Corn Fields and Coral Reefs
see original summary, disclaimers, and warnings on the first chapter
Chapter #5
Kakashi located a large flat rock not to fare away, dusting it off Kakashi pulled out a small throwing dagger and began gutting and cleaning the fish. All the wail, trying to keep his attention on the FISH and not swimming with the fishes in water near by. Kakashi felt his ears go worm this time when he thought of Iruka in the water...swimming...necked... Kakashi was so confused. 'Why the hell am I thinking of HIM, and like THAT or all things?!'
Kakashi tried one last time to purge the image from his mind, all the while working away at the fish with his knife, cutting it in half. 'Damn it, what the hell is wrong with me?' he asked himself as his mind once more started to wander...this time however, he was rudely brought back to the here and now by a sharp pain in his hand. Looking down he found that his knife was now embedded in a long cut on his hand. He swore and dropped the knife, rushing to the water to dip his hand in.
Iruka poked his head up out of the water, having successfully caught another fish, just in time to see Kakashi jump up and thrust his injured hand into the shallow lake water. Clutching the wriggling fish lightly in his hands, Iruka kicked his feet, pushing himself towards Kakashi to see what was wrong. When he reached waist deep water he placed his feet down and called to Kakashi.
"Are you all right?"
"I...cut my hand." Kakashi answered, refusing to look up at him in such close proximity in the water.
Iruka blinked. Kakashi did not seem the type to be clumsy enough or spacey enough to actually cut himself by accident, but the blood seeping from Kakashi's hand into the water was certainly proof that he had. Tossing the second fish on shore, Iruka came forward slightly. "Let me see..." He reached out for Kakashi's hand and Kakashi recoiled like he'd been shot.
Kakashi's eyes were wide, and that gave him a good look at Iruka's torso, dripping with water. He wasn't sure if he was thankful or disappointed that Iruka was standing so that even in this shallow water Kakashi could not see lower. He mentally berated himself for not pulling his hand away quick enough from Iruka's grasp. So now he was stuck there...again Kakashi was unsure it this was a good thing or not.
As the butterflies went wild in Kakashi's stomach and his mind reeled, Iruka, who had no idea any this was happening on his account, pulled Kakashi's hand towards him to get a good look at it. If there was one thing he knew about, that was how to fix accidental wounds...he was a bit clumsy after all, especially in his role as class clown. "Ouch, it's kinda deep..." he said, and looked around. "You didn't bring a first aid kit, did you?" he asked, and Kakashi shook his head, not daring to speak.
Iruka put Kakashi's hand back into the water, "Keep that there for a moment," he ordered Kakashi and stood up, quickly going to his pile of clothing to pull on his boxers before taking his shirt and ripping a strip of fabric off. It was from along the bottom, so his shirt was going to survive. Rushing back to Kakashi, he took the older boy's hand out of the water and began wrapping it with the fabric.
Kakashi was relieved that at least Iruka was now wearing shorts...although that still meant that the rest of his body was exposed, so he just focused on his hand, and the fabric being tightly wrapped around it...part of Iruka's own shirt, it would seem...great, now he had some of the guy's clothing attached to him, how was he supposed to get him out of his mind now?
Iruka finished wrapping the hand and tied the makeshift bandage into a little knot. "There that should stop the bleeding." He diagnosed.
Kakashi was able to get his vocal cords working again, and was allowed to say thanks without squeaking, although it did come out gruffer then he intended. Iruka blushed and ducked his head, to him it didn't sound like Kakashi really cared that Iruka had helped him. Well, he probably didn't, when Iruka thought about it, he was just a brat to Kakahshi, he'd said it himself the day before.
"I guess we'll have to make due with two fish, is that alright?" Iruka asked, walking past Kakashi and picking up his clothing from the ground.
Kakashi didn't stand up, but nodded his head. "Yeah, sure." he answered, trying to keep his words short. He was afraid of what his voice might betray. Iruka, however, heard it like Kakashi felt that he was a disappointment, and sighed inwardly.
'Of course Kakashi wouldn't want someone fussing over him for something as non life threatening as a cut.' Iruka thought as he pulled his shirt over his head. 'His eye probably hurt more when it was injured, but I bet he just went on with the mission like any other good ninja.' Pulling his pants on, Iruka took up the task of cleaning the fish as Kakashi went to get some firewood.
Iruka finished cleaning the fish Kakashi had cut himself over and started gutting the second one, brooding miserably. His good mood from just moments before was apparently gone. He didn't know what he had expected from the silver haired ninja...at the very least he had hoped that he might become less antagonistic...and maybe he could have been Iruka's first and only friend. Somehow, however, he'd managed to ruin it, like everything else in his life.
Unbeknownst to Iruka, Kakashi's avoidance of him was completely different than what the younger boy thought. Kakashi sighed and rested his head against a tree, he was far enough into the woods now that he was basically alone. He closed his eyes and for one moment of guilty pleasure, remembered Iruka's touch against his hand as he'd wrapped the bandage. Coming to his senses, Kakashi blushed, 'Why am I thinking like this?' He sighed, bewildered. He knew he was out of his league, just as he knew deep down he was attracted to Iruka. But he was still having trouble figuring that part of it out.
