Iruka shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked through the long winding corridors of the hospital, looking for the exit. He had taken no notice where he had been taken by the nurses when he arrived screaming and panting in emergency. He had hardly ever been here before.

He sighed openly, stopping to read a sign. His eyes wouldn't focus, his heart was in his throat. He had hurt Kakashi incredibly bad. He had asked him to leave him.

Did I leave him?

He wondered. Neither of them had actually said they were officially over before Tsunade kicked him out. He wanted desperately to barge back in there and demand and answer. But that would do Kakashi no good. He deserved the rest after what Iruka had put him through. He decided to assume they were together until he was officially told otherwise. He didn't care how much the Copy Nin begged. He wasn't about to dump him. They would work through this.

"Iruka Sensei." Came a small voice from over his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

His blood ran cold.

No… no no no… Not here… Kakashi is just down the hall. What if he sees me?!

He silently begged, turning to look in to the beautiful wide eyes of his blonde haired lover. He knew he was visibly gaping, but didn't really have the willpower to stop. He couldn't believe this was happening. It was like a bad dream.

When he didn't respond she moved forward, her arm clasping around his and smiling sweetly.

"When you didn't show up tonight I was worried… I asked one of your friends if they knew where you were and they said someone saw you at the hospital earlier. Village gossip you know… But I got worried so I… came here." She trailed off, stepping back, embarrassed by her zeal.

"I'm fine!" He said a little too loudly. "Who did you talk to?"

"The man from the mission's room. The one with the thing always sticking out of his mouth." She answered innocently, bright eyes shining.

"Genma…" Iruka groaned.

Anyone but fucking Genma…

"Should I not have come here?" She asked dejectedly, taken aback by his reaction.

"No... Well yes. But no…" Iruka faltered. "Listen I need to talk to you. Can we go somewhere?" He asked, wrapping his hand around her forearm and checking the sign again before dragging her towards the exit.

He pulled her outside, his sandals crunching on freshly fallen snow as they walked. They walked for much longer than he intended to. He was thinking hard, trying to find the right words. She was a lovely girl, he didn't want to hurt her.

Ironic… I can't bare the thought of hurting this woman I barely know yet… I so willingly hurt a man that put his unconditional trust in me. I'm going to hell….

"Iruka." She spoke, startling him. Regardless of the fact he was dragging her along he had almost forgotten she was there. She pulled her arm lose and hooked it around his, pulling him towards the first seat they had passed since leaving the hospital at least 10 minutes ago. As they sat she let go of his arm, instead snaking hers around his waist. Iruka gulped audibly and she looked up at him, concerned. "What's going on?" She asked, nerves going crazy in her stomach. Iruka sighed, rubbing his face harshly. He considered lying to her… Telling her he had just gotten some bad news and for that reason needed to be alone for a while. But that wouldn't solve the problem. She seemed like the type of person that would turn up at the apartment he shared with Kakashi, bringing him soup and wanting to be invited in under the pretext of 'making him feel better.' He wondered briefly if she was the type of person to chop a guy's balls off for cheating on her.

Cheating on her… Did I cheat on her? I cheated on Kakashi with her… But… oh my god is she my girlfriend?!

"I have a boyfriend." He blurted out before he could stop himself. She recoiled slightly, gaping at him.

"Boyfriend?" She asked, untangling her arm and resting it in her lap.

"Yes… a boyfriend. A boyfriend that loves me very much. I… I can't do this anymore I'm sorry. I'm sorry for hurting you. I'm sorry for hurting him. This never should have happened." He sobbed, trying to hide his face under his hand. She watched him struggle for a second before leaning in again, wrapping her arms around him.

"We never said this was exclusive." She giggled. She had been worried that he was seeing someone else. He was always coming over at random times and seemed eager to leave as soon as they were finished having sex. He had only slept over once and they had never really had a proper date. She had already assumed the reason why. She really did like Iruka… but if he was taken he was taken. The best she could hope for was continuing the small fling they had been having, biding her time until his partner inevitably found out and dumped him.

She was a sweet girl. But not entirely innocent. She knew what she wanted and she would get it. She had seen the way he had tried to protest that first night when she kissed him, but had ignored it. She wanted him. Not being a Shinobi had never stopped her from living her life the way she wanted in a ninja village.

Iruka looked up at her. Was she serious? She really wasn't mad…

"No... I guess we didn't. But I definitely remember agreeing to be exclusive with my boyfriend…" He said softly.

"Is he mad?" She asked, seeming entirely too impartial to the situation.

"Upset would be the word." He choked out, remembering Kakashi's face as he pretended to watch the snow outside. "He's… very, very upset."

Iruka had a quick flash of Deja Vu as once again she leaned in to kiss him before he could react. He was a Shinobi for God's sake. He should have better reflexes. Or was it that he didn't want to have them?

"No." He said, pushing her away. "No… this is what I should have done the first time. I shouldn't have let it go further than that."

