Chapter 14

It was Monday, three days after the party and I was finally back at the supermarket after a long weekend. Tenzou had not been too thrilled about me showing up at work with one black eye, one slightly yellow eye and 7 stitches in one eyebrow. He had made it clear to me that I was not allowed behind the desk until I did not look like a rowdy anymore. Luckily, I was going to the doctor later that day to get the stitches out and my right eye was almost healed so it would not look so violent. With only one black eye left, Tenzou would probably let me sit behind the desk again.

I was pleased to discover that Kakashi did not have a long shift that Monday and that his shift did not start until later so I would have some time to work without having to think of ways to avoid him. Yes, that was what I was going to do. Avoid him. I could not face him since I was not content with the thought of what we had done yet. I was still confused and I did not need him to appear and start messing with my head.

Most of my Saturday had gone by with reflecting over everything that had happened before and after the party. I did not really get anything out of it and ended up sleeping the day away. It was not until Sunday that I finally pulled myself together and got out of bed. All that thinking and sleeping had made me dizzy and I knew I would not begin to feel better until I got up and started using my body for something.

By the time, I figured it was for the best that Kakashi chose not to stand by what had happened or had forgotten about it – or whatever the reason was for his apparent ignorance. Because of that, I would not be held responsible for my lust driven actions, though, I would not be able to find peace with it until I knew what was behind them. Actually, it was my duty to myself. What was it that had made me go along? Was it because I desired men in a way I had not known until now? Was it just Kakashi and in that case, was it his personality or his looks that made me want him? Was it the alcohol's fault? Had his dominant behavior made me obey and maybe think, in the end, that I actually liked it? Was I gay?

Gay; that word had haunted me the entire weekend. I was not gay, I could not be. Women had always been the target of my fantasies whenever I... you know what. I would not be able to do anything like that with a man on my mind, would I? I had not dared to try, but I had been so curious that when I finally got out of bed that Sunday, I had opened my computer and searched for foreign men's porn – a drastic decision and it was not a pretty sight, to say the least.

I had flushed with embarrassment and the sight of what I had never imagined to be searching for almost paralyzed my body. What I had seen was unnatural to me. The erections, the positions, the... I could not even get myself to describe it. It was horrible. How could anyone enjoy that? When you put it that way, I suddenly understood why there were so many women that refused to take it from behind. After seeing what my computer so carelessly displayed on its screen, my thoughts of anal sex had taken a whole new turn. It was like I could feel the pain when just looking at it.

Quickly, I had grabbed the screen of my laptop and smashed it close. Never again, I thought to myself, as I sat regretful on the chair by the computer that had then gone on standby. I knew that once I decided to open the computer again, I would be met by the same sight that had made me close it in the first place so I had not opened it yet, which meant it had been on for at least the last 24 hours. It was not going to cost me anything because I had pulled the plug out since it would not use much power when being on standby and therefore not go out by itself. At least I expected that I would be able to pull myself together to open it and shut it down properly before it would get the chance to use the last of the then fully charged battery. What a pussy I was.

I did not think that it was good for the computer, though, to be on standby for that long and I was not fond of doing anything that could ruin it since I could not afford to buy another one. I had begun saving up for a computer when I turned 21 because everyone else had one and I had heard that it was a practical "tool" to have at hand, but when I finally got it nearly 2 years later, I was kind of disappointed to find out that this machine was not a necessity to me since I had lived without it for 23 years already. It was not a total waste of money, though, it came in handy sometimes and I did my accounts and things like that on it. I never bothered to buy access to the internet, though. At that point, I was a thief – my neighbor had not added a password to his wireless internet and I figured it would not hurt anybody if I borrowed it once in a while even though I felt bad for doing so.

"Hey Iruka-san," I turned around in surprise and saw someone who's voice I knew too well. I had been lost in my own thoughts for so long that I did not even notice what time it was.

"Hey," was my simple reply and I turned around to get back to my sorting task. I did not want to look at him and frankly I did not want to speak to him. It was not just one thing that made me not want to be near him. Different emotions collided with each other inside my body and it made my stomach hurt.

"So, how are you? You went off pretty suddenly Saturday so I did not get the chance to ask," I could not figure which way was the best way to get rid of him, but I did not want to appear rude, though, was it not always hard not to appear like that when rejecting someone?

"I'm fine, thank you and I'm sorry about that, I just remembered that I had something important to take care of, which reminds me that Tenzou asked me to do something for him. If you are not busy, could you finish these boxes for me? I gotta get started on that other thing," it sounded like a lame ass excuse and it was, but hopefully Kakashi would not catch on to it, at least not when I was still around since I would not be able to explain my way out of this one.