He opened his eyes again and looked down at his injured hand, the dark bandage ripped from the hem of Iruka's shirt tied tightly around it...to Kakashi it felt almost comforting, like something warm and inviting, never mind the fact that his hand was throbbing with pain under it. 'Is there something wrong with me?' he asked himself. He knew this was definitely not normal...but then again...He shook his head. No, he was not going to think about it anymore.
Sighing, Kakashi finished his task of collecting wood and headed back to the beach. He found Iruka sitting beside the water's edge looking kinda depressed, with a little pout on his lips, and Kakashi couldn't stop himself from thinking he was so cute like that. Smacking himself mentally again, he tried to remind himself that when a person looks like that they're usually depressed about something.
"Something wrong?" Kakashi asked, dropping the wood to the ground in a random location...he'd never been too interested in the wood anyway. When Iruka didn't answer, Kakashi took a deep breath to calm his nerves and squatted down next to him. "Hey..." He poked him in the arm in an attempt to get a response.
Iruka sighed and looked at Kakashi from over his shoulder, he looked upset and a little sad. "I'm sorry if I've upset you, Kakashi." he said, feeling like a child.
Kakashi blinked, he had not been expecting Iruka to apologize, and for some reason it only made him look cuter. Which caused Kakashi to question his sanity...or at lest his preference in regards to what gender he was attracted to.
Kakashi blushed and looked down at the ground, scratching random designs in the sand. "You didn't upset me." He said at last. He didn't know what all of this meant but he did know if Iruka continued to look so cute pouting, something bad was going to happen. It wasn't exactly true...Iruka was upsetting him but it wasn't his fault.
"B-but..." Iruka started, sure that he had upset him in some way.
Kakashi sighed and looked at his hand, "I...I was just upset that I cut myself." he said hoping that Iruka would buy into his lie. "I'm supposed to be a top ninja and it was really stupid of me."
Iruka actually looked a little relieved and smiled, "Oh...that's good.." he said, which made Kakashi's heart melt.
Kakashi blushed and looked away before Iruka noticed. "I uh...got the wood, do you have the fish ready?" he asked, and Iruka nodded.
"Yup, all clean and ready to cook." he answered, and pointed to his handiwork on the flat rock
Kakashi smiled as he saw Iruka's job well done, then, so he could distract himself from all kinds of thoughts that were going through his mind, he built up a fire, and by using a little chi the silver haired ninja had it going in no time at all. Iruka's stomach growled as the smell of fish filled the air.
"Mehhh, Kakashi, is it done yet?" Iruka complained, trying to look over Kakashi's shoulder to see the fish cooking, since Kakashi was pretty much hunched over the fire like a mother hen, nursing the fish to perfection. Kakashi, who was having a hard time keeping his sanity in this situation, pushed him away.
"Not yet, stop being a pest." He told him, but smiled anyway. It seemed that Iruka had stopped pouting and had started enjoying himself. And it seemed to have been a long time since Iruka could just have fun and not worry about weather someone was watching or not.
That was the good part, in Iruka's opinion, even though they were all alone out in the wilderness, Iruka didn't feel as lonely or isolated as he had before. He really was enjoying Kakashi's company, a lot more than anyone would have guessed, including Kakashi himself.
While waiting for the fish to cook, Iruka busied himself by balancing on some pieces of driftwood on the beach. He felt so much better being out here...and he didn't seem to be as clumsy as usual, he was able to balance on the wood easily, as if the ability had been inside of him all along. He was starting to wonder if this tutoring thing might not be so bad after all...maybe he really could be a good student...maybe his teachers were right, he just had to find the interest and apply himself.
Although he was good at this, however, Iruka didn't think he wanted to become a top ninja like Kakashi was, or his parents were for that matter. Feeling a little bad that he was betraying their memory, he looked back over his shoulder at Kakashi, who was watching him more than the fish apparently, because they were now on fire.
"Ack! Kakashi, the fish!" Iruka cried desperately, and Kakashi blinked, seemingly coming back to his senses. Looking over at the fish he gasped and beat the fire out with his cooking utensil. Iruka walked over and the two of them stared at the slightly blackened fish for a moment. Kakashi looked up at him apologetically. "Uh...I think they're done now." he told Iruka.
Iruka couldn't stop the laughter that suddenly escaped him. Kakashi's sheepish look was so unlike the ninja's normal bored expression that Iruka just couldn't help it.
Kakashi looked at him like he could not fathom what Iruka was laughing at. "What?" he asked, confused.
"You just looked funny, that's all." Iruka answered between laughs. "I guess you do have a human side after all." He grinned and reached over to pluck a peice of the fish off and pop it into his mouth. Kakashi stared at him and the grin plastered across his face. It made him feel good that he could illicit such a response from Iruka but it only added to his confused state of mind...he didn't know what to think.
