I'm so sorry about the 2 month haitus... I have my reasons, but just believe me when I say i've had a hellish time.

Bah....

I tried looking up that site I went for my info, but it seems to be down. For those interested in learning about the NCDB, you can always google it under "Naruto Character Data Book" and get some translations of the stuff, even where to buy it. Sorry I can't be any more help.

Anyway, here it is... the conclusion.. the final chapter of my fic. Yay for me! Other than one-shots, this will be my first COMPLETED story! Wheee!!

I want to thank Yanslana-chan, who was my potato peeler throughout the fic! ;

Again! I would like to thank everyone who had stuck with this fic for so long. Extra huggles and stuffs to my reviewers who have motivated me to continue. I would also like to dedicate this story to all those authors out there who wrote their stories centered on Iruka! You guys are my inspiration, my idols, and my reasons for procrastinating too much! XD

Now, without further adeu...

Midnight Confessions

Chapter 7c

It was peaceful, now that Iruka thought about it, but perhaps this spot wasn't so random after all. Just a little far off ahead he could hear the sounds of the river, but the spot Kakashi had chosen was just far enough that they weren't swarmed by mosquitoes that seemed to possess the area. The clearing above gave the viewer a star-studded view of the heavens, taunting the observer with its near-like appearance only to just jump back slightly out of reach should a hand try to touch the sparkling diamonds.

For the first time in weeks, Iruka was actually feeling at ease with himself, despite the company he was keeping. With a smile still plastered on his face, he shook his head away from that rude thought and turned back to his silver-haired audience.

"I suppose it was after graduating as a chuunin, that I sort of slowly began to change from being the wild prankster to the boring responsible adult you see today. I loath to admit that I didn't follow up with Naruto's growing up, as much as I would have liked... sometimes my missions kept me occupied that it would be weeks before I returned back home. I tried, however, to have a bowl with Naruto whenever I could."

Iruka let out a slight sigh of content. Thinking of that memory had always managed to cheer him up somewhat. Inwardly, Iruka began to wonder over Naruto's viewpoint of their first meeting. For all Iruka knew, Naruto knew nothing of Iruka's prankster childhood. Of course, he could be mistaken and Naruto was simply feigning ignorance on the whole thing, just waiting to use it for blackmail material or something. Here, the chuunin chuckled slightly of the different possibilities.

"So, just by meeting him once you changed overnight from dreading the boy to introducing the kid to the wonderful world of ramen. That's quite an accomplishment there, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka blinked at the jounin and brought a hand up to rub at the nape of his own neck, turning his head aside to hide the sudden tinting of his cheeks. If only it HAD been that easy. "Well... not exactly."

Kakashi seemingly perked up at these words and clasped his gloved hands together in exuberance. "Oh! There's more to this story?"

Raising a brow and pondering slightly if the Jounin's joy was sardonic or sincere, Iruka took a deep breath and nodded in response to the other's question, his appearance having dropped its earlier placid expression.

"You see, after dinner and returning the boy back to his apartment, I started thinking about my newly acquired situation. After all, I had just 'dinned with the demon', so to speak. What confused me, however, was that I no longer felt any contempt towards the boy, but yet at the same time I wanted to feel the familiar hatred I had for him. It wasn't for the familiarity, but rather I thought I would be dishonoring the memory of my parents if I befriended their murderer.

"I was confused out of my wit's end, but I couldn't really talk about this with Mizuki, or any other of my classmates. I then decided to go to home, but not to my apartment, nor the old Umino home." Iruka paused in his narration to chuckle lightly here. "It's just that I've hung about that place so much that I soon considered it to be like another home; Sandaime's office."

Sarutobi, also known as the Sandaime, was the third and the current active Hokage of the Konoha village. Here was a man who had once been thought to have retired from the title. However, with the death of his successor, the Yondaime, he had once again returned back into his position. Still, despite his know-how, this old and experienced man had taken a moment to pause quizzically over his towering amount of paperwork to observe quietly as a young shinobi stealthily snuck into the prestigious one's office. Tapping his pen over his mouth, the knowledgeable ninja couldn't help but smile at display. Barely a genin, yet this boy had been able to slip quietly into the room with as much skill to go by undetected by even the most experienced of chuunin. He always knew Iruka had potential, now if only the boy would cut down on his pranks.

Going back to his paperwork, the Sandaime patiently waited for the teen to burst out in his usual loud and brash greeting. When none came, the old man then glanced briefly at the door, anticipating a burst of angry grown-ups, wanting their leader to turn over the teen for punishment after another prank. As the minutes flew by, however, only an uncomfortable silence remained within the room. Well, the old man had thought, he didn't live this long without learning how to be patient, so he decided to wait a bit longer.

