Iruka woke up feeling heavy but pleasantly languid, a faded blush creeping over his cheeks as he remembered what had happened the night before. I slept with Kakashi. And I enjoyed it. And – he rolled over – Kakashi is still in my bed.

Iruka smiled and kissed the long pale nose in front of him cheerfully. "Mornin'. Did you sleep well?"

"I didn't," Kakashi replied.

Iruka's brow furrowed in confusion. "You didn't sleep? Why not?"

"Someone could have attacked and you would have been defenseless," Kakashi said, deadpan.

Iruka blinked twice. "Are you… actually serious?"

Kakashi nodded solemnly. "It would have been hard even for me to protect you because you kept rolling on top of me."

"That's sweet, I guess," Iruka said, trying not to laugh. "But you don't need to protect me, we're in the middle of Konoha. The only person likely to break into the house of this lowly academy teacher in the middle of the night is Naruto, and he's away training with Jiraiya-sama."

"It's still dangerous," Kakashi said, beginning to pout.

Iruka shook his head in disbelief. "You can make that face all you want but you're going to have to learn to sleep beside me or else you're sleeping on your own. I will not be responsible for you getting hurt on missions because you're overtired."

"I get to sleep with you again?" Kakashi said slowly, hopefully.

"Of course, if you can actually manage the sleep part," Iruka said fondly, shifting his gaze out the window. "It's rather bright – Kakashi, what's the time?"

"Maa," Kakashi took a look at the alarm clock on the dresser, "Five to nine."

"Gah!" Iruka jumped out of bed only to immediately fall back down again, clutching his lower back. "Shit, that hurts. Why didn't my alarm go off? I'm going to be late!"

Kakashi rolled onto his side, hugging Iruka's pillow to his chest and burying his nose in it. "I turned it off," he said nonchalantly.

"Turned it off? Why would you do such a thing?" Iruka scrambled around on his dresser for an elastic band and hastily scraped his hair into some semblance of a ponytail.

"I thought you'd like a sleep in," Kakashi said, yawning. "You deserve some time off."

"What are you, crazy?" Iruka glared at the floppy mess of silver hair and then gave up, realizing the answer to his question was obvious. "I can't do anything wrong at the moment, you realize that, don't you? Hiashi already wants my head on a platter and Tsunade-sama definitely won't be happy with me after yesterday."

Kakashi cringed. "Oh. I guess that's my fault," he said quietly.

Iruka paused in his hurry to throw pants on and kissed the tiny bit of forehead he could see peeking out from the pillow. "It's okay. Just don't turn off my alarm ever again, okay?"

Kakashi nodded meekly.

"Good boy." Iruka hastily wrapped his calves, flung on a long-sleeved shirt, grabbed a flak jacket from the bottom of his wardrobe and slung his satchel over one shoulder. Without stopping to catch his breath he rushed out the door, calling out behind him, "And get some sleep, baka!"

o0o

It was ten past nine when Iruka skidded to a stop in front of his classroom, which to his surprise was completely silent. The kids were all sitting perfectly still in their assigned seats and swiveled around to stare at him as he opened the door. "Iruka-sensei, you're still teaching us, right?" a small child with a missing front tooth asked.

Iruka smiled at the child before turning to the front of the classroom to see that someone had already begun his lesson. He bowed gratefully. "Thank you, Shikamaru-kun. You've saved me a lot of trouble."

Shikamaru scratched the back of his head and sighed heavily. "Ach, this is troublesome, but Tsunade-sama left this for you." He held out an official looking scroll.

Iruka took it, his heart sinking to his knees. He could guess what it was and his suspicions were only confirmed when Shikamaru suggested gently, "Perhaps it would be better if you opened it outside."

With legs like lead he stumbled out of the classroom, ignoring the questions his students were throwing at him, and collapsed on what he had referred to for a long time as 'Naruto's swing'. He broke the seal on the scroll with trembling fingers to read the words he'd expected but hoped against hope not to see.

