Chapter 11

The Jasmine

Ha, um ok. I'm halfway between loving this chapter and hitting my head against the wall in frustration. But then, writers block is never a nice thing.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and happy New Year.

….

Iruka stifled a laugh as he hid behind one of the huge willow trees, watching.

He'd shown up ten minutes earlier, to be shocked to see that Kakashi was there already, and looked as if he'd been a while. The fact that Kakashi was obviously early, well, Iruka blamed the dogs – or thanked actually would be a better word. Only the mutts would have been able to pull something like that off.

He'd stayed back and just watched, it was always fun to watch Kakashi. Though many people didn't know it, Kakashi was actually very easy to read – once you knew what to look for.

Iruka could practically see the genius mind plotting away as the tall man leant casually against the garden wall; head down-turned, mask still in place, but minuet shifts and tensing in the strong muscles gave away the most interesting things.

Not that he'd ever tell Kakashi he could read him like a book, but it was fun to do.

Kakashi had stayed, quietly planning as he waited, occasionally reaching his hand into the pocket of his jacket, it was hard to tell from the distance but Iruka was pretty sure the Jounin smiled whenever he did and it was driving Iruka mad. Just what was in the pocket that was making Kakashi so happy?

He needed to know.

But he'd stayed hidden, happily admiring how hot the older man looked in the blue jeans and tank top - a drool worthy combination on Kakashi he would admit – as he patiently waited for Ibiki. He wanted to see how the two Jounin would interact now with him not there.

He didn't have to wait very long, Ibiki was extremely punctual, he hated being late more then he disliked waiting for people (because he could get pissed when he had to wait, being late made it his fault) Iruka had to swallow the extra saliva that had pooled into his mouth at the first sight of Ibiki; holy damn the big man should dress casual more often if that was the result.

Comfy looking black pants curved nicely over the toned legs while a soft looking blue shirt hugged the huge body, showing the roll and shifting of the strong muscles as Ibiki walked. The scarred head of course was still covered, but the grey bandanna looked much more casual than the normal blue one and the blue sneakers just made Iruka need to grin for some reason.

All in all the interrogator looked down right sexy and Iruka could tell Kakashi thought so too, even though the other man was probably denying it himself that very moment. The way the grey eye instantly widened and how the tall body had shifted itself when Ibiki had approached so it wouldn't pitch forward in shock, also how the gloved hands had quickly been shoved into jacket pockets right after the first tremble that would have been invisible if Iruka hadn't been looking for it.

And as for Ibiki, the big man was standing just a little too close, but with no threatening aura; seemed just a little too relaxed without having the air of dismissal he used when frightening new interns.

Iruka could have done a happy dance in evil glee at the fact – whether they would admit it or not – his dates were indeed attracted to each other - and he was so going to win this game.

…..

"Something wrong Kakashi?"

Kakashi blinked at the question, still very aware of the small strain on his neck from having to look up at the bigger man, he resisted the urge to shake his head to clear it and slouched back casually against the wall instead.

"Of course not B- Morino"

Kakashi cursed in his head at his stumble while Ibiki raised one brow. Damnit he'd have to stop calling the guy 'Bear' in his mind if that was the result! Ibiki was not Iruka who he could give cute little pet names to until the other man snapped and tried to hit him. The main reason being he didn't think Ibiki would pull his punches like Iruka did.

"Mmm, I just assumed so, as you seem to be early"

The deep voice sound bored but with a definite undertone of amusement, it made Kakashi glare at him out of the corner of the grey eye.

"I can't be early?"

"Most of us were under the impression it would bring about world ending consequences, yes"

Kakashi fought the smile that was slowly tilting the edge of his mouth. "Oh? Such as?"

A big hand waved dismissingly in the air. "Cosmic shifts, implosions of the universes structural balance…or something like that, I tend to stop listening when Anko moves past completely drunk and gets giggly – it's bad for your sanity"

A silver brow rose as Kakashi gave into the smile. "Anko can use big words when drunk?"

