Chapter Ten


A/N: I'd like to thank everyone for their responses on the last chapter. I tried to keep things as soft-core as possible. I'm thrilled that so many people seem to like this story so much, especially some authors' whose work I've been reading since I first got into the fandom. (you know who you are!) As always, comment and criticism are welcome. I'll try to respond to all signed reviews! If you left an anonymous review, know that I do appreciate your input as well! Special thanks to Stinky_horowitz on LJ for pointing out a major mistake that has since been fixed! Worship stinky, for she is a beta-god!

eve- Yes I do have more stories and I will be posting those here! Thanks for your interest.

Aoh- Glad to fill your idle hours. Maybe it's Iruka's soap? He doesn't have to hide his scent from enemy ninjas so he can use scented soaps. ~shrugs~ At least he doesn't smell like flowers or something equally as girly. I like the small of cinnamon. It's a warm, earthy smell.

Iruka released the henge and waited for Kakashi to get over his shock, every muscle tense and ready. His fingers itched toward the kunai in his pouch, but he refused to draw them until Kakashi made the first move. Of course, he might be dead by then, but it wasn't wise to provoke the Copy-nin more than necessary.

"Y-you? That was you?" Kakashi's voice gave away nothing.

"Yes." Iruka waited for the explosion. He forced himself not to flinch as Kakashi turned his gaze down to the baby sleeping peacefully in his lap, unaware of the tension crackling between the two adults.

"So…" Kakashi's voice was tightly controlled. "Shimo is my son… and yours?"

Iruka nodded. He swallowed, fingering the two thin senbon needles stashed in the hem of his chuunin vest. If Kakashi attacked him, there was no guarantee that he could even manage to draw one of them before the man reached him, but he felt better knowing that he would die fighting. He felt for the thread of chakra that he had bound into the justsu around his apartment. One good pulse of chakra along the conduit would cause the whole thing to unravel, and alert the ANBU that was watching over Kakashi.

"I think, Iruka-sensei," The copy-nin stated in a deadly quiet voice. "That I would like an explanation."

Iruka shivered at the lethal promise in that statement. "And you deserve to know the truth. I'm sorry I kept it from you for so long."

Kakashi simply stared at him, but Iruka kept his eyes on his son, sleeping in the lap of the deadliest man in Konoha. Keeping his voice low and controlled, he repeated what had happened in the Hokage's office a little over a year ago. He watched Kakashi's hands tighten into fists and had to fight the urge to snatch Shimo away as he described the council's manipulation of Tsunade.

"So should I ask how you go roped into this?" Kakashi's tone was pulled as tight as a wire trap.

"I volunteered." Iruka said plainly. Now he looked down at his lap, unable to meet that piercing gray eye. "If you couldn't guess from the jutsu I put around my apartment, I know a few things that most chuunin don't. When I was a child I memorized several forbidden jutsu. One is designed to be a perfect infiltration device. It makes the changes created by a henge real and solid. It's a true transformation jutsu, with the added ability that you can be practically anyone, so long as you can henge into their form." He laughed a little bitterly. "It hurts like hell to use."

Iruka studied the sleeping baby, unwilling to look up and fearing what he might see in that masked face. "Tsunade didn't want to order you to do something like that and refused to take what was needed from you to impregnate someone in secret. So I asked her to let me…" Iruka felt his lips twist up in a humorless smile. "I followed you for a month before I allowed Tsunade to seal me into the jutsu. I had to be sealed, because if I slipped at all, I would kill both myself and… Shimo."

When Kakashi said nothing, Iruka sighed and continued. "I found out that after long missions, when you weren't too badly injured, you would visit a certain bathhouse in the red-light district. I thought that would be the perfect opportunity to do what needed to be done. Imagine my surprise, when the madam said that you never once hired the services of her girls."

Kakashi said nothing, and Iruka dared a sideways glance at his face. The single eye was fixed on Shimo and suddenly panic filled Iruka's chest. Kakashi could not take Shimo from him. He'd sooner die than give up his son! From the moment Tsunade had assured him that he had conceived, he'd known that nothing could induce him to give up his child. He'd go missing nin before he let the council take his son. He'd fight a losing battle against the Copy-nin to protect Shimo.

He almost reached out and snatched the child from Kakashi's lap, but the eye flashed up and froze him in place. He had a feeling that Kakashi knew everything he had been thinking. His heart contracted painfully in his chest, reminding him of the bleak despair that had settled over him during his willing exile. He had lied to Kakashi, to the whole village. There was little he could do to restore the trust that he had shattered.

Kakashi's steely eye fixed him with a glare, and Iruka couldn't help but remember the single time that eye had regarded him with desire and maybe a little affection. He would never see that look again.

"You…" Kakashi began.

Suddenly Iruka couldn't take it anymore. "Yes, I lied to you. Yes, I deliberately took advantage of you to get Shimo. The Hokage had two untenable choices, so I took it out of her hands by coming up with a third option. I enlisted her help in it, but the plan was all mine!" He blurted. Somewhere deep inside he was anticipating the feel of the jounin's hands around his throat, the sickening snap that would end his lies once and for all.