Umino Iruka – regret to inform you – no longer suitable – contract terminated.

I should be angry, he thought, but all he felt was hollow and disappointed. You knew the time would come for this, Umino, you were just stupidly hoping that the villagers wouldn't be so petty and judgmental. Iruka buried his face in his hands. I did, I did know this was coming. I just didn't think it would hurt so much. I'm giving up my job, my life, and my friends – everything – for Kakashi. Is he really worth it?

An image of Kakashi giving him an embarrassed smile through a mouthful of froth floated unbidden into his mind and he couldn't help but smile. The crazy jōnin had been so chakra-depleted to begin with he had fallen asleep in the middle of cleaning his teeth, face pressed against the cool ceramic of the sink, swaying lightly on his feet.

It was almost like looking after an overgrown child at times, and despite himself Iruka couldn't help but find the man adorable. Kakashi had seemed particularly self-conscious every time Iruka had to help him do something that should usually be easy to achieve alone, the delightful pink flush that stained his unnaturally pale cheeks a dead give-away of his embarrassment. If he was honest with himself Iruka might admit that he sometimes helped when he wasn't needed just to provoke it. He liked not being the blushing one.

Iruka sighed and rolled up the scroll, stuffing it into his satchel. Yes, Kakashi was worth it. The older man had slotted into his life so naturally he'd almost forgotten what it had been like to be alone, although he remembered enough to know that he didn't want to go back to it. He shifted slightly and pain lanced up his spine, reminding him of the other reason he didn't want to let go of the silver-haired man.

Despite the fact that it had been a small part painful, a small part uncomfortable and a larger part embarrassing, having Kakashi inside of him had also been overwhelmingly mind-blowing and he'd definitely like to repeat that experience. He'd felt the repercussions of last night when he'd gotten out of bed but pushed it to the back of his mind, too worried about getting to class on time to let it bother him. Now that he was sitting down and had time to think about it, he realized that although moving too suddenly did make his backside twinge it was nothing like the pain he'd imagined it would be.

On a more immature level he actually got a kick out of the fact that it hurt. Every time he felt any soreness it was a big fat reminder that he'd gotten laid last night and prompted his mind to send him sensual images of Kakashi naked.

A bell rang out and Iruka jolted. Have I really been sitting here that long? He smiled wryly to himself. I suppose it doesn't matter how much time I waste. It's not like I have a job anymore. Still, he was wise enough to realize that it wasn't the best idea to still be sitting despondently outside the academy when the children came out on their break. There was no way he'd be able to confront his class about not being allowed to teach without crying and he was not about to willingly humiliate himself like that. Not to mention that talking to them about being fired would lead to them asking why he'd been fired and he wasn't ready to talk about his relationship with Kakashi with anyone.

He stood up and walked aimlessly, pondering what he should do. He could go to the memorial stone to tell his parents he'd found someone to care about, but he had the feeling that if they were still around then they already knew. Konoha was hardly a place for secrets. He could go buy some groceries, he was nearly out, but he found he just couldn't be bothered. More than that he didn't really want to test how much the villagers opinion had changed of him, not while he was still hurting over losing his job. Iruka's mind smirked. When I do go I'll take Kakashi with me. Think of what a scandal that would be. They deserve to have it shoved in their faces. If they're going to make an issue out of it we might as well give them something to talk about.

In the end he decided to just go home, wanting to see as few people as possible. Maybe, if he was lucky, he could go back to bed and curl up with Kakashi. He'd forgotten that being in a relationship had some quite nice perks. He shucked off his sandals and dropped his satchel in the doorway, shuffling into the kitchen for some well-deserved comfort food.

He dropped the butter pecan ice cream in shock when a booming voice followed him. "Iruka-sensei, you are not looking your Usual Youthful Self today!"

Iruka tiptoed back into his living area cautiously, ice cream tub firmly in hand. I couldn't have been so distracted that I managed to overlook Gai, could I? Apparently he could, because Konoha's Green Beast was still not in sight.

