Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Embracing Dreams ❯ Chapter 4

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Part Four: Kakashi, Naruto

Kakashi liked to think of himself as an open minded man. He got around, saw a lot, and didn't let much get to him and change the way he was. He was used to people looking at him funny. He'd gotten it in grade school because of his complexion and pale blue eyes, which really begged the question of what exactly his mother had been doing when she'd left the country to visit old friends a few times a year. By middle school, his eyes had darkened to an indistinguishable color and he'd gotten the looks because he'd shot up nearly two feet and was suddenly taller and skinnier than anyone else.

Eventually he caught on and gave them reasons to look that had nothing to do with appearances or rumors about his family. Looking back, his pranks had been pretty tame. He'd never done anything that was irreparable. Hair grew back, desks were fairly cheap and really did look better decorated with perverted scribbles of the sensei and his favorite students, and, honestly, if the class president had just stopped taking such big strides, his ass wouldn't have wiggled so much when he walked. Maybe he shouldn't have said that with quite so many witnesses, but the advice had been intended to be helpful. He'd gotten really good at attracting attention only when he wanted to, and it was something he liked.

These days it was a lot easier, though. Because of the brat. Not that he wanted to give Sasuke too much credit. The kid was to blame for the need to keep his left eye covered, yeah, but Kakashi had thought of the mask all on his own. Made him dashing. He had that on good authority. Mysterious, too. And there was something oh, so, tempting about having to peel down the mask to get at his mouth. A pretty blonde in an airport in Russia had told him that, before kissing his lips with a smile and giving him the ability to create an energy shield by whistling a high pitched note. It was a shame the blonde had disappeared a moment later.

Kakashi had stalked that one for weeks, and he still didn't know how many talents the guy had. Sasuke had gotten something out of the encounter, too. The kid had used the Sharingan to pick up the blonde's ability to move like he was dancing on air. But as far as Kakashi was concerned, that teasing compliment and fleeting kiss had been more rewarding than any whistling energy barrier. Dragging a moody kid around with him really did a number on his sex life.

Porn was an obvious fall-back. If Sasuke ever developed a libido, he might understand, if not appreciate, the sacrifices Kakashi made for him. Just the fact that a kiss on the lips from a total stranger - albeit a pretty, mysterious, and playful stranger - was a sexual highlight of the last few years, really said something. Sasuke scared people off, even grown adults. Prided himself in it, too, the smug brat.

Kakashi had brought someone back to the hotel with him just once. A perfectly innocent event. She'd been way too short and old for him, for one thing. He wasn't even thirty yet. He'd been watching some kids beat up a gang of would-be thugs, trying to decide if they were mutants - and therefore stalk-worthy - or just another pair of punks keeping their streets clean. She'd shown up beside him and offered to teach him a few tricks about telling mutants from nonmutants. In exchange, she wanted some tea and the use of his shower. Kakashi loved encounters like that. He could recognize a fellow traveler instantly, but the friendly ones were few and far between. They were rare and not to be taken for granted. He should have known Sasuke would do his best to screw it up.

That brat had more glares than anyone Kakashi had met. And he'd met a lot of people. Psychopaths included. What was funny was that Sasuke fancied himself blunt and unimaginative. He didn't seem to realize that not all of his glares were the same. Sasuke's favorites in his arsenal were the forthright 'I loathe you' glare and the infamous 'you're touching me, again, you will beg for a clean death by the time I finish with you' glare. But somewhere along the way of being travel companions, the kid had developed a territorial 'you're entering my space' glare, accompanied by a 'prepare to suffer the consequences' sneer.

Normally, Kakashi didn't mind being greeted with that combo expression of violence the second he stepped through the door. It was Sasuke's equivalent of bristling his fur and sticking his tail in the air. Cute. A psychotic display of affection. Unfortunately, Sasuke's threatening glower of doom had a tendency to scare off one night stands before he even got them in the doorway. It was no wonder he'd become a porn addict.

