Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I am making no money writing fanfiction.

…..0…0…0…..

Kakashi smiled to himself, going through the photo albums on the couch. The boys were effectively ignoring him and judging by the smells coming from the kitchen, Iruka was busily working on dinner. Kakashi liked it that way though, and pored over the pictures that seemed to tell Iruka and Naruto's life stories with no distractions. The albums were dated, thank goodness Iruka was organized, so it was easy to create a visual timeline. The first pictures in the collection were of Iruka and two young brunets that Kakashi assumed were his birth parents. There were very few of those pictures, and the ones that were there were faded and the edges were uneven and darkened, almost as if the pictures had been singed.

Kakashi shivered as he fingered the edges of one of the pictures. If his gut was right, he'd bet Iruka's birth parents had died in a fire- and that the few pictures Iruka had were probably the only ones that survived. Kakashi shook his head to clear it. His own parents had died when he was young as well. Next, there were various pictures of Iruka and a scarred man with a government ID badge that read: I. Moreno, CFS; posing at different fast food joints and sometimes with other kids or couples. Again, Kakashi made a few assumptions (reasonable, he figured, given the badge) and guessed these were probably photos of Iruka and his social worker, maybe even some of his foster families. The odd thing about these pictures were that a lot of them seemed to be severely cropped and in most of the ones that were, the cut off part was where Iruka's or the social worker's arm would have been draped, presumably, over a person.

Kakashi continued on to the next album, smiling when the first picture looking up at him was a beaming pre-teen Iruka with his social worker again and a middle-aged couple he recognized as Naruto's parents, with a banner in the background that read, Welcome Home, Iruka!, and was covered in glitter. The woman had long blond hair and a severe, but beautiful, face. The rather buxom blonde had her arm wrapped around Iruka's small frame. The man had wild white hair that he seemed to try and tame in a low ponytail and he was looking lovingly at Iruka and the woman, (either that or the giant cake behind them) so Kakashi assumed this was probably his adoption party.

The rest of that album was full of family vacation photos from places all over the country and some from what looked like Asia. The photo album spanned what seemed to be Iruka's early teens. There were a lot of pictures with three dark-haired kids, two boys and a girl, who seemed to be close friends of Iruka's. There were also a lot of what seemed to be yearly family reunion photos, featuring what was proclaimed in several banners as the "Konoha" family. One older gentleman and what seemed to be his son and daughter were often featured with Iruka and his parents in particular.

Kakashi startled as he heard Iruka holler, "Ten minutes till dinner!"

He peeked up and contemplated the door, deciding he had time for one more album. This album had many of the same faces, and it looked like Iruka was in his late teens. There were shots of Iruka on a high school football team (Kakashi snorted, he preferred track and field) and a lot of he and his parents on vacations again. There were also many, many of Iruka and his same three friends and two cousins at the beach or pool. Kakashi decided he liked the way Iruka looked in just swimming trunks. Then he continued to flip through pages, where he found what looked like Naruto's adoption party, featuring the boy as a pudgy blond kindergartner on Iruka's lap with their parents behind them; one hand each on Iruka's shoulders and their mom reaching around to hold the little one's hand, all smiling brightly into the camera. The same social worker was in the background, smiling peacefully at the small family from under a banner that read, Welcome Home, Naruto! in rainbow letters.

The next few pages were definitely done in a professional studio and featured the brothers in various poses at yearly intervals. There were still a few family vacation photos after that, but Kakashi could see how much their parents had aged and the pictures focused more on Iruka and Naruto, with their parents seen relaxing in the background or, perhaps behind the camera, Kakashi mused. There were a few empty spots where it seemed photos had been torn out, from a few years ago, when Iruka would have been his early twenties and Naruto a pre-teen. Kakashi wondered about it briefly, then continued onto the more recent photos, some candids of Naruto that Iruka had probably taken and a few wallet-sized photo booth strips of the brothers goofing off. He smiled to himself…. until he was interrupted by an angry teenager.

Naruto yanked the album out of his hands. "What do you think you're doing?"

Kakashi looked up, slowly blinking up into the icy blue eyes of his student. Now, if Kakashi had ever been afraid of a student, now would be it, looking up at the teen that seemed to exude a foreboding posture despite his small stature. Kakashi blinked owlishly.

