Naruto awoke once again, only this time he was wrapped in warmth and the slow movement of breathing. His eyes flickered to the left, then right, where Kakashi and Iruka were entangled with one another and had accidentally trapped the smaller between them.
Ugh...they sandwiched me..why does that sound so incredibly wrong?..-He grimaced and manuevered himself so he slid cleanly from underneath the silver-haired man's arms along with his adopted father's and pushed off the bed to balance on his knees before yelping and falling to land flat on his face.
He lay absolutely still for a few moments before letting out the breath he had been holding. The room remained shrouded in silence until he pushed himself to his feet and padded out the door to shut it softly behind himself.
Naruto smiled and shook his head wryly as a snort/snore echoed from behind the closed door and bedsheets rustled as the two ninjas shifted closer to eachother to find warmth.
I wonder how long it'll take before they realize their feelings for one another. Poor Iruka sensei... he'll have no free time. He'll be constantly molested by that pervert Kakashi.-The blonde smiled fondly and sat on the cold wooden stool that sat in the kitchen, laying his head on his palm and staring listlessly at the dripping sink.
The water began to tint red, and somehow managed to create a large spatter that resulted in staining the white counter a dilluded red. With each fallen drop of water, the stains on the counter grew and grew and seemed to stretch hungrily for Naruto. He winced and gasped as his wrist began to throb and ache beneath his bandages.
"Go away.."He rasped,"Kyubi...Kyubi..STOP IT!"
The dripping abruptly stopped, and the illusion of blood instantly disappeared, leaving a untouched kitchen in it's wake.
Naruto panted and pressed his forehead into the cool counter, clenching his lids shut and his fists till his nails dug through the skin.
Footsteps echoed in the hallway, signaling someone's approach. Naruto sighed, took a deep breath, relaxed his fingers, and raised his head.
"Morning Iruka!...Kakashi."He mock pouted at the jounin. There was a momentary tense silence, whereareas none of them knew how to act in the situation. Kakashi broke it by waving the comment away carelessly.
"Mwah, ignorant child, so disrespectful."
Iruka's tense expression melted and he stared at Kakashi's back in gratification before flashing a warm smile at Naruto."Im sorry, me and Kakashi must have crushed you last night."
Naruto sweatdropped,"nono..it was fine."
Iruka flushed and scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, redirecting his gaze to the floor shyly before scowling,"I don't see WHY you had to stay here anyways..."
Kakashi leaned in close to the chunin, invading the brunette's personal space,"Am I not welcome?"
"N-no, I mean..yes..I.."
The silverhaired man leaned closer, forcing his friend to lean backwards."So..you want me to ..leave?"
Chocolate brown eyes roved embaressedly right to left in anxiety,"I didn't say that, Im just...Im just.."
"Just what?"
Naruto snickered and plucked a toothpick from the wooden container on the counter, chewing on it carelessly as he watched the scene unfold.
"W-well..You should have brought proper sleep wear if you were planning on staying over..just remember that in the future Kakashi san."
"Hai."Kakashi replied with a triumphant grin, spinning around before the other man could blind.
Iruka twitched in annoyance as Kakashi immediately began ramsacking the cupboards for anything edible. He opened his mouth to direct the jounin, but the blonde in the corner of his eye caught his attention.
Naruto merely raised an eyebrow and smirked, chewing idly on the toothpick whilst he rested his head on his palm. Iruka's eyes were drawn to the stark white wrapping that encased the tanned wrist. Naruto slowly followed his gaze and blue eyes filled with shame and sadness. He quickly hid his arm underneath the counter and diverted his gaze, biting his lower lip.
Iruka's eyes dimmed slightly, and he leaned on the counter, gently removing the toothpick from the blonde's mouth. Azure blue met warm chocolate, and Iruka smiled warmly, cupping Naruto's cheek.
"Don't hide it, Naruto. Its not a good thing..but as long as you don't do that ever again..learn from your mistakes and open your heart." The brownhaired man gently took the bandaged arm and ran his thumbpad over the rough wrappings, smiling softly."No matter how bad the mistake...I'll always be here to help you through it, and help you understand how to correct it in the future. I am your former sensei after all, right Narutochan?"
Naruto's canines released his lower lip to stretch into a grin."Hai Iruka.I already knew that though, its pretty stupid to point out the obvious, ne?"
A tick mark throbbed on the side of Iruka's head, but he nodded anyways,"forgive me...for being so foolish."
Naruto stuck out his tongue in reply and leaned back in his stool.
Kakashi quickly turned back to the cupboards when Iruka turned to face him. The chunin placed his hands on his hips and tapped his foot, eyeing Kakashi.
"Nani?"The scarecrow grumbled, pulling a box of cornflakes from the cupboard and shutting it with a loud bang that caused Iruka to wince.
"Kakashi, you slept in those clothes. You're filthy. Shower and I'll lend you a change of clothes."
Smirking, Kakashi opened the fridge and extracted the milk,"No need."
Iruka blinked rapidly,"What do you mean?"He flushed deep red,"You cant walk around naked!"He sputtered with indignation and waved around his hands,"I won't allow it! N-Naruto would be scarred for life!"
"Oh, but you would enjoy it wouldn't you? My my, I didn't realize that just after one night, my presence would have such an impact on you. You're already imagining me naked, maybe you want to read over Icha Icha Paradise while Im taking my shower, ne?"
