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An Entanglement of Odds
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Pairing: Kakashi x Iruka
(Hints of Lee x Sakura, Naruto x Sasuke, Hinata x Kiba, Ino x Shikamaru, Neji x Ten-ten)
Warning: Shounen ai
Summary: They were just two people who happened to be at the same place at the same time. They were simply two strangers who fell in love with each other, although neither would ever admit it. Then one day, fate tore them apart… IruKaka
Inspired by: a really sappy soap opera my parents watch and the plot bunny (it bit me really hard this time)
Please forgive my bad usages of Japanese terms; I don't speak the language so I have almost no idea how to use them.
Disclaimer: Naruto and anything related does not belong to me. Don't sue.
"talking" 'thinking'
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The Plan and the Dark
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(1 week later)
Iruka was woken by the booming sound of thunder. He opened his eyes and saw only darkness. Iruka felt around his sleeping bag and found the alarm clock. It didn't show the time in the usual red letters and instead, it was blank. Everything was so dark; the only light came from the lightning flashing outside. Heavy rain pounded on the glass panels of the windows.
Iruka pushed the covers of the sleeping bag off and shuffled towards where he hoped was the light switch. He tripped over the added furniture; chairs, a small table lamp on the floor, and after a while his hand came to rest on the switch. 'Nothing,' Iruka thought,' the power must be out.'
With a heavy sigh, he made his way back to the sleeping bag. He snuggled deep within the covers, burying his nose into the pleasantly musty smelling blanket. He missed Kakashi's t-shirt and sweat pants because now the sweet scent was far weaker. After the first few nights, Iruka finally realized the smell he liked so much belonged to Kakashi. The brown haired man still blushes faintly when he finds himself breathing in the scent at night.
Iruka tried to go back to sleep, but the thunder was loud and the rain shook the windows violently. Wordlessly, Iruka got up and slipped into his robe. He knew he would not be able to sleep tonight.
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(Iruka)
Kakashi was sitting at the kitchen table when Iruka walked in, half asleep. Lightning flashed as Iruka startled before realizing it was only his host. The brown haired man apologized and rubbed his scar nervously. He blushed and avoided Kakashi's gaze. He quickly glanced up, unable to help himself. Kakashi sat before him, shirtless and wearing only a pair of loose pants, his milky white skin seemed to glow angelically in the dim light. His silver hair flashed every time the lightning appeared and his visible eye was no longer black, but steel coloured. Kakashi was still wearing his black mask and bandana, which only made him seem more mysterious. Iruka was thankful for the power out; he did not want the other man to see him as red as a tomato.
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(Kakashi)
He knew his guest was staring at him, whether in amazement or something else he didn't know. But Kakashi was taking full opportunity of the chance and spent a few blessed moments gazing at Iruka.
Every time the lightning flashed, the brown haired man's soft eyes glowed and the scar on his nose darkened. His golden brown skin was like bronze in the dim lighting and Kakashi could not help but notice how nice the younger man looked with his chestnut hair down.
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"What are you doing up do early?" Iruka asked, sitting down on the opposite side of the silver haired man.
"The storm woke me," Kakashi answered, slouching in his usual relaxed way.
"Oh, I see…" Iruka smiled faintly to himself. Kakashi watched him with an intense stone coloured eye.
Then thunder sounded, clashing with a loud boom. Iruka-sensei's hand grabbed the closet thing next to him: Kakashi's arm. Then both men turned to look and their eyes locked. Iruka found Kakashi's grey eye boring into his and started to blush again. He quickly released his grip on Kakashi's arm and folded his hands nervously before him on the table. The blush on his cinnamon coloured face had increased to a dark crimson. He was just thinking of the firm, muscular feeling of bare flesh against his palm when he felt something smooth brush by his hands. A pair of pale hands enveloped his folded ones.
The calloused palm warmed his hands and stayed there for some time. Iruka-sensei made no attempt to free his hands, although he tensed and sat stiffly in his chair. Kakashi felt his and withdrew his hands to scratch the back of his head.
"Afraid of the thunder, Umino-san?" He teased.
Iruka's head shot up as mock fury filled his face. Kakashi's eye was curved into a beautiful crescent and Iruka knew he was being baited. And so, deciding to play along he smiled as slyly as he could and gazed up at the silver haired man. But, just then his stomach decided that it wanted to join the conversation. Iruka's act was ruined as his stomach growled with hunger and he felt his face heating.
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Gai sat outside of the apartment window, perched on a tree branch. He carried a camouflage umbrella and a pair of binoculars. The rain pelted hard on him but Gai stayed. Even when he started to develop a sniffle and his green jumpsuit started to stick to his skin; drenched with water. He wiped a few tears from his eyes (are they rain droplets? He wasn't sure); his plan was almost too romantic.
Gai had made sure it was going to be a stormy and dark day before putting his pan to action. Lee had come to help him cut the electricity in the apartment but had a date with his girlfriend, Sakura Haruno. So Lee had left as soon as his part of the plan was done. It brought another wave of fresh tears to Gai's eyes. The thought of his student with the beautiful pink haired girl touched him. It moved Gai to tears knowing Lee is enjoying the spring time of his youth to the full extent. Gai sobbed to his arm, overwhelmed with happiness. Now if only he can help Kakashi do the same thing…
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The delicious smell of cooked ramen floated around the room. Iruka is sitting cross-legged on the floor while watching Kakashi squat near the cooking pot. The water boiled noisily inside the pot as Kakashi stared at it with an intense eye. Iruka was amazed that Kakashi possessed chakra. He sat in silence, watching a light blue flame shooting out of the silver haired man's palm to heat the water inside the pot. Iruka's grandfather had told him of the ancient power of chakra that everyone had inside of themselves. But few could harness and control this power in this century.
