Me: Ok, I'm determined to get this fic done ASAP…..Grrrness…..thank you everyone for their wonderful reviews and the excellent suggestions that came with them. Several people said that Kakashi should follow them to dinner…..I say good idea, but I'm also following it up with another suggestion I got that I really liked….It's making my head hurt…. P
Warnings? Yea, my pitiful attempt at some humor…. You have been warned……T-T;
In Some Random Casual Restaurant
Iruka smiled and laughed happily with Yuji-san….his….date. It still sounded odd to call him that, but it was Yuki himself who had initiated the name in the first place.
Yuki had been prompt and on time, like he seemed to be with everything else. He was polite and considerate, even going as far as to pull Iruka's chair out for him and them push it under him so that he was seated at the table. Part of Iruka had loved the act immensely, while the other felt unbelievably awkward. It wasn't that he was afraid of what anyone would think, his date with another man. Homosexuality was just something that was generally accepted in Konoha. It was an unspoken rule. After all, life for a shinobi was much to short to waste skipping out on things because of what others might think. (Sighs If only things were like that in real life…--;) It was something else….something that he couldn't quite put his finger on…..
He was completely distracted by a commotion; Loud burst of raucous laughter, some almost drunken sounding cheering, and general shouts. Iruka knew before he even turned around, what was going on. That noise could only mean one thing: A group of Jounin had just entered the establishment. Obviously a group of jounin with something to celebrate…or not. It could be that they just wanted to drink and annoy people.
Glancing over at the group and noting that some of them were, indeed, drunk, he recognized several familiar faces: Gai-sensei (the source of a grate majority of the noise) Raido and Genma, (who Iruka promptly vowed never to watch drunk ever again), Anko, Ibiki, Kurenai, Asuma, some others Iruka didn't recognize. He continued to watch for several minuets more, but could find no trace of what he was only half-way aware of looking for: He could see no gravity defying silver hair standing out like snow in July like it usually did. Kakashi wasn't there. As Iruka turned his attention back to Yuki, he chewed his lip, wondering why he felt so disappointed all of a sudden.
Kakashi's House An Hour or so Previous
Kakashi was sprawled lazily on his couch finishing up the tenth chapter of Icha Icha as Yuki rushed out of the apartment, presumably for his date with Iruka-sensei. He didn't know why Yuki seemed to be so interested in the young teacher. Admittedly the younger man was easy on the eyes. Kakashi had checked him out on more than on occasion. But he was cute and that was it. He had said so himself on several occasions when the young teacher had somehow become the topic of conversation. A lot of the other Jounin, especially the senseis, were usually very impressed with the students he turned over to them. If there was a student they fought over, it was one from Iruka-sensei. Many people admired the young teacher.
Kakashi, of course, always took the time to say that, yes, Iruka was a great teacher, but the reason he was so was because he taught with love and feelings, things that could easily get a shinobi killed. The others would smile and shake their heads and say that yes, that was true, and yet wasn't his own team proof enough that, if anything, those feelings would only serve to make the children stronger? And Kakashi would always reply that all it did was teach them the bitter pain of lose when their friends and loved ones died right before their eyes. And the other shinobi, knowing why he was saying such things, would shut up, but their eyes would always say to him "You don't understand because you won't let yourself. Until you do, you can't really win this discussion."
It infuriated him.
And yet, when he watched his team interact, he could almost believe it were true.
When he watched Iruka with his students, he could see why Yuki, and most of the others who knew the chunnin held the man in such high regard.
Kakashi snapped his book shut with a growl. He still had that mission to watch Yuki. He had been slacking off. But how was he going to keep and eye on him?
Before he could contemplate the matter further, he sensed a presence outside his door. One he recognized to be another jounin.
Kakashi walked to the door.
Kakashi opened the door.
Kakashi saw green.
"MY ETERNAL RIVAL! HOW HIP AND COOL OF YOU TO ANSWER THE DOOR BEFORE I EVEN HAD A CHANCE TO KNOCK!"
Kakashi closed the door.
Kakashi headed for his nearest escape route.
"WAIT! MY ETERNAL RIVAL! I HAVE A MESSAGE FROM THE LORD HOKAGE!" Gai cried through the wall. This caused Kakashi to pause. Answer the door again and risk listening to Gai for to long and going deaf, or leaving and going to the hokage himself and asking what he wanted Tough choice…..not.
