Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Naruto is a creation of Masashi Kishamoto-sensei.

Note: This chapter was edited on May 26, 2006. Some previous content that may have come before and after the chapter may have been removed or replaced.

Since When Was Boredom The First Step To Love?

Chapter four-Stray cats and crushes

By Riyo-sama

Kakashi didn't slow his quick pace until Iruka's house was out of sight. He slowed down to a casual stroll, mind floating and not concentrating on anything except his feet which were carrying him towards his apartment.

It was midnight by the time Kakashi collapsed onto his bed. He let out a deep sigh and stared at the ceiling.

Why was I getting so embarrassed? It shouldn't have bothered him so much to find Iruka cute. He found lots of other people cute besides Iruka.

At this point Kakashi's subconscious decided it was time for another little chat. 'So who else do you find cute?'

Kakashi: 'Um, Naruto?'

Subconscious: 'Naruto is cute. In a puppy dog kind of way. He's a kid and your student though.'

Kakashi: 'Uh, Sakura?'

Subconscious: 'Student again. Plus, she's a young, pink haired girl. Of course you think she's cute!'

Kakashi: 'Sasuke?'

Subconscious: '……………………., he's only cute when he's not acting like a cold jerk and does something nice for Naruto or Sakura, which is hardly ever.'

Kakashi: '……………., my nin-dogs?'

Subconscious: 'We are talking about people, not animals.'

Kakashi: 'Well that's all I got.'

Subconscious: 'Okay, fine. So how is the way you find Iruka cute different from the way you find your students and dogs cute?'

Kakashi: 'If I knew, then I wouldn't be talking to myself, would I?'

Subconscious: '………., if you can't figure it out on your own, then I'm not going to tell you.'

What? That's so cheap! Kakashi silently yelled as his subconscious went silent. Kakashi growled in frustration and turned on to his side. Maybe he should just try getting to know Iruka better? Then he could figure out these thoughts.

"What will be, will be." stated Kakashi, before immediately going out like a light.

The alarm went off at 5:30 A.M., and a tan hand landed heavily on the off switch.

Ever so slowly, Iruka sat up and then stood up from the bed. The cracking noise his stiff body made as he stretched his back seemed to wake him up more as he finally opened his eyes.

He performed his usual morning rituals before eating a hasty breakfast. He was out the door by 6:30 and heading for the academy with the papers from last night in hand.

Let's see. I need to make the lesson plan for today, and I also need to make preparations for the Kawamiri no jutsu test. This was the performance test, which meant no paper work for Iruka after class was finished. Iruka was relieved by this, because he had to work in the mission room today and that meant he would be filing mission reports for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening.

By 7:55 he had planned the lessons for the day and prepared a list of all the students taking the test. He also organized the papers to be handed back in alphabetical order and recorded the grades in his grade book.

Students started to trickle in as he wrote the days schedule on the blackboard. He took attendance at 8:00, and started class five minutes later.

Kakashi meet his team at 8:00 A.M., which was two hours late instead of his usual three hours. Naruto and Sakura yelled the usual "You're late!", and then "Liar!" when he tried to give a lame excuse for why he was late before Sakura commented on the fact that it was early (for Kakashi).

Naruto said that it was a bad sign and that it would probably rain. Sakura bopped Naruto on the head and said it was a good sign because it meant they were that much closer to having a punctual sensei.

Sasuke didn't say anything because late was late in his opinion. He did wonder why Kakashi had chosen that day to show up sooner than usual though.

(Earlier that morning at 5:00 A.M.)

Kakashi opened his eyes, looked at the clock, and shut them again. Why did his body always tell him to wake up so early when he never even set the alarm?

Sighing in defeat after about ten minutes of trying to go back to sleep, he got up and made his way to the bathroom.

Freshly showered and dressed in a clean uniform, Kakashi went into his kitchen and searched his cupboards for some cereal. After finishing his bowl of crunchy and overly sweetened fiber, Kakashi left his apartment at 5:45 and set a course for the memorial stone.

After he finished paying his respects, he started to head for the middle of town via rooftop. Kakashi had decided that they should meet somewhere different for a change of pace. He was halfway there when he realized he was only an hour late, which meant they wouldn't be expecting him for another two hours.

He sat down cross legged on the roof which he had just landed and crossed his arms over his chest, a look of concentration on his face. He had to decide how best to approach the problem of getting to now Iruka. The simplest and most fuss free solution would be to tell him straight out that he wanted to be friends, but that seemed a bit childish. He spent the next hour trying to think of an alternative, and in the end decided to go with the simple solution. He just hoped he could pull it off with more tact then just saying 'Will you be my friend?'. He didn't want to sound desperate. He had his pride after all.

