Kakashi was acting like himself, Iruka freely admitted. When he’d said ‘after class’ he had apparently meant dinnertime, more than three hours after Iruka dismissed his children. Iruka had already started a meal and as it was warming, he made a circuit around the house, cleaning the few stray messes. Cleaning helped relax him. His home was small, though twice the size of his old apartment, and it didn’t take long to tidy it up. Easily the worst room was the one that had been split in two, half dedicated to Iruka’s teaching things, half to Kakashi’s rather impressive literature collection.

When Iruka made his way back to the kitchen, Kakashi was stretched out at the dining table, feet propped in a second chair, casually reading. A glance revealed the book to be Icha Icha Tactics and Iruka blushed slightly, focusing on cooking and ignoring his suddenly-there boyfriend. All perfectly normal, by Kakashi standards at least. After several minutes of silence, the masked jounin let out a miniscule sigh. “Did I do something wrong?”

Iruka didn’t pause in his actions, restraining a sigh himself. How to explain, how to say something without coming off as paranoid and accusative. “No, you didn’t do anything.”

Kakashi stood, his strong presence at Iruka’s back, the warmth seeping into him. “Iru-chan, tell me what’s wrong?”

Iruka melted. All the tension drained away from him and he blushed a little at how much impact a single word could have on him. Quietly he turned in his love’s arms, tilting his head up to place a kiss over masked lips. “Nothing’s wrong,” he said as he pulled away. “It was silly. I’ve just missed you is all.”

Kakashi shifted, pulling his mask down and kissing Iruka properly. “I missed you, too.” Another kiss and a slight chuckle. “But your noodles are burning.”

Iruka yelped and cursed, spinning and pulling the pot off the heat. Kakashi wisely backed away, letting the frantic teacher salvage their supper. He watched Iruka as they ate; every time the teacher looked up he blushed at the look in the other man’s eyes. He was almost predatory in his intensity . . . Iruka had never felt quite so scandalized eating spaghetti before.

Plates cleaned of food, Kakashi didn’t let Iruka get them to the sink before capturing him in another searing kiss. The brunette didn’t fight, content to have his very soul drunk away if it meant he could stay in his lover’s arms. After a minute though, he shifted, turning his head enough that he could speak. “Bed,” he gasped. A low chuckle was his only response as the taller man pulled him along the hallway for a much anticipated homecoming.

Both men were stripped even before they reached the bedroom, clothing littering their short path as hands roamed freely across skin. Kakashi bent, nibbling at Iruka’s neck seconds before they tumbled over onto the sheets. The teacher groaned as the other slowly worked down, nipping and biting a path down his chest to tease first one bud of a nipple and then the other. All the want and need from earlier that day came rushing back and Iruka fisted his hands in silver hair, trying to urge him to keep going.

Kakashi gave a little grunt and raked one hand down the other’s ribs. Iruka gasped and arched, a slight whine coming from his throat as Kakashi finally took his length into his mouth. The silver haired man laughed again, sending shivers all through Iruka. Not bothering to look, Iruka groped at the bedside table until his hand came away with the small bottle of oil they kept there. It had been too long and he wanted this too badly to wait any longer and he made sure Kakashi knew it as he shoved the lubricant at him.

“Gods,” Kakashi breathed barely a minute later as he buried himself. Iruka’s hands were at his back, tracing along invisible lines, making him shiver even more. With an almost desperate need, he pushed up, capturing the teacher’s mouth again as they both raced towards their personal heaven.

Spent and sated, the two men collapsed in each other’s arms. After a moment, Iruka reached for the bed table again, this time for a small cloth to clean off his stomach. With a mumble, he jabbed Kakashi in the ribs until he repositioned and they could both crawl under the covers. “Ka-kun?” There was a slightly sleepy mumble and Iruka closed his eyes, nuzzling into the missed warmth. “Don’t scare me like that again, all right?”

There was a pause, but then a hand went to his neck, stroking the delicate hair there. “I promise,” he finally murmured.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Kakashi woke suddenly and just as suddenly realized it meant he’d been asleep for some time. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, this was easily the most stressed he’d been in years and he’d lost a good amount of blood already. There were no windows here, no way to gauge time accurately, but his internal clock was telling him it was the middle of the night. The thought made him frown deeply; he would start to get truly hungry soon and thirst would be an issue. An easy way to manipulate a prisoner, he was well aware. Pain and torture aside, it would get much more difficult from here on.

His eye was hurting, giving him a headache and yet another worry. His captors had taken both his mask and hitai-ate, leaving the sharingan uncovered. It didn’t affect his capture any since he could hardly move and the ninja holding him weren’t using any jutsu, but he had no way to stop the flow of energy. It was beginning to wear on him, draining what little strength he had left.

Movement to his left.

Kakashi shut his eyes, focusing on the image he needed to portray. He was going to have to work hard at getting out of this, but his image he could at least still control. By showing these people a carefully constructed mask, Kakashi could control their actions and plan accordingly. The man stopped in front of him and Kakashi looked up – strong, determined not to give them anything, but scared as well. He let his eyes glance at the kunai the man held, communicating that fear quite clearly.

