Iruka sat on the couch, exhausted from his time with Kakashi. The man was much more socially adept than Iruka would have guessed. He didn't speak only for himself, like some self-righteous Jounin did, but also listened, and offered rebuttals. The conversation had been much more satisfying than Iruka would have guessed. Unfortunately, Iruka was smart enough to realize something must have changed for Kakashi to seek him out like this. And that fact worried him.

Walking back into the kitchen he washed the used tea cups, and put them away before taking a seat on the couch to finish grading papers. After that was done he worked on various reports for the Mission Office, all before falling asleep on the couch, the papers still in hand.

Kakashi wasn't usually one to snoop, unless it was required for a mission of course, and this was sort of a mission, was it not? He watched from another rooftop not far away, as the Chunnin marked his papers, and eventually passed out. That just couldn't do. Kakashi jumped his way down from his hiding spot and worked his way to Iruka's window.

Upon further inspection both doors and all the windows had locks and traps for any ninja trying to make their merry way into his house. Fortunately for Kakashi, the front door trap had not been set, and after a quick tryst with the locks, the door was opened and Kakashi stealthily made his way inside.

When Iruka woke in the morning he rolled over, not wanting to get up. Hadn't he fallen asleep looking over papers last night? He lifted his head from the bed and looked around. He was indeed in his bedroom, and with another groggy glance around, he noted that all of his papers were neatly stacked on his side table. When he stood up, and absentmindedly scratched his hip he found a colored paper stuck to his wall… with a kunai. Anger welled up in Iruka quickly as he realized that there would now be a hole in his near perfect bedroom wall, and on the note was written,

You make my day worth living.

"Secret admirer." He spoke to himself in the quiet room. Iruka removed the kunai and note from the wall, leaving the kunai on his dresser he looked over the note again, a blush coming over his cheeks. The reverse side also had a note.

If you leave your living room window untapped,

I'll make my own.

This way, I can always watch over you.

A little creepy, but maybe waking up in bed every night wouldn't be so bad. He decided he would have to think about it before he started his morning routine.

"Iruka-sensei!" A little hand went up from somewhere in the middle of the class.

"Yes?"

"There's a funny man outside the classroom making faces at us!" Came the hurt reply, a few of the kids making faces back.

"Okay kids, this is going to be like a test, don't let the man know we're talking about him, or that I know he's there. Okay? Be sneaky." They all nodded, smiles on their faces in hope of doing something fun.

"Okay, now who can tell me some descriptive features of the man?"

Hands shot up eagerly, waiting to be picked.

Iruka knew it was Kakashi, who else would be immature enough, or for that matter, brave enough, to interrupt his class. Genma had tried once, the scolding had lasted hours and the entire village was teasing him about it for weeks. Nobody had so much as set foot in Iruka's room during class time since. "Hanabi." Iruka picked one who looked the most eager.

"He has silver or gray hair, one eye is covered by a leaf ninja head band, the other is gray. He has a black mask covering his face and neck. He's wearing the Jounin Uniform." She finished with pride, smiling and sitting up straighter from a good job.

"Good, remember to explain which eye is covered, and which eye is not. Also, how tall is the man?" more hands shot up. "Keita?"

"He's about the same height as my daddy, and my daddy is 187cm!"

"Good." A huge smile was plastered to the kids face. "Now class, this is how you deal with unruly Shinobi. Be quiet okay?" They all nodded, trying not to giggle as Iruka made the proper signs for a transportation jutsu.

"Kakashi-san! What do you think you're doing? Interrupting my class like this?" Kakashi almost fell over from the shock. He hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings, and was taken completely by surprise by the angry Teacher.

"Well you see Iruka-kun" Kakashi started off.

"Iruka-kun! Don't ever call me by that!" Kakashi found it hard not to smile as Iruka's face turned red with anger, the scar on his nose just a shade darker. "Get out of here Kakashi-san. Or I'll make sure what I did to Genma-san last year is only a fraction of what I'll do to you."

Oh the teacher voice. Stern and commanding, it made Kakashi a little excited to hear it, but when Iruka's eyes narrowed just a little further he knew it was time to take his leave. "I'll stop by later tonight Iruka-kun!" And with that he darted away, not wanting to incur any more of Iruka's wrath. True to his word, Kakashi showed up at the end of Iruka's shift.

"Hello Kakashi-san." Iruka spoke tiredly as he filed away a few papers.

"Maa, has it been a long day Iruka-sensei?" Had Iruka been able to see Kakashi's face, he would have seen the smallest little inkling of a smirk as the one eyed wonder teased.

"As a matter of fact Kakashi-san, it has been. Especially after a certain Jounin interrupted me." Kakashi was on the receiving end of Iruka's death glare. "Do you know how hard it was to get them back under control!" Another scowl at Kakashi as he filed another few papers.

"Well let me make it up to you Sensei, would you like to go out and do something with me tonight?" Iruka sighed and put his papers down, turning around leaning against his desk.

"Really Kakashi-san I would love to, but I've already promised to take Naruto out for ramen after my shift." The teacher seemed genuinely disappointed, something Kakashi was quick, and happy to note.

Although Iruka had already made other plans, he had agreed to let Kakashi walk home with him. Kakashi had kept Iruka company for the rest of his closing shift, even helping to lock some of the cabinets.

They took the long way of course, trying to drag out what little time they had together. Iruka spoke of his secret admirer, talking about how sweet the notes were, and how his favorite flower was actually lilies, which had been the only flower to be delivered to him thus far. Kakashi noted this with satisfaction, reminding himself to keep up with the lilies. Iruka also spoke of how infuriated he was at the hole in his pristine walls.

"You see, at first I had assumed that the admirer was a woman, I mean, most logically I'm a man, so it would be a woman interested in me." Iruka blushed lightly before he continued. "But now I've been thinking about it … the note sounded like things a man, albeit a very romantic man, would say to a woman." He paused in thought, wondering how to continue, wondering how Kakashi would react to such an admission.

"So you think your admirer is a man?" Kakashi spoke carefully, trying not to overstep the conversation.

"I believe so. I mean, I'm not a light person by many means Kakashi-san, either this woman is a body builder, a very stealthy body builder at that; it has to be a male." Iruka's pace slowed as they began to get closer to his house.

"How do you feel about him being a man…" Careful Kakashi, careful.

"I-… I'm not sure. I've never been interested in men before… but it doesn't disgust me… does that make any sense Kakashi-san?" Kakashi nodded, using his years of training not to sigh audibly or give away his relief.

They walked the last few feet in silence, Iruka thanking Kakashi for listening before walking into his house to get ready for a night with Naruto. Today's revelation only made Kakashi more excited. Iruka seemed totally open to a male relationship. He felt so lucky, that finally, after all these years, something was going right for him.

Woohoo another chapter!

Beta'ed by the wonderful xXxXxRoxasFanGirlxXxXx (www. fanfiction. net/u/2483916/)

Tell me your thoughts!