"Hey, it's still good, lets eat." Iruka exclaimed.
Kakashi picked up the other blackened fish, and as Iruka watched him, something occurred to him. "Umm...how are you planning on eating that?" he ventured to ask, for since they'd met Iruka had not even seen the guy's face. If he wanted to keep it hidden, of course, that was okay, but it would make eating a little awkward.
"It's not that difficult..." Kakashi answered, and grabbed ahold of his mask with one hand. As Iruka watched intently, he pulled the mask down and off his face, revealing his mouth so that he could eat. He took a bite of the fish and chewed, wondering where the weird question had come from.
Iruka stared at him in shock, a pink colour slowly rising to his cheeks. Kakashi's face was so...well...pretty!
Kakashi blinked, noticing Iruka blush, and swallowed his mouthful of fish. "Is there something wrong?" He asked, not knowing the cause of Iruka's redness.
If possible, Iruka's face turned even redder. "Umm...it's just that you're...you're so pretty." Iruka answered, then ducked his head, feeling even more embarrassed. He had just called his tutor 'pretty', and his male tutor at that!
Kakashi's heart did a flip-flop in his chest and his face heated up to what had to be about one hundred degrees as he stared at the blushing, embarrassed Iruka. Did he just hear what he thought he had? If he did, what did it mean? His mind spun with the possibilities.
"I-I am?" he managed to choke out, his voice slightly high pitched from shock.
Iruka blushed even harder and he nodded his head vigorously, keeping his eyes fixed downwards on his fish. He had not meant to say THAT...well at least not out loud. Hoping that Kakashi wasn't mad at him, Iruka peeked through his wet bangs at the red faced silver haired ninja.
"Uhh...Thank you..." Kakashi managed to say at last, and returned to his fish.
Iruka blinked. Thank you? Did that mean that Kakashi wasn't angry with him? Well whatever the case may be, he didn't want to alienate the silver haired ninja, he was actually enjoying his company. But he didn't know what to say to make his blunder better so he changed the subject. "So...um...why do you wear the mask anyway?" he asked, still feeling embarrassed.
Kakashi finished the last bit of fish and grinned at Iruka. "It's so I look more mysterious and cool." He answered, holding up a finger as if that made any relevance whatsoever.
Iruka blinked, "Cool?" he had to ask, not believing that a top ninja of Kakashi's age had to do anything to look or act 'Cool'
"Yup, cool...kind of like...your topknot." He pointed to Iruka's head. Iruka looked confused.
"But my topknot isn't cool..." He blinked at Kakashi. "The boys at school like to use it to hang me onto things..." Kakashi suddenly felt a deep resentment towards that group of boys he had scared away the first day he'd met Iruka, although where it came from he really didn't want to know.
He picked up stick and threw it into the fire. "Is that so?" he asked.
Iruka blinked. Why did Kakashi sound a little...mad? Upset? But not knowing the answer, he just nodded his head to Kakashi's question. "Yeah, I always get picked on by the older boys. They say its 'cause I need to be taught a lesson...or that I bug the hell out of them. Either way I'm the one who gets picked on." Sighing unhappily. he looked back into the fire.
Kakashi looked at his sad face and resolved that the next time he saw those boys he was going to personally teach them a lesson...but somehow he knew that wasn't going to help. He opened his mouth to say something to Iruka, who laughed and held up his hands.
"I know what your going to say...I have to learn how to stick up for myself, right?" He smiled a bit sadly. "I've tried...believe me I've tried...but it just never seems to work that well."
Kakashi sighed, that was not what he was going to say...actually he hadn't a clue just what he'd intended to say but he was sure that wasn't it. After a moment he got up on impulse and sat down beside Iruka, then reached over and ruffled his damp hair. "Not everyone is cut out to be a strong ninja you know." He told the boy, "Some of us are really good at reconnaissance or attacking. Some are good at both, some neither."
Iruka looked over at him, sligtly surprised that he was showing such interest in his welfare. "But...what about those of us who are good at neither? What are we supposed to do?"
Kakashi thought about it for a second. "Well, I guess you find out what it is that you're good at and go for that." he answered. "Got anything that your good at, kid?"
Blinking in confusion, Iruka opened his mouth then closed it again. He had spent so much time thinking about what he wasn't good at that he couldn't remember what he was good at. "I-I don't know," he told Kakashi honestly, "I...I like being out here with you, its peaceful..." Finding himself blushing again, Iruka dropped his eyes, "I mean i-it's umm I ..." Iruka pulled his knees to his chest, embarrassed.
Kakashi watched him stutter nervously and had the hugest urge to just grab him and hold onto him...it was an urge he had to seriously resist, and instead he reached over and patted Iruka on the shoulder. "I know what you mean," he told the other boy. "I haven't had a peaceful day like this in... Well quite a while, I'm always so busy." He blushed a little when Iruka looked over at him. "Tell you what, for now I'll just try to teach you some things and maybe you will find something that you're good at, how's that?" he offered.