A deep rumbling chuckle came from the broad chest "Yes, but she doesn't know that, so don't tell her. It's wonderful entertainment for me to poke her when she's hung over"

Kakashi bit down on his bark of laughter as a cheeky gleam crept into his eye. "Well I know more than one ANBU that would piss themselves if they saw you in a place like this"

Ibikii snorted. "They only think what they want because its more interesting than the truth, I think you of all people know how that works" Kakashi glanced up in surprised when Ibiki sighed softly. "I actually love gardens"

Kakashi blinked then ducked his head when he realized he'd been staring. Coughing the Jounin glanced toward the clock by the gazebos, the silver brow farrowing in confusion when he saw the time.

"Iruka's late"

He felt Ibiki shift next to him, glancing toward the clock as well for conformation to the absurd fact – Iruka was never late, ever. Well, maybe occasionally he was but usually it was due to over sleeping or Kakashi's fault (he took pride in that little detail)

A wolfish grin tilted the masked face. "I'm early and he's late? I'm getting so much mileage outta this"

He heard Ibiki snort before the sound of running footsteps came from behind them and they both turned to see the young man in question sprinting toward them. Ibiki twitched slightly, as if he was suppressing the urge to go up and lecture Iruka for running on his healing muscles but the big Jounin restrained himself, showing he'd taken the earlier conversation to heart.

Iruka stopped in front of the two of them, light colour dusting his cheeks as he panted slightly for air, a wide, happy look in the rich chocolate eyes as he grinned at them. "Sorry I'm late"

Iruka smiled broadly, very aware of the approving looks toward the dark brown dress pants and white leaf design long-sleeve he was currently modeling, and the curious glances toward the leather bag thrown over his shoulder. He'd also taken his braid out before coming so now the long tresses fell in soft waves past his shoulders, it had gotten longer, but Ibiki had talked him out of cutting it.

Kakashi grinned and pushed himself off the wall, coming to stand right in front of the younger man. "You should be! I've been waiting half an hour! What's your excuse? Mmm?"

The blush deepened even as Iruka sent the copy nin a cheeky glare. "Ex-students"

The grey eye narrowed as Kakashi snorted and slipped his hand around the slender waist. "Naha, not good enough, you're not being creative at all!" it was said with a grin, even though Kakashi was frantically calculating. Iruka had been lying, though maybe just in part. 'ex-students' was a very good cover as it was very likely to happen, but the way Iruka's eyes had shifted spoke of something else.

Kakashi hated it when this happened, now he'd be going crazy all evening trying to figure it out and Iruka know it too if the evil smile he was wearing was anything. Evil being.

"Well" Iruka let one hand slid across Kakashi's back before he stepped out from the hold and moved to grab Ibiki's big hand. "You guys hungry?"

Ibiki appeared very surprised at the action as he was led away and toward the garden restaurant. Surprised, but pleased and Kakashi was left staring in confusion as the other two men walked away from him, forcing him to dash after them.

….

Iruka supressed a snicker as he led Ibiki away, paying no mind to Ibiki's surprise or Kakashi's obvious dismay. He had to play this smart; gently getting Ibiki to open up while carefully (though not gently) knocking the plotting Kakashi down a few bars.

He knew Kakashi would probably still try to push for a normal relationship, because he was just stubborn like that. Iruka also knew by this point that Ibiki could be bullied, if it was done right. Kakashi probably wouldn't even know what he was doing, but if he was given too much slack, Ibiki could potentially get pushed out until he felt there was nothing to do but give up.

Iruka had to avoid this, which meant minimizing how much Kakashi touched and transferring the attention over to the big Jounin. This plan in mind Iruka smiled as he pulled his dates into the restaurant.

The Jasmine Flower –despite the nauseatingly sweet name – was apparently very popular as it was almost full, though it was designed just right so even if it was full, it was hard to tell as the tables weren't crowded next to each other like in most places.

There was a choice of seating, the orchard, the flower garden, the hedge maze or the koi pond; each section had a limited number of tables that were arranged just so that everyone had privacy and enough of a block that guests of one table wouldn't be forced to listen to a louder customer's conversation all night.

