Oh my deity. It's been a long past few days. So I've been having a lot of writers block. I have the ideas of where I want to go but it's just slow getting there. Ugh! I'm annoyed at myself. This is late again. I'm sorry, my loves. I'll try to do better with the next chapter.

Chapter 10: Juvenile Men and Half-Mummies

Kakashi watched the flame flicker as it devoured the corner of the slip of paper. He blew it out before it could get to the box of text. He laid it on the counter and after slopping half of his coffee into the sink set his mug on top of it. A few moments later he lifted the cup and found a perfect round brown stain on the order form. Taking a sip from the coffee he set it down again maybe an inch from where it had originally been placed leaving another stain. He repeated the process once more and then picked up an ancient hair dryer he'd never really remembered ever buying. He blew the paper dry, licked his thumb and rubbed it haphazardly across the page smudging some of the ink and graphite. Finally, he crumpled half of it in his hand and then flattened the paper out again. 'Done.'

Kakashi, feeling satisfied with his work, decided that now he just had to leave it somewhere Iruka-sensei would see it.

"What's burning?" Itachi's voice asked from the doorway to the living room. The teen's voice was tense, but controlled, neither of the boys had fully recovered from that fire.

"Nothing, I blew it out." Kakashi reassured.

Itachi frowned and strode over to stand next to the masked man and eyed his handiwork. "What's this?" He took the slip of nearly ruined paper from Kakashi's hands and looked it over.

"An order form? What happened to it?" Itachi looked over the countertop spotting all of the tools Kakashi had used to practically destroy the order form. "Why are you ruining Naruto-kun's order form?"

Kakashi shrugged and retrieved the slip of paper from the teenager's hands. "I want to see if it'll make his father angry."

"Kakashi, why..." But then Itachi's eyes widened slightly in realization. "You're worse than a grade schooler with a crush."

Kakashi choked. "You really are perceptive, aren't you?" He muttered a moment later a faint trace of pink in his cheeks. It had happened when Iruka-sensei had lost his temper the other day. Before that Kakashi had only thought of the school teacher as a nice little piece of eye candy to brighten his day. But now he was interested. 'Just how easy or hard it would be to annoy him? I don't want to hit him again...' The masked man wanted to get to know him now that he'd revealed a little more of his character. "Anyways I already sent in a copy of the order form and Iruka-sensei's check to the supply company."

"So you're doing this solely for the purpose of making him mad?"

"Yes."

"You're terrible."

Kakashi shrugged again and crammed the slip of paper with careful carelessness into a side pocket of the duffle bag he used for his own karate gear.

"How is... what's his name again?"

"Deidara? He's fine I guess."

"What did you guys do?"

"Nothing in particular." Itachi shrugged opening one of the kitchen cupboards and taking down a box of crackers.

"You two didn't... I don't know... Go to the mall?" Kakashi asked knowingly. He appraised the contents of the fridge.

"No." Itachi replied with a hard note in his voice.

"Ah, well that's unfortunate." Kakashi stated. Anyways tomorrow's the weekend so if you so choose..." Kakashi saw a glint of polished metal from the corner of his eye and he turned. Itachi brushed his hair behind his ear as he bent down for something. "You got your ears pierced? I never would have taken you for the type."

Itachi froze for a moment. "Just the one. I... Deidara wouldn't stop pestering me about it... Does it look bad?" He asked standing upright and turning to face the masked man.

Kakashi looked between the stud and the teenager's face. "No, I just suggest you don't get any more before you get a job." He stated after a few seconds.

"Hn." Itachi grunted nodding and allowing his bangs to fall in front of his ears again. Kakashi busied himself with preparing dinner.

"Itachi." Kakashi spoke. '…. No... just a little longer.' He decided. "I've realized I've probably been a pretty negligent parent." He said instead. "Do you even know how to cook most of the food I make you?" Kakashi asked turning to see his older ward. Itachi was giving him a hard look.

"Kakashi-"

"It's just about time you learn some skills for yourself anyways, don't you think?" Kakashi asked interrupting the dark-haired teen. The silence in the kitchen was deafening. "Mind mincing those chives for me?" The masked man handed Itachi a knife and directed him to a cutting board.

