A/N: Dear Readers- There is NOT going to be any sex in this story. Reggie is a very firm believer in that sex is a sacred thing that should be reserved for those you care about most, and so the boys won't be having sex in the confines of this story. Their relationship just won't have gotten that far yet. Sorry to disappoint you. –Reggie

A great deal of thanks for this chapter has to go to my "Everyday Asian" cookbook I picked up for two dollars. Yay! Any food here you don't know, go check Wiki.

Also…I had been going to call off the Pieces sequel for the longest time, but listening to some of my music today I got my inspiration for it back! So, now I'm really eager to finish this and get started on (the newly titled) 'Never Ending Dream'. The plan at the moment is to release part 1 of that on February 15th. Lets see if it works.

All the Broken Pieces

Part III: Chapter 5

Iruka looked down at the little slip of bright orange paper in hand for the fifth time. The note- scribbled on Icha Icha stationary- stared back at him. 'My apartment is on the top floor- 316- of the fourth building in the Jounin buildings. I'll be ready at 6. Come whenever you'd like'.

And, in case the paper used hadn't been enough of a clue for who had left the note on his desk during lunch, it was signed with a little henohenomoheji.

The chuunin looked from the note in his hand up at the door in front of him, catching sight of his reflection in the name plate on the door. He almost laughed at how nervous he looked.

"It's just Kakashi," Iruka muttered to himself, even though saying that out loud made his stomach do flips. "He's seen you at your very worst. At least this time you have a shirt on and you're clean."

He couldn't help but blush slightly at the memory. It hadn't been awkward at the time, but now it certainly didn't help him to feel any better. Instead, he reached in to his pocket and pulled out the silver watch Sarutobi had given him as a present for passing his teaching exams.

The cool metal was somehow reassuring, reminding him of the steady presence the Third Hokage had been. How the old man would have laughed if he'd seen all of this right now! Iruka flipped the lid open to reveal the face. 6:15, exactly like he'd planned.

One final deep breath before he raised a hand to knock on the door- he felt quite pleased that it wasn't trembling.

It was several long moments that probably weren't nearly as long as they felt to Iruka before Kakashi opened the door. The Jounin was wearing his mask, but had on a tank top of some sort- Iruka thought it looked like an ANBU tank top- instead of the standard uniform and tight fitting blue jeans.

He couldn't help but gape as Kakashi gave him a one eyed smile. "Right on time, Iruka."

"Of course," Iruka muttered, unable to stop the smile that was slowly creeping on to his face, "being late is your department, remember?"

"Is it really late if that's the time people actually expect me to show up?" Kakashi grinned as he stepped aside, wordlessly inviting Iruka inside. The chuunin took the offer, shutting the door behind him and taking off his sandals.

"That's a fair question. I suppose you can't really count that as late, can you?"

"No, I wouldn't think so."

Iruka stood and looked around Kakashi's apartment curiously. It was bigger than his own, or maybe just felt that way because the furniture had all been arranged to maximize the space. His book shelf- which, Iruka was pleased to note, only held about six volumes of Icha Icha and had mostly other useful looking books and scrolls- was even inlayed in the wall so it wouldn't take up more space than necessary.

There weren't any pictures on the wall, but Iruka wasn't surprised. He didn't have any either, partly because it was too painful a reminder and partly because he didn't want anyone trying to get close to him to have easy access to henge study material.

He heard Kakashi moving around in the kitchen and went to investigate. "Something smells good."

Indeed, it truly did. Kakashi's small apartment was filled with the smell of grilling fish, pork, and miso. To a person recently just off hospital food and used to eating only the simplest of dishes, it smelt divine.

"I sure hope so," Kakashi smiled behind his mask. "It's been a while since I've had a reason to practice the cooking skills my sensei taught me."

Iruka looked up from where he was looking at a plate of washed daikon with interest. "Yondaime taught you how to cook?"

Kakashi turned to look at him in surprise. "How did you know my sensei was Yondaime?"

Iruka blushed a bit, looking down at his feet. "When you called Anko a messed up cookie, you said you got it from your sensei. Before he was Yondaime, he once stopped by our house and called me a tough cookie. He's the only one I've ever heard say that phrase."

Kakashi smiled at him with his eye this time. "You have a good memory, don't you, Iruka?"

The chuunin smiled a bit, leaning back against the kitchen counter. "I had just entered the Academy at the time, and I was behind the other students my age. It meant so much to me that someone like the Yellow Flash- and even I knew who he was- would call me a tough anything."

Kakashi laughed outright at that, "and you know, he probably knew that too."

Iruka shook his head, pleased that Kakashi would tell him at least that much- even if indirectly. Iruka's own sensei was a painful subject, and he hoped that it was less so for Kakashi. Yondaime had truly been a great man.

"Can I help you finish up with anything, Kakashi?"

Kakashi paused in his fish grilling to look around. "You don't have to."

"I know."

"Alright then. Would you mind shredding those daikon for me?"

"Sure."

"The knife is in the third drawer to your left."

Iruka nodded, though Kakashi couldn't see him, and grabbed the knife as he was instructed. He began running it down the sides of the vegetable, peeling away one thin layer at a time.

