Chapter Two
Electric
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Iruka avoided as many people as he could as he made his way back to his apartment. Those he couldn't avoid either called out to him or gave him a wide berth. He ignored them and quickly escaped, not wanting to explain why he had lost his cool. He was still fuming over that pervert watching him. What the hell was he thinking anyway? Oh, Iruka had a good idea what he had been thinking about, he just didn't want to think about it. It wasn't that he was uptight about sex, it was just to have the village's biggest pervert, outside of Jiraiya, thinking those thoughts about him...
During his walk back to his place it had started to rain. Just great! Perfect end to the perfect day! Growling, Iruka slammed into his small apartment, glad that it had waited until he was nearly home before starting to rain. Tossing his vest onto the nearby couch, he flipped his radio on. Classical music floated from the speakers, doing nothing to soothe his frazzled nerves. He tuned the old radio to a local station that played something heavier. He didn't normally listen to the hard hitting rock the station played, but today it suited his mood.
Nodding, Iruka went to the kitchen and opened his fridge. Very little was inside, but there was an old container of ramen. Pulling it out, he opened the box and sniffed. Yech! He was lucky it hadn't started to move around on it's own. Tossing the offfending box into the trash, he dug around again, finding an apple, an orange, a half block of sharp cheddar, and a nearly full bottle of white wine. Good. Now all he needed were some butter crackers and he could have a nice, if spare, meal.
After finishing off the last of the cheese, Iruka grabbed the still full bottle and glass. It was time for a nice relaxing bath. He switched the radio back to the classical station and turned it up. Sipping some of the wine, Iruak prepared his bath. Feeling the need to pamper himself, he reached under the sink, pulling a small bottle of oil out. Taking the stopper out, he sniffed. Lemon and basil. Perfectly mixed to soothe frayed nerves for which had precious little of. He tipped the bottle and measured out six drops. Hot water and fragrant oil soon had the small bathroom steaming and smelling nice. Iruka quickly stripped his clothes and stepped into the bath, making sure the wine was within easy reach. As he sank down, he remembered to pull his ponytail down. His dark brown hair fell around his face and shoulders, easing the headache he'd had nearly all day somewhat.
Sighing, he lay his head back and sipped from the glass again. Today had been shit and it was just going to get worse. He just knew it. Naruto hadn't been by and that could only mean he wasn't back from his recent mission. Thank Kami-sama for small favors. But he knew as soon as he did come back, there was going to be hell to pay. The boy would blast him with questions and he just wasn't up to that just yet. Grimacing, Iruka turned his head to the side to stare out the small upper window. He prayed to whatever god was listening that Naruto would be gone for a little more time. He just couldn't handle him right now.
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Kakashi hadn't been at the monument long before it started to rain on him. He glared up at the heaven's, cursing the gods. Now he would have to take a bath and wash his clothes. He could already smell wet dog. He finished his prayers and slung his drooping hair out of his face. He thought back on his visit to the Godaime, blaming his irritation on her.
He had been at Sakura's house trying to talk to her about a new healing jitsu he had picked up, while trying not to be irritated at her hovering mother. Showing her the seals, there had been a knock at the door. With the harried woman out of his hair, he told Sakura how he had come by it while shadowing one of the Stone nins on his last mission. A moment later, Izumo appeared in the livingroom. He had smiled and motioned for Kakashi to follow him. Telling Sakura that he would give her another jitsu later, he went with Izumo.
"The Hokage would like to see you, Kakashi-sensei," the Special Jounin said as soon as they left the house.
"A mission?" he asked, going into his 'I don't really care' slouch.
Izumo smiled. "I don't really know. Shizuno-san asked me to find you."
"Thanks," Kakashi had said, then transported into the Hokage's office.
She was sitting behind her desk, nearly hidden behind the paper and scrolls piled around. All he could see was the top of her platinum head and the occasional grumble.
"When are you going to learn to knock, Hatake?" she spit out, tossing a scroll onto a slowly growing pile.
"You asked for me, Hokage-sama?" his visible eye crinkling with mirth.
She looked up at him and frowned. "Yes, Kakashi. I want you to take a vacation."
Kakashi had slouched into a 'Interested, but I could care less' stance. "Vacation? Why?" He put his hands into his pockets.
She looked pissed about something as she slashed across a scroll. She glared at him and made another mark. "I've known about your little adventures since your group was scattered. Shadowing other nins. Following Naruto and making sure he doesn't do anything stupid." She set aside the scroll and picked up another one. "Since you aren't ANBU anymore, there isn't anything for you to do. I don't have any missions that would require your talents and you haven't had a break in quite some time. So, your mission is to relax. Go have fun. Find someone to sleep with. Just stop following my nins!"
Kakashi had slowly come to attention as she went on. How the hell did she know about his shadowing? He couldn't think of anything that he had done to show his presence. Relax? He was a fucking paranoid nin. He couldn't relax, there was no such thing to him. He'd been on countless missions, killed, been nearly killed, and was always being attacked. He didn't know the meaning of the word. He cocked his eyebrow.
"Anything else, Hokage-sama?" he asked in a bored voice. What the hell was he going to do until she gave him something to do?
If a look could kill, and with Tsunade it probably could, he would have been dead. "Just stay the hell away from anything that resembles a mission, Hatake. I'll know and you don't want me angry. Now get the hell out of my office before I decide to make you help me."
And that led him back to his miserable situation. He didn't have anything to keep him busy. He couldn't track the Genins anymore, couldn't shadow his fellow Jounin, or follow Naruto to make sure he didn't kill himself. What was he going to do? He'd read every single one of the Paradise novels, at least the ones that were out. He wondered how far Jiraiya was on the next one. But he couldn't even bug his old sensei! He still hadn't returned from his mission.
