The Dance

Well as you can see I decided to finish up The Dance. This was because between here and DA it won. That and at the time I was considering it and MI for the doujin commission since it was the second most highly requested. And I have been so beyond worried that the end wouldn't live up to the beginning... well because of the OC I have in it and I know some people really hate OCs. I went back and forth on whether to change it and take her out but then I did what was recommended by my readers and did what I wanted. Ch 6 which is done and with my beta deals almost solely with my OC. If somebody stops reading because I have an OC with more depth than a puddle well I'm sorry but I like her.

I actually ran this past several people to see if they thought it worked okay with the first 4 chapters and they all liked the way it worked. I'm trying to pick the mood up here because angst can only last for so long unless you're not aiming for a happy ending.

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"So?" Genma asked, his head resting on his hands and a knowing smirk on his lips.

"So?" Iruka honestly couldn't figure out what the man was trying to ask.

"/So?/" The man's senbon bobbed, and Iruka felt the odd desire to stab it into the other man's tongue.

"SO WHAT? Don't just go and say so and expect me to read your mind." Iruka was beyond irritated, and he didn't care if he was over-reacting.

"So, how was it? Did you see his face? Who topped? Are you guys an item, or was it a one night stand?" The shinobi lounging around the mission room turned curious eyes on the both of them at the questions.

"I'm going to file these," the chunin said, standing and picking up a stack of papers.

"Don't tell me he turned you down?" The senbon flew into the stack, nailing them to the table and pulling them from Iruka's grasp.

"You seem to know so much, figure it out for yourself." Iruka yanked the senbon out and slammed it into the wood in front of the tokubetsu, burying it three quarters of the way up. "And, while your contemplating something that's none of your business, try doing some actual work." With that he turned and stalked out of the room, past the gaping jounin that were lounging around.

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Tucking the papers under his arm Iruka headed down the hall towards the filing room. He found he was actually grateful he had to be at work, as it was a good distraction. And, although, the mission desk wasn't as effective as chasing his students around and keeping them from accidently putting an eye out, especially with Genma's idiotic remarks, it was still better than sitting at home.

It's not like he was an idiot. He'd already figured out Kakashi was mad at him, and had come to the conclusion it was probably justified. It's just that Iruka wasn't quite sure what it was he'd said that the copy-nin was so angry at him over.

At home, he'd thought about it. Tried to decipher his own words to figure out why Kakashi had reacted so... differently from Mizuki. He thought about it until his head hurt. And, he still had no real answers.

Iruka tried to push the thoughts from his head; he was going in circles, and he knew it. Being at the desk handing out reports would have been easier if not for having to deal with Genma and his stupid questions. Why couldn't that jerk mind his own business? He'd wanted more than anything to shove that senbon in a very uncomfortable place. It had taken more restraint than Iruka was aware he possessed /not to/.

He turned a corner, fuming slightly and considering how to make Genma's death look like a training accident, when a door opened in front of him. Iruka looked up, startled, and found himself looking at the very person troubling his mind.

"Gomen," Kakashi said automatically then stopped and just looked at the chunin for a moment.

Iruka wanted to say something, anything, but he wasn't sure what that was. It seemed an amazing thing how much expression the visible part of Kakashi's face had. And, it had even more when you were standing so close that you could see the lines of his mouth through the mask.

"I have to go," Kakashi said. And then, he was gone in a puff of smoke before Iruka could even form a coherent thought.

Sighing, he shifted the papers and continued on his way. But, he wondered if he had really seen what he thought he had. The expression on the copy-nin's face, if Iruka had to describe it, very closely resembled that of a kicked puppy.

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"I'm going on a mission," Kakashi said as he set the book on the counter.

"Hmm... that's interesting." The white-haired woman said as she scribbled an amount onto a card. "So, where were you last night?"

"Not here." He didn't move to take the book or pay for it, simply stood there glowering.

