Splendid new year 2014 to all of you guys here at the . Yes, I am late with this, there's no question about it, and I'm once more bowing and asking for forgiveness. So get on with it then. Hopefully you'll enjoy it.

Oh, and check out a couple of links from my profile to see what wristwatchwitch has prepared for us as the first fan art ever made for this tiny fic. Check her out, those works are awesome!


Day 13 Night: Turning the tables over The Twenty Cups

The roar of thunder echoed through the flooding streets of Konoha and its residents did all they could to get through the day with dry feet with more or less success while the rain made sure that not even a spot was missed by its pounding raindrops. As the said inhabitants also included loitering shinobis who have been left without any official missions to keep them away from trouble, some turned the self-appointed mission of the dry footgear into a variety of challenges that had several different impacts on their fellow citizens depending on how much of the well-trained muscle the skin-tight green spandex did put on display amidst the heated competition. Then again, Tsunade had yet to give her thanks for the Konoha's Green Beast for whipping her subordinates into vigorously executed fieldwork periods during the dilemma of the dull assignment rush that occasionally took over the mission desk. Despite the common dislike towards the meek D-rank requests, the chance for having something else to look at instead of the Bulging Bumps Of Youthful Springtime that were sprinkled with oddly glittering pearls of water was seized with no qualms whatsoever.

For many clans and individuals, their eyesight was their best weapon and they fully intended to keep things that way.

Meanwhile, in one tiny household in a light-gray small building located behind a high fence wall, one gray eye stayed focused on one tiny black book that was held in one tan hand as one particular genius mind was kicked into overdrive when the half growled words of one certain miffed chuunin were finally deciphered by the always over-thinking gray cells of one infamous silver-haired man of thousand-and-two enemies. After asking what he had been mulling on the hidden tongue for a couple of painfully slow minutes, the number just might climb up to three. "What kind of seals are we talking about, Iruka-sensei?"

With that the jounin got more closely acquainted with the book that was suddenly whammed against his chest with a bit more pronunciation than needed to make the other's opinion clear on the matter. Only that the feel of the solid leather-bound covers pressing against his sternum wasn't the top priority in the bewildered copy-nin's mind as he could soon enough smell the sweet, warm breath of the honey-toned man who had stepped well within the elite's inner range, the lithe mocha-colored muscles emitting low burning heat against the darkly clothed pale skin from just an inch away. "Exactly what it sounded like, Kakashi-san." The smooth baritone reverberated from the broad chest of the dark-haired man and filled Kakashi's rapidly heating ears as the murmured words flew past them, only to be barely caught by the still conscious sections of his staggering brain. "Two new and visible seals that have apparently been ignored by someone high-ranking while the other party of the team had been knocked out for two frigging days. That kind of seals." The last part of the tiny rant was granted with a menacing glint flashing in the dark, narrowed eyes on the tan face, and the pressure against the jounin's darkly clothed chest grew a notch as the slender fingers pressed the book further against it.

There really weren't many intelligent entries that Kakashi was given in his current situation, as it seemed that the flow of blood had taken a liking to the more southern regions of his anatomy the more he could calculate the needed angle and speed to get a taste of the younger man's full lips that were teasing his masked jawline way closer than ever before. The moment when a sliver of the all too well-known scent teased his flaring nostrils, Kakashi could only hope that his next words didn't come out as a husky pant. "I see. Do you want me to take a look at them now?" After an agonizingly slow beat, the younger nin's body heat disappeared from the pale skin when the chuunin stepped back and away from the jounin's personal space, and Kakashi quickly gagged the tiny coo of disappointment that rang through his head at the same time when his still somewhat functioning mind told his twitching fingers to keep the groping to themselves.

"Does an Inuzuka take a piss in the foliage just because they can?" The tone of the given rhetorical question was just daring him to ask which one.

...Ah yes, the man had had Kiba in his classes. Ignoring the odd, wary look thrown at his face, Kakashi let a short-lived chuckle escape beneath his mask in order to both lighten up the suddenly suffocating cocoon of air that had wrapped around the men and to ease the curling excitement that had been accumulating within his heating systems. Now wasn't the right time to pounce any attractive chuunins and get away in full health, he was quite sure of that. After giving the now suspicious-looking teacher a hopefully unreadable smile with his eyes, the elite took a hold of the tiny book that had started to affect their mission in more ways than they had ever thought it would. The rustle of pages filled the expectant silence that hung between the two men in the kitchen, and while the lone eye scanned the new pages, the jounin could feel the intense gaze of the dark, narrow eyes tickle his skin. Ibiki was definitely arranging some of their courses when they trained new teachers for the Academy, there was no question about that.

"I'll leave you to it for a minute, there's a pile of laundry that has been calling my name for a while. Let me know when your head works again, Kakashi-san", Iruka said and before the silver-haired man could respond, the tan man disappeared once more back into the bedroom and thus left one rather perplexed jounin alone in the kitchen.

