A/N: Thanks for the reviews everyone! I gotta say, this is the longest fic I have ever made.. I usually give up after chapter 3 or something -cough- Wha, and I do believe this is my longest chapter yet!

I hope I'm able to keep them in character, lol.. I always have trouble with that. Anyhoo, new chapter, hope you enjoy… another chapter with Gai in it (yeah, we can't live without him!)

Btw, I need some advice: I started on a Gai/Lee fic (currently busy with chapter 1) and I was wondering.. good idea or not? XD Lol, I really adore that couple and there are just… not enough fics about those two o.o.. tell me what you think! XD

Further more… this chapter is gonna be -cough- a bit unoriginal.. well.. you'll probably see what I mean with that (hint: the part where Gai comes in xD) and yah.. do they even have Christmas in Konoha? No idea, but… heck, I don't care! Christmas should be everywhere, ne? -laughs-

Enjoy and have a very merry Christmas everybody (may you all get loads of presents and Kakashipushies)!

Chapter 7

Two weeks after that, around Christmastime

Ok, so it wasn't that bad, living with Kakashi, though Iruka tried his best to avoid him. He still did not really understand why Kakashi didn't want to see him anymore- so he tried his best not to get in the way, even though the man kept talking to him. Iruka started to feel a bit sorry for him though- Kakashi really tried his best to make it up to him and all the Chuunin did was stare at him, before walking away.

Not that it wasn't his own fault. Oh no, Kakashi knew that damn well. He figured he deserved to be treated like this, so he simply tried again. The best he could get out of Iruka was 'hn', 'yes', 'no' and 'stay out of the bathroom when I'm showering, idiot!' (he really hadn't done that on purpose).

After the fire, Kakashi went to the bookstore to get some new Icha Icha books, as he felt a strange emptiness inside of him. Yes, he had missed his books very much, even though it only had been two hours without them. He wasn't really upset about living with Iruka- well, he was nervous, but that was only because of the things he had said to him. After three days of staying with the man, Kakashi had the nightmares about him again, making him feel…scared. The Chuunin usually came into the room where he was staying, as he normally was screaming in his sleep, but that was about the only interaction the two of them had in that period of time.

Kakashi thought he was a fool, an idiot, a dunce, a- well, you get the idea. How on earth could he possibly not be with this man? Just the little quirks Iruka had, made his insides squirm- actually, they practically had the same effect as Naruto's Sexy no Jutsu. The way he scratches his scar whenever he feels nervous or when he's mad, the unusual position he sleeps in (Kakashi had seen him sleeping once or twice on the couch with a book next to him- it wasn't like he was actually watching him in his sleep. Because he wasn't. Really.) and of course, the way he eats a whole box of ice cream in one day. There were many others and Kakashi really loved all of them- and he could feel the way he was starting to like Iruka more and more and sometimes he really had to hold himself back as he just wanted to grab Iruka and hold him and have hot, passionate- well, I think you get the idea again.

But even after all his efforts, Iruka still wouldn't even talk to him. He needed advice- yes, he desperately needed it. But from who? He really didn't anyone who could help him with this problem. He didn't really have anyone to talk to- actually, he never talked about personal stuff except maybe what he had for dinner. He decided he would go to the most obvious person to ask advice from.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Not too long after that..

"My esteemed rival has come to ask me for my advice? Of course I will do my best to assist you! If I can't help you, I will do 500 push-ups on one hand!" Kakashi nodded, wishing he would just be a bit more quiet. They were in the forest, so there wasn't really any chance that they could be heard, but still- he didn't want anyone else to hear. "So, what is it then?"

"Ok, well, you see, eh… I have this friend," Kakashi started to mutter, scratching his head. "And, well, he likes this other person, but this other person doesn't really like him, and that person is actually a bit mad at him, so he has no idea how to fix it and-" Kakashi saw Gai's eyebrow going up. Ok, this wasn't working. "Oh, the hell with it," he said, throwing his hands up. "I like Iruka, but Iruka doesn't want to talk to me, because I said some… things. Could you give me some advice please?" Gai rubbed his chin.

"Well, I don't know Iruka that good, but he can easily forgive someone, so it's very weird he didn't forgive you after you apologised-

" He stopped, looking at Kakashi's expression. "You didn't apologise, did you?" Kakashi started scratching his head again, though in his mind he was slapping himself.

"Well, no, not exactly," he mumbled, Gai's bushy eyebrow going even further up. This was his equal? He started to push Kakashi back to the village. "What the- Hey!"

"You need to apologise to Iruka-sensei and confess your love to him!" The man said cheerfully, giving him a last pat on the back. "So go!" The man simply nodded, before running back to the village, prepared to apologise. But not ready yet for… confessing.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Iruka!" Kakashi yelled through the apartment, catching his breath for a moment. The silver-haired man waited a while before yelling his name again. "Iruka!"