Itachi began slowly chopping the chives into small pieces.

Kakashi walked the teenager through the steps as he showed him what to do. Itachi was, of course, a genius so he'd probably grasp everything perfectly in no time.

Saturday morning started off almost like any other. Kakashi woke up early, stretched, changed into a jogging outfit and went downstairs for something to eat. He'd wait for the boys to wake up before making an actual breakfast. Until then he'd satisfy his hunger by munching on a granola bar or some sort of fruit if he was hungry. On the many days he wasn't a simple, strong cup of black coffee was just fine. After that he'd drink about two glasses of water, leave the house, lock the door and two or three hours later he'd head back home when he'd broken a good sweat.

He made two and a half laps around the city and after he'd finally finished his he turned to make the sprint back home. A high fence was on his right as he headed for a small intersection. A surge of pain spiked in the center of his head and white lights popped in his vision again. 'Shit' He cringed. In a moment he stumbled. It sort of felt like tripping over Pakkun (Seriously it was like that dog could pop up from underground or something) He paused and opened his eye.

It was seconds before he spotted the familiar form lying on the concrete maybe fifteen feet away. 'Shit.'

Iruka-sensei's apartment was nice. There seemed to be no real central theme. Most of the furniture was mismatched. The coffee table was covered in books, DVD cases, and papers. A large television sat in the corner beside a sizable bookshelf filled to the brim with movies. Photographs stood proudly on the ends of shelves and hung on the walls, mainly depicting Iruka-sensei and Naruto-kun with wide grins on their faces with some tourist attraction serving as the backdrop.

Carefully, he let Iruka-sensei slip from his hold to set him on the couch. Kakashi pushed some of the clutter on the coffee table out of the way and took a seat on it facing Iruka-sensei. He patted his thigh signing for the pony-tailed sensei to set his foot there. The scarred man hesitantly obeyed. A faint flush in his cheeks. 'Cute.' Then he looked down at his handiwork and felt his stomach drop a few inches. 'That looks terrible.'

"Fffuuuuu" He breathed. "I did get a good hit on you." He prodded gently at the swollen ankle. He held Iruka-sensei's calf in place and put the palm of his other hand against the ball of the brunet's foot. The room seemed to go silent. An odd intensity filled the air. He looked up at Iruka-sensei's face and wondered if it was really possible for someone to look so deeply fascinated by something. 'Has he never been injured like this before?' "I'm going to press your foot back, tell me when it hurts, alright?" Kakashi murmured softly.

Iruka-sensei seemed to snap out of whatever it was and nodded. Kakashi began. Only a second or two afterwords "Alright, stop please." The brunet stated hurriedly.

"Sorry." The masked man apologized easing off of the wounded foot. "It just looks like a bad sprain." He stated. As gently as he could he shifted the foot off of his lap and stood up "Do you have a first aid kit, Sensei?" He asked.

"Oh," Iruka confirmed "Yeah it's in the bathroom in the cupboard beneath the sink." He pointed to a doorway leading out of the living room. The silver-haired man nodded.

"Want to come rinse out those scrapes, Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi asked when he noticed Iruka-sensei was making no move to get off the couch.

"Um, Sure." Iruka-sensei stood shakily on his uninjured foot. Kakashi walked beside the maimed sensei with his hand out, ready to catch him if he fell on their way to the restroom. The pony-tailed man sat on the edge of the bathtub with his leg underneath the faucet. The masked man made himself busy looking through the contents of the first aid kit after washing his hands. He took a few of the largest bandages in the kit and considered them for a moment. 'Will these even fit over...?' After a few more seconds he deemed them acceptable and grabbed some of the antibiotic cream packets too, tearing open one small package and squeezing some of the goo out onto the tip of his index finger. He handed most of the supplies to Iruka-sensei who went to business nearly right away.

Kakashi treated the spot on Iruka-sensei's ankle first.

"Be sure to tell me if it's too tight." He took a roll of compression wrap from the small kit and went to work wrapping up Iruka-sensei's ankle.

"Are you a doctor, Kakashi-sensei?" The scarred man asked suddenly.

