Scene 7. Between Naruto and Naruto Shippuden

The next morning, the first to wake up, very early, was Kakashi. He stretched his arms and legs like a dog under the sheets and then rolled to one side to look at Iruka, lying face down, apparently still asleep. His loose hair covered half his face. Kakashi brushed a few strands away, careful not to wake him.

He couldn't help but smile somewhat lasciviously as he remembered the night they had spent together. Sex with Iruka had been much better than he had ever imagined. Because it had been real. After so many years in love with the young man, loving him from a distance without expecting anything in return, he had finally had him moaning his name in his arms and not in his imagination.

"A penny for your thoughts..." Iruka's voice brought him back to the present.

Kakashi looked down to meet the chuunin's brown eyes. As expected, Iruka seemed to feel shy about what had happened that night: his cheeks were tinted with a slight blush.

"Are you sure?" the jounin asked, amused.

"No. It must be something pervy…"

"Not at all. I was just remembering when you moaned my name and asked me not to stop… Mmf!" Iruka had covered his mouth with his hand.

"That's pervy!" the chuunin exclaimed, even redder.

Kakashi removed his hand from his mouth and simply laughed.

"You are incorrigible," Iruka complained. He rolled over and tried to sit up a little on the mattress, but Kakashi's hand on his chest stopped him. "What the…?"

"You can be sure," Kakashi growled, suddenly serious, pinning him down and climbing on top of him, "that I am incorrigible."

Iruka moaned in surprise when Kakashi took possession of his lips, but he was quick to respond to the kiss. Kakashi pressed himself against him, making the chuunin notice his morning erection. Iruka moaned louder, and then…

…something chirped on the windowsill.

Kakahi immediately looked towards the source of the sound with an incredulous expression, but there it was: a small brown and blue bird, chirping happily as if it had nothing to do with him.

Iruka, who also knew very well what that meant, made a face.

"You have to be joking," he hissed.

"I'm afraid not…" Kakashi clenched the sheets in his fists.

"But… how does that damn bird know where to find you?"

Kakashi didn't answer right away.

Iruka was about to complain again, but when he saw the look on Kakashi's face he stopped. He wasn't the only one furious at the interruption. He took a deep breath and changed his tone.

"It must be something important," he muttered.

Kakashi stood up and searched for his uniform clothes scattered around the room. Iruka watched him as he dressed, but said nothing. Perhaps the chuunin was already realizing that this situation would surely happen more often from now on.

When Kakashi was ready to leave, Iruka, still sitting on the bed with the sheets covering his private parts, looked at him worriedly and muttered:

"Try to come back safe and sound."

"Of course."

The jounin leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

As always, instead of using the door, Kakashi went to the window. He stood for a moment leaning on the sill before leaving.

"Oh, by the way…", he said, turning his face. "Tsunade knows about us. That's why the bird knew where to look for me."

"What?" Iruka exclaimed. "How?"

"No idea. See you soon, Iruka."

Without waiting for a reply, Kakashi jumped off.

Alone now, Iruka tugged his hair.

How the hell had Tsunade found out? Even though she was a Hokage, she wasn't a fortune teller or a mind reader, so someone had to have told her. Who? Who knew about her relationship with Kakashi? In theory, only Gai. And although he didn't like the green beast of Konoha very much, it didn't make sense that he had been the snitch.

Knowing that there was no point in mulling over the matter without speaking directly to Tsunade or Gai - something he wasn't going to do if it wasn't essential - Iruka decided to stop thinking about it for the moment.

Besides, at that moment he felt too happy. He would worry about the subject later.

He was still having breakfast when another little bird landed on the windowsill. This time the recipient of the message was Iruka himself.

The ninja academy was to be reopened the next day, so he was called to an immediate meeting in the building to discuss the subject of resuming classes.

Iruka finished his breakfast quickly, feeling increasingly happy. He had missed teaching and his little pre-genin monsters a lot. He dressed in his uniform and left his apartment in the direction of the academy.

The journey was short; Iruka lived practically next door to the academy. It was no coincidence: when he moved apartments, shortly after graduating as a teacher, he already looked for one that was close to his new job.

