A/N: Another update! (you: -shockhorror-) a bit sooner than expected, yes... but I love writing this fic!


Thanks for all the wonderful reviews everyone!

Oro-sama: You wan't your sex-scene? Then you have to wait a while, lol.. I can't just let Iruka jump on top of Kakashi.. well, I could, but that would take all the fun out of writing XDD


Anonymous: Tsunade chose Gai, could you think of anyone more perfect than him? XD I don't really need any help, lol.. I got time, got inspiration, so everything is good! Thanks anyway!

Enjoy! I adore Kakashi in this one.. though I am beginning to think I make him a lot more cuter than he actually is xD

Chapter 5

Not too long after we left off…

Kakashi was lying in bed, wondering when the hell he could get out of the hospital. He never liked hospitals that much- he preferred to recover in his own apartment, his own bed and his own food (hospital food tasted as if it had been lying on the table for a week). But the doctor had said he was in no condition of taking care of himself, since he was still too weak to do anything. So he had to stay there, waiting until he finally had enough strength ( though he did feel much better than when he woke up) to take care of his own again.

All he was allowed to do, was sit in his bed, sleep and eat, they hadn't even given him one of his books (which he hadn't brought with him on the mission, so they were still lying in his apartment)! With enough time on his hands, he started to think about things. And when he thought about things, he thought about what Tsunade-sama had said. Iruka had saved him. It wasn't that big a deal of course- Kakashi knew this. Tsunade had simply ordered the Chuunin to save him, it wasn't as if Iruka went looking for him on his own- heck, he had probably been mad at him for not filling out a report!

Then why did he keep thinking about it?

Sure, Iruka was boring, had a temper and was a freak when it came to following the rules, but Kakashi still had grown a bit fond of the teacher- even though they were completely the opposite of each other. Iruka enjoyed spending time outside, Kakashi enjoyed reading about people doing- well, anyway, he liked it that they weren't the same. And even though they were completely different people, they always had something to discuss or to talk about. He kept hoping that Iruka would come and visit him in the hospital.

Don't be ridiculous, he's probably not even thinking about you, shot through his head. He winced at this thought- he had asked Iruka for lunch first. He went to the lake where the teacher had been with his students- Iruka didn't need his company, Iruka didn't want his company. He probably didn't even like him. "He was very fast in getting you, I don't think anyone would've been faster," Tsunade had said, which brought him to another thought, something that had been said to him when he had just passed his Jounin exam."You don't just fight for yourself, Kakashi, you don't get strength from fighting for yourself. You become strong when you find something worth fighting for, when you find someone you want to protect with all your heart- only then will you become truly strong," the Third had said to him. Maybe Iruka had been so fast because of that? Because he wanted to save him too, and not just because it was his mission?

Kakashi shrugged and tried to shake the thoughts of the Chuunin out of his head. It was his mission to look after him and he couldn't get involved anymore. Yes, he just had to think of something else- maybe think of his training, or how he could get his hands on the new Icha Icha novel, which had just been released. As long as he didn't have to think about Iruka, then it would be alright.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Iruka stood in the doorway to his room. Oh crap. He slowly sat up straight in his bed- it hurt a lot when he moved too quickly, because of the big cuts in his back, shoulders and arms. Besides that, he still had a tremendous headache, but he figured as long as people would talk to him quietly, it didn't really bother him.

"MY RIVAL!" Gai bellowed, pushing Iruka inside the room. Kakashi rolled his eyes (Why me?) at the over- excited Jounin, who came in wanting to give him a pat on the back. But, luckily for Kakashi, a nurse grabbed Gai by his vest to stop him ("Thank God for nurses," Kakashi had muttered).

"Only one visitor at a time!" She snapped, dragging him out of the room. Iruka looked at them, while Gai was still yelling "I must challenge him! Let me go!", and sighed, turning towards Kakashi.

"Sorry 'bout that," Iruka said, settling himself next to the Jounin's bed. Kakashi, who was half-glad Iruka came to visit him, but half-disappointed since he didn't want to get any closer to the Chuunin, chuckled as Gai was still struggling with nine nurses and two doctors, trying to get into the room. "He's been acting weird all morning, well, not that he ever did act normal." Iruka grinned slightly, trying to not look at the stitches Kakashi had on him. "So, how are you feeling?"

"Headache, can't walk, can't do anything, pain in my back and I don't have my books," he sighed. He looked a bit depressed.

"Guess you're not the type to stay the whole day in bed then, huh?" Iruka asked, giving him a polite smile. Kakashi nodded. "So, what happened out there? I don't fully understand- it was supposed to be an easy mission for you. The average time it would take was twelve hours and since you are a Jounin, you should've been able to do it in six hours with ease."

