Questionable Loyalty

A/N: And we return to Kakashi and Iruka.

To all the people who reviewed, thank you so much! Your comments always fill me with delight! Satterb, don't worry, I love talking to you, no matter for how long, or little, for that matter! Yuki: I figured out that you were a woman because Yuki is a female name. Also, I assumed you were female simply because almost all yaoi readers are women. XD And yes, each scene that I write has some relation to character development. I have the whole plot of this story in my head and I know how it ends - the story itself is a road that the characters must walk on in order to reach said ending, so each stop (and step) is significant.



CHAPTER 34





After another shower – much tamer this time, since all they did was pet and kiss – Iruka offered his new lover a large towel and wrapped another around his slim hips. They exited the bathroom and headed for the kitchen.



“Stay for breakfast?” he said, turning to Kakashi and smiling hopefully. The Jounin nodded without hesitation.



“You’re cooking?” Kakashi asked with a small smile. Iruka gave him a teasing peck on the lips.



“Of course. Otherwise this wonderful morning would be marred by spending the rest of the day hugging the toilet.”



“Hey, my cooking is not that dismal!” Kakashi exclaimed, but there was amusement in his eye.



“Of course it is, Kakashi-kun.” Iruka said as he opened the fridge and began to rummage inside. “You burn water. You said it yourself.”



After a few more seconds of poking through his fridge, he took out eggs, milk and flour.



“Pancakes?” the Chuunin offered. “I have chocolate syrup for them.”



Kisame made delicious pancakes, Kakashi recalled and for a moment got carried away by the memories.



“Kakashi?”



He snapped his attention back to Iruka.



“Yes. I love pancakes.”



The Chuunin gave him a short, curious look before he turned to the counter and took out a large bowl in which he could make the dough.



“Why don’t you come over?” he offered. “I’d like to teach you how to do it yourself, so that you wouldn’t be completely helpless when I am too busy to feed you.”



Kakashi obediently walked up to the Chuunin and looked over his shoulder, wrapped his arms around his waist and kissed his bared shoulder.



“I am far from helpless, Iruka-sensei.”



“In the kitchen you are.” Iruka insisted and turned his face to give Kakashi a kiss. The Jounin smiled against his lips and looked down to watch Iruka work. The younger man began mixing the ingredients into a thin, runny batter, beating it until he was pleased with the smooth mixture. Afterwards, he turned on the stove and took out a pan, put it on the fire and quickly melted a piece of butter on its heated surface. As he poured some of the batter in the pan and spread it in a thin layer, Kakashi finally commented:



“You’re making them the way they do it in Kiri.”



“The Mist?” Iruka paused and flipped the pancake with a deft flick of his wrist. “It’s possible. I had a client from the Mist once. A trader lady, all old and frail-looking. That is, until she smiled and showed those Mist teeth of hers.” Iruka shuddered in Kakashi’s embrace. “Still, she was actually quite nice. Taught me how to make pancakes.”



Kakashi nodded mutely and kept watching his lover work, remembering how he had watched Kisame prepare breakfast one morning, after an unfortunate attempt on Kakashi’s part to be gracious and cook for the lot of them. Said attempt almost burned down the whole wing of the building, so after much pouting and fuming, Pein had practically forbidden him to go anywhere near a kitchen appliance, other than the fridge. The Jounin remembered that he had been quite indignant at the time… until he met Kakuzu and had to listen to his rant about unnecessary expenses – like, for example, fixing the soot-covered walls or replacing burned furniture. It occurred to him that Pein was probably subjected to the same rants all the time and it made Kakashi more than sympathetic to his plight.



“Kakashi? Kakashi!”



The Jounin blinked, mind returning to the present:



“Yes? Sorry, I drifted away…”



Iruka smiled playfully.



“I noticed. I was just asking what you preferred…” he lifted a small jar filled with golden, viscous fluid “Honey…” and then showed a plate with a block of cheese “or cheese?”



“I’d like both.”



“Both? At the same time?” Iruka raised his eyebrows. Kakashi nodded eagerly.



Afterwards, they sat down at the table and began eating their pancakes… Well, Kakashi was eating, Iruka was watching him with curiosity. Eventually, he gave in to his curiosity and filled spread cheese and honey over his pancake before rolling it up and taking a bite.



“Thish…” Iruka began with his mouth full, swallowed continued “… is actually quite good.”



Kakashi smiled back to him.



“I know.” And he reached to lick the small piece of cheese stuck to the corner of Iruka’s mouth. The Chuunin swallowed and kissed him, pulling him closer.



“You know…” Kakashi began “If we keep doing this, we’d never leave the house today.” The Chuunin’s hand was travelling down his side to his hips.



“Mmm… And that is bad how?” was the lazy reply.



“Iruka… Iruka, I haven’t gone to the Monument today.”



That stopped the younger man in his tracks. He pulled back a little but didn’t let go and took a look at his lover. He had forgotten that Kakashi went there as often as possible.



“I’m sorry I killed the mood.” Kakashi muttered.



“No, it’s okay. This is not just about sex, Kakashi. I told you, I am not that kind of person.” He caressed his face and gave him a peck on the lips. “Do you want me to come with you?”



