Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters used in this work of fan fiction.
Warnings: Eventual Kakairu (which means male/male romance), possible future smut that will be posted elsewhere and crosslinked - R rated versions of chapters will be provided here. Rating of fic will rise to M in later chapters.
The spring was much as Kakashi remembered it, even if it'd been years since he'd actually visited it. The water was pristine and clear enough so that every rock on the bottom of the spring could be counted, and the advertised miniature waterfall – around five feet in height – was still running over the boulders, though the months of dry heat had depleted it to the point where it was more of a trickle than anything. Kakashi glanced back at Iruka and wasn't surprised to see the man's brown eyes widened in appreciation.
"This place is gorgeous," Iruka said. Kakashi smiled slightly underneath his mask.
"Worth the walk?" he asked. Iruka nodded emphatically.
"Worth everything. If letting you beat me up in a spar is all I have to do to get you to show me places like this, we might have to do it more often," the Chuunin said. Kakashi laughed, and nodded at the water.
"Go ahead. Just so you know though, it's cold."
Iruka nodded at him and hesitated a moment, then started to undress. He pulled of his flak jacket first and then paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before dragging the loose standard-issue shirt up over his head. The Chuunin looked down and fiddled with the zipper on his jacket before folding it neatly, if slowly, his fingers lingering on the fabric as if he didn't want to look up. Kakashi took advantage of the opportunity to let his eye linger over the younger man's build. As he'd expected, the teacher's frame was lither than it appeared beneath the bulky clothing, though he was still built more solidly than the Copy Nin himself. Kakashi would be willing to bet that there was no more than a few pounds of difference between them, but Iruka had the solid, healthy type of muscle that was packed on by healthy eating and moderate training. Kakashi's own build was denser, with the rangy, lean kind of muscle put on through years of fieldwork. The teacher finally leaned down to place his folded jacket and shirt on the ground, then turned, exposing his back to the Jounin.
Kakashi watched the smooth play of muscle beneath Iruka's bronze skin, noting absently that the tan seemed to be natural. Somehow the teacher didn't strike him as the type to sunbathe in the nude, and the caramel color extended all the way down to what Kakashi could see of Iruka's hips. When Iruka's thumbs hooked in the waistband of his pants, Kakashi's gaze fixed on them for a moment before he forcefully pulled it up to Iruka's back. It was as solidly muscled as the rest of the teacher's body, but what held Kakashi's attention was the large scar that ran diagonally between his shoulder blades. It had healed well – no longer was the flesh the angry red he'd seen in the photograph in Iruka's file. Instead it was a dark, jagged line that declared more than any hitai-ate the man's loyalty and dedication to his village and his students.
The Jounin's eye remained fixed on the scar as Iruka tugged his pants down, watching it shift and contort against the tanned skin. He remembered the touch of sadness in the teacher's eyes when he'd spoken of the betrayal, and how Iruka had hesitated before pulling the shirt off. When the teacher glanced over his shoulder at the Copy Nin, slight uncertainty showing on his face, Kakashi had to fight the desire to step behind him and ghost his fingertips over the scar. He wondered for a brief moment how the raised ridge of tissue would feel against his skin, and how Iruka would react. Would it be as sensitive as his own scars, or would Iruka barely feel the touch? He bit his bottom lip beneath the mask when Iruka looked away from him, and watched the teacher slowly fold the pants and set them down beside the rest of the uniform.
Iruka looked good in only boxers. The thought flittered through Kakashi's mind and he tried hard to clamp down on it, but it was hard to deny when he was faced with the mostly undressed teacher. Over the latticework of old scars, most thin and silvery, none as large as the one on Iruka's back, he could see bruises beginning to form from their spar. The majority were small, but the one on his chest had already started to turn a deep purple, and if he watched carefully enough he could see the slight stiffness in the way the teacher moved. Without really thinking about it Kakashi stepped forward and touched the tips of his fingers against the bruise.
The teacher's skin was warm, as warm as he would've expected in the heat, and slightly slippery from sweat. Kakashi glanced down at his fingers against the man's chest and took a deep breath, inhaling the Chuunin's scent. The chalk and ink were still there, though not as strong as they usually were, and the slight musk that he'd come to associate as Iruka's own smell was more prominent. He let his fingers trail softly over the bruise, then glanced up to see a pair of chocolate brown eyes cautiously watching his every movement. He paused and licked his lips beneath the mask before speaking gruffly.
"Just wanted to see if it was as bad as it looked," Kakashi said, and he could feel a bit of the tension leave Iruka's body. Before the teacher could say anything, the Copy Nin focused, and his fingers started to glow green. He carefully fed the chakra into the teacher's body, keeping the touch lighter and more gentle than what he generally used for field healing. The desire to remove the mark wasn't something that he could easily explain. Iruka would've been able to walk, had managed to continue sparring after the blow and had kept up with him on the way to the spring easily, but…
Kakashi cut off the train of thought and focused instead on the healing until the bruise was mostly faded. He let his fingers linger for a moment and resisted the temptation to run them over the teacher's body, to see if all of the skin was that silky. Then he glanced up into the brown eyes and saw them still watching – still analyzing. He let his hand drop and stepped back, then easily slid the false smile into place. Iruka looked uneasy for a moment, then glanced away, and the moment was broken.