After a blink over the strange behavior of his current mission partner, the former Hound gave a tiny shrug while celebrating his success on maintaining his self-control in the company of the target of his arising sexual appetite and then focused his thoughts back to the currently displayed spread of two off-white notebook pages. Now that there was enough blood entering the right parts of his physiology, it didn't take long for the field veteran to recognize what was formed on the said sheets of paper with a few accurate brush strokes. After realizing what he was staring at, though, the aforementioned S-class shinobi became also highly aware of the steadily accelerating pulse he found himself suddenly experiencing. The seal type he was presented with was one of the most basic forms of battle seals even a genin like Naruto had learned after Jiraiya had beaten the knowledge into that blonde head, and knowing that his former codename was Hound for a pretty good reason, not to mention him being presently accompanied with a man whose job description withheld knowing every single seal ever doodled, Kakashi also understood rather quickly why the temperamental chuunin was ready to blow his top at him.

It was a summoning seal.

Now why would the Hokage put an effort on creating two slightly modified summoning seals for their mission? The second the thought question had appeared in Kakashi's mind, the narrow gray eye gave a subtle twitch as the solemn reason for that act tweaked a bundle of nerves on his temples. An aggravated growl erupted from the darkly clothed throat and the glare of the now steel-hard eye pierced imaginative holes in the innocent pages while the sound of crinkling paper floated in the electrified air.

...That woman was planning something.


"Should we activate them?"

Iruka turned around from his doings and gave a questioning look at the jounin who stood in the doorway before rolling his eyes and then continuing putting his clean clothes neatly back into the bag. "Why are you asking me? You're the cell leader the last time I checked."

The chortle of surprised laughter did little to ease the tension that was getting tighter than chakra wire. "I never would have thought to live long enough to see the day when you'll be the one to pull our ranks at me, sensei."

"Keep talking nonsense and it wouldn't be the only thing that I'll pull at you, Kakashi-san." The hint of warning rang between the carefully composed lines, and given that their mission had so far been terrible enough to keep their Hokage entertained for years, Kakashi couldn't help himself.

"I wouldn't have guessed you of all people to be an exhibitionist-" Without further thinking the masked jaw snapped shut. The look he was given wasn't healthy for either of them. After the thunder felt safe enough to mind its own business and continue its merry roar in the background, the darkly burning eyes narrowed their glare into something that made Kakashi slightly nervous regarding the well-being of his own silver-haired head that was currently thinking ways to save his ass from a sharply cutting death. As his situation was given, all he could rely on at that moment was his training...or what was left of it because of the damn chakra seals, that is. Then again, talking himself out of a pinch was a skill he had to polish a bit anyway. "Ah, what the hell. It's only Tsunade-sama that we're dealing here with, neh?"

"Is that supposed to make me discard the pleasure of killing you right now?" The target was not convinced.

"Maa, it could be rather beneficial for this mission, sensei."

For a moment neither of the men moved, and the dark eyes were locked with the lone gray that did its best to keep the nervous twitches undetected in it. After what seemed like a minute that couldn't decide whether to go forwards or backwards, a smirk pulled the sun-kissed lips and the previously dangerous gleam softened in the dark brown orbs that took on a look of amusement. "Am I making you nervous for some reason, Kakashi-san?"

"Now there's a kettle calling the pot black, sensei", came the equally humored reply. Not long after the copy-nin's low voice had spoken the warm words, the first chuckle followed, it soon being accompanied with the steady flow of snickers and chuckles from both men that were clearly pulling way too many tactics over one single discussion.

"Alright, let me see those seals again", Iruka said and stood up from the floor. Kakashi gave a nod and handed the discussed book to the teacher who flipped the pages back open to look at them more closely. "...What on earth is that woman up to?"

"I think I've reached the limit where I just stop asking myself that, and it would be wise for you to do the same, Iruka-sensei." The soft snort from the masked nose spoke volumes. Apparently it hadn't been only Iruka that had gotten the privilege to get summoned in the crack of dawn to humor their less sober Hokage.

"It just doesn't make sense."

"Hence the advice, sensei."

"Must be the first good one I've heard from you in a while." Ignoring the offended glare directed at his forehead, the chuunin rubbed his temple and gave a frustrated huff over the open pages. "Why would she suddenly make visible seals and give us the freedom to open them by our own choice? Sure, the type doesn't seem to require lot of chakra so we shouldn't die from opening them, but there's no logic either in the amount of them or the timing since if my calculations are correct those were put in here while I was still in the la-la-land."

Iruka gave a passing look at the pensive, masked man who quirked an eyebrow at his previously spoken words. "Maybe there was something meant for me while I was monitoring your health. Some medical equipment, perhaps?"

"In that case you're more irresponsible than Kotetsu." The eye-roll from the bit peeved jounin was promptly ignored. "But even if that's the case it still doesn't fit her thinking pattern. Why would she send a medical gear for you to heal me if we're the last to know what's happening in our bodies, furthermore without coming herself to see that you actually know how to use the given tools? And with two summoning seals, no less?"

The smiling mismatched eyes were clearly taking on the offered opening. "Well you know what they say about women and their logic-"

The silently smirking mouth on the tan face said enough.

"..That was low."

"You can only blame yourself for falling for that, iiiidiot." The laughter rang clear in the snickering chuunin's words, but before the jounin could maneuver their situation in order to gain his ego some retribution out of it, the twinkle of mischief died from the smiling eyes of the younger shinobi and the book found itself suddenly pressed to the floor by a pair of mocha-colored hands. Shocked that the teacher had abruptly decided to get reckless with his strategy, Kakashi wasn't quick enough to stop the other man before the familiar command of summons rang in their small bedroom.

