi had his hand on the door in the same area his head was, which made him blush for some reason. Do I…like Kakashi-sensei? Iruka wondered to himself as he bit his lip.

Kakashi shook his head, refusing to let Iruka, or anyone else, see him with pink hair, as he brought his hands up to his face and made a few quick seals. Whispering "Henge," Kakashi smirked as he was enveloped in a cloud of smoke, having outwitted the devious chuunin. Once the smoke dispersed, Kakashi turned to look at his reflection and was amazed to see the jutsu did nothing. The henge no jutsu was supposed to change Kakashi's appearance back to normal-but the only change in Kakashi's looks was that the shade of pink was even brighter, if that was possible.

"I could have told you that wouldn't have worked," Iruka said through the door, having started chuckling to himself when he felt Kakashi's chakra rise before. I thought I'd never use that jutsu again…Iruka thought to himself. The last time he'd used it had been nearly seven years ago, when Genma had made the mistake of laughing at Iruka's scar. The poor man hadn't known what hit him until Raido had been kind enough to tell him his hair was a neon green. After a few hours of attempting different jutsu, Genma's hair was, literally, glow-in-the-dark and he still hadn't realized that using any jutsu made things worse. Iruka had let him walk around with that hair for two days before he was ordered by the Hokage to return the other shinobi's hair to a normal color. After that incident, Genma always thought twice about annoying Iruka.

"Nani!" Kakashi wove his fingers into his hair as he activated his Sharingan, which only made his mismatched eyes widen. He could see the blue chakra surrounding his body, as was normal, but he also noticed the faint traces of a foreign energy swirling around his head. A jutsu…sugoi…Iruka's going to have to teach me it! Kakashi inwardly exclaimed, jumping at the chance to learn a new jutsu-especially one he'd never heard of before. Studying the unusual chakra, Kakashi finally began understanding how exactly the chuunin's prank worked.

The jutsu wasn't a difficult one, being a simple henge no jutsu-but with a twist. As more of Kakashi's chakra was placed into the area, the jutsu converted the blue chakra into, what Kakashi now recognized as, Iruka's, which strengthened the entire jutsu-which in turn enhanced the color of Kakashi's hair. It was something so simple that not even Naruto would have had a problem pulling it off, but that thought made Kakashi think for a moment. Always being on guard, Kakashi would have noticed if Iruka had placed a jutsu on him-especially one that Kakashi was unfamiliar with-but the chuunin had somehow snuck through Kakashi's, otherwise, impenetrable defense. The soap…that sneaky little…Kakashi glanced back into the shower and saw the empty bottle. He placed the jutsu on the soap…which transferred to me…oh, he's good…Kakashi thought with a smile. Iruka had everything planned out from the beginning-from Kakashi falling asleep on his couch up until now. The man was worse than Shikamaru with his planning!

"Kakashi-sensei…dinner's ready, whenever you're ready to come out," Iruka called as he pushed himself away from the door, covering up a smile on his face. The chuunin had already burned the jounin's poisoned clothes, which left Kakashi without a mask. Deciding he'd take pity on the once silver-haired shinobi, Iruka went back to his room and reemerged after a minute of searching with a black scarf and a spare hitai-ate. He was slightly surprised to see that, when he reached the bathroom that the door was open and Kakashi was no longer there.

Taking a quick survey of his home, Iruka found the lazy swirls of energy, also known as Kakashi, resting on his couch in the living room. With a smile, Iruka folded the scarf and placed it in a pocket of his baggy pants, then journeyed into the room that held the jounin and was taken aback to see Kakashi holding a picture frame, which covered the lower half of his face.

Kakashi looked at the picture and immediately recognized the two people in the picture. That blonde head of hair couldn't be mistaken for anyone else, even though, in the picture, Naruto had to be somewhere around three or four. The second person, the one holding a chubby Naruto on his lap, had gotten Kakashi to raise an eyebrow in curiosity. It was obvious who the smirking child was-but it was impossible that the scarred brunette in the photograph was the same as the man leaning against a doorframe as he watched Kakashi study the picture. …he…looks like a little kid! Kakashi inwardly exclaimed as his eyes bounced from the picture, to the chuunin, then back again.

