I Don't Think You Understand

Have I mentioned how you are all helping to save my sanity? Seriously, you are. I am really, really stressed out because of school things (o-chem test on Weds, research papers up the wazoo...), and coming online to read how you love my writing style, or that you are laughing your head off about a particular quote, or have decided to gift me with a nickname...it means a lot. Thank you.

I do not own Naruto, but could I possibly get ahold of a non-lethal soldier pill?

***||***

Everybody has issues. Some issues are more pressing than others (doing jutsu correctly so they do not blow up in one’s face), and some, on the scale of cosmic importance, just aren’t as important to others (“Gah! I’m fat! Sasuke-kun won’t like me if I’m fat!”) as they are to some. In order to get some of these doubts to go away or to temporarily put them to rest, some people find that getting away from the problem helps. A few people enjoy reading as their mini-vacation. Others prefer sharpening their weapons.

Maito Gai exercises what issues he has out on hapless tree stumps.

Punch, chop, kick, heel thrust! He smiled in satisfaction at the meaty thumps his blows caused. “Okay! Another one hundred of that combination!”

Without any further ado, he fell to doing so. His will was so intent on it, for a time, he was able to forget about any doubts, any worries or fears he had felt prior to beginning his workout. He felt invigorated, powerful, youthful, and free.

Sadly, even a ninja with as much stamina as Gai (and that was a lot of stamina) could not remain in training forever, though Gai knew that a brisk four hours of non-stop taijutsu felt close to that for some. A half-hour of stretches, then I will return to the village for a healthy shower! Youthful energy is great, but the smell that comes with it, unfortunately, is not.

At a leisurely lope, he made his way to his apartment, negligently stripped off his spandex (much as I like my outfit, it is certainly rather unpleasant to remove after training), and went to shower.

The water running over his body only brought his mildly disturbed thoughts back to him. My eternal rival and the vibrant Iruka-kun have been acting very strange toward me these past few days; Iruka-kun has not offered to spar with me since that time three days ago. I do not know what I could have done to make them uncomfortable...

Completing his ablutions, he stepped out of the shower and grabbed the bright green towel on the rack, drying himself off (simple to do for someone who shaved every week to ensure his continued ability to wear his power-suit). “But I will certainly find out what is on their minds, or I shall run one thousand laps around Konohagakure to make up for it!”

The determination of my youth will not be denied.

***||***

Something about the teaching of young minds eager for knowledge has the tendency to both enervate and exasperate a person. The potential of a young mind (or an older one seeking to increase their knowledge) is not always up to the task of understanding new things, and despite the best interests of the teacher, it is quite easy to become frustrated.

Iruka loved his students, and he loved to teach. He really did. He just felt like if the day didn’t end soon, he was going to end up killing them.

Okay, I’m cranky, but it’s not their fault. It’s not their fault. Deeeeep breath...exhale...

It was the day from hell. Whast was worse was that his students seemed to agree with him. They were more restless than usual, making so many dashes at the door and window that he’d seriously considered hauling Naruto in here to make a few guard clones.

He was tense, his dreams were bothering him, he was full of twitchy energy, and he felt as if he would explode if he didn’t see Kakashi soon. He wanted to take another look at that wonderful face, to kiss those equally wonderful lips, and just take a break from it all.

Soon, very soon...wait, why the hell don’t I? They certainly have been working toward it...

Umino Iruka then did what few teachers would consider to be a sane strategy in dealing with troublesome students; he rewarded them.

“Your homework is due tomorrow first thing. I am now going to let you out early...”

And like any other horde of students kept on the edge of their seats and feeling trapped, they took off before he had time to finish the rest of the sentence.

He collapsed into his chair. I haven’t seen Kakashi in days, and I’m going to have to, because I think I’m going to burst if I don’t, and I doubt the janitors feel like cleaning up bits of an internally combusted chuunin outside of an actual battlefield.

Stretching his arms above his head, he let out that peculiar grunt-moan that always comes when indulging in a good stretch, and gathered together his papers. Maybe I can get in some training before I go and see Kakashi. Gai...

He blushed, but kept going. ...Gai was right; I have been letting my training slack off a bit. A few laps around Konoha, some practice, and I should feel better about myself.

With that decided, he levered himself out of his chair. Better get to it before I get asked why I’m leaving early.

***||***

Konohagakure. If translated to English, the name would be very apt, because Konoha is indeed a city of leaves. Its location in Fire Country was apt too, because once fire gets into the leaves of trees, it spreads faster than it can be stopped. It is a country of power, and a country of speed.

Considering the name of the city, Kakashi slashing falling leaves apart in his training could almost be seen as sacriligious.

Holding a kunai in each hand, his visible eye half-lidded, he looked around the area for any more of the leaves, but the trees may have decided that they didn’t want any more of their dead brethren being dishonored in such a way and stopped shedding them.