Now, when a person performs a task that has basically become part of their routine, such as giving summons for a professional shinobi, there's little thought given to the possibilities of the executed act being ineffective or even failing in fulfilling the wanted outcome. When that happens, though, the resulting reactions are recorded as very valid warnings on how to prepare oneself better for the minuscule chance of the attempted performance to either backfire badly or miss the target completely. Alas, neither of the now effectively silenced men belonged to that age group that had started to gain benefit from the mentioned recording system.

They were the exact reason for it to be created in the first place.

Both the chuunin and the jounin kept on staring in disbelief at the small book and the red blood drops that were smeared on the now vanished summoning seal. Then both the silver and brown head rose up to cast a wondering look around the men in the ascetic bedroom before returning the puzzled looks back to the page spread that had one seal less.

Iruka was first to break his sudden muteness. "..Nothing happened?" Carefully, the chuunin lifted his hand from the blank page and gave his bitten thumb a positively baffled stare. In the next second, the dark eyes shot wide and the thumb was pointed at the other nin's direction. "Nothing happened!"

Truth to be told, that was the same sentence that had been ringing in Kakashi's head for a while as well. "Maa, I can see that much, sensei." Crouching down to the other man's level, the jounin took the book from the floor and gave the smudged page an examining look. "Did your chakra make any contact?"

"The seal wouldn't disappear if it didn't, now would it?" The rising annoyance was clearly mixing itself with a few spoonfuls of panic in the dark-haired teacher's voice. "At least it shouldn't..right? Tell me we didn't misread the calligraphy, Kakashi-san." This wasn't good. Things could get more than just unnecessarily messy if they had missed some vital part of the brushstrokes.

Grateful for his mask to hide the grimacing mouth, Kakashi scratched his silver mane while his mind ran two hundred miles per minute, as for the first time during a mission, the jounin felt a bit lost with the very odd occurrence. He had never encountered a seal that would disappear without performing the task it had been designed for.

A couple of miles away from the village, the passing thunder gave an awkward cough.

Then...there was a knock on the door.

Without wasting a second, the black book was snapped sharply shut and both men scrambled to the corridor to stare at the closed entrance that led to the front yard. Somebody had come through the seal on the front gate and their presence was flaring with clear waves from the other side. Slowly and silently, the men split both to one side of the narrow corridor and carefully made their way towards the closed door that was given a knock for the second time.

"...Who is that?" Iruka whispered and gave a quick look at equally suspicious Kakashi on the other side of the corridor.

The former ANBU gave a subtle shake of his head. "...I have absolutely no idea, sensei. It isn't ANBU, since those guys won't even use the doors, and it isn't Tsunade or Shizune. It does feel familiar, but I don't have enough chakra to reach that far. That much I know. Do you recognize it?"

Iruka stopped a five feet away from the door and a focused frown appeared on the tan forehead. "No. The presence is familiar, that much I agree, but I can't place it..." Suddenly the brown eyes widened. "..That isn't a shinobi."

Kakashi gave a blink at that. Not a shinobi? "Then who-?" For the second time that day, the jounin was unable to stop the unpredictable sensei, and the gray eye could only stare as the younger nin pulled the front door open in a way that made the former Hound's internal warning bells go into a frenzy while the jounin hid himself behind the opened wooden barrier. How suicidal had the man become after teaching Naruto in his class, really? The completely aghast look on Iruka's face was enough though to provoke the jounin's never sleeping curiosity, and for a moment the gray eye rested on the almost comically widened dark eyes and the dropped jaw of the younger man who seemed to be torn between slamming the door shut or actually hazarding a word of a greeting to whoever was on the other side of the threshold.

When the warm, slightly raspy voice of an older man rang over the doorstep, it was also Kakashi's turn to lose the control of his jaw muscles.

"Evening! Long time no see, Iruka-sensei. You guys must be hungry, she said you needed two bowls with extra toppings. Is Hatake-san there with you as well?"

Of all the things their Hokage could have sent them, she gave them the third father figure of one certain loud blonde ball of energy, the only man who knew precisely what his customers needed for their joys and sorrows and who made sure that they left him both with full stomachs and warm smiles.

"...Teuchi-san?"


"Really, she did say that your place was a bit small but I think that our Hokage's being too modest again." The warm chatter of the oldest man of the three floated upon the kitchen counter as skilled hands placed two delivery boxes on the wooden surface, opened one of them and then pulled out two steaming bowls from it to be stared by two speechless, perfectly trained killers that were ogling the whole situation happening from a few feet away. "Now let's see, I have miso ramen with some eggplant for Hatake-san here and then some beef ramen for you Iruka-sensei." The bowls were placed gently on the kitchen counter, Teuchi clearly paying no heed for the others staring at him and the second head he was clearly sporting, and then the second box was opened. "Here's also some miso soup and freshly made yakitori [1] and a small portion of yakiniku [2], since I heard from Tsunade-hime that you two have been put on some sort of fish diet. Otherwise I would have made you some grilled mackerel as well, but maybe you'll enjoy more of these as Hatake-san here hates tempura -"

"How did you get here, Teuchi-san?" The sudden question dropped itself from Iruka's lips without further notice, and both Kakashi and the ramen stand's owner turned to stare at the teacher who was at that moment trying on different shades of embarrassed red. "I mean we're really thankful for the food and all that, but, um-"

"We thought only ANBU and Hokage-sama were able to get through the gate, Teuchi-san", Kakashi continued the other's question, for which the profoundly blushing man seemed grateful.

