Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Iruka's obsession ❯ Chapter 17

Part 17

 

Iruka's ears were ringing and his hair looked as if head just come out of a wind tunnel; if his hair had been white, it would have looked liked Kakashi's. He looked around a little dazed and was somewhat embarrassed to see Sakura standing to the side with her hands crossed, looking at him with a smile of affection, as if she was the adult and he was the child.

 

He had a glimpse of what she would grow up to be, a pink-haired Tsunade, only more skillful and perhaps a little less prone to fits of irrationality -- that is, unless she decided not to take up drinking.

 

“Iruka-sensei,” Sakura managed to sound both pleased and amused at the same time. “It's good to see you in one piece after that talking-to you got.”

 

“I wouldn't exactly call it a talking-to,” Iruka said with a weak smile, running a hand through his hair to try and push it down, giving a rather shaky grin to his former student. It was the first time he had been on the receiving end of Tsunade's wrath, and it had not being pleasant.

 

“Kakashi-sensei just brought back a hoard of dogs, didn't he?” she said, looking up from her notes. “Heard Tsunade-sama wasn't too happy with that.”

 

“You don't say,” Iruka said dryly, as he recalled the scolding he had gotten. While Tsunade had not been overly harsh, no Iruka thought, she had been just loud. Tsunade had also emphasized that as a chunnin she had expected Iruka to be more sensible than his senior when it came to mission parameters. Then she had told him off for stupidity, willful evasion of duty, insubordination, vandalism, and willful destruction of a public building before pronouncing him free to leave once he'd let himself be examined to make sure he was not suffering from the effects of the jutsu.

 

It seemed the person offering the second opinion was Sakura, which was not very surprising, since Sakura was Tsunade's student. Still, it made Iruka feel awfully old that the medi-nins were all younger than he was -- and his students.

 

Iruka got to his feet carefully, rolled down the pants leg and tested his leg. The leg muscles screamed, and his toes refused to move, but all in all his leg was intact, and he could move. Perhaps even run if needed, though he was not willing to push that point -- his knee was protesting as well, and he knew better than to push his body after being injured.

 

Though his leg was far from completely healed, he could see the unbroken skin through the torn and blood-soaked material of the pants and was grateful for that. He was glad he had been close to help when it had happened -- better ninja than he had been crippled for life because they had not received proper medical care in time. Which made Iruka remember that Kakashi had fixed his leg, which in turn meant that he should really thank the man, even though he was not sure how to begin.

 

“May I leave now?” he asked Sakura politely.

 

“I suppose you can, though I should warn you to take it easy for at least a week,” she said sternly. “Iruka-sensei, Tsunade-sama told me to tell you that you should take a day off school and rest the leg. Standing on it the entire day would not be advisable.”

 

“I'll take the day off, I promise,” said Iruka, nodding in what he hoped was an agreeable way, while thinking perhaps he should go over to Kakashi's house to thank him. But would that make Iruka look pushy, as if he was stalking? Perhaps he should wait until he met Kakashi accidentally to thank him. But what if Iruka didn't run into Kakashi for a while -- it seemed rather stupid that he should thank Kakashi, say, a month after the incident, which would make it sound less important. Maybe he should write a thank-you note to Kakashi, but did ninjas write thank-you notes? Maybe he should send a message through someone -- but that sounded rather rude, so maybe perhaps he should wait somewhere he was sure he was going to run into the silver haired ninja and …

 

“Are you all right, sensei?” Sakura sounded worried.

 

“I'm fine,” Iruka replied, flushing, when he realized he had been standing with his mouth open for some time, while Sakura had recited to him a list of `dos and don'ts'. “I have to go. I have a … a lot of grading to do and …”

 

“Very well,” Sakura said in a brisk tone. “If you can sign here to show you walked out of the hospital on you own free will.” She handed him a note pad and smiled. “Oh, I almost forgot. There's someone here to see you.”

 

“I'll have my report in by tomorrow,” Iruka said a little hurriedly, curious to know who had come to visit.

