Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I do like Ramen though.

A/N: Hi guys! Thanks for your patience while waiting for this chapter. I'm an honors college student, so I have a lot on my plate. But I haven't forgotten about the story! I really enjoy writing it, and I hope you enjoy reading it. Just remember, the more responses I receive for the story/chapter, the more encouraged I become to stop studying for a few hours to write instead. This isn't bribery for getting more chapter updates on the story; it's just a fact. :) Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

Catching Feelings

Chapter Six: Catfight

Kakashi and Iruka spent the entire day traveling to the small fire country town, managing to get there shortly after the sun had set. Before arriving, they changed into civilian clothes.

The two men walked into the village with Kakashi wearing dark blue jeans and brown sandals, completed with a long sleeved, white button-up shirt. His mask was black and he had a matching black, soft eye patch over his left eye. Iruka was dressed similarly, wearing lighter blue jeans and an olive green t-shirt with brown sandals. His hair was tied back loosely with a few chocolate brown strands of hair hanging in his face. Kakashi personally loved the look on Iruka, and the thought of seeing the younger man in similar outfits on a day-to-day basis made him grow aware of a certain member of his. He quickly pushed the thought away, not wanting to be in an awkward situation.

It was hard for him to tell what Iruka thought. He teased the Chuunin at almost every opportunity he was presented with and tried to get a rise out of him that would give some sort of hidden emotion away. So far the Academy sensei hadn't shown him much to go off of. Although, Kakashi did notice that the younger man blushed more than usual when he hinted something sexual or dirty. Because of this, the silver-haired man was getting a little nervous about how Iruka would react to the gay lover part of the mission. But Kakashi's love for teasing the other man overpowered this nervousness, and he knew it was nothing he couldn't handle.

Iruka was engrossed in the task of examining the village, his mouth slightly ajar in the process. The village was beautiful. There were pampered trees, flowers, grass, and other shrubbery. The buildings and shopping centers all looked up to date and clean, and the homes looked just as well kept. It didn't look like a village that was bad. But then again, the whole village probably wasn't behind the attack.

Kakashi chuckled lightly to himself at Iruka's fascination of the town. Hands in pockets, he silently walked with him and didn't disturb his awestruck moment with a teasing remark. The Chuunin obviously didn't go on many undercover missions in so-called "bad villages". In most cases, the villages didn't actually look bad; although there were some pretty sketchy villages the Jounin had seen in his days. This village, however, was particularly very good looking. Kakashi looked around lazily, eyeing the people and seeing how they behaved, which turned out to be like any other normal villager.

When they came to a certain small house, Kakashi stopped. Iruka almost kept walking off without him, but the Jounin put a helpful hand on his shoulder, keeping it there a little longer than necessary. Iruka didn't notice the delay, as usual.

"Welcome home," Kakashi said in his extra cheerful voice. "This is where we'll be living until we complete the mission."

Iruka examined the house, looking over its pretty features until they walked up to the front door. A thought crossed his mind as Kakashi leaned down to pull a key out from under a rock, proceeding to unlock the door.

"Kakashi, what are the villagers going to think of two men living together? What's our cover?" Iruka asked, walking through the door once Kakashi had opened it for them.

Kakashi made sure they were both in the house and closed the door, leaning up against it and crossing his arms. His eyes curved upwards into an innocent smile as Iruka stood in front of him, raising an eyebrow as he waited for an answer.

"Maa, didn't I tell you? We're a couple. The Shinobi suspected of leading the attack owns a gay bar, which we will be visiting frequently, namely on weekends like a normal couple."

"W-what?!" Iruka's mouth dropped, and he didn't even try to close it. "You and I… Are a couple for this mission?! But, but-" Kakashi cut him off.

"A fake couple, Sensei." He waved his hand, like it was no big deal. "What are you getting flustered about anyway? Embarrassed to be with a handsome guy like me?"

Iruka turned beat red, and the shade continued to darken at every word Kakashi said. His shocked surprise slowly turned to something else. Something scary, Kakashi thought. The embarrassed shade of red was turning purple.