When he didn't get an answer, Naruto dropped the album on the couch and moved in closer, reaching for Kakashi's shirt collar as he growled out a low, "I said, what are you doi-"

"Naruto!" Kakashi's gaze snapped to the door, where Iruka looked on, mouth agape and obviously embarrassed. "We do not man handle our guests!" was barked out loudly, followed by an almost imperceptibly muttered, "Especially when they write your report cards…."

Naruto gestured wildly at the abandoned album, "That's none of Hatake's business!"

As Iruka's eyes followed his brother's waving hand and fell on the forgotten pictures, he breathed a small, "Oh."

Iruka cleared his throat and looked at the boys. "Guys, go dish up before it gets cold."

Sensing that as a dismissal, both teens nodded and shuffled out, Naruto giving one final backwards glance and glare at his math teacher. Iruka sighed and moved to pick up the album.

"Well," he began, as Kakashi watched him tidy the space, looking anywhere but at Kakashi himself, "I guess there's nothing much for me to say, except to apologize. My brother isn't usually like that."

Kakashi nodded, then realizing Iruka wouldn't see it, voiced a firm, "I know."

Iruka turned, sat on the coffee table and faced Kakashi. "He's just a little sensitive about some things. He had it worse than I did in foster care and we've been basically inseparable since my parents adopted him; so mostly he's just worried on my behalf and I can't really begrudge him that…." he trailed off, seeming unsure of what else to say, or maybe unwilling to share.

"No…. I guess not." Kakashi scratched at the back of his neck. "No harm done, I guess."

Iruka looked puzzled. "You're just going to let it go? Easy as that?" Kakashi could hear the surprise in Iruka's voice and decided that maybe he should try to appear a bit more social and approachable while out interacting with the world.

"I'm not as Grinch-y as people make me out to be, you know…." he dropped his hand to the couch limply.

Iruka startled and put his hands up, "No! That's not what I meant…. I- just…. I mean; he was really in your face and—"

Kakashi cut him off. "Well, I am in his brother's, your, house, which is sort of his turf, I guess and I was kind of, sort of, maybe snooping a bit, so-"

Iruka laughed. "Ok. No harm, no foul. How about we join them for some dinner?"

Kakashi nodded and got up to follow as Iruka led the way to the kitchen.

…..0…0…0…..

Dinner was awkward at first, with Naruto stealing furtive glances at Kakashi and Kiba kicking him and mumbling, "Lay off him, we wanna pass math, remember?" every now and then.

Iruka, for his part, seemed to be studiously trying to ignore the tension between the three and, oddly enough, Kakashi noticed, shrinking himself as far back into the corner of his booth style seating as he could go and never once putting his knife down—though he was subtle about it, keeping his hand low and beside his plate, and putting his fork down instead to grasp his glass in his other hand every so often.

Kakashi also noticed that the brunet was rather nervous, frequently shooting glances to the doors and the counter (where Kakashi noted, was the whole rest of the block of kitchen knives). If he didn't know the man had a criminal record check specifically to work with kids, defended his brother with fiery abandon and worked doggedly for the community, then Iruka's apparent fascination with knives might scare him a bit.

As it was, the silver-haired math genius cleared his throat and began awkwardly, "So…."

Everyone looked at him expectantly. He turned to the boys and finished lamely, "How was your day?"

Naruto snorted. "Before or after your idiotic pop quiz?"

Then, "Ow, dammit!" As Kiba obviously stomped on the blond's foot. "What was that for?"

Kiba smiled at Kakashi then turned and hissed at his friend, "We still have two years of high school left, you jerk! I don't want to fail. Mom would kill me."

Naruto snorted again. "Well, you can be nice then. I'll be honest." He looked directly at Kakashi and finished, "You shouldn't have been going through my brother's things."

Kakashi nodded. "I know."

Iruka cleared his throat and huffed out, "What's done is done. Naruto, I realize you don't want Mr. Hatake to be here and I respect that. But you will be polite and if you can't then you will keep to yourself." Kakashi almost thought he'd gotten off scot-free until Iruka continued, "And Mr. Hatake?"