Fifteen minutes had soon passed and all that had changed was that the amount of paperwork had decreased, however the young genin was still crouched by the windowsill, staring blankly into space as if in deep thought. Allowing curiosity to get the better of him, the head of the Leaf Village gently placed down his pen and folded his hands under his chin to prop his tired head up.

"Now here's a first," the wizened man teased. "I never thought I'd see the day I would have a quiet and civilized moment without any interruptions. Now, as much as I enjoy your company, don't you believe that it is rather late for you to be visiting? Then again, I know you hardly do anything without a reason. What seems to be troubling you, Iruka-kun?"

Blinking away from his blank stupor, Iruka turned towards the only grown up within the village that he had a sense of rapport to and opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. With a heavy sigh the young boy looked away from the elder and shook his head.

"I...I just don't know, sir."

The Sandaime simply raised his brow at the serious and humbled tone coming from the once wild and prideful boy. Only giving a slight nod to the young genin to show that he had been paying attention to the conversation, the Hokage stayed silent, patiently waiting for the boy to continue.

"I met him today..."

"Him?" The older man questioned, partly to clarify and partly to have the boy continue talking.

"Yes," Iruka responded. "Him!" The tone had been said with such resentment, and such force that it wasn't hard to deduce whom the young teen was talking about.

"Ah... I see."

Those words seemed to have broken the dam, for at that moment the young genin leapt to his feet and began to pace around, his face mixed with both confusion and frustration.

"I just don't get it! I know you told me before that he's 'not the demon' and that you made us all swear never to tell that to any of the younger generation, but I still can't forgive what that thing inside him did! I want to hate him... I should hate him... because by hating him, I'll hate the demon as well, right? They're both the same being!"

The Sandaime heaved a tired sigh of his own at these words. Countless times before have parents and other adults in the village come to his office stating the same. Each one projecting the anger of losing their loved one onto the poor boy, and each time the old man had tried to convince them otherwise, however they had stayed stubborn to the end. Now it would look as if Iruka would be following in their footsteps as well.

"I want to hate him..." A subdued voice stated, interrupting the older man from his thoughts. "But after meeting with the kid... I just couldn't. In that kid's eyes, I didn't see one trace of the kyuubi, nor did I feel anything that I felt that one night... you know? Plus he just looked so... sad. Well, then again, I would be too if I never knew what ramen was." Here, the teen chuckled lightly only to sigh afterwards and look at the elder. "I'm just very confused right now, Hokage-sama."

The Sandaime's only response was a simple nod in acknowledgment. The aged leader allowed silence to reign upon the room for a few moments before sliding his chair away from his desk, creating a light sound as the chair scratched against the wooden floor.

"I'm going to get something to drink, would you like to accompany me, Iruka-kun?"

The boy, in question, raised a brow and gaped in silent fury at the change of subject. Hadn't the Hokage listened to a word he said? For a moment, Iruka had begun to believe that he had just wasted all that time for nothing. In fact, he was about to shout out in protest towards the elder, but suddenly, he just felt very tired. With a dejected sigh, the teen simply nodded to the older man and dragged his feet as he followed listlessly out towards the break room.

Plopping down on one of the folding chairs, Iruka observed quietly as the Hokage busied himself with pulling out items from one of the cupboards. He watched as the old man pulled out two cups, a small container, some spoons and a carton of milk. One of the cups that were pulled out of the cupboard was a simple blue mug, decorated with a cartoon drawing of a dolphin and a bright yellow sun in the background. It was one of Iruka's favorite possessions since it had been a gift from the Hokage himself a few years back.

"Iruka-kun, I want to show you something. Now pay attention. Let's pretend that this cup is Naruto." The old man held up Iruka's favorite cup before him and set it on the table. The teen simply furrowed his brows in confusion, but did not interrupt. "Now, let's say that the milk is the Kyuubi's soul."

It was then at this point where Iruka groaned loudly in protest, twisting his face in slight disgust. He wasn't a huge fan of milk. There was just something about the flavor that threw the boy off. The Hokage only grinned at the boy's affronted state, but continued in his demonstration.

"Now, I am going to pour the milk into the cup. Tell me, Iruka-kun... do you still hate the milk despite the fact it is now in your favorite cup, or do you now hate the cup since it now holds a bit of milk?"

Iruka pouted. He had been highly disturbed that the sanctity of his favorite cup had been spoiled by the evilness of milk. Taking in a deep breath, he calmly looked towards the elder.