 

“Tell Kakashi-sensei to hand over his as well,” Sakura said a little wryly. “And tell him Master is not amused by him addressing her as Tsunami-sama in his reports.”

 

“I'll remember to tell him that,” Iruka replied, forcing a smile. He limped to the room door and pulled it open, his heart in his mouth, hoping to see -- well, who was he kidding, he had been hoping to see Kakashi, but what he did see an empty hallway. He looked around a little confused …

 

“Yo, Sonny-boy,” a familiar voice greeted him from near his feet and Iruka looked down, not sure if he was disappointed or glad.

 

“Pakkun,” he said, scooting down, wincing as his knee reminded him of his recent leg injury. “Did Kakashi send you here?” he asked before he could bite his tongue.

 

“I'm on my own,” the small pug replied carefully, and Iruka felt pang of disappointment. “Come on, she's asking for you.”

 

“Who's asking for me?” Iruka asked, a little mystified. He did not know of anyone who would ask for him - especially a female who was capable of sending Pakkun. “Tsunade-sama already spoke to me and…”

 

“No,” Pakkun sounded a little amused. “God knows why, but the bitch seems to have a soft spot for you…” Iruka stared in surprise at the word -- dog or not, Pakkun was going to have his mouth washed in soap. “…must have been because you were lugging her along with you for a while.”

 

Iruka looked slightly surprised and then his face cleared in understanding. “Where exactly is she?” he asked.

 

“Inuzuka hospital,” the dog said with a slight tilt of its upper lip which could be interpreted as a smile.

 

“Ah,” said Iruka seen the light. “The puppy … how's she?”

 

“Alive,” the pug grunted. “Come on; I haven't got all day.”

 

“I'm coming,” Iruka said good naturedly, as he started to limp down the sterile corridors of the Konoha hospital. “Did she really ask for me?” he asked tentatively, feeling a little pleased by the turn of events. No one had asked for him like that ever. If felt sort of nice.

 

“You did defend the pack,” Pakkun said with a look over his shoulder. “You've earned the right to be one of us.”

 

“Uh,” said Iruka wondering if he had been made an honorary dog. “Thank you, I think.”

 

“That means we'll defend you if you ever need us,” Pakkun said with a smirk.

 

“Oh!”

 

“But priority will be given to Kakashi…”

 

“Of course.”

 

“But we can bend the rules a little, seeing as you don't have as much chakra as he does, even though you did put up a heck of a fight with that Mizuki guy last time, and the lot you brought in from the Rain Country tells me you did risk your life for them…”

 

“Uh!”

 

“…and you are mating with the boss so…”

 

“What!”

 

“…I fail to see the purpose of that since its very unlikely either of you will whelp…”

 

“How did you know we… that is me and Kakashi … you know…” Iruka managed to squeeze in more than a word in finally as Pakkun paused for breath.

 

“Smell,” Pakkun replied shortly, and Iruka remembered that he had not had a chance to wash after getting back from the mission. The last time he had washed had been when he'd hastily wiped the dried semen off his stomach before he and Kakashi had set off to rescue the dogs. Oh! Oh!

 

“Well, come on,” Pakkun said, when Iruka stopped in embarrassment. “We don't have time for you to go through heat flashes.”

 

What?” Iruka snapped before he realized his face a burning from all the blood rushing to his cheeks. “Let's just go,” he agreed.

 

As he was nearing the end of the corridor they passed by a room with a partially open door and inside, a flash of green. He approached the door tentatively and knocked on it before pushing it open fully. Shizune sat in what passed for a small office, filling out some forms, looking radiant, and talking to Gai, who was practically bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

 

“Gai-sensei, Shizune-sama,” Iruka greeted them. “How are you?”

 

“Iruka-sensei, my most loyal former teammate and vision of youth,” Gai bellowed happily. “It is nice to see you on your feet. We heard one of your legs suffered the same fate as Shizune's did and…”

 

“Why are you still here?” Iruka blurted out. He was already on his feet as Gai had pointed out, though he had broken one leg in contrast to Shizune who had broken both of her legs. But she had been brought to the hospital before he had been, so she should have been up and about by now.