Iruka smiled and held out his hand, and Kakashi willingly clasped it, sealing the agreement. Still holding onto his hand, Kakashi prolonged the release by standing up and taking Iruka with him. "Good, how about we start right now?" he asked and pulled up his mask again.
Several days later, at the academy, Iruka's class was just sitting down and the instructor was clearing the blackboard of the previous days work, feeling slightly troubled. Iruka hadn't shown up at school for the past couple of days, and Kakashi hadn't been anywhere to be found either. It was all very odd... He stopped when he heard the door open and looked up to see Iruka wander in, looking rather bruised up, but with a grin on his face.
The bruises were enough to alarm the teacher, but the grin only confused him. "Iruka?" he asked, not sure if he was hallucinating or not, but since the rest of the class had turned to stare at Iruka in shock, he knew he was not the only one.
Rubbing a lump on the back of his head Iruka looked sheepish. "Sorry I'm late sensei...and sorry for not being here the past few days."
The instructor stared at him for a moment, then stepped forward, taking his arm and leading him out the door. "Excuse us for a second, class..." He told his students, and then shut the door. "Good god, Iruka what happened to you?" He asked, eying the many bruises, cuts, and dirt on Iruka's person.
Iruka rubbed at one of the small cuts he'd received while Kakashi had been training him in the forest. "Kakashi was tutoring me...in the forest...for about..umm today's Wednesday, so abut 5 days." Iruka said as he remembered the long and painful, but enjoyable 5 days he had spent with Kakashi. He had learned so much about himself during that time...he might not be the strongest person, but he was not weak and he soaked up information like a sponge.
The instructor stared at him, and Iruka smiled back, despite how tired he looked and how painful his bruises and cuts must be. "Why didn't you tell me?" the instructor demanded at last.
"Well...Kakashi kind of kidnapped me..." he answered, and if possible the instructor's eyes widened even more.
Then something occurred to Iruka. "Umm I take it that Kakashi didn't tell you?" he ventured. When his teacher nodded his head and looked sternly at Iruka, he blushed and dropped his gaze. His teacher thought it might be in shame, but Iruka was trying to keep the ironic smile form appearing on his face. Kakashi was, of course, a person who usually acted on impulse.
"What did Kakashi...teach you?" the instructor asked at length, and Iruka still didn't look up. By the tone of his voice the instructor probably didn't want to see the smile that he was having a hard time wiping from his face.
"Oh...lots of things...how to aim at a target, things like that." He answered. Actually the training had been quite a bit more intensive than that but he wasn't sure if Kakashi would get into trouble or not so he was trying to downsize it as much as possible.
His instructor nodded his head, his mouth set into a thin line of worry. "Why don't you go to the nurses office and get patched up before you go to class..." He suggested...or more accurately ordered Iruka to go. Iruka hung his head and meekly drug his feet to the nurse's office. Sighing, his teacher re-entered his classroom, which was in the middle of a paper fight.
Iruka entered the nurse's office and the nurse came out to ask what was the matter...her question died before it ever left her lips, however, and she ordered him to sit on a little bed while she collected bandages, and medicines for cleaning his cuts. "You kids these days...when will you learn that roughhousing doesn't pay?" she tittered at him, and Iruka couldn't help but smile.
"And wipe that smirk off your face, mister!" she ordered him while applying some ointment to a bruise on his cheek. Iruka did his best to hide the smile, but it was hard. He really felt proud of himself, and that in it-self was a rare occasion these days. Wincing a little as she cleaned the cuts and scrapes, Iruka wondered how Kakashi's eye was doing. He was supposed to have the bandage off today...which was why Iruka was back in school and not still out in the woods practicing.
At last, Iruka was bandaged up with what had to be a hundred tiny white bandages, some of them stuck to his face, and the nurse proclaimed that he was free to go and warned him about the dangers of horseplay. Iruka scratched at a bandage on his arm as he exited the room into the hallway...it was better when they were just out in the open, now he felt conspicuous.
Iruka rounded the corner on his way back to his classroom when something loud and green practically ran him over. "YOU!" the loud green thing cried, pointing at Iruka who cringed. This guy's eyebrows were scary... "You're the kid Kakashi's been training!" he yelled dramatically. "Where's Kakashi?!"
TBC...
Hmmm… ten guesses who this person is' Yeah like you need ten…But anyway, Iruka's back in school! He's like a completely different person, what did Kakashi do to him out there in the wilderness?
Thank you reviewers! Thank you, thank you! bow bow
We would like to point out that even though Kakashi is a pervert, he's never actually been in love before...well as far as we know... It's kinda hard to recognize love when you've never experienced it before and when it sneaks up on you suddenly it can actually be kinda scary. Especially when the person you're falling for is of the same gender.
