Disclaimer: Naruto and all it's characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto-sensei, not me!
Warning: Yaoi!
Kakashi and Iruka arrived at Ichiraku flushed and giggling. They took their seats, trying to get their breathing back to normal. As soon as they were able to speak they ordered their ramen. Once it arrived they ate in comfortable silence, slowly downing their bowls. Or as slow as Kakashi's habit of downing them in twenty seconds flat would allow. The jounin watched Iruka when his own bowl was empty. He couldn't help but stare, fascinated by the way the other man ate.
"Mm. Iruka-sensei, there's a noodle on your face." Kakashi said absentmindedly.
"Hmm?" Iruka looked up, startled. He rubbed his face, completely missing the noodle.
"Nope." Kakashi chuckled, "To the right, more right." Kakashi verbally directed him, but Iruka continued to completely miss it. "Here."
Kakashi took the other man's chin in his hand and held him still as he plucked the noodle off. He flicked it away and brought his hand back up to swipe the juices off Iruka's face. He rubbed the juice off slowly, entranced by the blush on those tan cheeks. Iruka swallowed heavily.
"Thanks." He breathed, staring into that single blue eye. They stared into each other's eyes a moment more before Iruka raised his hand and placed it on the wrist keeping his face hostage. He pushed Kakashi's arm back to the jounin's side and coughed.
Kakashi didn't turn away even when Iruka did. His eye was wide and an unnameable emotion showed there. He stared at Iruka, stared in realization. Iruka glanced over at the jounin quickly, turning away once he'd seen that Kakashi was still staring at him, his expression unchanged. When he looked back a few moments later and Kakashi was still staring he snapped.
"Kakashi-sensei! Why are you staring!" He glared at the silver haired man. Kakashi's face didn't change.
"I...I ...you...I have something important to tell you." Kakashi searched the chuunin's eyes, Iruka nodded.
"What is it?" Irritation laced his voice.
"Uh...can we talk somewhere private?"
"Alright, we'll go back to your apartment." Iruka sighed and Kakashi nodded.
They walked to Kakashi's apartment in silence, Iruka kept glancing at Kakashi, trying to figure out what he was thinking. He had an uneasy feeling about this. Kakashi kept his eye on the ground, thinking to himself. They reached his apartment quickly, Iruka didn't even bother to remove his sandals and stood in front of the door. Kakashi removed his and sat at the table.
"I...have no idea how to tell you this." Kakashi started, staring at the table.
"Just say it. I'm sure I can handle it." Iruka felt like rolling his eyes, but didn't, sensing the seriousness in Kakashi's demeanor.
"Well, I...um." Kakashi stood, slowly stalking up to Iruka until he was standing a few inches away from the chuunin. He slowly raised a hand to his face, a single finger pealing the top of his mask down. Iruka's eyes widened. "I think...I'm..." He said slowly uncovering his nose, "I'm...in..." His nose was bear, and his upper lip was creeping into view. Iruka tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but failed. "In...love...with you." Kakashi breathed the last words his face completely visible.
"Ah..!" Iruka gasped, unable to comprehend what was going on. His brain wasn't processing the visual and audio information together that it was receiving. All he could think was 'Gorgeous. He's gorgeous' He swallowed again. "Wha...?" His voice failed him.
"I think I'm in love with you." Kakashi whispered, leaning in until he could feel Iruka's breath on his face. "I think...I love you."
"..." Iruka was frozen in his place. He couldn't move, his wide eyes were glued to Kakashi's single eye.
"I love you, Iruka-sensei." The jounin pressed his lips to Iruka's, his arms snaking around the chuunin's waist. Finally it all registered and Iruka's eyes widened further. He pushed the jounin off roughly and bolted out the door, glancing back only once. That was all it took to convince Kakashi that Iruka wasn't sure to hate him. The chuunin's eyes hadn't been angry, but merely confused.
Kakashi, knocked off balance, fell to the floor. He sat there for a moment, smiling stupidly at the floor. Iruka's reaction was promising. His shoulders shook and a giggle escaped his lips, then full fledged laughter. After a few moments he calmed down, though his smile didn't go away. "I love you, Iruka-sensei." He whispered with a laugh.
The next morning Kakashi woke up, a silly grin plastered on his face. He readied himself quickly and went through his morning routines. He arrived at the training grounds at his usual time.
"Yo." He greeted cheerfully.
"YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto and Sakura yelled, as was the norm.
"Sorry, I was passing by a knitting shop and.."
"LIAR!" They shouted, Kakashi laughed and their training began.
Kakashi sat under a tree lazily reading Icha Icha Paradise, or pretending to. His mind drifted off to the kiss with Iruka and his feelings for the other man. He laughed giddily, attracting the attention of his students.
"Kakashi-sensei! Stop thinking perverted things!" Naruto bellowed, Kakashi laughed and curved his eye.
"I'm not!" He said, still laughing. "Unless you think..." He appeared behind the blonde, with a serious expression, "love is perverted."
"What!" Naruto shouted turning around quickly. Kakashi hopped back, his eye curved and laughing.