Kakashi jumped out the window, silently cursing the beautiful green beast of Konoha for not being a moment later. This was taking precious time out of his Iruka-er-Yuki stalking time. Making a split decision, he figured he could at least find out where Iruka and Yuki were going. Changing directions, he headed as fast as he could toward Iruka's apartment, hopping that Iruka would play the girl and fuss over his hair or something to buy him some time to catch up.
Luck was on his side. As it was, Iruka and Yuki were just leaving the apartment complex as he arrived. Landing softly on the ground around a corner, Kakashi watched as Yuki courteously offered Iruka his arm and Iruka, blushing, took it shyly. Kakashi rolled his eyes. All that courtesy stuff was just an over rated ploy. Iruka was smart, why couldn't he see that Yuki was just trying to get into his pants. Really, the young teacher had never struck Kakashi as a fling type of person. Not that he cared of course.
Really. He didn't. He was just saying.
Kakashi bit his lip as he watched Yuki lean down a little closer than was strictly necessary and whisper teasingly in the sensei's ear. He watched Iruka's face light up until he was sure all of the blood in his body was in the younger mans face, weather from what had been said, or the sensation of warm breath ghosting across his skin, Kakashi wasn't sure he wanted to know.
O.K, it was Kakashi-confesses-something-to-himself-time.
He cared.
He cared a whole lot f-ing more than he wanted to admit.
Not even coffee could help him now.
Kakashi sighed as he watched the two enter a semi-fancy restaurant not to far from Iruka's apartment. He growled as Yuki held the door open for his companion, as Iruka smiled and blushed his thanks.
Deciding that he had watched Yuki enough for one night, Kakashi turned and headed back in the direction of the Hokage's office.
Two Hours Later With Kakashi in the Hokage's office
The old man watched the jounin slouching in front of him.
"Do you understand your new mission, Kakashi?" He asked. The silvery head in front and above him bobbed in affirmation. "Good. I will assign another shinobi to look after Katsumi-san while you are gone. This mission must be completed with the utmost discretion. Even your team must not know about his. Do you understand?" Kakashi nodded. Maybe by the time he got back from this mission, one that promised to be at least a week or two if all went well, which it hardly ever did, he would be over his cares-to-much-for-cute-school-teacher faze. The hokage handed Kakashi the scroll he would need to deliver. The younger man bowed without a word and left.
He headed towards the gate as fast as his legs would take him without using ridiculous amounts of chakra. Still, it didn't stop him from catching site of Iruka and Yuki standing in front of Iruka's apartment. Almost as if his feet were suddenly covered in extra sticky jounin stopping glue, Kakashi froze in the tree he was in, close enough to catch fragments of the conversation, yet far enough to stay undetected.
"…..had fun." Iruka was saying, smiling a shy smile at the jounin in front of him. Yuki, who was sanding very close, reached out and ran his thumb over Iruka's red cheek.
"……had….to." Kakashi cursed the distance between them that allowed him to only hear parts of what was being said, but he couldn't move forward for the risk of being caught.
What happened next, however, made him leap from the tree so fast it was as if he had been scalded. Yuki leaned forward, suddenly and with determination, and kissed Iruka firmly on the lips.
Had Kakashi stayed put just a few moments longer, he would have seen Iruka push Yuki away, stammering and blushing about going to fast, seen Yuki smile a rather strained smile and say that of course, and he was sorry, would have seen Iruka, face red and unsure, duck into this apartment with a mumbled farewell, would have seen an immensely displeased looking Yuki stalk back to his apartment. He didn't see all of this, however, because he was already almost at the gate, trying hard to fight the pain that was welling up from a place in his heart he didn't even know was there.
What was happening to him?
Me: Sorry that wasn't longer, but it seemed like as good a place as any to leave it. I'm sorry if it wasn't that good…..I'll try harder on the next chapter…I've already got a basic idea of how it will go. Things are speeding up now, thank goodness. Maybe I'll actually get this one done. Feed back is needed for this fic to be continued. If you want more you have to ask for it. So please R&R, or I'll die from lack of reviewing