Kakashi sighed and made his way back to his cramped apartment. He sniffed himself again and winced. He really should make the dogs sleep on the floor instead of in his bed. He was starting to smell like them. That thought reminded him of taking a hot shower when he got home. Did he have any clean clothes? Or towels, for that matter. Actually, when was the last time he had done the laundry? He couldn't remember. He was loathe to ask Gai for a towel. He could just see the man posing and going on about Kakashi's cleaning habits. This from a man that hardly ever cleaned his own apartment. Kakashi tried not to get sick from remembering the smell coming from Gai's apartment the last time he had dared enter the place.
"Hatake Kakashi! I challenge you to a duel, my long time rival!" a dreaded voice called out from a nearby alley.
Just thinking of Gai seemed to make him materialize. "Did you say something, Gai-sensei?"
Gai stomped from the alley with a hurt expression. "That is so modern! And Kakashi-sensei makes it so great sounding!"
Kakashi rolled his eye. "What is it this time, Gai?"
Gai straightened up and posed. "I challenge you to a game of RoShamBo. And if I lose, I will do 5000 push-ups."
Kakashi snorted. "You...never mind. Ready?" It was pointless to even try with Gai. He held out his fist and pumped it up and down five times, waiting for Gai to do the same. "Go!"
They held their hands out.
Gai started to weep. "Paper! I was beat with paper! Kakashi-sensei is a genius! How did you know that I would change my never changing paper to rock?"
Kakashi shrugged. "Lucky guess?"
"I should never underestimate the great Hatake Kakashi! Until our next meeting, worthy rival," Gai exclaimed as he faded back into the alley.
Kakashi groaned. Why him? He came back to his senses. Damn it! He forgot to ask Gai for a towel. He could ask Asuma or Kurenai, but he remembered that they were off doing missions. Damn! He only knew one other person and he dreaded to even think of asking him. Of course, it would be good to see him again. He couldn't get the image of his hard little body out of his head. It was all Iruka's fault for being so damn sexy and teacherly. Shit, he really needed a towel and he was the only other person in the village that he knew. Sighing, he detoured three blocks to Iruka's apartment building.
Upon reaching his destination, he was greeted by the manager. He didn't know if Iruka was home or not, but he gave Kakashi Iruka's apartment number. Thanking the man, Kakashi headed down the little porticio. He knocked a couple of times, but no one came to the door. He could hear music playing inside, so Iruka was home. Where the hell was he? Kakashi became irritated and jumped to the roof. He crept across, locating Iruka's livingroom window. No one there. He went to the next, the bedroom. Nope. That left the bathroom. He grinned evilly behind his mask and swung down onto the sash. Lucky for him the window was open and he could see everything inside.
He jerked back into shadows when Iruka turned toward the window. Damn it all to hell! The man was gorgeous! He really should leave his hair down. It made him look all the more yummy. Kakashi caught a whiff of something on the wind, something that made him melt. Lemons and basil? Was that coming from Iruka's bath? Kakashi peeked in again.
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Sitting up, Iruka poured that last of the wine into his glass and downed it. His head was a little fuzzy and the water was getting cold. Setting the glass down, he quickly washed his hair and body. While the water was draining, he dried himself off and wrapped the towel around his waist. Grabbing the blowdryer, he started to dry his hair. That is until he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. Whirling around, he nearly screamed when he saw who it was.
"What the fuck are you doing here, Kakashi?" Iruka ground out, to upset to be embarrassed.
"Yo, Iruka-san." Kakashi stepped into the bathroom, dripping water onto the floor.
"Again, what are you doing here? Wasn't day-dreaming about me earlier today enough?" Iruka blushed at the last, finally coming back to his senses. He was berating Kakashi in a towel for God sakes. Iruka noticed that the blow dryer was still on. He grinned to himself. He couldn't, could he?
"Well, about why I'm here," Kakashi laughed self-conciously. "You see, I haven't had time to do my laundry and I was wondering if I could borrow a towel and a pair of pants and shirt. So-"
Whatever else Kakashi was about to say was abruptly cut off as an electric sizzle filled the air. The lights flickered a few times. Kakashi yelped in pain and was blown out the window. Iruka wrapped his hand in a towel and quickly ripped the blowdryer from the wall. He'd have to buy a new one, but it was worth seeing the look of horror in that maniac's eye as he was flying out the window. That would teach him to come sneaking into his bathroom again. He looked into the mirror.
"Chuunin 2, Jounin 0."
Iruka turned a bright red. Just how long was that bastard standing there before I noticed him? Iruka groaned and banged his head against the wall. Why did he always think of these things after they happened? He banged his head on the wall a couple of more times, making the headache that had gone away come back. Holding back a sob, Iruka brushed his damp hair and then his teeth. He just wanted to sleep. Turning out the lights, Iruka ripped the towel off his hips and let it slip to the floor as he crawled into his warm bed.
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A/N: Arigato to everyone that's read so far. And many, many thanks to those that have reviewed. Hopefully, this fic won't waste away and should be only a dozen or so chapters. Maybe. But, there will be others in this series. Yes, I said series. I've planned out at least two other fics for these two and maybe one or two other fics based around Naruto and Hinata, Lee and Gaara, and possibly one around Neji and Kiba. Though I'm not sure about that last pair. Would be interesting to see where it went. Let me kow which ones you would like to read about. There is also a song-fic I'm adding to my Kaka-Iru series. I'm saving it for last or next to last. But you won't know what song, cause I ain't tellin':-b
Enjoy your future readings!