Title: Stolen Kisses
Author: Kisu
Rating: PG
Pairings: SasuNaru, KakaIru, KakaIta, GaiIru
A/N: Wheee! I'm so glad you guys are enjoying this! Everyone is giving me compliments on Iruka's portrayal in this story! beams
Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me…TT
Chapter 3: BirthdaysIruka always worried about his students, no matter who they were or whether they had graduated, his students would always be his students. No matter what others told him and especially this someone else being a certain man that was like a thorn in his side. He gasped out loud as he realized that he had written that certain man's name on one of the homework assignments he had been grading. A flush swept over the brunette's face, as he quickly erased "Kakashi" off of the white paper. Fuming slightly, he took a deep breath and exhaled before refocusing on his task
But soon he found his mind trailing off into other thoughts. Mostly they were worries on Naruto. He hadn't seen that boy since he had asked him to move in with him and was quietly rejected. Even though Naruto had explained his reasons to him, Iruka still felt saddened by the turn of events. Living alone was lonely and he was sure Naruto was equally lonely. Quickly, he finished grading the few homework assignments that was left and turned in for the night.
As he drifted off into slumber, he decided to pay Team 7 a visit tomorrow.
Yes, indeed.
---
It was a beautiful morning, the sun was shining and the birds were singing. Not a cloud was in sight and the blue skies above were high and clear. Iruka rushed through his morning activities. He woke up, brushed his teeth and ate breakfast. Got dressed and arrived early to the academy, taught the children and later bid them farewell. Then, he closed and locked the doors proceeding to find Team 7. Indeed they were on another mission, to find the Lord of the Fire Country's wife's cat.
Sakura had the cat held securely in her arms as the two walked out from the bushes because there was no way Sasuke would hold it. They were dirty, grumpy, and tired from chasing the stupid cat all day. The fat cat mewed pitifully in Sakura's arms and Sasuke shot it a glare. Stupid thing.
"Well done!" Kakashi exclaimed as he dropped down from the tree, his hand casually slipping his most favorite book in the world back into his pocket.
Sakura glared at him.
Sasuke glared at him.
Iruka glared at him.
Kakashi blinked.
"Iruka?" He greeted the Chuunin and the man sighed as the glare slowly disappeared from his face and was replaced with a smile.
"Another mission completed?" Iruka asked. "Ah…those Genin missions were always a bore. But you'll pass the Chuunin exams next time!" Sakura sighed and Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him.
The cat mewed.
"Are you looking for Naruto?" Kakashi finally asked, knowing very well what the answer would be.
"Yes." Iruka replied, turning to the Jounin.
"He didn't come on the mission today." Kakashi replied. "So he's not here."
"Why not?" Iruka asked, puzzled.
"He's sick." Sasuke informed him in his bored tone.
"NANI?" Iruka gasped, in shock. The cat started at the sound of Iruka's yell and quickly jumped out of Sakura's arms. Sasuke unmercifully grabbed it by the tail and held it upside down back to Sakura. She took it wordlessly, smoothing down its fur in attempts to calm it down. Inner Sakura was ready to toss it in the nearest body of water.
"Sasuke-kun's is right, Iruka-sensei." Sakura spoke up. "Naruto had a fever yesterday afternoon. So he's probably still in bed today."
"I'll go see him!" Iruka announced as he turned around and prepared to rush off. But Kakashi quickly took a hold of the younger man's vest with a gloved hand and smiled at the Chuunin.
"We'll all go see him." Kakashi told him. "But first we have to deliver the cat."
"You guys can do that while I run some errands." Iruka replied, itching to tear the Jounin's grip away.
"Sasuke and Sakura will help you carry stuff." Kakashi grinned. The two Genins shot their instructor an angry glare and Sakura narrowed her eyes.
"What about you?" She demanded.
"It's good training for you." Kakashi beamed. Iruka sighed and agreed. So off they trekked to the Lord of the Fire Country's house to give his cherished wife, her precious fat cat.
---
Much to their dismay, Iruka had many stops along the way to Naruto's apartment. Kakashi trailed after Iruka while reading the newest volume of Icha Icha Paradise. Sasuke and Sakura glared daggers at the back of the Jounin as they meekly walked after him. Both held a bag in each of their hands filled with fresh meat and vegetables. They all waited as Iruka paid for the last item, leeks.
"What no ramen?" Kakashi joked as they finally made their way to Naruto's apartment.
"Not if he's sick." Iruka declared with a slight frown. "Ramen isn't very nutritious, you know. I'll cook dinner for all of you guys, we'll entertain Naruto tonight."
"Er…" Sakura began. "My mother…"
"I already asked her." Iruka winked as they stopped in front of Naruto's door. "She told me you couldn't come home too late."
"Ah." Sakura blinked. Iruka knocked on the door three times and they waited. The door swung open slowly and Naruto stared out at them, wearing pajamas. He rubbed his eyes and blinked when he realized they were standing there and quickly made a move to shut the door. Sasuke stuck his foot in the way and lightly kicked the door open, walking straight into Naruto's apartment. The blonde blinked and rushed after him with a slight scowl on his face.
With a shrug, Kakashi walked in followed by Iruka and Sakura. At first they were amazed, the apartment was clean and spotless.
"Put the bags down on the counter, Sakura." Iruka called out as he made his way toward the kitchen. They found that Sasuke had already placed his bag on the counter and was currently off somewhere.
---
"Sasuke, you bastard." Naruto hissed as he walked into his bedroom. "How dare you walk straight into my apartment like that!" Sasuke turned around and stared at Naruto with his same bored look.
"Dobe, they wanted to visit you." Sasuke replied. "You're not going to let them?"