Oh well. From the looks of these trees, if they got any more fertilizer they’d start training their own ninja. He stretched a little, then sheathed his kunai.

He wasn’t quite sure why, but he hadn’t seen Iruka for a few days, and he missed the other man. He felt a little edgy about seeing him despite his longing to.

Be honest with yourself. It’s because you unmasked yourself to him.

“That’s probably part of it,” he muttered softly. “Another is...well...I feel like I’ve been disloyal.”

You mean those dreams about Gai?

“Yeah.”

Look, even Iruka said it was okay to look as long as that’s all you do, so why keep hanging yourself over it?

“Good question.” Wow, I’m really losing my edge if I’m losing arguments against my own subconscious. He shook his head in amusement. Time to stop anyway. Deciding he was neither too sweaty or too smelly to see Iruka, he threw caution to the wind and practically danced his way to Iruka’s door.

He should be out of school by now, hope I’m not disturbing him... He knocked, listening hopefully for the sound of Iruka’s footsteps, and five seconds later, he was not disappointed. Six gentle thuds of bare feet hitting the floor later, he heard locks and traps disarming, and then the door swung open.

Kakashi felt his jaw hit the ground. Nearly literally.

Guh...he...whuh...whoa...

Despite his sudden inability to think, Kakashi knew he felt appreciative. VERY appreciative.

Iruka must have just gotten out of the shower when he heard the knocks on his door, because all he was wearing was a pair of pants. His hair was damply wet, the kind of wet that spoke of a brief pat down with a towel and a quick comb-through. Little drops of water traveled down Iruka’s neck, to his collarbone, to his pectorals, to his...

Later, neither of them would be able to say who moved first, but Kakashi distinctly remembered tugging his mask down before he stepped toward his half-naked and damply gorgeous boyfriend.

Lips met lips. Oh gods...

Kakashi and Iruka had kissed before. They kissed when they said good night to each other, and sometimes they would during their dates as well. Each one of those kisses had something special in it, a particular “flavor.” Mostly it was of a general desire to let the other person know that they really appreciated the attention, spiced with a hint of desire and left to cook over the time they spent together.

In this case, it seemed like the pot had just boiled over.

Lips twisted and slid against each other. Kakashi reached up and removed the hitae-ate before he accidentally gave Iruka a dose of his myopic problem, but Iruka not only didn’t seem to care, but actually pulled Kakashi flush against him, making the already short-of-breath jounin feel nearly lightheaded. Dampness made its presence known as the water on Iruka soaked its way past Kakashi’s clothes, but Kakashi didn’t care, was far past caring.

Closer...

Iruka’s tongue was against his lips, and Kakashi opened without hesitation. Twirling and tangling and fighting and sucking...Kakashi threaded his fingers through Iruka’s hair, and Iruka mirrored him, and...oh gods, he just nibbled...

One of the arms around Iruka’s bare back started sliding down, and Kakashi did nothing to stop it, didn’t want to stop it, because he wanted to know more about Iruka’s body, how it felt...how it tasted...

Sounds, there were sounds now...he felt his tongue vibrating, and knew he wasn’t making them--has to be Iruka--but he didn’t care, it felt good, he wanted it to keep feeling good, he wanted to make Iruka feel good...

“My eternal rival! Vibrant Iruka-kun! I have come to...to...”

Separation. Iruka looked at him, panting, lips red and slighly swollen eyes hooded (no, come back, I need you against me again...), and Kakashi suddenly realized he’d been kissing Iruka, kissing a shirtless Iruka, kissing Iruka without his fucking mask on while the door was wide open and anyone who wanted to could wander by and see his face...

...and Gai had done just that, save for the fact that he hadn’t seen his face but would if he turned around.

***||***

As it is unusual for two people to share the same dream in a literal sense, it is the same for sharing the same thought, but once again, as Kakashi and Iruka stared at each other in a sort of horrified, embarrassed desire, they had the exact same one.

Shit.

***||***

And the lust monster ATTACKS!

It just happens, sometimes. It could be a smell, a sight, a feeling; the faintest whiff of cologne, the look of muscles rippling as someone moves, the lightest brush of flesh against flesh...but sometimes, there's either no controlling one's reaction to aforementiond stimuli, or very, very little control. If you have a dose of the latter problem (and good for you if you manage to keep your wits), a LOT of deep breaths are in order if you don't have the right to pounce on the person who's elicited this reaction.

...I find myself taking a lot of deep breaths these days. Go figure.

But just because I have no outlet doesn't mean I'm going to deny Iruka and Kakashi one, but they're going to have to work for it.

One last thing, and this is very unusual; I'm going to recommend a fic. It's on here, and it's called Diplomatic Relations by one Maldoror (hopefully I've spelled that right). Personally, I don't feel like that fic is getting the credit it deserves because it makes such excellent characterizations of two of the most difficult people in Naruto-dom; Gaara and Lee.

Thank you all for helping me retain my sanity and aspire to do well on my work!