CHAPTER ELEVEN

"What took you so long?" Sasuke asked when Naruto finally met him by the main school doors.

"Kiba was very detailed in his telling of the make-up sex he finally had with Shino last night," Naruto fake gagged. He wasn't entirely lying, Kiba had just been telling him about the mending of their lovers' quarrel, but he'd only caught him after he left the Anatomy classroom. "Apparently it took forever for Shino to actually believe he hadn't been cheating on him."

"Poor Kiba," Sasuke said, sarcasm spilling from his sassy mouth as he did so. "Whatever, let's go." The two boys began walking down the front steps of the school and toward Sasuke's car. The ride home was, as it had been a lot around that time, tense. Naruto was still in denial with Sasuke's claims of Kakashi's true intentions, and Sasuke was still aggravated over how oblivious and idiotic Naruto was.

So basically, it was awkward.

/\/\/\/\/\

Later that night, Naruto received a text from Kakashi asking if he would like to come over. (We all know what that means.) So, Naruto told Sasuke, who was sitting in the kitchen doing homework, that he would be hanging out with Gaara. When Sasuke inquired him on what they would be doing, Naruto lied and said that Gaara wanted him to meet the cat Kankuro had just adopted. Though Kankuro did have several cats in his possession, he'd had them all for quite a while and Naruto had seen them plenty of times before. His favorite was a little orange one that Kankuro had let him name after his deceased father. Naruto had always been pretty close with all of Gaara's family, and they all understood the pain he'd gone through when both of his parents had died. His parents, Minoto and Kushina, had been killed in some war. Minoto, being the Hokage at the time of his death, had been high on someone from a neighboring land's hit list. Kushina had been on it, as well, seeing as she had been the wife of the Hokage. They'd both been assassinated one unfortunate night, and Naruto had been one of the last ones to find out, as he'd been spending that weekend at Sasuke's family's estate. But that's all in the past now, and Gaara and his siblings knew not to speak of it around Naruto, as he easily got very emotional over it.

(Moving on, now that we finally have some main character backstory in the eleventh goddamn chapter)

Sasuke had simply nodded in response, which Naruto interpreted as his farewell. Naruto grabbed his key and jacket, heading out to Kakahsi's building a bit earlier than they'd planned.

/\/\/\/\/\

Kakashi moved to the side a bit so he could get closer to his couch companion, only to be gently pushed back to his original spot.

"Please don't sit that close, Kakashi."

"Why not?" Kakashi asked, his pout visible with the lack of his mask.

"It's awkward."

Kakashi chuckled lightly. "Why should it be awkward, Iruka? We're all adults here. I think we should be able to sit in close quarters without it being awkward, whether we used to be in a relationship or not."

"Fine," Iruka sighed out in easy defeat.

Kakashi grinned and moved closer again, happy with the success he felt as he placed himself flush against his former fiancée's right side. "Can I tell you something, Iruka-kun?"

Iruka turned his head to the side to look at his replacement teacher. "What is it, Kakashi?" he asked.

"I think I still love you," the other man replied with a small smile.

"Don't lie to me, Kakashi," Iruka said almost warningly.

"Whoever said I was lying? I'm being serious."

Iruka hesitated for a moment. "R-really?"

Kakashi would've smirked if he'd had the luxury of his mask.

"Yes, Iruka. I've been thinking about you, and us, and how badly I screwed up for a while now. I know what I did was wrong, and I'd be so happy if you'd give me a second chance."

"Kakashi, I… I don't really know what to say… I mean, I really want to say yes, because I'd be lying if I said I didn't still want you back, but I know that I shouldn't. It wouldn't be right after everything you put me through."

"Iruka, please…" Kakashi put his hand on Iruka's knee. "I'm begging you."

Iruka paused again, sighing after a long moment of contemplation. "Alright, Kakashi. I say we give it another try." He smiled lovingly then, faltering only when he felt Kakashi's hand begin its inevitable ascent up his thigh. "Kakashi, I don't think we should-"

"Shh…" Kakashi silence him with a kiss, quick to situate himself on Iruka's lap as he continued their embrace. After several minutes of bliss, Kakashi pulled back only to say,

"I love you," before going right back at it.

Yamato was right.

He had gotten too good at lying.

END CHAPTER ELEVEN.