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

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

Since When Was Boredom The First Step To Love?

Chapter seven-A new friend

By Riyo-sama

Naruto quietly slid open the door and shut it just as quietly after exiting the room. He tip-toed with as much stealth as he could muster down the hall toward Kakashi's door with Ame following close on his heels. He stopped when he reached the door and listened for the sound of slow even breathing that would tell him Kakashi was still asleep. When he was assured of this fact, he very carefully inched the door open so that it would be wide enough for Ame to slide through. He peered inside before turning his head and giving Ame a nod.

Ame slinked through the door and silently padded toward the bed. She paused a few inches away from the bed. Naruto watched with bated breath and resisted the urge to snicker. Ame gathered herself into a low crouch and became absolutely still, not even twitching a whisker, listening for the slightest indication of waking from her target.

And then finally, she pounced…………

(Later after breakfast.)

Naruto was still giggling despite the disgruntled glares that Kakashi and Iruka were giving him. They were both sipping coffee, and Ame was sitting in Naruto's lap with a very smug look on her face.

"Did you have to do that? I nearly had a heart attack when I heard all that yelling." said Iruka. He had been completely sound asleep at the time of Naruto's prank. He had been very startled to hear yelling that early in the morning.

"I had to get revenge for yesterdays tickle attack!" said Naruto vehemently with a glare in Kakashi's direction. He then grinned and held up Ame, "Ne, ne, Ame-chan. Guess what, I have something for you!" He set her on the table and pulled a miniature hiate-ae out of his pocket which he tied around Ame's neck. "Now you're an honorary Konoha shinobi." said Naruto proudly. Ame meowed before jumping off the table and scampering out of the kitchen.

Iruka smiled at the display affectionately. He could never stay angry for long. "Don't forget to brush your teeth and wash your face Naruto."

"Haiiiii." said Naruto as he bounded from the kitchen to the bathroom.

"Are you going to let him off with out any punishment?" asked Kakashi grumpily as he finished his coffee with a final gulp. I'm giving him double strength training today.

"Well, what he did wasn't that terrible. No harm done." he said while standing and taking Kakashi's empty cup and carrying it to the sink with his own, having finished his long before Kakashi.

"That's a matter of opinion." Kakashi muttered under his breath so Iruka wouldn't hear. Iruka heard it anyways, and had to stifle a laugh since he didn't want to disturb Kakashi's already ruffled feathers. Iruka glanced at his watch, and did a double take. He franticly patted all his pockets as if checking to see if he'd forgotten something and looked around the kitchen before dashing out of the room. He called out behind him, "I have to meet some students before classes start for extra lessons. Jaa!". Kakashi heard a flurry of activity and the banging of the door before the house was once again silent.

Kakashi smiled, his grumpy mood finally lifted. Always the good teacher. It adds to his charm, even if that's not what he's going for.

Naruto came back at that moment. "Did Iruka-sensei leave already?"

Kakashi still smiling, "Hai."

Naruto scrutinized Kakashi for a few minutes and then broke out in a grin, "I'm happy for Iruka-sensei."

Kakashi's face took on a questioning look, "Why?"

"I'm happy for him because you're good looking. If he's going to be with a guy, then he deserves to be with a hot one." Kakashi sat in total puzzlement. How would Naruto know what he looked like. "See you at the bridge." said Naruto with a wave as he ran out of the house, not giving Kakashi the chance to question him.

Kakashi scratched at his cheek, and that's when it finally occurred to him that he hadn't been wearing his mask. He planned that all along! He ambushed me when I was least expecting it to throw me off. I was so distracted that I completely forgot to put it on.

Kakashi glared in annoyance at nothing in particular. Sakura and Sasuke probably helped him plan it. Kakashi suddenly grinned deviously. Let's see how they like my TRIPLE strength training program.

Iruka slid the classroom door shut with a sense of relief. The students had been extra rowdy today, and they only finished half of the course work he had hoped to get through today. All he wanted to do now was go home, grade papers and enjoy a quiet evening at home. With Kakashi of course. I wonder if he's home yet. he thought with a smile.

He started walking down the hall, only to freeze upon hearing a female voice singing out his name.

"Iiiiiirrrruuuuuukkkkkaaaaaa-kkkkkkkkuuuuuuunnnnnnnn!"

He slowly turned in place where he stood with dread to face the person addressing him, only to be barreled over when the person glomped him. "Iruka-kun, I haven't seen you in ages!" said Anko while squeezing most of the air out of Iruka.

"Hello, Anko-san." Iruka managed to wheeze out.

Anko jumped up and pulled Iruka to his feet. "Ne, Iruka-kun, Kakashi is living with you now right?"

