Corn Fields and Coral Reefs
see original summary, disclaimers, and warnings on the first chapter
Chapter #6
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?!"
Iruka blinked at him. There was something seriously wrong with this guy...he was just scary.
"Um...he's at the hospital getting his bandage taken off...." Iruka answered, just wanting this weird scary person to go away
"Damn you Kakashi!" The green guy cried dramatically, fire in his eyes. Without another word he disappeared around the corner at what had to be the speed of light.
"That...was weird..." Iruka said to himself.
Now that the encounter with the green clad big eye-bowed guy was over, Iruka resumed walking to his destination. Slipping into the back of the class, Iruka found an empty seat and for once he didn't notice the people around him as he tried to pick up what the teacher had been talking about. Well he didn't notice anyone, that is, until someone sat heavily in the seat beside him.
Glancing up, he found that one of the bullies that always bothered him had sat down at the desk next to him, apparently unseen by the instructor, who was busy writing on the chalkboard.
"What do you want?" Iruka whispered, narrowing his eyes.
"Ooooh, likkle Iruka grew a spine, did he?" The bully whispered back, an evil smirk crossing his face.
The bully wasn't much bigger then Iruka, and he didn't seem nearly as threatening as before, but he wasn't alone. Glancing around the room, Iruka noticed the other bullies had literally scared people out of their seats and had taken them. Knowing that he wasn't strong enough to take them all on at once, Iruka meekly ducked his head...old habits died hard and he was already so bruised and bandaged, that he really didn't want to add any more to his collection.
The head bully smirked and reached over to grab Iruka's face and forced him to look at him. "Looks like your boyfriend isn't here to save you this time...what are you gonna do?" The bully asked in a tone that told Iruka that for some reason he was definitely in trouble this time. Iruka's eyes widened and he tried to say something, but the way the bully was holding onto his face made it difficult.
An evil little glint sparkled in the bully's eye, "What, poor Iruka can't say anything? Cat got your tounge?" he asked. Iruka's face was flushed with anger but he couldn't say or do anything as they teased him. The bully pulled Iruka's face closer and lowered his voice. "Or maybe you're just waiting till we let our guard down so you can use some new ninjustu on us, hummm? Did Kakashi teach you any new tricks while you were away?"
The bully's friends sniggered at this comment and if possible the bully's expression became even more threatening. Suddenly, however, his eyes widened, and the giggling stopped immediately The bully let go of Irukas face as he was rudely lifted off the ground, arms flailing desperately.
"You pieces of shit don't know when to quit, do you?" A voice said dangerously, and Iruka looked up to see Kakashi holding up the bully with a distinctly angry look on his face.
The bandage was off, but Iruka still couldn't see his eye because his head-band was pulled down over it. Forgetting about the bully that still dangled form Kakashi's grip, Iruka flung his arms around Kakashi. "Kakashi, your eye?!" he asked, panicking. He couldn't think of a reason why Kakashi would still cover his eye if the bandage was off, not unless it had been scarred horribly or he couldn't see out of it.
Kakashi blushed red as he felt Iruka's arms wrap around him and heard the concern in his voice, and he almost forgot what it was he was doing. In any event, the look that had so frightened the bully he was still holding up was gone, but for the bully's part...and really for everyone else in the room, all was silence. Come on, Iruka was holding onto Kakashi's waist, what was everyone supposed to think?
Iruka let go of Kakashi's waist not noticing the strange looks he was getting, "Is your eye okay?" he asked, a little worried. He did not want to think that it was his fault Kakashi was out in the woods when he should have been in the hospital to prevent some kind of horrible infection.
Seeing Iruka's concern, Kakashi grinned, "It's fine, I just thought I would look cooler like this." he explained.
The instructor turned around at this point to see what chaos his classroom had erupted into. "What's going on here?" he demanded angrily, slamming his book on his desk. "What are all you people doing in my classroom? Kakashi, put that boy down this instant!"
"Oh sure, he looks over now but can't bother to notice when Iruka's being bullied." Kakashi muttered darkly and put the bully back on his feet. "Touch him again and I promise you'll be sorry." He whispered in a voice only the bully could hear.
The bully turned very pale, but was allowed to leave with his limbs intact, something that he and his friends were going to take advantage of. Seeing that most of the intruders were now gone, the teacher turned to Kakashi. "I would like to talk to you after class, but for now I would appreciate it if you allow me to continue." he said while keeping an eye on Iruka. Something was very different about him after his excretion in the woods.
Kakashi nodded at the teacher and turned to go, but Iruka grabbed hold of his arm, delaying him. "Kakashi, some green guy was looking for you, I think he ran off to the hospital..."
Kakashi groaned and rubbed his forehead. Gai. That was the last thing he needed. "Of course he was..." Kakashi muttered, and ruffled Iruka's hair in parting. "Thanks. I'll be back after class." With that he shoved his hands in his pockets and left the classroom.
Iruka sighed as he saw his teacher's stern look pointed in his direction. Quickly taking his seat again, Iruka shifted uncomfortably and noticed some of the stares he was getting from his classmates. He was used to people looking at him oddly, but that was really only when he was trying to get their attention. Why were they focusing so much on him now? It was weird. Clearing his throat, Iruka's teacher resumed the lesson.
Kakashi wandered down the streets, in the opposite direction from the hospital. Gai was the last person he wanted to see right now...that kid was just irritating in every conceivable way. Plus he seemed to think they were rivals in everything.
His mind, being totally out of his own control these days, wandered back in time to the classroom, and Iruka's arms wrapped around him. He felt his face grow hot and he cursed in his mind. Instead of getting better now that the ordeal in the woods was over, these thoughts were just getting worse.