"That was taken the day I passed the Chuunin Exam…" Iruka stated, recognizing the picture frame immediately. With a smile, he inwardly added, the day I took Naruto in as my own… "…It's been nine years since then…" Iruka continued when he saw the jounin's puzzled expression. Kakashi looked back down at the picture, but his amazement didn't decrease.

He looks…like he's only twelve or thirteen! Kakashi studied the boy in a chuunin vest, inwardly figuring that, if his estimation of Iruka's age was right, that would make the chuunin around twenty-one or twenty-two…far from what he looked. "…how old…" Kakashi said questioningly, wondering if Iruka just looked young in the picture.

"…Eleven," Iruka replied, smiling when he saw Kakashi's grip on the wooden frame slip. Before his lower face was exposed, though, Kakashi regained his composure and moved the picture frame back up to hide his face.

THAT MAKES IRUKA…TWENTY! Kakashi was beyond dumbfounded at that point. He stared at the smiling chuunin, for the first time noticing how young Iruka actually looked when he wasn't scowling, yelling, or something to that effect. When he smiled like this…twenty years was a believable age. It still didn't help; knowing Iruka's actual age. That meant that the chuunin was still, in Kakashi's mind, a child-even though he himself was already a jounin at Naruto's current age. Kakashi, even with his vast imagination, couldn't see Iruka ever jumping to jounin while he was still (in Kakashi's mind) so young-even considering how skilled the brunette obviously was.

"Daijoubuka, Kakashi-sensei?" Iruka asked, noticing the troubled look in the jounin's eyes. Kakashi glanced up at him, still keeping his face halfway hidden, and his eye curved upwards. Taking that as a 'daijoubu,' Iruka returned the smile and took a step towards Kakashi. Making a quick decision, Kakashi turned his face away and put the picture back down on the coffee table. Iruka watched the neon-pink head of hair turn back and was surprised to see Kakashi smiling. Not just his eyes-but the jounin's whole face. And it was far more perfect than Iruka had imagined.

Kakashi's eyes caught Iruka's and he found himself staring at the young man, unable to do anything else except study Iruka's face as the chuunin did the same. The pair were so stunned, Iruka didn't realize he had let go of the jutsu on Kakashi's hair and the jounin didn't even notice the hair shading his Sharingan had finally returned to a silver color.

Iruka's eyes traced over the familiar features of Kakashi, as though, if he looked at the rest of the man's face, he'd wake up from whatever dream he was finding himself in. After a moment, Iruka worked up enough courage to let his eyes flit across the smooth jaw line that was covered in short, fine silver hairs, so subtle that Iruka wouldn't have been able to see them if he hadn't already known of their existence. Iruka then allowed his eyes to travel to those lips that seemed to be in a everlasting smile. Beautiful pink lips framed white teeth that were almost too perfect. On either side of those lips sat the indentations Iruka had been surprised to discover when he first 'saw' Kakashi's face. The fact Kakashi had a slender face, with prominent cheekbones, accentuated his dimples even more, along with the almost unnoticeable depression in the center of his chin. Oh, and what a masterpiece of a chin that was.

"Maa, Iruka…sensei, I'm hungry!" Kakashi exclaimed, faltering over the honorific. It now sounded odd to call someone thirteen years his junior 'sensei.' He couldn't help himself from chuckling when he saw Iruka's astonishment. Then again, it wasn't every day the great Hatake Kakashi showed his face voluntarily. For a moment, Kakashi wondered why he had actually let Iruka see his face when he hadn't even let those he had known for years see it. Kurenai, Asuma, Anko, Ibiki, Gai; none of them had ever seen Kakashi's face in its entirety.

Kakashi then realized, to his own amazement, that he trusted Iruka more so than the others. This boy, who had actually pulled two tricks on him today (ruthless pranks!), was more trustworthy, to Kakashi, than his own jounin 'friends.' In that moment, Kakashi understood that it wasn't just trust that he had in the chuunin. It was something more, something Kakashi couldn't put into words or even understand, except that he wanted Iruka to see him, as the whole man he was.

