Dear Partner in Crime,
No doubt you already noticed the enclosed copy of 'A Prodigy's Guide to Perversion'. Hard to miss since this letter is in the same fat envelope. And I'll remind you once again that it's strictly for your eyes only. I mean it, if I find you've breathed a word to a single living soul I will track you down like a dog. I know it's wicked funny, I've read through the wretched thing a dozen or more times already, and I know you'll want to share, hell I'm sending it to you. But seriously, it ends here.
Kakashi seems to have given up looking for the original. Which probably means that he's already found it, knows damn well that I have it, and has decided that discretion is the better part of cowardice. Or the part that's least likely to have a negative impact on his sex life. So right now we're at an impasse, both pretending that it doesn't exist, and waiting to see who caves first.
Other news, everything is slowly getting back to normal. Tsunade seems to be a surprisingly efficient and effective leader, in her own rather unique brittle way. It was a shock at first, I've lived almost my whole life under Sarutobi-sama, and he was such a sweet old softie. Anyone would seem a right bone-cruncher by comparison I suppose. So yeah, It's good to get rid of that vacuum at the top
Here's something different, we're being sent out on a mission together, Kakashi and me. It's fairly basic stuff, retrieving a shinobi who went off his head and ran away into the hills after his team mate was gutted in front of him. Apparently he was all but engaged to the girl who died, and after everything we've all been through recently, it sent him right over the edge. Kakashi's being sent because the kid has some serious skills, and they want me to tag along to talk him down, he was a student of mine a few years back and we still have a pretty good connection.
But here's the kicker. She'd just finished explaining all this and was handing the scroll over to Kakashi when Tsunade muttered, 'I swear I'll never send another couple who are emotionally involved on the same mission ever again.
Ok, so Kakashi didn't actually say anything. All he did was raise that eyebrow of his, but I swear, the way he did it. Honestly, he might just as well have come out and said, 'you are aware Hokage-sama that the two of us live together. And that I and fuck this man senseless every night I'm in Konoha, except when he's so horny that he nails me first, that is'.
She went very quiet, and very still, then she looked from him to me and back again. I thought I would die, or spontaneously combust, every red blood cell in my body did an end run to my face. Finally she just stared at him and said, "I would hardly apply that rule to you Hatake-san, I am well aware that you are far beyond such small considerations."
Fortunately Kakashi dragged me out of the room before I could slug her, or try to. I know her reputation. It took tea and sake to calm me down. Just who did she think she was calling a small consideration? But what really did it was Kakashi's sweet talking, promising nights under the stars, rolled in one blanket. Eventually he was able to persuade me that Tsunade only meant that she had confidence in his professionalism, that she knew how he cared about all his team mates, and that any other issues were small by comparison.
Once I had a bit of perspective I realized that whatever her misguided thinking, as long as the old buzzard was letting us go together, I didn't care. So here I am packing for the closest thing to a romantic getaway we'll ever have. Maybe I'll forget to take underwear, or even better, arrange it so that Kakashi forgets to take his.
Yours, eagerly anticipating 'playing ninja' and getting my man,
Iruka.
