A/N: Hi again! Chapter 7! EEP! Sooo exciting! And I can tell you this is where it starts getting very good. So much drama! *laugh manically and evilly with Rodrigo*
Disclaimer: No. =.=
Warnings: See past chapters. : P
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Kakashi's head felt dizzy. He was about to enter the mission room and for some reason his heart was beating much faster than it should be. He briefly, though seriously considered his heart was about to explode because of how fast it was beating…
Flashback
It caught Kakashi by surprise, and he was dumbfounded to say the least. He suddenly started seeing Iruka everywhere and soon could only think about him and his cold tone of voice when he apologized to the man. Kakashi knew his heart kept hurting by the fact it was Iruka that treated him coldly. All he could remember every time he saw the chuunin were his cold eyes, and acidic words. But then his dream reminded him of something else.
He was sitting on "his tree" outside of Iruka's classroom, reading Icha Icha. He jumped down after the bell rang dismissing the students to lunch. But to his surprise he walked right up to the window of Iruka's class and leaned on the sill. Iruka came up to him with some books and papers in hand and… smiled. Kakashi found it addictive that he was the one being smiled at and happily rested his head on one hand while the other loosely dangled on the sill. His eye curved up in his trademark smile and Iruka began talking to him. He knew he was Iruka's friend, and he just enjoyed this unique warmth he felt at being connected. A far away part of him remarked it wasn't the same kind as he had with Minato, or his former team, but just as enjoyable so he firmly threw it out the metaphorical window.
His dream reminded him of the possible warmth Iruka could give him, and with that brief feeling of having all of that warmth to himself, he craved it like air itself. He knew he was being ridiculous. He was the copy-ninja, but he was addicted to the chuunin. He needed that same feeling again. The man was just so intriguing and unique to the silver-haired jounin. No ninja should be that open, but yet… He couldn't stop remembering their "chat" in his dream. The familiarity, everything about it gave him hope as he remembered the chunnin's cold eyes. It made him think that maybe, just maybe… He had a chance to make those eyes twinkle with joy or happiness instead.
But his need for the possible chance caused him to enter a downward spiral of misery. He kept being forced to remember Iruka hated him and it killed him. He wanted these foreign feelings to stop. He was tired and quickly becoming miserable. Not even leaving on a mission helped. It actually endangered him greatly as he was so distracted. So he stopped going on missions for a little while, and started watching the chuunin when he had the chance. He never jumped up in the tree outside Iruka's class again though, as he was worried he'd be spotted. The chuunin did have skill. He brought down Kakashi in a matter of seconds. Of course, that was with the element of surprise, but still. Such an ability to surprise everyone and him was noteworthy. People still kept talking about "what happened in the mission room".
So this continuous spiral of misery kept going as he remembered all the negative things Iruka did and how he was missing out on such a kind chuunin. He knew he didn't deserve to be his friend, but now he hoped and craved just something; the smallest bit. The hope finally manifested itself into a dire need to at least try.
End flashback
And so here was Kakashi now. Heart beating a mile a minute and his stress and worry levels on an unprecedented high. He didn't care that people looked at him strangely as they passed him by and quickly entered the mission room; he was focused on his own mission to give his stupid nice report to Iruka. But for some reason, he couldn't force himself to move. He knew he had to soon though. Iruka's shift was about to end, and standing outside the mission room for so long was highly strange and suspicious. So with immense god-like effort, Kakashi found his legs and forced himself into the mission room, ignoring the growing pit in his stomach.
There was the chuunin, looking at him expectantly and Kakashi honestly couldn't feel his body anymore as intense sweat began forming all over his body. He walked over to the chuunin giving him his trademark smile and looking like he wasn't about to freak out and have a panic attack. But inwardly each step felt like he walked a mile and he neatly set down his prized report.
"Here you go Iruka-sensei." He said pretending to be completely calm, but as he saw Iruka's eyes widen into near imperceptible sizes, Kakashi froze, and in an attempt to not freak out in the entire mission room, instantly "POOFED!" away to his apartment.
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Iruka stared at the place Kakashi once was, then slowly -ever so slowly- let his gaze fall on the clean paper. The clean mission report. His mind being the ever blossoming genius added the final part to that phrase: the clean mission report from Kakashi Hatake. He instantly grabbed a shuriken from his pouch and lightly stabbed his arm. Upon feeling the pain and seeing the blood, he then picked up said report and eyed it carefully making sure that it was indeed Kakashi's and that it was indeed real and he wasn't currently going insane. He read every single part that could be read on the paper then turned it over looking for proof that it was real. He saw the official symbol in the top right of the paper, but then saw a neat… letter addressed to him. 'W-…what?' He quickly read over the piece and what he read grounded him into unspeakable shock.
Dear Iruka-sensei,
I don't know why I'm writing this, but it's the only way I thought… Well, Iruka-san I wanted to apologize deeply for how I've treated you for so long. It is absolutely no way to treat a fellow shinobi and such a strong one that you were able to catch me off guard. So, I am sorry. Last time I apologized you yelled and hated me, and I completely understand if you aren't even reading this or think this is a lie to you as well. I want to tell you it is not, but I can't control your thoughts and I realize how unfairly I treated you that you would consider this me playing with you. I am not, but it is up to you to forgive me. I can't say how sorry I am, as I don't know how much I hurt you. I can only hope you forgive me and stop hating me.
