Sorry it took so long! life gets in the way, you know. Well, all usual warnings and disclaimers apply. OK, and you all have realized by now that i'm an evil author and i thoroughly enjoy cliffhangers, but this time it was for a good reason! i'm exhausted and not sleeping, so i'm trying to get to bed earlier so i'm not a zombie at work. starlynn, you know what i'm talking about! thank you for every review, i'm sorry i can't reply to every one individually, but your words of praise (and frustration!) were all appreciated. next one will probably be the last. not bad for a supposed one shot! (see ch. 1)

Chapter Six: Fish in a Barrel

Iruka's eyes snapped back up to stare at the jounin so close to him. Huh?

"Why are you looking at me like that? Isn't that pretty much what you were hoping for?" Kakashi tilted his head inquisitively at the dolphin. The younger man opened and closed his mouth several times, trying gamely to find a response that didn't make him sound brain-damaged.

"Nani?" It was the best he could come up with.

"What did you think was going to happen?"

"Actually," Iruka thought for a moment. "I hadn't thought past the blurting it out part," he admitted in a sheepish tone, daring a grin at the other man. They smiled at each other for a moment in the dim light of the bedroom, the younger man's eyes breaking away first to stare somewhere over Kakashi's shoulder.

Bare shoulder. Bare, muscular, pale-skinned shoulder that he definitely wasn't staring at because he was looking at the wall. Wall! He tried to force his eyes away, but the traitorous orbs refused to obey his commands and kept wandering over his friend's naked chest. And that freakin' tattoo was just...sugoi. Iruka sighed as he ran a hand through his loosened hair, letting the silky strands brush against the tops of his shoulders as he massaged his scalp in an effort to relax.

"So, now what?" Kakashi chuckled quietly. The chuunin closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the headboard, hand squeezing the tense muscles at the base of his skull, exposing a tan column of throat and a stretch of lean muscle to the jounin's interested gaze.

"I don't know," the dolphin whispered. "Maybe we should—"

Iruka 'eeped' as he suddenly felt a hand grab the wrist of the hand in his hair, tangling in the dark locks as warm lips pressed against the tender skin of his neck. How the hell had Kakashi moved so fast? He hadn't even heard the mattress creak. Iruka's stomach was doing crazy flip-flops as Kakashi's hot mouth hit every nerve ending he had above his shoulders.

"What are you doing?" he tried for an outraged tone, but it came out breathless instead.

"Testing a theory," Kakashi whispered against his skin, letting his tongue slip out to lick the sensitive spot behind Iruka's ear.

"Ahh...Kakashi? Um...ooh...wait!" Iruka brought a hand up to Kakashi's chest and pushed him away lightly, struggling for breath. The scarecrow stared at him with half-lidded eyes, releasing Iruka's wrist and waiting for the chuunin to explain himself. Iruka desperately tried to remember why he'd stopped Kakashi

"Uh...weren't we just having a conversation about first kisses and all that?"

"That sounds vaguely familiar," Kakashi agreed with a small grin. Iruka raised an eyebrow at Kakashi's teasing tone.

"And?"

"And what?"

"..." Iruka didn't know what he was trying to say. He was pretty damn confused. Kakashi hadn't seemed too thrilled earlier to find out that Iruka had those feelings for him, so much so that he told the worst lie ever to get away from him. Then, all of a sudden, the man was mostly naked, on his bed, licking him. His stomach flipped again, remembering the jolt he'd felt at the first brush of those lips. Why had Kakashi done that? Had he missed something? He didn't want to just give it away if the man wasn't serious.

"Wait," Iruka said again as something occurred to him. "What theory?" His eyes narrowed. "And why are you testing it on me?"

"Ah," Kakashi pulled back a few more inches in order to look Iruka in the eye. "I'm testing it on you because it's about you. Well, it's about me, but it's about you too. Mostly me. But you're in it. Therefore, you must be part of it." He smiled, proud of his explanation. Iruka snorted at the ridiculousness of the answer.