"I still don't really care much for the milk. Anyway, I could just drain the stuff out and wash the cup afterwards, right?"

"I suppose your right. However, let's make this a bit more difficult. I know you enjoy the occasional strawberry, so let's say that this..." The Hokage paused to scoop out a small, pink and powdery mountain from the container. Pouring the contents into the mug, the elder began to slowly stir the inside of the cup slowly with the spoon. "... this will represent Naruto's soul, his personality, his very self. The two will, over time, mix together, until ultimately you will have... well... strawberry milk. Now tell me, Iruka-kun. Do you still hate the contents of this cup?"

"That's hardly fair, Hokage-sama..." Iruka sighed, allowing his shoulders and head to drop down in slight disgruntlement; however that expression was short lived as the boy perked his head up and gave the old man a smile. "But, I think I know what you're trying to get at here. Anyway, I should be going... sensei's been trying to overwork us to get ready for the exams. I'll think about what you said. G'night, old man!"

With a chuckle and a swift slam of the door, the cheeky genin had escaped the irritated look of his Hokage. When all presence of the genin had disappeared, the Hokage smiled to himself and shook his head.

"With the spirit of fire in today's youth, I suppose one must expect a bit of hot-headedness to occur." Shutting off the lights, the leader of the village exited the room and smiled as he made his way home, ready for a peaceful night's rest.

Staring back up into the star-littered sky, Iruka couldn't stop the light blush of embarrassment from his actions as a teen. To think he was that brash when he was younger. It almost seemed like a different person sometimes. However, despite the humiliation he gained by remembering them, they were still all part of several fond memories in which he treasured deeply with all his heart. He had never told of this encounter to anyone, not even to Mizuki. Yet, perhaps it was due to his other "talks" with the one-eyed jounin that Iruka had felt comfortable reminiscing with the older man. No longer did the dark-haired chuunin feel resentment towards Kakashi for his similarity to Mizuki, in fact, now he was beginning to feel a bit foolish for even thinking such absurd thoughts.

However, despite the painful and traitorous actions directed towards him, Iruka had to admit that Mizuki would always, and forever, hold a special place in Iruka's heart, no matter what had been said. This had been one of the reasons why he felt compelled to add that kunai to his collection. Iruka did not want to believe he was heartless enough to just dismiss the other's existence for a single mistake, even if it was him who was hurt the most in the end. Mizuki meant a lot to Iruka growing up and inwardly he just hoped that wherever Mizuki was now, he would find it in his heart to reconcile, and let go of his misguided anger towards Naruto, just as he had so many years ago.

A small smile began to form on the chuunin's face slowly, as he gradually began to realize that the silver-haired jounin was worming himself into his own special place as well... whether the other man knew it or not. Iruka never did understand why the jounin instructor had taken an interest in him. Perhaps it was, as the jounin had explained earlier, all due to the brief but somehow meaningful connection between his father and the masked jounin. Iruka, on the other hand, did not want to believe that all this effort was due to something as brusque as that. This was Kakashi after all! Then again... maybe the reason was that simple... again, this was Kakashi after all.

Shaking his head out of that confusion, Iruka simply smiled pleasantly to himself. Whatever the reason may have been, he was just glad to have had kept company with the older man, even if the other would never direct another word to the chuunin teacher in the future. Whatever the outcome, Iruka thought that a "thank you, at least, for pretending to listen" was in order. It was the polite thing to do.

Tilting his head back down to ground level, but coyly avoiding eye-contact, Iruka began to direct a smile at his fellow comrade when a slight rustling of paper grabbed his attention. Turning towards the source, the chuunin glimpsed to see that the same silver-haired jounin, whom Iruka had been complimenting all in his head, was now in the process of being deeply involved in a novel!

A twitch formed in the teacher's left eye.

Feeling the glare upon his person, Kakashi lowered the book away from his face and allowed his eye to curve in slight amusement.

"Oh! Finished? Uh, yeah...Great story, sensei." The jounin nodded, affirming to himself what he had just said. The jounin was about to return to his book when a sharp cold chill ran down his spine, pausing the man in his actions. It was then that Kakashi was repeatedly grateful for his quick reflexes, for just as he had leapt away to avoid the sense of danger that bombarded the silver-haired's mind, several kunai had embedded themselves instantly onto the tree and grass where the jounin once sat.

Looking up to observe his attacker, Kakashi could only gulp audibly as he could practically see the killing intent surrounding the once amiable teacher. Armed with as much disposable sharp objects handy, Iruka glared furiously at the older man, deep brown eyes practically livid with molten anger.