Surely enough, Teuchi quickly understood what the two men were after. "Ah. I got summoned." That seemed to snap both nins out of their stupor and Iruka to lose the fuchsia from the high cheekbones. Both professional spies exchanged questioning looks and Teuchi gave a mental eye-roll at the sight. Those two were really too slow sometimes for their own good. "Tsunade-hime said that you'll summon me here with some takeaway from Ichiraku within a few days' notice. I had all the ingredients ready so it was only a question when I would get the call. As soon as the mark she made on my kitchen wall lightened up, Ayame helped me to prepare the food and then I just stepped on the circle mark Hokage-sama had made on my kitchen floor. After a second I was here, and frankly I was expecting a bit more welcoming face, Iruka-sensei", the older man teased Iruka and in a blink both Teuchi and Kakashi found themselves looking at two ripe apples decorating the group's youngest member's cheeks.

A honey-toned finger found its way on the horizontal scar, and a sheepish grin snuck on the chuunin's lips. "Ah, heh, sorry for that. We just weren't expecting anyone to drop by." Soon after the army of implications had made itself known in his words, Iruka could only slap a hand on his even more heating face as he caught on the look on the ramen chef's face. "Not today, Teuchi-san. Please."

"I didn't say a thing, Iruka-sensei", came a laughed reply from the chef's direction, and for a minute Kakashi had a small nagging feeling that he was missing something from the interaction between the other two.

Iruka, as always, was quick to pull the jounin out of the swirling thoughts. "Then that means that the seal worked. I wonder what the other does then." With that the tan shinobi turned on his heels and strolled into the bedroom with the book held in his hands, leaving Kakashi to wonder if he should tie the man up the next time they got new seals in the notebook. That amount of acting on an impulse couldn't honestly be healthy.

"That's Iruka-sensei for you, heh. Once he gets something in his mind it seems like there's nothing to stop him from doing it", Teuchi murmured next to the silent jounin, and it wasn't too long before he could feel the dark gray eye drill into the back of his head.

"What was the discussion about just now, Teuchi-san? Of you saying nothing?" If the older man was providing Kakashi with an opportunity to sniff around the battlefield, he wasn't against the fun.

A huff of amusement left the older man and he wiped his hands clean on the white apron before turning around to face the silver-haired man. "Just an old joke between a client and his chef, Kakashi-san. Nothing else." The pull of already smiling mouth wasn't missed, though. "Then again, you've always been one of the most observant clients by my stand so far. Beside Iruka-sensei, that is."

"Maa. You seem to know him well, Teuchi-san." It clearly wasn't a question.

It was a bit unnerving for the ex-ANBU to realize that even the otherwise gentle and welcoming ramen stand owner could put such a sly look on the lightly wrinkled face. "Well enough to know that in a moment we'll know if the other seal he talked about works, Kakashi-san." As if on cue, a yelp of horrified surprise accompanied with a loud pang of what could only mean chakra connection hitting the mark echoed from the bedroom.


"You did say it's Tsunade-sama we're talking about." A small moan was heard between the munches.

"Maa, that I did, yes." The gray eye was closed briefly as a heavenly tasty bit made the hidden tongue sing in appreciation.

"Then that's basically the only - ah – lollica-a-coolu-hio."

"A what, sensei?" The mixture of chewing and laughing while wearing a mask had never been said to be a sound one could hear every now and then.

A hastily downed glass of water later, the teacher was in a mood to elaborate. "The only logical conclusion, I said. I almost burned my tongue there."

"Ah. That. I would be surprised if not, actually", Kakashi mused and took a look at a heavy sealed box over his shoulder. The presently discussed wooden cubical stood proudly between the men who were sitting and eating with fervor on the bedroom floor. Teuchi had left soon after the second summon was made once they had made sure that there hadn't been any explosives attached to the box and furthermore after seeing that the pale color on Iruka's face had been caused by nothing else than a rather big surprise from the unexpected object literally landing on his lap. The ramen stand owner had promised to deliver a message to the Hokage about them receiving the summons and both being still somewhat alive for the mission to continue, and after that it was all down to their rumbling stomachs to announce what had to be done next.

Hence the currently enjoyed small ramen picnic on their bedroom floor with a mysterious wooden box between their backs.

The box that was currently the sole target for their brainstorming regarding its contents.

Not that neither of them had already figured out what their beloved leader had, for sadistic and absurd reasons yet unknown, decided to deliver to two of her best men at work.

Then again, the large sticker of rather inventive threats of physically harmful punishments should anyone touch the box was a rather obvious hint.

She had sent them sake.


"Well then. Kampai, sensei." The smooth, low voice had a tint of warmth in it.