Iruka looked ready to die of embaressment, fiddling with his fingers and stuttering incoherantly. Kakashi and Naruto threw back their heads and laughed.
The blonde smiled quietly to himself and glanced once more at Kakashi and Iruka who were currently play fighting.-Everything seems back to normal. Maybe it will be ok..-
"Oi, Naruto, call off your guard dog." Kakashi muttered emotionlessly, effortlessly holding off the brown-haired chunin.
"Hehe, not a chance."
"You show no respect for your sensei, I'll never pass you." Kakashi sniffed.
Naruto winced,-That's right...we still have training..no one else knows about it but..Sasuke..-He immediately pushed the image of the Uchiha to the far depths of his mind and stretched."Hungry.."He yawned lazily.
Iruka stopped midswing and smiled brightly,"Ramen?"
"Mmhmmm.."
His adopted father paused midway to the stove,"Excuse me?"
"Yes please."Naruto deadpanned.
Kakashi snickered and took a seat beside Naruto, propping his masked head in his bare palm.
Naruto faked a yawn and looked down at his hands, allowing his thoughts to wonder without looking suspicious.His blue eyes drifted to his bandaged forearm again.-I need to take my mind off of this..I think I'll go cloud watching today when Iruka goes off to teach..-
He winced mentally at the thought of confronting Shikamaru who seemed to look right through him,-Sasuke wouldn't have told them anything, would've he? No, he doesn't talk to anyone..the antisocial bastard..Now that I think of it, I think if I saw Sasuke I would rip out his throat.-
He sweatdropped and faked another yawn, stretching and raising his head.Iruka was humming while he stirred and seperated the noodles with a wooden stirring spoon. Kakashi was watching him with a faraway look in his eyes.
Jeez, when is Iruka sensei going to finally return Kakashi sensei's feelings?-
Iruka scooped the steaming noodles into two seperate bowls and placed them in front of him and Kakashi along with two pairs of chopsticks.
"Iruka sensei, aren't you hungry?" Naruto asked, tilting his head slightly and blinking while he slurped up his noodles.
Iruka flushed and scratched the back of his head sheepishly,"I'm on a diet at the moment, so only fruits and vegetables for me."
Kakashi stared blankly at the other man,"You're...on a diet?"
Iruka twitched dangerously, leaning forward on the counter and facing the bored looking jounin."Hai."
Momentary silence...
"Ah..I see.."Kakashi returned to playing with his noodles, waiting until both Iruka and Naruto were too preoccupied before quickly downing the noodles in record time, mask quickly pulled back up.
Naruto smiled as he remembered the time when he, Sasuke, and Sakurachan had attempted to see what was underneath their senseis mask and had failed, exasperated when at the day's end Kakashi finally showed them, only to reveal another mask underneath.
Iruka was also eyeing the silver haired nin with a regretful look, obviously curious as to what was under the mask. Kakashi noticed the both of them staring and closed his eyes.
"Nani?"
"N-nothing."Iruka replied and took Kakashi's empty bowl to the sink. Naruto finished his a moment later and handed it off to Iruka, blinking when Iruka just stood there with the bowl in his hands.
"Eh?"
Brown eyes gazed down into his deep blue ones expectantly.
"Ah..Arigatou Iruka sensei!"Naruto said hurriedly, grinning.
"Tch, children these days." Iruka sniffed and went to cleaning and putting away the dishes.
Kakashi glanced sideways at the clock over the sink and sighed tiredly, standing up and waving over his shoulder as he headed for the door,"I have to go get my mission, ja."
Iruka turned, looking hesitant,"Oh-" The door shut and he looked crestfallen.
"Iruka sensei, why don't you just seduce him? Its obvious you like him."Naruto muttered.
Iruka turned to loom over him, thunder cracking behind him with a blinding flash of lighting."What was that Naruto chan?I couldn't hear you.."
"Uhmm..I..Im gonna go out for a bit, ok?"Naruto sweat dropped and headed for the door.
He jumped when Iruka squeezed his shoulder.The blonde turned slowly to stare at Iruka's feet.
"We could always find something to do here.."
Naruto tried to bite back to shame that was welling in him. Iruka was worried about him..and he was afraid Naruto would try and kill himself again."Well, I was actually thinking of visiting Shikamaru.."
"Oh..do you want me to come with you?"Iruka coaxed, trying not to sound desperate.
He was failing horribly.
Naruto bit his bottom lip and hung his head further so his face was shadowed by his blonde locks."Iruka sensei..Im not going to do anything to hurt myself..I just..want to try and make things the way they were."He raised his watery blue eyes to stare at Iruka with a pleading glint.
Iruka's hand slid from his shoulder and he smiled softly,"Ok..but remember..I'll be at the academy. If you need ANYTHING-"
"I'll come to you."Naruto finished with a wry grin before bounding at the door while waving.
Iruka straightened and gazed at the door for a while before sighing and going to his room to change.
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Ok...pretty uneventful chapter..but I really wanted to update this story and so..yeah.Next chapter has more excitement and brotherly love between Shikamaru and Naruto. I'll only say this..Shikamaru finds out..and..
shifty eyes- that is for you to find out.
My writer's block finally went away. lol. And now that I've finally written this long pointless chapter, I have my mind back on track and I know how to continue and finish off the story. So hopefully the next update will be within a couple days..