Kakashi looked up at Iruka-sensei mildly surprised. "No, I've had some training with dealing with minor injuries though." He answered using the little metal clasps to close the wrapping.

Iruka smiled at him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Iruka-sensei carefully stood up. "You should still keep off of it as much as possible." Kakashi mentioned when he noticed a slight wince flash across the grade school teacher's face. He got up from his seat on the side of the tub to stand directly behind and a little to the left of the brunet.

Iruka-sensei turned his head and surprise flickered across his tanned features. 'Oh, I guess we're a little close.' Kakashi surmised. He would have taken a step away and apologized but at the moment, he didn't really want to. Oddly enough Iruka-sensei wasn't blushing already. Just staring with not-quite-large, not-quite-small dark eyes that felt like they were sucking Kakashi in. 'Should I...' Kakashi wondered slowly leaning in. The color returned to the scarred cheeks with a vengeance. The eyelids trimmed with short, dark lashes drooped ever so slightly, but not enough to hide the brightness in those captivating orbs.

Kakashi was willing to take that as consent for a kiss when "'Ruka-sensei?" A sleepy voice startled them apart.

Kakashi shockingly (at least it was shocking to him) felt a little heat rise in his cheeks. He avoided eye contact with Iruka-sensei while trying to keep his expression bored. He heard a whispered "Um... Sorry." From the brunet as he hobbled out of the small bathroom. Kakashi felt a small pang of disappointment that he tried to ignore for now.

As he took a few deep breaths to calm himself he vaguely registered Iruka-sensei calling for Naruto-kun's attention.

"What happened to you Iruka-sensei!?" Naruto-kun's distinctive voice bellowed from the direction of the living room. Kakashi followed the sound of the ruckus.

"I fell during my run" Iruka-sensei said. 'That's not... entirely what happened. But alright.' Kakashi mused.

"Kaka-sensei!? What're you doing here!?" Naruto-kun asked loudly, catching sight of the karate instructor.

"You're being too familiar again, Naruto." Iruka-sensei stated exasperatedly. "Kakashi-san helped me home when I hurt my ankle." Whether accidental or no, Kakashi did notice the dropping of the more formal honorific. Luckily it seemed Naruto-kun did not. Hearing his name spoken informally from the brunet was, for lack of a better word, nice.

"I wouldn't be a very nice person if I injured you and didn't even help you home after words now would I?" Kakashi replied. Iruka-sensei turned his head back and shot Kakashi a small, shy, lopsided smile that seemed to hold a little more meaning than it had before. Kakashi felt an odd sensation in his chest and the hallway they stood in felt a little warmer all of the sudden. He smiled back. This one was a bit more genuine than the other smirks and polite upturns of his visible eye.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" Iruka-sensei asked after a moment.

Mildly surprised Kakashi answered "I haven't."

"You're free to eat here, if you want." Iruka-sensei offered.

Kakashi nodded "I'd like that."

Iruka-sensei. '-San' Iruka-san, despite Kakashi's offer to help, had bullied the masked man into taking a seat while he made breakfast. Naruto was nodding off at the table. He looked around the room. His back faced a large window covered with white curtains. Sunlight poured in making the cluttered apartment bright and cheerful. The sounds of the pony-tailed man cooking filled the calm quiet of the room. It was nice, not to have to cook for once, even though Kakashi really should be the one standing over the stove.

Naruto was practically asleep with his head nearly touching the table. With a thud his body went limp and his forehead hit the surface. A soft snoring filled the room. Kakashi felt a smile on his lips and he stood. Walking around the dining room table he made his way into the small kitchen. Iruka-san had set the knee of his injured leg on the stool so he could stand in front of the oven.

"Naruto-kun fell asleep." Kakashi spoke after about a minute of watching the brunet. To be honest, he had enjoyed a small fantasy of sneaking up behind the scarred man and pulling his hair tie out. His mind briefly flitted to an image of him biting down on the side of the tan neck hard enough to sting but not enough to hurt. He shook that idea away before it could cause any trouble.