 

“Iruka-sensei,” Shizune smiled warmly at him. “I'm here because Tsunade is a little behind her in paperwork, and I have to get it in order before the next council meeting.”

 

“It's nice to see you are feeling better,” Iruka said with feeling before he could stop it.

 

“Where are you going now?” Gai interrupted. “We were going to go to Ichiraku's to get something to eat. We can discuss our mission and perhaps the conclusion, which I seemed to have missed.”

 

Iruka shook his head regretfully, though his stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten in quite a while. “No,” he said with a grimace. “I have to go to the Inuzuka hospital to pick up …”

 

“Say no more,” Gai said with a smile. “Go, go, my eternal rival must be waiting for you.”

 

“I think that's highly unlikely,” Iruka said a little weakly.

 

But Gai was hardly listening to him as he steered Iruka towards the door with a forceful hand around his shoulder. When they were both standing in the corridor, Gai turned towards Iruka with a wide smile and said in what he probably considered to be a whisper, “Shizune, the lovely lady who holds my heart in her bosom, has agreed to go out with me on an official date day after tomorrow. She said it was only a trial, but that is more than enough to make hope bloom in my still-beating heart, and…”

 

“That's nice,” Iruka smiling genuinely. “She agreed to this after you brought her back to the village?”

 

“Actually,” Gai's forehead wrinkled he tried to recall something. “I was carrying her on my back, and she said, `Gai my legs haven't healed yet, so if you stop doing those ridiculous jumps, I'll do anything you ask.'”

 

“Ah,” said Iruka at a loss for anything to say. “So you asked her out.” At least Gai was honorable, if a little stupid. *

 

“And she said yes.” Gai looked cluelessly happy.

 

“That's nice,” Iruka said a little weakly. Iruka did not think Shizune would ever agree to anything she did not want to do, and she had gotten to know Gai better during their time together. It might not be a bad thing. He hoped the conversation was over, since his leg muscle was spasming painfully from standing still, but Gai kept on beaming at him as if he expected Iruka to say something else. Iruka cleared his throat and asked, “What are you going to wear?”

 

“Wear?” Gai looked stunned, looking at his green spandex suit.

 

“Well -- you know,” said Iruka, wondering how to break the news to Gai about his choice of clothes.

 

“She's just getting used to you, so you don't want to smother her with your manliness and your greenness, do you?” Pakkun said a little dryly from the floor.

 

“Perhaps a combination of green and something else,” Iruka injected.

 

“Ah!” Gai nodded in understanding. “Yes, of course, I should not overwhelm her.”

 

“Isn't that great,” Pakkun said with a grimace. “Iruka-sensei can help you pick something to wear tomorrow. Let's go sensei, there are puppies waiting for you.”

 

Iruka bowed a little awkwardly to Gai and ran out behind Pakkun, hurriedly.

 

“I suppose you might want to change your clothes, too,” Pakkun said to Iruka as they hurried to the exit.

 

“I do?” Iruka queried mystified.

 

“You'll have to take that bitch back to Kakashi, right?” Pakkun said as if it as obvious. “You can't go there dressed in torn clothes, smelling like a week old condom.”

 

Yes, Kakashi's dogs had as much tact as their owner did.

 

--- ---- -------- ---- --------

 

Iruka stood in front of Kakashi's apartment door, heart in hand, puppy tucked under his breastbone -- well, it felt that way--and waited for the door to open.

 

The puppy had indeed seemed to be happy to see Iruka and wagged her tail enthusiastically, yapping.

 

“I don't understand a word you're saying but I expect you must be glad to see me,” Iruka had said, picking up the pup and giving it, or rather her, a hug.

 

“Don't expect her to talk back,” Pakkun had replied grumpily. “There isn't enough nin-dog blood in any of them to be anything other than a mediocre guard dog, if they're lucky.”

 

“I don't know,” had said Iruka with a grin. “They seemed to respond to voice commands very well.”

 

“What would you know,” the pug had made Iruka feel totally incompetent before heading out. “God knows what we'll do with the lot.”

