"I could have sworn we had made at least a little bit of progress with those two. I mean seriously, what happened?" Kakashi shrugged from across the counter while Iruka poured tea into his cup. "I mean they still fought, but not like this."
After Kakashi and Iruka had separated the two boys, they had instantly shut their mouths and wouldn't speak no matter how hard either Iruka or Kakashi prodded. After a while Kakashi and Iruka gave up. Naruto and Sasuke didn't so much as give each other a second glance as they made their way from the kitchen. Iruka didn't know where they were now, but they were being quiet even if they were arguing.
"Maybe we should go check on them? I don't want them to start fighting again. Maybe they have calmed down and will talk now? What do you think even started it?" Iruka looked up from his rambling when he felt a cool hand wrap around his. Kakashi slowly stood up and rounded the counter.
"If they were fighting believe me we would hear it." Kakashi wrapped his arms around Iruka's shoulders and pulled him back against his chest. He placed a kiss on the top of Iruka's head. He could feel Iruka flinch away from it a bit. "As for getting answers, they are both as stubborn as you, so there is little chance of getting anywhere with them."
Iruka pushed away from kakashi and glared at the overly drawn smile on Kakashi's face. "You devil, you're the one that is persistent as ever. Go away I'm angry with you." Iruka tried to pull himself back towards the counter but Kakashi wrapped his arms around Iruka tightly. He had his head resting against Iruka's shoulder, and while the brunette fought to get him off he snuck in a few light kisses to Iruka's neck.
"Kakashi stop!" Iruka shivered with the way the white haired devil's hair lightly rubbed against his skin. Kakashi continued lightly placing kisses up to Iruka's jaw line. Without warning Kakashi poked Iruka in the side which earned him a sharp shove and a small laugh.
"Oh, ticklish are we?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow with a mischievous smirk. Iruka covered his mouth to stop the giggles that had come out. He shook his head to deny being ticklish but as Kakashi took a step closer he let out another laugh as he grabbed at the hands that were aimed at his ribs.
"No, Really! Stop, Kakashi!" Iruka laughed loudly. He lost all energy as he laughed hard and fought Kakashi with little effect. "P-please!" Iruka managed out through laughter. Kakashi immediately stopped and helped Iruka support himself by pulling Iruka close to him. He leaned down and placed a light kiss to his lips.
"They say laughter is the best kind of medicine. Do you feel better?" Iruka took in a deep breath and slowly let a smile show. He nodded and allowed Kakashi to place his hands onto Iruka's hips to pull him closer.
Everything sort of slowed down until it felt like time it's self could have stopped. Kakashi stared into Iruka's eyes for what seemed like the longest time. Iruka couldn't help but still feel strange about everything. This felt good though, just as it always felt despite what he had tried to believe. He needed a few answers though.
"Kakashi?" It startled Iruka to hear his own voice suddenly. He swallowed before he gathered his thoughts. "I try to refrain from digging into other people's business but, now it's getting a bit difficult to ignore." Kakashi leaned back so that he could properly view Iruka. "I need to know how the house burnt down, and I want you to tell me anything I need to know about you or Sasuke. If it's something that could affect Naruto or me, I want to know."
It was like a switch had been flipped and the mood became completely professional. Kakashi offered Iruka to sit as he sat as well. The way Kakashi could go from being his overly touchy self to a cold professional was almost scary to Iruka. He was silent though and did as Kakashi suggested and took a seat. He waited for Kakashi to begin, he seemed to look grim for a few minutes before finally turning to Iruka.
"I had been friends with Sasuke's parents since we were children. It was still a pretty big surprise when his father Fugaku told me that they had made me the god parent of his kids if they were to die. Sasuke was still very young when they told me this. Three years later though, Sasuke was sent to his aunts because he is extremely allergic to dust particles and they were revising the house. I was busy so he couldn't come to my house, but that night they left the windows open to air out the house so Sasuke could home. A robber came in, and Fugaku fought him. The robber killed him and tried to run from the house. He ran into Mikoto, she scared him and he killed her without thought."