Plus he's probably never even considered the possibility of being with another male before...we assume all of his dirty books feature male/female romances…considering who writes them ' And if you don't know who writes them yet, we shall keep quiet about that'
And no, we didn't go and have those two do anything important while we were skipping time' Kakashi and Iruka's relationship is going to be a slow and grueling process. So if your looking for a quick fling here we're sorry
Please review! We love getting reviews!
see original summary, disclaimers, and warnings on the first chapter
Chapter #5
Kakashi located a large flat rock not to fare away, dusting it off Kakashi pulled out a small throwing dagger and began gutting and cleaning the fish. All the wail, trying to keep his attention on the FISH and not swimming with the fishes in water near by. Kakashi felt his ears go worm this time when he thought of Iruka in the water...swimming...necked... Kakashi was so confused. 'Why the hell am I thinking of HIM, and like THAT or all things?!'
Kakashi tried one last time to purge the image from his mind, all the while working away at the fish with his knife, cutting it in half. 'Damn it, what the hell is wrong with me?' he asked himself as his mind once more started to wander...this time however, he was rudely brought back to the here and now by a sharp pain in his hand. Looking down he found that his knife was now embedded in a long cut on his hand. He swore and dropped the knife, rushing to the water to dip his hand in.
Iruka poked his head up out of the water, having successfully caught another fish, just in time to see Kakashi jump up and thrust his injured hand into the shallow lake water. Clutching the wriggling fish lightly in his hands, Iruka kicked his feet, pushing himself towards Kakashi to see what was wrong. When he reached waist deep water he placed his feet down and called to Kakashi.
"Are you all right?"
"I...cut my hand." Kakashi answered, refusing to look up at him in such close proximity in the water.
Iruka blinked. Kakashi did not seem the type to be clumsy enough or spacey enough to actually cut himself by accident, but the blood seeping from Kakashi's hand into the water was certainly proof that he had. Tossing the second fish on shore, Iruka came forward slightly. "Let me see..." He reached out for Kakashi's hand and Kakashi recoiled like he'd been shot.
Kakashi's eyes were wide, and that gave him a good look at Iruka's torso, dripping with water. He wasn't sure if he was thankful or disappointed that Iruka was standing so that even in this shallow water Kakashi could not see lower. He mentally berated himself for not pulling his hand away quick enough from Iruka's grasp. So now he was stuck there...again Kakashi was unsure it this was a good thing or not.
As the butterflies went wild in Kakashi's stomach and his mind reeled, Iruka, who had no idea any this was happening on his account, pulled Kakashi's hand towards him to get a good look at it. If there was one thing he knew about, that was how to fix accidental wounds...he was a bit clumsy after all, especially in his role as class clown. "Ouch, it's kinda deep..." he said, and looked around. "You didn't bring a first aid kit, did you?" he asked, and Kakashi shook his head, not daring to speak.
Iruka put Kakashi's hand back into the water, "Keep that there for a moment," he ordered Kakashi and stood up, quickly going to his pile of clothing to pull on his boxers before taking his shirt and ripping a strip of fabric off. It was from along the bottom, so his shirt was going to survive. Rushing back to Kakashi, he took the older boy's hand out of the water and began wrapping it with the fabric.
Kakashi was relieved that at least Iruka was now wearing shorts...although that still meant that the rest of his body was exposed, so he just focused on his hand, and the fabric being tightly wrapped around it...part of Iruka's own shirt, it would seem...great, now he had some of the guy's clothing attached to him, how was he supposed to get him out of his mind now?
Iruka finished wrapping the hand and tied the makeshift bandage into a little knot. "There that should stop the bleeding." He diagnosed.
Kakashi was able to get his vocal cords working again, and was allowed to say thanks without squeaking, although it did come out gruffer then he intended. Iruka blushed and ducked his head, to him it didn't sound like Kakashi really cared that Iruka had helped him. Well, he probably didn't, when Iruka thought about it, he was just a brat to Kakahshi, he'd said it himself the day before.
"I guess we'll have to make due with two fish, is that alright?" Iruka asked, walking past Kakashi and picking up his clothing from the ground.
Kakashi didn't stand up, but nodded his head. "Yeah, sure." he answered, trying to keep his words short. He was afraid of what his voice might betray. Iruka, however, heard it like Kakashi felt that he was a disappointment, and sighed inwardly.
'Of course Kakashi wouldn't want someone fussing over him for something as non life threatening as a cut.' Iruka thought as he pulled his shirt over his head. 'His eye probably hurt more when it was injured, but I bet he just went on with the mission like any other good ninja.' Pulling his pants on, Iruka took up the task of cleaning the fish as Kakashi went to get some firewood.
Iruka finished cleaning the fish Kakashi had cut himself over and started gutting the second one, brooding miserably. His good mood from just moments before was apparently gone. He didn't know what he had expected from the silver haired ninja...at the very least he had hoped that he might become less antagonistic...and maybe he could have been Iruka's first and only friend. Somehow, however, he'd managed to ruin it, like everything else in his life.
Unbeknownst to Iruka, Kakashi's avoidance of him was completely different than what the younger boy thought. Kakashi sighed and rested his head against a tree, he was far enough into the woods now that he was basically alone. He closed his eyes and for one moment of guilty pleasure, remembered Iruka's touch against his hand as he'd wrapped the bandage. Coming to his senses, Kakashi blushed, 'Why am I thinking like this?' He sighed, bewildered. He knew he was out of his league, just as he knew deep down he was attracted to Iruka. But he was still having trouble figuring that part of it out.
