A/N :
Sorry for a looong delay...! –bows repeatedly- It has been 7-8 months since the last update, huh? Once again I'm very sorry to make u all wait this long. It's just that since I began clinical year right 7 months ago, it's harder to make enough time to write this story. Really. I've been dead tired after classes and taking care of patients at the end of days. I DID write this chapter practically in my class in the Eye Department when suddenly KakaIru muse stroke in. I just hope my writing skill didn't suffer too much. Enjoy!
WARNING!! UNBETAED!! (Forgive me....!! Anyone's interested to help beta-reading is very greatly appreciated! –bows- Please contact me asap!)
And not to forget, thank u again for anyone who sends me their supports and regards these months. I really appreciate it! =)
- Izky
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Chapter 13 – The Arrival : 2,244 words
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It took nearly a month before Naruto, Jiraiya, and –finally- Tsunade came back.
Before their coming, the court had been trying its best to maintain the leadership without any actual leader after the death of Sandaime. Yet, as soon as Tsunade came into the picture, a grim and unhesistant look on her beautiful and surprisingly still young face, the court immediatelly stepped down and let the rightful blonde woman took the lead and ordered immediate meetings with Kohoha important elements : the court, the clan leaders, ANBUs, Jounins, Roots, etc at the very same day
Iruka had never seen the blonde Sannin since her arrival two days ago..
Until now.
Her face was as beautiful as Iruka remembered long ago. Smooth and pale skin against blonde strands as her lips curved in such a way that only few man could resist to touch them (and Iruka only knew one or two that could do it successfully –yet ironically - had the woman's permission to touch them without being thrown to the sky). Her curves showed perfectly under those green robe, far different than the usual pale green jounin vest Iruka remembered she often wore.
"It has been a long time....sensei." The words came out immediatelly as Iruka sat arwarkdly on the bedside, hands gripped the unresponsive paler yet bigger hand as its owner lied unsconciously on the white bed.
The blonde woman didn't answer, simply standing on the door as her eyes stared unblinkingly at the nervous brown haired kunoichi and the unsconcious silver haired jounin in the one of the hospital rooms.
The arwarkd atmosphere was broken immediatelly as a certain loud jounin jumped from Tsunade's behind and shouted, filling the silence with his loud voice. "Greetings! My eternal rival's love! I see that you're surprised with Tsunade-sama's arrival! Don't worry about Kakashi anymore! He'll be up in no time under our new Hokage's wonderful care!"
"Ah....uhm.... I hope so, Gai-san." Iruka could feel hotness creep into her cheeks as Tsunade raised her eyebrows at Gai's exclamation.
"Tsunade-sama! I know you already hear about my eternal rival's condition! I only can hope that –"
"Enough, Gai. I'll see what I can do. Please leave this room so I can concentrate, alright?" Tsunade merely looked at Gai. The jounin immediatelly stopped his tirade as he nodded, an unusual serious expresssion on his face, far different than his usual cheeky one.
"I'm counting on you, Tsunade-sama!" Within a second, Gai was already gone, closing the door in his leave.
Iruka didn't know if she should be relieved or bothered at Tsunade's serious look at Kakashi's lying form, forgetting her presence at all. It seemed that the blonde haired Sannin was already in working mode as she began inspecting and examining Kakashi's form.
And she didn't ask me to leave.....
Even after years being under Tsunade's tutelage, Iruka always felt amazed at the sight of her sensei treating her patients with her chakra (which happened only for emergency cases). The blue-white chakra coming out of her palms, the swirl of warm air surrounded the blonde woman, the closed lids of hers and the sharp intake of breath every few seconds from those sensous lips – all of them created a beautiful sight of a mature kunoichi that Iruka never failed to admire.
It had been a full fifteen minutes (Iruka counted) of infusing chakra into Kakashi's body when suddenly Kakashi began coughing wildly.
"Kakashi!? Sensei, is he-"
"He's fine already. Open your eyes, brat." Wiping off the sweat off her face, Tsunade patted the pale cheeks (the blanket was coming off in the middle of her treatment) gently.
Iruka didn't dare to breath as those previously closed eyelids opened slowly, revealing a pair of mismatched droppy eyes she really wished to see since days ago.