Kakashi soon found himself staring up at the monuments of the four Hokages. The new monument to the fourth hokage had been finished a year before the last hokage had to sacrifice his life for the village. No one had foreseen that fateful day the fox would come to their village... Kakashi sighed as he stared up at the monument of his former teacher. If only he could sort out his feelings about Iruka.
The fourth he could have asked...he could have asked him about anything, even if at the time Kakashi had been too impatient with becoming a ninja to bother with these kinds of things. "Damn it..." Kakashi rubbed his forehead. He felt so, exhausted, exhilarated...he didn't know what he felt like. Everything else in his life had seemed straightforward but this...
This...this was like being in a rat trying to find the cheese at the end of the maze. He cared for Iruka...Kakashi knew that, but his feelings were growing deeper then he himself would care to admit. He really had nothing to compare his relationship with Iruka either, was he really just a close friend? But then why did he blush, and his stomach do summersaults on him whenever the boy so much as smiled at him? Even deep in thought, Kakashi could feel the presences of another approach him. Turning around Kakashi was met with a pair of dark eyes set against a pale complexion. "Hello Itachi."
"Kakashi." Itachi answered. That kid could be so freaky sometimes (especially for an 8 year old Oo), Kakashi thought to himself. "If you don't mind my asking, why are you standing in the middle of the road?" Itachi asked, stepping forward. He too looked up at the Hokage heads but didn't seem like he needed any advice from them or anything like Kakashi seemed to.
Itachi brushed his hair back from his face as Kakashi smiled and laughed, "Oh just thinking about the meaning of life." he answered.
Itachi looked kind of annoyed and glared at Kakashi with his red eyes, "I see you too have received the sharingan...too bad it's just a transplant." Itachi pointed out in contempt. But that was Itachi for you, the snooty little Uchiha heir, pride and joy of the Uchiha family.
Without realizing it, his eyes had narrowed into a glare at Itachi, and his stuck up nature. Itachi also glared at Kakashi, probably thinking he wasn't fit to have the eye that was given to him. Silence fell over the two as they tried to hate each other to death.
"Itachi!" A small voice cried happily and an equally small figure glommed onto Itachi's leg, grinning happily up at him.
Itachi glared down at the burr that had attached himself to his leg. "Sasuke-chan." he said, sounding not amused. Sasuke grinned up at his brother and laughed a little before detaching himself. Kakashi couldn't help but snicker as Itachi's little brother managed to lower his height and mighty image just by being there. With his mission accomplished, Sasuke turned to Kakashi and attached himself to his leg instead, "Kakashi!" he cried happily.
"Hey, little man, what's up?" Kakashi reached down and ruffled the kid's hair, an action that had become too familiar in the past week.
Little Sasuke grinned up at him. "Nuthin, can I read your book today?" He asked.
"Hmmm, not till your older." Kakashi winked at him. Itachi made a disgusting sort of growl and turned away, his cape flapping slightly. Kakashi and Sasuke giggled to each other, and Itachi stormed off.
Kakashi grinned down at the young Uchiha, they got along quite well, considering Itachi liked to boss Sauske around, and Kakashi liked to annoy the Uchiha heir to no end, it was a good training for them both. Kakashi had actually only met Sasuke about two weeks ago, although Itachi he had known earlier. When Kakashi lost his eye it had been one of the recently deceased Uchiha relatives that he had received his sharingan from, and in Sasuke's young mind that made him practically family.
Kakashi sat down on a nearby bench and Sasuke happily planted himself on the silver haired ninja's knee. "Ni-chan..." Sasuke said at length, and Kakashi smiled at him.
"Yeah, Sasuke-chan?" he asked.
"How come you seem sad?" Little Sasuke asked, twisting his head upside down so that he could see Kakashi's face.
Kakashi laughed to cover his embarrassment, how did this kid see right through him? With the young Uchiha on his knee, Kakashi ruffled his hair, "I'm sure you're going to find out when you're older." He answered as best as he could considering he could not answer the question himself...how was he going to explain it to this child? Sasuke pouted, which made him look too adorable for words...yeah he could see it now, Sasuke was going to break hearts when he got older.
"but Niiiii-chan, can't I help?" Sasuke whined, looking even more adorable. Forget breaking hearts this kid was going to have a flock of women after him.
"'Fraid not, kid." Kakashi answered. "I'm gonna have to figure this one out on my own." he smiled reassuringly at the kid, who nodded and turned back to look at the street. Kakashi sighed. If he didn't figure this one out soon he was going to go mad, he was sure of it.
After sitting there in silence for a while, something occurred to Kakashi. "Sasuke?" he asked the young boy, who craned his head back to look at Kakashi,
"Yes?" he asked sweetly.
"Your starting preschool this year aren't you?" Sasuke nodded his head in response. "...Then shouldn't you be in school?"
Sasuke shook his head and grinned. "Nope, the blonde kid filled the room up with water so Sensei said we could go home." He explained happily.
"Blonde kid...?" Kakashi asked...something about that tugged at his mind.
"Yeah his name's Naruto, he's always gettin into trouble." Sasuke answered
If anything it sounded like Sasuke wished he had come up with the idea to flood the classroom, and not this Naruto. Kakashi tried to place were he had heard the name before...he knew he had, but it was hard thinking when his mind was so full of Iruka. A bird flew overhead and Kakashi watched it, trying to think. When his eyes rested on the stone bust of the 4th Kakashi's eye widened. How could he have forgotten about Naruto?
So, the kid that had the nine tails fox sealed inside of him was attending school as well...and apparently he was a prankster. Kakashi smiled a little, thinking how fitting it was...
