CHAPTER TWO

Kakashi's fist hit the desk, almost breaking it in two.

"I can't believe it… This shitty brat! I'll rip his balls off…"

Kakashi was always emotionless, cool and colleted so this little undignified tantrum was taking place behind the closed door of his office.

He analyzed the information he had obtained and immediately tried to use it before Iruka would. Then he realized that he's been tricked.

By this little BRAT!

He seemed to be such a cute young man. Kakashi would never even think that this little piece of shit could pull this kind of prank on him…

It's been two days since their first encounter. Kakashi seriously couldn't wait to use his pictures to show the Abwehr-brat that he was faster and better and everything else and then… FUCK! He tried to calm down but he couldn't. He just couldn't stop thinking about this guy. He was sitting in his office plotting revenge. He could do billion things to simply get rid of the guy but somehow he didn't really want to. He wanted to play with him. He wanted to play the game. He wanted to see that startled face covered with blush, and those hyge brown eyes as they filled with realisation that Kakashi bested him in the end. It was so amusing! This feisty brat was really interesting when he was losing his temper. Kakashi would love to put him in place.

Iruka knew that his trick was successful and he was beginning to worry. There was no way that this one-eyed freak would leave it like that. He would surely try to get his revenge. Iruka had a really bad feeling about this. Down in the archive he started to look through the files of Colonel Hatake and it only increased his worries. This guy was a natural born genius. The more Iruka read the more he was interested in that man. When he had finished he was seriously disappointed that there's nothing more. He wanted to know more about this amazing guy. He wanted to know everything. When he realized that he had spent the whole day in the archive he felt weird. It was unsettling that this silver haired man seemed to be a kind of person Iruka could actually admire and respect. He was someone to be afraid of. Iruka was afraid but still, somewhere deep inside of him, he was hoping that it's not the end yet.

Little did he know, it was just the beginning…

First strike came in the shape of a general inspection. That was something Iruka did not expect. Fifteen people from Gestapo came in the morning and they were checking every piece of paper in every room of the HQ.

Kakashi was sitting in his office with his boots on his desk and he was trying to imagine Iruka's angry face. Yes it was amusing but only for a moment. He didn't want to imagine things. He could be satisfied only if he could actually see it! He wanted to see this angry little creature with a weird scar on his face. He wanted to tease him personally and watch him squirm. He jumped out of his chair and ran outside the building.

"Kakashi! What happened? Where are you running?" He halted immediately cursing his annoying collegue.

"Genma… I…I just… I wasn't running." The other man chewed on an everpresent toothpick in his moouth and frowned.

"Did you just stutter?"

"No I didn't!"

"Yes you did."

"No, Genma, I did not."

"Yes you did. And you were running. And you are hiding something."

"What is this? Interrogation?"

"Yes. Tell me where were you running?"

"Nowhere!"

"Nowhere? It's so obvious that you are hiding something big! You made me really curious now. Tell me."

"I wasn't running. I was going to… have lunch and I was in a hurry 'cause… I'm hungry."

"Right… And I'm a Pope! What are you hiding?"

"Just my eye…"

"You were running. You are too lazy to even walk! You only sit and read your stupid book. And now you were running somewhere! You were going to see someone!"

Kakashi's blush was uncontrollable and absurd.

"And now you are blushing! I can't believe that! You've met someone!"

"N-NO! It's NOT THAT!"

"Oh it's so cute! Hey! Asuma! Listen to this!"

Genma ran to the bearded man in a short leather flying jacket to tell him the news. Kakashi was shocked with everything that has just happened. Why Genma said that? And why was he blushing? Now if Genma knew everybody will know! Wait! Genma doesn't KNOW anything. He made it all up. But others will believe him. They will all think that Kakashi's in love… Fantastic...

Kakashi turned around and hightailed back into his office. He couldn't face Umino after this conversation. That damn brat caused him nothing but more and more problems! It was like a revenge for the inspection. Another point for Iruka. Kakashi asked for Iruka's files and made his people print him Iruka's picture. The photograph was big enough to cover a dartboard in his office so, Kakashi took the dagger which was dangling by his belt and aimed. He threw it but the dagger missed Iruka's face by whole few inches, embedding itself in the beautiful antique wood of his furniture. Kakashi missed seven times in a row.