"Really? I hadn't noticed." The obvious note of sarcasm didn't go unnoticed, but the jounin merely hmphed in an annoyed tone as a response. "I think I can assume things didn't go 'quite' like you planned. I told you, throwing yourself at him wasn't going to work."

"I didn't throw myself at him!" Kakashi snatched the book off the counter but didn't otherwise move.

"Really? You didn't profess your undying love, get rejected, and then spend the rest of the night sulking by the memorial stone?" The woman pulled out another piece of paper. "Where's your mission taking you?"

"Stone and, no, I didn't." His grip on the book tightened as he glowered across the counter at her.

"Didn't what? Declare your love? Get rejected? Or, spend the night sulking?" She laughed as she scribbled some things down on the second piece of paper.

"I didn't..." Kakashi started, then stopped, and glowered again. "It's none of your business, /Tsukiko-sama/." He dragged the name out in a sickeningly sweet tone, and then smirked under his mask when it was her turn to scowl at him.

"Brat." The tone was familiar, and the scowl didn't truly hold any real anger. "You know the shop, if you have time, that is." She handed him the paper, and he disappeared. The smoke curling lazily in the still air of the bookstore.

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Kotetsu stacked the reports into the appropriate piles and marked them off on the list as received. Iruka and Izumo sat deciphering several reports and chatting relatively amicably for most of the day. All in all, things seemed normal. Maybe a bit too calm, but normal for the middle of the week.

Then, Shizune came with another armload of reports and set them on the desk, carefully leaning over them, and rather pointedly sticking her chest out. "Iruka-sensei, you're working too hard. You've been here all day. Shouldn't you go home, or at least get something to eat."

"I ate." The chunin's voice was light, but he didn't look up from the papers.

"A bento at 11 o'clock doesn't count. It's almost 8 now." She leaned on her elbows and tried to look Iruka in the face; he didn't seem to notice. "I'm getting ready to head out for some ramen, you could come with me." Shizune smiled, looking softer and more girlie by the minute. "My treat."

"Can't.... need to finish this." He tilted his head up to smile at her, then immediately went back to working. "Thanks, though."

"It's not like you and Kakashi are dating," she huffed, obviously annoyed. "At least, it didn't look that way at the party."

Iruka took a deep breath before again looking up at her, smile pinned in place. "I never said we were, I /said/ I had work to finish. So, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to finish it so I can go home." The tone was a strange cross between sweet and clipped. Shizune blinked at him, before stalking off towards the hokage's office.

"You and Kakashi? Why didn't you tell us? I thought we were friends," Izumo whined.

"Because, there is /nothing/ to tell." The brunette all but growled as he marked something down on the paper.

"But Shizune said..." the younger man started.

"I don't care what Shizune said!" Then, he turned to glower at Izumo and caught sight of the report the other man had been 'working' on and noticed the doodles in the margins.

The vein twitched and Izumo dove for cover, ducking behind Kotetsu as the stapler flew across the room at him. "He's going to kill me!"

"If you can't do anything right, why can't you just get out of the way?" Iruka asked, stalking towards the two men. He stooped and picked up the stapler, then glared and shook it at Izumo. "Next time, I won't miss."

The two men stood there staring in shock at the normally cheerful teacher... until he turned and glared at them. "Don't just stand there, do /something/!"

Without another word, both men grabbed a stack of papers and ran out the door towards the filing room.

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Kakashi shoved the report at Tsunade. He was irritated, tired, and covered in dust; but, he refused to show any sign that any of this was bothering him. He knew if he did, she'd either tease him about it, or tell a certain nosy old biddy who would.

"Here." She handed him a scroll. "And, don't give me that look. You know I wouldn't send you if I could send anyone else. Besides, aren't you still avoiding your boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend." He unrolled the scroll and feigned indifference.

"Aw... did you two have a lover's quarrel?" He could see the smirk out of the corner of his eye and contemplated throwing the report at her and going off to read some place quiet.

