Disclaimer: Not mine.
Warnings: None
Echo
Iruka didn't like loud noises: they meant catastrophes. Loud noises meant Kyuubi was attacking the village or Orochimaru had launched another assault or war had found Konoha. Loud noises meant death.
Kakashi didn't like quiet: it meant catastrophes. Quiet meant ANBU missions gone too horribly right or a funeral for yet another friend or the sudden silence after someone's last breath. Quiet meant death.
Iruka was often loud. He hollered at Naruto and bellowed at his classes. He cried out in indignation and yelled out in anger and screamed out in rage. Iruka was often loud and sometimes he hated that about himself.
Kakashi was often quiet. He ghosted around town and shadowed through his missions. His eyes said more of his anger than his words and what he did say hid as much as it revealed. Kakashi was often quiet and sometimes he hated that about himself.
Iruka loved when Kakashi was quiet. It meant nothing was going wrong.
Kakashi loved when Iruka was loud. It meant everything was normal.
Iruka hated when Kakashi was loud. It meant his world had gone to hell.
Kakashi hated when Iruka was quiet. It meant hell was in his mind.
Iruka hated what he was and what Kakashi wasn't.
Kakashi loved what he wasn't and what Iruka was.
Iruka would never mention this, because Kakashi might yell and loud noises meant death.
Kakashi would never mention this, because Iruka might go silent and quiet meant death.
After all, there were some things you just didn't say. There were some things where it made no difference how loudly you shouted them or how softly they were whispered. There were some things where the speaking itself was all it took to kill them.
-the end-