Yamato cooked dinner, grumbling all the while, and Kakashi leaned against the counter, instructing him all the way. Iruka stood behind him, looking on as Kakashi complained about how he hated too much pepper and he didn't like green onions and he didn't like carrots, even as Yamato viciously threw all those ingredients into the bubbling pot. It was a ritual between them, and Kakashi wondered how Iruka viewed their banter.
Well, he had an idea; he could feel Iruka's amusement and a strange brand of wistfulness twisting through their chakra. It was interesting how he was starting to catalogue most of Iruka's feelings. The other man had a very expressive face, unfortunate for a shinobi, but whatever was apparent on his face had multiple layers underneath, buried deeply; Kakashi still had problems sifting through them. He felt so wary at having another person's soul being peeled back for his perusal... like that onion Yamato was handling over there. Kakashi was even more discomfited at the idea that Iruka was reading him just as easily.
"I'm glad," Iruka suddenly said, so quietly that Yamato probably didn't hear, "that you have such a good friend."
"But I don't want those dumplings!" Kakashi griped at Yamato and ducked the knife that was thrown at him. "Why would you feel so glad over that?" he muttered back at Iruka. "I can have friends."
Iruka snorted. "Of course. The great Sharingan no Kakashi with friends. I used to think that you simply had colleagues, or team-mates. Or people to get out of your way while you save the day."
Kakashi turned towards him, feeling unusually shaken by that comment. Iruka had been smiling, but the soft quirk of his lips faded away as their gazes locked.
"I—"
"I'm more than just the Sharingan, can't you understand that?" Kakashi hissed at him, and yanked his fingers away from Iruka's. It was petulant and childish, but he was feeling that way. They both reeled under the onslaught of the seal, his chakra howling painfully in his ears as his skin crawled with stripes of agony. At least they didn't black out, he thought with distant cynicism as Iruka groped for his hand. Tenzō would have to scrape them both off the floor, and he was already in a cranky mood.
"Until we get to the point where we don't need the physical contact," Iruka said in faint voice, "please don't do that again."
"Fine," Kakashi tried to snap back, but he felt just as weak as Iruka felt. He noticed that Tenzō observing them closely, his knife poised over the waiting vegetables. Kakashi twitched his shoulders and Tenzō twitched back, an entire conversation in itself, before he went back to his cooking.
"I'm sorry," Iruka murmured and Kakashi just looked at him. "I didn't mean that."
"Yes, you did," Kakashi pointed out and actually found himself pouting. Iruka shot him an incredulous look and then smiled faintly.
"Fine, so I did. But it's not true. You do have friends." Iruka went back to smiling at him and Kakashi's gaze flickered down to his mouth for a brief second before looking in those wide, brown eyes again. "I used to dream about being your friend."
Kakashi felt as if someone could have used a feather and pushed him over. He raised his eyebrows, both of them, and Iruka blushed, averting his gaze.
"I mean, who didn't dream of that? Even as a kid, I'd hear stories about the Great and Fabulous Hatake Kakashi and..." he shrugged. "I wanted to be his friend."
"Oh." Kakashi couldn't find enough words right then, and he flailed about internally for what felt like five minutes too long. From the way the red flush faded from his cheeks and the amusement rippling from him, Iruka had grasped his current failure at coherency.
Kakashi finally raised their linked hands. "Well...when the seal gives us enough distance, we can still be friends."
Iruka's smile froze, and while the emotion coming from him was still mostly amusement, he seemed to be veiling another one from Kakashi's senses. Kakashi kept forgetting to do something like that, shielding his feelings. He had always kept himself a mystery using his mask and his general air of indifference...hiding his emotions had never been at the forefront of his quirks.
He wondered how Iruka had learned to do that so quickly.
"That would be nice," Iruka said, and then looked over Kakashi's shoulder. "Ready, Yamato?"
"Yes," Tenzō answered. Kakashi turned back to watch him ladle out broth into bowls; he was using a tea-cup because Kakashi did not own an actual ladle. "Now, come on and tell me all about your seal."