He opened his eyes again and looked down at his injured hand, the dark bandage ripped from the hem of Iruka's shirt tied tightly around it...to Kakashi it felt almost comforting, like something warm and inviting, never mind the fact that his hand was throbbing with pain under it. 'Is there something wrong with me?' he asked himself. He knew this was definitely not normal...but then again...He shook his head. No, he was not going to think about it anymore.
Sighing, Kakashi finished his task of collecting wood and headed back to the beach. He found Iruka sitting beside the water's edge looking kinda depressed, with a little pout on his lips, and Kakashi couldn't stop himself from thinking he was so cute like that. Smacking himself mentally again, he tried to remind himself that when a person looks like that they're usually depressed about something.
"Something wrong?" Kakashi asked, dropping the wood to the ground in a random location...he'd never been too interested in the wood anyway. When Iruka didn't answer, Kakashi took a deep breath to calm his nerves and squatted down next to him. "Hey..." He poked him in the arm in an attempt to get a response.
Iruka sighed and looked at Kakashi from over his shoulder, he looked upset and a little sad. "I'm sorry if I've upset you, Kakashi." he said, feeling like a child.
Kakashi blinked, he had not been expecting Iruka to apologize, and for some reason it only made him look cuter. Which caused Kakashi to question his sanity...or at lest his preference in regards to what gender he was attracted to.
Kakashi blushed and looked down at the ground, scratching random designs in the sand. "You didn't upset me." He said at last. He didn't know what all of this meant but he did know if Iruka continued to look so cute pouting, something bad was going to happen. It wasn't exactly true...Iruka was upsetting him but it wasn't his fault.
"B-but..." Iruka started, sure that he had upset him in some way.
Kakashi sighed and looked at his hand, "I...I was just upset that I cut myself." he said hoping that Iruka would buy into his lie. "I'm supposed to be a top ninja and it was really stupid of me."
Iruka actually looked a little relieved and smiled, "Oh...that's good.." he said, which made Kakashi's heart melt.
Kakashi blushed and looked away before Iruka noticed. "I uh...got the wood, do you have the fish ready?" he asked, and Iruka nodded.
"Yup, all clean and ready to cook." he answered, and pointed to his handiwork on the flat rock
Kakashi smiled as he saw Iruka's job well done, then, so he could distract himself from all kinds of thoughts that were going through his mind, he built up a fire, and by using a little chi the silver haired ninja had it going in no time at all. Iruka's stomach growled as the smell of fish filled the air.
"Mehhh, Kakashi, is it done yet?" Iruka complained, trying to look over Kakashi's shoulder to see the fish cooking, since Kakashi was pretty much hunched over the fire like a mother hen, nursing the fish to perfection. Kakashi, who was having a hard time keeping his sanity in this situation, pushed him away.
"Not yet, stop being a pest." He told him, but smiled anyway. It seemed that Iruka had stopped pouting and had started enjoying himself. And it seemed to have been a long time since Iruka could just have fun and not worry about weather someone was watching or not.
That was the good part, in Iruka's opinion, even though they were all alone out in the wilderness, Iruka didn't feel as lonely or isolated as he had before. He really was enjoying Kakashi's company, a lot more than anyone would have guessed, including Kakashi himself.
While waiting for the fish to cook, Iruka busied himself by balancing on some pieces of driftwood on the beach. He felt so much better being out here...and he didn't seem to be as clumsy as usual, he was able to balance on the wood easily, as if the ability had been inside of him all along. He was starting to wonder if this tutoring thing might not be so bad after all...maybe he really could be a good student...maybe his teachers were right, he just had to find the interest and apply himself.
Although he was good at this, however, Iruka didn't think he wanted to become a top ninja like Kakashi was, or his parents were for that matter. Feeling a little bad that he was betraying their memory, he looked back over his shoulder at Kakashi, who was watching him more than the fish apparently, because they were now on fire.
"Ack! Kakashi, the fish!" Iruka cried desperately, and Kakashi blinked, seemingly coming back to his senses. Looking over at the fish he gasped and beat the fire out with his cooking utensil. Iruka walked over and the two of them stared at the slightly blackened fish for a moment. Kakashi looked up at him apologetically. "Uh...I think they're done now." he told Iruka.
Iruka couldn't stop the laughter that suddenly escaped him. Kakashi's sheepish look was so unlike the ninja's normal bored expression that Iruka just couldn't help it.
Kakashi looked at him like he could not fathom what Iruka was laughing at. "What?" he asked, confused.
"You just looked funny, that's all." Iruka answered between laughs. "I guess you do have a human side after all." He grinned and reached over to pluck a peice of the fish off and pop it into his mouth. Kakashi stared at him and the grin plastered across his face. It made him feel good that he could illicit such a response from Iruka but it only added to his confused state of mind...he didn't know what to think.
"Hey, it's still good, lets eat." Iruka exclaimed.