"Maa, Iruka, shouldn't you still be teaching?"

Iruka looked up to see Kakashi stand up from his seat on the ceiling and casually walk down the wall. He blinked twice. Gai, also on the roof, gave him a wide, gleaming smile. He frowned. "Is that my shoji board?"

A small table in front of the spandex-clad jōnin held up (or down, as it were) what seemed to be a game of shoji, which, by the placement of the pieces, Kakashi seemed to be winning. "It is indeed!" Gai exclaimed with more enthusiasm than necessary, his shining hair swinging almost hypnotically as he bobbed his head up and down.

"I… see," Iruka said slowly, although he didn't 'see' at all. "I hope you didn't glue that up there."

"It's held with chakra. It's a good test of control to be able to hold up all the pieces as well as strategizing with all the blood rushing to your head," Kakashi explained, walking up beside him. He smiled, cheeks dimpling, and Iruka realized he wasn't wearing his mask. He glanced at Gai, but the eccentric jōnin didn't seem to have noticed or just didn't care.

"We must put this Challenge aside for the moment, Eternal Rival!" Gai crowed, flipping straight down to land on his feet. "The Youthful Iruka-sensei deserves our Full Attention!"

Iruka stepped backwards and Kakashi stepped forwards to catch the now-falling shoji pieces as Gai's diverted attention renewed their susceptibility to gravity. "Maa, normal people can't handle all of your attention at once, Gai. It suffocates them," Kakashi said amiably, releasing his own chakra-hold and catching the small table as it fell, righting it and setting it back on the floor.

Gai's eyes glistened. "So Hip, Kakashi!"

"Mhmm." Kakashi glanced back at Iruka and decided the man looked as if he was about to shatter. Seeing as Gai had about as much tact and delicacy as a bull in a china shop he said, "I think I hear mini-Gai calling. He's saying something about how his green-spandex-ed idol went back on his word and didn't climb the Hokage Mountain with one hand, chakra-less. He sounds disappointed."

Gai struck a predictable pose, teeth flashing. "I do not recall making such a Promise, but if my Darling Student thinks I did then I will do it twice!"

"That's a good boy," Kakashi said flatly.

"I apologize, but I Must be Going," Gai said, bowing towards Iruka with a lot of excess waving of his hands. "You must Promise to keep on being Youthful in my wake."

He seemed to be waiting for some sort of reply so Iruka eventually said, "I, uh, promise?"

Gai nodded, his eyes once again sparkling with tears. "Farewell, Dear Iruka-sensei."

He was gone before Iruka could blink. The chūnin scratched his nose awkwardly. "Why do I feel like I've been sentenced to death?"

Kakashi grinned and strode back towards him until they were inches apart. "Don't worry, he only ever means it in a good way." He pried the tub of ice cream from Iruka's grip and held it up. "What is this for?"

"For me to eat." Iruka snatched it back and clutched it to his chest possessively. "I deserve it."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Are you planning on eating all of that?"

"I'll eat it until it's gone or I fall into an ice cream coma," Iruka said, glaring. "Do you plan on stopping me?"

"Yes." Kakashi made a few seals and touched his fingertips to the ice cream, which promptly disappeared.

"What did you do?" Iruka moaned, pulling at his hair. "That was mine. Give it back. I need it."

"No." Kakashi pointed to the sofa. "You're going to sit down, tell me why you're upset, and then after that, maybe I'll give it back."

Iruka glowered at him but sat down as instructed, huddling up as small as he could in the corner of the settee. "You shouldn't take things that don't belong to you," he said sullenly, knowing that he sounded like a spoilt brat but unable to muster up the energy to care.

"If you ate that entire thing you'd just feel worse afterwards," Kakashi said calmly, perching himself on the cushion closest to Iruka but far enough away that they weren't touching. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly as he sat, a telling nervous gesture. "And, well, I was hoping that maybe I could help you feel better, or something?" He gave a lopsided smile, visible eye curving shut.