Kakashi's face fell. Iruka didn't get it! He'd explained it so well too. Hmm. Maybe not.

"Iruka-sensei, you told me how you felt, and then I thought about it."

"You already told me that part."

"..." Kakashi looked out the window as he thought. Yeah, he did say that part, but he was forgetting something. Something important. Oh yeah!

"Please tell me there's more to it than that, because I am sincerely not getting the connections here. And why did you lick me?" The last was said in an aggravated tone, but Kakashi was experienced enough to know that it wasn't due to lack of enjoyment.

"Because I wanted to. And you taste good," he grinned at Iruka. The younger man blushed a fiery red and went back to the silent open-close mouth movements as he tried to frame a response.

"N-Nani??"

"Iruka-sensei, you're repeating yourself. For a teacher you could really use a brush up on your vocabulary. Don't be scared of the big words!" the scarecrow teased. Iruka stuttered and spluttered a little while he waited for his brain to catch up. He glared at the jounin.

"You said you loved me..." Kakashi stated.

"Well, actually, I never specifically said those exact words," the dolphin said in a minor huff, certain he was being played with.

"You baka. You admitted it. Which made me think about it."

"Which I'm sure thrilled you to no end," Iruka said sarcastically.

"Hey, it wasn't a bad thing! I was just knocked off my tree for a moment."

"You've been off your tree since I met you."

"Ahh, you always hurt the one you love!" Kakashi grinned at him, back on track now that he'd remembered the important part. He took Iruka's hand in his grasp and entwined their fingers. The chuunin stared down at their conjoined hands like it was a pile of worms, completely confused. "Now shut up and let me talk, baka."

"Go ahead," the dolphin muttered, distracted by the feeling of Kakashi's surprisingly warm hand over his.

"I thought about it."

"Stop saying that!"

"Stop interrupting! Don't you want to hear this?"

"Fine."

"All right then." Kakashi's grin couldn't get any wider as he watched the play of emotions over Iruka's face. It was just too damn easy to rile him up! Like shooting fish in a barrel. Or hey, a dolphin even!

"I thought about it, and...I decided that it wasn't a horrible idea."

"Gee, thanks. Overwhelm me with your enthusiasm! You could have just said 'No thank you' and let it go. We could have gotten past it in no time."

"Don't tell me that the kind of love you spoke of can be 'gotten past' so quickly or so easily." Iruka lifted his gaze to meet Kakashi's, an expression of uncertainty suddenly overlaying the scarred features. Kakashi's tone was so serious. He stared at the jounin with questions in his eyes.

"I meant, you could have gotten past it and I...would..." he trailed off hesitantly.

"Would go on like a tragic heroine?" Kakashi poked the younger man in the side with his free hand, making him wiggle in annoyance.

"Hero!" Iruka retorted. "Whoever said I was going to be the girl?"

"Your hair is prettier than mine," Kakashi chuckled, bringing a hand up to stroke the aforementioned hair. Iruka couldn't help but lean slightly into the caress, enjoying the feeling of physical contact from the one he loved.

"This is so surreal," he sighed, closing his eyes in contentment, forgetting his reservations and confusion for the moment.

"Hn," Kakashi agreed.

"When I woke up this morning, I had no idea we'd be here like this," Iruka remarked.

"Not bad, eh?" Kakashi's murmuring voice was in his ear, much closer than it had been a moment ago. Iruka jumped, startled from his reverie.

"There's something I forgot to mention, Iruka-sensei."

"W-what's that?"

"I don't want to get past it," he whispered, breath tickling the chuunin's jaw. Their faces were centimeters apart, Iruka's eyes wide as he replayed the words until they made sense. Did he...?

"Are...are you saying you're...okay with this?"

"I think we need to work on your listening comprehension as well as your vocabulary, Iruka-sensei. Honestly, and they let you teach Konoha's children?" Kakashi smiled fondly at the dolphin as he teased. "Maybe you need to take a refresher cour—,"his words were cut off abruptly by Iruka's lips against his own.