Questionable Loyalty

A/N: This chapter came out mucher more easily than the previous. Whew.



CHAPTER 36







They spent the weekend together – mostly doing nothing other than talk and have sex – Kakashi refused to refer to it in his mind as making love, no matter how careful Iruka was with him. He just couldn’t bring himself to do it – it wouldn’t be fair to the young man.



On Monday morning he appeared in Tsunade’s office and announced his decision – to accept the three Academy graduates as his students, provided that they passed his bell test. That decision hadn’t been taken lightly – he didn’t want to take responsibility for three more lives whom he would later have to abandon, but having them around would make his job easier – it’d keep him mostly in Konoha, as he’d be given less long and difficult missions, which meant that he’d be able to spend more time with Iruka. So reluctantly, he accepted this new responsibility.



The children turned out to be a bit more agreeable than Team 7 had been – all coming from stable homes, they carried a lot less baggage than Naruto and Sasuke had – and all had Ninja parents, which meant that they were trained since their birth, unlike Sakura had been. Surprisingly enough, they had passed the test as well, having already formed a team of their own in the Academy.



All in all, his daily routine became quite boring – get up, wash, visit the Memorial because he knew he was expected to be seen there, no matter how painful it was to stand there for hours on end sometimes, then go and meet his exasperated new students and put them through ruthless drills and training until they were too damn exhausted to be able to ask him questions or be interested in anything else other than a shower, dinner, and sleep.



The evenings he spent with Iruka, going to the young man’s apartment for a quick dinner, then either going out for a walk – or the occasional movie – and then going to bed, riding Iruka’s cock until the wee ours of the morning when they fell asleep in an exhausted but sated sleep.



Naruto was out of Konoha on some sort of a mission with Kurenai’s team, and according to Iruka, the young man wouldn’t be back at least for two more weeks. Kakashi was yet to breach the subject of Tsunade’s medical research on Naruto, wanting for the Chuunin and him to grow closer before he did. He knew that Iruka was a professional and no matter how very satisfied and sated he was, there would be only so much that he’d be able to glean from pillow talk. The real research would happen once he got the young man’s passwords and a copy of his magnetic key-card to Tsunade’s medical facilities – and this could take a little while.



As far as their relationship was concerned, people talked, of course. In fact, the rumour-mill had reached a fever-pitch with the news that the Great But Terribly Reclusive Copy Nin had finally found a lover and was quite public about it. His fellow Jounin said nothing to his face, but they all looked pleased when they were in his company, as if they themselves had just gotten laid. Kakashi didn’t understand the reaction, but was willing to ignore it. Of course, Gai was an exception, when it came to tactful silence.



They had had one of their usual sparring sessions/competitions when his friend had said:



“So… you and Iruka-sensei, huh?”



“Gai, I never took you for a gossip.” Kakashi chided him good-naturedly and aimed a roundhouse kick at his head, which his partner blocked swiftly and dealt him a punch of his own. As Kakashi danced away from the attack on nimble feet, the older man commented:



“I wasn’s gossiping. I noticed you weeks ago at the monument with him.”



“I noticed.”



“I didn’t mean to intrude.” Gai told him mildly and jumped to avoid a sweep meant to get him off his feet.



“You didn’t. I wouldn’t have allowed such a public display if I wanted to hide.” Kakashi pointed out and launched another attack that left them too busy concentrating on their sparring for a few minutes to continue talking.



Afterwards, they sat down on the grass for a little break and Kakashi drank from the water-bottle he had brought with him, Gai piped in again:



“Kakashi, I just wanted to say that I am happy for you, that is all. We all are.”



“All?” Kakashi raised an elegant eye-brow.



“Of course. People in this village love you, Kakashi. They cherish your strength and your loyalty, and they admire you greatly. How could they not be happy that you have found someone special?”



Kakashi felt terribly uncomfortable at those words and the praising tone with which they had been said. He tried to cover for it by taking another sip of water and teasing Gai:



“I thought that you’d be jealous.”