Kakashi, now getting nervous, continued to man the door in case the Chuunin had a desire to run back to Kohona. But the more purple Iruka's face got, the more vulnerable Kakashi felt being blocked between the door and the very angry looking man.

"Iruka, if you get any redder-" He was suddenly cut off, and the infamous copy ninja ran away from the door at what happened next.

"YOU INNSOLENT SON OF A BITCH!" Iruka exploded, and attacked Kakashi. A nice walkway table was suddenly hurled at the door, and Kakashi barely avoided it in his surprise at the amount of anger being directed at him.

"Iru-" A chair flew at his head and he ducked, only to have a vase flying at his head a moment later. It barely missed, as did the kick that came at his face next.

Iruka jumped on his back, pulling his long silver hair backwards, causing him to act in a horse-like manner as the other man twisted and pulled him in all directions. If Kakashi weren't so bewildered by the catfight type of fight going on between them, he would have laughed at the comical sight.

"YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE!" Tanned hands released the silver hair and started smacking Kakashi repeatedly on the top of his head.

"YOU TRICKED ME! YOU'RE A DIRTY, PERVERTED-" Iruka was suddenly flipped over Kakashi's head, but he hung on tightly, pulling Kakashi awkwardly over his flipping body, making them land tangled up together.

They both laid there for a minute, Iruka breathing deeply and Kakashi pondering what had just happened. After a few moments of silence, Kakashi started laughing. Iruka's fist flew out to smack Kakashi across the face, but the Jounin caught his wrist, laughing even harder.

"Stop laughing!" Iruka said, trying to tug his wrist away. Kakashi let him, chuckling.

"Can you imagine watching what just happened? I wish I had it on tape," Kakashi said, letting out another fit of laughter.

After a moment of Iruka stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the humor of the situation, he started laughing along with the Jounin. They laid there laughing until Kakashi sat up and leaned back on his pale, non-gloved hands.

"So, boyfriend. Want to go make an appearance at the local barbeque restaurant? I'm starving." He looked down at the laughter flushed Chuunin, who turned a darker shade of red at the use of the name boyfriend.

"I don't see why not." Iruka stood up, looking anywhere but at Kakashi. A feeling of discomfort radiated off of the man, and Kakashi felt a pang of guilt.

"Look, Iruka, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't think you would get so upset over it." Kakashi looked at him with a sincere expression of apology.

Iruka brought himself to look at the other man, who really did look sincerely apologetic, even when over half of his face was covered. A sigh escaped his lips and he itched the back of his head, looking away embarrassedly.

"No, I'm sorry. I overreacted." Iruka said, motioning to Kakashi's messed up hair and the destroyed furniture to prove his point.

"Maa, don't worry about it." Kakashi waved it off with a pale, gloved hand. He gave the Chuunin an amused smile. "It was interesting. I learned that you like to fight dirty."

Iruka flushed, avoiding eye contact and looking at the ground. Kakashi chuckled and walked by him to the door, stopped to ruffle his soft, chocolate brown hair in a way that almost seemed affectionate, if not friendly.

"C'mon. I'm sure I'm more interesting than the ground." He opened the door and stood there holding it. Iruka's gaze left the ground to look at Kakashi in an unreadable way, and he then snapped out of it, smiling.

"That's what you think," he teased as he passed Kakashi, walking out the door. Kakashi smiled and followed him out, locking the door behind him.

...

Iruka's face turned bright red as they walked into the barbeque restaurant. It wasn't simply because he was standing with a man- he did that often and it didn't mean he was dating him. It was because that man had slipped his arm around Iruka's waist. It wasn't that Iruka was against being gay- he felt that gender didn't matter. It was the fact that it was Kakashi who had his arm around Iruka. He didn't know why, but just the thought of getting hot with Kakashi filled him up with an unrecognizable feeling. Was he just nervous around the man? Or was it something else?

Kakashi leaned down and his mask lips touched Iruka's ear as he whispered, "Stop looking so scared of me. I'm your boyfriend, remember?"

