Review replies-

lexi-atel- Thankyou for all of your beautiful and encouraging reviews! I actually cannot thank you enough :) That was indeed a steamy chapter *grins*

Haruna (guest) Thankyou, I love them too :). And yes, i do, though not explicitly. They are young in this story afterall. If you would like something more explicit, I would sugest looking on my profile; though I don't have many stories as of yet. Thankyou for reviewing :)

And for those of you that are still with this story after so many years; thankyou so much, I really do appreciate the support *big grin*

When I say 'cups' in this chapter, I am referring to the small, ceramic, cups that are traditionally used to drink sake from, not the 'cups' measurement. Everyone would be very drunk if I were!

KAKASHI'S POV

"We'll do more than talk, Iruka."

I watched as he gulped audibly at my words, chewing his lip nervously. He looked past my shoulder at the approach of Asuma and then back at me. I wondered if, like me, he was replaying what had just happened in his mind. Taking in the pink tinge to his cheeks, I presumed that he was.

I mentally cursed that stupid cat and Asuma's poor timing, fighting the urge to grab Iruka caveman style and drag him to my bed. He wanted to talk, after almost devouring me. I had never expected such explosive passion from the chunin and I very much wanted to explore it further; but I didn't want him to close up on me again, not after he had just come alive at my touch. I knew that I should probably hold back a little longer.

His lips were red and slightly swollen from my forcefulness. I had meant to go slowly again, to be gentle. But when he had looked longingly at my lips and let out a quiet groan of need, I hadn't been able to help myself. Like a starving man given his first meal in weeks, I had attacked him. He had responded in kind, even grabbing my hair roughly and shoving his hand into my shirt as we kissed. I could still see the red marks on his neck and jaw where I had bitten him like a rabid dog. I fought a grin as he realised the direction of my gaze and clamped a hand over his neck where I had bit down and sucked earlier, his embarrassed flush deepening. He shot me an admonishing frown.

"Stop that."

"Stop what?" I asked innocently, grinning at him behind my mask and wiggling my visible eyebrow in the hopes of alleviating his embarrassment at almost being caught. Iruka gave a sheepish smile at my silliness.

"Looking at me like that; Asuma will notice." The chunin's gaze darted behind me again and I turned to face the fast approaching, mood killing, jonin with an inward smile at the way Iruka had uncomfortably shuffled his feet.

"Hey, Iruka!" Asuma acknowledged him with a smile, before turning to me; "I thought you were supposed to be training with team seven, Kakashi? I was on my way to talk to you."

I crinkled my visible eye and gave him an exaggerated shrug "Maa, they'll be fine without me! Unless they use up all of their chakra and die, that is. I've got them doing some pretty tough stuff."

"Kakashi! Don't say things like that!" Iruka admonished me, embarrassment suddenly forgotten in place of concern for his old students as Asuma chuckled.

"I'm sure they'll be fine, Kakashi is just pulling your leg, Iruka sensei." Asuma took a cigarette from his pack with an amused smile on his face and lit it "You guys fancy a drink and something to eat? I need a word with Kakashi anyway; we can kill two birds with one stone."

I agreed as Iruka blushed slightly and excused himself; saying that he would meet us at our chosen restaurant in a short while. He explained that he had left his books in his classroom to go and visit team seven, as he hadn't expected to be there long. He needed to collect and take his books and lesson materials home before the school building closed. With a warm smile at both of us he nodded his head in way of goodbye and walked to the edge of the path. He leapt into the trees to take a short cut through the wooded area to the village's academy, leaving me and the smoking jonin to walk along the path to the heart of the village. After a minute or so, I heard Asuma chuckle.

"So, Kakashi; Iruka sensei, huh?" He turned to look at me as we walked, grinning as he took another drag. I groaned inwardly, knowing that he must have seen us. I wasn't surprised that I hadn't sensed him; Iruka and I had been pretty caught up. I was just glad that it hadn't been Naruto and Sasuke walking into the village for whatever reason. I didn't particularly like the idea of having the 'I'm not hurting him' talk with a thousand angry Narutos as they attempted to kick me in the head for 'attacking' his favourite teacher. I schooled my features and tried to play dumb, asking him what he was talking about. My fellow jonin just grinned even more widely at me.

"Oh don't come with that, you big liar; I saw the pair of you. How old are you, fifteen?" He laughed good naturedly as he teased me.

"Ah you saw, did you? How long were you watching? I didn't know that you were into that kind of thing, Asuma." I teased right back, laughing slightly as I scratched the back of my head. Red spread across his face as he choked on the smoke of his own cigarette; it fell from his lips as he spluttered.