"Are you coming in?" Iruka asked, and Kakashi shrugged.
"Maybe later," he said, and pulled the book out of his jacket. "Need to find out what happens next."
Iruka looked briefly annoyed, but he nodded and stepped closer to the water. Kakashi watched as Chuunin tentatively brushed his toes over the surface of the water, and smirked beneath his mask a little at the expression of shock on the teacher's face.
"Told you it was cold," Kakashi drawled lazily, and Iruka shot him a glare over his shoulder before stepping into the spring. The teacher moved to the deepest part quickly, and Kakashi spared him one last look before shrugging out of his jacket and sprawling out on the rocks. Icha Icha was soon opened and the Copy Nin was trying to get involved in the story, but his mind kept being tugged back to a certain teacher.
The spar had been a good idea in more ways than one. The humiliation involved in using a test normally performed on children was a good basis for revenge – and Kakashi was still irked over Iruka's decision to hand him over to Gai – but it'd served other causes as well. The original purpose for the test was to measure the skills of the people taking it, and Kakashi felt that he now had a better grasp over the Chuunin's skills than before.
The man's file hadn't been far off the mark. His taijutsu was weak, and his overall stores of chakra were low comparatively, though the teacher's control over said chakra was precise and almost surgical. It explained some of why he'd been able to pull off the healing jutsu he'd apparently used on Kakashi's side. His ninjutsu was acceptable for a Chuunin, though from what Kakashi had seen it was mostly by the book – it made sense, though. Iruka had been teaching basic classes for years, and it was only logical that the man would reach first for the skills that he used on a daily basis.
It was also surprisingly effective. Iruka had a habit of combining together deceptively simple skills with well thought out tactics, and the combination was one that was intriguing as well as practical. The Chuunin's strongest aspects were his quick mind and his traps. Those alone were enough to convince Kakashi that the teacher was better suited to tokubetsu Jounin rank than Chuunin, but he was relieved to find that Iruka actually wasn't at Jounin level. The teacher simply didn't have the strength for solo fieldwork, though he'd be invaluable working in a cell.
So far nothing had been outside far outside the scope of what was believable for a strong Chuunin, and Kakashi's wariness around the teacher was slowly beginning to dissolve. By now he'd spent enough time with the man to be fairly sure that he was hiding something, but he also felt he knew Iruka well enough by now to safely say that whatever he was concealing, he wasn't doing it out of any plans or desires to harm the village.
Kakashi sighed and glanced at the teacher over the edge of his book. The man was lounging in the water, eyes closed, an expression of pure contentment on his face. The Copy Nin hesitated for a moment, then silently set his book down and slipped out of his sandals, leaving them on the rock. After a moment he pulled off the baggy shirt as well, leaving on the sleeveless ANBU top that he always wore beneath it. The bandages came off next, and he was careful to unwind them slowly, minimizing the scrape of the fabric as it was pulled away. Fortunately the soft hiss of the waterfall helped to conceal the noise, but Kakashi remained careful, setting the bandages down quietly and pulling his pants off as well.
He chanced another glance at Iruka after he'd stripped off his gear, and saw that the teacher's eyes were still closed. Kakashi smirked slightly beneath his mask, and approached the Chuunin with shinobi stealth, carefully walking around the edge of the spring. He stopped five feet away from Iruka and reached out with his senses carefully, listening to the man's breathing, and wasn't at all surprised to find that the teacher had fallen asleep. The man had been woken up early and had trained harder in one day than he probably did for a week – it made sense that he'd drift off.
Kakashi considered the man's position for a moment, half in the water, head tilted back to rest against the rocks. The angle gave him a perfect view of the tan column of Iruka's throat, and he let his gaze linger there. The man was more attractive than he'd realized, and he idly wondered if that was why Iruka wore the baggy clothing and the harsh ponytail that his hair was even now pulled back into. Asleep, the Chuunin looked younger, almost boyish. How much of the Chuunin's daily appearance was geared to ensure that people continued to overlook him, deliberately calculated to make curious eyes note the distinctive scar then flicker past, dismissing him as unworthy of further attention?
He remembered Genma's warning, and the calm confidence with which Iruka had threatened him. Did the teacher react in that way to everyone who approached him, or only the ones who were as crass about it as the tokubetsu Jounin had apparently been? He'd seen neither sign nor hint of a lover in the time he'd known the teacher – not even within his house. If anything, the more time he spent with Iruka, the more he confirmed Tsunade's assessment of him as a loner. It made Kakashi wonder what had made someone as young as the teacher choose to seal himself off from the rest of the world so thoroughly.