"Kakashi-sensei was blushing over something that wasn't perverted." Sakura said, stunned. She paused. "LIAR!" She shouted.
"Ah ha ha! No, not this time!" Kakashi said in a sing song voice.
"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, does it have to do with the person you like?" Naruto asked, a grimace on his face.
"You look like you're about to burst." Sakura commented thoughtfully.
"You look stupid." Sasuke dead panned.
"I am, I am!" Kakashi said, unable to contain his giddiness.
"Ha ha, Kakashi said he was stupid." Naruto laughed, pointing a finger at the jounin. Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"I feel like I'm about to burst, I feel stupid and happy!" Kakashi laughed. "See? Stupid! Ah ha ha ha!"
The three genin backed away slowly, fear written all over their faces. Oh...my...God... Kakashi snapped, they were all going to die.
"What...what happened?" Sakura asked tentatively. Kakashi grew serious and walked closer to his team.
"None, of your business." His eye curved. "You're dismissed from training today!" He chirped and leapt away.
"Now I'm curious!" Naruto wailed.
"We'll follow him." Sasuke said quickly, running after the jounin.
"Right." Naruto and Sakura agreed, running after their team mate.
They caught up to him a little while later, spotting him a little ways down the street. It was a few minutes after dismissal at the Academy. They followed Kakashi to a rooftop where he stopped abruptly. He turned around suddenly, grinning. The genin ducked and he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Bunshin!" Sakura yelled furiously.
"Damn it!" Naruto shouted with equal ferocity.
They found him again later, standing outside of the Academy, hiding around the corner of the building.
"What is he doing?" Naruto asked, tilting his head to the side.
"I don't know..." Sakura shook her head.
"Look." Sasuke said sharply.
Iruka had walked out of the Academy, his arms full of papers. Kakashi walked up to him silently.
"Yo." He greeted softly, almost demurely. Iruka started, his papers slipped from his grasp. In a flash Kakashi caught the stack, taking it into his own arms.
"Kakashi-sensei! Oh, you don't need to do that. Please." Iruka attempted to take his papers back. 'So much for trying to avoid him.'
"No, no I want to." Kakashi's eye curved up.
"I..really, Kakashi-sensei." Iruka shook his head, exasperated. Kakashi walked ahead of him, an obvious bounce in his lazy stride. They walked for a few moments in silence, Iruka's thoughts were racing inside his head. Suddenly one hit him right in the face. He'd been giving Kakashi advice on how to impress himself! He cringed, if Kakashi hadn't pulled down that mask and...kissed him, he would have thought the jounin was playing some kind of weird joke. He must have made a sour face for Kakashi turned to him worriedly.
"Something wrong?"
"Eh, nothing, nothing." Iruka laughed awkwardly. Another random thought struck him. "How do you know where I live?" He narrowed his eyes.
"Er..." Kakashi's eye widened. 'Shit, busted!...think, think!' "Um, Naruto told me, Eh heh heh."
"Somehow I doubt that." His eyes narrowed further before he gave up with a sigh. Kakashi was such a nuisance. A sudden wave of that strange feeling that had been plaguing him swept over him, mixed with guilt. 'He's not always a nuisance.' He shook his head, he still couldn't believe what had happened. Surely Kakashi didn't love him, surely it was all some kind of sick dream he'd had. He touched his lips absently, it had certainly felt real. He'd seen Kakashi's face, and there was no way he'd ever even imagined his face would be so beautiful. He'd never even thought about it! He'd never dared.
They arrived at his house, quickly going inside and removing their vests and sandals. Kakashi set the stack of papers on a nearby table. He openly looked around, it was a normal, functional livingroom. However pictures lined the shelves, large photos of Iruka's classes throughout his teaching career were hanging from a wall. Most of his pictures contained the children from the Academy having fun and smiling, some of Iruka himself with his students. Many had Naruto's crazy antics, and an angry Iruka. There was one that seemed to stick out of Naruto and Iruka sitting at Ichiraku eating ramen, Naruto was showing off his new forehead protector. The one that really caught Kakashi's attention however was one of Iruka when he was smaller, grinning much the way Naruto did. He was wearing his forehead protector, perhaps it had been when he'd first gotten it.
Kakashi walked up to the picture, not touching it, but leaning in for a closer look. His eye curved up in a smile. Iruka set the papers he still had onto the stack on the table. He turned around to face Kakashi.
"Look, Kakashi-sensei, about yesterday..." He started, using his lecture voice. Kakashi turned his face to gaze at Iruka, his eye no longer curved up.
"Yeah...?" Kakashi's heart rate increased. Iruka only used that voice when the person he was talking to did something wrong. The jounin swallowed heavily, trying to prepare himself for heartbreak.
OMG, I'm going to be late next time, I swear. I have exams coming up really soon and I'm going to be so stressed out. I would have had it out earlier but was being stupid and wouldn't let me upload! ANYway, another cliffhanger! Ah ha ha ha! I really hope this chapter was good! I was trying really hard not to make it suck. Maybe that made it suck? Oh no!
Thank you to all my readers and especially those who review! So, now...REVIEW!
Yay!