“Where? To the Monument?”



Iruka nodded.



Kakashi thought about it. He didn’t actually want to go to the Monument to begin with, but he had said it because it was an expected behavior from him. Every time he passed by the place he felt like his mind was on fire. However, the last thing he needed to do now was to alienate or reject Iruka, He needed the young man. Finally, he nodded as well.



“Yes, thank you.” And he allowed the Chuunin to hug him.



“I have an idea for today, after we visit the Monument.” Iruka said.



“Oh?”



“How about we go to a little picnic? I can prepare the food now, if you don’t mind waiting for a bit more.”



“Picnic? Iruka, I spent a lot of time in the wilderness to begin with.”



“Yes, being chased by people who want to kill you, sleeping on the cold ground if you can sleep at all and feeding on powerbars and soldier pills. Kakashi, I have been on missions, you know. Going out on a picnic is a very different experience.” The strong, tanned hands pulled Kakashi even closer and practically on the Chuunin’s lap.



“How so?”



“There’s good food, excellent wine, and it’s tranquil. No one is trying to kill you, unless you count the hungry mosquitoes wanting a piece of you and there are always ways to get rid of those.”



Kakashi chuckled and finally nodded.



“Very well, you convinced me.”



“You’ll need a clean change of clothes…”



“We’ll pass by my house after we go to the monument.”



Kakashi was tense the whole time while they walked down the road leading to the Monument. Iruka walked next to him, close enough for their shoulders to be touching but didn’t hold his hand – they hadn’t discussed yet whether they wanted their relationship out in the public or not. Finally, when they arrived, Kakashi paused and stared at the place, swallowed and slowly approached, standing before the polished surface and looked at the nameless stars. More had been added since the last time he visited the place. Apparently, Iruka noticed the same.



“There are new ones…” he muttered sadly and ran his fingers over the shiny metal. He turned to Kakashi and asked softly:



“Your teammates and Sensei are here too, are they not?”



Kakashi swallowed thickly past the lump in his throat and answered hoarsely:



“Yes.”



And they were probably looking down at them, at him, bringing this kind, gentle young man here, lying to him, using him in a way he didn’t deserve, betraying everything they had taught him was precious. It was a wonder that a lightning hadn’t struck him by now.



“My father is not.” He added.



It took a moment for Iruka to remember what had happened to Kakashi’s father – he had killed himself. Apparently it hadn’t been deemed a heroic enough death to be added to the rest. He was filled with such deep, overwhelming sense of compassion and need to comfort Kakashi that at that moment he couldn’t care less how they looked like. He reached and wrapped a gentle arm around the Jounin’s shoulders and pulled him close, as if by holding him he could shield him from his own grief. For a moment Kakashi tensed and he half-expected to be shaken off, but the older man relaxed and leaned into the embrace.



“You’re not alone anymore, Kakashi.” Iruka said.



Gai walked down the street, heading for a training session with his students, when he noticed a highly unusual sight as he passed by the Monument. There was Kakashi, looking morosely at the star-covered surface – which in itself was quite a normal – but there was that young Chuunin who taught the students at the Academy, his arm wrapped tightly around Kakashi’s hunched shoulders, a gesture so protective and intimate that it made Gai stop in his tracks and stare. Even more unusual, said arm kept being attached to the rest of his body. Gai knew Kakashi well enough to be aware of his quirks – and one of them was his complete aversion to physical contact, unless he was fighting or training. The fact that he was allowing this man to touch him in such a familiar manner was downright shocking. He watched as Kakashi suddenly tensed as he felt his presence and scrutiny, watched as the Chuunin tensed a few seconds later as his own senses caught on. He moved to let go of Kakashi’s shoulder, to put distance between them, but suddenly, the older man’s hand grabbed his wrist and kept him firmly in place. The gesture was eager, possessive, almost desperate.



“Kakashi?” Are you sure?” Gai could read the question on the Chuunin’s lips. He couldn’t see the answer, but whatever Kakashi said made Iruka smile and kiss tenderly his cloth-covered temple.



It took Gai a few seconds to get a grip and turn away, continuing to his destination. He was still shocked by the display, but also almost elated, happy that the man he considered his friend had finally found someone to take care of him, as he so obviously needed.



“It was high fucking time, Kakashi.” He muttered.



Kakashi felt Gai retreat and walk away and the tension slowly left his muscles. So it was out now. The whole village would soon learn about it. Gai wasn’t a blabbermouth, but he shared everything with his students, and Lee had the sense of tact of a drunk goat – he would talk not because he wanted to gossip but because he’d want the whole world to find out that a previously lonely Copy Nin had found a significant other. Perhaps it was better this way – sneaking around to meet Iruka would be one more problem he’d have had to deal with if he hid their relationship. It was enough that he had to sneak around for other purposes. He could feel the younger man next to him also begin to relax.



“Thank you.” The younger man said.



“What for?”



“For not keeping us a secret, as if you were ashamed.”



“You said it, Iruka. I am not alone anymore.” The fingers around Iruka’s hand tightened. “I have nothing to be ashamed of.”



At that moment, he wanted that lightning to strike him down.