He pulled the dagger out once again and looked at te tanned face from up close. How could he ever mistake Umino for a woman? Iruka wasn't feminine at all. This scar and those eyes… Kakashi raised his hand and very slowly he traced Iruka's scar with his index finger. He felt blood rush to his cheeks and quickly sat back behind his desk wondering if he should ever see this guy again.

Iruka was infuriated. After the inspection everything was in a total and complete mess. Izumo and Kotetsu were great helpers but the damage done by fifteen people in twenty-four hours meant at least a week of hard work to fix it. As if it was not enough, it stopped raining. Iruka wanted to go out but there was no chance for that any time soon.

It was the third day of their 'cleaning'. Iruka was dead tired. He was sorting the papers continuesly for three days and three nights and there wasn't even one second during that time when he wouldn't be thinking of the one-eyed devil who was the cause of all this. In the morning he went home to have a bath and change into a clean uniform. It improved his mood, even if just slightly. Back in his office he took of his tunic and rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt, staying in his breeches with braces and long officer boots. He bent over the box of files, grabbed it and just as he was about to lift it, he felt a light tapping on his butt. An unmanly squeak escaped his mouth and he dropped the box, straightening up, flustered and awkward. He inhaled a lot of air and turned around ready to give the joker a piece of his mind.

Kakashi looked the same as in the day he had met him but this time his hat was on his head and in his hands was a black horsewhip. Iruka couldn't believe his eyes. Kakashi was really there, but why? Iruka's bad feeling intensyfied.

"Attention soldier!"

Iruka stood at attention, with his heart ready to jump out of his chest. Was he really that scared?

Kakashi loved that! The Dolphin was flustered or maybe even scared! And this blush around his scar was a priceless view! Now he was going to have some fun! He stepped closer to Iruka, very close actually. He lowered his head to Iruka's face and was openly looking at his scar. Iruka raised his confused eyes to Kakashi's face and gulped. The man was a total asshole but it was hard to dey that he was incredibly handsome. This thought sent a shiver through the Major's body. Nice smell of Kakashi's aftershave hit his nostrils and his blush deepened. This tall man standing in front of him was strong, powerful and amazing. He was the Übermensch, a living definition of the overman.

"So, Major Umino, did you enjoy the inspection?"

It's true that Kakashi was mesmerizing but he also was able to overshadow the impression he had made with one simple sentence. Iruka was fighting the urge to slap his face, because it would be the sad end of his military career (or life) but maybe it was worth it…

"Oh yes, I loved it! In a month or two we may be able to finish cleaning the mess that your people had made."

"Do I sense irony in your voice, Major?"

"I'm sorry, Colonel, but I have no idea what you can possibly sense in my voice."

"Feisty again? I like that."

Iruka glared at Kakashi with clear hatred. Kakashi liked this evil glint in his eyes and gave him a broad smile in answer. The smile dropped instantly after Iruka's next words.

"Yes, I've heard that you like me so much that you even keep the picture of me in your office."

Kakashi couldn't believe his ears. Who the hell told him!? How did he know? Kakashi was feeling guilty, like this picture was there really for other reasons than just to be the target for his darts. And it pissed him off beyond belief that Iruka knew! He grabbed the shorter man's shirt and pushed him up against the wall. Iruka wasn't scared. There was even something pleasantly exciting in this situation. He wanted to provoke Kakashi even more, to make him do… something… anything… (or EVERYTHING) just to get his attention; to drag him closer.

Kakashi pressed Iruka harder to the wall and moved his face once again very close to the tanned one in front of him. This.. thing... it was dangerous. Kakashi couldn't control his actions. He has been thinking about this encounter for the last few days and now he was like a time bomb ready to explode. it's just tgat he had no idea what was he trying to keep inside. But he knew that he was holding SOMETHING and that he was very close to releasing it when Iruka was around. He didn't know what was going on but it was dangerous and he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to avoid the upcoming catastrophe. It was so strange. He couldn't do anything about it. He knew that no matter what, he just won't stop at anything. Something was pushing him to do… something. It was this glint in Iruka's eyes. It was provoking. It was like a magnet. It grabbed Kakashi's insides and it was pulling them painfully out and toward this cute tanned man with a scar on his face.

