Chapter 5

Sakura and Naruto came back, bearing Kakashi's belongings.

"I packed the really important stuff," Naruto announced.

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Like what?" Kakashi asked cheerfully.

Naruto held the scroll over his head. "Like your blanket!"

"My shuriken blanket?" Kakashi lit up.

"Of course!" Naruto grinned and gave Kakashi a thumbs up, setting the giant scroll down and leaning on it. "You can't sleep in a strange place without the stuff from your bed, Kaka-sensei!"

Sakura gave Naruto a look. "He's a ninja. He's slept without his bedding all the time."

"Maa, but that was in the field," Kakashi said. "It would make me pine if my blanket and pillows were just across town, tempting me to return home and face Iruka-sensei's wrath if he discovered I had gone."

"We could have gotten your belongings in another day or so," Iruka said tolerantly, amused.

Kakashi laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "True, true."

"Then why did we have to lug all of this stuff over here?" Sakura grumbled.

"Because Tsunade ordered you to," Kakashi said, looking confused.

Sakura turned bright red and scowled.

"There's more!" Naruto broke in.

"More?" Kakashi looked at Naruto with wide eyes.

Naruto grinned and nodded.

Sakura sighed.

Naruto pulled out a smaller scroll, rolled it out on Iruka's kitchen table, and unsealed it. "Yeah!" He gestured triumphantly at the houseplant that popped into existence with a puff of smoke.

Kakashi almost fainted. "Mr. Ukki!" He rushed over and hugged his houseplant's pot.

Sakura smacked her forehead.

Naruto chuckled, clearly proud of himself. "Uh-huh. Uh-huh." He grinned broadly. "I knew you couldn't live without Mr. Ukki!"

Kakashi hugged Naruto tightly, picking Naruto up an inch off the floor.

Naruto was shocked. "Uh, hey!"

"Thank you," Kakashi said, squeezing Naruto tighter.

Iruka gave Naruto a gentle smile and a nod.

Naruto took this in for a moment, and then gave Kakashi a blinding smile. "No problem, Kaka-sensei!"

Kakashi released him and ruffled his hair, chuckling. "I'm very proud of you. Mr. Ukki would have been lonely. It is clear to me that you can hear the secret language of plants."

"Uh…sure." Naruto rubbed the back of his head. He shot a confused look at Iruka.

Iruka grinned and shrugged.

Naruto followed Iruka's lead and let Kakashi's strange comment go.

Kakashi sat down at the table, doting on Mr. Ukki and poking a leaf gently. "Mr. Ukki…did you miss me? I know. I'll take better care of you now. I have Ruka to help me. We'll make sure you stay fed and watered." He looked up. "Won't we, Ruka?"
Iruka nodded. "Of course, Kashi."

Sakura looked nauseated and weirded out by her two teachers trading pet names.

Naruto scratched his head. "Ruka? Why does he keep calling you Ruka, Iruka-sensei?"

"It's a nickname my parents gave me," Iruka said gently. "You can call me 'Ruka' from now on, too, if you like. And you don't have to call me 'sensei' anymore. What about 'niisan'?"

Naruto fell silent. Then he grinned and flashed Iruka a double thumbs up, Jiraiya style. "You got it!" He laughed. "I'll call you Ruka-nii."

"Fine with me." Iruka was actually very excited, but he tried not to let on and spoil the moment. He'd wanted Naruto to call him 'niisan' ever since they'd battled Mizuki in the forest. But he'd never gotten the courage to ask until now. Kakashi really was changing his life for the better, he reflected. Somehow, he had more confidence around Kakashi.

He didn't let himself consider that in two months' time, Kakashi would be going back home, and he would be left alone.

After half an hour of visiting, during which Sakura warmed back up again, Iruka had to shoo them out. Kakashi was exhausted, and gamely trying not to show it. Sakura had unpacked all of Kakashi's clothing into Iruka's spare bedroom, along with some basic belongings like tooth brush, hair brush, electric razor, blow dryer, et cetera. Naruto had unsealed the scrolls he brought as well, showing off his good taste in necessities: Kakashi's blanket and both pillows, fuzzy slippers, stack of Icha Icha books, alarm clock, and instant ramen.

Naruto got snuggles with Kakashi on the couch, which Naruto relaxed about as soon as he received the Iruka head nod of approval. Iruka knew that Naruto was skittish around people, and too much affection could be overwhelming for the boy. A sad product of the way Naruto had grown up.

However, if Kakashi kept showing his affectionate side, Naruto would be used to snuggles in no time. Seeing Naruto get snuggled was mostly what seemed to warm Sakura back up into relaxed, smiling mode.

Iruka wished that their students could stay longer, but he knew Kakashi was nodding off, and due for another dose of pain medicine. "How about some dinner?"

"Okay," Kakashi said agreeably. "Do you want me to help you?"

Iruka considered the offer. "You're still a little weak. I'd rather you just rested."

"Okay," Kakashi said again. He nodded and sidled to the kitchen table, sitting down and propping his chin in his hands, his elbows on the table. "I want to watch you, though. You must be really good at cooking. Your cooking tastes good."