He headed off to meet his students once he had decided on his course of action, not really caring that it was still an hour earlier then when he usually showed up.

(Back to the present moment.)

"Sensei, you took care of Iruka-sensei's injuries last night, correct?" Sasuke asked calmly.

Naruto and Sakura stopped bickering and both turned expectant stares towards Kakashi. Kakashi raised his hands up in a defensive gesture, "Don't worry, I healed his sprain myself with a jutsu. He was up and about when I left him." Naruto still looked doubtful. He wouldn't feel better until he saw that Iruka was okay for himself.

Naruto acts like a little brother who's worrying about his big brother. He couldn't help thinking that it was cute. This lead to him remembering that he had thought that Iruka's smile was cute. I wonder if it's okay to think that it's cute when your potentially new male friend smiles?

Naruto was cute in a puppy dog way, it was true. But Iruka was cute for a different reason. Kakashi just couldn't seem to figure out why. He looked up and absently scratched at his chin.

"We could go see him after classes let out." Kakashi offered, not just to relieve Naruto, but also because he wanted to initiate mission: Make Friends With Iruka.

Naruto's eyes lit up as he gave a happy yell, "Yaaay! Let's get all our missions done right now! We have to get there as soon as classes let out."

Kakashi chuckled and pulled a list from one of his vest pockets, "Well then, today we have two lost cats, four gardens, three dogs to walk, and………….."

"Congratulations to everyone who passed the test." Iruka got a few smiles from the students who had passed. "As for those of you who failed," there were sighs and groans at this remark, "you will have a second chance in two weeks. I suggest you use that time to improve and remedy your mistakes. If you need any help, please come to me and I will see about setting up some review lessons." Several students look relieved at this news. Iruka wanted to avoid holding anyone back like Naruto had been, so he had started giving more second chances like he was doing today.

He picked up the stack of papers on the corner of his desk. "I have graded your hand seal essays from last week. When I call your name, you may come up front to retrieve it and then you may leave." Iruka started calling off names, and one by one students started to come up front. Some students smiled at Iruka after seeing their grade, and others groaned in dismay.

When the last child left, Iruka set about straightening the classroom. He pushed in chairs, threw away crumpled papers, and collected forgotten items which he placed in his desk for safe keeping until their proper owners asked for them again the next day.

He finished his cleaning and grabbed some things off his desk which he stuffed in the pockets of his vest before moving to the door. He was just about to reach out his hand to the door when it was yanked open from the outside to reveal a flushed and excited Naruto (he ran all the way there as soon as they finished their last mission).

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto shouted before latching onto his favorite teacher's waist. He stared straight up at Iruka. "Is your leg really alright?"

Iruka gave a short laugh before answering, "It most certainly is, Kakashi-sensei healed it." Iruka said this while maneuvering out of the classroom and into the hallway, and then shutting the door, all the while with Naruto still attached to him.

"So it's really alright, it doesn't hurt?" More than anything in the world, Naruto didn't want Iruka to feel any pain, because he was so kind to him.

"It's perfectly fine, I'm walking around aren't I?"

Naruto beamed up at him in happiness upon hearing this news. Iruka smiled down at Naruto and ruffled his hair, "Thank you for worrying about me Naruto."

"Awww, what a sweet scene. It's like you're really brother's."

Iruka looked up and Naruto tilted his head back all the way so that he could see behind without letting go of Iruka. There stood Kakashi with a happy look on his face (seeing the way Iruka and Naruto interacted just gave him the warm and fuzzies), Sakura was blushing (she had actually found Naruto's concern for Iruka cute), and Sasuke who was silently brooding (seeing Naruto and Iruka reminded him of things he would rather forget). They had come at a much slower pace than Naruto, and came just as Iruka stepped into the hallway.

"These three were worried, so I brought them to see you." said Kakashi with his happy face still in place.

Iruka carefully detached Naruto from his waist before turning his smile towards the other three. "Arigatou Kakashi-sensei for bringing them. Arigatou for your concern Haruno-san, Uchiha-san. As I told Naruto, I'm perfectly fine."

Sakura was glad and Sasuke stopped brooding.

"Iruka-sensei, we get paid today, so can I treat you to ramen later?" asked Naruto excitedly. He loved the fact that he could now afford to treat Iruka, instead of having Iruka treat him.