"Yes yes, what is it Kakashi?" He replied, his voice came from his bedroom. Kakashi jumped from the window sill and walked towards the bedroom, knocking on it. His heart started to beat in his throat- would the man forgive him or not? The only thing he wanted to do now was run away. He slapped himself in his mind again. Idiot, he thought, you have beaten thousands of shinobi's and you are afraid of one little Chuunin. Man, you're weak.

"I just wanted talk to you for a bit. Can I come in?" He heard some ruffling coming from the other side of the door, before it opened and Iruka came out. His hair was loose again, hanging barely above his shoulders and Kakashi had to admit- he loved his hair that way.

"What do you want?" He asked stiffly. Kakashi started to scratch his head again, smiling nervously at the Chuunin.

"I just- well, I just wanted to apologise," he muttered, his visible eye was looking at something on the floor, apparently it was very interesting to him. Iruka raised an eyebrow and scratched the thin scar on his nose.

"And?"

"…and I was an ass and I'll never do it again as long as I live?" Iruka chuckled briefly and nodded.

"Well, all right. I have to apologise too, I've been acting very childish these past two weeks. I mean, ignoring you and all that, but I figured that, since you said that we shouldn't be friends anymore-"

"I was wrong about that," Kakashi quickly interrupted. "It was really stupid of me to say that and I think you were right to ignore me," he added softly, as if speaking to himself. Iruka smiled at him and decided he would simply forget all the things that had happened. Truth be told, he had a hard time being angry at Kakashi, even though it seemed so easy, but he kept repeating to himself what Kakashi had done, so that made it a bit more easier to stick with the I-Won't-Talk-To-You-Until-You-Apologised- method. He figured he should change the subject.

"Kurenai is having her annual Christmasparty at her place," he said, scratching his scar. "It's this Friday and I was invited, but maybe you would like to come too? Oh wait, actually, you were invited to," the Chuunin laughed nervously. "But that was when you and I weren't talking and I didn't pass the message through." Kakashi waved his hand briefly, closing his eye.

"Doesn't matter, I get invited every year but I never go," he replied. Iruka raised an eyebrow. "I don't like Christmas very much," Kakashi continued, responding to Iruka's expression. "It's too…cheerful. And useless. Plus, I don't like parties."

"Well, you still owe me something, so this is a perfect way to get even. You're going to that party and you're going to have fun." Kakashi chuckled.

"What could possibly be fun on a party with a bunch of Jounins and Chuunins getting drunk?" He inquired, of course, not really interested in the answer. While he was saying it, he was thinking of a way to get out of this. He knew the Chuunin wouldn't accept 'no' for an answer, so Kakashi started to count the pros and the cons. One of the pros was that he was going with Iruka and he would spend the evening with him, the con was that, knowing Kurenai, the rest of the village would be with Iruka and him too. Another pro was that he could get drunk, so the evening wouldn't be a total loss. Plus, it was only one evening- it couldn't really kill him if he were to go. Iruka was thinking about the question.

"Well, it's a lot of fun seeing Genma drunk you know-" he started "- last time, we actually convinced him that his clothes were possessed with an evil spirit, so he threw them off except for his underwear and then we said he should stand outside and whistle, so that the evil spirit would never come back again. He did that, and then we shut him out," Iruka chuckled. "He was lying in the bushes the next day and was forced to walk through the village in his underwear as he had thrown his clothes in Kurenai's fireplace." Kakashi smiled underneath his masked- that actually did sound like fun. A bit. "Well, anyway," he continued. "Just give it a try, if you don't like it, we can go away. Okay?" Kakashi thought about it, before answering.

"Sure."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

That Friday

Kakashi hadn't exactly been looking forward to the party, actually, the only reason he was still going (the Genma-story didn't work anymore, he honestly didn't want to go after Iruka told him Genma could also get quite horny when he's drunk) was because he would have some fun with Iruka. Well, if Iruka would actually stay with him- the party would get a lot of others so it was unlikely they would spend the evening together there.

The only comfort Kakashi had right now, was that Gai hadn't told anyone about his 'crush'.

"Come on, Kakashi," Iruka whined. "I don't want to be late." Kakashi thought the sound of his voice was looking a lot like Naruto's- unfortunately for him. "Damn Kakashi, let's go already!" He started tugging Kakakshi's sleeve and tried to drag him towards the door, though he was no match for the Jounin, who didn't move. He shrugged.

"All right, fine. I wasn't planning on breaking my reputation," he mumbled, actually enjoying Iruka's hand on his arm. He quickly took his eyes off it though- he felt it was getting harder to restrain himself from doing anything. Especially as Iruka was dressed rather nicely for the party. It made the Jounin cringe inside- he felt like he was going to explode soon. The Chuunin raised his eyebrow.