Iruka blushed. "Well…I had to learn."

"I didn't," Kakashi said.

Iruka was startled. "Don't you know how to cook at all?"

"Sure," Kakashi said. "But a lot of cooking is recipes, and I don't know any. I just sort of tinker around. Things end up tasting like soy sauce, or spicy."

Iruka chuckled, getting down the wok from the top cupboard over the kitchen stove. "Well, that's not always a bad thing, Kashi. People like soy sauce and spicy food sometimes. I wouldn't object to eating something you've cooked, when you're well enough not to be exhausted by your students when they come to visit."

"Sasuke's not going to come to visit," Kakashi said.

Iruka paused. He set the wok down on the burner gently. "I know." He looked at Kakashi sympathetically. "Does it still hurt?"

"It's his choice," Kakashi said.

Iruka nodded slowly. "I know."

He waited, but Kakashi seemed to be finished. He got out the vegetables from the refrigerator. Napa cabbage, bok choy, carrots, peas still in their pods. He prepared each of the vegetables in the necessary way and put some coconut oil in the pan. He always cooked with coconut oil. It was the best tasting to him.

Iruka scraped the vegetables off the cutting board and into the pan. They arrived with a loud sizzle and a cloud of steam. Iruka put the lid on the wok and turned to Kakashi. "So, what would you like with our vegetables? I've got shrimp, if you like that…otherwise it's to be chicken or beef. I don't have any pork left. I used it up last week."

Kakashi looked at him blankly.

Iruka looked back, wondering what Kakashi was reacting to. "Are you alright?"

"Maa…" Kakashi scratched his temple. "You asked me to choose something."

"Well, yeah," Iruka said.

"You never asked me before," Kakashi said.

"You were too sleepy," Iruka said.

Kakashi paused, stumped. "I don't know what to say."

"Why?" Iruka asked.

Kakashi shifted in his chair. "Well…it's not my food. You're just sharing. I don't have a right to tell you what to make."

Iruka bit his lip, holding back an instinctive argument. He wasn't sure how he could break through that opinion. This sounded like yet another ingrained habit or belief. "It's not bad manners," he said finally.

Kakashi perked up a little. "Oh. Well, then…maybe if I could have beef? That would be nice." He suddenly looked apprehensive.

Iruka gave him a warm smile. "Kashi-chan, beef is no trouble. I'd like anything but chicken. I've been eating too much chicken lately. It gets boring." He got his diced beef out of the freezer and popped it in the microwave. Even though it was more work up front, he prepared his meat as soon as he brought it home and stuck it in the freezer for later convenience.

"So tell me…have things always been uncomfortable between you and Sakura?" Iruka asked.

"Sort of," Kakashi said. He looked away.

"Why?" Iruka asked. He was more curious than anything else.

"Girls," Kakashi muttered. "I don't like girls."

Iruka slid his gaze to Kakashi warily. He wasn't sure what to say. To his knowledge, Kakashi didn't have anything particular against women. After all, Kakashi got along with Kurenai. But Kakashi had said 'girls'; that could imply that Kakashi didn't tolerate female company under the age of twenty. "You think…maybe Sakura picks up on that?"

Kakashi smiled at him cheerfully. "You think so? I think so. I wonder, anyway." He scratched his temple. "We never did get along very well. In the survival exam I gave Team 7 at the outset, I tortured her a little bit." He chuckled sheepishly. "Maa, it may have been more than a little bit, but it's hard to tell." He shrugged. "She survived from it, at any rate. That alone shows she is a good ninja. Not that I would tell her that."

"Torture?" Iruka said skeptically.

"I showed her a picture of Sasuke dying," Kakashi said, with more than a little satisfaction. "That was fun. She made a really funny scream." He tapped his chin. "Maa…but then she fainted. So that may have been too much."

Iruka was horrified and amused at the same time. "Kashi-chan, why don't you like girls?"

"Girls are mean," Kakashi said immediately.

Iruka was worried, now. He wondered how this connected back to the nurses, and the female caregivers in the program Kakashi wasn't supposed to talk about. He crossed the kitchen and placed a hand on Kakashi's shoulder. "How are girls mean?"

"Maa, you know." Kakashi shrugged. He looked away casually. "They're just mean, you know. The things they do are mean. Like sticking you with needles. Maa…it's mean." He shrugged again. "There's nothing more to say. And if they do it to hurt you, so much the meaner it is. If they do it while telling you everything is going to be okay, and they're lying, then it's meaner still. Saying that they can solve all your problems, saying that they have the answer when all they have is a needle, it hurts. And they know that." His expression hardened. "I say, let them die. I said that to Obito, and he said –"

He snapped around, looking at Iruka with wide eyes.

Iruka could tell Kakashi was just as stunned as he was.