 

Which was how Iruka had ended up at Kakashi's apartment, ready to take ownership of one pup he had recently rescued and carried back. He'd prepared a speech; that he was more than ready to take responsibility for another life. After all, he had a steady job and was home more often than not. He additionally had being a part of the rescue operation and had as much right as Kakashi did to the pup.

 

A small voice in the back of his head pointed out that Iruka could have simply sent the message via Pakkun, and that Kakashi could have replied in the same way, and this was a ruse by Iruka to visit the Copy-nin. He did have to thank Kakashi, Iruka reasoned, and though he was looking forward to seeing Kakashi, he did not think the man had any real feelings for him. True, he had felt hopeful after talking to Ibiki, but as his mother used to say, hope was a demon with the face of an angel. [1] All Iruka was going to do was smile, tell Kakashi that he was grateful for the care Kakashi had given his leg and then ask if it was all right for the pup to come and live with Iruka.

 

That was all.

 

He was not going to expect Kakashi to be nice to him or speak to him civilly or even actually let him take the pup. Still…

 

The door was wrenched open after what felt like an hour after Iruka had knocked and Iruka opened his mouth and blurted out, “You're wearing shorts!”

 

Kakashi was wearing a pair of shorts made from cut off jounin pants, a loose shirt buttoned halfway up and, of course, a mask.

 

“I know,” Kakashi said sounding amused.

 

“I brought him here just like asked me to,” Pakkun said a little too loudly, looking at Iruka pointedly as he walked in, leaving Iruka and Kakashi standing in the doorway awkwardly. Iruka looked down, feeling a little pleased; if he was not mistaken, Kakashi had instructed Pakkun to bring Iruka to Kakashi, so that must mean something. Like Iruka meaning something to Kakashi.

 

“Would you like to come in, Iruka-sensei, and …uh… yes … Pakkun. Thank you.”

 

Blushing, Iruka looked down at Kakashi's bare feet and bit back a smile. The great Copy-nin was flustered, which could not be a bad thing, all things considered. He stepped in carefully, making sure not to look wide-eyed and curious, though he was dying to look around the place, toed off his sandals and then looked around.

 

Iruka had been expecting to find himself in what passed for a sitting room in jounin quarters. Instead, he found himself in an indoor courtyard overflowing with dogs and various bathing items.

 

“You're bathing them,” Iruka guessed, stating the obvious.

 

“They're bathing themselves,” Kakashi replied dryly, as he pulled his mask down. “They'd better be or else they will not get anything to eat. I'll take that, thank you,” he added plucking the pup out of Iruka's unresisting fingers deftly and passing it - her-- off to some large dog who took the pup by the scruff of the neck.

 

“There seem to be a lot of dogs here,” Iruka said weakly, feeling pleased that Kakashi had pushed down his mask so casually in front of Iruka. True, Iruka had already seen Kakashi's face so it was pointless to cover it, but still, the familiarity of the gesture touched him.

 

“Actually,” Iruka started. “I was hoping you could let me keep the pup that…”

 

“Yes,” Kakashi agreed readily. “Take Pakkun.”

 

“No!” Iruka exclaimed before he could help it.

 

“Whom exactly are you calling pup?” Pakkun called from the depths of a bubble-filled bath. “And what do you mean no. I'm the perfect companion for anyone.”

 

“I was hoping for the one I carried over,” Iruka explained.

 

“I'll have to find home for nearly of them,” Kakashi said wryly. “Inzuka clinic can take in one, you can take the pup and few more as well if you want.”

 

“I'll start off with one pup,” Iruka said hastily.

 

“As you wish,” Kakashi said with a shrug and turned towards a side door. “We're going to have something to eat now. Would you like to join us?”

 

Iruka looked at the sky, which was getting dark, and shook his head. “No, I have to get going; I have a few papers to grade and…” His stomach growled, and Iruka blushed wildly at that.

 

“That's settled it,” said Kakashi decisively. “Ramen and boiled liver it is.”

 

--- ------- -------- --------- --

 

They all ate seated at a long table in a large dinning room, even the dogs, who sat on high stools. Thankfully, the boiled liver turned out to be for the dogs only, and they all had miso ramen heated from boxes.