Iruka nodded his approval, "Sure. I have to work in the mission room today though, so can you wait until 7:00?"

"Yeah!", Naruto shouted enthusiastically. Naruto was happiest when eating ramen with Iruka.

They left the academy and the three genins bid the two senseis good afternoon. Iruka waved them off before turning to Kakashi who was still standing next to him. "Kakashi-sensei, is your jaw doing alright now?"

"Ah, its alright, it doesn't even hurt anymore. That ointment you let me use helped a lot. I was actually wondering where you managed to get a hold of such an effective medicine."

Iruka smiled, "Actually, I made it."

"Really? It was almost as good or better than what the ANBU medics carry, so how did you come by the formula?" This was a bit of a surprise. Iruka was a chunin, so he shouldn't have been able to produce a medicine that could accelerate healing that well. The bruise on Kakashi's jaw had already started to fade.

"Huh? Is it really that good? I just used the knowledge of herbs that my mother taught me when I was younger. She was a bit of a horticulturist. When I became a chunin, I noticed that the medicines available weren't' always up to the job, and I thought that it would be a good idea to make my own. One that could help with various injuries, relieve pain, and accelerate healing much better than what was currently available."

Iruka gave slightly rueful smile, "I tested all my experiments on myself, and one time I ended up in the hospital because I accidentally mixed a poisonous plant in with the medicinal ones. It was worth it in the end though. I ended up with a ointment that heals bruises, cuts, burns, and even relieves stress." No one really knew about his little accomplishment except Naruto, who he had ended up using it on a lot. That a jounin like Kakashi thought it was as good or better than what the ANBU carried made him feel good.

Kakashi had his head tilted to the side, and he was giving Iruka an evaluating look, as if he were weighing up everything he knew about Iruka before making some final decision. He seemed to come to a final assessment, and finally spoke.

"You're really something, you know that? You care for all of your students, your shinobi skills are just about as good as any jounin's, you're a very hard worker, you seem to be really smart, you're reliable, you make your own medicine, and you're rather modest." Iruka was blushing by the time Kakashi finished. He had heard that kind of praise before, but not all at once and in such a straight forward manner. And for some reason, hearing Kakashi say it made him all the more happy and embarrassed. He somehow managed to stammer out a thank you before Kakashi continued.

"I admire those things in you, which is why I would like for us to be friends." There, he had said it, and although he was worried about Iruka's response, he couldn't help feeling pleased with himself.

"What?" Iruka wasn't sure if he had heard right.

"I would like it if we could be friends." repeated Kakashi.

He did hear right. It only took him a split second to break into a smile and offer Kakashi his hand. "I'd like that too." And just last night he had thought it impossible for Kakashi to consider him even worth making friends with.

Kakashi happily took Iruka's hand and shook it. Mission: Make Friends With Iruka, success! Kakashi was really happy. He truly had decided that Iruka was admirable, especially when compared to his self.

"Well," said Kakashi as he let go of Iruka's hand, "I guess my first job as your new friend will be to walk with you to the mission room. I have to hand in today's mission report too. Naruto will be disappointed if you're late for ramen because of mission reports, so I'll help you out this once."

"And it'll be nice to get your mission report in on time this once as well." replied Iruka. He could swear that Kakashi stuck his tongue out at him under his mask after he said it.

They were both content to remain silent as they walked away from the academy and towards the building in which the mission room resided. Kakashi was happy to have accomplished his self appointed mission, and Iruka couldn't help thinking, This should be the start of something interesting.

(Three weeks later…….)

"How did you end up being in charge of such a boring task?" asked Kakashi as he sat in a chair next to Iruka and helped him sort mission reports. He wasn't doing it because he wanted to. He had decided that working in the mission room just wasn't his cup of tea after he helped Iruka the first time. He couldn't understand how Iruka could stand all that paperwork on top of teaching. Not only that, he then went and helped the Hokage as his personal assistant! How the hell did he do it?

His reason for helping this time was because Iruka had bribed him. His apartment was currently bare of anything remotely edible except bread and coffee, and he couldn't go grocery shopping untill tomorrow. When Iruka had said he would make him dinner if he helped with the reports, he caved in right away. He never said no to free food.

"Well, there wasn't really anyone else to do it. I don't mind too much. It's only really bad if there's as much to do as there is tonight. It goes by a lot faster though when you have someone to keep you company." Iruka flashed Kakashi a smile. He was surprised when Kakashi agreed to help him with the paperwork. The dinner bribe had actually been a joke, but Iruka wasn't going to say that since he really needed the help. He wouldn't mind having company for dinner either.

