Chapter Ten: Driving Me Crazy.

"Don't go," Iruka whispered.

Kakashi paused a moment, watching Iruka and then turned back to face the door. With a gentle sigh, he pulled down his mask, then reached behind himself and gently disengaged Iruka's hand. He didn't release the hand as he turned to face Iruka, and Iruka didn't pull it away. Kakashi gently squeezed it.

"Is there something you need to tell me?" Kakashi asked quietly.

Iruka flushed and glanced up at him.

Kakashi's face was perfectly expressionless, although there was something in his eyes that Iruka couldn't read. Iruka fidgeted.

"Well?"

Iruka looked away from Kakashi miserably. Now he'd done it. He didn't have any idea what to say. He had just reacted. He still couldn't think of anything to actually tell the other man. He certainly couldn't tell him not to go because he was in love with him. Iruka screwed his eyes closed. There was a long silence, and then Kakashi spoke.

"How about if I go first?"

First?

Kakashi put his hand up to Iruka's face, and with gentle pressure turned it to face him. Iruka opened his eyes and looked into Kakashi's.

"I love you," Kakashi said calmly.

Iruka blinked. Then he blinked several more times for good measure.

Kakashi grinned at him. "In retrospect, I think I started to fall in love with you back when you shouted at me over nominating the kids for the chuunin exams."

"What?"

"Of course I was a bit irritated at the time, but you were really fired up, like a mother dog protecting her puppies. You were intriguing… and cute."

Iruka blinked some more. "Cute…"

"Of course," Kakashi continued cheerfully, "I was pretty sure that you hated me after that. And I guess I didn't help matters by giving you terribly-written mission reports on purpose."

"It really WAS on purpose."

"Yeah, I figured it'd drive you crazy."

"It DID drive me crazy!"

Kakashi grinned wider. "I know. But you're just so adorable when you're annoyed."

"You…"

"Of course you're also adorable when you're surprised. When I summoned Pakkun for you… you should have seen your face. It's just as well we were in Tsunade-sama's office... otherwise I might have given you an even bigger surprise."

"What?" Iruka felt his cheeks heat.

"But after that you went back to the glaring and whacking me with my reports," Kakashi looked forlorn, "I had no idea how to change your opinion of me. But then you forgot who I was, and our past interactions, and then there was a lot less glaring. A lot of whacking still," he grinned.

"Uh..."

"And then I woke up with you in my arms all sleepy and rumpled and adorable. I didn't want to move and break the moment, but I also wanted to do very bad things to you. I didn't know what would go through that head of yours when your memories came back so I behaved myself. That took no willpower at all compared to not kissing you when I pulled you into my arms behind that tree though."

"You..."

"But the fact that you were so comfortable around me so fast… it occurred to me that maybe there was something other than annoyance behind the heated looks you'd been giving me all this time."

"I…"

"But I wasn't really sure until just now. My people reading skills apparently let me down badly when it came to you. You had me pretty confused for a while."

"I…"

"Yes?"

Iruka gulped and looked away, the flush burning on his cheeks. "I…" He looked back at Kakashi. Kakashi grinned back at him.

"I love you," Iruka whispered.

One of Kakashi's hands slid around Iruka's back. The other moved around to cradle the back of his head. "I know."

Iruka's entire body felt warm and light as Kakashi's closed the space between them. Softly Kakashi's lips came in contact with Iruka's. Iruka slid his arms around Kakashi's waist, and leaned in to the kiss. After a few moments, Kakashi broke away and Iruka whimpered unhappily, his eyes fluttering open at the loss of contact. Kakashi smiled at him and pulled Iruka's body in against his own, holding him tightly. Iruka closed his eyes and sighed contentedly, returning the embrace.

O

After a moment the firmness of Kakashi's embrace decreased. "Come here," he said, taking Iruka's hand and leading him over near the bookcase where they had spent their previous nights sprawled. He sat down with his back against the wall, and pulled Iruka between his legs in front of him, Iruka's back to his chest and wrapped his arms around him. Iruka relaxed back into his arms bewildered, relieved, and with a pleasant warmth running through his entire body. They simply sat for some time, both processing this turn of events. Gradually Iruka's thoughts started to coalesce.