"Do you like Naruto?" Kakashi asked Sasuke. He knew the popular opinion about the young boy was not a positive one, and it was probably going to seep into the children's mind as well.
"...Mom and dad say I shouldn't play with him." Sasuke answered, pouting a little.
It was obvious to Kakashi that Sasuke would like nothing better then to get in on the pranking with Naruto. And being the younger Uchiha brother, people tended to ignore Sasuke whenever his brother was around, and that included his parents. It wouldn't hurt either of them in Kakashi's opinion if they got together and formed some kind of friendship, even if it was just to flood schoolrooms.
Kakashi placed a hand on Sasuke's head and Sasuke glanced up questioningly. "You know..." Kakashi started, with a wink. "As long as your parents don't know about it, who says you can't be friends with Naruto, huh?" he said. Maybe luck would smile on at least one orphan child and give him a friend...
"Really?" Grinning happily at his words, Sasuke jumped off Kakashi's lap and hugged the ninja before running off back to the Uchiha mansion, waving goodbye. Kakashi smiled as Sasuke ran home, he knew the kid was lonely for a friend but no one seemed to be able to see that.
But now that Sasuke was gone Kakashi was once again left with his own problems...speaking of which, it should be about lunchtime and he could only think of one person he wanted to spend lunch with.
Iruka sighed and wandered outside, his stomach growling at him. After five days of being in the wilderness with Kakashi most of Iruka's food had gone bad, and he'd eaten the last of it that morning for breakfast, hoping that if he ate enough he woudln't be hungry by lunchtime. As it was he was very hungry and totally without a lunch. Not to mention that class had seemed so much more boring than usual, even though he'd tried so hard to pay attention.
Not to mention some of his classmates had suddenly taken to snickering behind their hands as he walked by...and it wasn't like he was trying to draw attention to himself at that moment so it was rather odd...as well as annoying in his opinion. Iruka wandered over to the treed area on the academy grounds and tried to ignore his growling stomach as he sat under a tree for shade. There was no one else around so he couldn't even beg for some lunch.
Not that anyone would give him any even if he did. His stomach growled again and he groaned and closed his eyes.
"Hungry?" A familiar voice asked, and Iruka's eyes flew open to find Kakashi sitting next to him, not looking at him but holding out a boxed lunch that looked like it had been purchased from a store. If Iruka had looked hard enough he would have seen the blush that just peeked over Kakashi's black mask.
But instead he was drooling over the food that Kakashi had offered him, "YES! Thanks!" he said smiling his thanks to Kakashi, before inhaling his food. Kakashi smiled beneath his mask before pulling it down to eat.
After Iruka's stomach was no longer at war with him, he looked at Kakashi again with concern. "Is your eye really okay?" he asked, hoping that Kakashi would show him even if it was ugly.
Kakashi stopped eating and reached up to gently touch the headband pushed down over his eye. "It's...fine, don't worry." He answered. To tell the truth, he'd hidden it because he didn't want Iruka to look at it and think he was strange...he was still getting used to what it looked like himself.
Iruka frowned in worry, he felt like there was something wrong. "Can I see it?" he asked. "Please?"
That 'Please' did it, Kakashi melted under it...he didn't have the backbone to stand up to Iruka's puppy dog face, even if Iruka didn't realize that he was doing it. Sighing, Kakashi shifted a little so he was facing Iruka, and pushed his headband up, reveling his sharingan eye. Iruka blinked and leaned closer to get a better look at the red iris. Kakashi kept perfectly still, willing the blush not to appear on his face with Iruka this close.
"Isn't that a..." Iruka started, when suddenly a hasty cry of 'Watch out!' came from the game field. A renegade ball struck Iruka in the back of the head and he pitched forward suddenly, right into Kakashi's arms. The two boys' lips pressed together and for a brief moment both of them saw stars...Iruka possibly because he'd been hit on the head with a soccer ball. Realizing their situation, they hastily pulled apart, staring at each other, both with extremely red faces and wide eyes.
A few moments later someone came running up to see who they had hit. Iruka was holding his head trying to not see double as a blonde three year old latched onto his arm, asking if he was okay.
Kakakshi felt something warm trickle out of his nose and, realzing that he had a nosebleed, he pinched his nose to stop the blood flow.
Iruka muttered something unintelligible, and the little blonde boy freaked out. "I'm so sorry, mister, please be ok, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Iruka closed his eyes for a minute to stop the world from spinning, and when he was feeling better, he opened them and focused on the kid, who had familiar little lines on each cheek. With big puppy dog eyes the kid looked at him. "Are you ok, mister?" he asked.
To say the kid was adorable was an understatement, what with his big puppy dog blue eyes. Trying to sound convincing, Iruka told the boy he was okay, then looked at Kakashi who was still in the middle of trying to get his nosebleed under control. Fearing that he had broke Kakashi's nose, Iruka grabbed his handkerchief and helped Kakashi control the flow. Little did Iruka know that only caused more problems for Kakashi then it solved.
Kakashi felt light headed. His mind was reeling, he was loosing blood from the spontaneous blood flow caused by his lips on Iruka's, and aggravated by Iruka being so close as he tried to help. He wobbled a little, and finally flopped down on the grass, all but unconscious.
"Um...is he ok?" The little blonde kid peeked around Iruka to get a better look.
"Ummm..." Iruka really didn't know if Kakashi was alright or not, passing out form a nose bleed wasn't really normal, was it? Iruka looked back at the boy who had kicked the ball, and seeing that the kid was on the verge of tears, ruffled his hair and said that Kakashi was stronger then he looked. Hoping that he wasn't lying to the kid, he asked his name.