"You're always hungry," Iruka retorted good-naturedly as soon as the shock of seeing a sex-god standing in his own living room started to wear off. The chuunin smiled, hoping the blush he knew was staining his cheeks wasn't too noticeable, and started walking towards his kitchen. He forced himself not to turn around and stare at the jounin for a second time when he heard Kakashi slowly get up from the couch and follow him to the table. The jounin sniffed the air and found every delicious aroma that he could name to his liking, which got his stomach to grumble loudly.

"Not always!" Kakashi replied as he sat down in front of an empty plate and found himself gazing at the serving platters. He nearly drooled when he saw the fish-how did Iruka know he loved broiled saury! He also looked at the rest of the food lovingly as his hunger started to get the better of him. Sneaking a hand out to grab the fish, Kakashi was surprised to discover Iruka had just as quick hands as the chuunin slapped his fingers away. Whimpering, Kakashi waited impatiently until the chuunin had served both of them and had sat down across the table from Kakashi, then dug into the food, discovering that Iruka's cooking was just as good, if not better, than it smelled and looked.

Kami-sama…he's perfect! Kakashi realized as he and Iruka ate in a comfortable atmosphere, something Kakashi hadn't done in a long time-since Obito died. Once Kakashi was finished stuffing himself silly-to the point that he felt like he was going to burst-they started up conversation again.

"Maa…when did you become a teacher, Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi asked curiously, watching as the chuunin started to pick up the dishes. Kakashi quickly picked the dishes out of the brunette's hands and carried all the dishes over to the sink where he began washing them, much to Iruka's amazement (and amusement).

"…when I was twelve…" Iruka answered as he watched the prettiest man in Konohagure do the one job that, whenever someone else had come to dinner (in other words, Naruto), Iruka found himself doing. It was a nice change of pace. Kakashi knew he should have been surprised with Iruka's answer, but found that he had been expecting it.

"Isn't there an age requirement to become a teacher, Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi turned away from the warm water that was filling up the sink to look at the smiling chuunin. He nodded his head at Kakashi's question, which made the jounin raise an eyebrow.

"There's supposed to be an age requirement to the jounin level too, Kakashi-sensei…I believe it's sixteen in our village," Iruka pointed out, noticing how Kakashi was quick to chuckle at that. The man was a great deal…easier to talk to without his mask on. The requirement for teaching in the academy was supposed to be fifteen-or five years as a chuunin, whichever came first. It had been set down by the first Hokage and wasn't challenged until Iruka came along. No one before the ambitious brunette had wanted to become an academy teacher at such a young age. Hell, most of the teachers there had actually been tricked or forced into their positions! Iruka was the only one who loved teaching the children-even if it meant ducking stray shuriken or kunai every other minute.

"I guess you're right," Kakashi said thoughtfully as he started scrubbing the dishes with a navy blue sponge he had found sitting in a dish next to the sink. Sometimes, Iruka was a little too predictable…and a little too anal. Kakashi had to smile at the young man's odd quirks. They weren't annoying, but…endearing in Kakashi's mind. The lazy jounin, who usually never did anything more than what was an absolute necessity, thought the foreign idea of doing things ahead of time and keeping needed things…near were they were used was just too much work. But, for Iruka, he couldn't see the chuunin living any other way.

"What about you, Kakashi-sensei?" Iruka asked, leaning back against the wooden table as he watched Kakashi work. The chuunin nearly slid off of his perch when he heard the silver-haired man start humming. Oblivious to what he was doing, Kakashi continued scrubbing until he was sure Iruka would be happy with how clean the dishes were. Iruka simply watched and listened to the jounin, surprised to know that Kakashi actually did have an ear for music. Unlike other shinobi who Iruka had heard hum, whistle, or sing (mainly Naruto and Ebisu…no one else would be caught dead humming to themselves), Kakashi was on key…and his deep voice had a pleasant ring to it. Iruka couldn't place the tune, but it was achingly familiar for some reason. After a few minutes of listening to Kakashi and the clinking of dishes as the man went about his self-imposed job, Iruka softly started humming the tune to himself, only stopping when he realized that he was the only one singing.

Iruka looked over at Kakashi and found the jounin watching him with an eyebrow raised. The pair looked at each other, their lips twitching upwards as they studied each other. The silver-haired shinobi watched Iruka blush furiously as he dropped his eyes to the floor, which got him to snicker. "Maa, Iruka-sensei…you have a nice voice…" That, instead of making Iruka blush less, made the man's face turn even redder. Kakashi turned back to his work, smiling to himself, and began drying his immaculate dishes.