Both Jounin had looked helplessly over at Iruka when the waitress in a pretty black kimono had given them the choice of seating. Making Iruka chuckle while asking for a place in the koi pond, since the hedge maze, the most secluded place, was already full.

The waitress had seemed equally curious and terrified as she led the three men to their table. She stood closer than necessary to Iruka as they walked, him being the 'less threatening' person in the group while she shot sidelong looks at Kakashi and Ibiki. It was probably the civilian's first time seeing the two village legends.

The Jounin didn't seem to notice the looks, or if they did they ignored them, too used to the attention to care. Iruka figured that was the case, he'd gone out with Kakashi before and the reactions to the tall silver haired nin were varied, anything from fear to awe, stuttering respect, blatant flirting and hero worship.

Kakashi had confessed long ago he learnt to tune it out so not to maul the annoying people. Especially when they called him 'Hatake-sama' which, no matter how much he did for the village, he always viewed as a direct mock to himself and his dead father - who Kakashi was still very protective of, even if he denied it.

Out of habit Iruka observed the other diners as the passed, automatically noting who and what they were. There were a few civilians and a good deal of ninja, the atmosphere of the restaurant obviously being an attention grabber for the village elite. Some were still in uniform but most had donned on casual or formal dress. There were a few friends he could pick out, but it mostly seemed to be couples out for the evening, there were no families in the crowd, least none with kids under the age of sixteen.

Iruka found himself relieved at that fact, as much as he loved kids, having them in a restaurant was not something he enjoyed dealing with.

They were led through the big garden and shown to a table tucked off the side, between a towering honeysuckle bush and the rocks forming the koi pond. It was hidden so nicely that only Ibiki could still really be seen by the other diners and that was only because he was too big and stuck out over the cover.

Kakashi instantly slipped in to the farthest corner of the table, so he was jammed up between the hedge wall and rock. This was normal, what wasn't normal was the look of panic on the masked face as the tall man crunched himself down as much as he could.

Both Ibiki and Iruka gave him confused looks as they slid into their own seats, taking the menus from the girl who gave them both a pretty, though nervous smile before retreating with a little more speed than necessary.

Sliding Kakashi's menu closer to the cowering man Iruka leant forward, concern on the scarred face.

"Kashi? You ok?"

Kakashi instantly stopped what he was doing – which was pressing himself as close to the edge of the rock face as he could without revealing herself to the people on the other side or touching Ibiki (who in turn looked torn between freaking out and being insulted) – to whip around, grey eye wide with fright as he put a finger to the masked lips.

"SSSSHHHH! Don't say my name"

Now very confused Iruka and Ibiki exchanged looks before Ibiki casually leant backward carefully until he could see around the rock and the table seated across the pond. The black eyes widened slightly as the big man bit down on a chuckle.

Both Kakashi and Iruka noticed however and Iruka bounced forward with a "What?" while Kakashi sent the big Jounin a withering glare.

Ibiki grinned and leant down so he could whisper into the small tanned ear, though he made sure to still speak loud enough Kakashi's keen hearing would pick it up.

"Gai's sitting at the next table, with Anko"

The deep brown eyes widened then Iruka was holding back his own laughter. He'd known the two had been dating for a while – hell, pretty much everyone unfortunate enough to be working the night shift a few months ago knew. Kind of hard not to when the star stuck, head over heels and more than slightly drunk Anko came in and plunked herself down in her 'pet chuunin's' lap and began to tell, in slurred detail, just how wonderful and lovely and strong and flexible one green wearing Jounin was.

Iruka wasn't sure if Anko remembered her drunken confession (one that had included a surprising amount of really big words and a lot of 'I ssooo lloovveesss himm's and 'he ashked to be my boyfriend ya know?'s and even more giggling) but he'd managed to keep quiet about it – everyone else had shut up out of fear of the purple haired, snake summoning and all round sadistic woman.