The kid brightened, the tears still in his eyes but completely forgotten. "I'm Naruto! I just started preschool!" He exclaimed proudly. "Who're you?" He asked eagerly, leaning forward expectantly.
Iruka smiled, even though he was a little worried about Kakashi lying unconscious on the ground. "I'm Iruka, nice to meet you Naruto." He knew that name...he knew it very well, but he tried to hide his surprise at hearing it.
Iruka had not met the boy before, but he had heard of him. After his parents died the old hokage had talked a lot to him about a lot of things and Naruto was one of them. He had not expected the boy to be so biright eyed and cheery...even if he did just smack Iruka in the back of the head with a soccer ball. Naruto smiled again, like someone had just truned on a light bulb, "It's nice to meet you too, IRUKA!"
Iruka couldn't help but smile at the boy's cheerfulness. Naruto continued to grin, then looked behind him. "Wanna come play, Iruka?" he asked hopefully.
Iruka smiled but shook his head. "Sorry, I should probably stay and make sure Kakashi will be ok." He answered patiently. "Maybe next time?"
Naruto's grin faded for a second, but was back again so fast it was almost never gone. "Okay! Iruka-Ni-chan!" Naurto dashed to retrieve his ball and proceeded to kick it in a random direction.
Iruka sighed and looked down at Kakashi, who was still lying on the grass looking at though he was asleep...it if wasn't for the blood stain on his cheek and lip, Iruka almost would have thought him sleeping peacefully..
Iruka got more comfortable on the grass and wondered what he should do. Should he try to wake Kakashi up, or wait until he got up on his own? The nosebleed had almost stopped, so Iruka started by pressing his handkerchief to it to try and stop it entirely. Kakashi's cheeks turned pink as he lay there...maybe he was dreaming about something...Iruka's mind thought, as it started to wander.
Kakashi wasn't actually dreaming, but his mind was putting many strange images into his head, many of which involved Iruka, and a lot of those thoughts involved kissing. Kakashi liked to think that if he hadn't been in a dazed state, he would have been able to control the images. As it was, his mind was doing a many things, and when he felt Iruka's hand touch his face he felt his cheeks heat up.
The hand touching his face did not go away however, and as he slowly came into consciousness, he could feel it's presense more and more. And the more his half dead brain thought about it the more he actually wanted to kiss Iruka...it was as if the part of his brain that had been controlling those particular thoughts had been shut off.
After a moment he heard Iruka's voice asking him if he was alright. Kakashi came fully wake and realized what he had just been thinking. He couldn't have gotten any redder.
"Kakashi?" Iruka asked again, seeing his face gain more colour then usual. Kakashi sat up, trying to control his blush. Luckily, he was able to pull down his headband and pull up his mask.
Iruka watched as Kakashi took a deep breath as if trying to clear his mind or something. "A-are you ok?" he asked, worried about his passing out, coupled with his strange behavior. "Y-you passed out and..." He stuttered. He was worried that maybe Kakashi was angry with him for some reason...he was starting to break out of his shell but the insecurities were still there.
Kakashi tugged at his mask again, he was embarrassed for the way his thoughts had turned, but he couldn't leave Iruka just like that and run away without saying a word. "I'm okay, Iruka," he answered, placing a hand on the dark haired boy's shoulder. "Really, it's nothing to be concerned about."
Iruka looked unconvinced. "Are you sure...people don't just...pass out from nosebleeds, do they?" He asked, his eyes full of concern that all but made Kakashi's heart just melt right then and there. "D-do you need to see the nurse?" Iruka offered.
Kakashi shook his head. "No, I'll be ok." He stood up, a little wobbly, but he regained his balance quickly. Iruka still looked worried, and he sighed. "I'll go home and get some rest before I have to meet your instructor, will that make you feel better?" he asked.
Kakashi watched the tension melt away from Iruka's face, "Y-yeah it would." he answered, glad that Kakashi wasn't going to go do something foolish like find that Guy person... he was just scary.
Kakashi smiled and ruffled Iruka's topknot. "Then I guess I should get going don't you think?" Iruka smiled and nodded, it was okay, the bell was going to go in a few minutes anyway.
"I'll be back after school, then." Kakashi assured him, and disappeared in typical Kakashi fashion, to go home and rest just like he promised Iruka he would.
Iruka watched the spot where Kakashi had left and felt strangely lonely with him gone. Getting up slowly, he picked up the empty box lunches so he could dispose of the packaging, and turned around, only to slam into someone who had been standing behind him.
TBC...
Gasp! Who is that standing behind Iruka? Could it be Kakashi come back for a goodbye kiss? Or is it that Gai person form earlier? Or Maybe his teacher wanting to see what new skills Iruka has learned? Or the bullies! Wanting to teach Iruka a lesson of their own?
Well your just going to have to wait and find out!
And congratulations to all those who guessed Gai. Although it probably wasn't all that hard.
(Sigh) again we apologize for Spelling errors, and word misplacements that are still (ocuring) It's really funny when some one spelled occurring, (ocuring) in a review commenting on our spelling. I guess we're all just going to have to face the reality that our spelling sucks and that there will occasionally be errors. We shall apologize one last time but that's it, we shall try our best to get them, but we're only human so there's bound to be mistakes.
And on a related subject, we are considering the possibility of asking someone to beta read our stuff before we put it up, someone who would be able to catch the little mistakes we leave that make the writing a tad jerky. Anyone interested should email Eimaj at TaterChanhotmail.com
Anyway, thanks for all the reviews! Keep them coming we love seeing them!
see original summary, disclaimers, and warnings on the first chapter
Chapter #6
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?!"