Kakashi returned Iruka's smile with a happy face before turning his attention back to the work at hand. In the last three weeks, Kakashi had found more and more things about Iruka which he thought were cute, and in the end came to the conclusion that Iruka in general was just cute. Kakashi had stopped fighting the fact that he thought of Iruka that way. He still chose to ignore the little suggestions his subconscious continually whispered at him for why he had those thoughts though.

What he did know was that he found Iruka's presence to be refreshing and calming. He could relax around him. Iruka didn't try prying into his past, and he never tried to peek at his face. Kakashi felt happy around Iruka.

Iruka had been happier in the last three weeks than he had been in a very long time. His last close friend had been Mizuki. Mizuki had been a pretty good friend, but there was always the sense that he felt superior to Iruka. He seemed to think that he was doing Iruka a favor by being friends with him.

Kakashi on the other hand never treated Iruka as an inferior, despite the fact that he was ranked higher than him. He always treated Iruka with respect, even when he was relentlessly teasing him. It wasn't a cruel sort of teasing, he simply seemed to enjoy making Iruka blush. After he got used to the teasing, he managed to make some witty comebacks. He would never be able to prove it, but he could swear he managed to make Kakashi blush at least once (it was hard to tell because of the mask).

They were basically comfortable with each, able to be themselves and not worry about rank.

They managed to finish around 7:00, and after Iruka had filed away the last report, they left the building. They walked at a leisurely pace towards Iruka's home, enjoying each others company and glad that the days work was finally over.

They entered Iruka's house and took off their sandals. Iruka took off his vest and hung it on a peg by the door before heading towards the kitchen.

"So what are you planning on making?" asked Kakashi as he also took off his vest and hung it on a peg next to Iruka's vest.

"Curry, if that's fine with you." said Iruka before disappearing into the kitchen.

"That would be perfect. I haven't had curry in ages." replied Kakashi. Kakashi wasn't a bad cook, it was just that he often ended up eating away from home. He was also often too lazy to make anything more complicated than instant ramen. "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when it's ready." An affirmative came from the kitchen and Kakashi headed for the couch.

He was just about to lower himself on to the coach when a small, white blur streaked from the hall to the doorway. Sense's on the alert, Kakashi slowly and quietly moved to the doorway to investigate. Just as he reached it, the white blur streaked between his legs and went behind the nearest armchair. Kakashi took out a shuriken just in case as he edged around the armchair, only to find nothing there.

Just as he was wondering if he was seeing things, the white object launched itself from the seat of the armchair at Kakashi's head. He didn't have time to throw his shuriken or dodge. The surprise caused Kakashi to lose his balance and fall back with a yell.

"Gaahh!"

Iruka came out of the kitchen wearing a white apron with little dolphins all over it to see if Kakashi was alright. He found him sitting on the floor, legs stretched out in front of him and arms crossed over his chest. A small, fluffy white cat with green eyes was sitting on top of Kakashi's spiky silver hair. Kakashi regarded Iruka calmly as he asked, "When were you going to inform me of the fact that you got a cat?"

"Ah, gomen, gomen. I was so busy that it just slipped my mind. I found her on Monday. She looked a little underfed and like she needed a home, so I just took her in." Iruka lifted the little cat off Kakashi's head and knelt down next to him. He smiled as he held the cat to his chest so that it was facing Kakashi. "This is Ame-chan." Ame-chan meowed.

"Ame-chan?"

"Well, it was raining when I found her."

"Oh." Kakashi nodded. Iruka held her out to Kakashi, who took her cautiously. He didn't really have too much experience with cats, and he wasn't too sure if he should trust this one after what had happened. He set her in his lap, and she stared up at him.

"Well, she didn't try to bite or scratch you, so I guess she must like you. She wouldn't let Sakura or Sasuke touch her when those three came to visit. At first she hissed at Naruto, but after a while she let him pet her."

"So that's why those two were all scratched up. We haven't had any lost cat missions for a while, so I was a bit curious."

Iruka laughed and would have gone back to the kitchen if Kakashi didn't stop him by grabbing the edge of his apron. Iruka gave him a questioning look. "Just wanted to say nice apron, dolphin-sensei." Kakashi said with a highly amused look on his face, which only grew when Iruka blushed at being called 'dolphin-sensei'.

"It was a gift from Naruto."