"Ugh....What happened?" Kakashi's baritone voice sounded weaker and rougher than usual, but Iruka couldn't careless.
"Kakashi....? Are you...alright?" Hesistantly the brown haired chuunin stepped closer to the bed, leaning toward the pale face , thoughts over the blonde Sannin soon forgotten as she saw those confused mismatched eyes she really missed.
"Iruka? Am I in the hospital....again?" Kakashi's weak voice filled the room as its owner turned his eyes at her, pale lips moved slowly with every intake of breath.
That last word finally broke Iruka's composure as she suddenly launched herself into the barely awake silver haired jounin, circling her arms around Kakashi's shoulder and burying her now crying face into the jounin's neck, forgetting anything in the room but the presence of the silver haired man.
"Wha-Iruka-"
"Thank God you're still alive!....Oh God....I thought I'd never-" And the rest was lost as Iruka's sobs filled the room.
I missed you so much.....
Through the tears and sobs racking her body, Iruka could feel the jounin returned her hug, embracing her slowly with his arms and pulling her into the bed until she was lying half on top the now awake jounin.
"I'm sorry for making you worry, Iruka...." The whisper was so faint, filling Iruka's heart with unexpected yet welcomed warmth. She had never realized how much the presence of this very man affected her being. Until now.
"Mmh...... I'm just very happy to see you're alright....." Iruka mumbled against the pale skin as she tightened her arms. It had been a very long time since the last time she enjoyed his warmth like this.
"Ehem."
The sudden cough dispelled the couple's moment as Iruka finally aware of their surrounding. With a blushing face as red as red lobbster, the female chuunin jumped out of Kakashi's arms and bowed at the Sannin before them. She didn't dare to see (or imagine) what kind of face Tsunade had now at the blatantly rude (not to mention embarassing) behavior she did.
"Ah-Um-Er-Please forgive me, sensei! I know it's horribingly rude of me, but I'm just very glad that Kakashi is recovered! So please-"
Before the blushing sensei could finish her sentence, a pale familiar hand covered her mouth and before Iruka could realize it – Kakashi already pulled her into his arms one more time.
Iruka didn't dare to open her eyes.
"Maa......We didn't do anything wrong, Iruka. By the way, thank you for your help, Tsunade-sama." Kakashi curved his eyes as he kept Iruka on his lap, one hand firmly circled the chuunin's waist as the other one covered half of Iruka's face.
"Hmph....I accept your thanks, brat. Still, if you're not injured right now, I would beat you down into pulp myself."
As she finally succedded releasing herself from the silver haired jounin, Iruka blinked questioningly at the rather odd comment. "Uhm, sensei? What do you mean?"
The blonde Sannin threw a rather unreadable look at her before quickly turned outside the room. "Just behave yourself."
And she was gone, leaving a baffled Iruka and a grinning Kakashi.
"Do you do something to her, Kakashi? She looks.....rather angry." A dark thought passed her mind briefly.
Maybe she did really hate me....
"Nah....she always acts grumpy to me. Don't worry much, Iruka." Kakashi curved his eyes as he mentioned to Iruka to sit beside him on the bed.
"Huh?" Iruka, obeying the jounin's silent request, turned her eyes to look down at the face of the silver haired jounin. Even though Kakashi acted normal already – well...as normal as crazy jounin he was (a fact that disturbed Iruka more than she thought), she could see the much paler face and stiffness of his muscles and posture. It was obvious that he was tired and worn out, yet too stubborn to show them to her.
Wait a minute....
She could see his face.....
....
The naked face of the silver haired jounin.
"Wha!? Kakashi!? Where is your mask!???" Iruka sputtered as she finally pointed the face before her. Thoughts of her rather complicated matters with her sensei flied out of the window, replaced by the images of the handsome pale face before her.
Kakashi blinked, looking at a certain and familiar black cloth on the table a few feet away, folded neatly together with his jounin vest. "I suppose you put it there?" He pointed at the mask.
Iruka blinked again, feeling her face growing hot the longer she stared at that pale face. She nearly forgot how beautiful the jounin's feature, completely and perfectly defined in every way possible. Quickly, she took the mask and gave it to the jounin, who simply accepted it happily. "I thought you didn't like people to see your face in open." She muttered, looking at anywhere but him.