Kakashi had suggested eating something after the awkward moment. "To calm your nerves, Umino-san," he had teased, still refusing to forget about the way Iruka had grabbed hold of his arm when the thunder sounded.
Iruka had stuttered something about Naruto's ramen, his beet red face showing his embarrassment at the tease. Kakashi merely "smiled". Iruka had wondered if a curved eye could count as a smirk.
Something warm was held out to him and Iruka blinked at it before realizing the object was a steaming bowl of noodle. He took hold of the bowl with both hands, enjoying the warmth of the soup on his cold palms before placing it on the floor in front of him. He accepted the pair of chopsticks offered with a small thank-you and waited to hear a slurp from Kakashi before starting to eat.
Iruka almost choked on the first bite of his noodle. 'Trust Naruto to pack extra spicy ramen,' Iruka thought, grimacing. He noticed Kakashi's raise eyebrow and gulped down the rest of the noodles forcefully before taking another painful bite. He could feel his face heating up, thanks to the very spicy taste of the noodles.
His tongue burned inside his mouth as his brain screamed for cold water. Iruka was so occupied with the scorching feeling in his mouth that he almost didn't noticed Kakashi staring at him before a small laugh rose into the air.
Iruka, slightly irritated huffed at Kakashi, "What?"
The laugh turned into a chuckle when Iruka glared angrily at the silver haired man. Iruka, though he kept glaring, found it hard to stay mad at Kakashi when his visible eye curved into that cute crescent. 'Cute?' Iruka mentally panicked, unsure of how he felt. Iruka knew he had feelings towards the silver haired man. Whether they were feelings of affection or a crush, Iruka wasn't sure. But it would never work. Hatake-san would never be interested in him. For one that he was a male…
"You just looked so adorable with your flushed face." The comment caught Iruka-sensei off guard. Never mind how the silver haired man could tell his face was flushed in the dark but the man had just said he was adorable. Iruka's mouth dropped open as Kakashi stared at his bowl of ramen, as if it had suddenly caught his attention. Kakashi didn't know how much the comment had cheered Iruka's somewhat gloomy mood. 'Maybe there is a chance after all...'
Iruka started dazedly down at his own bowl of ramen before realizing that while eating Kakashi would have to take off his mask. Iruka's eyes widened with surprise. It was difficult to not be curious of what lay behind the jet black mask. He had never seen Kakashi without the mask and even though Iruka respected the man's privacy it was too hard not to resist risking a peek.
Iruka lifted the bowl to his mouth and while sipping the hot soup he watched Kakashi's mask very carefully. There was a flash of moment and Iruka saw a pale chin and a beautiful mouth before it was covered by the mask again. It happened so fast that Iruka wasn't sure of what exactly he saw. Then a stone coloured orb was boring into his wide chestnut ones. Iruka found himself stammering and he murmured a "Gomen", extremely ashamed of what he had tried to do.
Iruka caught a glance of Kakashi's eye before he shifted his gaze to the floor. The grey eye seemed no longer lazy and bored. It was blank now and completely unreadable. Somehow, Iruka knew he had disappointed Kakashi and had been close to losing the silver haired man's trust.
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Outside Maito Gai was needles to say, very disappointed. Almost nothing went on all morning. No confessions of undying love or sweet kisses in the dark (which would have been the prefect thing to do with the "power-out"). But Gai was not discouraged; he had determination, if not patience. He vowed to make sure the next plan would be even more disgustingly sweeter than this one. Gai flashed his trademark thumbs up and disappeared in a poof of smoke. A small star of light was left when his teeth pinged in the morning sun.
- - - (a/n: this part really has no part in the story. I added it in for fun )
On the sidewalk of Beijing, where you are always watched by someone, a lady fainted petrified of the sight she just saw. It looked like a green beast wearing a too tight jumpsuit that disappeared after it flashed a ridiculous pose.
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Review responses:
Kyo's only 1 – I'm only glad that I know someone is reading my story. Thank-you for the review!
snow887 – Thanks for the review! I'm happy to know that you like the blushing Iruka. I'm thinking about writing less about nervous Kakashi though, because it doesn't seem to fit with his character. (Sorry if I'm disappointing you XP)
Kyudo – Yay! Someone else who thinks blushing Iruka is cute! XD I was hoping to bring out the cuteness. Thanks for the comments!
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I had first written this chapter down on paper, but it took forever for me to actually type it up. So I apologize for my late update.
I am still working on chapter four. There's going to be a lot more action in the next chapter. But my thoughts are all scrambled so it might take it while for me to work out the plot.
I'm trying out the "less thoughts, more action" since my friend said my chapters were a bit boring. (XP)
(Slight spoiler: Iruka and Kakashi are going to a cultural festival, curtsy of Gai, next chapter) Any suggestions are welcome! Message me or include suggestion in your review.
Horologii