With a flash of fury in the Chuunin's eyes as Kakashi's only warning, the Jounin nimbly leaped up to the lowest branch of the tree behind him to dodge the spinning weapons flung at him, only to feel a light brush against his arms. Looking down, Kakashi smirked to himself as he noticed the fabric of his sleeves was sliced in several locations.

"You missed."

Kakashi's hidden smirk grew wider as he noticed the other respond with a narrowing of his eyes and a quick leap to a nearby branch, only to then disappear behind the trunk of a neighboring tree.

"Would it be too late to ask if we could just talk this out, sensei?" Receiving only silence as his answer, Kakashi let out a mock sigh before allowing himself to chuckle lightly under his breath. He had to admit that Iruka's shuriken had come damn close earlier. Who would have thought that a mere book-pushing chuunin would have the skill to come close to graze a Jounin of his status? Jokingly, Kakashi imagined a chibi-esque deformed version of the chuunin sensei dodging papers being flung at him, and yelling out "Papercut no jutsu" leaving shredding and confetti at his wake.

Feeling a familiar presence emerge to his left, Kakashi halted the foolish imagery and turned to face the furious teacher. Not a word was uttered as the brown-haired man pulled several kunai from his pouch and clenched the weapons tightly between his fingers. Kakashi's response to the dramatic moment was a casual shrug to his shoulders and a slight tensing of muscles. As much fun as he was having with the brown-haired man at the moment, Kakashi supposed he may as well take the chuunin seriously if he wanted to get this over with. That and the fact that he wanted to teach his little kohei to respect his sempai and not ruin his perfectly good shirts in the future. Kakashi had better things to spend his money on than new shirts... like the latest volumes of Icha Icha Paradise.

Leaping forward to an adjacent branch, Iruka used the momentum to help propel a handful of kunai towards Kakashi's direction. The Jounin, practically seeing the attack in slow-motion due to its basic technique, casually shifted to his right side to avoid the shards of sharpened metal. Opening his mouth to give a mock-yawn to the chuunin, Kakashi paused as his sense of danger perked up suddenly. Dodging quickly to the left, the silver-haired ninja could only stare in wide-eyed fascination as a kunai skimmed pass his face rapidly. A reflection of the moonlight on metal announced a second kunai headed towards the Jounin. Rather than dodging the weapon however, Kakashi raised a gloved hand before him and grasped the knife safely by the handle, halting the blade in midair.

"You would think, being a teacher, you'd know it's not good to fight when you're emotional." Kakashi swiftly and silently hopped to the base of the branch, just behind Iruka, a charming expression crinkling the edges of the jounin's eye. Twirling the kunai casually with his forefinger, the silver-haired man tilted his head to the side in an amused pose and then spoke to the glaring man before him with a patronizing tone. "These are not toys you know. Someone may get hurt."

Waiting until the chuunin looked at him directly in the eye, Kakashi winked out a small warning towards the brown-haired man before slamming his arm out to attack the younger man with the same weapon that had been used against the Jounin earlier. However, instead of slicing through empty air, as was anticipated, the sound of flesh being scornfully torn apart was what greeted the Jounin's ears. Looking down, Kakashi could only stare in sick fascination, as if the entire action was coated in thick molasses, the extending blade as it slowly drove deep into the chuunin's body, colliding and cracking against hard bone on its journey.

Kakashi wanted to scream out that he was supposed to dodge. Stupid chuunin! He was SUPPOSED to dodge! However, when the silver-haired man opened his mouth, the sound of a sharp intake of breath was all that was heard. The tightening of his throat prevented his harsh words from escaping and not even as the spurt of blood, that erupted from the freshly open wound, woke the shocked man from his trance. Kakashi could feel the flesh and bone of the wounded man scrape against the kunai as the younger man began to slip backwards, losing to the battle against gravity. Dazed brown eyes rolled back as loosened hair framed tan cheeks. Descending almost gracefully as a plucked feather, the body slowly and noiselessly flowed down to the ground, allowing the plush grass to comfort the hollow and now lifeless body...

...Only to have the corpse explode in a puff of white smoke, leaving a vest-clad log at its wake.

"Kawarimi no jutsu!"

Realizing he had been deceived with a simple substitution technique, Kakashi growled and barely managed to spin halfway behind him when a dark figure collided against the jounin, knocking the elite ninja off the branch. Quickly regaining his wits, Kakashi rolled with the fall, minimizing the impact that had been waiting below. Grasping his attacker tightly by the shirt, the two forms continued with their momentum until they had both rolled to a complete stop underneath a star-studded clearing...