Kakashi swallowed. "Yes?"

"I would appreciate it if you would ask before going through my things." Iruka went back to eating and effectively ignored the fuming stare his brother was still giving the math teacher and the nervous chuckle Kakashi let out before responding.

"Got it. Will do."

A few more minutes of silent chewing ensued before Kakashi ventured conversation again, "Is it usually this quiet here?"

Kiba looked up and answered, wide-eyed, around a mouthful, "Never. These two are a pair of the loudest loud-mouths you'll ever meet."

Naruto snorted. "Like you're one to talk, Mr. 'I-have-no-indoor-voice.'"

"I do too!" A red-faced Kiba shouted.

Naruto nodded and rolled his eyes with a sarcastic, "I can see that and you use it so well."

Kiba pouted and dropped his fork on the table, crossing his arms sulkily. "I do too."

Iruka shook his head, shoulders relaxing a bit, but Kakashi noticed, grip still not loosening on the knife, "Kiba, please don't speak with your mouth full and Naruto, why do you bait him like that?"

Naruto looked across the table, "He called us loudmouths!"

Iruka raised an eyebrow. "We are loudmouths."

Naruto pouted and pointed at his friend, "Yeah, well, so is he!"

Iruka tutted. "Don't sweat it, kiddo. Small stuff, you know?"

"Yeah," Naruto nodded, "I know."

Kakashi decided to give it one last go as he turned to Iruka and said, "Um, how was your day?" almost dreading another outburst from one of the unpredictable teenagers.

Iruka smiled warmly at him and let the hand holding the knife fall all the way to the tabletop, almost, but not quite, setting it down as he answered, "Well it looks like a snow day tomorrow, which means I get to sleep in. How could I possibly be in a bad mood, Mr. Hatake? How was yours?"

Kakashi smiled back, "Just Kakashi is fine, after all, we're sort of roommates now aren't we?"

Iruka laughed. "Yes, for tonight I suppose so."

"My day was interesting. Did you know that the coffee-maker in our staffroom drips an average of twenty times per minute?"

Iruka gaped at him comically and asked, incredulous, "You have time to average the number of times your coffee-maker drips in a minute?"

"Well," Kakashi spoke in what he thought to be an amiable tone, "it really doesn't take that long to calculate an average. I am a genius you know."

Iruka's tone cooled a bit as he answered (though Kakashi failed to notice), "I do know how to calculate an average, Kakashi, I'm not stupid, I just wondered how many minutes you have to sit around doing nothing but counting drips."

Naruto snickered into his hand, but Kakashi didn't seem to notice as he answered seriously, "Twenty before the first bell rang, then another forty-five during my prep, minus the two it took me to walk to the staff room. Another ten for our two five-minute breaks together, minus the walking time, again, of course. The twenty-three it took me to wait for my tea water to boil and steep after school, so…. Ninety-two minutes exactly, which is about an hour and a half plus two minutes, but that was only today, I counted some yesterday too and the day before that. Actually, I've been counting for a few weeks now, on and off, you know." He looked up at Iruka and smiled.

Iruka didn't seem to know how to take that, but responded with a, "I can see why people—oh, never mind." Kakashi made a 'what-did-I-do-wrong?' face and opened his mouth to speak, but Iruka smiled patiently at the silver-haired man, and waved him off saying, "For a minute there, I thought you were insulting me, you know." Kakashi gaped at him. "But, I think maybe that's just how you talk to people. It must be terribly disappointing that everyone assumes you're anti-social. Or that you're mean and egotistical- I think you're just very logical and matter-of-fact. You also say whatever pops into your head. I don't think I've ever heard you talk quite so much before though."

Iruka knew he'd said it right when Kakashi's smile lit up his entire face. "I really like math."

Iruka smiled. "I can tell."

Kakashi smiled and added a bit shyly, "I really am a genius though."

Iruka smirked this time and leaned back, leaving the knife on the table, but still keeping his hand hovering over the handle near the edge of the table. "Oh, really?"

Kakashi nodded enthusiastically. "I am."

Naruto muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear, "Obviously not socially." Then coughed into his hand as Iruka stared him down and Kakashi deflated a little.

