Rebound
Chapter 7: Kabuki Dolphin Awkwardness
Characters: Raido and Iruka, with plenty of Konoha's other fine shinobi making appearances!
Rating: Mature- Older teen - Adult
Warnings: Yaoi, coarse language, sexual innuendo and potty mouths.
Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
Author's notes: Sorry I'm so slow! My brain and real life haven't been working together nicely, lol. To Anise- Lol, last chapter didn't really happen. It was sort of a fantasy between the two, preconceived notions each had about the other. So in Raido's fantasies, he and Iruka live in a house and play ping pong all day, and in Iruka's fantasies, he and Raido live in an apartment and play poker. To Ranshuden- Yeah, it was something rather random, lol, and random pretty much always equals funny :)
It was a quick run. However, the rain made it seem much longer, beating upon them with all the intensity of a summer storm. Iruka managed to keep his footing only by completely ignoring the presence following close on his heels.
Because thinking of Raido watching his ass as he ran did nothing for the chuunin's concentration.
Iruka clutched at his cargo as he landed on the open railing of his complex, hopping down onto the cement walkway that was already covered in a slowly spreading puddle. It amazed him the apartments had never flooded before, though he guessed the residents and maintenance workers kept it in check. Iruka finally dared to look over his shoulder to make sure the older man was still behind him, swiping at the water streaming from his hair and hitai-ate.
Raido mimicked the other man's performance, bare feet carefully settling on the grainy concrete. Rain water lapped at his toes. Smiling, not even bothering to try to speak over the noise of millions of drops slamming onto the corrugated overhang, the tokujo followed the shorter man to the last door.
It was a simple looking thing, like all the other doors in the exterior hallway; a chipped brown painted wooden rectangle with a metal apartment number and peep hole, a well worn mat on the stoop, a name plaque on the side with 'Umino Iruka' in neat kanji. Nothing unusual at all.
Except for a single twisted creature dangling from a hook above the peephole.
Raido wrinkled his already wrinkled nose and eyed it critically. " Someone put a dead frog on your door, sensei. " He thought pranksters might be the culprit. Or some student unhappy with his grades. " What the hell is that? "
Laughing loud as his key slid into the lock, Iruka shook his wet head. " It's a kabuki dolphin! Can't you tell?" He laughed more at the older man's confused expression and swung his front door wide. Suddenly he wasn't nervous anymore, wasn't worried about what would or wouldn't happen. It really was just about helping a friend. " Look," the chuunin shuffled into his flat and carefully placed his many bags onto the counter separating his kitchen and living room. Then Iruka returned to the door and took everything from Raido's arms and repeated the drop off. When he came back to the door a second time, hopping down into the entry way, the young man held up the object in question for better viewing.
Rai studied it closely, doing his best to make out the alleged dolphin shape. Fins, snout, cuteness... He just wasn't seeing it.
Apparently his obtuseness was rather blatant as Iruka chuckled and began running a heavily callused finger over the lines of the 'dolphin'. " One of my new students this year, in the youngest classes, made it for me in our weapons workshop." He glanced up, smile bright. " We were making clay explosives and she used the scraps for this. " The chuunin tapped the gaudily painted snout, fingertip dragging over the uneven surface to the curved tail. " As for the kabuki paint, I think the caregivers took all the academy aged children to see a puppet performance the week before, so she was eager to recreate that theatrical look." Iruka laughed, gaze affectionate and amused as he stared at the misshapen little gift, and hung it back on the door. " She comes up here sometimes, especially when there are a lot of new infants taking up all the attention downstairs. "
Another glance at Raido, and the chuunin suddenly felt embarrassed. Not by the child's creation or his affection for it, but because he wanted Raido to like it, too, and that wasn't like him. Iruka didn't give a rat's ass what anyone thought of his collection of kid crafted gifts.
A big tanned hand reached up, exploring the same lines, the dolphin shape finally recognizable with the sensei's direction. Rai studied the thing a bit more as it swung slowly from the hook on the door, grinning as he realized the scar across the animal's nose perfectly matched Iruka's in length and width.
Listening to Iruka, Rai remembered where they were. He'd recognized the distinctive leaf insignia surrounded by brightly painted murals of children in flower filled meadows on the side of the building; one of the village funded childcare centers provided for shinobi parents with no other alternatives. And for children of fallen shinobi. Part round-the-clock care, part orphanage, several of the institutions had sprung up in the last few decades as the need arose. The bottom two floors contained the infant and pre-academy care spaces. The two floors above that were dorms and smaller apartments for the workers and the wards of the village.
The very top floor, where Iruka had brought him, was reserved for volunteers; usually full time shinobi willing to help bottle feed babies or tutor the academy aged children several hours a week in exchange for a reduced rent.
Something told Raido that Iruka didn't do it for the discount, which knocked up his desirability level another tenfold and knocked his own worthiness down just as much. Raido always tithed part of his mission pay for the various village charities, and performed the required hours of candy-striping at the hospital one day a month, but doing more than that had never really occurred to him. He was just an ordinary shinobi, after all. Who would want him hanging around the orphanage or old shinobi home? You'll apparently need to get over that attitude right now, Namiashi, or Iruka'll end up tossing you out for being a misanthrope and you know you won't go back to Genma, fake break up or not. Too utterly fucking humiliating.
" It's pretty neat." Wow, that was wholly lame, but honest. Rai gave an uneasy smile and entered the apartment as Iruka stepped aside, hoping he hadn't sounded insincere. The door was shut and the noise level decreased dramatically. He assumed good sound proofing was essential in any building containing mostly children. " Better than anything I could make, definitely. " Raido laughed and shuffled his feet in the growing puddle on the linoleum floor. He remembered trying to make a clay tea cup during his academy days. His mother had used it as a door stop.
" Same here. Oh, let me get some towels," he muttered, before jumping the step up into his apartment, wet feet slipping and sliding.
After pulling his zori off in his small entry way, Iruka had let his mind wander as he watched the man studying the figurine. It was almost surreal, the deafening roar of pounding rain, the bigger man's silhouette in his doorway, the sharp brown eyes desperately trying to see what Iruka saw. Gods, that's so fucking sweet I'm going to get diabetes! What the hell is wrong with me?
He made it to the closet in the main room, leaving a trail of wet footprints he silently swore he would clean up the second he got Raido out of his clothes. And into a dry yukata! A yukata! Stop thinking of perverted shit, Umino!
Several things were knocked from the shelves, the chuunin hastily searching for the nice robe he usually wore on his trips to the local onsen. It was hanging neatly beside his own ratty everyday yukata, freshly washed, where he put it last Wednesday. Taking a deep breath and grabbing two large towels from the shelf above his stacked futons, Iruka gathered his cool and turned back to his fantasy-err- guest. " Here. " A towel was handed over, the nicer yukata hung on the coat hooks nearby. " This should fit you across the chest... be a bit short, though. Sorry." With the tokujo still a step down in the entry way, Iruka was currently on eye level with the taller man.
Raido accepted the towel gratefully, immediately pressing it to his stomach, attempting to be subtle about blotting the moisture around his groin. " Thanks, really. I'm used to my knees showing. My father's hand-me-downs were all too short once I reached puberty. " He laughed and shifted his feet and then shrugged when he realized it wasn't like Iruka hadn't seen him naked before. Military life was all about lack of privacy and communal showers. And Iruka had been there when...
tbc...
Sucky ending, right? Promise to do better next time!