Kakashi stared off into space, seeming to be reliving the situation. Iruka wrapped his hand around Kakashi's for support. "Sasuke has always been stealthy, even as a younger child. He escaped from his aunt and managed to make it almost completely in the house before I grabbed him. I wasn't fast enough to keep him from seeing his mother's body lying on the floor. He had asked only one question, and it broke my heart. He had said, 'I'm alone now aren't I?' How did a kid so young know right away that he was alone in the world? His brother changed after that. He had seen everything, but with help from many therapists, he was able to work things out. He moved out two years ago which made Sasuke even angrier at the world. He never did deal with any of it, I've tried, but I haven't been successful so far."
Iruka wiped away a few tears. He hadn't expected such a revoltingly horrid story like that. "I didn't know. Does he not respond with therapists?" Kakashi ran a hand through his hair and shook his head no. "Kakashi he needs to deal with this. If not it's just going to get worse."
"He talks to you. He connects with you somehow. It's hard to tell with Sasuke, but he has little things he does when he accepts someone into his life and into his little trust group. He always seems to be closer to you when we walk, he responds when you speak almost instantly, and he has let you take up for him. If you think he's complex now, wait till he's in high school."
Iruka laughed at that but still felt terribly sorry for Sasuke. Then it hit him, they didn't have too much longer. "Oh god Kakashi, they are going to start getting raging hormones soon. Oh my god I'm not ready!" Iruka laid his head down on the cool surface of the counter. He heard a small chuckle from Kakashi that slowly grew into a roaring laughter. He looked up and started to glare but soon laughed along.
"Oh, Iruka." Kakashi patted said teachers hand before standing and going to the fridge. "The hormones have already started. This is just the beginning." Kakashi looked through the fridge and smirked as he heard Iruka groan. He found a water bottle and turned back to look at the brunette pouting at the counter. He admired that Iruka pushed through everything, even the crap he and Sasuke brought. He complained, but he never quite.
It was almost cute as he realized that Naruto got his specialty of complaining persistence from Iruka. Iruka hadn't realized that Kakashi had quietly walked over to stand by him once more, he just continued to mumble about how terrifying puberty was. The way the brunette suddenly sat up and shivered as Kakashi ran fingers up his sides made the pale man smirk. He gripped Iruka's hips and pulled him back against Kakashi. Iruka turned to give him a questioning look, but before Iruka could say anything Kakashi had claimed his lips with his own.
"Stop!" Iruka elbowed him in the stomach and pushed away. Iruka blushed in a mixture of embarrassment from the kiss and hurting Kakashi. "I'm sorry, I told you I suck at this dating thing. I especially don't do the public affection." Iruka became flustered as he realized that Kakashi was smiling at him.
"It's alright Iruka, I get it, but you do realize the kids are being quiet for the first time in their lives of being within a ten foot radius of each other. I doubt they are going to disturb us if we want to show a little bit of romance to each other in the kitchen." Kakashi lightly pinched Iruka's chin with his thumb and forefinger. "Hmm, what do you think."
"I think you're a white haired devil that stole my soul while I wasn't looking." Iruka tried to turn his head but Kakashi had a good grip. Instead he stared into Kakashi's misty eyes. It didn't even faze him to be called names like 'white haired devil', he just chuckled and moved in to kiss Iruka gently.
"Ew, Maybe Naruto was right with the whole get a room thing." Sasuke grimaced at the two and walked slowly towards the counter. He reached up and grabbed a book that he had left there and turned back to the adults. By this time Iruka had pushed Kakashi away and was glaring at him.
"Sasuke!" Kakashi happily cooed out. The Uchiha glared as Kakashi came at him with his arms opened. "My little Sasuke! You only have a few more days until school is out, how are you feeling?" Kakashi wrapped his arms around Sasuke who squirmed and grimaced.
"Kakashi, get off. It's just another ending to a school year. Next year I'll go back and do basically the same thing." Kakashi pouted at Sasuke as he continued to try to rid himself of the clingy white haired man. Iruka looked over to see that Kakashi's phone was on the table. He quickly grabbed it and snapped a few pictures while the two continued to struggle.
