A/N: And yes, here's the next chapter. Thanks to everyone for your reviews. I hope to be able to reach a conclusion in the next chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 12: Confusion

The moment Iruka entered his apartment, he slammed the door shut and leaned against it, his heart thumping erratically. What the hell just happened? Did Kakashi just kiss him?

The chunin swallowed hard. The first and last time the jounin had kissed him was during the end of the 'date' that was a result of the dare which his friends had imposed on him. But even then, that was purely a teasing act from the copy nin and Iruka definitely hadn't reacted like he just did.

When the older man had stepped nearer earlier on, Iruka had felt his heart thumping so hard that he feared that it would jump right out of his chest and he was almost hyperventilating when Kakashi's face neared his. When those soft lips pressed against his, he had felt his body melting into the warmth.

Iruka bit his bottom lip. Now, what was all this emotions that Kakashi had put in him? Sure, he had enjoyed being with the older man and had loved the company. But this? Surely this has gone beyond platonic friendship, hasn't it?

Iruka groaned as he slid to the ground. He was confused as hell over what he was feeling. How many male or even female friends would actually kiss him like that? Even though it was just a chaste kiss that barely lasted for five seconds? If he actually thought about it, Kakashi was the only one. Even Genma, who teased him often enough did not dare to take such a bold step.

The chunin drew up his knees and buried his face in between them. He felt his face heating up when he recalled that brief moment of intimacy. Did he actually relax into the kiss? Oh god, when did he ever get the notion that it had felt so right?

Iruka sat up straight as a thought crossed his mind. Surely…… Surely he hadn't fallen for the copy nin, had he? He swallowed hard, suddenly feeling his mouth turning dry, his throat constricting and butterflies began to attack his stomach. He blinked dumbly into the blank space for a few moments. Then with a growl, he stood up and stomped over to his room. He was going to take a bath. A nice, long one.

Yes, a hot bath would definitely take all those frustrating thoughts out of his mind.

But as his hand reached for the knob of his bedroom door, he paused. And his other hand moved up to touch his lips. He could still feel the other man's lips on his.

And he couldn't help the silly grin that formed on his face.

Kakashi stared blankly at the book in front of him. He hadn't turned a single page since he began reading an hour ago. There were so many thoughts going on in his mind that he barely realized what was going on in his surroundings. And that's an extremely dangerous feat for a ninja, especially when there are other ninjas around you.

Naruto frowned as he dusted off the dirt from his clothes from the training that day. He glared up at his teacher lounging in the branch, seemingly reading, but apparently drifting off somewhere else. Sasuke stood scowling beside him and Sakura sat on the ground, playing with a blade of grass, having given up long ago trying to get the attention of her jounin leader.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto growled. No response.

"I told you, Naruto. He's dead to the world. I've been calling for him for the last half an hour, but he hadn't responded to me once." Sakura muttered. "We have two options now. Either we go and practice on our own, or we can head for home, since Kakashi-sensei obviously isn't interested in our training today."

"I'm going to make him respond." Naruto reached into his pouch for a kunai. He gave a grin to his teammates who gave him a look of disapproval.

"Naruto, that's not right……" Sakura frowned.

"Idiot." Sasuke snorted. Naruto huffed before turning his attention to Kakashi. With a quick flip of his wrist, the kunai flew up towards the jounin in the tree.

Naruto watched in anticipation as the kunai neared the copy nin's arm. Just as he thought that it will strike the older man, another kunai blocked off the attack attempt.

Naruto growled in mild disappointment as his kunai dropped onto the ground. He glanced up angrily at his teacher who was looking down at them.

"Just what do you think you are doing?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Finally you are responding. We've been trying to get your attention for the last hour." Naruto folded his arms and glared through his blue orbs.

"Ah…… I was lost on the road of life, wondering why people get themselves entangled in a web of emotions." Kakashi glanced up at the sky. "It's so amazing, isn't it? People actually have something in them called feelings."

Jaws dropped. Three pairs of eyes stared at the jounin, as though they had just heard that Kakashi was actually a female in disguise.

"Something is wrong with him today, isn't it?" Sakura whispered hastily to her two teammates. Naruto nodded uncertainly. Sasuke snorted.

"You! Who are you?! Why are you impersonating Kakashi-sensei? Drop your henge now! What do you want? Are you infiltrating Konoha?!" Naruto pointed an accusing finger at the jounin who narrowed his eye.

"What are you talking about?" Kakashi jumped off the branch and landed before his three charges. "Alright, that's all for today. You are all dismissed."

"Eh?" Naruto shouted incredulously, forgetting quickly about the accusation he had thrown at the jounin earlier, in favour of the new statement his teacher had said. "But you haven't taught us any new things!"

"You haven't even perfected your chakra control. How do you expect to master other techniques?" Kakashi turned and flipped a page in his book as he began to walk out of the training field. "Work on your chakra control first and when I'm satisfied, I will teach you new things."

Naruto wasn't one to give up. He ran up to his teacher and blocked his path out of the training area. "I've mastered it already." He folded his arms and looked up at the older nin smugly.

"Oh really?" Kakashi studied him for a brief moment. "Then why was it that you can't even stick onto that tree branch and kept falling into the mud below?"

Naruto fidgeted. Then he glowered. "I did not!"

"Oh? Then I must go and get my eyes checked then. But the last time I did, which was last month, I was told that I had perfect eyesight." He glanced down at the young boy. "Naruto, if you think that I wasn't watching on how the three of you train, then think again. Next time, if you want to convince me to teach you something new, either you perfect your basics, or come up with a better excuse."

With that the jounin nudged the boy gently aside and raised his hand in a half wave. "See you tomorrow."

Kakashi watched as Iruka busied himself in the kitchen. He smiled. He was glad that his actions the previous night hadn't put the chunin in an awkward situation and Iruka had still behaved pretty much his usual self around the jounin.

He strode up to the younger man and peeked over his shoulders.

"What are you cooking tonight?"

"Teriyaki chicken, grilled salmon, miso soup and stir fried eggplant in tomato sauce." Iruka mumbled as he stirred the ingredients.

"That sounds good." Kakashi grinned.

Iruka suddenly seemed to notice the older man's presence behind him and he looked up from the sauce he was mixing. Kakashi turned slightly to look at the chunin when he felt the movement and watched in amusement as a blush colored the tanned cheeks.

"Uh, Iruka-sensei?"

"Go to the living room and leave me to my cooking." Iruka said hastily as he turned slightly and shove Kakashi out of the way.

Kakashi blinked and then he shrugged and shuffled out of the kitchen. His genius brain tells him that he should leave things as it is. If Iruka is getting comfortable being around him, Kakashi was sure he didn't want to jeopardize it by interrogating the younger man.

Iruka pretended to busy himself in stirring the soup as he listened to the jounin walk out into the sitting area. Once he was sure that the older man was out of earshot, he let out a breath he had been holding.

Damn. He didn't know why he was still here cooking dinner for the both of them when the previous night incident was so clearly etched in his mind and just the mere thought of it will send his heart thumping wildly and his stomach knotting.

He growled and stirred the soup in a rapid movement, causing some of the contents to spill onto the stove.

There was only one emotion raging through him now.

Confusion.

He was confused as to why the jounin would kiss him the night before. He was confused why he hadn't been in the least bit angry or irritated at the act of affection. He was confused just what Kakashi was up to.

And he was confused just how he was feeling towards the other man.

He shook his head to clear out the thoughts. Whatever it is, it doesn't require him to think about right in the home of another person, especially when the person is the main culprit to how he is feeling at that point in time.

He turned back to the ingredients laid out on the counter beside him. Now, what's the next dish to prepare?