Kakashi entered the living fully clothed…if you call a pair of sweats and the towel over his shoulder as fully clothed. Iruka coughed slightly…trying to shake his new discovery of being jealous. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at him and the weird pink tinge on his cheeks.

"Iruka…are you alright?" Kakashi questioned…yet again being clueless…can you really blame him? Iruka scratched his cheek, nodding.

"I'm fine…I…yes there was a reason I came here" Iruka said as he turned to look at Kakashi. Kakashi nodded, smirking without his mask. Iruka blinked as he swallowed hard…why was he getting so flustered by seeing him without a mask?

"And that would be what? To peep at my body?" asked Kakashi jokingly. Iruka's face turned beet red as he stood up.

"Kakashi-san! I am being serious here!" he said, slightly indignant…though he felt like he was caught red-handed…but for what? Kakashi raised an eyebrow and raised his hands.

"Ok…ok…so why did you show up at this time of night?" asked Kakashi, becoming rather serious. Iruka sighed inwardly in relief.

"Well…I wanted to apologize for this morning. There was no way that I was using you for my reputation Kakashi-san…I was just…worried about you. With those injuries you should be taking better care of yourself" Iruka explained. Kakashi sighed, sitting down.

"Don't…worry about it Iruka…I over reacted a bit…and I really didn't mean all that I said" Kakashi said. Iruka raised his gaze at him. He looked so…dangerously sexy…did he just think Kakashi was sexy? Iruka blinked and shook his head, making Kakashi raise an eyebrow.

"You know…if you aren't feeling ok I can walk you home" Kakashi said as he stood up.

"No…I'm fine actually…perfectly fine…it's just that I feel bad for making my words seem like that…I had no intention of using you as a mean to raise my reputation in this village…seriously Kakashi…I don't want someone such as yourself to simply die…" Kakashi frowned as he narrowed his eyes.

"What is it to you…you hate me either way for what I did to 'your' students? So why should you care?" asked Kakashi seriously. Iruka was taken aback. He didn't hate him…

"But you got it all wrong…I don't hate you" Iruka stated. Kakashi snorted.

"Sure you don't" he told Iruka.

"But I don't! I care about you Kakashi and the last thing I want to see if a friend of mine perish foolishly!" Iruka shouted, surprising the two. Kakashi stared at him in surprise. Iruka cared about him? Even…considered him a friend? How…was…

Iruka sighed as he walked passed Kakashi and stood on the door way. He kept his back turned to Kakashi, his face still beet red.

"Kakashi…I don't hate you…honest…I may not forgive you for what you did…but that doesn't mean I hate you" Iruka said as he left Kakashi's apartment. Kakashi sighed…Iruka may not hate him…but he sure hated himself more and more each day…

/break blah break blah break blah break blah break blah break blah break blah/

Iruka looked at the students…none of them had the answer. He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Anyone?" questioned Iruka. Konohamaru looked at everyone, before meekly raising his hand. Iruka smiled and nodded towards him.

"Ano…taijutsu is a close hand-to-hand combat technique which requires little to no seals. Genjutsu is an illusionary technique in which the user creates a spell to capture the opponent; creating illusions in the process…it can be quite difficult and dangerous…ninjutsu…" Konohamaru began to think, but sighed…unable to think anything for ninjutsu. Iruka smiled quite proudly of Konohamaru's answer and interest in learning.

"Very well…A Ninjutsu" Iruka was cut short by the bell. He sighed, smiling slightly.

"Well we shall continue this tomorrow then…dismissed" Iruka said as the children zoomed their way passed the teacher. Konohamaru looked out the window for a moment before grabbing his stuff and leaving, following his team.

"Good job today Konohamaru…you sure have improved a lot" Iruka said. Konohamaru nodded and grinned.

"Or course…when Naruto-niichan returns I have to beat him for the hokage title…ja Iruka-sensei!" Konohamaru said as he ran out of the classroom. Iruka smiled sadly…Konohamaru reminded him so much of Naruto…

He shook his head…no use moping around…he still had a job to do. Iruka gathered his things and headed for the administrative building, resuming his task of once again filing reports and stamping the living day lights out of them.

As the day moved on Iruka droned on with the routine of stamping and filing, slightly worried that Kakashi hadn't shown up as of yet. Tsunade stood up and stretched, being nearly 8 pm.

"Iruka…close up early…you haven't been resting much have you?" asked Tsunade. Iruka smiled sheepishly.

"I do sleep…I sleep for as long as my body needs it…seriously Tsunade-sama I am fine" Iruka said. Tsunade raised an eyebrow but shrugged, leaving the office.

