A/N: Alright, here's the next chapter. And the chapter after this would be what everyone is waiting for. The reunion of Kakashi and Iruka. Well, sorta. So, thanks for all your reviews and I hope to get the next chapter up soon. Sorry. I would have done another two chapters update just so you guys won't have to wait so long. But I was rather tied down with work. =.=

Chapter 10: Moving On

Kakashi walked down the streets, pondering over his conversation with the toad sage. He sighed. If only things were as easy as they had assumed it to be. Did they think that he really had no intention to make things up with Iruka? He had wished for it, hope for it. But, he did not know how to face the chunin. And he did not exactly know what he should say to at least make some reparations.

And it had been a fact that Iruka had chosen to break up with him.

He shoved his hands into his pocket and continued down the path when a familiar chakra signal alerted him. He paused in his tracks and looked up.

And what he saw convinced him that Iruka had definitely moved on.

The chunin was carrying a bag in his arms, doing his weekly grocery shopping. And beside him, was another shinobi, whom Kakashi recognized as the chunin who had been doing patrol duty with him for the past few nights. His name was Tsuzumi.

Kakashi swallowed hard as he stared at the two joking and laughing as they continued down the path before turning into a side street. The jounin immediately took a few quick steps forward and halted in his steps.

There, down the street, Tsuzumi had his arms around Iruka. The tanned chunin was blushing and laughing about something while Tsuzumi had a smile on his face.

But Kakashi was too stunned to even hear their conversation. All he could see was the two in the quiet street, in each other's embrace. He swallowed dryly. He watched as the two broke apart and continued walking, not even noticing that someone was watching.

He felt something inside of him breaking into tiny pieces. All was lost. It was certain now. And he was the one who had pushed things too far and made it the way it is today. He can't blame Iruka. He could blame no one. It was the decisions that he made, the way he pushed the younger man away. And now, he had literally pushed Iruka right into someone else's arms.

He turned and walked away, no longer the same person. He closed his eye and swallowed again, trying to get rid of the lump wedged in his throat. Somehow, it seems unwilling to leave him alone.

He trudged down the street, hands shoved in his pocket. Obito's eye was rimmed with unshed tears. He had nothing that he needs to be concerned with anymore. Jiraiya's and Tsunade's worries were unfounded. No one would ache for him or long for him. No one would be hurt or sad if he did not return from an ANBU mission.

He would talk to Tsunade again. Despite what everyone says, he knew. If he wants to keep the last bit of sanity in him, he had to go back to ANBU. At least, if he is constantly out for mission, it would spare him the pain of watching the person he loves be with someone else.

=-=-=-=

Iruka was walking down the streets, doing his weekly groceries shopping when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned and looked right into a smiling face in front of him.

"Hi, Iruka-sensei!"

"Hi, Tsuzumi-sensei." Iruka smiled.

Ever since he had went back to the academy after his sick leave two weeks back, Tsuzumi had been assisting him on a few classes. The newly instated academy teacher had been an enthusiastic and helpful person and Iruka had found working with him pretty enjoyable.

"Doing your groceries shopping, Iruka-sensei?" Tsuzumi glanced at the bag in the chunin's arms.

"Yes. I don't have mission room duty today. So it's a good time to do my shopping. What about you? Where are you heading towards?"

"Ah……." Tsuzumi blushed slightly. "I'm heading down to the textile shop to meet someone."

"I see. I'm heading the same direction. Let's walk together." Iruka started down the streets again, with the other teacher beside him.

"So, are you still adjusting well to teaching in the academy?" Iruka glanced at the man.

Tsuzumi sighed. "It's good, but tiring. I wonder where those kids got all their energy from."

Iruka laughed. "You just have to find their weakness and use it against them to make them settle down. And you need to be stricter with them when it needs be."

Tsuzumi scratched his head. "I have a lot to learn from you. You seem to be able to get them to settle down without saying anything."

"Well, that requires some practice." Iruka winked. Both of them laughed as they approached a junction and turned into it.

Iruka almost did not notice the cat lying in his path and when he did, he immediately stepped aside hastily to avoid kicking the poor animal. In his hurry, he tripped over the uneven path. A pair of arms reached out to steady him.

"Are you alright, Iruka-sensei?" Tsuzumi asked as he placed his hands on the chunin's shoulders, keeping him on his feet.

