The Trick Is Not Minding

Chapter Twenty-Eight

When Kakashi stumbled out of the bedroom the next morning he was met by the sight of a frantic Iruka, desperately trying to cook and grade simultaneously. He slid in behind the chuunin, deftly relieving him of the spatula he was using, and proceeded to flip the eggs in the pan. “Maa ‘ruka, I’ve got this, go get ready for school.” he said with a wave of his hand.

The teacher gratefully retreated to the table with his papers, but found himself distracted by the vision in front of him. Pale skin and defined muscles flexed and bunched as the copy-nin gracefully began dishing out the food. Moments later he was depositing plates on the table and dropping into a chair.

“Eat up.” the jounin declared, “You need energy to face the little kneecap gnawers.”

“They’re not so bad,” Iruka responded, “they’ll be glad to see me after their substitute.”

He placed the final paper in the completed pile and dug into his meal. “I was thinking,” be mumbled around a mouthful of toast, “you’ll always think of this as my apartment . . . maybe we should look for a new place that can be ours.” He watched the jounin’s face carefully, trying to read his reaction to the idea.

The copy-nin stopped chewing as he pondered the suggestion, it was a good idea . . . “Sure ‘ruka, that sounds great.” he finally replied, making the teacher sigh in relief.

“Wonderful, maybe you could check the ads while I’m at the Academy today? Then we could go looking this weekend.” He wiped his mouth and stood, grabbing his papers off the table and stuffing them in his bag, then leaning over to place a kiss on tempting pale lips. “See you later, honey, have good day.” he quipped with a smile before heading out, ready to face the onslaught of hyperactive pre-genin.

Kakashi’s smile faded as soon as the door shut. He absently bit into a piece of toast while he turned an idea over in his mind. If I’m ever going to, now’s the time, he argued with himself, but, he said a new place . . . argg, I could go round and round about this forever, he finally decided, I’ll at least go look at it before I make up my mind. That decided, he rose and deposited his plate in the sink, taking his tea into the bedroom to dress.

Minutes later he was standing outside, when it suddenly occurred to him he didn’t have a way to get back in. Gives me an excuse to visit Iruka at work, he concluded. He set off towards his destination at a leisurely pace, enjoying the sun and the journey. It’ll be closer to the Academy, just on the other side, he realized, smiling to himself as he passed the building Iruka worked in, picturing the teacher earnestly instructing his charges.

The reality, of course, was that Iruka had spent his morning so far dodging spit wads and paper shuriken, heading off escape attempts, and trying to bring some sort of order to a class that had obviously been given far too much freedom while he was away. As a result he was a rumpled mess, one that the copy-nin would have found adorable had he looked inside as he passed.

Instead, the jounin continued on his way and soon was standing in front of a sizable house. He pulled a key from his pocket and studied it for a moment before unlocking the door and stepping into his childhood home for the first time in over 20 years. He moved silently through the rooms, disturbing the thick carpet of dust. Occasionally he would stop and examine something, reliving memories of a childhood he had almost forgotten.

All too soon he reached the room at the end of the hall. He steeled himself and slid the door open, half expecting to see his father’s body lying in a pool of blood. He shook his head and clamped down on his imagination. The room was empty, his sensei had obviously had it cleaned and the tatami replaced, hoping one day Kakashi would choose to return.

He lost himself in memories of that day. For many years he had been convinced that it was all his fault. After all, the last thing he had said to his father was that he hated him, hated him for being weak, hated him for the way he made the already overly difficult life of a prodigy even harder, hated him most of all because when he looked in the mirror it was his father’s face that looked back.

It’s just a room, he told himself, and when he opened his eyes again he found it was true, it was just an empty room. He turned toward the back of the house and headed out into the gardens. Untended for so long they had a wild, haunted look although traces of their former beauty were still visible. It needs a lot of work, he concluded, but it would be less expensive than a new place and the location is good.

Kakashi was surprised to see how low in the sky the sun had fallen. Time to go meet ‘ruka at school, he thought and his mood instantly lifted at the thought of seeing the chuunin again.

