Disclaimer: I wish I owned Naruto. But if I did...*coughs*
Call to Arms
Iruka stretched painfully, whining just a bit as his spine finally cracked, and he slid bonelessly down into his chair, exhaustion graying his vision. Gods, he didn't know how the other ANBU members did this, day in and day out...They don't teach a class of pre-genin and help in the mission room. And not to mention a relationship in the middle of everything...He had to smile, though; he couldn't have made it through each day without Kakashi's constant presence.
Even now, he could feel that familiar chakra signature, walking swiftly up to the Academy, a bag of Ichiraku's finest in one hand, while the other held up his beloved Icha Icha. Ordinarily, Iruka didn't care for the series, but after noticing the author, and making a few quick revelations, he could understand why Kakashi kept his collection so well cared for. He'd smiled a little when he'd caught the man dusting his volumes off, whistling merrily as he cleaned Iruka's house...their house.
He normally didn't go in much for living together, especially after only two months, but the older jounin had made himself so much a part of the teacher's life that it seemed...wrong, somehow, to tell him to go back to his apartment. Besides, there was plenty of room at his place, and aside from the occasional ninken lying in the middle of the hallway, they'd made it work surprisingly well.
It did help that Kakashi was incredibly respectful of Iruka's privacy; whenever he took to his office to go over reports and grade assignments, the Copy Nin kept himself busy with sweeping, watering, and the occassional house repair. He couldn't cook to save his life, but he made a mean cup of tea, and with his teleportation jutsu, kept all their microwave meals well stocked. All of it helped make Iruka's life a little easier, because ANBU was growing more persistent. He'd staved off the multi-day assignments as long as he could...but he didn't have a choice, now. He grimaced as he picked up the scroll again, glaring at it as Kakashi walked through the door.
"Hey there, lover...what's wrong?" Ah, the joys of expediency in a man...
"I'm trying to find a way to get out of this three-day mission so that I can give my students their midterm. Or postpone it till then. I'll do the damned thing, but I do not want to deal with Naruto's antics with a substitute again." And what with Danzo throwing a fit every day...
"Well, eat first, then we'll brainstorm." He kissed him gently, pulling down his mask long enough to inhale his food. Iruka chuckled at that, and sat back to enjoy his own meal, a delicious bowl of his favorite pork ramen. They traded appetizers (Iruka preferred crab rangoon, while Kakashi made jokes with his egg rolls), and munched in companionable silence, sitting across from one another, the desk between. Iruka studied his boyfriend, well aware that Kakashi was doing the same. The Copy Nin looked tired, but content; small wonder, considering how much fun they'd had last night...he smirked a bit, and a warm chuckle sounded in the empty room. "I suspect we're thinking the same things."
"You would suspect the truth. So, what on earth am I going to do?" Kakashi tapped his chopsticks against his chin, his eye closing as he thought.
"Well...what substitutes do you have available?"
"Shikaku's busy with the Hokage, and everyone else is covering his classes. All of the other chuunin won't come in; they claim that they wouldn't know what to do."
"...They just don't want to deal with Naruto." Iruka groaned, burying his face in his hands.
"You've hit it dead in the black, love. He's truly not that bad, he just...doesn't have any one to guide him." One long-fingered hand reached over and touched his wrist, and Iruka leaned into the touch, tangling his fingers into Kakashi's.
"You want to guide him." The teacher smiled, and rested his forehead on their clasped fingers, closing his eyes to the sharp sting of tears. He allowed himself that moment of weakness, Kakashi's other hand brushing over his bound hair, then straightened up, rubbing his eyes and taking a deep breath.
"What I want to do doesn't matter at the moment. What I can afford to do is find him a teacher who won't abuse him, but won't allow him to run wild. Now, to find that rare creature..."
"Why don't I do it?" Iruka blinked, staring up at the silver-haired man, and something about the look on his face made Kakashi pout. "Oh come on, I'm not that bad. I'll even leave the Icha at home. Seriously, though, it might not be a bad idea to trade off. I've done teaching before, and as long as you show me what your lesson plans are, I'll be okay."
"Some plans don't always survive the first bout, Kakashi."
"That's what being an ANBU leader for ten years is for. If I can't jury-rig a lesson if it goes awry, I'm not worth my claws." Iruka had to grin at that, and he nodded, relief easing the lines in his face.
"Alright, you're my sub from now on, unless you're on a mission too. Thank Kami you're used to getting up with me in the mornings now." At the older man's snicker, he laughed outright, and stood up, stretching again. "Yes, I think that'll do just fine. I do need to make up the plan tonight...would you like to help me?" Kakashi blinked up at him, and the teacher smiled softly, making his way around the desk to settle in the other jounin's lap. "It's only fair. I can tell you what we need to teach, and you can come up with ways to do it that are more suited to your style. We are different people, after all." Kakashi chuckled and nuzzled his neck, planting a soft kiss on his jaw.
"Well, that's true, I'm afraid. Alright then...but before we do that, I want you to relax for a change. How does an evening at the hot springs sound?" Iruka made a nearly inarticulate sound of pleasure and planted a kiss directly on his lover's lips.
"Dearest Kami-sama, I knew I loved you for a reason."