"Why?" The single word sounded as if it were gritted out through clenched teeth.

Iruka shivered in spite of himself, feeling the growing pressure of Kakashi's chakra against his own. Against his better judgment, he spoke. "Because neither of the other options were feasible. What would you do if Tsunade ordered you to father a child? What would your reaction be if you found she had taken a sample from you to impregnate a council flunky?"

"And what you did was so much better?" Kakashi's words stung like the lash they were supposed to be.

"No." Iruka bit back. "I know my choices were no better than that, but I couldn't see your child being controlled by the council. Would you want your own blood to wind up being another Itachi or even Sasuke, for Kami's sake?"

He never saw the Copy-nin move, but suddenly he was pinned to the wall by a brutal arm across his throat. Frantically, he looked for Shimo, finding his son still asleep, undisturbed by his abrupt removal from Kakashi's lap to the couch.

"How dare you?" Kakashi hissed. There was fury in his visible eye, rage tempered by sorrow almost as great as Iruka's own.

Without his conscious control, his hand rose up to cup the masked cheek just below that blazing eye. "It's not your failure, Kakashi-sensei. If it's anyone's, it's mine for letting him pass the genin exams without a full psychiatric evaluation. I knew he was damaged inside by the slaughter of his clan, but I allowed myself to hope that pairing him up with Naruto and Sakura would ease his lust for revenge. You didn't fail him."

"I taught him the jutsu that nearly killed Naruto, or did you forget that?" Kakashi hissed.

Iruka swallowed and wished the pressure on his throat would ease. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. "No. I have never forgotten that. But a jutsu is just another tool, like a kunai, in a shinobi's hand. It's all in how we decide to use them."

Suddenly, he was free and his knees buckled under him. Kakashi slammed a gloved fist into the wall, his single visible eye narrowed and the skin around it drawn tight. The sudden noise woke Shimo, who wailed, and Iruka lurched toward the couch, suddenly sure the shrill noise would make Kakashi snap into more violence. He had barely made it two steps when Shimo was in Kakashi's arms.

Something in Iruka broke and he was suddenly in the frame of mind he called 'mission mode.' His mind was going too fast for him to actually process thoughts, the world retreating to a series of disjointed images as he analyzed the enemy and how best to disable him. His wrist snapped out and Kakashi dodged a kunai, and right into the path of the second. He managed to twist aside, but the chuunin was on him in a flurry of swift taijutsu kicks that he struggled to block.

"Iruka-sensei – "

Iruka's face had gone disturbingly blank and Kakashi realized that the man was willing to fight until his opponent went down or he himself was dead or disabled. "Iruka-sensei!" He tried again, only barely managing to avoid being backed into the narrow hallway of the chuunin-sensei's apartment. Iruka was aiming to wound or disable, and Kakashi realized it was because of Shimo. He dared not try for any deadly blows because of the risk of hurting the baby. "Stop it!"

He leapt to avoid a sweeping kick and Shimo wailed louder in his arms. Iruka snatched up a small table and flung it at Kakashi's legs as he came down. Kakashi had to use his chakra to avoid losing his balance, and that was a nearly fatal mistake. A blade skimmed across his thigh and he winced at the hot, bright pain of it. He had to get in close, too close for combat weapons. He ducked another lunge and while Iruka was still in the extend, did something stupid, knowing it would get him hurt again. He bulled forward, attempting to pin the chuunin to the wall. He felt another kunai lodge in his arm but managed to pin Iruka. "Damn it, Iruka-sensei, stop this! You're going to hurt Shimo!"

Iruka blinked and went slack, life coming back to his eyes even as they started swimming with tears. "Don't hurt my son, Kakashi, please." Kakashi stepped back but Iruka remained where he was, his hands coming up in a pleading gesture. "Don't take Shimo away!"

Kakashi had to recoup for a moment. Iruka had actually thought he would hurt Shimo? No. It wasn't the fear for his son's safety, but the fear that the jounin would take the baby away from him. Iruka looked surprisingly fragile, like he might break apart if that were to happen.

"Sit down, Iruka-sensei. I think we need to talk." He surrendered Shimo into those reaching arms, watching as relief filled brown eyes and the tender way the other man cradled the infant, soothing his fright away. If he hadn't seen it before, he knew now that Iruka loved his small son in a way that put his well-being ahead of anything else, even the chuunin's own life.

Wincing as stabs of pain from his injuries made themselves known; Kakashi followed Iruka back to the couch. He yanked the kunai from his bicep and was using teeth and his other hand to try and bind the wound when gentle hands stopped him, Iruka had set Shimo in a small cradle that Kakashi hadn't noticed before and come to his side. He used a fresh kunai to cut the ruined sleeve away and used the wad of cloth to staunch the blood. "Hold this."

Kakashi obeyed and watched, bemused, as Iruka retreated to the kitchen and returned with a bowl of water, bandages and a first aid kit. He knelt next to where Kakashi sat and began cleaning the wound. Kakashi was uncomfortably reminded of when Iruka had done this for him before, under the guise of Umi the maid. Iruka's hands were just as deft now as they were then, fingertips warm as they pressed the edges of the wound closed so he could apply pieces of tape to hold it closed. He swiftly bandaged the arm and looked uncomfortably at the narrow gash high on the jounin's thigh.