"I don't want to see them." Naruto shot back. He flopped down onto his bed and Sasuke crossed his arms, watched as the boy buried his face into his pillow. With quick strides, he leaned over the bed and touched Naruto's forehead. Not expecting the sudden contact, Naruto jumped and fell off the bed. Sasuke watched him in amusement.
"You still have a fever." He implied as if it wasn't obvious.
"Yeah, it came back while I was cleaning." Naruto frowned as he stood up.
"Cleaning?" Sasuke repeated, staring at the boy as if he had grown another head. Naruto nodded. "You didn't want to see Iruka, did you?" Receiving silence as the answer, Sasuke smirked. "I'll take that as a yes."
"Teme!" Naruto growled as Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "Sasuke--." Naruto sat back down on to the bed and twiddled his thumbs. "He asked me to move in with him but I said no. It's because that he's someone that needs to maintain a reputation and having me around is not good."
"So that's why you ran away from him?" Sasuke stated. Naruto glared at him.
"I didn't run away from him." Naruto yelled. "Well anyways, I shouldn't have told you! You wouldn't understand!"
"What do you mean that Iruka-sensei needs to maintain his reputation, Naruto?"
They both turned to look at the figure at the door.
"Sakura?"
---
Kakashi leaned on the counter and watched as Iruka began to chop up vegetables for sukiyaki. The Jounin's happy arch of his visible eye, made Iruka kind of nervous.
"Iruka, I didn't know you could cook!" Kakashi stated, happily. The Chuunin gave him a slight glare and checked the soup on the stove.
"Of course. Don't you, Kakashi-sensei?" Iruka asked as he adjusted the temperature. Kakashi shrugged.
"On missions, I just roasted everything over fires. Or I'll grab something to eat in the villages." He replied.
"Oh I see." Iruka said as he chopped up the remaining vegetables. The knife slipped and he winced. "Itai." Kakashi was next to him in a flash. Iruka stared as the Jounin examined his finger with a cryptic eye and sighed softly.
"Just a cut, I thought you lost a finger or something." Kakashi grinned. Iruka glared at him and pulled his hand away. He walked over to the far kitchen drawer and withdrew a first aid kit. "You sure know your way around."
"I'm the one who usually treats Naruto's wounds and sometimes I cook for him." Iruka explained as he fastened a band-aid to his finger. "Hm, Naruto's leek porridge is done. Could you get him, Kakashi?"
"Gladly." The Jounin said as he sauntered out of the kitchen.
---
"Naruto?"
Two pairs of eyes trained on him and Naruto tensed visibly. His throat felt dry and he quickly broke their stares and concentrated on his hands. Suddenly, his fingers looked so interesting.
"It's nothing." Naruto replied. "Don't worry about it." Sakura looked around the room, noting that there was only a couple pictures along the dresser. But none of them had a picture of anyone who resembled Naruto.
"Come to think of it, Naruto." Sakura began. "We didn't see any pictures of your parents."
"I never knew them. They died on the day I was born." Naruto replied, a hint of anger in his voice. Sasuke blinked and Sakura blushed slightly.
"I'm sorry." Sakura murmured.
"Don't be." Naruto laughed.
"Say, Naruto. When is your birthday?" Sakura asked. Sasuke seemed very interested and Naruto paled slightly. He kept his eyes trained on his hands and watched the knuckles turned white from being clenched so tightly.
"Don't worry about it." Naruto responded. Sakura opened her mouth to object when Kakashi walked into the room.
"Your leek porridge is ready." He announced. Naruto looked up at his savior and groaned.
"Again?" Naruto mumbled. "Ugh, he always makes it when he comes over." The blonde hopped off the bed and walked out the door.
"Ne, Kakashi-sensei, when is Naruto's birthday?" Sakura asked their teacher. Kakashi smiled and patted her on the head.
"Who knows?" He stated as he walked out the door.
"Hey! Wait!" Sakura yelled, running after him.
"He knows." Sasuke frowned, glaring at the retreating back of the Jounin.
---
"Iruka-sensei."
Iruka perked up as he stirred the miso soup and his eyes landed on the sullen boy next to him. With a giant smile, he dished out a bowl of rice soup with leek and placed it in front of him. "It's Oniichan, Naruto." He reminded him. "I'm glad you're feeling better. I thought you never get sick."
"Yeah, it was a surprise for me too." Naruto said as he stared at the porridge. Deciding to humor him, Naruto closed his eyes and bowed his head. "Itadakimasu!" With that he spooned up some porridge before blowing on it and putting it in his mouth. Iruka looked extremely pleased as he turned off the stove and set things out for sukiyaki.
"Sensei!" Sakura yelled as the trio entered the kitchen. "You know don't you?" Kakashi hummed and Iruka shot them a questioning glare.
"Know what?" He asked.
"Naruto's birthday." Sakura said in exasperation. "Iruka-sensei! I'm sure you know."
"I-." Iruka blinked as Naruto banged his fist on the counter.
"Sakura-chan, don't worry about it." Naruto stated as he stood up. "I feel kind of dizzy, I'm going to lie down." He walked out of the kitchen and Sasuke followed after him, silently.
"Dobe, the fever is making you light-headed."
"Don't you think I know that, Sasuke-bastard?"
Iruka laughed nervously. "Sakura, help me bring these out." Iruka said, gently as he gave the stunned Sakura some chopsticks. She nodded and walked out of the kitchen. "Well what are you going to do with this situation, Jounin instructor Hatake Kakashi?" Iruka asked, quietly as he slipped out the door.
Kakashi sighed as followed him.
What was he going do, indeed?
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TBC! This has more SasuNaru interaction than KakaIru but, I'll write more on KakaIru in the next chapter!