"Ah, then Naruto has good taste since it suits you so well." Iruka blushed more and muttered a thank you before going back to the kitchen.

Kakashi stood up, cradling Ame in the crook of his arm. He went over to the couch and laid himself out. He settled the cat on his chest and tucked and arm behind his head. He began to idly scratch behind Ame's ears, earning a purr of approval from the little cat. "You now," began Kakashi very quietly, "you are one very lucky kitty. You get to live with a nice guy like Iruka." Kakashi had added 'helps animals' to his list of things which he found endearing about Iruka. Number one was his naiveté. He knew and understood the life of a shinobi, and yet he was still so soft at heart.

Kakashi also suspected him of being a virgin. He always got flustered in the most wonderful way whenever he joked or teased about anything of a sexual nature. Which made Kakashi wonder if Iruka had a girlfriend before he told himself that he didn't care if Iruka had a girlfriend or not (despite wishing deep down that he didn't have one).

"I wish I could live with Iruka too." After realizing what he just said, he froze. Okay, were did THAT come from? I have my own place, and it's not as if I LIKE him. Well, I do like him. As a friend. Yup, he's nothing more than my friend. My cute friend who I like, as a friend. He was pulled out of his swirling thoughts by Ame butting her head against his chin to get his attention when he didn't resume petting right away. Kakashi pushed his jumbled thoughts to the side as he began scratching behind Ame's ears again. He eventually dozed off into a dreamless sleep.

When Iruka came into the living room a little bit later, he found an endearing site. Kakashi had one arm draped over the edge of the couch, the other was resting on his chest. His head was flopped over to the side so that his face was to the back of the couch, and curled up and sleeping under his chin was Ame.

Iruka couldn't resist taking advantage of such a sweet scene. He quietly went into his room and grabbed a camera. When he got back to the living room he positioned himself at the end of the couch were Kakashi's feet were. He turned the camera so that he could take a full-length shot, focused, and snapped.

The flash woke Kakashi up, and he blearily blinked at the grinning Iruka. "It's time to wake up sleepyheads! The curry is ready."

Ame gave Kakashi's chin a lick before jumping off and sauntering her way to Iruka's bedroom. Kakashi yawned and stretched before getting up himself. "What was with the camera?"

"You and Ame-chan looked so sweet and peaceful when you were sleeping that I couldn't resist taking a picture. It's not often that I get to see the great Hatake Kakashi sleeping as peacefully as a child." Iruka continued to grin as his said this. He headed back to his room to hide the camera in case Kakashi tried to get the film away from him, although he was sure that if Kakashi really wanted to, he could probably find it no matter where he hid it.

He thought I looked sweet and peaceful? If anyone else had told Kakashi he looked 'sweet' when he was sleeping, he probably would have knocked them flat. But it was Iruka who said he looked sweet, and it made him very happy that Iruka had thought of him like that.

Iruka came back to the living room and found Kakashi standing in a daze. Iruka gave into his childish impulses, and with both hands gave Kakashi's cheeks a tweak. Kakashi came to with a slight jolt and rubbed his cheeks indigently. "The curry will get cold if you keep falling asleep." said Iruka with another grin.

Kakashi immediately forgot about the tweaking and happily followed Iruka into the kitchen. He was looking forward to this because Naruto was always going on about how great a cook Iruka was (plus he was starving, and it was an added bonus that it was free).

Kakashi took a seat at the table while Iruka brought over a pot of tea that had been brewing on the stove. It was while Iruka was pouring the tea that Kakashi finally noticed that Iruka had taken off his hiate-ae and hair tie. Iruka's hair fell around his face, and it seemed to bring out the femininity of it even more. Kakashi found his fingers itching to brush some of the dark strands back behind Iruka's ear, and he had to clench his hands in his lap to keep himself form giving into the impulse. He was forced to finally admit to himself that he found Iruka attractive. Damnit! I think I like him as more than a friend. He then decided to do something that he didn't do for a lot of people.

Iruka sat down and before he could do anything else Kakashi said, "Could you close your eyes for a minute?" Iruka gave Kakashi a puzzled look before complying. That was another one of the things he found endearing about Iruka, how trusting he was (it was also one of the things that caused him to worry about him too).