He thought they were a good pair actually, sure Gai was strange and Anko was – Anko – but the tijutsuest was the kind of person who accepted other people, for all their little faults and was able to see and cherish the person under all the layers and masks. It was why he and Kakashi were best friends – even if the copy nin would denied that too sometimes.

Though he didn't really think this was the kind of place Anko would agree to go to – though in hind sight neither were his own dates, but that wasn't his fault, it was Kakashi's idea. One he seemed to be regretting at the moment.

"Why is he here?"

Kakashi's pitiful little whimper had Iruka coming back to the present while Ibiki seemed to be choking in his effort not to burst out laughing.

Kakashi knew it too if the glare his was giving the interrogator meant anything.

Swallowing his own mirth Iruka gave the Jounin a cheeky grin. "Looks like he's on a date too, should we go say hi?"

The look of pure horror in the grey eye was too much for the other two and both Iruka and Ibiki collapsed laughing while Kakashi went into panic mode again and desperately tried to shush them before his green loving friend heard.

"I don't know what's so funny; Anko would just love to use this against you B-Morino"

Ibiki looked thoughtful at that, then shrugged. "I have too much blackmail on her for this to matter, not to mention Iruka's here and she's more scared of him than me"

"Really?" Iruka glanced over surprised. "Why?"

Ibiki smirked. "Mmm, something about being shaved and talking squirrels, I never could get more than that out of her"

Chocolate eyes widened momentarily before the chuunin started to snicker. "I'd forgotten about that"

"Will you two shut it?" The vicious whisper came from the once again panicking Kakashi, who was still trying to monitor his best friend without being seen.

Iruka snorted but went back to examining the menu. "I don't get what the big deal is. Gai's here, so what?"

Kakashi hissed in annoyance. "Gai's been on a whole bunch of long missions lately as have I"

Ibiki's brow rose. "So?"

"So?" Kakashi leant forward over the table, a crazed look in the grey eye. "So we haven't been in village long enough to run into each other for over a month. A month, do you know what this means?"

Both nin shook their heads slowly, so Kakashi whisper ranted on.

"It means my so called 'best friend' and 'eternal rival' will have a full month of challenge repression built up! The last time it happened I nearly murdered him! I would have too, if he hadn't hospitalized himself for trying to climb the Hokage Monument with no chakra and both hands tied behind his back! It took him three weeks to recover and then when he got out-"

"Oh look Kashi, they have a Ginger Eggplant dish"

"Where?"

Instantly distracted, Kakashi grabbed the menu from the scarred hands, quickly scanning the page Iruka'd been reading to find the dish. He started muttering the ingredients out loud to himself when he did, much to Ibiki's apparent amusement.

Shaking his head Iruka reached over and slid Kakashi's menu away then flipped it open, resuming scanning it while occasionally sneaking glances over toward Gai and Anko's table. Kakashi didn't have to worry about them anyway, it looked like they were almost finished their meal and would be leaving soon. Though it did make Iruka giddy when he noticed just how happy Anko looked.

"A-are you ready to order?"

The nervous, shaky question startled Iruka from his thoughts and he looked over to see a waiter, not the girl from before but an equally nervous young man, hovering off to the edge of the table, note pad and pen in his shaking hands.

Fighting the urge to roll his eyes at the ridiculous behavior Iruka sent him a smile – one reserved for frightened children – mildly amused when it made the man relax almost instantly.

"Ah, I think so, Ibiki? Kakashi?"

The big man nodded slowly as Kakashi jumped slightly at the sound of his name. Iruka simply grinned at that and turned back to the waiter.

"A Gyoku with a plate of Hasomaki for me please, and I believe he wanted the Ginger Eggplant"

Iruka grinned over at Kakashi who merely rolled his eyes and slumped over the table, looking very much like a lazing cat. Ibiki in turn quietly ordered some Ya-taki and tea for all of them before resuming his study of the Japanese maple overhead and allowing the poor boy his retreat.

"I find that really annoying"

Both Jounin looked over at him in surprise and Ibiki shifted in his chair so he was facing the younger man.