"Kampai, Kakashi-san", Iruka said and the grinning men gave small toast on the wooden terrace, the day's thunder having finally passed over their home village and leaving the streets and rooftops glistening with moisture that gave them a serenade of tips and taps around the surrounding scenery. The chuunin took a slow, small sip of the clear liquid that had been poured into the fragile white cup and the instant the pleasant warmth of alcohol rose on his cheeks he knew the Hokage hadn't saved the expenses when picking up the sake for them.

All five bottles, to be exact.

"I have to hand it to her, this must be by far the best hiding place for her stash from Shizune that she has thought up in a while", Kakashi said and pulled the teacher out of the low buzz that had made itself known in the Sharingan users head as well.

"True that, Kakashi-san, and I must add that it was nice of her to offer a couple of bottles for our use as well", Iruka chuckled and took a small note back into his hand from the floor where he had left it next to the opened sake bottle. "It says here that she expects to find at least two bottles unopened the next time she visits us." The rumbling chortle from the older man made a nice warm wave rise on the already a bit rosy cheekbones, and the dark-haired sensei turned to give a speculating look at the amused, masked assassin sitting a few feet next to him.

"It depends on the future mishaps we're undoubtedly still going to face on this mission, sensei. One bottle for each new misfortune, I'd say."

"In that case we're already out of bottles if we use that logic", Iruka snorted and swirled the beverage in his cup before lifting it to his smirking lips. "Then again, you know what they say about copy-nins and their logic-"

"Maa, maa, watch that tongue. You might lose it in your sleep."

"Well then, better that than my brain, neh, Kakashi-san?" The almost predatory, low chuckle that resounded in the air around the jounin made a shock of shudders dance up and down Iruka's spinal area, and he had to hastily down the sip he had poured past his lips. That sound was all sin and dark promises in his opinion, and the teacher could only hope that the passing red flood that was taking over his cheeks would be discarded as being caused by the alcohol rather than the twinge of arousal making itself known in his black slacks.

"Are you sure you're one to talk as a Ninja Academy teacher, Iruka-sensei?" The tease hit the right spot, for that they both were sure of, and an abrupt explosion of slightly tipsy laughter erupted from the trained Konoha shinobis as they both reflected their thoughts at the hilarity of missing sanity when regarding the mental condition of their ranks. Slowly, the laughter lessened away and both men took a fill from the bottle that was gently placed between them, the two shinobis then settling for a comfortable, almost amiable period if silence.

Reclining his back against the wooden beam and after focusing on the feel of his ponytail pressing against its rough surface, Iruka gave the setting sun a thoughtful look. After that, the words came.

"...For the longest time I did question my sanity, you know. Accepting a Jinchuuriki as a close student, hell, even taking that boy to ramen frequently and seeing that his ass got both saved and fried after every prank that backfired...most of the others thought that I had lost more than just a few nerve connections from my head back then, even before the whole mess with Mizuki happened. After that they were sure of it." A quiet rumble of laughter erupted next to the widely grinning chuunin, and the men gave yet another small toast before the teacher continued. "Nowadays though, with Naruto away and all the things that have happened so far..I don't know if I actually ever managed to teach him anything useful in the end." A pale hand waved in the air dismissively at that point, and Iruka gave the older male a curious look over his sake cup.

Kakashi gave a chuckle at the younger nin. "You're being too modest now, Iruka-sensei. That boy looks up to you, and no matter what he has whined in your care, you have given some good advices to that kid, not to mention Konohamaru as well. Despite them both being complete knuckleheads, they're good boys in the end, and even though they may not have gotten the points of your lectures yet I do have a hunch that they'll figure things out soon enough." The mismatched eyes turned into what seemed like a soft smile. "I do still recall what you said in the funeral back then."

After a slightly confused blink, the understanding seemed to dawn in the dark brown eyes, and then a quiet breath of a sad chuckle left the somberly smiling lips. "..I still remember how it felt to stand in front of his funeral picture." For the second time that day, Kakashi managed to spot the swirl of melancholy appear in the dark orbs, and the silence that settled next to the drinking men took a slow sip of the offered sake and enjoyed the quiet minute that disappeared when the full lips of the young sensei opened yet again. "The reminders of our lifestyle aren't the nicest ones, are they. To fight, or to die...moreover while usually being far away from those who are held dear. Sandaime, though..." The fingers running over the white cup's surface stilled. "I don't know if it's considered disrespectful to say this, but in his case I'm actually glad that he died while fighting in his own village, surrounded by all of the people he loved...maybe that's why he was told to be smiling when you found him." The grip on the porcelain tightened for the smallest amount. "That could also be the reason why it was so hard for me to get up in the following day." He could sense the gray eye turn to give a long look at his direction, and against the blue tint of sorrow that had silently crept inside him, Iruka could still feel his lips pull themselves into a bright smile under the keen look he was given by the jounin. "I told you already that I know how big the gap between us is and that I'm not foolish enough to try to reach to your level, Kakashi-san, but I do wish to be more prepared when the time for battle isn't any longer something that will happen in the distant future. Seeing the look in your eye for the past months after Naruto took off has said enough for me to know that we both know at least that much. I'm at my best when I'm protecting someone, so if I ever gain enough skills and strength to keep the others safe I'd be happy to die on the battlefield if it ever comes down to that."