“Jealous? Me? Of Iruka-sensei?”



Kakashi nodded and smiled at him under his mask.



“Kakashi, I thought you knew me better than. I greatly appreciate our friendship, but I am afraid I prefer a far different plumbing than yours…” suddenly, Gai looked at him worriedly “You’re not saying that you’ve felt some sort of unrequited love for me all these years and I have broken your hear…”



Kakashi waved his hands before the man could continue with his outrageous theory. Really, Gai sometimes reached the strangest conclusions when it came to things outside their work.



“No! No, no. I assure you, that is not the case.”



The other looked relieved.



“I am glad. I don’t want to be the reason of my greatest rival’s suffering!” he exclaimed self-importantly and puffed up. They looked at each other and suddenly burst into laughter.



“You and your antics.” Kakashi muttered and slapped Gai’s strong shoulder. Gai only laughed harder.



The talk with Naruto, however, didn’t go as planned. Neither of them had expected him to come back in the next few days, nor did they expect him to burst through the open window in Iruka’s kitchen bearing a large, covered in gaudy paper, box. Nor did they expect it would happen when Iruka had Kakashi seated on the kitchen table, his legs wrapped tightly the Chuunin’s hips, his mask and shirt off and Iruka’s face buried in the crook of neck and shoulder, his mouth, teeth and tongue busily exploring the expanse of pale, smooth flesh.



So when Naruto did jump into the kitchen, bearing a huge smile on his face and exclaiming:



“Iruka-sensei, I am baaaa…!” only to stop in the middle of it as if he had been struck by an arrow and then suddenly go “Who the hell are you?!” they were, to put it mildly, quite surprised.



Iruka jumped away from Kakashi as if he had been burned and they both turned to face the young man, who stared at them, mouth wide open and gaping in surprise.



“Who is this guy?!” the blonde demanded and pointed to Kakashi with his free hand.



“It’s me, Naruto.” Kakashi said quietly and waited for his former student to place his voice without the distortion of the mask.



Naruto took a good look at him – the forehead protector over one eye, the shock of pale hair, the familiar visible eye… then took in his semi-nakedness and Iruka’s own untidy appearance and dropped the box he was carrying on the floor. Both Kakashi and Iruka winced when they heard the sound of broken glass or porcelain – apparently there had been something fragile in there.



“K-Kakashi-sensei…” Naruto stuttered and began to redden “and Iruka-sensei…” the colour was darkening, soon approaching a very unhealthy maroon hue which clashed terribly with his blonde hair. “Oooh…” he closed his eyes and turned around, clearly mortified. “I’ll come back later.” He finally announced and without looking at them jumped out of the window. The silence afterwards was deafening.



“This is not how I wanted him to find out.” Iruka stated, looking worriedly after him.



Kakashi bit his lip.



“Me neither. But I expected that after all these years of travelling with Jiraiya, he’d be less bashful.” He muttered with annoyance.



“What are we going to tell him?” Iruka asked. Kakashi shrugged and sighed.



“The truth, I suppose.” He said while cringing at the unbidden image of telling Naruto the actual truth. Iruka nodded.



“I guess you’re right. Maybe he reacted like that because we were both his teachers – realizing that your teacher is someone who has a sex life is like realizing your parents have sex. It’s mind-boggling, initially. Even at his age.”



Kakashi nodded and rubbed the back of his head, clearly remembering seeing Kushina with Minato-sensei, her belly distended around the still unborn boy. The realization how his Sensei had helped create the new life had been quite mortifying at the time.



“I should go and talk to him.” Iruka announced and headed for the window as well. “Best not to let him stew for much longer.” He told Kakashi as he was about to jump out.



“Do you want me to come with you?”



“No. Best I talk to him alone.”



“Iruka.”



“Mmm?” The Chuunin paused perched on the window-sill.