I turned around and sent him a small smile. It was not easy for me to do so, I just figured that it would make my excuse more believable, "Uhm, sure, but-"

"Okay, thank you," I walked past him before he got the chance to finish his sentence. I had not prepared myself for this moment properly. It was so much more complicated to just stand and talk to him than I had originally thought it would be. And all the feelings I had had that morning where he kissed that purple haired girl swept over me like a tsunami all over again.

He was staring a hole in my back when I walked away, I could feel it. I knew that I had made the right decision when the tension in my body already started to loosen the second I got away from the conversation. How could one man get me so worked up? This riddling position he had gotten me into, how would I ever be able to get out of it again?

I purposely avoided Kakashi for the rest of my shift. It was not an easy task, though, but I managed it well. It was not until I got off that I could no longer keep a great distance to him.

My shift ended at the same time as his because of his short shift that day. When I had grabbed my stuff and was about to take off via the back door that hyper, wide smiling girl came in the way of my escape route. She had been close to slamming the door right into my face.

"Oh hey, Iruka-san, was it not? I'm looking for Kaka-chan, have you seen him?" she asked, blocking the doorway so that I could not just answer quickly and make my escape.

"No, he's off now so I'm sure he'll be here soon," I said, taking a step forward to make it clear for her that I was on my way out, but she did not move out of the way.

"That's great. So, how did you get that eye? I hear the party you went to last Friday was pretty wild. I'm bumped over the fact that I did not have time to join you guys," that girl was pretty straight forward, was she not?

"Uhm, well, I got into a fight," I answered, trying to sound like I did not care and yet again made it obvious that I wanted to get out of there, but she just moved closer, touching with one finger my latest bruised eye, "Ouch," I stepped back and held one hand over the eye. It was still sore.

"Shit, I'm sorry! I did not mean to hurt you. It's still a little swollen, have you forgotten to cool it down with some ice frequently?" I stared at her while shrugging. What the hell was wrong with this girl?

"No, I-I did not really use any ice on it," her volatility made me nervous. I was not good with people you never really knew where you had.

"The swelling should not be that bad anymore, you should go see a doctor. You know, if the swelling doesn't go down soon, whoever punched you might have inflicted more damage than just a simple black eye. You could go blind!"

"What?" I burst out the same second she finished her sentence. Kami, was this girl confusing? Her flow of talked completely knocked me off course and all that information, which I did not even know why she provided me with, made my head start spinning.

"It's true, a black eye should be taken seriously and-" when still having these mixed feelings towards Kakashi, I had not expected to actually be relieved to see him, but his timing could not be better.

"Hey guys," he said after walking inside the room, greeting us with a small wave.

"Kaka-chan!" she said happily and jumped light-footed over to him. He bowed lightly and she tiptoed so that she could place a small kiss on his forehead. After sending each other a smile, they both looked over at my misplaced body.

"Iruka-san, this is Anko - my girlfriend. Anko, this is Iruka-san - a friend of mine," I looked at them and did not really know what to say.

"I know that, silly, we already met twice. Well, this will be the third time, actually. Right, Iruka-san?" She sent me a close-eyed smile, I was happy that she could not see the puzzled look on my face.

Twice? We met twice already? I knew I had seen her somewhere before, but I could only remember meeting her at Kakashi's place after the party. And it could not have been at the actual party since she had already told me that she had not been able to participate. But then where did I meet her?

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," Kakashi chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest, smiling, "You were there when I first met Anko," I fought back the urge to ask when that was since it would be rude now that they both remembered the situation and I was the only one who did not, "I never imagined that helping out with a bag of pet's food would be enough to get me a girlfriend. Maybe I should start hanging around that department some more?" he smiled teasingly at Anko who just nudged his shoulder with her own, giggling softly.

Pet's food? Did she meet him at the supermarket? And I had been present? I could not recall any girl looking like tha...

My mind paused as I gazed at Anko. Purple hair, it was not something that you saw everyday. Well, actually it was black with a purple cast, but that was not the point. I knew I had seen her before and finally I remembered where and when. She was the girl who had asked us for help on Kakashi's first day at work. Had he called her after that? I mean, you did not usually pick up girls in places like the supermarket. So this meant they had been dating for – what – a little over a week? Damn, I never thought he would actually do it. It just seemed strange to me.