Porn was truly a wonderful thing. He'd never had to sweet talk porn, didn't have to talk at all. He could open the tempting cover and sink right in to the good stuff any time he wanted. No foreplay, no awkward 'by the way, I'm leaving the country this afternoon, so if you're up to another go, now's the time,' no need to scope out a target since his favorite series was available all over the world. And once Sasuke got over his thing about living with an open porn addict who touched him when he least expected it, the porn was a great diversion. Any time he opened a book, he got a twitch out of the brat.

Any time. Every time. Which was a little sad. The brat was practically sixteen. It was embarrassing. Sasuke really needed to get that stick out of his ass or he'd never get laid. If he hadn't seen Sasuke sport a wide-eyed blush when that blonde in the airport had leaned down to kiss his cheek, Kakashi might actually have believed he was as asexual as he claimed to be. The kid was so uptight Kakashi could count on him to disappear the second he opened one of his books. That was good. That meant as long as the book was open they could both pretend the other didn't exist. A much needed break that kept the amusement fresh and entertaining when he went back to tormenting the kid.

Kakashi knew he had plenty of reasons to be the way he was. He liked attracting attention so long as he was in control of why people were staring at him. He liked his porn, too. He didn't mind letting other people know that he liked porn, and that he was amused to be seen liking his porn. Especially when it was a sweet mothering school-teacher type with a too-tight tail of thick dark hair he couldn't wait to loosen up. What he didn't like was that the soft-spoken, infinitely teasable man he'd spoken to over the phone appeared far more prudish and unflappable in person. Iruka was almost as good at ignoring him as Sasuke was. He'd never seen that coming.

Iruka really was younger than he'd expected. Over the phone he'd seemed shy but friendly, easy-going, with a healthy sense of humor. Kakashi had made a few comments, playful ones at most since he hadn't known what the guy looked like yet, and he'd gotten a soft laugh in response. That was encouragement, right? Soft throaty laughs were reserved for the bedroom, after all. He was sure he'd made at least one innuendo about the rooming arrangements, and no one had called him a pervert then. Well, the brat had, but he didn't count. Sasuke was Sasuke.

It was almost like Iruka had taken one look at his porn and decided to ignore him until - until...? Until they were alone? The disapproving look Iruka had given him, almost disappointed and resentful, hadn't been that encouraging. Until he apologized? For what? He was a healthy adult and it wasn't like Sasuke hadn't learned real quick to ignore him when the porn came out. Kakashi was starting to think there was a problem here, and he had an idea it was that blonde kid's fault. The chubby looking one with the big mouth. Who'd somehow managed to make Sasuke feel threatened without even looking at him.

Kakashi had noticed the kid earlier. Standing on a hill half a mile away and watching them like he could see more than just their outlines against the gray-blue clouds. Must have some good eyes to go with that strength of his. Kakashi had just considered staring back over the top of his porn when the kid had turned tail and disappeared. Reporting back to Iruka? Urging him to hurry up? Warning him to stay away from the old pervert? Probably. The kid didn't seem to realize he wasn't the adult in the relationship. Calling him a pervert. Really. Kakashi had half a mind to sic Sasuke on him. It was a lot easier to convince Sasuke to take out the potential threat than it was to try calming him down. Naruto should have been thanking him. A threatened Sasuke was a thousand times more dangerous than a happily paranoid Sasuke.

No, he'd definitely have to get Iruka away from that nosey kid if he were going to have some fun before he left. Correction. The nosey paranoid kid. Who was shooting increasingly suspicious glances the closer Kakashi got to walking beside Iruka. Aww. Was the kid feeling protective? How cute. And futile. Sasuke could attest that Kakashi never let bratty little kids keep him from having fun. They just made it more of a challenge. He liked challenges. They kept things entertaining.