"Good night Iruka" she said before she left. Iruka nodded to her as he resumed his assorting of the paper work. Not once did Kakashi show up…maybe he took a mission in the morning? Maybe he took his advice and stayed home?

Why was he even worrying? And why was Kakashi on his mind lately? Things were even worse when he realized he was jealous the previous night…but what was he jealous of…Kakashi or his fan group? Iruka sighed in frustration…he would never figure it out.

Tsunade had said to close up early…but closing up early would mean going home to an empty house again…and Iruka didn't want to deal with the solitude anymore. He couldn't understand it…but as of late the solitude and loneliness was getting to him more and more each day. Iruka saw that he still had a long way to go…so he decided to stay for as long as necessary.

So Iruka grabbed a box full of reports that were left for tomorrow morning's shift and started to read over them, stamping a success or failure on each one. Iruka leaned back on the chair, stretching the kinks out of his back. He looked at the clock tiredly, noticing that it read 3:30 am. He rubbed his sleepy eyes as he stood up. Iruka grabbed the box of sorted papers and placed them on the stack to be filed in a few hours. Iruka looked over everything once more before leaving the office, dreading the fact that in a few hours he would have to teach yet again…

/break blah break blah break blah break blah break blah break blah break blah/

To say the least…Iruka was a mess during class. He was slightly moody, tired and the noise level was aggravating him. He dismissed his students earlier than usual, apologizing for snapping during class.

Iruka sighed, sitting down on his desk. He was so tired…he had no sleep whatsoever…barely had a breakfast…if you can call a glass of orange juice breakfast…and skipped lunch to grade papers. He was hungry, but too tired to even go and eat something before heading towards the office for his duties. Well to put it in simple terms…he felt like shit.

And he still couldn't figure out why he was jealous…was it Kakashi or his fan group? It made Iruka nuts as he wracked his tired and worn brain night after night. Not to mention his dreams….a couple of days ago he had a dream of Kakashi in the damn towel hovering above him…he woke up quickly, sweat covering his body.

Iruka's face flushed red as he remembered that little…wake up…how the hell could he dream like that about a certain jounin whom he's supposed to despise and destroy…not to mention send him to the depths of hell?

Iruka stood up, feeling lightheaded…so he skipped a few meals for the past two weeks…it shouldn't be that bad…Iruka shook his head as he grabbed his bags and left his classroom. He was tired, eyes drooping to the ground as he didn't even bother looking where he was going. He bumped into someone…muttered and apology and walked away like a zombie. Kakashi turned around, a raised eyebrow. Why did Iruka looked so…sick?

Kakashi was worried about him…even if he wouldn't admit it…then again he wouldn't admit a lot of things about himself. Kakashi walked along his path, trying not to let his thoughts wander on a certain chuunin.

Iruka trudged into the mission's office, taking his seat and beginning to work on the reports. His vision was slightly blurry, so he rubbed his eyes and resumed his work. He sighed, knowing he still had a long day ahead of him…and he was still feeling like shit.

/break blah break blah break blah break blah break blah break blah break blah/

Iruka closed the office door, feeling the pounding headache trying to rip his head apart. He leaned against the wall, slowly making his way down the hall. He was so tired and felt so weak…why was he feeling so week? He's a chuunin for crying out loud! He should have more resistance to any illness. He shook his head as he managed to make it out of the building.

A nice bath was all he needed…yeah just a simple bath…or so Iruka thought. Iruka looked at the door to his house, blinking to make sure it indeed was his home. After reassuring himself that he was not wondering around like an idiot, Iruka opened the door to his house and dragged his aching and burning body into the house, heading straight for the bathroom where he stripped and bathed.

Iruka sighed in relief, his aching muscles slowly relaxing in the warm water. He leaned back, allowing the water to simply warm his body slowly, relieving any soreness away. He closed his eyes, deciding that a nap was what he needed instead. After debating for a good minute on whether to actually leave the warm water, Iruka hesitantly stood up, grabbing the towel and wrapping it around his waist. He dragged his poor body into his room, grabbing his pajamas and putting them on.

He let his body fall onto the bed, welcoming the warmth of the blankets. Only then did he realize he was cold…freezing cold. Iruka shuddered as he slid under the blankets, welcoming the sudden sleepiness that loomed over him. So Iruka did the only thing he could do…sleep.

/break blah break blah break blah break blah break blah break blah break blah/

Kakashi pulled the book from his face, staring with his lazy eye at Gai as he ranted in the lounge. Genma entered the lounge, reading over the assignment given to him.