"I know," Kakashi mumbled. "I guess the mission was underrated- if a Chuunin had done it, he most certainly would have died. Miscalculating the difficulty of a mission doesn't happen often, but they do happen. It was partly my fault too- I figured it was too easy so I didn't really concentrate enough on the mission," he smiled, his eye crinkling. "I should've known better, but I guess my arrogance got the better of me yesterday." Iruka nodded.

"Well, that's understandable," he replied, looking at the Jounin. "I have one more question for you though," Kakashi turned his head slightly, searching for Iruka's eyes now. He didn't like the tone in his voice. "Why is it that ever since you're in the hospital, Gai has been following me? Is there something going on?" He looked at the Jounin, who had now turned his head and was looking at the wall, apparently seeing something very interesting there. Eventually, after an inner battle with himself whether or not he should tell the Chuunin the truth, he spoke.

"No, not that I know of," he said. Iruka felt hurt.

"I'm not stupid," he said softly, looking away.

"I never said you-"

"Then why are you telling me this crap?" Iruka said- his voice was louder now. "I'm not stupid, don't assume I don't know what's going on- I thought it was suspicious the moment you started following me! It was because of the attack in the forest, right?" Kakashi didn't answer. "Who does she think she is? She thinks I'm weak, doesn't she? Just because I'm a Chuunin, it doesn't mean that I'm not capable of protecting me and my class!" The Jounin shook his head, he didn't think that- he honestly didn't. "Don't bullshit me," Iruka hissed, getting himself worked up. So this was what the Hokage meant when she assigned him the mission- he really would be mad. Kakashi really hated himself- if only he had spoken the truth, perhaps Iruka wouldn't be so mad. "You think I'm weak too, right? Well, I fought them off perfectly without your help! I don't need your help, or Gai's, just stay the hell away from me, got it?" That was it for Iruka- he opened the window of the room and jumped out of it, leaving the silver-haired man, together with his guilt. But why? Why did he feel guilty? It wasn't as if he had volunteered to keep an eye out for him- it had been the Godaime's order.

"Gai?" Kakashi called out, to see if he was still there. He had to warn him about Iruka- he didn't know what he was going to do know. For all he knew, he was going to the forest or somewhere else it wasn't safe. He didn't hear any response. "Gai?" Kakashi yelled again- crap, Gai couldn't have gone away. What the hell had Tsunade been drinking when she assigned him the mission anyway? After a couple of seconds, a nurse came in.

"Is there a problem, Hatake-sama?" She asked politely.

"Yes, where is Maito Gai? You know, the loud guy with the fuzzy eyebrows and weird haircut," Kakashi quickly said. The nurse thought about the description he had given her for a moment, before chuckling. The Jounin raised an eyebrow, looking at her curiously.

"I think I know who you mean," she said, giggling. "He was fighting so hard to get here, we had to give him an injection, so he'd calm down. He'll be out for another three hours or so. Was that all?" Kakashi gave her a nod and a thank you, before sending her away. Crap. Crap, crap, crap. What was he going to do now?

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Somewhere else, same time

He kept running. He didn't know where he was running to, but he had to run- he had to run off his frustration. Damn that man. He felt hurt and betrayed and didn't know what else to do besides getting as far away from his as possible. And yet he felt as if he was doing the wrong thing. Maybe he had overreacted, Kakashi hadn't really deserved the things he had said to him. But Iruka just got so mad- people thought he was weak. He couldn't take it.

"You'll never become a Genin, you'll always be a loser," one of his classmates said, putting on his new hitai-ate.

"No, I won't! You just wait and see, I'll graduate next year and I'll kick your butt!" He yelled back, making a fist. The boy just laughed at him, together with all the others of his former class. Everybody had graduated, except for him.

"You're weak," the boy replied, showing off the headband. "You can't do anything."

Iruka felt his eyes burn. He was weak, a loser. Everybody thought that. The Hokage, Gai, Kakashi. Iruka smiled bitterly at the thought of Kakashi. He had actually started to consider the Jounin as a friend, even though they had absolutely nothing in common and Kakashi could be annoying sometimes. But he realised he wasn't his friend- the only reason he had asked him for lunch was on the Hokage's orders. Iruka halted, when he saw the lake in front of him. He sat down on the grass, breathing heavily and leaning against one of the surrounding trees. He closed his eyes and tried to calm down. He had a temper- he acknowledged that - but he had learned how to control it. A bit. He just had to relax for a while, keep his mind off other things and perhaps take a nap and let the anger wash away. Usually, this worked for him, but now he couldn't keep his mind clear and the only thing he saw was the masked face of Kakashi.