The chuunin didn't need to lift his eyes towards the older man to know that the countering argument was already on its way. "...There's a flaw in that theory, sensei." A questioning sound was heard from the chuunin's direction while the tan shinobi took a sip of the alcohol, which was enough to tell Kakashi to go on with his hypothesis. "You can't protect anyone when you're dead, sensei. Given, the dead can be asked for guidance, forgiveness, happy memories, all kinds of other things, but I have yet to see a name in the stone that could protect someone beyond the grave. At least not in the way as you're currently referring to. Things need to be lived and seen through if one wishes to protect the others, and true, sometimes there's no other way than to sacrifice oneself for others, but that shouldn't be the first resolve." As if to emphasize his point, the pale fingers brushed lightly through the mane of silver hair, that way revealing the closed, scarred eyelid behind the silvery bangs before the jounin took the sake bottle and filled their cups again. "On the contrary, self-sacrifice can also hurt in much worse ways than any blade or torture ever could. Seeing that the one doing it would be dead doesn't of course change a thing in their case, but for those who are left behind...that's not something to be spoken lightly about."

Iruka gave a blink at the man's surprisingly honest words, but after spotting the somber look in the lone eye did make the brown eyes give a warm, almost comforting look at the copy-nin's direction before they turned back to look at the filled cup and then the darkening sky. Without giving it a second thought, a long, mocha-colored finger rose to rub the horizontal scar when the chuunin's murmured words met the deep blue nightfall. "...The things people have in common."

Kakashi took a small sip of his sake, and over the edge of the cup, the gray eye gave a good, long look at the pensive younger man while the night's muffled noises enveloped the two men who sat in silence on the wooden terrace. After a passing beat, the mask was lifted back to place, and the jounin turned his focus shortly back to the world behind the high fence wall. "Then of course any nin who's stupid enough to try to kill you would have to go through hell first if Naruto catches their train of thought. Which did happen with Mizuki, mind you", Kakashi pointed with a small smile in his eyes as the bubbling chuckle of the tan man eased the otherwise serious ambiance between them. As he gave a better look at the slightly reddened high cheekbones of the younger man, he could only blame the sudden stir of strange heat in his gut that unexpectedly made his thoughts turn into murmured words. "Come to think of it, I've never seen you drink, sensei."

A slightly unintelligent mixture of a snort and a chuckle left the tan teacher and a dark eyebrow rose in an unrefined way on the mocha-skinned forehead. "Now that's something to hear from a man who's practically the epitome of the phrase 'I've never seen', Kakashi-san. You'd be astounded to realize just how many shinobis complain about that fact and then have the nerve to ask me if I've ever seen it."

"...Maa-"

"I can see where you're going with that 'maa', smart-ass, so wipe that sleazy look off your face before you'll really get a good reason to keep it unseen." The stretching smirk was wide and sly on the tan face, and try as he might, there was no way Kakashi could have avoided answering the given face with a lecherous wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Which one are you referring to, sensei?"

The low, long hum that dropped from the smirking lips was positively naughty in the jounin's honest opinion. "Saa...both, naturally", Iruka murmured and for a moment Kakashi was quite certain that the sliver of heat that passed in the man's dark, narrowed eyes that briefly locked their gaze with his lone gray eye wasn't carrying any violent but other rather passionate undertones in it.

Kakashi could only blame his own hormones for what came out of his mouth next. "...Would you like to see it, then?"

Through the silence, the jounin could hear the gears turn in the dark-haired chuunin's head, and not too many seconds after, the full lips were pulled into a wry smile on the sun-kissed face. Then the brown eyes gave a slow once-over at the copy-nin, and as he spotted the passing glint in the otherwise unreadable eyes, Kakashi knew that the teacher could indeed read underneath the underneath. "Interesting choice of words you have there, Kakashi-san." Not paying much attention to the almost quiet huff escaping the masked lips, the younger shinobi turned his attention back to the starry sky that stretched above them. The honey-toned fingers fiddled with the smooth porcelain of the fragile cup, and for those who didn't know the two men better, the ambiance could have been described as peaceful as taking a long nap under the cherry blossoms.

However, they both knew better.

Having made his decision, Iruka turned the now almost coal black eyes to regard the jounin next to him with far more sober look that should have been allowed in the ex-ANBU's opinion. "...What's in it for you?"

"I get to see yours, of course." Now that was something the chuunin wasn't apparently expecting if the resulting coughing fit was anything to go by. Aiming a sharp whack at the wheezing man's back, the jounin had a tiny moment of amused déja vu when the other stopped drowning into his sake. Knowing the vital points in the human body did have many benefits, indeed. "So, do we have an agreement here, Iruka-sensei?"

A tan finger was lifted to ask for a moment, which was no problem for the grinning jounin, and for a minute the teacher was given time to re-compose himself. Iruka blinked away the tears caused by both the asphyxiation and the burn of alcohol in his windpipe, poured himself a cup he figured he might indeed need when making deals with eccentric lightning users and then took a long breath to calm his still rebelling lungs. Well, at least his future corpse was now somewhat disinfected should he die during the next few hours. A tiny cough ripped its way out of his lungs and the academy instructor took a swig from the cup to silence his nowadays too noisy body. "What makes you think that I even want to see it?"

"Why wouldn't you then?" The bastard wasn't clearly drunk enough for thinking up such an answer.