Iruka-san jumped slightly and turned quickly. "Kakashi-san! A little warning next time?" He asked his eyes wide and his breathing a little faster than it had been before.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

Iruka-san shot Kakashi another smile but sadly, not the same, meaningful one from before. "It's fine." He replied and went back to scrambling eggs.

"Anything I can do to help?"

"You're the guest just relax." Iruka-san answered. Kakashi spied an onion resting on a cutting board and went to work. "You really don't have to." Iruka-san said quietly.

"I want to." Kakashi replied. Iruka-san kept his gaze on the eggs as he poured them into the sauce pan. But Kakashi saw that soft smile return to the scarred man's lips. The corners of his own mouth turned up in a matching expression.

Kakashi stepped in through the front door of his house. He felt a little lighter ever since eating breakfast at Iruka-sensei's house. A furry mass of noses, lolling tongues and fur welcomed him at the door he patted the many heads of his dogs and went up the stairs to shower. He checked the time and realized that it was 9:45.

After a quick shower Kakashi dried himself off and dressed in a fresh set of jeans a clean mask and a dark blue short sleeved shirt. He went to the kitchen. The clock in the microwave read 10:05. Itachi was looking over the contents of the refrigerator. Sasuke was most likely already in his usual spot on the couch reading. "Have you two eaten breakfast yet?" Kakashi asked. Itachi closed the refrigerator door and turned to face the masked man.

"We had some fruit."

"Are you still hungry?"

"Not really." Itachi answered. Despite his answer he was dropping a few slices of bread into the toaster. "You're not usually out so long." He commented after a moment.

"I bumped into Iruka-sensei this morning."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Kakashi took a moment to fill a glass of water. "Speaking of which." Kakashi remembered. "How would you feel about babysitting Naruto-kun? Iruka-sensei said that he'd pay you."

Itachi took a few seconds to think. "I suppose I wouldn't mind." He answered.

"Good." Kakashi nodded.

"When do you have to go into work?" Itachi asked.

"Noon. You're doing your rehearsal with Asuma-san today?" Kakashi asked. Itachi nodded. "I'll try to wrap my class up early so I can come and watch, then." The man concluded lowering his mask to take a sip of water.

Itachi was quiet for a moment. "You seem... Happier, Kakashi." He remarked.

"I do?" Kakashi asked turning to look at the dark teen.

Itachi nodded.

"Do I?" Kakashi hummed lightly and left the room ignoring the feeling of sharp, dark eyes boring into the back of his skull.

Sasuke, as expected, was sitting on his favorite side of the couch with the book he had bought last week in his hands, nearly at the last page. "I'm still hungry." Sasuke mentioned his dark eyes still moving across the page.

"Alright." Kakashi answered. "Sandwich?"

"Hn." Kakashi took that as a yes.

He scratched his scalp "By the way, Sasuke. Itachi will probably be looking after Naruto-kun every once in a while from now on." That caught the dark-haired boy's attention. Kakashi quirked an eyebrow. "Do you mind?"He asked.

After a long moment of Sasuke just stared at him. After a while, the boy turned his attention back to his book with another "Hn."

Kakashi walked back into the kitchen to make a sandwich.

'What is the Hyuga boy trying to do? Break his fingers?' Kakashi wondered, watching the boy jab at the air with the three middle digits of his hand. Kakashi walked over and tried to explain that they were doing palm strikes, not pokes. Kakashi let Neji, who was now performing proper palm strikes with a surly look on his face.

Naruto-kun again stood next to Sasuke, this time of his own volition. Kakashi was a little worried. Iruka-sensei 'I probably should be calling him -san now.' He thought feeling a little bit of warmth rise in his stomach.

"Sensei? Can we move on? My arms are tired!" One of the children whined. Kakashi clapped his hands and told everyone to pair up. Most of the girls looked hopefully in Sasuke's direction except for the girl with the buns and Hinata-kun. He was pleased to see that Naruto-kun and Sasuke both looked at each other first. However, just a moment later they scowled and looked opposite directions. "Hey Teme..." Naruto-kun mumbled.

"Yeah." Sasuke muttered they faced one another.