Kakashi picked up the other blackened fish, and as Iruka watched him, something occurred to him. "Umm...how are you planning on eating that?" he ventured to ask, for since they'd met Iruka had not even seen the guy's face. If he wanted to keep it hidden, of course, that was okay, but it would make eating a little awkward.
"It's not that difficult..." Kakashi answered, and grabbed ahold of his mask with one hand. As Iruka watched intently, he pulled the mask down and off his face, revealing his mouth so that he could eat. He took a bite of the fish and chewed, wondering where the weird question had come from.
Iruka stared at him in shock, a pink colour slowly rising to his cheeks. Kakashi's face was so...well...pretty!
Kakashi blinked, noticing Iruka blush, and swallowed his mouthful of fish. "Is there something wrong?" He asked, not knowing the cause of Iruka's redness.
If possible, Iruka's face turned even redder. "Umm...it's just that you're...you're so pretty." Iruka answered, then ducked his head, feeling even more embarrassed. He had just called his tutor 'pretty', and his male tutor at that!
Kakashi's heart did a flip-flop in his chest and his face heated up to what had to be about one hundred degrees as he stared at the blushing, embarrassed Iruka. Did he just hear what he thought he had? If he did, what did it mean? His mind spun with the possibilities.
"I-I am?" he managed to choke out, his voice slightly high pitched from shock.
Iruka blushed even harder and he nodded his head vigorously, keeping his eyes fixed downwards on his fish. He had not meant to say THAT...well at least not out loud. Hoping that Kakashi wasn't mad at him, Iruka peeked through his wet bangs at the red faced silver haired ninja.
"Uhh...Thank you..." Kakashi managed to say at last, and returned to his fish.
Iruka blinked. Thank you? Did that mean that Kakashi wasn't angry with him? Well whatever the case may be, he didn't want to alienate the silver haired ninja, he was actually enjoying his company. But he didn't know what to say to make his blunder better so he changed the subject. "So...um...why do you wear the mask anyway?" he asked, still feeling embarrassed.
Kakashi finished the last bit of fish and grinned at Iruka. "It's so I look more mysterious and cool." He answered, holding up a finger as if that made any relevance whatsoever.
Iruka blinked, "Cool?" he had to ask, not believing that a top ninja of Kakashi's age had to do anything to look or act 'Cool'
"Yup, cool...kind of like...your topknot." He pointed to Iruka's head. Iruka looked confused.
"But my topknot isn't cool..." He blinked at Kakashi. "The boys at school like to use it to hang me onto things..." Kakashi suddenly felt a deep resentment towards that group of boys he had scared away the first day he'd met Iruka, although where it came from he really didn't want to know.
He picked up stick and threw it into the fire. "Is that so?" he asked.
Iruka blinked. Why did Kakashi sound a little...mad? Upset? But not knowing the answer, he just nodded his head to Kakashi's question. "Yeah, I always get picked on by the older boys. They say its 'cause I need to be taught a lesson...or that I bug the hell out of them. Either way I'm the one who gets picked on." Sighing unhappily. he looked back into the fire.
Kakashi looked at his sad face and resolved that the next time he saw those boys he was going to personally teach them a lesson...but somehow he knew that wasn't going to help. He opened his mouth to say something to Iruka, who laughed and held up his hands.
"I know what your going to say...I have to learn how to stick up for myself, right?" He smiled a bit sadly. "I've tried...believe me I've tried...but it just never seems to work that well."
Kakashi sighed, that was not what he was going to say...actually he hadn't a clue just what he'd intended to say but he was sure that wasn't it. After a moment he got up on impulse and sat down beside Iruka, then reached over and ruffled his damp hair. "Not everyone is cut out to be a strong ninja you know." He told the boy, "Some of us are really good at reconnaissance or attacking. Some are good at both, some neither."
Iruka looked over at him, sligtly surprised that he was showing such interest in his welfare. "But...what about those of us who are good at neither? What are we supposed to do?"
Kakashi thought about it for a second. "Well, I guess you find out what it is that you're good at and go for that." he answered. "Got anything that your good at, kid?"
Blinking in confusion, Iruka opened his mouth then closed it again. He had spent so much time thinking about what he wasn't good at that he couldn't remember what he was good at. "I-I don't know," he told Kakashi honestly, "I...I like being out here with you, its peaceful..." Finding himself blushing again, Iruka dropped his eyes, "I mean i-it's umm I ..." Iruka pulled his knees to his chest, embarrassed.
Kakashi watched him stutter nervously and had the hugest urge to just grab him and hold onto him...it was an urge he had to seriously resist, and instead he reached over and patted Iruka on the shoulder. "I know what you mean," he told the other boy. "I haven't had a peaceful day like this in... Well quite a while, I'm always so busy." He blushed a little when Iruka looked over at him. "Tell you what, for now I'll just try to teach you some things and maybe you will find something that you're good at, how's that?" he offered.