Iruka blinked at him. There was something seriously wrong with this guy...he was just scary.
"Um...he's at the hospital getting his bandage taken off...." Iruka answered, just wanting this weird scary person to go away
"Damn you Kakashi!" The green guy cried dramatically, fire in his eyes. Without another word he disappeared around the corner at what had to be the speed of light.
"That...was weird..." Iruka said to himself.
Now that the encounter with the green clad big eye-bowed guy was over, Iruka resumed walking to his destination. Slipping into the back of the class, Iruka found an empty seat and for once he didn't notice the people around him as he tried to pick up what the teacher had been talking about. Well he didn't notice anyone, that is, until someone sat heavily in the seat beside him.
Glancing up, he found that one of the bullies that always bothered him had sat down at the desk next to him, apparently unseen by the instructor, who was busy writing on the chalkboard.
"What do you want?" Iruka whispered, narrowing his eyes.
"Ooooh, likkle Iruka grew a spine, did he?" The bully whispered back, an evil smirk crossing his face.
The bully wasn't much bigger then Iruka, and he didn't seem nearly as threatening as before, but he wasn't alone. Glancing around the room, Iruka noticed the other bullies had literally scared people out of their seats and had taken them. Knowing that he wasn't strong enough to take them all on at once, Iruka meekly ducked his head...old habits died hard and he was already so bruised and bandaged, that he really didn't want to add any more to his collection.
The head bully smirked and reached over to grab Iruka's face and forced him to look at him. "Looks like your boyfriend isn't here to save you this time...what are you gonna do?" The bully asked in a tone that told Iruka that for some reason he was definitely in trouble this time. Iruka's eyes widened and he tried to say something, but the way the bully was holding onto his face made it difficult.
An evil little glint sparkled in the bully's eye, "What, poor Iruka can't say anything? Cat got your tounge?" he asked. Iruka's face was flushed with anger but he couldn't say or do anything as they teased him. The bully pulled Iruka's face closer and lowered his voice. "Or maybe you're just waiting till we let our guard down so you can use some new ninjustu on us, hummm? Did Kakashi teach you any new tricks while you were away?"
The bully's friends sniggered at this comment and if possible the bully's expression became even more threatening. Suddenly, however, his eyes widened, and the giggling stopped immediately The bully let go of Irukas face as he was rudely lifted off the ground, arms flailing desperately.
"You pieces of shit don't know when to quit, do you?" A voice said dangerously, and Iruka looked up to see Kakashi holding up the bully with a distinctly angry look on his face.
The bandage was off, but Iruka still couldn't see his eye because his head-band was pulled down over it. Forgetting about the bully that still dangled form Kakashi's grip, Iruka flung his arms around Kakashi. "Kakashi, your eye?!" he asked, panicking. He couldn't think of a reason why Kakashi would still cover his eye if the bandage was off, not unless it had been scarred horribly or he couldn't see out of it.
Kakashi blushed red as he felt Iruka's arms wrap around him and heard the concern in his voice, and he almost forgot what it was he was doing. In any event, the look that had so frightened the bully he was still holding up was gone, but for the bully's part...and really for everyone else in the room, all was silence. Come on, Iruka was holding onto Kakashi's waist, what was everyone supposed to think?
Iruka let go of Kakashi's waist not noticing the strange looks he was getting, "Is your eye okay?" he asked, a little worried. He did not want to think that it was his fault Kakashi was out in the woods when he should have been in the hospital to prevent some kind of horrible infection.
Seeing Iruka's concern, Kakashi grinned, "It's fine, I just thought I would look cooler like this." he explained.
The instructor turned around at this point to see what chaos his classroom had erupted into. "What's going on here?" he demanded angrily, slamming his book on his desk. "What are all you people doing in my classroom? Kakashi, put that boy down this instant!"
"Oh sure, he looks over now but can't bother to notice when Iruka's being bullied." Kakashi muttered darkly and put the bully back on his feet. "Touch him again and I promise you'll be sorry." He whispered in a voice only the bully could hear.
The bully turned very pale, but was allowed to leave with his limbs intact, something that he and his friends were going to take advantage of. Seeing that most of the intruders were now gone, the teacher turned to Kakashi. "I would like to talk to you after class, but for now I would appreciate it if you allow me to continue." he said while keeping an eye on Iruka. Something was very different about him after his excretion in the woods.
Kakashi nodded at the teacher and turned to go, but Iruka grabbed hold of his arm, delaying him. "Kakashi, some green guy was looking for you, I think he ran off to the hospital..."
Kakashi groaned and rubbed his forehead. Gai. That was the last thing he needed. "Of course he was..." Kakashi muttered, and ruffled Iruka's hair in parting. "Thanks. I'll be back after class." With that he shoved his hands in his pockets and left the classroom.
Iruka sighed as he saw his teacher's stern look pointed in his direction. Quickly taking his seat again, Iruka shifted uncomfortably and noticed some of the stares he was getting from his classmates. He was used to people looking at him oddly, but that was really only when he was trying to get their attention. Why were they focusing so much on him now? It was weird. Clearing his throat, Iruka's teacher resumed the lesson.
Kakashi wandered down the streets, in the opposite direction from the hospital. Gai was the last person he wanted to see right now...that kid was just irritating in every conceivable way. Plus he seemed to think they were rivals in everything.
His mind, being totally out of his own control these days, wandered back in time to the classroom, and Iruka's arms wrapped around him. He felt his face grow hot and he cursed in his mind. Instead of getting better now that the ordeal in the woods was over, these thoughts were just getting worse.
