A/N: Yeah, I know this plot is way too overdone, but I couldn't resist trying one of my own…
By the way, I've already finished quite a few stories for this series, but some of them are kind of (really) heavy so I'll add them on in the end, therefore the rating's gonna go up later. But yeah, for now it'll all be clean youthful fun *good guy pose*.
Review or the puppy dies. Ok no I lie. Puppy gonna be fine. What puppy? But review anyways, because it makes me feel better about my boring pathetic life. I welcome criticism. And thanks for reading.
First Kiss
-3. Iruka Is An Excellent Ninja-
"Bet you couldn't," sneered Anko playfully as she ordered another round.
"Bet I totally could," replied Iruka, his mind hazy as he tried to sit up straight in his chair.
"Prove it, Iru-kun," Anko challenged, passing him his beer.
"I don't feel compelled to do that," Iruka said with a venerable little sniff.
"Then obviously, you can't do it," said Anko, gulping down her pint in one go as the rest of the bar cheered.
"I'm not going to fall for it, Anko," said Iruka, careful not to slur, "I may be inebriated, but I'm not going to get tricked into doing something illegal."
"You can't just claim that you can retrieve any document under any form of security in any country without getting injured, and then just pretend that someone would believe you, Iru-kun," Anko hiccupped.
"Well, I could prove it, but I'm not going to do anything illegal," said Iruka firmly.
"Tell him to steal the mist's shadow scroll," provided Genma as he stumbled into his seat, eager to get in on this excitement.
"I said nothing illegal, you big silly," Iruka sighed in as much exasperation as he could muster in his cloudy-minded state.
"I got it," Anko said with an evil glint in her eyes, "Any country, any document, and any security, right?" Anko leered, "I've got an impossible one for you," she continued, practically rubbing her fingers together, "This country, Icha Icha Paradise, volume four, Hatake Kakashi."
***
Iruka couldn't believe he'd allowed himself to get strung into getting drunk with a bunch of jounin, never mind accept a ridiculous dare that wouldn't even accomplish anything. He sighed quietly to himself again as he watched his target, seated comfortably in his home, from the jabby branch of a tree.
The man was busy examining some thick dusty book and comparing it with an old fraying scroll, a look of concentration creasing his brow. Iruka thought the look suited the usually droopy-eyed man quite well. Iruka had watched the jounin all day, and had only seen him take out the little orange booklet once since his trip to the hokage tower that morning. It had been the wrong volume, so he was trying to find out where Kakashi kept volume four. Curse that Anko for being so damned detailed!
He felt hopeful as Kakashi sat up and stretched briefly, before getting up from the sofa and carefully packing away the scroll and book into a wooden chest, locking it, and…then it disappeared.
Iruka blinked.
What?
How on earth did that man just hide an entire wooden chest into thin air?
Iruka realized his mistake when his surprise caused him to briefly forget that he was suppressing his chakra. Usually, nobody would have noticed the half-second flare in chakra, or would have brushed it off as kids playing or an insect dying. But this was Kakashi. When he suddenly spun around, his body tense and ready to attack, Iruka knew his game was over. He turned to escape as far as he could before he got caught, and leapt straight into a grinning jounin crouched behind him in the tree. Damn!
"Ohayou, Iruka-chan," he said cheerfully, a palm raised in greeting.
"H-hello Kakashi-san," Iruka said, mentally plotting an escape route, but spotting no openings.
"How long have you been spying one me?" Kakashi asked, looking curious as he stared straight into the teacher's wide fearful eyes.
"Hmm? Erm…not…not long…aahaha…," Iruka said, trying to act casual as he rubbed the back of his head.
"What were you spying for?" Kakashi asked, his eyes now losing its playful grin. His expression remained its usual brooding stare, but his voice held a subtle growl that sent a shiver down Iruka's spine.
"N-nothing really…just…watching you…," said Iruka, trying to calculate how Kakashi would react to the information that a chuunin was trying to steal his favorite adult book.
"Did it have anything to do with a book, Iruka-san?" Kakashi asked, his eyes now serious. Iruka visibly paled. How did he know…?
"Y-yeah?" Iruka stammered uncertain if Kakashi was just trying to trick him, and didn't actually know that his Icha Icha was in trouble. The jounin's eyes narrowed as he slowly advanced on the teacher, and Iruka felt fear for his life.
"Explain yourself, Iruka," Kakashi said softly, a threatening tone barely concealed in his voice.
"I…I'm afraid I can't do that…because…well…," Iruka stammered, slowly backing away.
"What did you see?" Kakashi asked, eye narrowing.
"N-nothing…," said Iruka, his face now flushed, eyes wide with fear as Kakashi started radiating what felt dangerously like murderous intent…the man loved his book that much?? This was ridiculous!