Kakashi Hatake
Iruka was dumbfounded as he again went over the entire letter several times and then eyed the little symbol next to the man's name. He defaced the report, but the fact that Kakashi had to result to this… Iruka shook his head unsure how to take it all. He upset the man with how he treated him the second time… He knew it was harsh, but he didn't know that it would make the man so upset. Iruka again studied the stroke marks and definitely could pick up slight shaking. 'Kami… I should be apologizing…' He shook his head then stealthily took the report with him, knowing he was going to make it late, but for this one time would allow it to be late. He had to find Kakashi and fix this. His mind later remarked that a jounin should be able to hide those slightest emotional strokes.
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Kakashi was a train wreck. He hadn't slept for days and just came back from a week long mission. He had to avoid the man and knew the only way was to take a mission and hide out in his home. He felt slightly bad for not visiting his former teammates, but he absolutely couldn't imagine Iruka's anger, reaction, or anything… Of course, the copy-nin wasn't scared, no. He just didn't want to deal with unnecessary emotions. Or at least that's what he kept telling himself and firmly believed it.
He sighed and got in the shower, letting the mission muck fall off him and waiting until the water was perfectly clear again. He was exhausted, so once the water was clear he quickly got out, dried himself off, and then crawled into bed intending to once again sleep until the next Ice Age. In his dire need to forget and simply rest, he also forgot he left his ninja dogs summoned. And said dogs have been very concerned.
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Iruka was confused, pissed, lost, and generally angry. Of course that damn jounin wouldn't be around for Iruka to confront! Now Iruka was seriously doubting if the apology was sincere, but then again… He couldn't stop thinking of how the jounin's body language was so off and he didn't come into the mission room like any normal person. 'Was Kakashi… nervous?...' Iruka scoffed at the idea but couldn't help but think that it could be possible.
'But… why would Kakashi be nervous to give me this?... And such a nice report! It even bested Gai's! Of course, I consider "manly sparkles of success" a negative thing to cover mission reports in, but… It is Gai-san of all people. His mission reports are immaculate if you take off the sparkles!' Iruka sighed, completely stressed with this single man.
'Why is it that you stress me out so much Kakashi? Granted you're an annoying selfish bastard, but I usually can ignore those people. I even ignore Gai-san… but something about you makes me more angry than usual. Something about your cocky half-ass smile gets me like no other…' Iruka grumbled to himself, also completely annoyed at the man. 'You would confuse me… bastard…'.
Iruka sighs yet again and rubs his forehead in a stressed manner. "Where are you?" He mumbles aloud and shakes his head. "Damn it Kakashi-san… why are you suddenly gone from the face of the Earth?" He sighed knowing he had to talk to Asuma about this. He was the most sensible of all jounin and knew the most about Kakashi. Or at least Iruka was pretty sure of that…
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"So you're saying Kakashi apologized to you again?" Asuma asked surprised.
'Damn… He must be worse off than I thought… Now that I think about it I haven't seen him around for a long time…' Asuma ignored the flicker of worry he felt at that fact. He knew Kakashi went on a mission recently, but he was unaware if Kakashi was able to handle a mission and ignore distractions too. Not to mention he wasn't sure if the man was back or not anyway. He returned to listening to Iruka, smirking at how they seemed to be becoming better friends than he expected.
"Yeah, and then he up and leaves for who knows how long as soon as he gave me that damn report!"
"Wait, you haven't seen him since?"
"No… why do you ask?" Iruka asked, suspicion surfacing.
"Kuso… I heard he left on a mission recently but he should have been back by now."
Iruka's eyes widened in worry.
'Shimatta!* Why did I say that? Gah, stupid!' Asuma thought in panic. He should have known better than to tell the already worry prone chuunin. But, the damage was done.
"Yeah, sorry Iruka. I'm sure he's fine." Asuma gave his best comforting smile he could muster and idly wandered if he should tell Kurenai everything… But he decided against it. No need to drag in more people to the drama of Hatake Kakashi.
"Yo! Are you Iruka-sensei?" a gruff voice called from behind Iruka. The chuunin only turned around and looked inquisitively at the ninja dogs.
"Yes?"
"You want the brat right?" Pakkun asked. In which Iruka only blushed, but then nodded, assuming these nin-dogs meant Kakashi. It'd make sense as they used the same word the hokage uses all the time.
"We'll help you find him."
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*Shimatta is a possible way to say "shit" but it has other translations too. Review please!
A/N: Yup! Cliff hanger! MUAHAHAHAH! *hands out cookies to all reviewers*. PM thoughts if you wish. I received no anonymous reviews, so sadly I can't reply to anything. : (
And, I'm sure you guessed by now what next chapter is gonna be… *giggles evilly with Rodrigo* For those who can't foreshadow and figure things out; CONFRONTATION! MUAHAHAHA!
P.S: Ryuno-chu is the sexiest, most bitchin' beta alive. Love her. She made this chapter possible.