So they did; as they ate, they sat close enough so that their bare ankles touched. Kakashi surreptitiously tipped the carrots into Iruka's bowl, not because he didn't like them, but because he enjoyed the long-suffering expression that Tenzō adopted. Iruka ate them with indulgent dignity and filled Tenzō in on their situation in between neat slurps. Kakashi tried not to look at his mouth; it seemed as if it called to him, begging for him to just lean forward and take the chopsticks out of Iruka's hand and-
"Interesting," Tenzō's considering voice cut through the haze of Kakashi's want. Iruka looked at him out of the corner of his eye, and he smiled in a coyly evil fashion.
Kakashi's mouth felt dry. He looked away.
"—and maybe you could both could pull off a collaboration jutsu." Tenzō finished, staring at them with a gleam of excitement in his dark eyes.
"What was that?" Kakashi asked. "You were saying?"
Tenzō glowered at him; Iruka chuckled. "I was saying, you both seem have a combined chakra now, because of the seal. But are your chakra-natures the same, or dissimilar? Because if you do, then the way you manipulate the shared chakra will be different!"
Kakashi tilted his head and then nodded decisively. "You see? My amazing influence on him for all these years has emerged in this single streak of brilliance," he told Iruka, who laughed. "My work here is done."
"Kakashi's affinity is for lightning," Tenzō went on, ignoring Kakashi's jibe as he always did. "Yours, sensei?"
"Wind," Iruka answered and wrinkled his nose as Kakashi made a surprised sound in the back of his throat.
"Not Water?" he said and elbowed Iruka teasingly. He felt strangely light, and knew that it was because Iruka was in a good mood now; his bright feeling streaked into their seal and ricocheted all over the place. "Whatever will our little dolphin do out of his element?"
Iruka eyed his head in a distant manner, like a scientist observing a failed experiment. "I've just realized that your affinity may have some 'amazing influence' on your hairstyle."
"Hey!" Kakashi patted his hair in a wounded fashion. "I put a lot into looking this cool." He held his nose in the air and turned away haughtily, then squinted at his kōhai's stunned expression. "What? What is it?"
"I've never seen you so carefree," Tenzō said. "This bond is good for you."
Kakashi completely forgot to try the feelings-blocking thing, because Iruka definitely picked up on his unsettled reaction to Tenzō's comment.
"Maybe," Iruka said and deftly turned the conversation around."Let's go back to this collaboration-jutsu? I've covered it briefly in class, but—"
As he continued speaking, he absently rubbed the back of Kakashi's hand with his thumb.
Kakashi couldn't be faulted if their bond made Iruka's touch feel amazing.
...
Yamato was certainly a sensitive individual, Iruka concluded; he must have seen the intense, longing looks Iruka had been throwing in Kakashi's direction when Kakashi wasn't looking at him, and had taken his leave with promises of future visitations. With food, he added with a grumpy expression and Iruka could feel Kakashi's naughty hilarity at the prospect of tormenting Yamato some more.
Iruka liked this side of him; it wasn't a facet of his character that was immediately apparent. From the time he was in the Academy, he had been regaled with the legend of this man. Whenever Kakashi had passed him on the street, Iruka had been unable to prevent his gaze from trailing after, watching that impossible hair being ruffled almost affectionately by the wind. Kakashi had been as inscrutable as the Hokage Monument and as unattainable as the Daimyo himself.
...and here Iruka was now, holding hands with this man who was both feared and revered, as this man shut the door to his home and then stepped back, giving their joined hands a sidelong look.
Iruka cleared his throat. Kakashi looked up in his face and then looked away just as quickly. For a few awkward beats, they just stood there; Iruka easily piled most of his feelings back behind the wall he had built for himself as a teenager, when the Sandaime had informed him that he needed to find some way to control his emotions. He could feel Kakashi's uncertainty broadcasted at him, and it was absolutely endearing.
Kakashi was inspecting a bit of peeling paint as he said, "Want to kiss me?" in a careless fashion, as if Iruka's answer didn't mean much to him either way. This wasn't true, of course. The push of the seal was increasing again, making its demands and tuning their bodies to each other.