Kakashi chuckled, his lips upturned into a prominent smirk at the blushing face Iruka wore (he notice it took her nearly five minutes to realize the fact of him not wearing his mask), before without warning pulling the woman –his woman- into his lap AGAIN. Nuzzling his still unmasked face into the bronze neck, the silver haired jounin relished in the embarassed squeak the woman made.
"Kakashi! This's not the right time-"
Before Iruka could protest more, the jounin immediatelly claimed her protesting lips with his own.
And suddenly Iruka couldn't think of anything but those tantalizing lips. Brain signals shot from her brain to the rest of her body, attempting to make sense of what was going on, but the feeling itself overpowered them.
Kakashi......
Kakashi's hand drifted from her waist to the back of her head, as the jounin pulled the suddenly limp kunoichi in even closer, pretty much crushing her lips to his. Iruka moaned softly at the hot pressure, vaguely aware of the warm yet insistent tongue prodding her lips. She obliged and seconds later she could taste Kakashi's tongue against her own.
As their kisses grew more and more bold, she could feel strong yet gentle hand stroke the side of her breast, sliding up to hold her arm firmly at her side as he pulled her further into his body, crushing them together as he finally letting go her lips, bobbing his head down from them to her neck, nuzzling into the warm flesh before whispering into her ear.
"My God. Iruka.... I miss you."
Iruka could only shiver at the deep sensual voice of his as her mind still numb after those heart-stopping kisses they shared. Looping her free arm around Kakashi's neck (as the other still trapped against the jounin's arm), she pulled in closer, pressing herself softly up against his chest as she finally uttered her feeling.
"I miss you too..."
She was surprised when Kakashi groaned against her neck, looking down and trying to see the jounin's face. "Kakashi?"
The jounin simply chuckled, kissing the bronze neck gently before looking up sheepishly at her worried face. "Nothing. It's just that you don't have any idea how much I wanna ravish you right now."
Iruka blushed hard at his rather blunt words, immediatelly wanting to escape from those trapping arms. "Kakashi!!"
Kakahi chuckled again, unwanting to let go of her yet. "Don't worry. It's just that I'm very happy to see and touch you like this." And then his light tone turned slightly serious as he looked deeply into those brown chocolate orbs he grew so fond of. "Do you mind it? Iruka?"
Iruka's breath hitched at the suddenly serious tone of his, but finding her own eyes locked into those grey-blue eyes, unable to pull away.
The situation finally hit her hard at that very second. She knew that she had a feeling for this silver haired jounin who trapped her in his lap. Yet she didn't know how much the said feeling was, how deeper it ran inside her.
As for Kakashi himself, it was clear to her that he was very interested in her (although why the handsome perfectly extraordinaire jounin did was something Iruka didn't understand yet). But Iruka knew enough that it wouldn't last forever. Jounins especially the ones like Kakashi) was very dedicated with his shinobi ways and therefore never really serious about love or other sentiments that could hinder his missions. It would only be burden of them in a long run.
Love..... that's too strong of a word of what we have now...
She was rational enough to understand that whatever made Kakashi intrested to her wouldn't last long. He was like a wind, free and unbounded by anything but his own belief.
She was modest enough to realize that there were better women out there that would interest the silver haired jounin more than she ever could. After all, what could a common chuunin sensei like her offer to this very handsome and one of the strongest jounins in their village?
And her pasts.....
There was no way for them to get together like this.
As if reading her thoughts, Kakashi opened his mouth. His serious eyes filled with something Iruka didn't dare to understand.
"I can't promise to make you happy and I don't know how long I can stay alive from now on. But-Do you mind it, Iruka?" He repeated the same question. From his solemn tone, it was obvious that the jounin was never used to talk over emotional things and never bothered to use any sweet words, least of all giving any sweet and promises to anyone.
Yet......
Even knowing all of that, I just want to get lost inside those mismatched eyes.
And eventually, she smiled.
"No. I don't mind it at all, Kakashi."
And she kissed those pale lips back.
I'll take my chance then...
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Tbc ........
A/N : I tried to write some-would-be-smut and failed! –shakes head- Hopefully you like it though! I can't promise how long the next chapter'll be, but hopefully it won't take another half an year again! Review please! –bows-
- Izky