12. Coral (Kakairu... all one-sided and fluffy)
Kakashi liked the ocean. It held so many wonders, large and small. They all depended on exact temperatures and amounts of light, but their environment was always changing. If there was even the slightest wrong change, everything would be destroyed. Sometimes the complexity of it caught him off guard. It truly was amazing.
This complexity of life and environment was often the same for humans, maybe not physically, but mentally and metaphorically. Many things can throw people off of their norm and destroy the lives that they have so carefully built up around themselves. One nudge in the wrong direction and an entire nation could be wiped away.
The aquarium around him was filled with exact replicas of the ocean, one glass box for each of the species. It was a little over dramatic in a way that would inspire the children whose noses were pressed against three-inch thick glass. But that brought an almost more touching feel to the whole room.
On the far side of the building, past the small sharks and the fish that glowed in the dark, Kakashi could see Iruka staring intently at a single tank. Kakashi slowly made his way over to the other teacher, stopping for a quick inspection of the glowing fish along the way.
Iruka looked up at Kakashi as he approached and smiled, looking back at the glass. "I like the seahorses," he stated, crossing his arms over his chest.
Leaning over closer to the glass, Kakashi scrutinized the little brown sea creatures almost jokingly. "I don't see what makes them so much cooler than those fish that glow."
A laugh escaped Iruka. "Kakashi-sensei, you look like one of the children, and you don't sound that much different either."
Kakashi glanced back at Iruka and stood back up, smiling. "You're right about the sea horses. Anything with an exoskeleton is cool," he said, the smile on his lips growing.
"Oh, get over yourself!" Iruka said, playfully shoving Kakashi. "I like them because they're so small yet, extremely complex. I mean, look at how they can hold onto the sea grass like that!"
"Well, those little, jellyfish back there are small, complex, and glowy."
Iruka laughed again, shaking his head in defeat. "Fine. At least I know what your favorite thing here is."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Do you?"
"It's not the glowing jellyfish?"
"Of course not!" Kakashi said, trying to sound offended.
"Then what is it?"
The copy-nin thought for a few minutes before pointing a finger at the aquarium in front of them. "That."
"The seahorses? Did their exoskeletons get you?" Iruka asked in disbelief.
Kakashi sighed. "No, not the seahorses. The coral. It has got to be the most complex organism here. So many all in one, growing to be a large, beautifully ornate mass, and yet still so fragile. One touch from a human finger and half of that piece would be dead instantaneously."
Iruka stared at Kakashi for a moment before bursting out laughing. "That was a whole lot deeper than I thought your answer would be," he said, still giggling.
For a second Kakashi contemplated leaning over and kissing Iruka. He reached out and placed a hand on the other teacher's shoulder, inclining his head slightly. But he could not. This moment was too precious. It was like the coral: one wrong touch and it would crumble. Kakashi leaned back, pulling his hand away and smiling slightly.
"I have my moments," he said instead.
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Whoa!! I just wrote that! Sorry if any of my information on fish/coral/seahorses/ocean was wrong, I was just pulling out information I thought I remembered from a marine biology class-type-thing I took in February. .. I love Kakashi and Iruka.