...Not that either of them had noticed their surroundings, for, in fault to the force and the momentum, both shinobi now found themselves pressed closely against each other, their faces firmly pushing over another, from their foreheads to their lips. What seemed like an eternity was only a fraction of a second spent in reality before both realized their position. The eyes of both parties widened in surprise and slight embarrassment. Iruka, being the first to snap himself out of the shock, awoke his system back to functional with a belated gasp, however the action only seemed to put the jounin's cloth-covered lips closer to his. Setting his hands firmly on the silver-haired's shoulders, Iruka hastily pushed himself up from his unintended captive, scrambling back and sat there, staring, yet unseeing his masked companion with blank shock as he lifted a hand up to touch his lips tenderly.

With smoother and more calculated moves, Kakashi sat himself up as well, however, unlike the shock-stricken chuunin before him, Kakashi didn't bother bringing a hand up to touch his lips, but rather allowed his mouth to spread widely beneath the thin fabric of his mask. In fact, it was the Jounin's soft chuckle that broke the spell over the chuunin's stupor.

"It's always the quiet ones, isn't it? Who would have thought you were more of the seme type?"

A chill ran down Iruka's back as the chuunin felt his cheeks and his ears burn with embarrassment.

"W... what? No! I didn't mean for it... I mean..." The poor Academy teacher could only droop his head low, one hand covering the shame and embarrassment on his face as he tried to come up with a good excuse to save his dignity.

However, much to the younger man's chagrin, Kakashi was intent to see Iruka's face practically self-combust with the amount of blushing it was currently doing. Taking a quick glance at the red-faced man before him as Kakashi idly played with the ripped fabric on his sleeves, a lightly-amused expression on his face.

"I'm not one to typically take a role as Uke, mind you, but then again, it's not everyday you get a kiss like that. I don't recall them teaching us THAT back when I was in the Academy."

Pausing in his self-pity, Iruka's sat up straight at these words. He felt his cheeks pale, his muscles tense and shiver as another cold chill ran up his spine at these words. However, whether or not the Jounin noticed, he gave no outward indication in the Chuunin's eyes, and continued with his teasing.

"Although you really needn't to be so rough, all you had to do was ask..." Grinning wildly to himself, Kakashi was enjoying himself immensely, watching as a twitch formed in the teacher's left eye. He knew, however, just what needed to be said to make the teasing complete... making the humiliation of being caught off guard worth it.

"...Iru-kun!"

Kakashi couldn't say he didn't deserve it, so it was no surprise as he saw and felt the punch as it connected harshly across his jaw. In fact, he even moved his chin to the momentum to lessen the impact, and yet... despite it all... it still stung like hell! Damn! Just what were in those books? Trying to hold in the wide grin, he allowed himself a slight smirk, not that the other man would notice it beneath the fabric, Kakashi stared at the glowering Chuunin before him in amusement.

"Kakashi-Sensei!" The Chuunin bellowed, "To think that... Of all the things... As if I would... ARGH!! I swear! If you EVER breathe a word about this... I'll... I'll... I'll make sure Naruto makes the rest of the year a living Hell for you! And don't think I won't do it!" Taking in a deep breath, the Chuunin calmed visibly in front of the highly amused jounin, however the silver-haired ninja knew better than to interrupt at this crucial moment and simply cradled his bruising jaw tenderly.

Spinning around on his heels, shoulders raised and tensed with lingering fury, Iruka began to walk back towards the village. However, he had only taken a few steps before he paused in his tracks. Almost as if having an inner conflict to himself, time lingered silently as the Chuunin struggled mentally to make a decision. It had taken a few seconds, but the brown-haired man's shoulders dropped, having now come to a resolution. Tilting his head back to look at the fallen Jounin, Iruka gave a small but genuine smile at the older man.

"Kakashi? Thanks..." Not waiting for a response, Iruka leaped to the nearest branch and ascended towards the thick foliage, disappearing from view completely.

Feeling the Chuunin's presence fade out of range until it disappeared entirely, Kakashi chuckled to himself softly as he stood back up. Dusting himself FREE of resideing pieces of rocks and grass, he reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a small sheet of paper.

A photo.

However, unlike the previous photograph, which he had given to Iruka, this one looked newer and was in better condition, despite the fact that it held the same image as the other one. Glancing down at the copy, Kakashi gave the photo a sincere smile as he stared at the image of his former sensei.

"If there's something you two hold in common, it's your ability to surprise the hell out of me." Nodding to himself and slipping the paper back into the secure confinements of his vest pocket, Kakashi stuffs his hands deep into his pockets and journeyed his way back to the village, a smile hidden within his mask.

End.