Iruka woke slowly, groaning at stiff muscles in his back and neck. He shifted and was suddenly aware of a pair of warm arms draped over his back. Fearing what he’d see, the teacher pulled back just enough to look up into Kakashi’s face. “Oh god,” he groaned, burying his head back into his pillow. Iruka pulled away from the jounin with a start as he realized that his ‘pillow’ was actually the ninja’s lap.
Kakashi just smiled and stretched. “Did you have a good rest?” Iruka could only stare, unable to look away – the jounin hadn’t replaced his mask.
After a moment, Iruka moaned again, burying his face in his hands. “Gods, you must think horribly of me.” He looked up as Kakashi rested a hand on his shoulder. The copy ninja was only inches away and suddenly Iruka froze, his eyes conveying both anger and fear. “If you try and kiss me again, I swear I will bite your tongue out.”
Kakashi’s visible eye showed no change in his caring concern. His mouth, however, twitched down in a tiny frown. So long with his lower face hidden, it was a far more reliable gauge of the man’s mood. In a moment his expression softened into disappointment. Iruka shook his head briefly, certain he’d interpreted that look wrong. “Well, that puts a damper on my plans, I guess.”
Iruka had reigned in his reactions and sat for the most part docile in front of the other man. At his words, however, he gave the other a puzzled look. “Plans? What are you talking about?”
Kakashi moved back, giving the teacher significantly more room. “My plan to help you. I think I know what you can do.” He didn’t miss the flicker of hope in the chunin’s eyes. His heart sank when it faded quickly. “I can’t really guess what you must think of the ninja in this village, but the only reason this keeps going on is because you don’t do anything to stop it.” Iruka’s face darkened considerably and Kakashi hurried to keep speaking. “I’m fairly certain that if you were in a serious relationship and everyone in the village knew that, all your unwelcome visitors would go away.”
Iruka’s face darkened further, one hand raking through his hair as his eyes darted to one side. It was the exact opposite reaction Kakashi had been hoping for. “I’m not sure . . . I mean, I’d have to find someone . . . date . . .” he said the word with a touch of fear “. . . I can’t be in a relationship with a secret like this, and anyone who knew about this . . .” Kakashi waited for the pieces to fall into place. The man’s head snapped up, disbelief flashing across his face as he stared at Kakashi. “You can’t mean-“
Kakashi met his gaze evenly. “Except you won’t let me kiss you. And the fastest way to let the village know about your blossoming engagement is to make out in public.”
Iruka was still sputtering over the use of the term ‘engagement’ as his cheeks flushed scarlet at the idea of making out, in public, with Kakashi. Staring at the man’s lips, he stuttered out the only thing he could think of. “But, you won’t let anyone see your face.”
The jounin smiled. “Well, it would be covered with your face, now, wouldn’t it?”
Iruka was still stuttering, trying to find a plausible excuse to refuse. It was very possible the plan would work, Iruka couldn’t deny its merit. They could spread the rumor by word of mouth, but that could take weeks if not months for the whole village to find out and, more importantly, believe it. If the villagers saw it with their own eyes, especially if a few of those villagers were the known gossipmongers, it would spread in mere hours.
“Iruka?” Kakashi’s face had lost all smile, now frowning slightly in concentration. “It’s your choice, here. Just a couple public displays and a month or two of keeping up appearances. Then we can ‘break up’ and all of this will be in your past.”
“What time is it?”
Kakashi’s lips tugged a little more in a frown; the teacher could tell he was working to control it. “It’s only about eight. If you want to do this, we could still go out tonight. The sooner the better.” Iruka didn’t respond, thinking the plan through once more. He shivered. “Do you want to try?”
It was all the chunin could do to nod.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Half an hour later, cleaned up and in fresh clothes, Iruka found himself being dragged down the street, arm in arm with none other than Sharingan Kakashi. They were going to have dinner, which was nice, and then put on a little show, which wasn’t. But Iruka had agreed and no matter how many doubts made him regret that, he couldn’t go back now. The rewards, if this was successful, would easily outweigh the price.