"For your information, he made it quite clear he's not interested. And, no, I'm not avoiding him." Kakashi growled, the scroll crumpling in his hand.

"Hmmm... he seemed pretty interested to me, and he has been moping since you left." Tsunade covered her mouth, unsuccessfully trying to suppress a chuckle at the look of surprise her 'observation' received.

"You're worse than obachan." The look of calm, however, returned the jounin's face as he stalked to the window.

"Don't let her catch you calling her that." She laughed. "She'll put something in your tea."

"Hn." Kakashi didn't turn around; but, from the hokage's position at her desk, she could make out the slight smile under the man's mask. This day was getting more and more entertaining; now, if she could just get Shizune to leave her alone so she could go mess with Iruka's head, it'd be perfect.

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"He won't be coming in, so you can stop waiting for him." Raidou handed the report over and shook his head.

"Who? I wasn't waiting for anybody." Iruka fidgeted with his pen as he looked the report over.

"You never work this shift when you have class in the morning," the other man said in response.

"I couldn't sleep and Izumo was sick, so Kotetsu took him home and I just..."

"You don't have to explain; it's none of my business. I just wanted you to know he turned in his report to the hokage this morning and is out on another mission. Longer one this time." The sympathetic look made him glad that they were the only two in there this late at night.

"I..." Iruka started, then decided he no longer cared. "Thank you."

"You're not the only one whose ever been in love with somebody they thought wouldn't want them." The statement had Iruka gaping.

"I never..."

Raidou sighed. "Genma's an ass, but he's far more observant than you give him credit for. Everyone can tell you two like each other. And, while I don't know what happened, you have guilty written across your face. Get some sleep and stop worrying so much. I'm sure if you apologize, you'll find that Kakashi's not nearly the bastard he tries to be."

Iruka wanted to respond, to tell Raidou he hadn't done anything wrong, but the words simply wouldn't form. Instead, he sat there gaping and looking like an idiot, while the other man turned and walked out the door.

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Iruka slurped on the ramen and considered what Raidou had said the night before. He must have been concentrating too hard because Teuchi brought over a cup of sake and handed it to him.

"Oh... thanks. Sorry, I'm just kind of lost in my thoughts." Setting his chopsticks down, he sipped the sake and frowned. Maybe Raidou had been right, maybe if he just apologized...

He had been going over the conversation in his head, over and over, and had finally decided that Kakashi must have misunderstood what he'd said. It's not that he meant to imply that the other man was the type to just sleep around. He'd been trying to explain that 'he' didn't /do/ casual. He was hoping Kakashi would agree and just leave it be; just let it go like it meant nothing. Because, from what Iruka could tell, Kakashi didn't /do/ serious.

Iruka thought he'd said the right things to let the other man know it was a mistake, it just happened, and they should both just forget about it. Obviously, he hadn't. But now, he wasn't quite sure what to do about it, since the other man was avoiding him.
The worst part was, he'd thought they were becoming friends, and then, well then, he'd gone and screwed things up all because he'd wanted to dance with the silver-haired shinobi. Because he'd let his attraction to the man over rule his common sense. And, he could have avoided it if he'd just not gotten drunk. But no, he'd wanted to impress them and had gotten into that stupid little pissing contest with Asuma.

Iruka downed the last of his sake and shoved his bowl aside. "I'm such an idiot..."

"Umino-san, mind telling me what's wrong? Maybe I could help." Teuchi said as he cleared the dishes.

"I just said something stupid to Kakashi-san, and now I can't find him to apologize." An idea suddenly struck Iruka, and he smiled. "Would you give him the message for me?"

"No, apologies should be done in person. But, if you're looking for Hatake-san, you could try speaking to Kiko-san." The older man smiled warmly at him.

"The lady who owns that bookstore at the edge of the market?" Iruka was surprised, and curious as to why some old woman would know anything about the copy-nin, even if he did frequent her store.

"Hai," Teuchi said.

Iruka nodded and paid for his ramen, knowing when to stop asking questions and go find answers.