Iruka didn't really hear what Kakashi said due to being overwhelmed by the feeling of Kakashi's warm breath and lips brushing his ear. He had to be doing that on purpose.

A waitress led them to their booth and Iruka slid into the seat. As he was taking a deep breath for making it to the table with Kakashi's arm around him, a body slid in next to him. Iruka's mouth started to drop, but he controlled it. He looked from Kakashi, who was now sitting next to him, to across the booth where he was supposed to be.

The waitress asked what they wanted to drink, and Iruka stammered that he wanted tea while Kakashi said it more coherently. The waitress then left to get their drinks, giving Iruka a funny look before doing so.

"Dating, Iruka. Lovers like to sit next to each other, ne?" Kakashi said in a slightly teasing and amused voice, though his usual lazy tone was still there.

Iruka glared at Kakashi, and then a thought came across his mind.

Fine, you want to tease me? Two can play at this game.

"Of course, how could I have forgotten?" Iruka smiled a smile that was very similar to Kakashi's "I'm-too-happy" smile, and he put his hand on the older mans thigh, squeezing it in what would be an affectionate way of a lover. He was very proud of his daringness.

Kakashi was obviously caught completely off guard. A very surprised expression crossed his face, and it was his turn for his mouth to drop.

The waitress came up to their table to put their tea in front of them. Meanwhile, Iruka's hand stayed where it was, and Kakashi was very aware of it.

"Are you ready to order?" The waitress asked in a happy voice. Kakashi shook his head slightly.

"Give us some more time." The waitress nodded and walked away, her stride bouncy and matching her bubbly personality.

Kakashi reached out to grab the menu from in front of him, trying to ignore Iruka. But as he did so, Iruka's hand purposefully and slowly moved up his thigh a tad bit, causing Kakashi's hand to jerk away from the menu, hitting the cup of tea and knocking it onto the floor.

The waitress, hearing the loud shatter, hurried to their table and fused over him.

"Oh dear! I'll get you another one honey!" As she went off to get the new cup of tea, a janitor came to pick up the broken cup and clean the mess.

"Can't play your own game, huh?" Iruka teased, grinning at the Jounin. He removed his hand.

Kakashi's single visible eye narrowed as he glared at the Chuunin.

"You don't want to make this a game, Iruka. I'll win. I always win," Kakashi warned, although the thought of this game was very appealing to him.

"It should be a close game then, since I always win as well." Iruka smiled mischievously.

"You're on."

Iruka grinned and picked up his cup of tea, sipping it with a look that said, "I'm the one who still has my tea."

Kakashi scowled and poked Iruka in his side so the Chuunin jerked slightly, spilling tea on the table. Iruka glared at him and resisted the urge to poke him back, using his napkin to clean up the mess.

"Ready to order now?" The waitress came out of nowhere and put Kakashi's new cup of tea in front of him. Both of them grabbed a menu, picking the first thing they saw that looked appetizing. The waitress then took their menus and happily walked off.

They sat there quietly, sipping at their tea and not acknowledging each other. After a few minutes, Kakashi noticed a group of loud ninjas who had recently walked in. His single, sharp eye followed them as they sat at a table not too far from them, and he leaned his chin on his hand, looking at a mark on the table like he was sleepy and zoning out of it. His ears, however, were perked.

Iruka noticed the group of ninjas as well, and he couldn't help but admire how quickly Kakashi snapped from his joking mood and into his nonchalant, mission one. Iruka was watching the elite Jounin, and it was then he became acutely aware of how attractive he found the other man. Was that why he got to him so easily?

Kakashi's attention became focused on the fact that he could feel an intelligent and speculating gaze on him. The Jounin listened for a few more minutes, trying to ignore the feeling of Iruka paying attention to him, and when he only heard the ninjas bragging about women they had slept with, Kakashi tilted his head in his hand to meet Iruka's gaze questioningly. The brown eyes held his grey one, and they both stared at each other like they were analyzing one another.