"Alright, I'm going to teach you some new blocks." Kakashi announced to his class. I'm going to pick a strike and your partner on my left will perform it slowly and carefully. We're not aiming to hurt one another." He gave Kiba-kun, Naruto-kun and Sasuke all pointed looks. He looked for one of the taller children. "Ame-kun, mind helping me demonstrate?" The shy boy walked up. "Front kick me please..."

They carried on learning blocks. Kakashi stopping here and there to correct or tweak someone's stance or the position of their arms. With five minutes of the class left Kakashi concluded the class and told everyone to do their laps.

He looked out at the waiting area and was a little disappointed that when, after a moment, he didn't spot the familiar brunet ponytail. He caught sight of Naruto-kun looking out the window wall with a slightly confused look on his face.

When they were done the kids left the room with loud goodbyes. Kakashi looked the room over and followed their example. Naruto-kun was looking around, his confused eyes searching for the scarred man and turning confused when they didn't find him. There was a sag beginning to pull at his shoulders that Kakashi didn't really like the look of. The silver-haired man set a hand on one of them, startling the boy.

"I have something to discuss with Iruka-sensei. How about we wait together, Naruto-kun?" He suggested with his usual eye smile. Naruto-kun nodded after a moment.

"What about Itachi's set?" Sasuke asked.

"We'll see it on Monday." Kakashi answered. "Unless you'd like to go watch while I wait here with Naruto-kun?" Sasuke frowned and walked down the hallway to Asuma's room.

"Iruka-sensei said he'd be going to the doctors today. For his leg." Naruto-kun mentioned after a quiet moment.

"They probably put him on crutches then." Kakashi stated.

"Hm? Yeah, so?" Naruto asked

"He's probably not getting around very fast." Kakashi stated, turning to face the doors.

"Sensei?"

"Hm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Why is Sasuke like that?"

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked.

"Why's he so quiet all the time? He always looks like he's either mad or nothing at all." Naruto-kun looked honestly troubled.

Kakashi looked down at the boy considering him. Making his decision he sat in one of the chairs. "If you found out. What would you do about it?" Kakashi asked. watching the boy blankly.

Without batting an eye Naruto answered "I'd find a way ta fix it!"

"If it wasn't something anyone could fix?" Kakashi asked.

"It's really something that bad?" Naruto-kun's eyes went wide.

"It is."

"Then I'd find a way ta help him!" Naruto-kun's eyes glinted with determination. Kakashi, slightly taken aback was quiet for a moment.

"I see." Kakashi answered. 'For a moment you seemed like someone familiar.' Kakashi mused considering the ten year old standing before him. Naruto kept looking down the hallway that Sasuke had taken to Asuma's room. "Would you like to go watch Itachi's set with him?" Kakashi asked after a moment.

"But, Iruka-sensei..."

"I can wait in here. If he comes while you're gone, we'll come and find you." Kakashi answered.

Naruto-kun smiled wide. "Y'know sensei, you're a lot nicer than the other kids say you are!" 'Well that's a rather backhanded complement.' Kakashi thought flatly. Naruto-kun scampered off in the direction the other boy had gone and Kakashi continued to wait for the brunet.

More than anything he wanted to make sure he hadn't caused too much damage. 'Road rash on head, right arm and leg. A sprained ankle and probably a mild concussion...' His brain reminded. 'Shit... I'll apologize properly. Should I invite him to dinner sometime this week, maybe?' Kakashi wondered.

'Why did he lie when Naruto-kun asked what had happened?' That was the big question.

Kakashi vaguely registered the sound of the front door opening. He turned his head and there stood a familiar pony-tailed man who now resembled half a mummy with bandages wrapped around his head and arms to hold on the gauze pads. A crutch was held underneath his arm and he held his injured foot up. Kakashi felt amusement bubble up in his chest before it was quashed by a heavy sense of guilt. He was looking around with an increasingly confused expression on his handsome face. "Iruka-san." Kakashi spoke calling for the other man's attention.

"Kakashi-se-" He broke off and looked as if he were just realizing something. "Kakashi-san." He smiled. It dropped a little as his eyes searched the corners of the room. "Where's Naruto?"