"Why did you let me see your face that first evening?" He asked softly.

"Because I love you," Kakashi replied, nuzzling against Iruka's neck.

"But you didn't know that I loved you. I didn't know that I loved you!"

"After seeing my face? You didn't stand a chance." Iruka could hear the smirk in his voice. Iruka dug his elbow back into Kakashi's stomach. Kakashi chuckled in his ear.

"No, really. You keep it hidden so meticulously."

Kakashi leaned around to look at Iruka's face. Iruka turned his head and Kakashi kissed him softly. "It just… felt right. I wanted you to know me."

"But…"

"And I trust you."

Iruka smiled at him. "Even though I'm pushy and shout at you?"

"I like it when you're pushy. It's sexy."

Iruka ducked his head.

"God you're cute." Kakashi said, squeezing his arms tighter and turning his attention to nibbling on Iruka's ear.

"Why you?" Iruka asked after a few more minutes lost in the sensations Kakashi was creating.

"Why me what?"

"Why did Tsunade-sama make you look after me? Especially after we'd cleared out the mission room shouting at each other not that long before."

"I actually asked her that at the hospital, while you were getting ready to come home. She said that memory was a strange thing. You'd lost your memory of yourself and everyone you knew, and yet you automatically bristled at me. Apparently," and Kakashi's chest shook with his chuckle, "she thought that the fact that I evoke strong emotions in you might be helpful in getting your memory back."

Iruka smiled and ran his fingers gently over Kakashi's knee. Then he thought about just whose knee it was.

"Why me?" He asked in a small voice.

"I told you already!" Kakashi protested. "You're adorable. And sexy as hell."

Iruka sat forward and turned to look into Kakashi's face dubiously.

"Oh good god, you really don't get it do you?" Kakashi growled, releasing one of his arms and using the hand to pull Iruka's mouth to his own again. "Iruka," he said, pulling away, much to Iruka's displeasure, "you know that last report, the one that you really lost it over?"

Iruka looked away uncomfortably and nodded.

"You know why it was so bad?

"Because you were trying to drive me crazy?"

"No," Kakashi said. He turned Iruka's body, making him adjust so that he was sitting facing Kakashi. Kakashi took Iruka's chin in his hand and looked deep into his eyes. "Because you drive me crazy." He looked a bit rueful and looked away. "Admittedly I have been having an awful lot of fun finding new ways to make you want to want to ram my reports down my throat, but this time… My last mission – I'd been away for a while, and I just wanted to see you. I knew you'd only be on duty in the mission room that morning, and handing in missions to you was my main excuse to see you. I didn't have time to stop and write it, so I bribed one of my ninken to let me use him as a mobile writing desk, and wrote it while running."

Iruka's jaw dropped a bit, "I THOUGHT it looked like it had been written while you were running!"

Kakashi looked back at him and grinned. "Yeah, Bull didn't really understand. He thought that if I had a thing for you I should just tell you that I love you and want your puppies. I had to explain that firstly, that wasn't physically possible, and secondly, you'd think I was messing with you, since our relationship to date pretty much consisted of me annoying the hell out of you." Kakashi shrugged ruefully. "He told me that for a genius I'm kind of an idiot, but he let me do it for the promise of an extra bloody steak."

Iruka laughed. "I think I'll like Bull."

"I'm sure you will," Kakashi replied. "He's pretty straightforward. There's something to say for straightforwardness. I have to wonder if it might have been better for me to just come straight up to you at some point and say "Hey Iruka, I know we got off to a bad start, but half the time I have my hand in my pocket around you is so people won't realise the effect you have on me."

Iruka stared at him. Kakashi shrugged a bit bashfully.

"Perhaps you should have," Iruka replied after a swallow, completely enamoured by the unguarded expression on Kakashi's face. "Might have saved us both a lot of time waiting for me to wake up and realise that we'd be both a lot better off if I had my hand in your pocket."

The only warning Iruka got was the sudden dilation of Kakashi's pupil and then he found himself flat on his back on the floor, crushed by the jounin, being kissed senseless.

to be continued...