Kakashi shot a smirk at the scowling Naruto, and eased closer until his sleeve brushed Iruka's arm as they walked. Iruka jerked his arm away and sent him a startled look. Kakashi blinked back at him. Jumpy much? He was used to that from Sasuke, but now Naruto and Iruka, too? Was it him?

"Maa," Kakashi drawled with a lazy smile. "I'm not going to bite."

Iruka gave a soft snort that wasn't quite a laugh. "I didn't think you would."

A bold faced lie. Kakashi could tell from the way Iruka didn't quite look him in the eye when he said it. Wow. Maybe it was him. Iruka looked as nervous and uncomfortable as Sasuke had when he'd cornered the bloody kid in his hotel room for the first time and ordered him to strip. The difference being that Iruka didn't have a knife. That he knew of. And Iruka looked more liable to bolt than to attack. At least the guy was trying to play it off with a weak smile. He just needed to learn to lie better.

"Cute kid you have there," Kakashi lied, beaming down at Naruto. "Reminds me of a dog I had once. Loud, bouncy, didn't take to strangers much. It's a shame we had to eat him. Never had to clean between my own toes with him around. Luckily Sasuke's real handy with a knife, me being such a bad cook and all. It's messy work, skinning loud annoying dogs."

Iruka stumbled. Looked horrified. Kakashi's lazy smile widened. Not so nervous and jumpy now. Nope. Iruka looked like he was caught somewhere between outrage and disbelief. Naruto was much quicker to react. The kid growled at him. Showing some rather sharp incisors. And was it the lack of light or were the kid's eyes a little red?

Kakashi gave a smug nod of approval. "Growls just like him, too. Wouldn't even have to skin him."

"Ka - Kakashi-san!"

Ah, he'd recovered enough to speak. Kakashi took that as his cue. He propped a wrist on Iruka's shoulder and patted him like they were old friends.

"Just breaking the ice," Kakashi smiled. "I thought Sasuke would be the only one all twitchy and suspicious here. The way your kid's been shooting glares at me, you'd think I was some pervert trying to make a move on his old man. Or, in your case, make that young man."

Naruto clenched his teeth so tightly his jaw started to ache. It just got worse when Iruka reacted to the man with just a hint of reproach. That was the voice Iruka used when Naruto spoke without thinking, but hadn't done anything really bad. The pervert definitely deserved a harder voice than that one. And he was still touching him! Right in front of him. He was just begging to have his ass kicked. If Iruka wasn't gonna do it, Naruto sure as hell would.

'Do it and he wins,' Kyuubi muttered in his head. 'He's trying to provoke you. Iruka's being as polite as possible. If you ruin that by shooting your mouth off or attacking, that'll make you look as bad as the pervert.'

'But he's touching him!' Naruto wailed, in his head, since his teeth were still tightly clenched. 'Right in front of me! And Iruka-sensei's letting him! I can't just watch that. And he called me a dog. Right...? I think he did. Whatever that meant, it was insulting and he's still touching him! You said that was bad, right? Letting him touch us?'

'It's not the same,' said Kyuubi. 'There's something wrong, but that's just a touch. He's not doing anything with it.'

'Something,' Naruto repeated. 'You mean like a talent? Like he'd suck your energy out or something? A mutant vampire! He sure looks it, with that creepy mask. Everyone knows vampires are perverts. We gotta get rid of him.'

'Agreed. But not in front of Iruka. Just wait a while. He'll be glad you held in your temper. He's always going on about that.'

Naruto left off growling at the pervert and jerked his head away. Iruka was apologizing for something, like Naruto was somehow to blame for the guy insulting him and being way too friendly. He'd never understand how that happened. It just did. Especially with teachers. They'd set him off and then whine to Iruka as if he were the one who started it. Just because he was a kid didn't mean he was always the wrong one. He didn't get that polite side Iruka had. There was no reason to be polite to assholes, even if they were adults.