Kakashi gestured with both hands, hasty and apologetic. "When I said it about Rin, I was wrong. Obito was right. I shouldn't have said that. She is our teammate. I should protect her." His shoulders slumped. "She mangled me, but it's not her fault. He told her to." He touched his forehead protector where it hid his transplanted eye, self-conscious. "He said he wanted to see the future with me. Well, I'm the future, and I'm not any good at it."

Iruka knew that he'd well and truly gained Kakashi's trust. This out-pouring was something he imagined very few people ever got to listen to, much less participate in. He could ask Kakashi questions and actually get responses.

He pulled Kakashi into his arms. "It's okay. I don't think you're mangled."

Kakashi smiled. "Well, that's very kind of you." He winked. "I think you're not bad looking yourself, Ruka-sensei. You're a handsome kind of man."

Iruka blushed. What? Why does this maturity come out all of a sudden?

Kakashi chuckled. "And your blush is cute, too."

Iruka scowled, but he couldn't manage the expression very effectively. A laugh from Kakashi was much better than a sob. "Well, I've got to check on the vegetables. And add the beef."

Kakashi let him go, grinning.

Iruka absorbed what he'd learned while he finished making dinner, going through the process of stir-frying beef, adding seasoning, and cooking noodles with absent-minded skill.

So he doesn't like girls because of the program he was in, and he's been like this since he was a little kid. That explained why Kakashi's dating life had always seemed dead to him. Kakashi was an immediately recognizable public figure, so it wouldn't be much of a secret if he went on a date. Oh, one could use a Henge to disguise their identity, but it would be bad form. No one wanted to date someone that ashamed or that enamored of their privacy. Konoha ninjas were a pretty open lot.

Which further meant that Kakashi felt free to read Jiraiya's works in public because he didn't have anyone to impress; he wasn't looking for a date.

Except he asked me out. Iruka puzzled over that. He nodded to himself while he plated up their food. But, I am a man. And he did seem more curious than anything.

xXx

They ate in near silence, and afterwards watched tv in the living room, snuggled up on the couch. When it got to be Iruka's usual bedtime – he liked to go to bed early and rise early, a common shinobi habit – he roused Kakashi from the man's half-doze. "Come on. Let's go to bed."

Kakashi whined. "I don't wanna go to bed. I'll have to go to bed in that scary room and I want to be with Ruka."

Iruka was startled. "Oh, yeah. Sakura did put all of your things in the guest bedroom." He smiled. "Well, that's easily fixed. Come on. Let's move all of your bed things into my room."

Kakashi leapt up from the sofa and happily allowed Iruka to switch out the blanket on Iruka's bed for Kakashi's shuriken themed blanket, and the pillow on the left side of Iruka's bed for Kakashi's pillow.

While Kakashi was brushing his teeth, Iruka got changed for bed. By the time he was done, Kakashi had turned off the sink and was on his way as well. Iruka almost snorted when Kakashi came through the door. Kakashi's pajamas, taken from the stash of clothing Naruto and Sakura packed, were blue with gray kittens on them. Iruka thought it was adorable.

He shooed Kakashi towards the bed. "Alright, into bed with you."

Kakashi obediently climbed under the covers.

"Here." Iruka tucked him in.

"You're coming, aren't you?" Kakashi asked. "You're getting under the covers, too."

"I'm just going to brush my teeth," Iruka said.

Kakashi watched him walk across the room to the bedroom door, looking sorely anxious, but Kakashi didn't say anything.

Iruka brushed his teeth as quickly as he dared and came back, slipping under the covers and scooting over, taking Kakashi into his arms.

Kakashi looked relieved when he came back into the room, but didn't fully relax until Iruka got into bed. Iruka rubbed his back. Kakashi clung to him.

"Time for bed," Iruka said gently.

"Ruka-sensei?" Kakashi blurted.

"Yes?" Iruka shifted so that he could see Kakashi's face.

"What if I confessed something?" Kakashi asked.

"What kind of something?" Iruka asked reasonably.

"Something that made you mad." Kakashi shifted nervously.

"Oh, I don't think you could confess something that could make me mad," Iruka said.

"S-Sensei…" Kakashi squirmed. "What if I told you…I told Gai to bring me here?"

"I'd believe you," Iruka said. He smiled. "But I wouldn't be mad. It makes sense for you to be here. We share our love for Naruto, after all. In fact, all of your students were in my class. It makes sense for you to seek out the only connections you have."

Kakashi ducked under the covers.

Iruka was curious.

Kakashi didn't come out. "What if I told you it was because I like you?"

Iruka laughed and ruffled Kakashi's hair from the wrong side of the covers, rubbing the head-shaped lump under the blanket. "I like you too."

Kakashi went still, lying under the covers limply.

Iruka wondered what was going through Kakashi's head.

"Ruka…"

"Yes, Kashi?" Iruka asked lightly.

"Will you really go on a first date with me?" Kakashi's voice was muffled, lower than it had been.

"Of course," Iruka said.

Kakashi slowly came out from under the covers. He wrapped his arms around Iruka's nearest arm and clung to Iruka's hand with both of his. "Good night."

Iruka kissed his forehead. "Good night, Kashi-chan."