Iruka childishly wanted to hit him for pointing out so logically what he'd been trying to ignore. He wasn't really sure he was comfortable breaking down in front of Kakashi but the older man seemed genuinely worried and he did want to just let go. Hopefully Kakashi would still be there at the end of it all. "Sorry." He tugged the elastic out of his hair and ran his fingers through it. "I got fired."

Actually speaking it aloud nailed home that it was real, that he'd never again be allowed to stand in front of a class and lead children safely down the perilous path to ninja-hood. "I'm not allowed to teach anymore."

He hadn't realized just how much his life had revolved around his work up until now. He started shaking and couldn't stop, clutching his knees tightly to his chest and squeezing his eyes closed. I won't be 'Iruka-sensei' anymore. What will I be, Iruka-san, Iruka-kun? I like being sensei. It's who I am. I like having kids come up to me in the street to tell me about their day or show me something they're proud of. I don't know if I could even handle going back to full time missions.

There was a pregnant pause and then strong arms surrounded him, dragging him forward until he was sprawled across the jōnin's lap. Instinctively he latched his fingers onto the older man's shirt and buried his face in the crook of his neck. Kakashi awkwardly rubbed what he assumed were meant to be soothing circles on his back.

"I'm sorry," Kakashi mumbled into his hair, "It's my fault you got fired."

Iruka sighed heavily. "It's not your fault, Kakashi. It's my students' bigoted parents' fault. I don't understand how being with you affects my ability to teach anyway." Having Kakashi's warm arms around him was actually a better soothing balm than the ice cream would have been. He genuinely felt cared for, as he didn't think the anti-social jōnin had ever – or would ever – do this for anyone else. "I mean, the letter says they don't want me 'imposing my corrupt values on the village's youth' but I don't see why they think I would ever even mention my relationship to my class."

"Just the fact that they know you're with me means you are unconsciously sending them the message that it's okay to have a relationship with someone of the same sex," Kakashi said quietly, moving his hand upwards to run his fingers through Iruka's hair.

Iruka growled into his neck. "Iwashi-san has been having a very public affair for over two years. Does that mean it's alright for him to send the message that it's okay to cheat on your wife to his students? Because that's a hell of a lot more corrupt than me just being with you."

"I know." Kakashi kissed his forehead. "But that's just the way the world is."

Iruka fell silent for a while, concentrating on the way Kakashi's chest rose and fell against him in slow, even breaths. "How am I going to pay rent?" he asked eventually, almost to himself. "Missions office doesn't pay very much and I haven't been out of the village in such a long time."

"I have money," Kakashi said softly, "And I will train with you, if you like. It's the least I can do."

Iruka screwed up his nose and leaned back so he could look at Kakashi's face. "I wasn't trying to hint that you should give me money, you know," he said dryly. "I do have savings and stuff. I was just thinking aloud. By the way, what did you do to my ice cream?"

Kakashi grinned and ruffled his hair. "Why, do you still want it?"

Iruka smiled back. "No, I was just wondering." He was surprised to find that he didn't even feel like it anymore. Just having someone to sit there and listen made a big difference.

"Transportation jutsu," Kakashi said happily. "I sent it to the freezer at my apartment, so if you want it back you have to go there."

"I didn't know you could use that jutsu on objects," Iruka mused.

Kakashi shrugged. "Most people don't. Actually, most people can't, I think. I messed around with the seals a bit, it's not quite the same."

Iruka stared at him. "You say that like it's no big deal, but it's extremely difficult to create or adapt jutsu sucessfully."

Kakashi smiled, captivated by the incredulous look on his chūnin's face, and stole a kiss. While Iruka was busy blushing and looking put out he said, "To tell the truth I have so many jutsu stored in my head that if I don't concentrate properly I often get them wrong. I discovered that particular one by sending my father's tanto to the Hokage's office instead of myself."

Iruka chuckled at the image of a sword appearing in mid-air in front of the Hokage and clattering to the ground. "I bet that gave the ANBU a fright."