"You know," Kiba stood up, dragging Naruto with him by the elbow, "I think we need to get ready for bed."

Naruto griped and pulled his arm out of Kiba's reach, "I'm not leaving the kitchen."

Kiba tried frantically and comically to catch Naruto by the arm again until Iruka thumped his glass down forcefully. Both boys looked toward him. "Thank you, Naruto, but I think maybe, instead of getting ready for bed you two could clean up the kitchen since I cooked? Then our guest and I could talk in peace in the living room."

At the mention of chores, Kiba wailed horribly, "I'm a guest too!"

Iruka raised an eyebrow at him, "Not after four years of eating here every other night, you're not."

The boy sighed and then started clearing dishes. Naruto continued to stand there obstinately for a minute, then cleared Iruka's plate away, not taking the knife, though Iruka had finally let it go.

Iruka thanked the boys, then turned to Kakashi and asked, "How does an Old-Fashioned sound to you?"

Kakashi smiled. "Ah, a whiskey man. My kind of man."

He thumped Iruka on the back heartily and felt him freeze up, for a second thinking he'd blown the 'my kind of man' comment and tipped off the fact he was interested in men, but as they walked towards the living room, Kakashi also noticed Iruka relax visibly and couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't him per se, but perhaps something about the kitchen that set his host on edge.

Iruka motioned for Kakashi to take a seat and went to mix their drinks at the cabinet, pausing to ask, "Ice or on the rocks?"

To which Kakashi responded, "On the rocks, of course."

As Iruka turned back to the shelf, heturned Kakashi's words back at him, "On the rocks, my kind of drinker. My kind of man." He smiled as he brought the drinks over and handed Kakashi his before settling in the chair to the left of the couch.

After a few sips in silence, Iruka asked, "So, what's your IQ?"

Kakashi gazed at him for a moment. Then, "It really doesn't matter, you know."

Iruka chuckled. "Never mind my brother, he really is a loudmouth. It's not boasting to be proud of yourself, goodness knows Naruto likes to toot his own horn." Iruka looked at Kakashi, who didn't answer for a long time, till Iruka almost thought he wouldn't.

"Between 142 and 147 on most tests. In the high 150s if it's only mathematical IQ…. but that doesn't really matter. Obviously I can't function normally enough to be ready for a storm or carry on a polite conversation without offending someone, eh?" He asked self-depreciatingly.

Iruka shook his head, "Don't worry about it. I offend people all the time. I'm a real loudmouth and hot-headed too."

"But everyone loves you." Kakashi sounded really small.

"Not everyone. You don't, for example." Iruka chuckled. "You've made it no secret what you think of me."

Kakashi's face sobered. "I don't mean it, you know. When I say some things…."

Kakashi was suddenly very interested in his drink. "I know I don't seem to care very much about my students and I know that's why you're always annoyed at me, because you care so much about your brother… but when I say things to you it's only because everyone's got their heckles up and I'm defensive. I—I…. guess I just don't know how to interact with people."

Kakashi had shrunk down into the cushions so low that he looked like a couch sandwich, and Iruka placed his hand gently on the other man's as he sat beside him on the couch. Kakashi looked up, startled that Iruka had moved without him noticing.

"I'm sorry for all the times I yelled at you. I guess I never thought about it from anyone's perspective but my brother's. I get kind of tunnel-vision like that for him, because I know he came from."

Kakashi looked up at Iruka rather pathetically. "Do you know how many friends I have?"

Iruka smiled down at him kindly. "One more after today?"

Kakashi chuckled. "Thanks. That brings me up to a grand total of two."

"Two?" Iruka looked shocked as he pulled his hand back and settled into the couch comfortably.

Kakashi smiled, "Yeah, and that's only if you're counting you as a friend now."

"That's got to be pretty lonely." He sank back.

"Yup."

"No wonder you have time to count coffee drips."

Kakashi laughed out loud and Iruka joined him.

"We could fix that."

Kakashi snorted. "You and what army?"

Iruka laughed. "My brother and I are our own army. Besides, I've been teaching for nearly eight years now. I've probably got more mini-mes running around out there than most parents."

Kakashi groaned. "God help us."

"Hey!" Iruka socked him playfully in the arm and Kakashi barked out a laugh.