"So…what is it now?" asked Raido. Genma sighed, dropping the assignment on his desk.

"Well I have to substitute as a teacher for some annoying class…" Genma said, chewing on the senbon. Raido and Gai looked at him confused.

"Who are you subbing for?" asked Gai.

"Iruka" Genma plainly said, expecting the reaction from the other jounin…though he doubted Kakashi would even care. Raido blinked…Iruka? Gai gasped.

"The super nice super kind Iruka is out?" he asked surprised. Kakashi sighed as he sat up, not putting his two cents in. Genma nodded.

"He didn't show up for work…we have no clue as to what happened to him…so a shinobi will be dispatched to search for him" Genma said, throwing the scroll at Kakashi.

"And odd enough…she chose you" Genma told Kakashi before leaving the office to tend to his 'class.' Kakashi opened the scroll and read his so called mission. Great…he just had to get chosen to look for Iruka…of all the shinobi it had to be him. Suddenly Kakashi had a bad feeling that Tsunade was enjoying this little fiasco a little too much.

Kakashi casually left the building, taking his dear sweet time making his way towards Iruka's house. Why couldn't Tsunade herself check up on him? Kakashi simply sighed…he really didn't want to see Iruka at the moment…his mind was still so jumbled up…a complete mess…

Kakashi knocked on Iruka's door…that was the least he could do. Besides, he was feeling too lazy to just poof inside…then again poofing himself does sound much better, so Kakashi poof himself into Iruka's home. He whistled, seeing how incredibly clean and…tight the home looked. It was Iruka all right…to be so clean and tight.

He could sense Iruka…that was a given. So Iruka had stayed home to sleep? It didn't sound at all like Iruka. That would be the last thing Iruka would do…stay home and just sleep…

"Iruka…" Kakashi said rather lazily. He knocked on Iruka's bedroom door, but received no response. Did Iruka get himself drunk or something? Kakashi opened the door, entering the room cautiously. He could hear Iruka was still fast asleep…which was rather strange for the chuunin to still be sleeping. Kakashi peeked over the bed, noticing how Iruka was curled into a ball, deep in sleep.

"Iruka…wake up" Kakashi said rather loudly, hoping to wake the chuunin up. Iruka groaned, turning his body around to face Kakashi, still asleep. Kakashi blinked…his face was barely an inch away from Iruka's. Kakashi's visible eye looked at the sleeping face of Iruka, eyeing every feature on his face…his hand unconsciously reaching to caress Iruka's cheek…and that's when he felt it…

"Iruka" Kakashi called out, shaking Iruka. He was burning hot…he was covered in sweat.

"Iruka you have to wake up…can you hear me" Kakashi called out, hoping that he could get any type of reaction from the chuunin. All he could get was his groans of pain.

"Idiot…" Kakashi muttered as he pulled the blankets away from Iruka, causing him to shudder from the sudden cold.

"You really are burning up…" he said as he picked Iruka up in his arms, surprised to see how well Iruka fitted in his arms…so soft…so light…light? Kakashi frowned…a chuunin of his height should definitely weigh more. Was Iruka being reckless with his health? It seemed so out of place with the chuunin.

Kakashi sighed yet again…he was doing that a lot lately as he poof his way towards the entrance of the hospital He stepped into the hospital, looking at the nurse on the front desk.

"As you can see…this chuunin is knocked out and burning up…under Tsunade's orders he is to be treated immediately or you shall feel the wrath of the slug…" Kakashi said rather casual. The nurse raised an eyebrow, but did as she was told as doctors and nurses grabbed Iruka and put him on a bed, rolling him towards one of the emergency rooms.

/break blah break blah break blah break blah break blah break blah break blah/

I would write more but I'm dead tired and I fell asleep twice while writing this…well I had a long day lol

TheSunShineGirls: Yep XD hot sexy wet Kakashi…/passes out from blood loss/ here's the next chapter…enjoy lol

Eyes0nme19: I'm glad you find this interesting…I hope you enjoy this chapter

Jemiul: Yeah I'm trying to make it a slow transition lol it is going to deal with the 2 years before Naruto comes back lol I love torturing this couple lol Iruka can't even see that he's jealous at the fan group that's after Kakashi lol denial I tell ya lol

Snow887: lol here's the next chapter and I hope you enjoy it /sweatdrops at pose/

Shake-it-buddy: Well I hope you like this chapter as well : )

Mirai-Kung: thanks for like this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter

Ruka-kun: It's a lot of work trying to make their feelings develop slowly lol but I'm glad you like this story and I hope you like this chapter.

Everyone else: ARIGATO GOZAIMASU!