"I wasn't watching! I saw a couple of idiot shinobi, who should know better, making out in the bushes. So I back tracked and scared a cat in their direction. That's all."

"So that was you! You couldn't have just left us to it, could you?" I grumbled at him as we stepped from the path winding through the trees and into the cheerful, bustling, streets of Konoha. He barked out a laugh, unable to contain himself, and pulled another cigarette from his pack to replace the one he had lost.

"Afraid not, Kakashi" He took a drag of his newly lit cigarette. "What with the chunin exams coming up and all; that's why I came to see you, actually. I wanted to ask you how team seven is getting along. Ino, Shikamaru and Choji seem to be doing okay, but I'm second guessing my recommendation for them to take the exams at the moment." He sighed, smoke curling from his mouth as he continued; "Choji is obsessed with food and he never wants to spar in case he hurts someone. Ino is obsessed with boys and dieting; she picks on the other two a little as well. And Shikamaru is just plain lazy. The boy is brilliant, but he keeps saying that everything is 'troublesome'. He's only interested in playing shogi and watching clouds." Asuma sighed, looking over at me again. I realised that he needed reassurance that he had done the right thing in recommending his team for the harsh trails that were the chunin exams. I was surprised that he hadn't asked Kurenai; I had a suspicion that the two were dating. Though, she had her own team to worry about at the moment, I supposed.

"You think your team is all over the place?" I chuckled, to make him feel better "I have a boy with a demon sealed inside of him, another who's entire clan was murdered by his own brother and a kunoichi who seems to have no clue that the one she likes is in love with the other!" Hearing my predicament from my own lips amused me slightly and I found myself continuing. I told Asuma about Sasuke setting Naruto on fire, along with their other antics, and about how I fully expected Naruto to turn into a fiery ball of vengeance if the Uchiha didn't stop pestering him soon. Asuma laughed as we entered the restaurant and found a booth.

"They'll come to their senses eventually, don't worry; the only thing left soon enough will be mouth to mouth combat." He chuckled as he pondered the menu for a moment before ordering. I found myself laughing quietly at the strange look that the waitress shot him at his words and ordered the same as he did; a small bottle of sake, fried sweet potatoes with cheese and some squid tempura. I didn't plan on eating, but I knew that Iruka would hungry as he hadn't had lunch. I told the waitress to wait a little while before bringing out my food order and she nodded, leaving to tell the kitchen staff and returning with our sake after a few moments.

"So, how long have you and Iruka been an item?" Asuma asked as he poured himself a small cup from his own bottle and I did the same with my own.

"We aren't yet. I'm trying to woo him."

"You can't 'woo' someone by groping them in the bushes!" Asuma laughed "you have to give them flowers and take them out, kure- uh, women like that. I imagine it's the same if you're dating a guy." He scratched his beard ponderously and took a sip of his drink.

"I think he'd prefer a new set of kunai to flowers." I lifted my cup to my mouth, looking quickly around the restaurant to ensure that no one was paying any attention to me. Asuma averted his gaze politely for a moment and I swiftly pulled down my mask; tipping the entirety of the cup's contents into my mouth before pulling my mask back into place, all within a matter of seconds. The sweet, warm liquid filled my stomach with heat as I swallowed, sighing contentedly. I preferred sipping the beverage slowly at home, but did not have the luxury while out.

"Ninja tools are as good a gift as any. I think it's the thought that counts anyway." He chuckled as he glanced back at me now that my mask was in place once more. We simultaneously poured ourselves another drink.

"I've never had to think about it before; all the women I've been with have been temporary. I was with them for a couple of weeks at the most; but it's different with Iruka." Asuma raised a brow at the insight; not many people knew much about me, even my close friends.

"It's different how? You mean that you're in love with him?" He probed, leaning forward slightly in interest.

"I think so." I lifted my sake cup and Asuma averted his gaze again as he took another drink of his own. When my mask was in place once more he inclined his head at me; encouraging me to continue. "Well, I started following him around about a year ago, popping up all over the place; after that night we all went out and he got drunk, but he caught on pretty quick. He smacked me upside the head and told me to stop scaring the kids at his school by lying around on the roof. Then he invited me over for some tea; we've been good friends ever since. I've only recently made a move on him."

Asuma's eyes widened before he let out a loud laugh "Kakashi, you really are a dog! Stalking, really?" He was still laughing as his food arrived. He picked up a piece of sweet potato and popped it in his mouth, quieting.