"But Sasuke, my little man, your birfday is coming!" (Kakashi meant to say 'birthday' like that.) Iruka froze as he placed the phone down. He completely forgot about Sasuke's birthday. He's not use to remembering anyone's birthdays other than his and Naruto's. "What do you want? A pony?" Kakashi rubbed his cheek against Sasuke's who shoved at him harder.
Sasuke somehow managed to slip away from Kakashi and straightened his cloths. He grimaced at Kakashi who just smiled at him from where he stood. "I want the end of world hunger and the cure to cancer."
"Gotcha, I'm on it." Kakashi and Sasuke turned away at the same time and walked away. Kakashi went back to Iruka who watched him with a raised eyebrow. "He wants the same thing every year."
"So you just give him the answers to solving world hunger and solving the mysteries of cancer?" Iruka asked incredulously. "You may have more money than you're letting up Kakashi."
An airy laugh came from Kakashi as he leaned and stretched. "He wants art supplies and a bit of money. That's all he ever asks for Christmas, Easter, birthdays, you name it. That's it, nothing more and nothing less. Usually right before his birthday he will specify which art supplies he wants, you'd be surprised how specific a simple pencil can get."
Iruka nodded, understanding. It was pretty sweet and adorable that they understood each other enough to have a code like that. It made it a bit more difficult for Iruka though. He wanted to get Sasuke something special, especially since they hadn't gotten him anything last year. They didn't really even mention his birthday. He thought about something else that he could get Sasuke; he didn't want to get Sasuke the same thing as everyone else.
~Time skip~
"Happy Birthday to you!"
"Blow out the candles!" Sasuke shot a glare at the extremely happy blonde yelling in his ear but blew out the flames nonetheless. Everyone clapped and despite his previous attempts at trying to convince Iruka to not throw him a birthday party, he was enjoying it. "It's time for cake!"
"No, it's time for Sasuke to open to presents we have gotten him." Iruka pulled the cake away as Naruto pouted a bit. Sasuke seemed to look a bit nervous in his seat at the table. "Go get your present Naruto." Quickly the blonde perked up and ran off to find the gift he got for Sasuke.
There was mumble that Iruka saw was from a grumpy looking Sasuke. "Hey there Mr. Grumpy gills." Kakashi smiled brightly as he poked Sasuke in the cheek. "What in life has gotten you down?"
The Uchiha straightened his back to sit perfectly proper, as if he were relaying an important business decision. "The kitsune has a present for me. On what ground would he willingly give me anything. This can only mean one of two things. He was forced." Sasuke gave a quick glance towards Iruka. "Or it's something revolting that he knows I would hate. The dobe is just childishly mischievous enough to do that. The little kitsune." Kakashi smirked and stood back up as Naruto came into the room with a medium sized box. Sasuke grimaced and Naruto stuck his tongue out.
"Why don't you open Kakashi's first?" Sasuke pulled his glare away from Naruto and took a box from the smiling white haired man. "Then you can open mine, and Naruto's will be last." Sasuke smirked at Naruto while he pouted.
Once the package was opened to reveal an envelope, a new sketch pad, pencils, and a few paints Sasuke looked up to Kakashi. "You got the right ones this time. Thank you." Kakashi nodded as he took a sip of his Hawaiian fruit juice. Sasuke took the next present, a bag, from Iruka. Inside was a few books and a smaller box. Sasuke looked over the books to see that they were right up his alley. A couple mysteries and one adventure one. Once he looked over the books and Iruka explained their basic summaries, he was urged to open the small velvet box. Sasuke looked surprised to find a little onyx bird attached to a silver chain. It was a raven looking as if it was taking off. Sasuke closed it and cleared his throat.