Kakashi felt nuseous. He couldn't think about any possible moves or options. He didn't wonder how to escape the doom. It would be pointless like trying to run from the falling plane. He knew that nothing can stop it now. His doom, his end, his undoing, was unavoidable. His fate was buried in those warm brown eyes.

Iruka looked into a single blue eye as if it were a mirror. What he saw there as his own ealed fate, was very similar to Kakashi's actual feelings. It was his way down. He was falling. Suddenly his life, his pride and his secret mission were nothing. He could feel it slipping off his hands. There was nothing more, just this one-eyed man with his pale hands on Iruka's shoulders. Iruka was drowning in the depths of this icy blue. His soul was ripped from his body and there was just a void that needed to be filled. Iruka knew exactly, who was the only person that could fill it. Just as Kakashi Iruka also knew that there is no escape. There was no time out for consideration or evaluation possible options, because there were noother options.

Kakashi could see as the glint in Iruka's eyes had been replaced by sadness. And he knew why. Iruka saw what he had seen and now they both knew that there is no escape from each other.

"Colonel Hatake, please stand back or I will have to call the security."

They didn't even look at Shikamaru. They didn't want to move away from each other. Not yet, not without doing… something…

"Colonel Hatake, I'm calling the security."

"No…" was all that Iruka managed to say. He was looking at Shikamaru with pleading eyes. Shikamaru didn't know what was going on but he had to help Iruka. Maybe this guy found out about their mission and he was threatening his older friend?

"Colonel Hatake, I'm asking you one more time, please stand back."

Kakashi's hands loosened the grip on Iruka's shoulders. His genial mind was working hard trying to find the best way to deal with this. He let go of Iruka's shoulders and then he put his arm around his neck and pulled him closer, smiling brightly at Shikamaru.

"Easy Captain, we were just fooling around."

"Iruka, are you alright?"

Iruka swallowed a lump in his throat and tried to say something but he couldn't. He finally cleared his throat and answered.

"Yes… yes of course. I'm perfectly fine Shikamaru. Thank you for your concern."

"You don't look fine. Please come with me. We need to show you something in our section."

The magic of the moment was gone. It was reality again. A moment ago there was no one else in the world except them. Now there was the rest of the world. There was Shikamaru and his decipher squad… The magic moment was over but the painful need in their chests wasn't.

"Oh… um… Colonel Hatake, would you excuse me…?"

"Sure… I… I have to go anyway…"

Without looking into each other's eyes again, they had left the office walking away in separate directions and wondering what the hell had just happened.

Iruka tried to ignore Shikamaru's questions. He tried to convince his friend that everything was okay but the young captain was too smart for that and he knew Iruka too well to be tricked by his lies. He couldn't figure out what was wrong yet but he was sure that it will become very troublesome.

Genius Hatake Kakashi was lost and confused. He had no idea what had happened and why. He was walking back to his office trying to rationalize it. He looked around, tanding in the middle of the street in front of his office, heading to the place where he didn't want to be. He wanted to be in the same place where Iruka was. It was plain and simple. He wanted nothing more than to turn around and go back to the Abwehr HQ.

Suddenly something big and heavy slammed into his back. Kakashi almost fall to his face. He scratched his head and looked at the bearded pilot with a cigarette in his mouth.

"KAKASHI! God damn it! I called your name six times!"

"I… I'm sorry… Asuma…"

"So it IS true. You really ARE stuttering now…"

"I'm not."

"So are you deaf or just still on cloud nine? Too far from earth to hear your friend…"

"I… I don't know… What did you say?"

"Man… You need a drink."

"…a drink… yea... I... I really do... need a drink… a lot to drink. I need to get drunk!"

Asuma was amazed.

"It really hit you hard, huh… Let's get Genma and other guys. We'll get smashed. I'm sure my wife won't be mad at me when I tell her the reason for our drinking session. Assuming of course tht she even believes me…"