"A shinobi has his reasons", came the calmly spoken reply from the younger man, and not for the first time during their surreal mission, the gray eye sought out its dark counterparts and immersed itself into a spontaneous staring contest with them.

"How do you want this done?" The jounin's question struck between the two men like a lightning, and the darkened, steel-hard look in the narrowed, gray eye tattled Iruka that the next words that left him might just as well be his deathwish should he choose them poorly.

Like any shinobi given a challenge, the chuunin wasn't one to back off from it, though, and despite the hazy effect the alcohol had on his mind, Iruka could feel his spine straighten itself against the beam he had been leaning against. "Since you requested it, you choose the method as well, Kakashi-san."

Kakashi hadn't expected the other man to be so lenient with his idea. On the other hand, it was hardly only him that had started to wish to set things back on track concerning all the things that have happened to them together or separately. Now all that was needed was the right way to do it, and being who he was, Hatake Kakashi had already thought of it. "Twenty Cups and a match of rock-paper-scissors."

Iruka swallowed carefully so as not to get yet another coughing fit. The jounin had to be kidding. "You do know that neither of us is Gai, right?"

"Yes, and I thank the gods for that every day. Are you game or not?"

Iruka fell silent over the other's rather witty remark. It seemed that they were starting more games that they might be able to finish, but he wasn't one to decline if the one-eyed wonder was ready to get his ass kicked into the next month. "I blame you if we end up in that tent, Kakashi-san."

"I promise you you'll get the privilege to hunt me down if that happens unless Tsunade-sama gets me first."

"You know how to make a man's day." Iruka gave a passing smile at the other man and sat up straighter against the pillar while taking the sake bottle into his hand for further inspection. "We may need another bottle if we're really going for the Twenty Cups. This might last for ten only."

"Already onto it", was heard from the kitchen, and soon enough the fall of footsteps told Iruka that the needed beverage was on its way. The secondary bottle was neatly put between them right next to the opened one, and then Iruka took the opened bottle in order to fill up their cups, only to halt in thought a few inches above Kakashi's mug.

"Apropos, you're having your mug, Kakashi-san. It could be difficult to measure the right amount and also bad for the flow of the game. Was there any smaller cup for you to drink? We also need the chopsticks."

"Give me a second, I'll check." With that the silver-haired assassin staggered gracefully up and strode back to the kitchen, and Iruka had no complaints on the view he got to enjoy on the same run.


The darkening night slowly filled with sounds of workers getting back to their homes and heading out for some moments of leisure in the bars, restaurants, clubs or the friends' houses where they could enjoy a night without bowing for the formalities all the time as it could happen when entering a place that was popular among their colleagues. As the summertime was finally starting to bloom properly over Konoha's Hidden Village, many of the night-time's adventurers were also keen to let themselves loose in many forms of drinking gamesof as a modest celebration of yet again surviving the harsher winter season.

In the meantime, the men in the light-gray house were already getting a rather loud head-start.

"Foul!"

"OW! Oh come on, than wasn't fair!"

"All is fair in this- whoa- he- YOW! That hurt!"

"Foul! Just drink it up and swallow like the big bad jounin you are, Kakashi-san", Iruka snickered at the disgruntled looking drunken jounin who took what seemed to be the man's tenth cup before calmly filling the cup once more and settling to glare at his smirking counterpart over the game grounds. Slowly, the both men extended their hand in which they held one chopstick, the piece of bamboo held in horizontal position upon the wooden surface, and ever so delicately placed it down to rest on the hard floorboards side by side. Only that the second their eyes met yet again over the sticks both the pale and the tan hands got into action, and both the chuunin and the jounin grabbed both the filled sake cup and the previously held chopstick and lunging at each other with the pointy end of the eating utensil pointing at the opponent's frontal lobe. In a matter of seconds, the sound of bamboo hitting porcelain and a pained groan mixed with each other and the inebriated men stilled to look at the score situation. As the things stood, Kakashi had managed to shield himself with the smaller cup he had found for himself, the chopstick that was held in the other nin's hand having struck at the smooth porcelain surface instead of the pale skin on the jounin's forehead.

The same couldn't be said for the teacher, though. The jounin's chopstick had hit the mark dead on on the bronze-skinned forehead, and the sensei's sake cup was nowhere near to save the man's head from it's cruel penalty.

Kakashi gave a victorious rumble of chuckles. "Foul yet again, sensei. You're getting worse as the game moves on."

"Shove it, Kakashi-san. I'm still leading in the points unlike someone I know", Iruka growled and rubbed the hurting point that was definitely going to stay on his skin for the morning. Getting an acupuncture on the forehead with a blunt weapon while getting insanely drunk was without a doubt going to bite his tan ass the next day. Nevertheless, they were both enjoying themselves, and he wasn't going to spoil the good evening they've had so far.

"Maa, but that's already your ninth sake, sensei. The game is just about to get challenging." As soon as the last word had been said, the game repeated itself and both of the men aimed the sticks at one another's heads. It was commonly known that if one ever wondered aloud what kind of drinking games shinobis enjoyed playing, the one asking would soon enough end up laughing his ass off in a gutter with a severe amnesia while sporting a more or less fatal wound in his body. Needless to say, ruthless profession demanded equally bizarre hobbies. Not that the ninjas actively searched for violent or scandalous games or pranks to make their time pass and to take their minds off from the past missions, but more from the fundamental mentality of them getting a bit too carried away during their free-time which is the result of performing the missions in a highly controlled mind set for most of their short lives.