"ANBU aren't frightened of anything," Kakashi lied, running his fingers up Iruka's neck and gently cupping his jaw. "Though the Sandaime was extremely ticked off at me because they tripled his guard for a while, thinking it was a serious threat."

"Ah." Iruka's breath caught in his throat. With Kakashi's fingertips delicately stroking his skin – he'd never seen such long, thin digits on a man – and the focus of that deep, dark eye centred on him he felt almost as if time had stopped and he was losing himself in a purely sensory world. He pulled himself out quickly, afraid he would drown if he kept staring into Kakashi's eye. "So is – is Gai-san okay with this, with us? Or did you not tell him?"

Kakashi rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "I think he just doesn't want to find a new Eternal Rival. It took him a long time to get me to agree to it, after all, and nobody else is stupid enough to take him up on it."

Iruka frowned. "You don't really mean that, do you?"

"No, I don't." For some reason Kakashi felt bad for lying, even though he'd only meant it as a joke. "I believe what he said was that 'true love has no barriers of gender, race or disfigurement' except he said it in fancier words." He didn't add that Gai had shed many manly tears over the fact that he had found someone to 'help him become human again'. "And then he challenged me because he knew there was no way I could refuse after he'd said something like that."

"That's sort of sweet, but I'm kind of glad I wasn't there for that." Iruka was about to say something else when a knock at the door interrupted him. He tightened his grip on Kakashi's shirt. "Should I get that?" Whoever it was, it was unlikely they'd be here on pleasant terms and Iruka had had enough nasty surprises today.

"I can get it, if you like," Kakashi offered, noticing his reaction.

Iruka jumped up immediately. "No, that's a terrible idea! I'll get it."

The person knocked again and Iruka flew across the room to open it. Seeing Naru Shikaku leaning against his doorframe was the last thing he'd expected. "Yes?" he said, forgetting his manners in his surprise.

Shikaku sighed loudly and looked past him into the living room. "I need Hatake," he said flatly. "May I borrow him?"

"What do you want me for?" Kakashi stood up and strode over to stand behind Iruka, curling a hand around his waist possessively and making him flinch. Shikaku's gaze fluttered down for a second then back up, his expression giving nothing away as to what he thought about the hand or the fact that he could see Kakashi's whole face.

He glanced at Iruka as if to evaluate how much classified information he was allowed to overhear, realizing that Kakashi would not budge without more details, and muttered, "How troublesome," before clearing his throat. "There are some powerful people causing trouble on the western border of Fire Country, and they need to be dealt with carefully. Tsunade-sama asked me to put together a team of my choosing to handle it, and you are my first choice."

Kakashi deliberately leered at him. "Are you sure I won't molest you in your sleep?"

"I'm sure an old man like me holds absolutely no interest for you, Kakashi," Shikaku said, shaking his head, before looking pointedly at Iruka. "Particularly when you've already got a younger, more attractive model."

Iruka turned red and stepped back, but he could feel tension leaking out of Kakashi's tall frame at the older man's verbal acceptance of his relationship. "What about the rest of the team?"

Shikaku shrugged. "There is no 'rest of the team'. It's just you and me. Unless you have some sort of problem with being left alone with me?"

Kakashi looked stunned for a moment, and then grinned, his eye curving up happily. "Give me half an hour to get ready."

Shikaku nodded. "I'll wait out here."

Kakashi made a beeline for the bedroom, Iruka trailing behind. "You're excited to go on this mission?" Iruka asked, amused.

"It's not that." Kakashi turned to face him. "It's just that he's treating me like a normal person. You know how rare that is these days. Do you have any spare wrappings I could use?" He gestured to his bare calves.

"Yeah." Iruka smiled fondly at him. "I'll get them for you."

o0o

Kakashi was still buzzing from the fact that 1) he'd slept with Iruka, Iruka had enjoyed it and come back to him for consoling cuddles, 2) Gai still wanted to continue their weird Rival relationship and 3) Shikaku still trusted him as a fellow shinobi, so when someone bumped into him on the way to the Hokage's office he merely said, "Sorry," and kept on walking.