Kakashi still didn’t know what these people wanted, but he’d finally been able to identify them as missing nin. The one in front of him now was small, but with wild eyes that reminded him of Ibiki, possibly a specialist at interrogation. He shifted his grip on the weapon, swaying it in a way that was meant to draw Kakashi’s eye again before lifting the point to press against his cheek. “You’ve been tricking us, haven’t you?” the man asked, his voice soft and gentle, matching his body but not his actions.

Kakashi said nothing, staring at the man defiantly. Even he couldn’t repress a shiver though as the small weapon at his face ghosted along his skin, tracing his old scar up to the bottom of his eye. “Whatever you’ve done, you did it well, but you can’t think it will work. You’re risking that teacher’s life giving him hints at all, how could you possibly think a chunin with no field experience could even stand against us?”

Kakashi took his cue gladly, spitting venom at the man. Outrage, wanting to defend his lover’s honor. “’Ruka’s been Jounin for a year! He’s more than capable-“ He stopped as the man flexed, drawing blood and forcing his head to the side. Kakashi didn’t dare move, knowing he could lose his eye again without the other even trying hard. But after a shaky breath he growled slightly. “I swear if you hurt him . . .”

All of this was actually very good news. If they were threatening him again it meant that Iruka had figured something out. If they were questioning him, it meant they didn’t know what had tipped the teacher off, and as long as he didn’t let anything slip, their man would mess up again. Please Iruka, please be safe and figure it out!

The man pulled back slightly and Kakashi looked back at him. Cautious hope, but still guarded. Any interrogator worth his rank would take advantage of such emotion, but so long as he did, Kakashi would know he was still in some control. The man moved slowly, trailing the kunai across skin as he brought it down to his neck. The move then was fast enough that it didn’t hurt at first, but the line of blood was only centimeters from the artery, stinging sharply with every pulse beat after a moment of shock. He placed the tip of the kunai under Kakashi’s chin, tilting his head upward. “Have you given us reason to hurt him? What plans have you been scheming, Copy Nin?” He paused, leaning close so that his breath tickled across Kakashi’s ear. “If you’ve lied to us, he will suffer. Don’t fool yourself that he could escape when our man is wrapped around him in bed.”

Just words, meant to shock him, pull at his emotions the same way he was cutting at flesh. The truth in them burned at the back of Kakashi’s mind, but he didn’t allow himself to think about that. He’d already known it would happen, there was no sense in getting upset when he needed that energy for other things. Iruka would be fine, and if they were stupid enough to actually have sex with the teacher, it was just another chance for him to realize it wasn’t Kakashi he was with.

The questioner’s words hadn’t gotten the reaction he had wanted and he pulled back slightly, frowning. Kakashi saw the hesitation and was moving before he consciously thought about it. His hands shot up, catching the kunai at one wrist. The blade cut deeply into his flesh, but it weakened the rope enough that he could snap it. The ninja reacted instantly, tipping the weapon so it cut even deeper. Kakashi ignored the wound, closing his wrists together and using the foot long spreader bar as a club. In two moves, the other man was disarmed and Kakashi had hold of the weapon, slicing through the rest of his bonds.

He’d nearly made it to the door of the small room before his interrogator let out a cry of rage. The door burst open and Kakashi was suddenly met with two of his other attackers. Metal bar in one hand and kunai in the other, he was reasonably sure he could at least get away from them, take to ground somewhere until it was safe to get back to Konoha. The man in front of him made an obvious feint, trying to box Kakashi in. The copy nin ignored him, reading the move as easily as if it were his books and darted for the opening he left. The other ninja, a woman with a scarred face, intercepted him and Kakashi struck at her with his weapons.

The world went suddenly fuzzy and tilted slightly in a way that was far too familiar to the copy nin. Not now, not now! His attack at the woman went wide, but it forced her out of the way and Kakashi made a break for it, pouring chakra into his legs for the added speed. He’d lost too much blood, the strain of his eye was too much already, he was going to pass out. Behind him, the breeze of a strong punch tugged at his shirt as the male ninja missed him by scant millimeters. Kakashi ran faster.

Ahead, two clones bared the path, copies of the little guy that had been questioning him. Kakashi darted close to one wall before suddenly shifting to the other, throwing off their perception slightly. He still couldn’t form an effective jutsu, but a simple ki blast didn’t require any hand signs. Without warning, his vision went white, blurring his opponents beyond recognition. Kakashi continued the attack, working from memory and what little he could make out, but he wasn’t surprised when he felt something slip under his guard, hitting him hard in the chest. He slammed back into the wall before his footing failed and he hit the ground.

Kakashi twisted mid-fall so that he faced the corner the wall made with the floor and tried to force his fingers to work. He used the blood from his neck, forcing his hands together and pressing them against the wall. He couldn’t summon Pakkun, but if he was lucky, he could manage another of his pups. He could hear his captors scream something and could feel the pull on his already strained chakra, but it was all beyond his comprehension. The effort tapped him out and Kakashi slipped into unconsciousness again, fully expecting to be killed before he had a chance to wake up.

-o-o-o-o-o-