Iruka blushed. "Yes. Thank you. I guess I'm really out of condition to be so clumsy. I should ask Hokage-sama to start sending me out on some missions to get back into shape."

Tsuzumi laughed. "Well, at least you are still fit enough to avoid those shurikens and kunai from the students' practice drills. And that's saying something. I can't even avoid them yet."

Iruka chuckled as they continued down the road again. They reached the textile shop where a young lady was standing outside.

"Well, here's the textile shop. I will see you back in school tomorrow, Tsuzumi-sensei." Iruka smiled.

"Of course. Oh, by the way, Iruka-sensei, let me introduce someone to you." Tsuzumi blushed again as he gestured for the girl outside the door to come forward. "This is Kaori. She's my fiancée." He turned to the lady beside him. "Kaori, this is my colleague from the academy. He is Iruka-sensei."

Iruka bowed politely. "Nice to meet you, Kaori-san. And congratulations, Tsuzumi-sensei."

"Thank you." Tsuzumi scratched his head in nervousness. Kaori bowed politely.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Iruka-sensei."

"Well, I need to be on my way now. I will see you around." Iruka waved and continued down the street to finish his shopping.

He was completely unaware of the presence that was watching his every movement and silently crumbling into pieces.

=-=-=-=

Asuma yawned and stared at the glass of beer in front of him. Someone slid into the seat beside him.

"So what is it?"

Asuma glanced up at the person beside him. "I haven't seen you in a while. So I thought that we should at least meet up to get some updates on how you are getting on."

Kakashi shrugged. "What do you want to know?"

The bearded jounin went back to staring at his glass. "It's been two weeks since you came back on active duty, isn't it? How have you been coping after having been out of commission for so long?"

"What's new?" Kakashi signaled for a passing waiter to bring him some sake. "I'm still on light duty. The usual night patrolling, helping Tsunade-sama with some paperwork and all."

"I heard from Shikamaru that you are temporarily giving up your team." Asuma sighed. "Is that true?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "How did he know?"

"So it's true." Asuma took a drink out from his glass. "Well, he heard from Sakura, apparently. Naruto was moping around after being told by Tsunade-sama that you are stepping down as their team leader. But he didn't tell them what exactly happened. And they happened to meet Sakura who told them the reason why Naruto was so down."

The order came and Kakashi poured himself a cup of sake. "I see."

"So, how long are you intending to leave them alone?"

The silver-haired jounin pulled down his mask and downed the cup of sake. "I spoke to Tsunade-sama a week or so back. I requested to step down permanently."

"You are serious?" Asuma eyed him intently. "Then I reckon the thing which Jiraiya-sama told me is true then?"

"What thing?"

"You are going back to ANBU."

Kakashi sighed. "And he asked you to talk to me?"

"Not really." Asuma lit up his cigarette and took a puff. "But he did ask me to make sure you think things through."

"I did." Kakashi said quietly. "I have never been more certain of my decision than now."

"Kakashi, what are you hoping to gain out of this? You know the role of an ANBU. Every single person in there has a suicidal mindset. When have you gone back to that kind of a mentality? You know you can't fail an ANBU mission, because if you do, you have to self-destruct." Asuma ruffled his hair. "And if you really do that, what will happen to Iruka, Naruto and Sakura?"

"They will get on."

"They won't. Especially not Iruka."

"He will." Kakashi poured himself another cup of sake. "He has already moved on."

"I really don't know from which angle you are looking at the entire situation. Iruka hadn't move on, and never will. He is pretending to be alright just so we won't worry for him. But he can't get on without you. That much is obvious to all of us, even if he doesn't say anything." Asuma took another puff from his cigarette. "And you are the same too."

"We are over, Asuma. He ended it three weeks back and I was the one who made it that way!" Kakashi's single eye burned with a mix of anger and sadness. "Will you just stop harping on how he isn't moving on? He has! I've seen him. I've seen how he is living now. He doesn't even need me in his life anymore. I can see that! He is getting on fine as it is. He doesn't need to deal with my emotional baggage or my issues!"

"Kakashi……"

"He has someone new. I saw them." Kakashi muttered as he finished up his sake and called for another one. "I saw them yesterday in the market place."

Asuma raised an eyebrow. "I didn't hear about Iruka having anyone new."

"Then get yourself updated, Asuma." Kakashi looked away. "It's really over for us. The new guy is good for him. I've worked with him a few times in the last two weeks. Kind, dedicated, patient. He's everything that I will never be. Iruka will be happier with him."