'That's like a double standard,' Naruto griped. 'I don't care if Iruka's proud of me or not. I shouldn't have to keep quiet when the pervert's the one who started it. We definitely gotta watch him tonight. If he goes anywhere near Iruka's room, I'm gonna kill him. You'll help, too, right?'

'Of course. Iruka is mine as much as he's yours.'

Naruto smirked at that, almost forgetting that he'd been fuming a few seconds ago. And Iruka thought he had a problem sharing. He shared everything with Kyuubi.

'You don't think he'd really try that,' Naruto wondered a moment later, 'do you? I mean, even perverts have to have morals, right? And Iruka's not that wimpy. I bet he'd punch him out if he tried anything. He's cool when he's mad.'

'Depends on his talent,' Kyuubi said, with a fox equivalent of a shrug. 'I'll keep an eye on him. I don't need as much sleep as you. The other one's more dangerous, anyway.'

That got a startled blink and a scrunched up frown from Naruto. 'You think?'

'I wanna bite him.'

Naruto snorted, and did his best to keep the snicker in his head. 'Idiot. He's even skinnier than me. Got a girl's face, too. We'd probably break him in a fight.'

Kyuubi sighed. It was a long suffering sound that came from being stuck in constant contact with someone he considered intellectually inferior. 'Remember that 'don't judge a book by its cover' lecture I gave you when you picked a fight with that ugly kid? The one who busted your nose with the first hit because you wanted to take him without me?'

'Lucky hit!' Naruto spat. 'I still got him, didn't I? I don't need you to take on guys like that.'

'You got him because he was bulky and you were faster,' Kyuubi lectured. He was tired of making this point over and over. Why didn't Naruto have a perfect memory like he did? It was annoying that he couldn't even cuff him upside the head to make him pay attention. Iruka had no idea how lucky he was. 'The one behind us isn't bulky. He's dangerous. You think I'd want to bite him if I didn't think he was strong?'

'Well, you do get that mood sometimes,' Naruto smirked. 'You wanted to bite that shopgirl at the rental place, and there's no way that was about fighting. You're a total pervert and you know it.'

'It was the smell,' Kyuubi growled, bristling and defensive. 'That wasn't my fault. I told you how hormones work with females. It's a monthly instinct. That has nothing to do with this.'

'Sure, sure,' Naruto drawled. 'Whatever you say.'

'Fucking brat. That pervert calling you a dog is an insult to canines.'

'So he did call me a dog!' Naruto jolted. 'I knew it! That asshole pervert! I'm so gonna get him the second Iruka's not looking...'

Kyuubi growled in annoyance and turned his head, as if he were looking over his shoulder. Naruto mimicked the motions without thinking about it. He caught a suspicious glare head on before it narrowed and flicked away.

'What the hell?' Naruto scowled, staring hard at Sasuke. 'Why was he looking at me like that? I didn't do anything.'

'He wants me to bite him,' Kyuubi said, as if it were obvious.

Naruto couldn't help it. He snorted again, the grin making it to his face this time. 'Shut up, Kyuubi. Seriously.'

'It won't be easy, either,' Kyuubi continued, like Naruto hadn't said a word. 'I can tell. He smells of blood. It's old, but it's there. Beating him will be a challenge for you. He'll be fast. Confident, too, glaring at us like that. Mm. Definitely gonna bite him.'

'You're just horny,' Naruto scoffed.

'Hm. Your type, too?'

'How the hell should I know? I'm not a pervert like you,' Naruto scowled. He sent another look at the silent kid behind him and caught another fleeting glare. He promptly glowered and turned back around. 'I don't think so. He looks like a real jerk. Glaring at me like that. I'll give him a reason to glare if he keeps that up. We're not even to the house yet and he's already trying to get on my bad side. Must be a moron. I could kick his scrawny ass, easy.'

Kyuubi was the one to snort, this time. 'He'd kill you in a heartbeat if I let him. It's not that kind of look. Not like those idiots you go to school with. He's looking through you. Trying to. To see me.'