"Thank you, it's beautiful." Sasuke packed everything back up neatly and smiled shyly to Iruka. Nothing could stop the shine of pride that came from Iruka then. He had worried and tortured Kakashi ever since Kakashi brought up Sasuke's birthday. Every time he thought he found something he would ask Kakashi what he thought. No matter how much Kakashi told him it was a good gift, Iruka wouldn't believe him. Then he would curl up to Kakashi and whine about not knowing what to get.
"Open mine Teme!" Naruto shoved his box in front of Sasuke and stared determinedly at it. Sasuke groaned as he forced himself to pry the overly taped closed lid off of the box. There was an enormous pile of orange tissue paper that made the raven roll his eyes. Once he removed it Naruto leaned in further as if to inspect the gift, staring at it harshly to judge it himself. He looked to Sasuke and intently stared Sasuke down.
The sudden memory of telling Naruto about his stuffed rabbit ran through his head, right before Kakashi told them about the house burning down. It was almost like his old one. A little newer and a lighter shade of blue, but it was almost a perfect match to the one he had lost in the house fire. Sasuke gently ran a finger along the velvet that made up the small stuffed animal. Everything was quiet as he took in the sight of the rabbit, then he remembered what was going on.
Before Sasuke could close the box to hide the little toy rabbit, Naruto stopped him by grabbing his arm. "You didn't even look at the little book. I knew the rabbit was stupid, but, the book is what I want you to have." The way Naruto glared at him wasn't out of anger or hatred, it was his usual determined self. His eyes were bright cerulean blue that bore into your mind and soul.
A sigh escaped Sasuke as he gave up and pulled the small notebook out. He opened it to find it filled with words. All the words in Naruto's messy hand writing. About half way through the notebook, the lined pages vanish and open up into a sketch book. The drawing half was completely empty of any marks. He wasn't sure what it was but he thanks Naruto after snapping the book shut and shoving it back in the box with the rabbit.
"I'm going to put everything in my room. Thank you for everything." Sasuke quickly picked up his new possessions and headed to his room. After a long while Sasuke came back down only to barely pick at his ice cream and cake before running back to his room.
"Did he not enjoy his birthday?" Iruka asked after he took Naruto's plate.
"He did, he just has a hard time expressing certain emotions. He really liked yours and Naruto's gifts. It seems he was surprised to have people other than me know enough about him to get him things that fit well with him. Nice touch with the rabbit there Naruto." The blonde grimaced as he waved the compliment off. "What was that book any ways?"
Iruka returned to the table with the other two; he was just as interested as Kakashi. Naruto shrugged but Kakashi persisted further. "It was just a little story I wrote about the rabbit. Sasuke described the rabbit to me one time when he first came here. Once night I couldn't sleep, so I just started writing. Then I found that rabbit in a garage sale when me and Kiba were running around. It just kinda all fit together. Especially since half of the notebook turned out to be a sketch book." Iruka smiled brightly and nodded as Naruto told the story.
"Sasuke does like it, like I said, he's just difficult at showing it." Kakashi explained as he put another spoon full of ice cream in his mouth.
"That's because he's a bastard. Even the kids at school are started to see it." Iruka flicked Naruto but furrowed his brow at the last thing Naruto said.
"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked pushing his food away. Naruto could feel the sudden interrogation that he was being put through. Iruka narrowed his eyes and the blond gulped.
"It's just that Hinata says she doesn't like Sasuke cause he can be mean. Also, Kiba, Lee, and even Shoji all say that they can understand why we fight sometimes. Since he is kind of mean to me. Sasuke is usually the one that has people saying that it's my fault for our fights." Naruto grimaced at the memory then smirked. "I'm glad I have friends that get it."
The only thing that went through Iruka's head was the whole puberty, hormones, and peer pressure. He wasn't ready, but he was glad that Naruto had news of friends. Kakashi did worry about the kids though. It would do Sasuke good to not be able to please everyone, but he usually kept a façade around other people. He wondered if there was something wrong.
Yup, so I lied. There wasn't a big time skip in this chapter, but there will be in the next one. It will be towards the middle of the school year for them in their last year of middle school. Sorry for the late post. Tell me what you guys are thinking so far, feedback is welcome and needed. Thanks!