Same was with the Twenty Cups. A harmless children's game in the past, now an occasionally deadly drinking game for those who didn't need their eyes on a mission so much. Of course, there had been ground rules established for the game so none of the Hokages had to worry that staying home would kill more of their soldiers than battling in the field, such as the 'no jutsu', 'no genjutsu', 'no intentional killing' and 'no drinking the other's sake even if you lost'. The last one did cost one unfortunate's knee cap before it was made into an official rule.

Not that either of the drunken men that were swaying on the wooden terrace could remember any of the said rules at that point anymore.

"Foul!"

"Shit!" Iruka cursed and downed yet another cup. It was getting more and more difficult for him to get his coordination straight, and the last time he had played the game he had nearly nailed Genma with his sake and drunk his chopstick in the last round. He couldn't afford the repeat performance of that little drunken story when he was facing one of the best men that happened to still be alive in their village. Kakashi was known for his good aim and fast weapon handling skills, and Iruka had gotten a taste of those in the past training sessions, so it wasn't looking good for his chances to win the older man's challenge.

Especially since that was his tenth cup as well.

"Ah, now we get to the point, neh? From now on every spill of sake counts as a foul as well." The copy-nin's murmuring voice was as devious as ever whenever the man got one of his sadistic streaks. "Ready, sensei?"

Instead of answering, Iruka let his speed talk for him. The chopstick was in his hand before he had even let out the breath he had taken to calm his restlessly flexing muscles and the aim was already going straight for the pale forehead and the already reddened spot between the silvery eyebrows while he balanced himself on his one knee as the lithe tan body stretched itself within hitting reach. The sake cup in the other hand was kept in a firm grip and the highly sensitive nerve-endings of the chuunin could feel the sloshing sake that was hitting the porcelain sides of its white prison. Then a chopstick flew past his head out of nowhere, and for his horror the teacher realized the jounin was going for a dirty game for toppling his cup and making the chuunin lose by that means. With a quick spin, the tan sensei spun on his knees and pulled the cup away from the pale man's attack route while at the same time kept going for his goal.

The sharp press of bamboo was felt against his forehead before he could even blink, and he could sense the victoriously smiling jounin going for the winning term.

Oh that wouldn't do, now would it?

"Fo-"

"Trade!" With a fast move to the right, Iruka moved his head away from the chopstick and hit the other's sake cup that was loosely held in the pale hand with his own bamboo utensil, successfully tipping the cup enough for a few drops of sake to escape their confines and land on the ex-ANBU's knuckles. "HA!"

"Trade? What the hell is Trade?"

"That's a crucial part of the game, Kakashi-san. Don't you remember that? Whenever somebody's saying ''Foul' and thus winning the match by the rules, the opponent can turn the tables by saying 'Trade' and spilling the other's cup. The one shouting 'Trade' isn't allowed to go for the other's head, though, so the only chance to avoid losing is to make the other lose their drink. This is a rule that comes into the game after both players have reached the Tenth Cup, just like the 'no spilling' rule." Iruka gave the confused man a victorious smirk. "And as the winner of the previous match, I say you drink up that cup and let me beat you in this properly."

After a moment of consideration, the masked man gave an accepting nod at the new rule. He could always confirm that from Aoba later on. "Very well then. Best not to let you near my sake then. Let's see if your speed can match that tongue of yours, neh?"

"Better to bite than just bark, eh, Kakashi-san?" The movement of the tan hand was sloppy but still hadn't lost its refined edge as it kept the chopstick hovering above the wooden surface, waiting for its counterpart to join it.

A wolfish grin crept on the hidden lips, and despite the slight haze making it a bit difficult to sharpen his gaze, the gray eye narrowed its focus on the flushed, tan face just a couple of feet away. "Indeed, Iruka-sensei."

Before the chopsticks could even properly touch the wooden floor, they were snatched back into the skilled hands and then flung at the opposing side with drunken determination. In slow motion, Kakashi could see the chuunin dodge his attack from a mere half an inch away and then get a clear path for his head with the pointy stick. The Sharingan user didn't need any ocular jutsu to spot the smug look passing the dark eyes when the younger nin saw his chances to win the match, and a breath from there he could feel the end of the bamboo press against his already painfully throbbing pale skin that had become slightly reddened on the spot where the chuunin had managed to land his hits. But, as the teacher had just said, the game wasn't all done at that point.

Iruka felt like dancing as he made yet another point for himself. It was the jounin's fifteenth cup and there was no way that the older man could handle so much liquor in order to beat him in the game. His dark eyes locked themselves on the calmly smiling, masked face, and before his muddled brain could alarm him that he was winning the match unhealthily easily which meant that he should pull away immediately, the full lips were already forming the syllables for the winning term. "Fou-"

The dark mask pooled around the long, pale throat, and the suddenly revealed pale lips turned into a feral grin.

"Trade."


AN: Oh my.

[1] Skewered chicken.
[2] Sliced beef in yakiniku sauce.