They were walking through an area of Konoha with restaurants lining both sides of the street and Kakashi stopped at several, seeming to glance over the menu to decide where he wanted to eat. Iruka knew better – the man was glancing over the patrons already inside, looking for Genma, Itsuo, or one of the other gossips in town. Considering the kind of story they were starting, even Lee or Gai would have been prime targets.
Suddenly the silver haired man let out a quiet cheer. “Let’s have some ramen, Iru-chan!” He emphasized the endearment, already pulling him towards Ichiraku’s.
Iruka suddenly pulled back, noticing what had caught Kakashi’s eye. Ichiraku’s apparently had a new flavor and trying it out with gusto was Naruto. “Kakashi, no,” he whispered frantically. Anyone but Naruto.
The jounin leaned closer to his companion. “All he’ll know is that you have an interest in men and that’s nothing to be ashamed of. You know as well as anyone that he’s one of the loudest mouths in the whole village.” He hadn’t stopped walking, drawing them ever closer to the stand.
Iruka closed his eyes, desperately calming his breathing and frantic pulse. Kakashi was right and it wasn’t as if he was ashamed of his sexuality. Opening his eyes again with new resolve, Iruka stopped resisting and took a seat on the opposite end of the bar from the exuberant boy. Naruto had his back to his teachers, talking excitedly to Chouji as they both sucked down bowls of noodles.
Kakashi ordered quickly and in moments their meals were ready. Iruka forced a smile, ignoring every fiber in his body that was screaming to run home and hide under the bed for a week. He could do this. He was a trained shinobi who had faced down countless enemies in the past. He dealt with children under the age of ten on a daily basis. He could handle a simple date.
And make out session, his mind reminded him. Iruka slurped down another mouthful of noodles. Beside him, Kakashi waited several minutes before lowering his mask and inhaling his own dinner, too fast for most to see. Iruka caught just a glimpse of pale lips before the mask was securely back in place. He shoved more noodles into his mouth.
Without proper warning, Kakashi’s hand was on his back, doodling lazy patterns through his cotton shirt. Iruka stiffened, dropping one of his chopsticks. He hastily retrieved it, attempting to finish his meal. The jounin’s other hand seemed to materialize on his thigh, startling him into losing both chopsticks this time. Kakashi took advantage of the opening and leaned in, nibbling on his exposed neck without bothering to remove his mask.
Iruka stiffened, completely forgetting about the meal in front of him. He gasped as the fingers on his leg crept just slightly higher and suddenly all he could think about was his students, no more than ten feet away. Kakashi shifted his head and he breathed over the frozen man’s ear. “Iruka, I’m sorry. But you have to participate, or this won’t work.”
Iruka could only think of one thing to say. “Not here.” He heard his voice tremble as he whispered. His eyes clenched shut as he struggled for control. This was a mission; he couldn’t afford to screw it up. “Ka-kun, not here, please.” He felt more than heard Kakashi hold back a laugh at the improvised nickname. He also heard complete silence from the nearby genin. Iruka was sure if he opened his eyes he’d find them staring at him, transfixed. Even the sounds of ramen being prepared had disappeared as both the owner and his daughter were, no doubt, enthralled by the miniature show.
“But Iru-chan,” Kakashi said, loud enough for the onlookers to hear and with a distinct whine in his voice. “You promised we could have fun after dinner.”
Iruka swallowed repeatedly, returning moisture to his parched throat. “We’re-ah!” Kakashi had hit one of the sensitive areas on his back and Iruka arched into the touch. He swallowed again. “We’re still having dinner.” He put his hands firmly on the man’s shoulders, pushing him away. Kakashi gave surprisingly little resistance.
The masked man fished into his pocket and dropped several coins on the table before hauling Iruka to his feet. “I want desert,” he muttered, sounding like a bad porn book. In fact, he’d probably gotten the line from one specific bad porn book. Iruka felt his face burn. As Kakashi led him away, he caught a glimpse of Naruto and Chouji whispering frantically to each other. Gods, he wanted to die.