"…a-arigatou, Kakashi-sensei," Iruka replied, still blushing over the jounin's compliment. People like Kakashi wouldn't say a word of praise unless they meant it, which made Iruka's flushed look remain intact as he moved away from the table and started putting the clean dishes away. He smiled when he remembered something. "You didn't answer my question, Kakashi-sensei."

"Maa? What question?" Kakashi asked, glancing over at Iruka's back as the young man turned to put one of the dishes away in a cabinet on the other side of the kitchen. Iruka gave a look to Kakashi, which told the jounin that the brunette knew he remembered. "I'm not a teacher…I just have a genin team…" And I'm not even a good teacher! Kakashi exclaimed, remembering all the times he had gotten the 'you're late!' shriek from Naruto and Sakura.

"…why did you take a genin team?" Iruka questioned, rephrasing his question to get Kakashi to answer something about himself. As much as he knew about the jounin, the lanky shinobi knew at least four times more about Iruka.

"The Sandaime forced me to take them," Kakashi replied, turning to Iruka. The third Hokage had told Kakashi that it would be good for him to have a genin team of his own-the old man probably thought that it would make Kakashi less lazy and more organized. He was wrong. "…I'm…glad he did, though."

Iruka smiled at that quiet comment out of Kakashi. He knew the three genin adored Kakashi-even though the three would deny it even under torture. Especially Sasuke. That boy, he looked up to Kakashi as, or what Iruka had perceived as, a father. Sasuke had opened up more to that man that anyone else except for, maybe, Naruto. "You're a great teacher, Kakashi-sensei."

"Maa…I feel so old when you call me that!" Kakashi stated truthfully. 'Sensei' was never a term he thought would describe himself-or Iruka for that matter. "Just call me Kakashi."

"Kakashi-san…" Iruka repeated, noticing the pout he got from using an honorific, but he was a very polite person. That, and he always said 'san,' 'sensei,' or 'sama' when speaking to someone who wasn't a student. It was a hard habit to break.

"Iruka!" Kakashi whined, trying to give Iruka the puppy-look, Kakashi style. He didn't deliberately leave off 'sensei' from Iruka's name, but as he thought about it, he liked just saying 'Iruka.' The chuunin didn't miss Kakashi's lack of an honorific, though, and blushed slightly when he realized he preferred that Kakashi call him with such familiarity. "That's even worse!"

"Well, I'm not going to call you Kakashi-kun," Iruka pointed out jokingly. The mere thought of it made Kakashi smile as he bit back a chuckle. 'Kun' was going a little too far, even in Kakashi's mind. "…so, Kakashi-sen-…san…may I ask a question?" Iruka asked, clasping his hands behind his back. Kakashi nodded his head as he studied the chuunin's fidgeting. "What's with the mask?"

"You think I want a fan club?" Kakashi replied without hesitation, which got Iruka to blink in surprise before he snickered at Kakashi's statement. The chuunin couldn't stop himself from imagining a Kakashi fan club. It would be primarily be made up of jounin, obviously, but there would also be some of the older chuunin as well. And, considering their expanses of skills and abilities, Kakashi would have to always sleep with one eye open and he would probably get nothing accomplished since he'd have a horde of shinobi following him all the time. "Maa, what are you laughing about, Iruka?"

"…you having a fan club," Iruka said as he leaned back against the counter behind him and bit back another snicker. Kakashi watched as Iruka tried to control his laughter, but eventually lost the battle as the chuunin thought of a particularly interesting prank he could play on Kakashi the next time he felt the urge.

"You have a fan club!" Kakashi pointed out, wondering why the young man was laughing so much all of a sudden. What Kakashi had said was true, which made Iruka try to pout between his hysterical fits. The jounin watched the odd display of emotion for a moment until the chuunin had slid to the floor, clutching his stomach.

"Iie…they're…stalkers!" Iruka exclaimed between panted breaths and winces as his stomach began to ache. He wasn't used to laughing so much in such a short period of time. Not even Naruto had this unusual effect on him.

