Title: The Three Students
Prompt: Shopping Rush
Author: Kita
Rating: PG

Iruka scowled at him. "Come on."

He pointed the jounin toward an outdoor display. Kakashi stared warily at the crowds and lagged back, until Iruka took his arm and tugged him along. "Iruka-sensei…"

"They don't bite." Iruka chuckled.

"Are you sure about that?" Kakashi dodged a frowning matron, who looked like she might eat anyone who got in her way.

"Yes." Iruka smiled up at him and Kakashi relented, following the tugs on his arm. "You might get elbowed, shoved, mauled, and/or otherwise mutilated, but I've never been bitten."

Kakashi cast him a look of horror, which only prompted Iruka to laugh. Kakashi growled under his breath as Iruka pointed toward a vendor and made his way through the jostling crowds.

"How about this?" Iruka held up a pottery ramen bowl, glazed in shades of red.

Kakashi shook his head. "Too red." He scowled down at the choices until something caught his eye. It was the same shade of obnoxious orange that Naruto favored. There was a pattern of bright green frogs painted on the rim. He picked it up and held it up for Iruka to see.

The smile Iruka gave him was dazzling and Kakashi caught his breath. "Good choice. See, you do know more about your students than you thought you did. That's perfect for Naruto." He hunted a little among the sets of chopsticks until he came up with a pair that had painted frogs along the top, and handed them to Kakashi. "How about these, too?"

Kakashi nodded and paid the smiling woman running the stall. She deftly boxed both of his purchases and put them in a bag for him, which he numbly accepted. Iruka took his arm again. "I have wrapping paper at my place. You can wrap them there. Now, that shop down there has some very nice bath stuff. Do you want to look at that or were you going to go with a ticket to the hot springs?"

Kakashi frowned, looking down. He mumbled under his breath, until a sharp elbow dug into his side. "You are not one of my students, so I can't exactly yell at you to stop mumbling, but it makes you hard to hear in this crowd. Now what did you say?"

"The ticket…" Kakashi said quietly. Anything to get out of this crush all the faster.

Iruka nodded. "We can pick that up tomorrow since it's on the other side of the village. Now, what about Sasuke?"

Kakashi shrugged. "It's hard to tell what he wants, beside vengeance. He doesn't show much emotion."

"Sounds like other people I know." Iruka added tartly, giving him a sideways glance. Before Kakashi could protest, he held up a hand. "I'll help you out on this one. He likes to read. When he was in my class he read anything he could get his hands on."

Kakashi knew there was a bookstore nearby and pointed toward it. Iruka snorted under his breath. "Somehow, I'm not surprise that you know where the nearest bookstore is. But you're not getting him anything that's in any way related to your favorite choice of reading material."

Kakashi grinned sheepishly and followed Iruka down the aisles of the bookstore. He expected him to head for where the books on tactics and weaponry or maybe history were, but instead Iruka led him down to where some more popular authors were. He pulled a thick hardcover off one of the upper shelves. The leather binding looked rather dull, but when he flipped it open he was surprised to see the lush illustrations inside and the text he skimmed seemed very out of character for the boy he knew.

He looked uncertainly at Iruka.

Iruka's smile was wistful as he ran his fingers along one of the edges. "Christmas is a time for happiness. He hasn't had much in his life, but I know he's got a weakness for stories that end like fairy tales, with a happily ever after… but he'll never admit it out loud. This one is a good choice. The title doesn't give away what it is and it looks dull enough that Naruto won't bother to tease him about it, but the story on the inside…" Iruka nodded and reached over to gently close the book. "It's a good choice for him."

Kakashi was startled by the insight into his student. He followed Iruka back to the register and paid for the book. The old man behind the counter smiled at them both and offered to put the book in a gift box. Iruka grinned back and elbowed Kakashi again.

"Yes, please."

The old man wrapped the book in tissue paper and nestled it in a solid box. Kakashi paid and they made their way out of the store. Iruka smiled at him. "Let me pick up some groceries and we'll get some dinner. Do you want to eat out or go back to my place to wrap these?"

Kakashi swallowed at the hungry look in Iruka's brown eyes. It was pretty clear he wasn't thinking about food. "Uh…"