"Yeah, why?" asked Iruka once he got his bearings.

"Genma and I were assigned cleanup duty for Kakashi's old place and we found something of his. We just wanted to drop it off. I got something for you too. That's not all, what else was I going to tell you…." she trailed off and started tapping her chin. She suddenly slapped her fist into her open palm. "Oh, now I remember!" She grabbed Iruka and started dragging him out of the academy. "There's someone I want you to meet! I think you and Kakashi should get along with him really well."

Iruka sighed and gave in without a fight. There was no stopping Anko once she had you in her grasp and she had her mind set on something.

Kakashi whistled a cheerful tune on his way home. The training today had been very satisfying, for him anyway. I hope I wasn't to hard on them… nah, there fine.

(Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke at the moment.)

Naruto was passed out with stars spinning in his eyes, Sakura was sitting with her back against a tree, and Sasuke was leaning against the tree with his forehead while his arms hung limp. They were all breathing hard. "Ne, was it really worth it if Naruto was the only one who got to see what he looks like?" Sakura gasped out.

(Back to Kakashi.)

Iruka wasn't back yet, and having nothing better to do, Kakashi decided to read one of Iruka's books. Thinking of books reminded him that he only had one of his own left, causing him to become suddenly depressed. His shoulders slumped as he thought about it. I won't get to ask Iruka for that one favor. I really wanted to ask him for that one too.

Kakashi would have brooded in this fashion longer if it weren't for a knocking at the door. He was surprised at who he found. "Ah, Anko, Konbanwa. What can I do for you?"

"Konbanwa, excuse us for intruding!" said Anko with a great deal of exuberance as she pushed pass Kakashi into the house.

"Konbanwa, Kakashi." said Genma as he walked in carrying a tv.

"Why are you carrying that, Genma?" asked Kakashi.

"That damn woman made me carry it all the way from her apartment to here." said Genma in irritation.

"Who are you calling 'damn woman'?" asked Anko angrily.

"Well, let's see, you're the only woman here, so who do you think I'm referring to?" said Genma. They started flinging insults back and forth with a few choice expletives.

"Tadaima." said Iruka as he walked in backwards holding up one end of a trunk.

"Excuse me for intruding, Hatake-sempai." said the person holding the other end of the trunk, a person Kakashi had never seen before.

"Okeria." said Kakashi before closing the door once he was sure that no one else was going to come in. "Ne, Iruka, who's this?"

They set the trunk down, and the stranger turned to Kakashi. "Ah, gomen. I should have introduced my self before I came in. I'm Kimura Yukio, it's a pleasure to meet you Hatake- sempai." he said with a bow. He had long black hair tied back and falling to about half way down his back, with some locks framing his face. Black eyes were set in his face which was of a feminine cast accented by a pale complexion. His build was slight and he wore a long coat going down to his heels over his uniform. His hiate-ae had both a Konoha and Sand symbol on it.

"Its nice to meet you. Why do you have the sand symbol next the Konoha symbol?" asked Kakashi.

"I'm originally a jounin from Hidden sand, I've been one for the last two years. Kazekage-sama is, how shall we say, 'lending' me to Hokage-sama. I get the feeling however that it might be a permanent arrangement." said Yukio with a slight smile.

"What's going on that would require Hokage-sama to 'borrow' a jounin from Hidden sand? You have a specialty or something?" asked Genma from one of the armchairs.

"Gomen, I'm sworn to secrecy. You'll have to ask Hokage-sama. I don't really know if you can say that I have a specialty. I do come from a long line of information specialists. I'm the first one in my family to make it as far as jounin." said Yukio with modest pride.

"We had a meeting on Saturday to introduce him to everyone. We were going to ask you to come, but then we heard what happened to your apartment so we thought we'd let you be." said Anko.

"One question: why the trunk and TV?" inquired Kakashi.

"The TV's for Iruka, since I know he doesn't have one and I wanted to get rid of my old one. The trunk is yours. We found it in the rubble of your apartment building. It's got your name on it." said Anko, while pointing at a nameplate that had the characters for his name engraved on it.

Kakashi stared at it for a minute and then quickly squatted in front of it to undo the seal on it. He popped the lid open and gave a sigh of relief at seeing that none of the contents were damaged. There were a few valuable scrolls and some weapons lining the inside of the lid. There were photos scattered inside as well and some money that he had been saving. What really made him happy though was seeing his emergency book collection. All his special edition and back-up copies of Icha Icha Paradise, Makeout Paradise, Come Come Violence, and Makeout Violence were intact. "Arigatou."