It wasn't uncommon for shinobi to eschew romantic or even sexual relationships, but it was a habit more generally practiced by those like Kakashi himself, who spent the majority of their time on the field. It didn't make sense for someone who was essentially a civilian in all of the ways that mattered to be alone. As he stepped closer, Kakashi idly wondered why the Chuunin had decided to open his life to him, of all people. It would've been easy for Iruka to turn down the dinners, or the spar, in that calm and perfectly polite if threatening way he'd seen him rebuff Genma.
The Copy Nin came to a pause inches away from the Chuunin, and he watched the dark lashes flutter, knowing that he didn't have much more time if he wanted to pull it off. The Jounin leaned down carefully, sliding one bare hand into the water. He took a steadying breath and waited until the Chuunin murmured sleepily, then, in one swift movement, drew his hand through the water. The splash landed with the perfect aim characteristic of shinobi, thoroughly wetting the teacher's sun-warmed chest and face. Iruka came awake with a sputtering gasp and nearly jumped out of his skin, then his gaze fixed on the Jounin.
Kakashi smirked in reply to the glare the Chuunin was leveling at him, and when Iruka lurched forward, he danced out of the way, focusing enough chakra into his feet to stay balanced on top of the water. The Chuunin took in his appearance in a glance, then frowned thoughtfully. For a moment Kakashi thought that the teacher would let the transgression pass, then he saw the mischievous glint to Iruka's eyes that was becoming all too common, and the teacher's hands formed a familiar sign.
Twin coils of water rose behind the Jounin and lazily moved for his ankles, trying to wrap around them. Kakashi nimbly leapt out of the way of the water and landed beside the Chuunin.
"Maa, Iruka-sensei, using jutsu? That's not fair," he said. Iruka snorted.
"You started it, and don't try to pretended that of those thousand jutsu you know, at least a few aren't water," he said. Kakashi shrugged, and instead of replying, splashed the teacher again. This time the water landed in his previously dry hair, and the Chuunin's eyes narrowed at him.
"Now you're just asking for it," Iruka told him. Kakashi smiled cheekily at him.
From there things quickly devolved into what could only be described as a water fight, and Kakashi wondered more than once about his sanity. Iruka was obviously a water jutsu user, and he showed no hesitation in using his advantage against the Copy Nin. For his part, Kakashi relied on his superior speed and greater chakra reserves to dodge the streams of water and return with his own. The fight quickly fell into the same easy rhythm of the earlier spar, and when Iruka laughingly admitted his defeat, both shinobi were soaked to the bone. Kakashi pulled himself out of the water and flopped down on the sun-warmed rocks, only to find Iruka staring down at him with a grin.
"What?" Kakashi asked, and the teacher twitched for a moment, then started laughing again.
"You look like a drowned rat," Iruka told him.
"Maa, Sensei, you're one to talk," Kakashi drawled. Iruka looked indignant for a moment, then he laughed and settled down beside the Copy Nin.
"At least my hair doesn't go into spikes when wet," the teacher teased. Kakashi rolled his eyes.
After awhile, the Chuunin spoke up again. "By the way, you owe me dinner," he said. Kakashi blinked.
"What for this time? I thought we were even," he said. Iruka grinned at him cheekily.
"We were. But then you got my clothes off. And if you're going to get me to take my clothes off, you should at least buy me dinner," he said. Kakashi snorted.
"That's an inventive way to try and get me to feed you," Kakashi said. Iruka nodded, and the Copy Nin sighed, angling slightly to put more of his body in the sun.
"If you really wanted to get your revenge, you could cook instead," Iruka offered. Kakashi shot a lazy glare at him.
"I'm perfectly capable of cooking, Sensei," he said.
"Prove it," Iruka said. Kakashi was tempted to make a protest about being an adult who couldn't be goaded into things through blackmail and challenges, but was self-aware enough to know that his fifteen-year-long "rivalry" with Gai fairly well put an end to that kind of reasoning.
"We'll have to go shopping. I don't have much food in the house," Kakashi told him. Iruka shrugged.
"Fine by me. I'll help cook, and after dinner you can help me grade papers."
"Why?" Kakashi asked, and Iruka leveled what Kakashi was quickly coming to identify as the teacher look at him.
"Because I was supposed to get caught up on my grading today, then some crazy Jounin came in, woke me up, and dragged me out to beat me up for an imagined slight."
"Hey! Turning me over to Gai isn't an imagined slight," Kakashi said. Iruka shrugged.
"Either way, I have grading that needs to be done. The least you can do is help me, seeing as you're the reason that I'm not already half-way through with it."
Kakashi sighed, but didn't protest any further. There were worse ways he could think of to spend a night. He glanced at Iruka out of the corner of his eye, taking in the glowing bronze skin and the slight smile tugging at the corners of the man's mouth, and reminded himself firmly that this was a mission.