“You do realize that it’s possible he’s a little jealous.”



“Kakashi! I assure you that Naruto does not see me in that wa-“ Iruka began, looking outraged. Kakashi hurriedly interrupted him.



“I do not mean it in any perverted way, silly. But you are the closest thing he has to a brother, or a father. And he’s not used to competing for your attention.”



“He won’t have to compete for my attention, Kakashi. And nor will you.” Iruka said, much calmer.



“I know. But he doesn’t. Explain that to him.”



Iruka nodded and left.



He found Naruto sitting in the now empty Academy front yard, looking dully at the training grounds.



“Naruto.”



The young man turned around sharply and when he met his eyes, he flushed again.



“Hi, Iruka-sensei.”



“Hi, Naruto.” He said mildly and went to sit next to him. “Are you hungry?”



“No.” was the sullen answer.



“Are you angry at me?”



This time there was only surprise in Naruto’s eyes when he looked at him.



“Angry? What for?”



“We didn’t mean for you to find out like that. I am sorry that it happened this way.” Iruka said apologetically.



“I am not angry about it, Iruka-sensei.” Naruto told him and rubbed his face.



“Then why did you react so…”



“Shocked?”



The Chuunin nodded.



Naruto flushed again.



“I had never imagined that you…”



“Had sex?”



“No, not that. Iruka-sensei, I grew up around the Pervo-hermit.” Naruto said exasperatedly. “And I help him write those cheesy books of his. Everyone has sex. Even those who say they don’t. I am not so naïve so as to think that you’re any different.”



Iruka blinked.



“Then why did you react like that?”



Naruto was quiet for a long time, looking down at his feet. Finally, he confessed:



“Because it was Kakashi-sensei.” He muttered.



“Naruto, I don’t understand…” a thought occurred to him “Is it because he used to read Jiraiya’s books?”



Naruto snorted with amusement.



“Of course not!” then he sobered up again. “It’s just that…” he bit his lip, looking uncomfortable.



“It’s just that what?”



“It’s just that what, Naruto?”



“I don’t trust him!” the blonde blurted out.



Now Iruka was truly flummoxed, his jaw going slack. The younger man hurriedly explained:



“I trust him as my commander with my life, Sensei. I trust him to protect this village to the utmost of his ability.” He finally turned to look at Iruka, his blue eyes calm and serious:



“But I don’t trust him to keep you happy. To make you happy.”



“Naruto… why?”



The blonde sighed.



“Maybe I am biased… but…when Sasuke, Sakura and I were his students, he didn’t strike me as someone who liked connecting to people. He saddled Jiraiya-sensei with me the moment he could, and practically forgot that Sakura-chan existed when he decided that she wasn’t worth his trouble. I don’t want him to do the same to you, when he decides you’re no longer interesting enough.”



“Oh, Naruto…” Iruka reached and wrapped his arms around the young man protectively. ‘I never knew he hurt you so much. I’ll have a word with him, when I get back home.’ Out loud, he said: “Kakashi has his flaws, I admit that. But he too realized them. Do you know how we got together?”



“How?” Naruto’s voice was muffled in Iruka’s Chuunin vest.



“He came to me, wanting advice… on how to connect with his students. He has a new team, you know. And I hear he’s doing a good job, other than being perpetually late again.”



Naruto couldn’t help but laugh as he pulled back to look at his former Sensei.



“Really?”



“Yes. It’s not that he can’t connect to people, Naruto. He was just afraid to. Kakashi… he carries a lot baggage, and it’s not really my place to tell you his story. Even I don’t know all the details, as it is. I think I helped him with that. He needs me.” He paused. “And I am beginning to think that I need him.” He ran his hand through Naruto’s blonde hair. “Do you understand?”



The young man nodded.



“I do.”



“Will you give him a chance?”



He nodded again.



“Yes. But if he hurts you…” his voice grew cold “He’ll answer to me.”