Oh yes, Iruka wanted to answer, but he simply asked, "Do you want me to kiss you?"
Kakashi's gaze snapped to his, his exposed eye widening by just a bare shiver, before the lid slouched down over it again. "If you want to."
Iruka felt his breath quickening, partly from the need to lick his way into Kakashi's mouth, and partly from a kind of dismay. Iruka entertained the notion of not kissing him, before he stepped right up into Kakashi's space. He leaned forward and let his mouth rest on one sharp cheek, pulling away his hand and reaching around Kakashi's neck to work the knot of his scarf free.
The green cloth belled in front of Kakashi's mouth and then slipped down to hang in folds around his neck; the portion of it which Iruka had wound around the Sharigan eye remained in place. Iruka tilted his head, lips brushing so lightly against Kakashi's skin as he traced a path over the warm shelf of his jaw, down the long, strong line of his neck to rest against the quickening pulse in the shadowed curve. He pulled back, cupping Kakashi's face in both hands. His cheeks had gone faintly pink.
"Want me to kiss you again?" Iruka whispered, thumbs stroking his cheeks.
Kakashi nodded.
Iruka kissed the other side of his neck, pulling the neckline of his crazy shirt to the side so he could get at the middle of his shoulder. The tip of his tongue stole out, tasting Kakashi's skin.
"Again," Kakashi said, voice shaky and faint when Iruka raised his head, but he was already leaning in. Triumphantly, Iruka met him halfway and backed him up against the front door as they kissed. He took hold of Kakashi's wrists, holding them up and pinning them at either side of his head. Kakashi tried to free himself, but Iruka nipped at his bottom lip warningly before he allowed about an inch between them.
"Don't move your hands," he said and Kakashi gave him a vaguely withering look. Iruka clicked his tongue against the back of his teeth with mock severity. "Will I have to tie you up?"
Kakashi raised his eyebrows. "I'd like to see you try."
"Ahh, you still doubt my prowess, I see." Iruka withdrew one hand and plucked a few hairs from the unbound mass around his shoulders. He noticed Kakashi kept his hand up, watching him closely as Iruka charged the strands with his chakra. Iruka paused and then searched for Kakashi's chakra through their bond, grinning when he pulled some through and infused it with his, wrapping it tightly around the dark wisps.
Iruka felt Kakashi's surprise and a healthy dose of curiosity.
"I want to try that," he said. Iruka placed one of the strands around his wrists, watching as it moulded around the pale limb and pulled it back against the wood.
"That would be handy in battle. I could pull some of your chakra and gain some—" He broke off when he realized that his other wrist was now bound with nothing more than Iruka's hair, and he frowned even more when he tugged at them both and there was no give. "Release me."
Iruka knelt down at his feet, looking up at him with what he hoped was a soothing expression. "You can free yourself easily, but...you might like this."
"I don't like being restrained."
"Have you ever tried it?" Iruka touched his ankles and Kakashi breathed in, sharply. Iruka smiled, and stroked the curve of the bone. "I won't hurt you. Trust me. Please."
"What purpose is it to tie me up during...this?"
Iruka sat back on his ankles, staring up Kakashi's lean form, currently covered by that long green shirt. He kept contact with Kakashi's feet, brow wrinkled a little at the sharpness in both Kakashi's tone and in the bond. "Haven't you ever...well, trusted anyone like this before?" At the look on Kakashi's face, he continued: "Apparently not. It's...Kakashi, it's just so you can...I don't know, let go? I suppose."
Abruptly, Kakashi asked, "Have you ever done this before?"
"Been tied up during lovemaking? Yes. Tied someone else up? Oh, yes. It's fun."
"Fun." Kakashi rolled the word around his mouth, and Iruka suddenly wondered if Kakashi treated sex like a mission. "All right."
Iruka blinked up at him and then nodded; Kakashi felt more willing than reluctant, even though there was a stilted edge to it, as if he was bracing himself against the unknown. He slid his hands up Kakashi's legs. "Oh. All right. If you don't like anything I'm doing, then tell me to stop, and I will."