"What's annoying?"

A scarred hand waved in the air. "That, how they act. Like you're going to attack them at any given moment. It's ridiculous!"

"But entertaining" Kakashi grinned from his slouch position. "And I prefer the fearful response to some of the others – hero worship especially, though the braggarts are just as bad."

Ibiki hummed low in agreement as he kept his focus on the napkin he was folding into a swan, much to Iruka's delight.

"So- what's in the bag?"

Kakashi's question caught Iruka off guard and he had to move quickly to save his bag from the gloved hands. Sending the older man a glare as he tucked it under his seat, out of the copy nin's reach. "You'll find out later, and stop slouching"

Ibiki snorted, amused when Kakashi sighed like a kid denied a treat and pulled himself upright.

"Ibiki?"

The entire restaurant seemed to quiet at the yelled name. Some birds even took off in fight, startling out of their perches as the big Jounin stiffened. A definite annoyed look on the scarred face as he turned to face the purple haired woman standing in the middle of the paved path, pointing at him with an extremely comic expression.

"Yes Anko?" The deep voice merely sounded bored.

Anko's jaw dropped, her hand still in the air, though she had started to shake it slightly. "Y-you-you-you – WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

The interrogator simply raised one brow. "Having dinner. You're being very loud by the way"

Iruka snickered as Anko blushed brilliantly and dropped her arm. The rest of the diners were now staring openly at both the famous Kounichi and her infamous boss. The air quickly began to fill with tension.

"Kakashi? My Dear and Wonderful Rival! Is It Really You?"

Kakashi let out something that could only be described as a whimper at the sound of Gai's voice. The Tijutsuest had just returned from paying the bill to collect his date, only now noticing the men hidden in the shadowy corner.

A puzzled look passed over Anko's face as she finally noticed Kakashi sulking in the far corner "Kakashi? And Ibiki? Why are you here? Together?"

Iruka huffed and crossed his arms as he leant over, moving so he was no longer hidden from view by a bush. "I'm hurt Anko! You didn't notice me?"

The dark brown eyes widened as Anko's jaw dropped again. She stood frozen for a moment before she let out a little 'squee' and rushed forward.

It was then Iruka realized – rather belatedly – Anko had never seen him with his hair down, despite her repeated attempts to steal his hair tie in the mission room.

"Ru'ru you look so cute!"

Iruka didn't have time to blink, let alone move before the bouncy woman threw herself into his lap and began petting the soft dark strands, cooing as she did.

Rolling his eyes Iruka let her be, knowing there was no way he was going to remove her against her will. He instead glanced over at the Kounichi's boyfriend, who had moved in to attack Kakashi with a 'Manly Hug of Friendship' which Kakashi was determinedly trying to get out of. Though he wasn't having much luck at it.

Ibiki was simply watching the whole thing with obvious amusement as he made no move to help either of them escape the over excited couple. That is until Anko suddenly remember he was there.

"AH!" She whipped around - still partly seated in Iruka's lap – and pointed at the scarred man "You!"

Ibiki instantly schooled his face back to bored. "Me."

"You! You here! With him! And Ruka!" the hand began to wave again. "Why are you here with one eye and Ruka?!"

"We're on a date"

…

MMMHAHAHAHAH! Yes, I'm being evil. We're surprised why? No seriously, I didn't mean to stop it off there, but the chapter was getting too long and I needed to cut it (yes, I still went with an evilest option there was.)

I love AnkoXGai. If I actually wrote straight romance, I would so be writing this pairing. Anko with Ibiki is ok, but I see them as more of the 'I know him/her to well to be anything but friends' type. Hence their interaction here.

Gyoku: simple rolled egg. Hasomaki: light, thinly sliced sushi rolls. Ya-taki: I'm not sure yet as I haven't actually tried cooking this (I will at some point) but it's a kind of cooked dish made with mushrooms and yams. The ginger eggplant dish is real too, think ginger beef, but with eggplant replacing the meat.