"What reputation?" He inquired, as they walked out of the apartment (yes, Kakashi took the door again!), locking the door. Kakashi smiled.

"Of always being late, of course," he replied. Iruka chuckled, before the silence fell and they were walking to Kurenai's house quietly, enjoying the peace. It was a cold evening and Iruka wondered whether it was going to snow or now- he kind of hoped it would as he very much enjoyed the cold snow.

After a ten minute walk, they arrived at the house, where music was playing loudly. There were a couple of people standing outside, a bottle of sake standing on a small, wooden table. They all greeted each other, before they walked inside, feeling the warmth of the house.

They could see several familiar Jounins and Chuunins standing in different groups across the small house, enjoying the music and liquor and of course each others company. Kurenai was standing in the middle of the room, together with Asuma and Genma. Kakashi noticed Asuma whispering something in her ear, which made her giggle- a noise Kakashi had never heard her make. She must have been really drunk.

"Let's go to them," Iruka said, nodding towards Kurenai's group. "Good evening," he said to them, raising a hand (Kakashi raised two fingers with a small 'yo', as usual). They all looked rather stunned when they saw the silver-haired Jounin. "Thank you for inviting us, Kurenai-chan," Iruka continued politely and gave a slight bow. Kurenai, on the other hand, seemed to be drunk and had already gone back to her giggling fit when Asuma placed his hand on her…back. Yeah, we'll stay with that.

"My rival!" A familiar voice bellowed, startling Iruka. Kakashi simply rolled his eyes when he saw who else was invited to the party. Iruka chuckled when Gai gave the other Jounin a rather hard pat on the back (while holding his other hand behind his back, which looked rather suspicious to Kakashi, but he decided to let it go ), that would have probably sent him flying through the wall. "And Iruka-sensei!" he continued, noticing the Chuunin, slightly grinning at Kakashi, who started to blush heavily behind his mask. "Well well, how have you been? Is Kakashi behaving himself?" He winked at the Jounin, who looked like he wanted to just crawl under a rock and die. Then he noticed Gai's right hand hanging above himself and Iruka. After he saw that, he just wanted to die on the spot. Iruka, who hadn't noticed the arm hovering above him and Kakashi, started to chat with Gai about his students and how he was so busy with grading papers and filing reports, before Gai gave a small cough and pointed upwards. Iruka looked up and so did Kurenai, Asuma and Genma. Iruka then turned red, Kurenai started to giggle again, Asuma started to laugh and Genma dropped his senbon. The Chuunin tried to walk away from the group while mumbling something about a colleague of him standing outside, but was pulled back by Gai. "Oh no, Iruka, you know the tradition! When two honourable people are standing underneath mistletoe, they should kiss each other passionately!" Iruka was starting to resemble a tomato.

"He's right y'know," Asuma said, clearly drunk. "Kiss!"

"Surely it doesn't count for two men?" Iruka pleaded. Besides that, even if he would kiss him, how in heavens name would he do that? The man would never take off his mask! And Iruka simply would refuse kissing someone wearing cloth in front of his mouth. No way would he do that. Gai grinned.

"Iruka-sensei, you are in the springtime of your youth, live a little! Besides, they are the rules, and you wouldn't want to break them, now would you?" Iruka scowled, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get out of this situation. The others looked at him expectantly- though Kakashi was rather interested in the lovely Christmas tree that was standing in the room. Why did he have to tell Gai? Why why why why why why why? This wasn't fair- not only to him, but to Iruka as well. Clearly he didn't want to kiss the man, Kakashi noticed this from the way he said 'surely it doesn't count for two men'- Kakashi felt rather hurt about it. Of course, there had never been the certainty that Iruka was gay, but still it was rather painful to hear.

"But he has his mask on," Iruka continued to whine. Asuma laughed again.

"What, you were planning to stick your tongue in his throat? What does it matter, kiss the guy already! It's not like you have to kiss each other senseless, just a simple kiss," he grinned, but stopped with that when he saw the scary face Iruka made. Yeah, the Chuunin could be rather scary. After a couple of seconds thinking (and scratching his scar nervously), Iruka muttered something that sounded like 'fine, you damn Jounins are all mad' and walked to Kakashi, who thanked God that he had been wearing a mask ever since he was eight as he was blushing heavily.

"Iruka," he muttered. "I can just beat the crap out of Gai," Iruka chuckled slightly before putting his hands on the Jounin's shoulders and pressing his lips on the mask. After a couple of seconds, he withdrew, though Iruka had to admit he was rather disappointed a lot of others were standing around them. He might have kissed him longer. After a couple of seconds, Kakashi was able to find his voice again."That was my chin," Kakashi merely pointed out, though he was trying heavily not to collapse at that moment.

He would have to thank Gai later.