Some sweet; some funny, I hope you enjoy this one... Oh, look, it's a longer chapter than before! Oh, and fair warning... Chapter 10 will have ADULT content. So skip the chapter after this one if you don't want to read the smexing.

Title: I saw ~~~~ Kissing Santa Claus
Prompt: Mistletoe
Author: Kita_the_spaz
Rating: PG-13

They ate at a small little place near the academy, lingering over coffee. Iruka kept his face politely averted, but kept up a steady stream of small talk. Finally, Kakashi asked, "When do we need to get ready for the teacher's party?'

Iruka glanced up at the clock on the wall. "I suppose we had better."

He led the copy-nin out of the restaurant and turned up the narrow street—away from the academy.

"Uh, Iruka-sensei, don't we have to go back to the academy?"

Iruka grinned at him. "Nope. We have to go change first. Unless you want to look like a refugee from a child's party." Kakashi noticed the smear of icing on his pant's leg where tentative fingers had clutched.

Iruka had red punch spatters on his sleeves and flecks of sugar on his pants. "C'mon, I'm sure I can scrounge up something to fit you."

Kakashi looked nervously over his shoulder. "Um, aren't we supposed to be helping? I'm supposed to be helping you."

Iruka smiled and chuckled. "You are helping me. You're helping me relax after a job well done. Those of us who had to deal with the kid's party are pretty much done. We just show up at six for the real party." He shrugged. "They've got it easy this year, considering I already arranged for the refreshments and decorations."

Kakashi twitched and the corner of Iruka's mouth curved up even further. "Trust me, the nature of the refreshments and the décor is far different from the kid stuff of this afternoon."

Kakashi blinked and shifted his shoulders uncomfortably, even as he continued following the chuunin. "I was thinking more along the lines of, if you don't need my help anymore, I'll just go."

Iruka turned, frowning. "No. You're coming to the party. Consider it as part of the terms of your mission."

Kakashi frowned under his mask and shook his head. "I don't do parties."

Iruka stopped in his tracks and turned, balancing on the balls of his feet. "Well, you are doing this one. Now move your ass if you want time to shower and change before the party. I will drag your naked ass there if I have to, so don't think I won't."

Stunned and though he was loath to admit it, a little intimidated by Iruka's temper, Kakashi docilely followed Iruka, wondering all the while if this was Tsunade's way of punishing him for demanding a mission. Iruka led him up the stairs of one of the bachelor apartments and unlocked the door.

He stood back and waved Kakashi in first. Toeing off his sandals, Kakashi poised just inside the entryway as Iruka did the same, locking the door behind him.

Iruka kicked off his shoes and brushed past him into the main room of the small but neatly-kept apartment. He sighed, back to Kakashi. "Would you please relax?" He said. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want you to come to the party with me, relax, have a drink or two and have a good time. There will be people you know there. Kotetsu and Izumo, and pretty much all of the jounin that cover advanced classes at the academy. That includes Gai, Asuma, Anko, Raidou, Genma and a few others." His shoulders slumped. "I'm going to see if I have something you can wear. Shower's at the end of the hall; towels, soap and shampoo are in the cabinet."

Kakashi watched as Iruka walked away, more than a little confused. He decided to accept the offer of the shower. After all, it wasn't like Iruka could really do him any harm. Even if he surprised him naked in the shower, Kakashi knew thirty-seven ways to kill a man with his bare hands, fourteen with a bar of soap and eight with a bottle of shampoo. Ten more if he could reach a towel. And if nothing else, he could always teleport himself as far as his apartment. He might be naked and covered in soap bubbles, but he'd live.

He was nearly through cleaning up when he heard the bathroom door open. "I've left some things that might fit you on the bed. You can try them on while I shower and change."

Ten minutes later, Kakashi was standing over the chuunin's bed, staring uncertainly at the clothes laid out on the kunai-patterned comforter. He picked up a jersey-knit sleeveless tank in subtle shades of blue. It had an attached mask and he wondered why Iruka had it. There was a sheer black shirt, a little large in the shoulders, to go over it and dusk-blue pants of some thick, soft material that slid over his calloused fingers almost sensuously.