Before entering, Iruka looked around the place until his eyes landed on the large tree next to the low wall surrounding the courtyard. The tree was on the outside of the academy but its tallest and largest branches peeked out into the courtyard. He remembered that in one of them it was common to see Kakashi on his days off reading erotic novels in full view of everyone, without any shame. Once Iruka had timidly scolded him -at that time he barely knew the jounin by sight- claiming that there were children there. Kakashi had simply replied that most of the children who hung around the academy did not even know what 'icha icha' meant, and he said those words with such impudence that it was Iruka who ended up blushing. Iruka insisted that he go read somewhere else and Kakashi said no, that there were very good views from there and that when he took a break from reading he liked to admire them. At the time he didn't understand anything, but now, remembering that phrase, he suddenly wondered if by 'good views' he meant him, Iruka.

No, impossible, he told himself. That was years ago…

However, Kakashi hadn't told him how long he had been in love with him. What if it had been years…? No, impossible. Iruka would have noticed… right? Or had he really been that blind?

Iruka decided not to think about it any further and entered the building. The meeting was about to begin.

The mission wasn't too difficult. With any luck, they would be back in Konoha that night.

They had to capture a rogue ninja who was doing dirty business in a neighboring village. It was an undercover mission, so instead of a team of four, Tsunade had arranged a team of just two people, but to be on the safe side, they were two jounins: Kakashi and Asuma.

The two expert ninjas were currently in a seedy dive in the village's red-light district. Theoretically it was a bar, but actually it was a brothel. Sitting at the bar next to Asuma, Kakashi looked critically at the suspicious waitresses: some looked too young even to work in a bar.

Asuma misinterpreted his gaze.

"Do you see any that you like?" he teased, knowing that his friend would never sleep with a prostitute.

Kakashi grimaced.

"No." Asuma lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.

"Good thing they didn't choose Kurenai for this mission. They must have been trying to hire her. She's way prettier than any of these."

Kakashi smiled, thinking that if Asuma dared to compliment Kurenai to her face, they would have been dating for a lot longer. Then another thought crossed his mind and he became serious.

Asuma noticed the change right away and became curious.

"What?"

He was about to say something noncommittal, but he realized how much he missed talking to Asuma. He appreciated Kurenai and Gai a lot, but if he had to put the label of close friend on someone, it would be only Asuma.

"I was wondering how you stand watching Kurenai go on a mission, knowing that each time it could be the last time you see her."

Asuma took a couple of seconds to answer, mostly out of surprise at hearing Kakashi ask him such a personal question.

"Well, I won't deny that it's hard, of course. But, as much as it sounds like a cliché, you end up getting used to it."

"I couldn't," Kakashi said.

"Of course you could. If you ever go out with a jounin, you'll have no choice."

"Actually, I'm already dating someone. He's a chuunin."

Asuma was about to drop the cigarette. But he recovered quickly. He took another drag and placed the cigarette in an ashtray.

"Who is it?" he asked, genuinely interested in knowing the name of the person who had managed to catch the elusive Copy Ninja.

"Iruka." Kakashi knew that Iruka wouldn't agree with this conversation, but to be fair it was the first time he had told someone who didn't already know about their relationship. Kurenai, Tsunade and Gai had practically figured it out on their own.

Asuma wasn't too surprised. He wasn't as clueless as Kurenai wanted to believe.

"I understand a lot of things now," he smiled. He picked up the cigarette again and took a drag. "Like that argument during the chuunin exams. Pure sexual tension."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kakashi growled, but couldn't help but smile at the comment.

"And how are you handling it?" the bearded ninja asked. "It's your first serious relationship, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I'm handling it well. It helps me a lot to know that Iruka is safe in the village, without any missions. Well, you're never a hundred percent safe, but you know what I mean."

"Not really. Why does it help you to know that Iruka is in the village? Besides, he does have missions."

"Yes, but they're anecdotal. And mid-range ones. It helps me because I couldn't bear to see him go off on an S-rank mission."

Asuma took another drag.

"He does have to," he said.

"I know. And maybe I'm selfish for thinking this, but I'd much rather be me the one who didn't come back. I know Iruka would have a bad time, but I wouldn't have to see him. On the other hand, if I lost Iruka..." Kakashi hesitated. The mere thought made him sick. "I couldn't. Not again."

"It's normal to have that kind of fear..."

"No, you don't understand. It's like I destroy everything I touch."

It wasn't like Kakashi to be so honest with his thoughts, especially his darkest thoughts. Asuma couldn't help but glance at his friend's cup, but no, he wasn't drunk. Kakashi hadn't touched his sake yet. He was just letting off steam.