Iruka smiled and held out his hand, and Kakashi willingly clasped it, sealing the agreement. Still holding onto his hand, Kakashi prolonged the release by standing up and taking Iruka with him. "Good, how about we start right now?" he asked and pulled up his mask again.
Several days later, at the academy, Iruka's class was just sitting down and the instructor was clearing the blackboard of the previous days work, feeling slightly troubled. Iruka hadn't shown up at school for the past couple of days, and Kakashi hadn't been anywhere to be found either. It was all very odd... He stopped when he heard the door open and looked up to see Iruka wander in, looking rather bruised up, but with a grin on his face.
The bruises were enough to alarm the teacher, but the grin only confused him. "Iruka?" he asked, not sure if he was hallucinating or not, but since the rest of the class had turned to stare at Iruka in shock, he knew he was not the only one.
Rubbing a lump on the back of his head Iruka looked sheepish. "Sorry I'm late sensei...and sorry for not being here the past few days."
The instructor stared at him for a moment, then stepped forward, taking his arm and leading him out the door. "Excuse us for a second, class..." He told his students, and then shut the door. "Good god, Iruka what happened to you?" He asked, eying the many bruises, cuts, and dirt on Iruka's person.
Iruka rubbed at one of the small cuts he'd received while Kakashi had been training him in the forest. "Kakashi was tutoring me...in the forest...for about..umm today's Wednesday, so abut 5 days." Iruka said as he remembered the long and painful, but enjoyable 5 days he had spent with Kakashi. He had learned so much about himself during that time...he might not be the strongest person, but he was not weak and he soaked up information like a sponge.
The instructor stared at him, and Iruka smiled back, despite how tired he looked and how painful his bruises and cuts must be. "Why didn't you tell me?" the instructor demanded at last.
"Well...Kakashi kind of kidnapped me..." he answered, and if possible the instructor's eyes widened even more.
Then something occurred to Iruka. "Umm I take it that Kakashi didn't tell you?" he ventured. When his teacher nodded his head and looked sternly at Iruka, he blushed and dropped his gaze. His teacher thought it might be in shame, but Iruka was trying to keep the ironic smile form appearing on his face. Kakashi was, of course, a person who usually acted on impulse.
"What did Kakashi...teach you?" the instructor asked at length, and Iruka still didn't look up. By the tone of his voice the instructor probably didn't want to see the smile that he was having a hard time wiping from his face.
"Oh...lots of things...how to aim at a target, things like that." He answered. Actually the training had been quite a bit more intensive than that but he wasn't sure if Kakashi would get into trouble or not so he was trying to downsize it as much as possible.
His instructor nodded his head, his mouth set into a thin line of worry. "Why don't you go to the nurses office and get patched up before you go to class..." He suggested...or more accurately ordered Iruka to go. Iruka hung his head and meekly drug his feet to the nurse's office. Sighing, his teacher re-entered his classroom, which was in the middle of a paper fight.
Iruka entered the nurse's office and the nurse came out to ask what was the matter...her question died before it ever left her lips, however, and she ordered him to sit on a little bed while she collected bandages, and medicines for cleaning his cuts. "You kids these days...when will you learn that roughhousing doesn't pay?" she tittered at him, and Iruka couldn't help but smile.
"And wipe that smirk off your face, mister!" she ordered him while applying some ointment to a bruise on his cheek. Iruka did his best to hide the smile, but it was hard. He really felt proud of himself, and that in it-self was a rare occasion these days. Wincing a little as she cleaned the cuts and scrapes, Iruka wondered how Kakashi's eye was doing. He was supposed to have the bandage off today...which was why Iruka was back in school and not still out in the woods practicing.
At last, Iruka was bandaged up with what had to be a hundred tiny white bandages, some of them stuck to his face, and the nurse proclaimed that he was free to go and warned him about the dangers of horseplay. Iruka scratched at a bandage on his arm as he exited the room into the hallway...it was better when they were just out in the open, now he felt conspicuous.
Iruka rounded the corner on his way back to his classroom when something loud and green practically ran him over. "YOU!" the loud green thing cried, pointing at Iruka who cringed. This guy's eyebrows were scary... "You're the kid Kakashi's been training!" he yelled dramatically. "Where's Kakashi?!"
TBC...
Hmmm… ten guesses who this person is' Yeah like you need ten…But anyway, Iruka's back in school! He's like a completely different person, what did Kakashi do to him out there in the wilderness?
Thank you reviewers! Thank you, thank you! bow bow
We would like to point out that even though Kakashi is a pervert, he's never actually been in love before...well as far as we know... It's kinda hard to recognize love when you've never experienced it before and when it sneaks up on you suddenly it can actually be kinda scary. Especially when the person you're falling for is of the same gender.
Plus he's probably never even considered the possibility of being with another male before...we assume all of his dirty books feature male/female romances…considering who writes them ' And if you don't know who writes them yet, we shall keep quiet about that'
And no, we didn't go and have those two do anything important while we were skipping time' Kakashi and Iruka's relationship is going to be a slow and grueling process. So if your looking for a quick fling here we're sorry
Please review! We love getting reviews!