"He's with Sasuke." Kakashi answered pulling himself out of his chair. "Follow me?" He asked

Iruka-san nodded and followed behind. "Sorry that I'm so late. The doctor took a little longer to see me than I expected." He spoke.

"That's a nice wrapping job." Kakashi commented lightly. 'Couldn't resist.'

Iruka's responding tone was embarrassed. "I think my nurse was still in training. Eheh..." Kakashi could picture the man scratching at his scar.

The masked man stopped and turned. "You'll be alright, won't you?"

Iruka-san looked surprised for a moment. "Um, yeah. I'm fine." A small smile quirked at the corner of his lips. "My doctor said that my scrapes and bruises should heal completely in the next couple weeks." Iruka-san answered. "My ankle should be fine in a few days."

"I'm glad to hear it." Kakashi replied. Genuinely relieved, if only a little.

They stopped in front of Asuma's door just in time for the bearded man to call Itachi's name. Kakashi peered inside. Itachi stood and began his set. The boy was amazing. He moved fluidly but almost unpredictably, even to Kakashi who had done this years before him.

"He's amazing." Iruka-san whispered from beside the masked man.

"He is." Kakashi agreed. He caught sight of the two boys sitting on the sidelines. Naruto-kun with a certain determined glow to his eyes now. Sasuke, with a look on his face that was obvious to anyone who knew him was an expression of stifled envy and annoyance.

After Itachi was done, Asuma's class was finished and Itachi made his way towards the door. "Iruka-sensei, what happened to you?" Itachi asked a little alarm working it's way into his voice when he caught sight of the grade school teacher.

"Oh, it's nothing. I fell." Iruka-san answered. 'Again?' Kakashi wondered eying the man standing beside him.

"You fell?" Itachi repeated skeptically.

"Didn't I tell you that I ran into Iruka-sensei earlier today?" Kakashi asked.

Itachi directed a hard stare in his guardian's direction. "You never said literally." Itachi answered. It looked like he wanted to roll his eyes but the teenager was keeping them steady by sheer willpower alone.

"I hope you'll be alright." Itachi said.

Iruka smiled. "I'll be good as new in a few weeks. Thank you though."

"Iruka-sensei! You look like a mummy!" A rough young voice declared.

"Thanks Naruto." Iruka replied flatly. "Oh Itachi-kun." he spoke. "I'm not sure if Kakashi-san-" Itachi's face showed a small amount of surprise at the change of honorifics. Kakashi didn't miss his reaction. "-told you yet, but I was wondering if you're interested in a babysitting job?" Itachi gave the masked man a look out of the corner of his eye.

"I am." Itachi answered.

"I'm glad to hear it!" Iruka addressed Kakashi. "Should we exchange numbers?" He asked.

Kakashi felt a pleasant squirm in his stomach. "Yeah..." He answered. They recited their numbers to one another.

"I'm not a baby!" Naruto-kun protested.

"No, but you're still too young to be left on your own." Iruka-san answered. Naruto-kun scowled.

"Look at the bright side." Kakashi said lightly. "At least you'll have Sasuke around to play with."

Naruto-kun, apparently hadn't thought of that. 'A little slow, aren't you?' Kakashi mused watching the little blonde as he turned his head to look at the masked man's ward.

Sasuke looked back at him. "Hmph. I guess..." Naruto-kun said after a moment folding his arms over his chest. He didn't look nearly as annoyed as he probably tried to seem.

Kakashi suppressed a small smirk.

"Well, Naruto, do you think we're ready to go?" Iruka-san asked.

"Yep." The little blonde replied.

"I guess I'll see you on Tuesday then." Iruka-san said to Kakashi with a smile.

'Do it. Do it. .' He turned just in time to see Iruka-san's back disappearing through the exit. 'Damnit.' Kakashi sighed internally. He turned back to the boys saying. "I'm going to go get changed. Meet you by the front doors?" Itachi nodded.

Again I'm so sorry. This chapter feels kind of weak to me. Speaking of weak writing, I may eventually go back and revise my past chapters. I won't do anything drastic. Just fix some grammar, spelling and punctuation errors and try to make the dialogue flow better. The thing is I know I can write much better than this. I'm going to work harder to bring you guys a good story.