To make matters worse, Kakashi didn’t let up on his assault as they walked down the street. A stolen grope here, a hand on the ass there. He leaned over repeatedly, as if to whisper something, only to tug his mask down at the last second and nip at Iruka’s throat or ear. Iruka decided to stick with his current strengths and play the shy schoolteacher, keeping up a constant string of ‘Wait until we get home’ and ‘not here, Ka-kun’ to go with his half-hearted attempts to push the man away. His only saving grace was that this late at night, most of the people on the street were adults and as they put more distance between themselves and Naruto, Iruka was able to build up more confidence.
Kakashi leaned towards him again and Iruka put up his hands to stop another love bite, only to be surprised as this time the copy nin actually did whisper to him. “Kurenai, Asuma, and Genma, straight ahead.” Iruka understood as he caught sight of the three jounin, knowing that it was time for his second performance of the evening.
In a flash of inspiration, he took hold of Kakashi’s sleeve, pulling him into a darkened alley. The two made enough noise that the jounin were sure to come running. Iruka spun, surprising the other man and pressing him to the wall. Kakashi wanted him to participate? That was fine with him. He dove in for a kiss, waiting to pull the man’s mask down until he was practically on him already. The jounin gasped at the sudden move and Iruka deepened the kiss, his hands traveling over the other’s body.
Iruka had one hand up under Kakashi’s shirt, resting just on his stomach, well aware it would look like he was doing much more than that. His other hand was behind the jounin’s waist, toying with the hem of his pants. Kakashi, for his part, had one hand tangled in the brunette’s hair, the other holding his shoulder tightly. Both men felt eyes on them and Iruka decided to up the ante. With sudden courage, his hand dipped beneath Kakashi’s pants, grabbing a handful of ass and pulling their hips tightly together.
The silver-haired man’s erection rubbed against Iruka’s hip and the teacher froze, pulling back just a fraction. Kakashi lowered his chin quickly, keeping his face hidden in the other’s chest now. “Fuck walking home,” he muttered as his hands flew into seals behind his partner’s back. A puff of smoke later, the two were standing in the hallway outside Iruka’s apartment. Kakashi pushed the chunin against the door, lips quickly resuming their earlier task.
Iruka had gone deathly still, not responding to the touch at all. Kakashi seemed to come to his senses and jerked back quickly, pressing himself against the opposite wall. One wide eye met darker, far more serious ones and Kakashi reached to pull his mask back in place. “Iruka, I’m sorry. Just got a little carried away.”
The chunin averted his eyes a moment before turning to open the door. When Kakashi moved to follow him inside, he spun on the other man fiercely. “What are you doing?”
Kakashi faltered a moment before setting his jaw. “It would be better if I stayed here tonight. Word travels fast, but not that fast. It’s possible someone may try to see you tonight.” Iruka wordlessly stepped aside and Kakashi slid into the darkened apartment. “Besides, after what they just saw, people will expect me to be here tonight. Or you to be at my place. They’ll want confirmation, there are some who would peek in the windows to see if we were actually together.”
Iruka froze in his motions as he secured his locks. His voice sounded hollow as he spoke. “You want to sleep with me?”
Kakashi shook his head, quickly heading off that train of thought. “I want to sleep in the same bed as you, just for tonight. I don’t want to get in your pant-“
Iruka suddenly glared at the man. “I know exactly what you want.” His eyes dipped dangerously low, as if that was all he needed to say.
Kakashi flushed slightly and looked away. It didn’t help in the slightest that it hadn’t even been a full minute and his erection had no intention of going away so quickly. Kakashi held up his hands in a sign of trust. “I have no intention whatsoever of having sex with you, Iruka.” He risked a glance at the chunin’s face after a moment. He didn’t look overly convinced, but he wasn’t going to protest any more. Glad of that, Kakashi followed the other to the bedroom, stripping off his shirt as he went. Iruka did the same, revealing a veritable canvas of a dozen or more notable scars. Kakashi frowned deeply and quickly looked away to hide the expression. Iruka stripped off his hitai-ate and weapons before climbing beneath the covers, pants not even undone. With a slight sigh, Kakashi followed suit, turning his back to the teacher and curling as far to the edge of the mattress as possible.
-o-o-o-o-o-
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