 

“So,” said Iruka eating his ramen, making a note to invite Kakashi to dinner as a way of repayment. No, not as an excuse to see the guy, maybe he'd invite all sixteen dogs as well. “You sent Pakkun to get me.”

 

“Ah, yes,” said Kakashi looking slightly flustered. “That is so … everyone here can thank you.”

 

“Thank me!”

 

“For staying behind to the rescue the dogs,” Kakashi explained. “For staying behind to help us out at the last moment.”

 

“That was …” Iruka blushed and looked down. “Leaving you or the dogs was never an option … I'd have never done that.”

 

For a moment, some emotion seemed to fly across Kakashi's face, but that cleared instantly, making Iruka wonder if he'd imagined the expression. “I wanted to thank you, too,” Iruka said softly. “For healing my leg.”

 

“Well, I couldn't exactly leave you there bleeding, could I?” Kakashi said casually, waving his chopsticks around. “Though I heard you were brought to the village on someone's back, sensei. You must be getting soft.”

 

“I was in no condition to walk,” Iruka protested, wondering if he was being teased or told off for his weaknesses.

 

“Really,” Kakashi smirked. “Maybe for you, sensei, but the day someone carries me back to the village after a mission will be the day I eat my sandals.”

 

“I'll be looking forward to that,” Iruka said with feeling.

 

“You wish.” All Kakashi had to do was stick out his tongue to resemble a five year old.

 

Iruka snorted at the image then smiled. “Ibiki-san was quite nice,” he said. “He had a lot to say about you.” There, he'd ventured into uncharted territory.

 

“Ibiki is a fool,” Kakashi said with a snort, and Pakkun managed to cough something in the back ground. The dogs started clearing out one by one, leaving the two humans alone to continue on with their conversation.

 

“Oh!”

 

“What did he tell you, anyway?” Kakashi asked, discarding his chopsticks into the bowl, looking serious. He reached for his mask and seemed indecisive, as if wondering whether to pull it up or not after he'd finished eating.

 

“Nothing much,” Iruka said, wishing he'd never brought up the subject. Kakashi reaching for his mask meant he was on the defensive, and that was not a good thing. “He did mention that the two of you had been together.”

 

“He did.” Kakashi's voice sounded cold as he looked across at Iruka. “Did he tell you that it was almost thirteen years ago and that it was only one night?”

 

“I'm sorry I brought this up,” Iruka said standing up. “I did not mean to…”

 

“Sit down sensei,” Kakashi gestured. “Remember I told you that I never sleep over with anyone - he was the reason why. He wasn't even a jounin then, but he was already practicing his interrogation skills. One slip of the tongue, and the man would hound you to the ends of the Earth demanding more information. His techniques might have improved with time, but he's the same person, still.”

 

“Oh,” said Iruka in realization, wondering if he had been too relaxed around Ibiki. Had he imparted something personal which could be used against him?

 

“Don't you worry,” Kakashi said with a sweeping away gesture. “Last I heard, the man had piles, and Tsunade-sama herself is treating him.”

 

Iruka chocked and coughed up a laugh at the image that brought up. “That's not very nice,” he managed.

 

“He deserves it,” Kakashi said decisively. “Poking his nose where it doesn't belong.”

 

“Everyone has a good side and a bad side,” Iruka said, fighting the urge to continue laughing. “You just have to expect the best of them, and they'll never let you down.”

 

There was a long silence, and while Iruka was wondering if he had inadvertently put his foot in his mouth, Kakashi looked at him and said softly, “That's the sort of thing my sensei would say.”

 

Iruka remained silent, wishing he was elsewhere. He knew when he was being compared to the incomparable. Konoha's Yellow Flash was everything, while he was a small-time school teacher with a huge crush on a fellow ninja who was chasing a ghost.

 

“You remind me of him, sometimes,” Kakashi said softly, and Iruka looked up, surprised.

 

“I'm nothing like the Fourth,” he said vehemently.