"Iruka-sensei…I can't believe that you…of all people," Kakashi said softly, his voice quavering slightly at the end. Iruka stared wide-eyed into the older man's eyes and was surprised to find a deep pain, as though the chuunin teacher had just betrayed the whole village.
"I didn't know it would be such a big deal," Iruka said, starting to really feel morally guilty for causing the man so much pain over a stupid dare that he'd agreed to while under the influence.
"Defend yourself, Iruka," Kakashi said shortly. Iruka barely had time to register the words before he instinctively leaped out of the way as a punch flew straight towards his face.
"Your reflexes are too good for a chuunin…I knew there was something about you sensei…something I couldn't put my finger on…," Kakashi said, immediately following his initial attack with a flurry of kicks and punches, almost impressed that Iruka could dodge them all.
"Kakashi-sensei, look, I'm sorry, alright?" Iruka said hastily, dodging and blocking one attack after the next, wincing lightly when some of them brushed past his skin at such speeds that it burned. He was alarmed that he was receiving such a crazy response just for attempting to steal that stupid novel. Couldn't the jounin just buy a new one? His temper finally got the better of him when Kakashi aimed a chakra infused palm straight at his throat; it would have instantly snapped his neck had it landed.
"Kakashi! I can't believe you nearly…that's seriously pushing it!" Iruka yelled, starting to attack back. He knew that his offensive skills were nowhere near as good as his evasive ones, but he was seriously pissed off that the jounin would risk killing someone from his own village just for his stupid porn.
Kakashi leaped back a few paces after easily blocking all of Iruka's attacks. He stared at the teacher, the pain still deep in his eyes, but now mixed with light confusion.
"Why are your attacks so weak?" he asked sounding truly puzzled. Iruka blushed at the comment, his temper starting to fade due to embarrassment.
"Of course my attacks would be weak compared to you! Who do you think I am?? The Yondaime??" Iruka demanded, grasping at what pride was still left intact by Kakashi's honest, therefore all the more hurtful comment.
Kakashi's expression instantly darkened, "Of course not. I'll deal with you anyways. I just can't believe that you…of all people…," Kakashi trailed off, the pain growing within his eyes as he glared at the academy teacher…he thought the man was so pure…
The jounin sprinted forwards and threw kunais directly at Iruka's spine at top speed, astonished that the chuunin managed to dodge every one of them, only acquiring a few small scrapes. What puzzled Kakashi was the fact that Iruka only dodged. Apart from the few weak attacks earlier on, he never put in a single offensive move. If the enemy had decided to steal the book, surely they'd have chosen a more offensively skilled shinobi. Unless…Kakashi's eyes narrowed…unless Iruka was trying to steal the book for himself.
He leaped out of reach again, expecting the teacher to follow, but Iruka merely stared at Kakashi as though he'd gone mad. The jounin felt anger bubble inside him.
Iruka…pure Iruka…innocent, good, kind-hearted Iruka…how could he not have seen it…nobody was really that…perfect…
He raised his arms and lifted his hitai-ate, revealing his sharingan and examined the younger man, moving to attack again, but surprised that the teacher immediately moved into a purely evasive stance. He wasn't planning to attack at all! Kakashi also noticed that the man's eyes were wide in surprise. The jounin couldn't help feeling even more betrayed. What did the foolish man think would happen? You didn't just get a slap on the hand for attempting to steal what was possibly the most dangerous and also most valuable book on this side of the continent. Kakashi had been handed the book this morning and was instructed to examine it in detail, report on his findings, and then protect it with his life. Nobody else was supposed to know. How did someone like Iruka…?
"Why won't you attack?" Kakashi asked, frowning lightly as he backed away, planning his next move now that he could see through Iruka's evasive technique.
"Of course I won't attack, you idiot!" Iruka yelled furiously, "Besides the fact that I'm just an average chuunin and you're goddamned Sharingan-no-Kakashi top of all the bingo books, I, unlike you, have the common decency not to attack members of my own village, you maniac!"
Kakashi stared at the indignant look on Iruka's face, his confusion increasing exponentially. What the hell was going on? Was Iruka accusing him of being a bad shinobi after just attempting to steal a top secret book of forbidden knowledge from his own village?
"Your evasive techniques far surpass that of a chuunin, and even of a jounin," Kakashi observed aloud, "So it won't be so easy convincing me that you're of chuunin level just to get me to underestimate you. A chuunin wouldn't be so stupid as to attempt to steal the book from me. Not alone," Kakashi said, immediately stretching out his chakra to search for allies but finding none. Definitely alone.