Kakashi soon found himself staring up at the monuments of the four Hokages. The new monument to the fourth hokage had been finished a year before the last hokage had to sacrifice his life for the village. No one had foreseen that fateful day the fox would come to their village... Kakashi sighed as he stared up at the monument of his former teacher. If only he could sort out his feelings about Iruka.
The fourth he could have asked...he could have asked him about anything, even if at the time Kakashi had been too impatient with becoming a ninja to bother with these kinds of things. "Damn it..." Kakashi rubbed his forehead. He felt so, exhausted, exhilarated...he didn't know what he felt like. Everything else in his life had seemed straightforward but this...
This...this was like being in a rat trying to find the cheese at the end of the maze. He cared for Iruka...Kakashi knew that, but his feelings were growing deeper then he himself would care to admit. He really had nothing to compare his relationship with Iruka either, was he really just a close friend? But then why did he blush, and his stomach do summersaults on him whenever the boy so much as smiled at him? Even deep in thought, Kakashi could feel the presences of another approach him. Turning around Kakashi was met with a pair of dark eyes set against a pale complexion. "Hello Itachi."
"Kakashi." Itachi answered. That kid could be so freaky sometimes (especially for an 8 year old Oo), Kakashi thought to himself. "If you don't mind my asking, why are you standing in the middle of the road?" Itachi asked, stepping forward. He too looked up at the Hokage heads but didn't seem like he needed any advice from them or anything like Kakashi seemed to.
Itachi brushed his hair back from his face as Kakashi smiled and laughed, "Oh just thinking about the meaning of life." he answered.
Itachi looked kind of annoyed and glared at Kakashi with his red eyes, "I see you too have received the sharingan...too bad it's just a transplant." Itachi pointed out in contempt. But that was Itachi for you, the snooty little Uchiha heir, pride and joy of the Uchiha family.
Without realizing it, his eyes had narrowed into a glare at Itachi, and his stuck up nature. Itachi also glared at Kakashi, probably thinking he wasn't fit to have the eye that was given to him. Silence fell over the two as they tried to hate each other to death.
"Itachi!" A small voice cried happily and an equally small figure glommed onto Itachi's leg, grinning happily up at him.
Itachi glared down at the burr that had attached himself to his leg. "Sasuke-chan." he said, sounding not amused. Sasuke grinned up at his brother and laughed a little before detaching himself. Kakashi couldn't help but snicker as Itachi's little brother managed to lower his height and mighty image just by being there. With his mission accomplished, Sasuke turned to Kakashi and attached himself to his leg instead, "Kakashi!" he cried happily.
"Hey, little man, what's up?" Kakashi reached down and ruffled the kid's hair, an action that had become too familiar in the past week.
Little Sasuke grinned up at him. "Nuthin, can I read your book today?" He asked.
"Hmmm, not till your older." Kakashi winked at him. Itachi made a disgusting sort of growl and turned away, his cape flapping slightly. Kakashi and Sasuke giggled to each other, and Itachi stormed off.
Kakashi grinned down at the young Uchiha, they got along quite well, considering Itachi liked to boss Sauske around, and Kakashi liked to annoy the Uchiha heir to no end, it was a good training for them both. Kakashi had actually only met Sasuke about two weeks ago, although Itachi he had known earlier. When Kakashi lost his eye it had been one of the recently deceased Uchiha relatives that he had received his sharingan from, and in Sasuke's young mind that made him practically family.
Kakashi sat down on a nearby bench and Sasuke happily planted himself on the silver haired ninja's knee. "Ni-chan..." Sasuke said at length, and Kakashi smiled at him.
"Yeah, Sasuke-chan?" he asked.
"How come you seem sad?" Little Sasuke asked, twisting his head upside down so that he could see Kakashi's face.
Kakashi laughed to cover his embarrassment, how did this kid see right through him? With the young Uchiha on his knee, Kakashi ruffled his hair, "I'm sure you're going to find out when you're older." He answered as best as he could considering he could not answer the question himself...how was he going to explain it to this child? Sasuke pouted, which made him look too adorable for words...yeah he could see it now, Sasuke was going to break hearts when he got older.
"but Niiiii-chan, can't I help?" Sasuke whined, looking even more adorable. Forget breaking hearts this kid was going to have a flock of women after him.
"'Fraid not, kid." Kakashi answered. "I'm gonna have to figure this one out on my own." he smiled reassuringly at the kid, who nodded and turned back to look at the street. Kakashi sighed. If he didn't figure this one out soon he was going to go mad, he was sure of it.
After sitting there in silence for a while, something occurred to Kakashi. "Sasuke?" he asked the young boy, who craned his head back to look at Kakashi,
"Yes?" he asked sweetly.
"Your starting preschool this year aren't you?" Sasuke nodded his head in response. "...Then shouldn't you be in school?"
Sasuke shook his head and grinned. "Nope, the blonde kid filled the room up with water so Sensei said we could go home." He explained happily.
"Blonde kid...?" Kakashi asked...something about that tugged at his mind.
"Yeah his name's Naruto, he's always gettin into trouble." Sasuke answered
If anything it sounded like Sasuke wished he had come up with the idea to flood the classroom, and not this Naruto. Kakashi tried to place were he had heard the name before...he knew he had, but it was hard thinking when his mind was so full of Iruka. A bird flew overhead and Kakashi watched it, trying to think. When his eyes rested on the stone bust of the 4th Kakashi's eye widened. How could he have forgotten about Naruto?
So, the kid that had the nine tails fox sealed inside of him was attending school as well...and apparently he was a prankster. Kakashi smiled a little, thinking how fitting it was...