"Will you," Kakashi said, tone flat. His eye was bright, however, and Iruka smirked up at him before he lifted the lower hem of Kakashi's gown-like shirt and dived underneath it; he came face to face with Kakashi's half-hard cock, the heady smell of him and a glistening droplet of precome oozing from the slit. Iruka grasped the shaft, pulling back his hand so that Kakashi's foreskin revealed the thick head completely. Kakashi made an abortive movement, a twitch of his hips and Iruka gave him a lick for his troubles, long and slow on the underside of his prick.
The low groan Kakashi let out and the raw want funnelling through their bond hit Iruka like a Lion-combo, and he took him into his mouth, suckling briefly before sliding down even more. He controlled his breathing and his gag-reflex, going down almost to the grey tangle of Kakashi's pubic hair before pulling back.
"Oh," Kakashi muttered and Iruka allowed him to move in his mouth, shallow, experimental thrusts. It was warm underneath Kakashi's shirt, and Iruka's hair plastered to the back of his neck, while saliva dribbled out of the corners of his mouth as Kakashi fucked even faster... but Iruka would not have it any other way. He was hard himself, and Kakashi was so deliciously slick in his mouth; he stroked the skin of his thighs, fondled the furred, heavy balls. He released Kakashi's cock with an obscene pop, and swirled his tongue all over the surface while Kakashi made noises of desperate complaint.
When Iruka sucked Kakashi back in fully, he jerked, going up on the balls of his feet. Iruka tasted the first bitter spurt of his come; he closed his eyes, gripping Kakashi's hips as if he was falling off some edge as he continued to swallow Kakashi's release. Iruka's own prick throbbed between his legs, and he pulled at the sash of his yukata and opened the folds of material, reaching between his legs.
Kakashi's shirt was ripped from over his head just as he got hold of himself, and Kakashi stared down at him; he had freed himself, but Iruka saw a thin red line on the skin of each of his wrists, indicating that it had been relatively difficult. Iruka had no time to ponder that right now; Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder and shoved him back, and he tumbled onto his bottom, cock bobbing up eagerly.
"Kakashi!" Iruka was very cross with him, but that faded as Kakashi knelt between his sprawled legs, staring down at his erection. That heavy gaze travelled up Iruka's body, taking in the heaving plane of his stomach and chest, his mouth and his damp hair. "I need to—" Iruka reached down, grasping himself again and tugging at it with shaky strokes.
"Kakashi," Iruka said again, but the name emerged on a low moan as he snapped his wrist quickly in that way he liked best. Iruka barely registered Kakashi's intention before the other man peeled his fingers away and then wrapped his own in their place, taking up the rhythm and the method with suspicious ease. Iruka stared at his face and...the now-exposed Sharingan glowed red. Kakashi had copied the manner in which he masturbated.
Iruka came hard, writhing half-naked on the floor near the front door, arching as he spurted all over Kakashi's hand. He lay there for a few beats, trying to calm his heartbeat and gathering his scattered thoughts with some difficulty. That was a bit problematic, since one of Kakashi's hands still lay warm on his upper thigh. When he had finally managed to compose himself, he raised his head a little, and saw Kakashi inspecting his hand.
"Hngh," Iruka groaned when Kakashi licked at his come-covered fingers, tongue flickering in between the long digits.
"It's bitter," Kakashi informed him and Iruka slumped back down, flinging one hand over his eyes.
"Yes. I know."
"But not bad," Kakashi said and Iruka lifted his head again so fast that his head spun. "I don't mind it."
"Oh." Iruka smiled at him. "And the bondage part?"
"Hmm." Kakashi appeared as if he was compiling a mission report in his head, face completely composed. Iruka, however, felt a thick streak of satiation twisting vigorously between them. "It was indeed fun."
Iruka laughed, scrambled up to his knees and fell upon Kakashi with quick kisses. If Kakashi had an issue with the taste of his come in Iruka's mouth, he didn't say.