Iruka heard some rustling coming from the other side of the table before Kakashi said, "Okay, you can look now." Iruka opened his eyes and his jaw dropped. Kakashi had pulled down his mask so that his face was completely exposed, and he was devastatingly handsome! His face almost bordered on beautiful. His skin was pale and unblemished. His nose was straight and he had a slightly pointed chin, and his cheeks were perfection. What really nailed Iruka was the smile, the smile he could see. The smile which showed Kakashi's perfect teeth and was causing butterflies to rise in his stomach.

"So, what do you think?" asked Kakashi, still smiling.

Iruka snapped his mouth shut with an audible click, and looked down at the table as his face started to turn red. Iruka mumbled something in a very low voice. Kakashi asked Iruka to speak up. Iruka turned even redder before raising his voice and stammering out, "I-I-I thin-think that your ve-very hand-handsome, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi's smile grew. "I'm glad to hear you say so, and you now, you don't have to call me sensei all the time. It makes me feel kind of old to hear you call me that."

"Okay." Finally recovering a bit, Iruka went ahead and asked something that he had been wondering about for a while now. "How old are you anyways, Kakashi-san?"

"26." Kakashi inwardly sighed. I was hoping he would call me just Kakashi.

"Ehh! You're only a year older than me! I always thought you were in your thirty's or forty's."

"Do I look that old?" asked Kakashi with an exaggerated pout.

Iruka took a bite of curry to prevent himself from laughing at Kakashi's antics before answering, "Well, it's kind of hard to tell with that mask, and that silver hair…."

"My hair's been this color since I was born, it can't be helped." Kakashi finally took a bite of curry himself, and his eye lit up. "This is really good!"

"Arigatou." replied Iruka happily.

Later, full and satisfied after two helpings of Iruka's curry, (which Kakashi declared the best curry in the world, causing Iruka to blush again) Kakashi reluctantly prepared to head home.

Iruka watched as Kakashi put his sandals and vest back on. Why hadn't he noticed how graceful Kakashi was before? No, I'm not thinking of Kakashi like this. He's my friend. Just my friend. Sure I think he's attractive, but that doesn't mean anything. He's just my friend, just my friend, just….

Kakashi finished adjusting his vest and then turned to Iruka and flashed him a smile. "Well, I guess this is good night. Thanks for the great food. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow." He pulled up his mask and opened the door, Iruka wished him a feeble good night before the door closed.

Oh, who the hell am I kidding. I have a crush on Kakashi. Iruka was more honest with himself when it came to how he felt about people, so it didn't take as long for him to figure out that what he felt for Kakashi was more than friendship. He just wondered when his feelings had become something more. He couldn't say for sure if it was just infatuation or love because he had never fallen in love before. He decided to worry about it later as he headed back to the kitchen to clean up.

Kakashi was happy, and he had a very good reason to be so. He had finally figured out why he found Iruka so good looking and cute, and why he liked being around him so much. It didn't bother him anymore that Iruka was a guy.

'The heart wants what the heart wants' as the saying goes. was what Kakashi was thinking. He wasn't going to say anything yet though. He wouldn't risk ruining the new friendship he had unless he was sure it was love and not just infatuation.

All of Kakashi's previous relationships had been of a purely physical nature, and they hadn't lasted long. If he got together with Iruka, he would want it to last and be more than just a physical pleasure. If Iruka felt the same way, then he would let him set the pace of the relationship. But first, he had to find out if Iruka was available. Then he would have to find out if he had a chance with Iruka.

"Okay, tomorrow I'm going to get one of those favors he owes me, and I'll try to find out if he's seeing anyone or if there's someone he likes."

He spent the rest of the walk home trying to think of what kind of favor to ask for. Tomorrow was Saturday, and Iruka wouldn't be teaching. This meant that after a sufficient amount of time torturing training his students, he could spend as much time as he wanted to embarrassing Iruka (the more Kakashi likes someone, the more he teases them). He remembered how Iruka had wanted him to stop reading his beloved Icha Icha Paradise books, and suddenly he cackled evilly as the perfect idea came into his head. He knew exactly what he would ask that straight laced school teacher to do.

He started whistling as he neared his apartment, happy to have solved so many problems in one day. He looked forward to the next day and what it had in store for him.

Little did he know that things wouldn't go exactly as he planned……

Thanks to the following readers for reviewing: Isolde1, Evil Kasumi, tatsumaki, SweetMoons (previously known as MoonSweet), Morien Alexander, Suke-san, ePuiChi, Dvana, Vin(), TheTrueSilver, Renn, LittleDarkOne, Iceheart19(), Silverone, Yuen-chan, Razu, and alia(). Thank you to non-reviewing readers as well.

Jaa ne!