"Do you like Naruto?" Kakashi asked Sasuke. He knew the popular opinion about the young boy was not a positive one, and it was probably going to seep into the children's mind as well.
"...Mom and dad say I shouldn't play with him." Sasuke answered, pouting a little.
It was obvious to Kakashi that Sasuke would like nothing better then to get in on the pranking with Naruto. And being the younger Uchiha brother, people tended to ignore Sasuke whenever his brother was around, and that included his parents. It wouldn't hurt either of them in Kakashi's opinion if they got together and formed some kind of friendship, even if it was just to flood schoolrooms.
Kakashi placed a hand on Sasuke's head and Sasuke glanced up questioningly. "You know..." Kakashi started, with a wink. "As long as your parents don't know about it, who says you can't be friends with Naruto, huh?" he said. Maybe luck would smile on at least one orphan child and give him a friend...
"Really?" Grinning happily at his words, Sasuke jumped off Kakashi's lap and hugged the ninja before running off back to the Uchiha mansion, waving goodbye. Kakashi smiled as Sasuke ran home, he knew the kid was lonely for a friend but no one seemed to be able to see that.
But now that Sasuke was gone Kakashi was once again left with his own problems...speaking of which, it should be about lunchtime and he could only think of one person he wanted to spend lunch with.
Iruka sighed and wandered outside, his stomach growling at him. After five days of being in the wilderness with Kakashi most of Iruka's food had gone bad, and he'd eaten the last of it that morning for breakfast, hoping that if he ate enough he woudln't be hungry by lunchtime. As it was he was very hungry and totally without a lunch. Not to mention that class had seemed so much more boring than usual, even though he'd tried so hard to pay attention.
Not to mention some of his classmates had suddenly taken to snickering behind their hands as he walked by...and it wasn't like he was trying to draw attention to himself at that moment so it was rather odd...as well as annoying in his opinion. Iruka wandered over to the treed area on the academy grounds and tried to ignore his growling stomach as he sat under a tree for shade. There was no one else around so he couldn't even beg for some lunch.
Not that anyone would give him any even if he did. His stomach growled again and he groaned and closed his eyes.
"Hungry?" A familiar voice asked, and Iruka's eyes flew open to find Kakashi sitting next to him, not looking at him but holding out a boxed lunch that looked like it had been purchased from a store. If Iruka had looked hard enough he would have seen the blush that just peeked over Kakashi's black mask.
But instead he was drooling over the food that Kakashi had offered him, "YES! Thanks!" he said smiling his thanks to Kakashi, before inhaling his food. Kakashi smiled beneath his mask before pulling it down to eat.
After Iruka's stomach was no longer at war with him, he looked at Kakashi again with concern. "Is your eye really okay?" he asked, hoping that Kakashi would show him even if it was ugly.
Kakashi stopped eating and reached up to gently touch the headband pushed down over his eye. "It's...fine, don't worry." He answered. To tell the truth, he'd hidden it because he didn't want Iruka to look at it and think he was strange...he was still getting used to what it looked like himself.
Iruka frowned in worry, he felt like there was something wrong. "Can I see it?" he asked. "Please?"
That 'Please' did it, Kakashi melted under it...he didn't have the backbone to stand up to Iruka's puppy dog face, even if Iruka didn't realize that he was doing it. Sighing, Kakashi shifted a little so he was facing Iruka, and pushed his headband up, reveling his sharingan eye. Iruka blinked and leaned closer to get a better look at the red iris. Kakashi kept perfectly still, willing the blush not to appear on his face with Iruka this close.
"Isn't that a..." Iruka started, when suddenly a hasty cry of 'Watch out!' came from the game field. A renegade ball struck Iruka in the back of the head and he pitched forward suddenly, right into Kakashi's arms. The two boys' lips pressed together and for a brief moment both of them saw stars...Iruka possibly because he'd been hit on the head with a soccer ball. Realizing their situation, they hastily pulled apart, staring at each other, both with extremely red faces and wide eyes.
A few moments later someone came running up to see who they had hit. Iruka was holding his head trying to not see double as a blonde three year old latched onto his arm, asking if he was okay.
Kakakshi felt something warm trickle out of his nose and, realzing that he had a nosebleed, he pinched his nose to stop the blood flow.
Iruka muttered something unintelligible, and the little blonde boy freaked out. "I'm so sorry, mister, please be ok, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Iruka closed his eyes for a minute to stop the world from spinning, and when he was feeling better, he opened them and focused on the kid, who had familiar little lines on each cheek. With big puppy dog eyes the kid looked at him. "Are you ok, mister?" he asked.
To say the kid was adorable was an understatement, what with his big puppy dog blue eyes. Trying to sound convincing, Iruka told the boy he was okay, then looked at Kakashi who was still in the middle of trying to get his nosebleed under control. Fearing that he had broke Kakashi's nose, Iruka grabbed his handkerchief and helped Kakashi control the flow. Little did Iruka know that only caused more problems for Kakashi then it solved.
Kakashi felt light headed. His mind was reeling, he was loosing blood from the spontaneous blood flow caused by his lips on Iruka's, and aggravated by Iruka being so close as he tried to help. He wobbled a little, and finally flopped down on the grass, all but unconscious.
"Um...is he ok?" The little blonde kid peeked around Iruka to get a better look.
"Ummm..." Iruka really didn't know if Kakashi was alright or not, passing out form a nose bleed wasn't really normal, was it? Iruka looked back at the boy who had kicked the ball, and seeing that the kid was on the verge of tears, ruffled his hair and said that Kakashi was stronger then he looked. Hoping that he wasn't lying to the kid, he asked his name.