"I've been training evasive and defensive skills non-stop ever since…," Iruka sighed, his shoulder slumping, "Kakashi, look, I'm sorry, alright? Kami-sama, I swear I'm never drinking again," Iruka muttered exasperatedly. Kakashi stared at the shorter man with such a puzzled look on his face that Iruka could almost forgive the jounin for trying to maim him. Almost.
"It was a dare, you see," Iruka tried to explain before he got a kunai through the skull. Kakashi stopped in his tracks and stared at the chuunin as if he'd lost his mind.
"You were dared to steal the Grimmauld?" he asked uncertainly.
"Th-the what?" Iruka asked, looking befuddled, "No I was dared steal Icha Icha Volume Four from you," he explained, suspecting that Kakashi might have been thinking that he'd been talking about the dusty old tome that the jounin had hidden away…into thin air…but never mind that, he'd nearly gotten killed over a stupid book!
The jounin scrutinized Iruka for a minute, and apparently he decided that the teacher was telling the truth, as his eyes curved back into a smile.
"Is that all?" he asked, dropping his offensive stance and dropping down from the tree, landing gracefully on his feet. He started heading for his apartment, as Iruka stared at the back of his head in amazement that his moods could change so quickly. Kakashi paused, turned around and blinked boredly up at Iruka. "Well? Are you coming or not?" Kakashi called up.
Iruka stared at the jounin for a second before he decided that he might as well, after all he'd gone through.
"W-what was it that you invited me inside for, Kakashi-san?" Iruka asked, trying to look as unthreatening as possible to avoid further conflict.
"Well, you were looking for this, right?" Kakashi asked, pulling out a little orange book from his packed bookshelf. Iruka glanced at it. Icha Icha volume four.
"Erm, yes," said Iruka, unsure how to respond.
"Well, here you go. Just return it in good condition."
Iruka stared at the orange book in the jounin's fingers suspiciously, as if expecting the cover to peel off to reveal the thing to be Satan himself. He looked up at Kakashi disbelieving.
"You're just going to give it to me?" Iruka asked, frowning lightly. Kakashi's head tilted slightly to one side, his visible eye seeming mildly puzzled.
"No, I'm lending it to you. I'm expecting it back in the same condition, no later than next Saturday," said the man, his eye curving lightly.
"B-But this is too easy," Iruka stammered, not sure why he is even arguing at all. Just take the book and leave, before he changes his mind! "You were spewing murderous intent not a minute ago!"
"Oh that," Kakashi waved his hand dismissively. "I thought you were someone else," he explained, almost looking apologetic, "That little thing is just something I use to make people feel less obliged to bother me," he shrugged, indicating the orange book in Iruka's fingers, "I've got others."
"But…you were trying to kill me…," Iruka said, trying to understand the man's sudden change of nature, "I'll just tell Anko that I failed if you don't want to—" his trail of words ended abruptly as Kakashi leaned in, swiftly tugged his mask down, and pressed his lips against Iruka's. The younger man's mouth was slightly parted in surprise, and Kakashi took this as an opportunity to lightly slide his tongue languidly over the teacher's, grinning at the delicious little groan that escaped Iruka's throat, before he pulled away, grinning at the teacher's wide eyed blush.
"I almost convinced myself that there were no more good people in the world. I've just realized that the most evil thing you could ever do is break someone's heart by accident. So I'll just take that for now, and when you return the book in good condition, you can take it back," Kakashi said, kissing Iruka again, gently on the nose, before slipping the book into Iruka's pocket as he pulled his mask back over his nose, his eye looking bored, but the mask not entirely hiding the tiny blush on his pale skin.
"Ok," Iruka managed to squeak before he disappeared from the jounin's living room in a puff of smoke, his face glowing red.
***
"You got the book! That's amazing! I tried to steal it from him once and nearly got fried!" Anko exclaimed, waving her arms about in frustration.
"R-really?" Iruka asked, trying not to look too surprised.
"Why on earth are you still a chuunin, Iruka-sensei? This is unbelievable! Did you take it by force or did you manage to remain undetected the whole time?"
"I…got discovered," said Iruka honestly, "But I managed to escape," he lied.
"You should be promoted to ANBU for this, screw the jounin exams," Genma piped in.
"N-no, I'm sure I just got lucky," Iruka said, barely managing to suppress his blush at the memory of Kakashi's warm tongue dragging sweetly across his own…very lucky.
He blinked at the thought.
"Well, I'm definitely impressed," said Anko approvingly, "Next round's on me," she said, patting Iruka proudly on the back.
"No, I…I think I should return this now, seeing as we've had our fun. I wouldn't want a jounin feeling any animosity towards me," said Iruka, getting up to leave.
"Besides, there's something else that I've been wanting to take from Kakashi…," he said as he left, a small blush finally defeating his resolve as he sped towards the older man's home.
Something very precious…