There was silence for several long minutes until Kakashi turned off his stovetop with an audible click. "So, to pass the time while some of this finishes cooking, how about we play a game?"

"A game?" Iruka paused his shredding to glance over at the Jounin.

"Yeah. I heard Naruto and Sakura playing it once while we were on an overnight mission. It doesn't require much. It's called 'Two Truths and One Lie'. I'll say three things- two of which are true and one that is a lie. You're supposed to guess which is the lie. If you get it right, I'll do it again. If you guess wrong, you have to take a turn."

Iruka was staring, though Kakashi couldn't see him. "O-okay."

"Great," the Copy-Ninja grinned, going back to stirring whatever miso-smelling liquid he had in a bowl. "Okay, first off we have these three. My favorite colors are black and red. I have a pet plant named Mr. Ukki. My favorite food is miso soup with eggplant and smoked mackerel."

Iruka frowned down at his vegetables. He remembered from the day they'd left Konoha that he had made Kakashi's favorite food, so the last one was definitely true. The other two were giving him a bit more difficulty.

Kakashi didn't seem the type to have a plant, let alone name it, but it wouldn't really surprise the chuunin if he did. After all, he couldn't keep his nin-dogs around all the time and this apartment would get really lonely.

So, that left the colors. Red and black was what he would have expected from Kakashi judging from his clothing but…something felt off about it. Red and black were the colors of death and while a ninja dealt in death daily Kakashi seemed to hate it almost as much as Iruka himself did. Death had taken far too much from Kakashi for him to like it, of that Iruka was certain.

Besides, if he could judge from the limited décor, Kakashi had very different tastes then he was professing.

"You're lying about the colors. You're favorite colors are actually green and blue."

Iruka smiled to himself as he heard Kakashi stop turning, but didn't himself look to see if the Jounin was staring at him.

"How did you know that?"

"Besides the fact that your house is decorated in shades of blue and green?"

"Okay, that one was too easy."

Iruka could almost hear the pout in the Jounin's voice and had to stifle a chuckle. "Alright, what's the next one then?"

"I like to draw. I trained my own ninken from the time they were puppies. I killed my best friend."

Iruka didn't hesitate. "You didn't kill your friend. I'm sure of that much."

Kakashi's voice was barely a whisper, "and how are you so sure?"

"Because you still hurt so much. I've seen how much pain you're in. If you could do that to someone you obviously cared about you'd be just like…like him. And you're not. You're much more human than he ever was."

Silence stretched between the pair for a long time, neither of them moving to complete the tasks they had been doing before. Iruka wondered if he had said something wrong, but he didn't feel like he had. Kakashi was the one that had brought it up.

"I as good as killed him," the Jounin said quietly. "I was the Jounin. I should have been able to do more, but all I did that whole mission was get in the way. If I would have listened to him and to sensei, he wouldn't have died."

Iruka peeled another slice off the vegetable in his hand. "That's like saying we could have avoided being captured if you'd listened to me."

Kakashi winced, looking down at his hands resting on the counter. "That's true."

"That's nonsense," Iruka put down the knife before turning to stare at the back of the other man. "Do you really think we could have escaped? That they would have just let us go? Not when we were what they so badly wanted. Even if we had escaped, what then? It would have only reinforced their idea that Konoha would be a target they could easily over run- strengthened their resolve to attack. In the end, you had no choice, and even if you had- even after all we went through- it was the right one."

Kakashi turned to look at him then, his expression almost completely unreadable. "Why don't you hate me? I was the one that made the decision that got us caught in that nightmare. It nearly cost you your life. You're still hurting. Because I couldn't decide correctly."

"Didn't I just explain that?" Iruka folded his arms across his chest, frowning. "Besides that, weren't you the one that saved me? Weren't you the one who did everything you could to protect me? Who could have escaped if you'd left me behind? Who put his life on the line for someone he…" Iruka blushed, finally looking away. "For someone he called his precious person?"

Kakashi looked momentarily stunned. He had said that, hadn't he? And not just his precious person, but his most precious person. Which Iruka was, in so many ways. How had he forgotten that? "I didn't think you remembered."

"I thought it was a dream," Iruka confessed, looking up to meet the Jounin's gaze. "I was so out of it then, I wasn't sure. But I had to try."

Kakashi nodded, turning back to his food. "The correct answer was the ninken. I didn't train them. Not alone, anyway. My sensei helped me."

Iruka couldn't help but grin as he finished off the vegetables. "So, you like to draw then?"

"Yes."

"Can I see your sketchbook?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I said I liked to draw. I never said I was any good."

Iruka laughed at that, laying the knife down again. "Oh, come on. They can't be that bad."

"Oh, yes they are."

"I refuse to believe it."

"Suite yourself."

"Why don't you just show me and let me decide for myself?" Iruka winked at him as Kakashi glanced over his shoulder. "I've been told I'm a pretty good judge of things."

Kakashi blushed, bending down to remove the asparagus from the oven. Iruka focused very hard on everything but what he wanted to be looking at the moment.

Kakashi turned to face him again, finally pulling down his mask. Iruka couldn't help but smile at the half-grin the Copy-ninja was giving him. "How about we eat first. You can look afterwards."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll set the table."