"That's not nice, Iruka. Kurenai wouldn't want you calling her a stalker," Kakashi pointed out as he watched Iruka curl into a small ball on his kitchen floor, still laughing about something that Kakashi couldn't comprehend. For a moment, Kakashi wondered if Iruka was laughing at what he had said about Kurenai, who just so happened to be one of the leaders of the jounin branch of Iruka's growing fan base. Kakashi had originally discovered the group after he started to get to know Iruka and had made the mistake of mentioning the teacher's name while amidst the rest of the jounin he knew. Kurenai had, literally flipped, along with Anko, Ibiki, Raido, and even Genma. The group had forced Kakashi to tell them what he did with Iruka, obviously amazed. Although Kakashi hadn't known the reason for their astonishment at the time, he now realized that they were simply stunned that Iruka hadn't done something terrible to him while he was in the chuunin's pleasant company. He chuckled, remembering the nickname Iruka's followers had called him by as they (using Ibiki's torture techniques) made Kakashi talk. "'Ruru-chan…"

Iruka snorted as he looked up at Kakashi and nearly lost the little control he had regained over himself. The jounin was smiling for all he was worth, showing off a row of perfect teeth and lips that begged to be kissed. Iruka thought about that description of Kakashi's lips for a moment and found himself wondering if he had taken up reading the Icha Icha series in his sleep.

"Don't call me that!" Iruka cried as he pulled himself into a sitting position and did his best to give Kakashi a glare. The jounin simply knelt down so that he was at eye level with Iruka and chuckled. Forcing himself to stop his hands from touching that perfectly sculpted face as his body screamed for him to kiss the chuunin, Kakashi bit the inside of his cheek.

"I'll stop if you call me 'Kakashi,' Ruru-chan," Kakashi stated, his eyes glinting with a predatory glint. Iruka watched him for a moment, then sighed as he nodded his head. "So, Iruka…what should we do?" Kakashi received his answer as he watched the chuunin try to cover up a yawn. Another small idiosyncrasy of Iruka's, Kakashi had discovered in the past few months of getting to know the chuunin, was that Iruka had a bedtime that Iruka always fell asleep at, unless the chuunin was hard at work doing some teacher-related things. On those occasions, Iruka fell into a deep sleep as soon as he finished the last paper and moved the papers where they wouldn't be damaged. More than once, Kakashi found himself stopping at Iruka's during the night only to find the brunette curled up on his couch or in one of his kitchen chairs, sleeping peacefully. Being the pervert he was, Kakashi had always imagined what he could do to Iruka while the chuunin was so defenseless, but ignored such ideas as he lifted the smaller man into his arms and relocated Iruka in his own bed.

Looking at Iruka as the chuunin stifled another yawn, Kakashi smiled and all of his old urges to do such unmentionable acts with Iruka while the man slept flew out of his mind. Iruka was too cute to even consider those kinds of things, especially now that Iruka was half asleep as he sat on his kitchen floor. With a chuckle, Kakashi pulled the halfway unconscious chuunin into his arms and stood up. Iruka let out a soft huff as he squirmed in Kakashi's arms, which resulted in Iruka moving even closer to the jounin's chest. Sighing quietly, Iruka nuzzled his face into Kakashi's warm chest as the jounin watched in amusement. Assuring himself that Iruka's actions were made due to his exhausted condition, Kakashi quickly put Iruka to bed and, even long after he had pulled the covers down and removed all the pillows from the bed, Kakashi found himself unable to stop watching the chuunin sleep. What's…this feeling? Kakashi wondered as he tried to ignore the fluttering feeling mixed with a sense of warmth and security as he observed the young man sleep.

Needless to say, it was hours before Kakashi himself was able to fall asleep.

/\

Authoress: okay, I know, I know…this chapter was short…but it was just so cute…and tempting to end the chapter like this…oh, and to all of my oh-so wonderful reviewers…this is just the beginning of their relationship…and I assure you, there will be a few twists and moments in there where we all want to smack the two shinobi…

Iruka:zzzzzz

Kakashi:…itching plants?

Authoress: well, I would have put itching powder…but then, how would you have discovered what Iruka had done?…/gently hits Kakashi upside the head/ sooo…anyways…thank you all for reading and (hopefully) reviewing…until next chapter…sayonara!