Three steps later he realized he'd recognized that high-pitched yelp of surprise, and turned around. "Sakura," he said pleasantly, giving his ex-student his famous eye-smile.

"K-Kaka-sensei," was the stuttered reply.

Kakashi narrowed his eye. She definitely didn't look pleased to see him. In fact, she looked a little pale and she was still sitting in the middle of the hall where she'd fallen after he'd bumped her, papers scattered around her. "Maa, are you okay?" he asked, holding out a hand to help her up. Sakura flinched away from it.

He withdrew his hand slowly, feeling his good mood evaporate.

"Are you – are you having sex with Iruka-sensei?" she asked in a small voice.

Kakashi frowned. "Who said that to you?"

"I overheard someone. Everyone's talking about it," Sakura said, picking up her papers and obstinately not looking at him, holding them tight to her chest. He simply stared at her, unwilling to believe what was happening. When she'd finished gathering up everything she'd dropped she turned and leveled him with an icy stare. "I think it's disgusting what you're doing, taking advantage of his kindness." With that she turned on her heel and flounced away.

Shikaku said something under his breath again and poked Kakashi in the arm. "We're late."

"I'm always late," Kakashi mumbled, staring at the point where Sakura had disappeared. He felt like someone had tipped a bucket of ice-cold water over his head.

"Oi." Shikaku prodded him in the back. "It's time to go."

Kakashi shut his eye and mentally stuffed everything he was feeling about Iruka and Gai and Sakura into a tiny metal box, slamming the lid on it. He opened his eye and nodded to his mission partner. "I'm ready now."

o0o

Tsunade looked surprised to see him, but thankfully didn't mention it, skipping straight to the briefing. "There is a band of supposedly 'rouge' shinobi on the sou-western border terrorizing everyone who is on the move between Fire and River, even going to far as to kill civilians. Four of our own shinobi have been wounded by this group, one critically.

"We have reason to believe that someone with great power has put them up to this and I need you to find out who is pulling the strings, and why. I chose you, Shikaku, because I trust your judgment on how to go about getting this information and what to do with the perpetrators afterwards. Is this clear?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Shikaku said, and when she turned her gaze on him Kakashi nodded too.

"Right. Dismissed."

Both jōnin stepped outside and walked to the gates of the village, where Kakashi paused. Shikaku raised an eyebrow. "Having second thoughts?"

"You and I both know that the best team for this kind of mission is your own Ino-Shika-Cho, with Inoichi's mind control jutsu and Chouza for backup. So why did you pick me?" Kakashi asked.

Shikaku shrugged loosely and gazed up at the clouds. "Maybe I wanted a change."

Kakashi gave him a shut-eye smile, his mouth once again hidden behind the mask. "Thank you."

They both knew it had nothing to do with a change, and everything to do with a chance. Shikaku was showing Kakashi that he didn't think anything differently of him at the same time as showing the rest of the shinobi that Kakashi was nothing to fear, at least in terms of sexuality. It was an intangible extended hand of friendship, and Kakashi took it gratefully.

o0o

A note on Sakura: I don't like her character, but I abhor character bashing because that's just bad writing (I also don't like Naruto, but when he shows up next chapter I'm going to be nice to him). Here she acts this way because at this point she's thirteen and very impressionable – her character also suggests that she doesn't quite think for herself and will do whatever is asked of her in order to curry favour. Her mentor is Tsunade and when girls this age idolize someone that person's words are gospel. As well as this she wants to set out to be seen as worthy in Tsunade's eyes and if this means disowning Kakashi then so be it (I get the feeling she never really cared that much for him in the first place. She only ever looked at Sasuke before the timeskip).

Also, if you saw two of your teachers kissing wouldn't you be disgusted? It doesn't matter if they're both male or if they're male and female. It mystifies me as to why people always paint Sakura as some crazed yaoi fangirl who gets turned on by her teachers kissing. Bishies or not, it's still something she really shouldn't be into.