The kid brightened, the tears still in his eyes but completely forgotten. "I'm Naruto! I just started preschool!" He exclaimed proudly. "Who're you?" He asked eagerly, leaning forward expectantly.
Iruka smiled, even though he was a little worried about Kakashi lying unconscious on the ground. "I'm Iruka, nice to meet you Naruto." He knew that name...he knew it very well, but he tried to hide his surprise at hearing it.
Iruka had not met the boy before, but he had heard of him. After his parents died the old hokage had talked a lot to him about a lot of things and Naruto was one of them. He had not expected the boy to be so biright eyed and cheery...even if he did just smack Iruka in the back of the head with a soccer ball. Naruto smiled again, like someone had just truned on a light bulb, "It's nice to meet you too, IRUKA!"
Iruka couldn't help but smile at the boy's cheerfulness. Naruto continued to grin, then looked behind him. "Wanna come play, Iruka?" he asked hopefully.
Iruka smiled but shook his head. "Sorry, I should probably stay and make sure Kakashi will be ok." He answered patiently. "Maybe next time?"
Naruto's grin faded for a second, but was back again so fast it was almost never gone. "Okay! Iruka-Ni-chan!" Naurto dashed to retrieve his ball and proceeded to kick it in a random direction.
Iruka sighed and looked down at Kakashi, who was still lying on the grass looking at though he was asleep...it if wasn't for the blood stain on his cheek and lip, Iruka almost would have thought him sleeping peacefully..
Iruka got more comfortable on the grass and wondered what he should do. Should he try to wake Kakashi up, or wait until he got up on his own? The nosebleed had almost stopped, so Iruka started by pressing his handkerchief to it to try and stop it entirely. Kakashi's cheeks turned pink as he lay there...maybe he was dreaming about something...Iruka's mind thought, as it started to wander.
Kakashi wasn't actually dreaming, but his mind was putting many strange images into his head, many of which involved Iruka, and a lot of those thoughts involved kissing. Kakashi liked to think that if he hadn't been in a dazed state, he would have been able to control the images. As it was, his mind was doing a many things, and when he felt Iruka's hand touch his face he felt his cheeks heat up.
The hand touching his face did not go away however, and as he slowly came into consciousness, he could feel it's presense more and more. And the more his half dead brain thought about it the more he actually wanted to kiss Iruka...it was as if the part of his brain that had been controlling those particular thoughts had been shut off.
After a moment he heard Iruka's voice asking him if he was alright. Kakashi came fully wake and realized what he had just been thinking. He couldn't have gotten any redder.
"Kakashi?" Iruka asked again, seeing his face gain more colour then usual. Kakashi sat up, trying to control his blush. Luckily, he was able to pull down his headband and pull up his mask.
Iruka watched as Kakashi took a deep breath as if trying to clear his mind or something. "A-are you ok?" he asked, worried about his passing out, coupled with his strange behavior. "Y-you passed out and..." He stuttered. He was worried that maybe Kakashi was angry with him for some reason...he was starting to break out of his shell but the insecurities were still there.
Kakashi tugged at his mask again, he was embarrassed for the way his thoughts had turned, but he couldn't leave Iruka just like that and run away without saying a word. "I'm okay, Iruka," he answered, placing a hand on the dark haired boy's shoulder. "Really, it's nothing to be concerned about."
Iruka looked unconvinced. "Are you sure...people don't just...pass out from nosebleeds, do they?" He asked, his eyes full of concern that all but made Kakashi's heart just melt right then and there. "D-do you need to see the nurse?" Iruka offered.
Kakashi shook his head. "No, I'll be ok." He stood up, a little wobbly, but he regained his balance quickly. Iruka still looked worried, and he sighed. "I'll go home and get some rest before I have to meet your instructor, will that make you feel better?" he asked.
Kakashi watched the tension melt away from Iruka's face, "Y-yeah it would." he answered, glad that Kakashi wasn't going to go do something foolish like find that Guy person... he was just scary.
Kakashi smiled and ruffled Iruka's topknot. "Then I guess I should get going don't you think?" Iruka smiled and nodded, it was okay, the bell was going to go in a few minutes anyway.
"I'll be back after school, then." Kakashi assured him, and disappeared in typical Kakashi fashion, to go home and rest just like he promised Iruka he would.
Iruka watched the spot where Kakashi had left and felt strangely lonely with him gone. Getting up slowly, he picked up the empty box lunches so he could dispose of the packaging, and turned around, only to slam into someone who had been standing behind him.
TBC...
Gasp! Who is that standing behind Iruka? Could it be Kakashi come back for a goodbye kiss? Or is it that Gai person form earlier? Or Maybe his teacher wanting to see what new skills Iruka has learned? Or the bullies! Wanting to teach Iruka a lesson of their own?
Well your just going to have to wait and find out!
And congratulations to all those who guessed Gai. Although it probably wasn't all that hard.
(Sigh) again we apologize for Spelling errors, and word misplacements that are still (ocuring) It's really funny when some one spelled occurring, (ocuring) in a review commenting on our spelling. I guess we're all just going to have to face the reality that our spelling sucks and that there will occasionally be errors. We shall apologize one last time but that's it, we shall try our best to get them, but we're only human so there's bound to be mistakes.
And on a related subject, we are considering the possibility of asking someone to beta read our stuff before we put it up, someone who would be able to catch the little mistakes we leave that make the writing a tad jerky. Anyone interested should email Eimaj at TaterChanhotmail.com
Anyway, thanks for all the reviews! Keep them coming we love seeing them!