"No problem!" said Anko. Genma shrugged. Silence, and then…."Let's play poker!" said Anko, surprising everyone.

"Demo, I don't know how to play." said Iruka and Yukio at the same time. They gave each other sheepish grins.

Anko, Genma, and Kakashi all heard a little ca-chink sound along with the thought 'Easy money.'

"Royal Straight Flush!" said Yukio proudly as he laid out his cards. Anko, Genma, and Kakashi threw down their cards and groaned. Yukio started humming as he pulled his winning towards him.

"Isn't poker fun Yukio-san?" asked Iruka who had a pile of money equal in size to Yukio's and was calmly sipping tea. "I wonder what I should buy with all this money?"

"You could buy a DVD player to go with the TV." suggested Yukio as he started stacking and counting the money.

"That's a good idea." said Iruka as he poured more tea into Yukio's cup.

Iruka and Yukio continued to chat while Anko, Genma and Kakashi sat in gloom, letting what had transpired sink. "The three of us got cleaned out by novices." said Kakashi.

Anko stayed silent. Genma mumbled from where he had his forehead resting on the table, "They won every single round, and they didn't even have to bluff."

Just then Anko jumped up with a scream. "Something brushed against my leg! Iruka, do you have rats?"

Iruka shook his head. Genma and Kakashi were trying to calm their nerves. 'She's so loud.' grumbled Genma and Kakashi to themselves.

"Ano, Anko-sempai…" started Yukio.

"Call me Anko-chan, I refuse to be called sempai by someone older than me." said Anko, slightly annoyed.

"Ano, Anko-chan, I think this might be what startled you." said Yukio as he held up Ame.

Anko stared at the cat for a bit before turning on Iruka and pointing an accusing finger, "Why didn't you tell me you had a cat!"

"I…forgot?" said Iruka nervously while sweat dropping, Anko's scary sometimes.

"Kawaii! She has her own hiate-ae. Ne, Iruka-san, what's her name?" asked Yukio as he happily began scratching behind her ears, much to Ame's approval.

"Ame-chan. Do you like cats, Yukio-san?" said Iruka with a smile, which frustrated Anko because she hated being ignored.

Damn furball, stealing all the attention. thought Anko as she sat back down to sulk.

"I love them! However, everyone in my family except for me is allergic to them, so I've never had one of my own." said Yukio. It was pretty plain that Ame had just made his night.

"Yukio, you've been staying at a hotel right?" asked Genma out of the blue.

"Hai." said Yukio, looking up from Ame, caught off guard by the question.

"Staying in a hotel is expensive isn't?" continued Genma. They were all looking at Genma now, wondering what his point would be.

"Hai…." said Yukio.

Genma looked away and chewed on the sebon in his mouth in thought. He then turned back to Yukio, "You could live with me while your in Konoha if you like. It'll save you money, and I heard that we'll be working on several assignments together, so it'll be convenient in that respect. It's up to you."

"I'd appreciate it very much. Are you sure you want a homosexual living with you though?" asked Yukio.

Everyone in the room was silent, until Anko let out a curse. "Kuso, I wanted to ask you for a date." , she started moping, "Why are all the good looking ones either taken, gay, or not interested?"

Kakashi was looking at Yukio thoughtfully and Iruka was just plain surprised that he had said it in such a casual manner.

Genma stood up and started walking away. "It doesn't make a difference. Where's your hotel?"

Yukio put Ame down and quickly followed Genma. "Ne, sempai…"

"Don't call me sempai." said Genma as they left the kitchen.

"Why not?" asked Yukio.

"It makes me feel old." said Genma.

After Genma, Yukio, and Anko left (she insisted that they walk her home, which sparked another fight between her and Genma), Kakashi and Iruka had dinner and went to bed. Alone with their thoughts, they were able to come to a conclusion on something that had been bothering both of them.

Iruka-'Maybe Kakashi won't react so bad if I tell him about my feelings. Maybe I can get some advice from Yukio-san?'

Kakashi-'What if Iruka is into other guys, and he ends up falling for someone else before I can tell him how I feel? I could maybe ask Yukio for help, but what if he turns out to be competition?'

Both-'I will definitely tell him tomorrow!'

Both-'…………..'

Both-'Maybe….'

Thanks go to the following readers for reviewing: Malicuously Creative, Isolde1, Polka dot, Alana Quinn, fellow reader, Sei the purple Ryu, Lady Geuna, arisa1, sweetsnow, luvsanime, chibified kitsunes, Dream Fox, Vinn(), cdkobasiuk, Yuen-chan(), remembrancer hex, Peridot Pooka, aloria-Catalonia, CapnBlackRose, xtwilightzx, eeza.

Jaa ne!