"Slacking off, sensei?" Iruka quickly opened his eyes, staring directly into the face of one of the missing nin that had attacked him and his class before. Two others appeared on his side, smirking. "We came for a little revenge- since you are all alone now. You really should keep an eye out for followers you know." Iruka gritted his teeth- this wasn't looking good. If he even moved his hand towards his shurikenholster, they would most definitely kill him before he could even grab one. Damn, they had him cornered. "You guys wanna play with him for a little bit, before we actually kill him? God knows you need the training." The one speaking was obviously the leader of them- a rather small man, in black clothes with black hair and brown eyes. Iruka noticed several scars were on his very young and pale face. If he hadn't been trapped like this, he could have probably taken them all on. However, he couldn't be irrational now, so he had to carefully think things through. They could kill him easily here, with no witnesses and no one to stop them- things seemed rather hopeless for the young teacher. Guess I am weak after all, Iruka thought, feeling as if he had just fallen into a pool of cold water. The two other men shook their heads, looking at the man with a thirst for blood in their eyes. They were certainly enjoying this. "No? You guys don't want to play? Fine, I'll kill him right now," the leader continued, grinning at him. He took a kunai.

"What the-" was all that he could say, before a shuriken sliced his throat, making a huge gap. He fell to the floor, holding his hands against the wound, but it was no use- the bleeding wouldn't stop. Iruka, obviously surprised by this though he didn't waste any time, jumped up and grabbed two kunais to finish off the other two who had been looking at their boss in surprise. The fight was

over after that.

"Iruka-sensei," Iruka looked to his right, to the Jounin who was know on his knees, panting. He winced at the sight of Kakashi, feeling guilt washing over him. He had come all this way to save him. "Are you alright?" Iruka looked at him for a moment, not knowing what to say, but then smiled at him. He walked towards Kakashi and put his arm around the weakened man, helping hem stand up.

"I am, but I don't think you're in a condition to ask something like that to me. You should be worried about yourself," he replied. "Let's go back to the hospital." Kakashi nodded, before passing out.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A few hours later

"Gai, really, it wasn't your fault," he said, patting the Jounin on his back. They were back in the hospital, and Kakashi was back in the operating room and he had been there for over three hours now. The doctor had said he used too much chakra to get to the lake and since he was already in a weakened state they couldn't say if he would make it or not, there was about a 40 percent chance that he would make it.

Iruka hadn't had any time to feel guilty or sad or anxious or even angry, since he was far too busy with consoling Gai, who was convinced it was his fault the Jounin was dying (though it wasn't even sure if he was dying, but as we all know Gai is a bit… over-dramatic). "I let you out of my sight and noble Kakashi risked his life for his mission!" The Jounin whimpered. Iruka felt something boil again. Risked his life for his mission.

"Iruka-san?" A nurse walked up to them. They immediately stood up, anxious about the result. She smiled at them. "I have good news, Kakashi-sama will be alright, though he does have to stay here for about a week for observation. He is awake now and has requested to see you, Iruka-san." Iruka nodded. He had never felt more relieved in his life. Gai quickly grabbed the Chuunin protectively before he could walk to the room they where Kakashi was, apparently not wanting to let him out of his sight again.

"Gai," Iruka said. "It really is alright, I won't run away again. Just let me go and talk to him, okay?" He said reassuringly, as if talking to a 4-year old when he had just woken up from a bad dream. Gai nodded and let go, allowing Iruka to go inside Kakashi's room.

"Yo," Kakashi said weakly, slowly turning his head towards the door when he heard the brown-haired man coming in. Iruka nodded- he didn't really know where to start. He wanted to apologise for being such an ass and he wanted to thank him for saving his life and he also wanted to ask him why the hell he went after him. "You caused me some serious trouble, you know," Kakashi continued, smiling weakly. "I'm sorry, Iruka. I never thought of you as weak, but-"

"Stop," the Chuunin said. "It's me who should apologise, I shouldn't have been so mad at you- you were only doing what the Hokage told you to do. I understand," he swallowed. He understood, but he didn't like it. Kakashi eyed him. "Why didn't you warn someone that I had gone away? Why did you come after me? You should've sent someone else!" Iruka said, temper rising again. He wasn't angry now- he was concerned about him. The idiot should have just stayed in bed.

"Because," Kakashi said, giving him a weak smile again, his eye crinkling slightly. "I don't like abandoning my friends."