Okay, Iruka admitted as he scanned the destruction that was his classroom, maybe I was overly optimistic thinking they’d miss me. He sighed heavily and began picking up debris, cleaning the boards and gathering up the day’s assignments to take home and grade. Suddenly a smile stretched across his face as he remembered that he now had someone to go home to.

The teacher grasped his chest and jumped back in shock, however, when he stood to find himself face to face with the man he’d just been thinking of. “Hard day ‘ruka?” the copy-nin inquired as he wiped a smudge from the chuunin’s cheek and tucked a few hairs behind his ear. “Want me to carry your books, sensei?” he continued cheekily as he grabbed Iruka’s hand and started pulling him toward the door.

“What’s the hurry ‘kashi?” the chuunin replied as they reached the academy doors.

“I want to take you somewhere.” the jounin cryptically replied, giving the teacher’s hand another tug and starting off in the opposite direction from the apartment. Iruka was curious, he didn’t usually like surprises, but he trusted Kakashi. He gave the hand in his a gentle squeeze as he fell into step beside the copy-nin, happy to simply be in his presence.

Soon they were standing in front of the same house the copy-nin had visited earlier. He turned toward the teacher with an earnest expression, rubbing the back of his neck nervously before beginning. “Maa, Iruka, I was thinking about what you said this morning and, well . . .” he unlocked the door and pushed it open before continuing “I thought maybe we could . . . that I could show you this place and maybe you’d want to live here.”

“‘kashi, we can’t afford something like this . . .” the chuunin trailed off, hating to disappoint the eager copy-nin, but also not wanting him to get his hopes up. After all, Iruka was a teacher, his salary, while adequate, was hardly generous . . . and Kakashi didn’t even know what his new assignment would be, a place like this was sure to be out of their reach.

“Just take a look ‘ruka, please.” the copy-nin entreated and the chuunin gave in, slipping off his shoes and stepping over the threshold. “No one’s lived here in a long time, and it would need some work to make it comfortable . . . but there’s lots of space and it’s close to the Academy.” he continued hopefully. Finally they reached the back and the copy-nin slid open the doors to reveal the gardens.

The teacher gasped as he stepped out onto the grounds. Though overgrown their beauty was obvious . . . just another indication of how over their heads this idea really was. “It’s beautiful,” he whispered before turning to the jounin and continuing seriously, “but I just don’t see how we can swing something like this . . . I’m so sorry ‘kashi.” he concluded, “I’m sure we’ll find something very nice . . . and I’m really happy you liked the idea enough to find this place . . .”

The copy-nin cut him off with a passionate kiss, “‘ruka love, I think there are some things I need to explain to you.” he said as he pulled him out into the garden, plopping down on a bench by the koi pond and tugging the teacher into his lap. The jounin wrapped his arms around the teacher and hugged him tight before continuing. “I didn’t just find this place . . . this is my house, I grew up here . . . well, until my father,” here he paused and swallowed hard, “until he killed himself and I went to live with sensei. I know you said somewhere new, and I already own this place . . . but I think I’d like to make good memories here again, with you.”

Kakashi bent his head to deliver another passionate kiss before continuing, “And as far as affording things goes . . . even if I didn’t already own this place we could still afford it. I’ve been in ANBU a long time ‘ruka, and you saw my apartment. I never spent much, just tucked it away, not to mention I inherited my clan holdings and my father’s estate when he passed. We have enough money to do whatever we want, probably . . . certainly enough to restore this place in move in, if you want to, that is.” he concluded, fixing the chuunin with a serious gaze as he anxiously waited for his response.

The teacher opened and shut his mouth a few times while his brain tried to catch up with all he had just learned. His heart swelled at the thought that Kakashi wanted to make a new start with him, here, in his boyhood home. Of course I want this, he thought, how could I not, it’s everything I ever dreamed of. He shook himself out of his reverie to find a very worried looking copy-nin peering at him. Smiling widely he simply said “When can we move in?”