 

“You look nothing like him,” Kakashi agreed readily. “He was beautiful, so bright, with his hair and his flashy moves. While you, sensei, I think are barely noticeable. You know, I never noticed you before the chuunin exam, though I must have been handing over mission reports to you for a long time before that.”

 

“I know,” Iruka agreed with good grace. Anything to make the torture stop.

 

“And even after Naruto asked me to watch over you, I would not have really seen you for what you were capable of if you hadn't taken down that Mist nin,” Kakashi continued. “Remember you asked me once if I'd have even looked at you if Naruto had not asked me to, and I answered no.”

 

“But just tell me…did you really care for me? If Naruto had not asked …would you have even looked at me?”

 

“No.”

 

“I remember that clearly,” Iruka told Kakashi coldly. “I think I should leave, now that I've finished eating. Thank you for …”

 

“Sit down, sensei. Is there a pin on your chair? That's the second time you've stood up…”

 

“I think I want to leave,” Iruka said, making no move to hide his feelings. “I don't think I can take this anymore.”

 

“I haven't finished,” Kakashi said slowly, and his hands moved in the familiar hand seals, and suddenly Iruka was pushed back into his chair. “Just listen.”

 

“Looks like I have no choice,” Iruka replied, cursing his foolishness for coming here. He'd been burned once before, so what had he been thinking? But he might as well see this to the end instead of standing up and trying to bolt again. Save himself from future pain.

 

“As I was saying,” Kakashi continued calmly. “I didn't notice you until Naruto asked me to watch over you, but then when I went to the Bird Country I saw the Daimayo there…

 

“Toki-sama,” Iruka supplied helpfully.

 

“…and it got me thinking that she did look rather a lot like you…”

 

“And you wanted to see my sexy-no-jutsu on top of humiliating me,” Iruka said angrily.

 

“…and you did have some sex appeal,” Kakashi finished with a flourish.

 

“Thank you,” Iruka snapped back. “What is this, my humiliation by you? Haven't you done enough?”

 

“Like I said,” Kakashi said calmly. “You were rather irresistible at the dojo, sweaty, flushed and barely clad…”

 

Iruka remembered the moment …

 

Kakashi had looked the same, his hair in disarray, his face covered, but despite all that, Iruka had sensed that something was different. If he were to describe it, he would have called it hunger.

 

“…but then you had to spoil it all that by showing up at my doorstep demanding if Naruto had asked me to look after you,” Kakashi said and paused, his head tilted to a side. “I could never figure out what was wrong with that.”

 

“It was all wrong,” Iruka shouted. “He was paying you to look after me and you were … you were being a bastard!”

 

“What was wrong with it?” Kakashi asked looking puzzled.

 

“He was paying you to screw me,” Iruka shouted, his eyes blazing.

 

“Sex with you and the mission had no connection,” Kakashi said with a frown. “Though having sex with you forced me to be in close contact with you, which made it easier to look after you.”

 

“But…”

 

“Why did you sound so defensive about it?”

 

“You took his money,” Iruka tried to reason, but anger was making it difficult for him to form coherent sentences.

 

“I took it so I can look after it,” Kakashi said. “Jiraiya always dips into other people's wallets if he can, so I was safeguarding some of his savings until Naruto came back. I have no reason to take money from him. I do earn enough on my own.”

 

Iruka did not know what to say - he had not expected that.

 

“He is my sensei's son,” Kakashi added softly. “I'll look after him with my life.”

 

“I'm sorry about that,” Iruka said in a small voice. “I misinterpreted your actions.”

 

“As I did with you,” Kakashi said after a small pause. “It was not until you came on that mission with me that I realized just how much you were like him …my sensei, I mean.”

 

-------------- ----------------- ------------- -------------- ---------------------

 

* this is the guy who could not remember having met Kisame the first time. He's not very bright, even in the canon. Watch Shippuudens :) This comment is by my beta. I'm going to leave it as it is.>>>>> LOL I loved those scenes SO MUCH! I really think Gai was doing it to annoy Kisame.

[1] Actually, that was Xena the Warrior princess who said that and no, she is not Iruka's mother :)