Kakashi hoped, dearly, that Iruka was joking when he said that teaching the pre-genins was like ANBU boot camp. Because he'd hated the camps as a kid, and as the silver-haired jounin looked over his notes, he hoped too that he'd be able to remember all the names. Okay...Naruto, Sasuke, Rock, Sakura, Tenten, Hinata, Neji, Shikimaru, Cho, Ino...There were a few others, but he hoped that after his own brief introduction, he could just plow through the lesson. He was nervous, after all; Iruka was supposed to be watching, but he was too nervy to check the chakra signatures around the area...
Finally, the bell rang, and the kids came in, laughing, yelling, chattering up a storm, and Kakashi was thankful for his mask, and the lazy look in his eye that came almost without asking. He leaned against the front of the desk, looking bored, and let his eye mark off each child, though his arms remained crossed, attendance sheet already marked off. He knew who was supposed to be here, and to his relief, they all showed up, settling in their seats and staring at him, all rather nervous.
"Good morning, class. Name's Kakashi-sensei, and I'll be teaching you in Iruka-sensei's absence." A hum of murmurs answered that, and he held up a hand, pleased that they quieted so easily. "I know, I know, I'm not your normal sub, but Iruka-sensei had no others who could come in, especially on this important a week, and it's not fair for you kids to have to postpone your midterm. Again. So, I'm here to help." One pink-haired girl with big blue eyes raised her hand, and he nodded to her, pleased.
"Will you be permanent?"
"Only until after midterms, or until Iruka-sensei returns, whichever happens first. I'm just filling in for the subs who couldn't be here." Another boy, the big one, Cho, he thought, since he looked so much like his father, raised his hand as well, and he relaxed, nodding to him.
"Will you teach us jounin tricks?" Kakashi grinned at that, but shook his head, chuckling as the groans filled the room.
"Nope, sorry, gotta follow the syllabus, you know how it goes. Besides, I promised Iruka-sensei that I'd be good." The last hand came from the blonde in the back, his cat-scratched cheeks set in a stubborn expression. Naruto.
"Why we gotta listen to you?" He demanded, giving Kakashi a bit of a start. He looked angry, upset, and instantly, he understood.
"Because Iruka asked me to help. He could have gone to one of the elders and had a replacement found, but he wanted someone who would treat you kids well. And while I'm relatively new to this, I was an ANBU leader for ten years." The gasps made him smile, and he directed his gaze at Naruto, holding the boy's blue eyes. "Yup, ten years as a squad leader, and when I retired, I in turn trained the newbies...your teacher, being one of them." Silence, now, and he took a breath; these kids...they could be trusted, moreso than any other nin.
"Iruka-sensei is on a mission now...and we all have to buckle down to make things easier for him. Can we do that?" The resounding YES's made him grin, and he turned to the chalkboard, feeling a measure of confidence that hadn't been his for a long time. "Alright then, open your books to chapter seven..."
Iruka motioned for Eel to infiltrate the front of the building, then directed both Tiger and Tortoise along the sides, taking the back with Basilisk and Osprey. They'd been at the edge of the Sand for a week now, building up a small base of operations in order for this particular sting to go down properly...and Iruka smiled faintly, slipping around the corner of the enormous adobe building with ease.
His thoughts had, momentarily, drifted back to Kakashi and his kids, wondering how their classes up to the midterm were going, but he'd told himself that they would be fine. The older jounin was, after all, a skilled nin, and an excellant teacher, and after watching one class with him, Iruka had been content to trust that he'd take care of his kids. The pre-genin had really taken to the silver-haired man, Naruto especially, and Iruka had to stifle a chuckle at the way the little boy had actually been listening.
Not that he didn't for Iruka, but...he'd long suspected that his methods of teaching were far from what the boy needed. And if he didn't get his attention back to his job, he'd risk a hell of a lot more than failed midterms. With a whisper of sound, he picked the lock of the back door, slipping in after Osprey, and left Basilisk to guard their backs. He led the younger nin into the rafters, ghosting along wide, old beams.
The item they were after was a scroll; one supposedly stolen from the Leaf ages ago, long before there was peace between the nations, and since this building was just outside the purview of the Sand, the elders had directed that ANBU send a team to seek it out. Of the teams, though, Iruka's was the only one available for such a long-term mission, in spite of the fact that that all of them were of the water element, and being in the Sand...he frowned under his mask, faintly angry. If something went wrong...they were all in danger.
But the building was empty; no chakra traps and only a large amount of dust, and he nodded to Eel's shadowed form, waiting as the man dashed between the storage boxes, hunting for just the right one...The soft sound of a mockingbird spelled out their triumph, and Iruka and Osprey slipped back to the back door, weapons still drawn, as Eel made his way through the aisles as well. As the taller man slipped through the door, Osprey and Iruka swung down onto the crates and clambered down, barely scattering the dust now floating in the air as they eased out into the moonless night.
They had the scroll, had the mission objective, and as the six nin started off across the gently rolling hills of sand, Iruka breathed a faint prayer for small miracles. Soon, he'd be home in Kakashi's arms, fending off attacks from an overly excited Naruto...when a faint, faint howl broke the air, and Iruka stilled, heart pounding. That...that was...his eyes widened, his mouth went dry, and with a bark, he ordered the nin to run, double-time. That was the cry of a released jinnchuriki...and his heart stopped when he realized what that meant.
They know.
I RECOVERED IT. Thank Kami. Thank fucking Kami. I've had this finished for almost nine months, and due to my computer's loss, I thought it was gone...ONWARD!