"So... Iruka-san. We'll see you at Hidan's party on Friday, right?" I had never really gotten how the procedure of becoming friends was supposed to develop, but it felt like it all came very sudden. On the other hand, it developed quite slowly to begin with, but when we first started talking for real, it all came at once and suddenly we were friends? At least that was how he had introduced me as to Anko - which kind of freaked me out, but I had so many other things on my mind that I had not even had the time to freak out about it properly.

"Maybe, I don't know yet, but I have a doctor's appointment so I have to hurry. Bye," I ran out of the door, not even looking back at them to see their expression or stopping to wait for an answer. I was not lying, I did have a doctor's appointment, I just bended the truth a little since I was not in a rush. I could easily have stayed there a few minutes longer, but my mind could not take it. Not under those conditions - not when she stood by his side.

…...

When I had gotten to the health center and finally gotten called in for the appointment, after sitting in the waiting room for almost 15 minutes, the doctor had given me a surprised look as he laid eyes on my beat up face.

This man, Yakushi Kabuto – or just Yakushi-Hakase – had been my doctor since I was little. In a small town like this one, you did not really have anything called a pediatrician. That term belonged to the bigger hospitals and in this village, you did not go there unless something serious had happened to you since the hospital was located almost an hour's drive away. Here, you would just be assigned to a doctor when going to the health center for the first time and then he or she would be your doctor for as long as you went to that health center. Sure, you could get assigned to another doctor if you wished, but I had never had a problem with my doctor so I just stuck to him. He was in his late fifties, though, so he was probably going to retire within the next few years.

"So, Iruka-san, I see you are starting to go back into your old habits," Kabuto stated as he examined my face, carefully pressing his thumbs against the bruised skin by my left eye.

"I'm trying my best not to, Hakase," I tried not to make any grimaces, but it was not easy since it hurt. At least he did not poke as hard as that Anko girl had done it.

"Good... Good," he mumbled to himself as he removed his hands, "Do you have any problems with your vision?" he looked at me over the edge of his round glasses.

I shook my head, "No, my sight is perfectly fine."

"Have you been feeling particularly dizzy or sick lately?"

"Hmm, not that I remember?"

"Okay," he nodded and started smiling, "I think you are fine then. It's just a regular black eye."

"That's great to hear," I said and began mentally preparing myself for him to take my stitches out.

"This might sting a bit, but it'll be over in no time. I'm gonna clean it once the stitches are out," he found his tools; let the workmanship begin, "So, what are you doing these days?"

I shrugged my shoulders, but was careful not to disturb his work, "Not much, what about you and your family?" this was just one of our usual conversations. Kabuto loved talking about his family, which was fine by me because then I did not have say anything for the rest of the session. When he first started babbling about his daughters and their achievements, it was almost impossible to get a word in edgeways.

"I'm not doing anything out of the ordinary, just sitting here, doing my job. My daughters, on the other hand, are doing great. The oldest of them is pregnant and the youngest just graduated from teacher's college and she is currently applying to become a teacher at the local school. I'm so proud of my little girls," he was indeed. His little girls were all he ever talked about.

oOooOooOo

Did you guys notice something? Did you? Yep, it did not take me a week to update this, it only took me like two days? Yay :D.. *Pats my own shoulder...*

So, we are moving on – slowly, I know.. Please don't kill me for that! I'm not exactly sure of what is going to happen in the next chapter yet, but if I go along with what I decided on doing at first, I promise that there's going to be some more action in the next chapter – finally..

Oh, and for the ones who don't know: Hakase is a honorific used specifically for doctors or professors (people who are highly educated, but mostly only used with the above mentioned..)

And Anko called Kakashi 'Kaka-chan' because some girls/boys use chan with their lovers and Japanese people sometimes shortens people names by taking away endings like 'shi' or 'maru' when giving someone a pet name...
- Please, don't kill me if I got some of this wrong, I really tried my best at understanding when doing my research about this... (don't hesitate to correct me, though!)

So, a new character has been added and he gave you a hint to what Iruka's past looks like. Also, you got to meet Anko again and now you know who she is and hopefully you have gotten a better idea of how her character acts and how Kakashi and her interacts with each other. Other than that, you only got what you could expect – Iruka's flow of thoughts – and I sure hope that you got something out of reading them 'cause if you did not this story would be kind of pointless, I guess, since that's a big part of the story and usually that's were it develops xD...

Well, I expect to update soon since I have so many ideas for this story right now that it shouldn't be so hard for me with getting started on the next chapter.

(By the way, sorry for some of the looong paragraphs, I tried to keep it down :s!)

I think that was all, have a great day/night everyone! I'm probably going to bed now^^

Hope to see you all again later :D!