As Kakashi was about to open his mouth to speak, the waitress walked up to them with their food, putting the dishes in front of them. It was good timing, considering Kakashi was going to break the staring with a teasing remark since he was unsure of what exactly the situation was. While he didn't know what Iruka was thinking, he had seen something he hadn't seen before.

He mentally sighed and picked up his chopsticks to eat. Iruka had quickly looked away when the waitress approached them, and he only had a light flush across his cheeks. If anything, he looked as if he was still thinking about something.

Kakashi's mask was only lowered for about 3 seconds before his food was inhaled and his mask was back in place. Iruka had barely taken his first bite when he looked over at Kakashi. His mouth dropped, even though he should have been expecting it, and his half-chewed food almost dropped out of it.

"That really isn't safe, you know." Iruka reminded him once he recovered from the surprise, finishing the process of chewing his food and swallowing it.

"Maa, I'm a professional, don't worry about it."

Kakashi reached across Iruka's food to grab a packet of sugar, and Iruka held his tongue from snapping at him for the rude gesture. As Iruka was about to put more food in his mouth, the hand reached across his food again to grab more sugar. Kakashi didn't need any more sugar, but he couldn't resist after seeing Iruka's eyebrow twitch the first time he did it.

"Excuse you," Iruka snapped.

Kakashi ignored him and acted like he couldn't decide which type of sugar he wanted. Iruka smacked his arm and Kakashi laughed, moving his arm back to his side of the table.

Iruka couldn't help the small smile that tugged at his lips at the childish behavior, and he took another bite of his food. Kakashi sat there patiently, drinking his tea, and finally Iruka finished. The older man paid for the food when the waitress brought the bill, and they both stood up to leave.

Kakashi's arm slid around Iruka's waist, holding the tanned body close to him as they walked. The way his arm held him was casual, yet sexily possessive. Iruka noticed the possessiveness, and he was surprised. He looked up at Kakashi as they walked, gaze questioning, but Kakashi didn't pay any attention to him or show anything to give himself away. Once out the door, Iruka started to shy away, but Kakashi held him firmly.

"Is it that bad?" He asked, his usual teasing tone absent and his lazy, uncaring one there instead.

Iruka was about to say something that implied it was, but when he thought about it, it really wasn't. The thought confused him, and he didn't like it. He tried to pull away again. This time Kakashi let him.

By the time they returned to the house it was late, so they took turns showering without really speaking to each other. There was an awkward tension between them due to Iruka's new, confused feelings, but Kakashi didn't understand what it was all about. He went into the bathroom first to shower while Iruka laid on the bed.

The Academy Sensei was wondering where they would be sleeping when the bathroom door opened. Steam came out of the small bathroom, and out walked the naked, steamy Jounin with a single towel wrapped around his waist, and a hand towel around his face.

Iruka couldn't stop his eyes from trailing down the Copy Ninja's body, and Kakashi most definitely noticed. His mismatched eyes narrowed as a feeling of lust rushed over him, as well as surprise. Iruka was checking him out. And big time. After standing there for a few seconds while Iruka examined him, he spoke.

"See something you like?" The Jounin asked, a barely noticeable husky tone to his voice.

Iruka's gaze moved to the mismatched pair of eyes. He had never looked into both of his eyes before, and he was surprised to see how they looked almost lustful. But he pushed that thought away; Kakashi was just teasing him. Still, he couldn't help but notice how sexy the mismatched eyes were.

Stop it! He doesn't like you like that. It's a game to him.

"Yeah, a hot shower," Iruka finally said, getting off of the bed and passing by Kakashi to go into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Kakashi resisted grabbing the tanned arm as it passed him, wanting to pin it to the wall above a certain Chuunin's head. If Kakashi saw Iruka come out, he knew it was highly possible he might do something he would regret.

He pulled on a pair of pajama pants with his black mask, then grabbed a blanket and pillow from the closet and took it to the living room couch. No bed for him tonight.

A/N: Yayy, it's finally up! I enjoyed spending my day relaxing and writing this chapter instead of stressing over homework and studying (which is how I usually spend my days). Let me know what you think! If you have any requests, just let me know! I'm open to some ideas. :)