"Don't say that."

"And what else am I going to say? First my old team. My entire old team. And now team seven."

"It wasn't your fault. Besides, team seven is still there. Separated, but there."

Kakashi didn't listen.

"And my parents," he murmured. "First my mother, then my father. I can't, Asuma, I can't handle any more losses."

Asuma didn't know what to say. He had lost loved ones too, like his uncle Sarutobi, but Kakashi had lost many more. However, at that moment their target entered the brothel, so they had to put that sincere and unexpected conversation aside. They were no longer two friends chatting in a bar; now they were ninjas about to complete a mission.

The meeting at the ninja academy had been long and tedious. Tsunade had arrived late and the teachers had had to explain to her from scratch their plans to resume the course with the least possible impact on account of the break suffered. After a break for lunch, in the afternoon the teachers dedicated themselves to preparing the classes for the next day.

Iruka returned to his apartment, which was already dark. On the way he stopped at Ichiraku and bought some ramen to take away. However, once at home he left it forgotten on the low table that served as his dining table. He was not hungry: the growing anxiety of not knowing anything about Kakashi had closed his stomach.

He knew he was a fool to worry. Kakashi had always been very active in missions, and if he was going to worry every time the jounin was out, he was in trouble. No, he could not live in fear. That would not be living. Besides, it was Kakashi, the powerful Copy Ninja. It was not so easy to finish him off.

However, the fact that on their first official day together he had already been called on a mission gave him a painful idea of what their relationship would be like from now on: one farewell after another, always fearing that one day one of those casual farewells would unwittingly become the final one.

If only he knew something about the mission... but he hadn't had the chance to try to find out anything. Maybe the next day he could ask Shizune secretly.

Sighing, Iruka turned off the light and lay down on the bed, ready to get those gloomy thoughts out of his mind somehow, otherwise he wouldn't be able to sleep. At that precise moment, he heard a small noise at the window, at the same time noticing a familiar chakra.

Iruka sat up suddenly, smiling like a fool when he saw Kakashi leaning on the windowsill, his silhouette outlined in the moonlight.

"Yo." Kakashi greeted.

"Hey," Iruka greeted, standing up. His smile froze as he made out dark stains on the jounin's uniform.

"It's not mine," Kakashi said quickly as he lowered his mask.

"But one day it will be…" Iruka thought. He approached Kakashi to look at him more closely, but no, he didn't seem to be hurt, just sweaty and a little dirty.

"How did the mission go?" he asked.

"Good." Iruka raised an eyebrow and Kakashi understood that he was expecting a less monosyllabic explanation. "Um, Asuma and I had to capture a guy, a renegade ninja turned pimp, we did it without problems and we brought him to Tsunade."

"Alive?" Iruka asked as he looked at the blood stains once more.

"Yeah. Just minor injuries." Iruka nodded, pleased that Kakashi hadn't had to kill anyone, at least that day.

"Do you want to take a shower?"

"If you don't mind..."

"Of course not."

Kakashi thanked him with a chaste kiss on his temple and without further ado got into the bathroom.

Iruka bit his lip. He assumed Kakashi would be tired, but he couldn't help it: he was so eager to touch him and be touched that he even had a hard time waiting for the jounin to finish showering. After weighing it up for a few minutes, he decided to take the plunge. So, he stripped and, leaving his embarrassment and shyness aside for once, entered the bathroom.

The young master gulped as he once again looked at the jounin's perfect naked body, who, standing inside the tub under a stream of warm water, greeted him with a charming expression of surprise, which quickly changed to a hungry, almost dangerous look. Iruka forced himself to continue with his plan and got into the tub as well.

"Do you mind if I shower with you…?" he asked, knowing the answer.

Kakashi didn't say anything. As soon as he was within reach, he wrapped an arm around Iruka's waist and grabbed his chin with his free hand. Iruka thought he was going to kiss him, but Kakashi just stared at him.

"Is something wrong?" Iruka whispered, stunned by the unexpected attention.

"No. Nothing." Kakashi did kiss him now. Hard, eager. Iruka moaned and grabbed Kakashi's wet shoulders with both hands, barely able to keep up. When they pulled away, the jounin hugged him and directed his lips to his ear. "I love you," he whispered. "I love you, Iruka."

"I know," Iruka whispered, hugging him tightly, hating himself for not being able to say out loud what was already obvious to both of them.

«Soon», he told himself.

TBC