Kakashi slipped into them and stood in front of the large mirror. The sheer top kept trying to slide down off one shoulder, but what could he expect when it was obviously tailored for Iruka's broader shoulders. He felt the presence behind him and turned, catching a strange look in the Iruka's brown eyes, which had looked too dark for just a second.

"That looks good on you."

Kakashi nodded, looking at the outfit the chuunin had chosen. His silk shirt was a dark red, shimmering a burgundy-wine color where it creased. His pants were a soft dove-gray and clung to his lean legs. "You look nice too." Kakashi managed, wondering why his throat had gone so dry. He was no stranger to the attractions of both sexes, but Iruka looked… good wasn't an adequate word to describe it. He wondered how he'd never noticed before.

Iruka smiled and reached out to adjust his mask a fraction. He reached up and pulled off the hiate'ate Kakashi had put on to cover his Sharingan. "Not shinobi tonight," he murmured softly. "Just people having a good time."

He pulled out a strip of black silk from a box on the nightstand and tied it around Kakashi's head, covering his scarred eyelid. Kakashi couldn't have stopped him if he tried.

Iruka smiled. "Let's go."

They were early, but not by much and not the only ones. Anko, dressed in something slinky and shimmering green (with strategic inserts of sheer fishnet), was seated on a table with a bottle of sake in one hand and a cup in the other, chatting with Kurenai and Izumo. Iruka steered Kakashi over to them. Anko looked up and wolf-whistled as they approached. "Damn, don't you clean up good!"

Kakashi scratched the back of his head sheepishly, wishing rather desperately for his book to hide behind, but Iruka had not given it back to him. Iruka smiled and leaned over to kiss Anko on the cheek. Much to Kakashi's surprise, the rather brash kunoichi blushed bright red and clapped a hand to her cheek as Iruka sauntered off to the refreshment table, returning in short order with a pair of glasses and a bottle of rich plum wine. He tipped some into a glass and passed it to Kakashi.

Anko tipped back her sake and slipped off the table. "Damn, some guys have all the luck."

Iruka stayed close to Kakashi's side all night, keeping the jounin from bolting when a rather smashed Noriko, one of the chuunin-sensei's from the academy, tried to get him to dance. Iruka smiled at her and took Kakashi's arm. "He's here with me." He told her mildly, but even the drunk woman could sense the undercurrent of threat in his tone. She hurried off.

Kakashi looked at the chuunin at his side and noticed that there was a slight flush of color across his scarred nose. How much had Iruka had to drink? Kakashi couldn't remember, but then, he wasn't sure of how many glasses he'd had either. He also wasn't sure why he seemed to have four feet, but as those extra feet were keeping him steady, he wasn't complaining. Iruka sighed and tugged him away from where Noriko was assaulting poor Kotetsu. Kakashi blinked owlishly as the green and red blur in the doorway resolved itself, and then wished he hadn't. Where was a good brainwashing attempt when you needed one?

He leaned over a little too heavily on Iruka's shoulder. "Please tell me I'm not seeing what I think I'm seeing. Please?"

Iruka blinked past him. "Nope. I see it too. I think I need to throw up." He said matter-of-factly. "Santa should not be making out with Anko."

Iruka picked up a bottle of wine and said mournfully. "I think I need to be a lot drunker than I am to deal with that." He raised his voice enough to be heard by the couple. "Gai, Anko; get a room!"

Iruka leaned against a wall, taking a long swig straight out of the bottle and looked up. His generous mouth quirked and he beckoned Kakashi a little closer. "D'you see what I see?"

Kakashi blinked, trying to bring his eye into focus. "Green." He said, pleased that he knew the answer.

Iruka shook his head and reached out to tug Kakashi into a better position for seeing the swag draped around the rafters of the room.

Suddenly Iruka's lips were on his, warm and damp through the thin cloth of the mask.

"It's mistletoe." Iruka breathed softly against his mouth.