'Don't get full of yourself,' muttered Naruto. 'No one can see you, even if they knew about you. And he doesn't. There's no way Iruka would have told them. He'd have to be a mindreader or something.'

Naruto promptly stumbled. 'Oh. Oh, shit, you think he's a mindreader? They're supposed to hear thoughts and stuff. Like everything we say would be just like saying it out loud! That's a - a...a total invasion of privacy, that's what! I'm definitely gonna kick his ass now. Hell, maybe I'll let you bite him while I'm at it.'

'I'll bite him eventually, regardless,' Kyuubi shrugged. 'But he's not a telepath. I'd know if we met one of those.'

'Really?' Naruto asked in surprise. 'How would you know?'

'The same way I know he's strong. And that the pervert can be dangerous if he touches us the wrong way. I'd know.'

Naruto scoffed. 'Like there's a right way for a pervert to touch someone. But, you know, your talents are weird, Kyuubi. We really gotta figure out what your powers are. There's no way you can get all that just from smelling people. Rain, maybe, if you smell the clouds coming. But not talents. I don't think mutants smell different from normal people. And there's no way different talents have different smells. That's just dumb.'

'Smell, sense, instinct,' Kyuubi shrugged. 'It's all the same when I'm using your body. The point is, I know. We're almost to the house. Let's attack him before the rain starts.'

'What?' Naruto choked. 'I'm not going to attack him if he's not reading my mind. Even if he is glaring like a jerk. Iruka would kill me if I just went and attacked him for no reason.'

'Iruka is currently distracted by the pervert,' Kyuubi pointed out.

Naruto couldn't help but notice that Kyuubi was right. He glowered at the two men. Whatever they'd been talking about, there was no way it was amusing enough for Iruka to have his blush-smile on. That faintly blushing smile he got when he was amused, and embarrassed for being so amused. It was one of Naruto's favorites. That old pervert shouldn't ever get to see that smile.

'And he knows you planned to 'wrestle' with the mutants who came here,' Kyuubi continued. 'Iruka might not approve of the timing, but he won't kill you. Let's go. We'll keep the bags as a handicap. Just watch, we won't even be able to hit him on the first try. He's been waiting for it, sizing us up. Have to wear him down first. And be careful, too. I think he has a weapon on him. He's holding that bag with the wrong hand...'

Naruto tore glare away from Kakashi and closed his eyes, so he could scowl at his fox properly. 'Down boy. You're getting silly, now. A jerk like that, he's bound to insult me eventually. Then we'll kick his ass. Right now we're just gonna play nice and get him to his new room. If I have to hold my temper and not go off on the pervert, you have to ignore the kid, too. No biting guests, Kyuubi. You know that's what Iruka-sensei would say.'

'Fine,' Kyuubi growled. 'You can go off on the pervert after I bite the kid.'

'You're so cute when you get all stubborn and frustrated,' Naruto teased. 'Be a good fox, now, and the first time the jerk insults me, I'll let you bite him as hard as you want. Deal?'

'No.'

'Tough,' said Naruto. 'That's the best you're getting. You keep forgetting the only way you can bite anyone is with my mouth. I'm not about to go doing stuff like that. Only perverts bite people.'

Kyuubi glared and huffed moodily. 'Foxes bite people, too.'

'Only foxes like you, Kyuubi. And that's only because you're a pervert on top of being a fox. Just take a nap or something. I bet he insults me before you know it.'

'As if I could sleep with that glare following us around,' Kyuubi muttered, 'and that pervert drooling over Iruka.'

Naruto shot a sharp look to the side and promptly went back to clenching his teeth. 'Damnit! The old pervert's got his whole arm around him now! That's it, I'm so gonna kill him!'

Kyuubi nodded in approval. 'Deal. You kill the pervert and I'll bite the kid. We can apologize to Iruka afterward.'

.-.
TBC