Kakashi allowed himself a smirk, feeling like it was time for a little payback of his own. "Want me to drop my pants for this, Iruka-sensei? After all, it's not like you haven't seen it before."

Red flamed across the scar but Iruka stiffened his shoulders and nodded. "It will be easier to bandage that way."

Surprised, Kakashi didn't move. Iruka scowled at him and suddenly henged into the form of Umi. "Or would you rather I look this way?" His voice was bitter.

Kakashi managed a careless sounding grunt, startled by Iruka's willingness to give as good as he got. "Drop the henge, Iruka-sensei, and then I'll drop my pants for you."

Iruka snorted, but let the henge dissolve. Kakashi forced himself to lower his black pants, grateful that he never went commando anymore. Iruka waited until he sat back down and neatly treated the wound he had inflicted. Kakashi tried not to flinch as Iruka wrapped gauze around his thigh. He was the damned Copy-nin, and had no reason to flinch from Iruka. But part of him wanted to, very badly.

Iruka finished treating him and carried the rest of his supplies back to the kitchen as Kakashi pulled his pants back up.

Iruka sat down, one hand resting protectively (possessively?) on the edge of Shimo's cradle. "I know I have no justification for what I did, but please, don't take Shimo from me."

Kakashi felt his stomach knot. Did Iruka really believe he was that much of a monster, to take a child away from his parent?

"I know you have as much claim to him as I do, but please." Iruka's voice hitched and he looked down to hide the gleam of fresh tears in his eye.

Kakashi dared to rise and touch Shimo's featherdown shock of hair, the same color as his own. "He's beautiful, isn't he?"

Iruka smiled tremulously. "Yes."

"I had never dreamed of children. I didn't want to pass down my father's legacy to an unsuspecting child." Kakashi stared down at the fragile bit of life that he and Iruka had created. "But now that he's here, I don't think I could imagine the world without him."

Iruka shivered, caught by the possessive pride in the Copy-nin's voice. "Please…" His voice was barely a whisper.

Kakashi sighed and caught Iruka's chin. He knew instantly that was the wrong move, as Iruka's brown eyes blazed and he knocked Kakashi's hand away. "Don't patronize me. I may have played the part, but I am no woman."

"Stop bristling at me, Iruka-sensei." Kakashi told him, exasperated. "Would you believe me if I said I have no intention of taking Shimo from you?"

Iruka looked up into his face, suspicious. "No."

"Well, believe that it's the truth. However, that doesn't mean I'll accept being cut out of his life. He is my son." He gave Iruka a one-eyed glare. "You won't get rid of me so easily."

Something shifted in Iruka's eyes and he grinned challengingly at Kakashi. "I wouldn't have it any other way!"

Kakashi had to laugh at the clear challenge in those words. For the first time since he had followed Iruka home, the air was almost clear, the tension dissipating between them. They still had much to talk about, but for now they had made a fragile sort of peace between them.

Iruka chuckled and looked at the takeout Kakashi had brought. "Well, at least the food is still half-way warm, so how does," He glanced at the clock and laughed again. "A really late dinner sound?"

Kakashi glanced at the time and felt his mouth drop open. The sun had set while he was here and the sky had darkened almost all the way to black. "More like a really early midnight snack."

Iruka snorted. "I'll set the food out and reheat what needs it. You make some tea." He helpfully handed the jounin the teapot and pointed at the cabinet that held the tea.

Kakashi had just begun to heat the water for tea when a tap on the door startled them both. He shared a startled glance with Iruka, who shrugged and headed for the door, pausing to release the jutsu that had bound the apartment all evening. Kakashi slid into place behind the door as Iruka reached for it. Iruka shot him a glare that wondered why an enemy would come knocking at his door, even so late in the evening.

"May I help you?" He opened the door and stared curiously at the rail-thin man standing there. He didn't look very dangerous, more like a clerk or minor functionary.

"Umino-san?"

"Yes."

The man reached into a pouch and pulled out a sealed scroll. Behind the door, Kakashi could feel the chuunin's heartbeat speed up. His cinnamon and chalkdust scent was suddenly full of fear and nervous sweat. He was about to move when he saw Iruka's fingers still on the door move in a swift pattern on the wood. It was the shorthand sign used in dangerous situation, where a whispered word could bring a dozen enemies down on you. Wait, he signed. Be silent, stay hidden and wait.

The thin man handed Iruka the scroll. "You are summoned before the council of elders."

Iruka hesitated. "I beg pardon, but it's rather late... I will have to settle my son down for the night."

"The summons is urgent, Umino-san. Bring the child. I am here to escort you."

Kakashi could feel the sudden flare of panic from Iruka and he tensed. "Of course." Iruka's voice showed none of his fear, calm and professional. His fingers moved again. Stay hidden, he signed again. Then run, fetch Hokage. Hurry!

You hate me now... don't you? ~inserts dramatic music~