So I'll See you there then?

Title: So I’ll see you there then?
Chapter: 3 of 6
Author: Chibi-zoe (me)
Series: Naruto
Pairing: Kakashi x Iruka
Rating: R
Warnings: none
Summary: Kakashi is forced to undergo sexual dysfunction therapy and his therapist turns out to be Iruka


Chapter 3

“Yo, Iruka-sensei” In the pre-dawn gloom, Kakashi met his therapist outside of the mission room. The teacher seemed both surprised and pleased to see him.

“Good morning Kakashi-sensei, it’s good to see you here so bright and early.” The man was nursing a mug of tea and clutching an egg roll, out of which he took periodic bites.

They stood and waited, whilst one of the other mission room workers dredged up a key and unlocked the door. As he followed Iruka-sensei into the building, he was surprised to see several other jounin put in an appearance. Some people obviously needed to kick back and relax a little bit. He waited patiently whilst Iruka-sensei placed his tea on the desk and withdrew a scroll and a small leather pouch from a drawer. The man smiled warmly at him as he handed the two things over.

“Here you go Kakashi-sensei, your mission and the delivery. I’ve already taken the liberty of scribbling the name of the theatre that I recommended to you at the bottom of the scroll. I do hope that you enjoy it.”

That devious man! Kakashi had been watching his every move this morning; he had to have added the address details before he left the previous afternoon, well before the therapy session. Scowling slightly under his mask, Kakashi accepted the scroll and pouch, nodded his head in response to Iruka-sensei’s respectful bow and slouched out of the room. Outside, he leant against the wall as he cracked open his mission objectives. He swore silently as he quickly skimmed through the scroll.

No wonder Iruka-sensei wanted him to fulfil this contract. It was payment for another one of Tsunade-sama’s gambling debts and the fewer people who knew about them the better. Pocketing the large leather purse, he strolled casually towards the gates. There was absolutely no need to rush, his destination was only a days’ slow walk away and the theatre wouldn’t start until after dusk. Even if he took into account the time that it would take to find the recipient of his delivery, the theatre and suitable accommodations, he would have hours of free time on his hands.

However when the gates came into view, he straightened up and strode through, leaping into the trees and darting away as fast as was practical, just like he always did. Knowing that he could take his time was all well and good, but there was no need to advertise to the rest of the village, that he’d been given a lousy mission. He would keep up the pretence of urgency for as long as necessary, and then utilise the time that he saved on his journey on much more interesting pursuits.

When he was far enough away that the gate-nin wouldn’t be able to sense his chakra, he dropped to the ground and began strolling at a more sedate pace. Taking the time to look around him and appreciate the sights and scents of the natural world, Kakashi allowed some of the tension that had been building up in him to dissipate. He wasn’t expected back to Konoha until tomorrow, and after his visit to the theatre, he would be all alone. He would be able to indulge himself without fearing that someone would interrupt.

When the village came into view, Kakashi felt pleasantly surprised. It didn’t have the grimy, money-hungry aura that so many of the gambling dens that Tsunade-sama frequented did. The town was bustling and prosperous and the townspeople appeared to be healthy and happy. Slipping easily into the well-dressed, chattering flow, Kakashi set about searching for his destination. The sooner he offloaded his delivery, the sooner he would be able to find suitable lodgings and the theatre.

The money lender turned out to be surprisingly easy to locate, and his bodyguards were wonderfully inconspicuous and circumspect. Introducing himself, Kakashi handed over the pouch and received a signed and stamped receipt for it. Tucking it into his pocket to hand to Shizune-san when he returned, he waved a cheery goodbye to the man and rejoined the throng on the footpath. Now all he had to do was locate the theatre and then find somewhere nice to stay, preferably somewhere cheap.

Iruka’s directions proved to be invaluable in finding the theatre, instead of the gaudy façade on the main street that Kakashi had been expecting it was instead a discreet building tucked away on a small side street. He wandered up to the ticket box only to find that it was shut and that it wouldn’t be open until an hour before the production was due to start. The show that Iruka had recommended wasn’t due to start until 7pm so he had a few hours to find somewhere to stay and to enjoy a nice meal.

Smiling, Kakashi turned around and strolled back the way he had come, he had passed a few likely-looking places whilst he had been looking for the theatre, at least one of them should have a vacancy.

“Yo, Kakashi-kun fancy finding you here.” He looked up to see a very familiar face smiling at him from across the street.

“Jiraiya-sama, what are you doing so close to home?” Crossing the street he smiled up at the toad-sannin.

“I’m researching my new book, and this theatre was recommended to me. If you’re in town for the night, you should come with me.” Somehow Kakashi didn’t think that Iruka-sensei would approve of him seeing this production with the most perverted author of the Icha Icha series.

“Maa, well I’m not doing anything else this evening.” He gave his fathers’ friend a happy eye-crease and cursed himself for not having the courage to admit that he had been going to attend all along.

“I’ve got a room over at The Miko if you want to dump your stuff and grab a quick bath. They also do a mean grilled fish dinner if you haven’t eaten yet. The show starts at 7pm.” Kakashi suppressed a sigh, so much for some much-needed time alone. Oh well, at least it saved on expenses.

“Lead the way old man.” Kakashi heard Jiraiya’s teeth grind a moment before a heavy hand landed on his head and began to ruffle his hair, rather too vigorously for comfort, but then again, he did deserve it for the old man comment.