She pulled him back, kissing him slowly this time, sensually. She rubbed the back of her hand along his slowly reddening cheek. He leaned in subconsciously towards the comfort he felt he needed. He felt sick with himself. He didn't deserve comfort, not now. He promised Kakashi he would never see her again but here he was minutes later, making out with her a couple of blocks away from the hospital. But he couldn't help it if she found him at the hospital. He had no plans to seek her out. But then again… he supposed he didn't have to bring her with him either. He could have just broken up with her on the spot and walked away…

He pushed her away again.

"No." He said defiantly. He stood, embarrassed to find his lower half at full attention.

"Well…" She smiled, standing next to him and eyeing his rigid cock through his pants hungrily. "Come and find me when your boyfriend dumps you. I'll be waiting." She winked, blowing him a kiss before walking off towards her apartment.

Iruka sat back down when she was out of sight, resting his head in his hands. The freezing cold air on his underdressed body doing nothing to calm his raging erection.

"I'm going to hell." He whispered to himself, a tear slipping from his eyes.

Yes. You. Are…

Tenzou thought to himself from his perch atop a nearby light post. His eyes flared through his cat mask as he pulled his hands together to form the seals to teleport to the Hokage tower. He needed to take time off and he wanted to request it immediately.

OoOoOoOo

I didn't really lie to him…

Tenzou thought as he averted his eyes. Kakashi was getting dressed. It wasn't polite to stare, no matter how much he wanted to.

Tsunade really had sent him on this mission. He really had been told that if he didn't really care, to stay away because the last thing his friend needed at this moment was fake friends. He had appeared in front of a disgruntled Hokage. He had no idea what had happened to Kakashi. All he knew was that he had seen Iruka leaving the hospital hand in hand with a woman. Curiosity got the better of him and he had followed him, his stomach turning when he saw him kissing her. He had intended to warn the Godaime; knowing that when the Copy Nin found out he would most likely have a break. But it turned out she already knew. She had crumpled under his questioning gaze, the concern for his Sempai written clearly on his face and sworn him to secrecy. Only telling him the absolute basics about the situation without violating doctor patient confidentiality.

She had warned him about Genma, saying she had seen him in emergency as she left Kakashi's room. He was waiting to be attended to and from the smug look on the bleeding man's face, he had definitely seen Iruka earlier.

He requested leave under the pretence of watching over Kakashi's recovery. He knew he wouldn't be denied. The fifth had a weird soft spot for both himself and his Jonin comrade. She would want to make sure he was okay.

Really the only thing he had lied to the Jonin about was the fact that his other friends knew the true story of what happened. They probably all knew Genma's version by now, which was fine because frankly they were all a little bit scared of Kakashi and wouldn't dare bring it up to him.

He felt guilty as he snuck a peak at the silver haired man from his peripheries. His muscular body was toned perfectly and for an elite Jonin he was surprised to see so few angry looking scars. He definitely had scars, everywhere. But they were faded to a perfect hue slightly lighter than his already pale skin tone, making them almost invisible.

"Kakashi…" He started, not sure what he wanted to say. The other looked up at him as he zipped up his flak jacket.

"Yeah?" He answered, pulling his mask in to place.

"Did you want to get something to eat?" He asked lamely, his confidence wavering before he could say what he really wanted. He wanted desperately to explain the whole situation. To tell him he had requested to be by his side because he wanted to protect him. But he couldn't… If he admitted to that then he would have to explain how he had come to find out in the first place and his friend wasn't ready to hear about that. About what he had seen Iruka doing or the fact the Hokage so readily revealed his secret.

The Jonin smiled slightly, his only visible eye crinkling. Tenzou knew him well enough to know that was a smile, even if he couldn't see his mouth.

"Thanks but… I kind of just want to go home." He answered honestly. The ANBU nodded, standing to walk next his friend as they exited the room.

"So…?" Tenzou asked, watching Kakashi closely. "Have you decided where home is yet?"

Kakashi stopped walking, his shoulders slumping as he remembered why he was forced to come here in the first place.

"No…" He said simply, shoving his hands in pockets and continuing at the same pace as before. Tenzou hurried to catch up with him. They had reached the exit before he decided what it was he really wanted to say.

"Ok… well I'm just throwing it out there but you know you're always welcome at my place." He said, placing a hand on the other's shoulder and squeezing once like he had earlier. He smiled kindly before removing it and turning abruptly to walk in the other direction. "Cya." He called over his shoulder. He wanted to get out of there before he could be turned down. If Kakashi happened to turn up later then so be it. If he didn't well… He supposed the gesture could have been overlooked as a hollow offer thrown out by a friend in a time of need.

Like when someone dies and you say 'If there's anything I can do.'

He thought to himself as he rounded a corner. To his surprise he felt a hand on his own shoulder. He turned to look in to Kakashi's sad eye. He had obviously had to jog to catch up to him.

"Can I…?" He trailed off, wanting desperately for his friend to reiterate how welcome he was, but terrified he was going to reject him.

"Of course you can." Tenzou smiled, his heart fluttering. "You're always welcome at my place."