"You know, Kakashi, I really don't know how to deal with this news that you are telling me. Something tells me that this is a misunderstanding."

"I know what I see." Kakashi picked up the new bottle of sake and refilled his cup. "You don't really have to comfort me. I'm a grown up. I can deal with this."

"Perhaps you should really look him up to clarify things." Asuma frowned.

"No. I don't want to make things difficult for him anymore." The silver haired jounin said quietly. "I can only make it up to him by letting him go and allow him to pursue the happiness that he deserves."

"Whatever it is, you still owe him an explanation." Asuma pointed out. "And knowing Iruka, he won't have a peace of mind if he didn't get an answer to the doubts he's having. Whether he is in another relationship or not."

"No explanation is good enough. I've done him too much damage." Kakashi stared at the table. "I know when I have to let go. I would rather he hate me and carry on with his life. At least, that would ease off some of my guilt. You know, they always say that you never know how to treasure something until it is gone. I think I'm beginning to understand the meaning now. If I could turn back time, I wouldn't have done what I did."

Asuma sighed. "Kakashi, I don't know how to talk you out of this. First of all, you aren't talking like yourself and that's really worrying. And really, you should stop trying to put all the blame on yourself every time you think you have failed someone." He rubbed his temple exasperatedly. "Anyway, yours and Iruka's problem aside. I really think you shouldn't go back to ANBU."

"And why not?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"It's not going to do you any good, Kakashi. Not emotionally."

"It will help me to forget, at least. It will teach me how to seal off my own emotions all over again. It's something that I think I'm having problems with recently. And in ANBU, I will always have things to do which will keep my mind occupied." Kakashi downed the last of his sake and stood up. "Anyway, I've got to go. I still have my shift to take."

Asuma sighed, knowing he can't talk the silver-haired jounin out of his mentality. He shook his head. "Take care, Kakashi. And really, think it over again. I will see you soon."

The copy nin gave a curt nod and strode out of the bar.

=-=-=-=

The staff room was silent. Everyone was busy with their work and buried in the thick stacks of assignments waiting to be graded. All of them were eager to just finish up everything and enjoy the Friday night.

The door slid open and someone stepped in. All the academy teachers in the room looked up. A chunin strode over nervously to one of the desk in front of Iruka and spoke in a low voice to the occupant before slipping a piece of paper onto the desk. When the chunin departed, Iruka glanced over to see the person with a crestfallen look.

"Tsuzumi-sensei, what happened?" Iruka raised an eyebrow.

"I'm called to stand in for someone for tonight's patrol." Tsuzumi sighed. "It seems like that person was called away for a last minute mission."

Iruka smiled at him sympathetically. "It's not that bad, is it? At least there's an additional income."

Tsuzumi ruffled his hair in frustration. "It wouldn't be that bad if I haven't already had an appointment. It's my fiancée's birthday tomorrow and I'm actually planning to bring her to the nearby hot springs village to celebrate. We were intending to set off this evening. Looks like I have to cancel the plans now. She will be so disappointed."

Iruka listened to the assistant teacher's problem. He frowned and contemplated for a moment. Then he smiled. "Well Tsuzumi-sensei, you don't exactly have to cancel it."

Tsuzumi sighed again. "I have to. There won't be enough time to set off tomorrow. We will barely enjoy ourselves before we have to leave the hot springs and head back to Konoha again."

"You can go ahead with you plans, Tsuzumi-sensei. I can cover the shift for you if you like." Iruka offered graciously.

Tsuzumi's eyes brightened up. "Would you really? I mean, I don't want to trouble you, Iruka-sensei. You may have something that you would want to do on a Friday night."

"Well, I don't. Most of my close friends are out for missions. So I'm pretty much left alone this weekend." Iruka chuckled. "And I have the entire weekend to grade these assignments, so I guess I'm able to take out the time to do a night patrol today."

"You are a savior, Iruka-sensei. I really owe you one." Tsuzumi smiled gratefully.

Iruka nodded. "Don't worry about that. What time is the shift supposed to start?"

"Twelve midnight. It's till six in the morning tomorrow."

"I will be there." Iruka smiled. "So, enjoy your trip."

Tsuzumi heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much, Iruka-sensei. I will be sure to return the favour someday."

Iruka laughed and waved his hand. "Really, it's nothing. You don't have to worry about it."

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