He automatically settled into step with the larger man as they made their way through the crowds to an understated hotel set back from the main road. Kakashi was rather surprised; he would have presumed that Jiraiya would’ve stayed in one of the raucous places that opened right onto the street. This place was basically what Kakashi himself had been looking for, somewhere quiet, but still busy so he wouldn’t stand out quite so much. The atmosphere was pleasant and there were some amazing aromas drifting from the kitchen.

He followed the toad-sannin through a small maze of corridors until they reached the room that Jiraiya was occupying. The older man immediately moved to sit at the small desk in a corner of the room and gestured towards an internal door.

“Bathroom’s through that door, take your time.” Kakashi grunted softly and moved to do as directed.

After Kakashi had finished his bath and dressed, he and Jiraiya made their way down the communal dining area to grab a quick meal. As they sat and waited, Jiraiya passed the time by flirting with the wait-staff. Kakashi watched his actions absently, long ago inured to the way the man acted around nubile young women, although it had always slightly surprised him how much the man got away with. Then it struck him that perhaps what Jiraiya was doing was what Iruka-sensei was trying to make him see.

Inspired, Kakashi went into mission-mode to analyse Jiraiya’s actions. He watched, with interest, the small gestures that he’d always seen but not really paid attention to, and particularly the way in which the young women responded. It was like a light-bulb going off inside his brain. The inane small talk, the diminished personal space, the eye contact and the light touches, all added up to intimate behaviour that was not necessarily the pre-curser to sex – although with Jiraiya, one never knew. Filing away the information for further contemplation, Kakashi turned his attention to his fish, it really was rather good.

Not nearly as good as the theatre turned out to be though, Kakashi was spellbound throughout the entire production. Already helplessly addicted to the sappy romance and overdone porn from Jiraiya’s novels, he adored the show, the lavish costumes and hammy acting only adding to the atmosphere. Ignoring Jiraiya’s good natured teasing, Kakashi idly wondered if Iruka enjoyed these same productions and wether he would be interested in going to see one with Kakashi at some time in the near future.

When they returned to the apartment, Kakashi slipped into his futon and stared up at his sensei’s sensei as the man hurriedly jotted down notes. Every so often the man would ask a question about the show and Kakashi would do his best to answer, until eventually he felt his eyelid becoming almost too heavy. He was almost asleep when he felt a rough hand gently smooth his hair back off his forehead, and chapped lips place a tender kiss on the exposed skin.

“Sleep well Kakashi-kun.” It had been such a very long time since he had received such peaceful blessings.

In the morning, when he woke up, Jiraiya still sitting hunched over his notes. Apparently, the man had been overwhelmed by inspiration and stayed up all night to commit his ideas to paper. Kakashi found himself summarily dismissed to retrieve a breakfast tray from the kitchen staff, which he did with alacrity. There was nothing worse than an over-tired toad-sannin with no caffeine in his system. Not to mention the fact that Kakashi himself was remarkably hungry, more so than he normally was in the mornings.

After eating a leisurely breakfast, Kakashi packed his things and headed out, with Jiraiya’s promise to visit soon, lingering in his ears. As he strolled back towards Konoha, he pondered on the fact that he had slept better last night than he had in years. It had to have something to do with Jiraiya. Kakashi knew that he didn’t find the man attractive, but perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he had known the old man his entire life. Jiraiya had been a friend of his fathers after all.

Satisfied with his own, incomplete, reasoning Kakashi put on a burst of speed, if he returned to Konoha in a timely manner, he might get a chance to play with some of his new toys. Not to mention the manga. He had read through the first book already and was anxious to see how the story developed further. Maybe he should have mentioned something to Jiraiya about doing a yaoi edition? Just thinking about how the toad-sannin would react to such a suggestion nearly caused Kakashi to trip over his own feet.

He was still chuckling when he reached the village, and the gate staff gave him more than a few strange looks which he studiously ignored. Letting his feet take him towards the Hokage tower, he pulled out his regular Icha Icha and buried his nose in it. There was no need to upset the villagers by changing his routine. This time as he read though, he had images from the show dancing through his mind; buxom ladies in straining corsetry with huge wigs and heavy makeup making doe eyes at the hero - a dashing, muscular man with an enormous cod-piece, tights and curly shoes. Somehow though, he didn’t think that this imagery was quite what Jiraiya had had in mind when he wrote it.

Kakashi was still smiling happily when he entered the mission room and found an incredibly foul-tempered Iruka-sensei berating all and sundry. Slinking quietly into an unoccupied back corner, Kakashi hunkered down and began to whip up a quick mission report. There was no need to aggravate the man more than absolutely necessary. After all, he could let something about their extra-curricular activities slip in the midst of his temper tantrum. The last thing that Kakashi needed right now was the entire ninja population of Konoha discussing his sex life, or more rather his lack thereof.

Luckily, by the time Kakashi had finished his report Iruka-sensei seemed to have calmed down considerably. He was less pleased though, when the academy teacher passed along a note from the Hokage, asking him to meet her immediately upon his return. Grumbling slightly, he arched an expressive eyebrow at the chuunin in front of him, who shrugged to show his ignorance. Humming slightly in disappointment, he looked around briefly before whispering in an attentive ear.

“Thank you for the theatre suggestion, Iruka-sensei. I really enjoyed it.”

Iruka’s answering smile lit up his whole face and Kakashi automatically smiled in return, before waving a casual goodbye and striding off in answer to his Hokage’s summons. He hoped it wouldn't take too long, as he still hadn’t had a chance to try out any of his new toys.