"That's what ninja's do." I said defensively "I was gathering information."

Asuma swallowed before he replied; telling me that I should have just asked Iruka out if I was interested in him. I saw his logic, but told him how I hadn't wanted Iruka to reject me; or smack me upside the head again. He laughed again and we continued to talk, discussing my situation. He even confirmed my suspicions that he was dating Kurenai. We drank as he finished his food, discussing our respective teams, and what we hoped for them in the upcoming chunin exams. My food order arrived just before Iruka did. He slid into the booth next to me and greeted Asuma and I warmly, thanking me for the food before he began to eat. I watched him from the corner of my eye and Asuma smirked knowingly at me for my actions. I rolled my visible eye at him. Like he could talk.

Once Iruka had finished his food, we all ordered a small bottle of sake each and continued to chat as we drank. Iruka averted his gaze each time I took a drink. I wanted to tell him that there was no need, but didn't want to alert him to the fact that Asuma knew about us just yet. I wasn't sure that I could predict his reaction; and he wasn't afraid of taking on a jonin level ninja if he thought he had been wronged I thought with a smile, knowing no one else could see it.

When the subject shifted to Naruto, Iruka became more animated, even gesturing with his hands as he spoke. I watched him, pleased that he was happy. We spoke about the boy's potential and his dream to become the leader of the village. I was starting to believe that he could do it too.

"I actually went to check on him and Sasuke before heading here, that's why I took a little longer. I just stopped by and watched them for a couple of minutes before heading here; I didn't want to interrupt their training. They were getting to about the eighth bar across and it didn't look as though they were trying to fight each other anymore either; though, I was only there for a few minutes, so there's still a good chance one of them has punched the other by now." He laughed a little as he explained, with a small smile on his lips as he recounted.

"Bars?" Asuma interjected questioningly, as he waved the waitress over to order another drink; he could hold his alcohol well. I had decided to stop for the time being; having to drink each cup quickly due to my mask could be a slippery slope. I didn't want to get drunk, after all. I had about one small cup's worth of sake left of my current bottle to drink. Iruka was sipping his slowly so as to enjoy it without getting tipsy. I turned to Asuma and explained the new training exercise that I was using with my team. He was impressed, and even asked me if I could leave the apparatus in the field for his team to use, once mine had finished with it. I agreed, with a smile that he couldn't see; chakra control was an important skill to hone.

As the sun began to dip below the horizon Iruka finished his drink and suggested that he go and check on Naruto and Sasuke again to see if they had made it across the obstacle yet. I agreed, offering to join him, before tipping the last of my rice wine into my mouth as the others averted their eyes a final time. I rose with him as Asuma finished his drink and joined us as we walked to the counter to pay. I stepped ahead of Iruka and paid for his sake, along with mine and the food I had ordered for him. He blushed and thanked me formally with a glance at Asuma. The bearded ninja's face did not betray that he knew anything as he jokingly offered to let me pay for him too. I rose my visible eyebrow and called him a mooch; he feigned hurt as he paid his tab with a good natured laugh. The three of us exited the restaurant, stepping into the temperate twilight air.

"Ah, Kakashi; there was one more thing I meant to tell you earlier, I almost forgot." Asuma said as Iruka and I turned to leave. I looked back at him and inclined my head in question. He continued; "There was an ANBU black ops agent looking for you earlier in the hokage's tower, I heard him asking the third where you might be. He was wearing the ANBU cat mask."

Asuma probably presumed that I knew the agent in question; many people were aware that I had been part of the ANBU black ops when I was younger; before I had decided to simply be a jonin sensei. Though as a sensei I had never passed a team before Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura had come along. Team seven were quite special indeed.

"That was probably Tenzou. I asked him to help me build the structure that my team are using at the moment; nothing to worry about." As Asuma gave a relieved smile I head Iruka chuckle lightly.

"By 'asked to help', do you mean 'asked to build for you'?" He asked with a raised brow and a small smile.

"Maa, I can't copy wood style; besides he was happy to do it." I gave an exaggerated shrug as I supressed a chuckle of my own; he was ever the teacher.

Asuma laughed as he excused himself to go home, telling us to enjoy the rest of our respective evenings. As Iruka turned with a wave and a nod of goodbye I saw Asuma grin and wink at me. I rolled my visible eye, but found myself smiling beneath my mask as I bade him goodbye too, before turning to catch up with Iruka.

As we walked along the now lulled streets of konoha, I fought the urge to reach out and clasp Iruka's hand in mine once again.