Fighting Dreamers

Chapter 7
"Second Impressions"

Kakashi woke Iruka up around seven, with dinner already set on the table. Naruto had still not returned. Iruka opened his eyes and took a moment to orient himself.

“Did…did Mizuki try to come by?” Iruka asked hesitantly. Kakashi tried not to scowl at the mention of the man and shook his head.

“No. Do you want some dinner?” Kakashi asked, attempting to change the subject. Iruka yawned and nodded, sitting up in bed. In what was becoming a habit, Kakashi tucked his hair behind his ears. “Have you always had such long hair?” he asked. He had decided while Iruka had been sleeping that he would give himself two missions. The first was that he would discover everything there was to know about Iruka, and the second was that he would show Iruka how he deserved to be treated. Surely, it wouldn’t take long before Iruka realized Mizuki was not his child and was inadequate as a lover.

He just had to have faith.

“My mother liked me to wear it long, and so did a friend of mine once I was older,” Iruka replied.

“Who was the friend?” Kakashi asked. Iruka looked a little surprised at his questions, but answered him anyway.

“Her name was Aiya. Would you like to know her shoe size, too?” Iruka asked teasingly. Kakashi merely smiled and didn’t explain his curiosity. He stood so that Iruka could get out of bed. He led him into the kitchen and pulled out his chair for him. Iruka stared at him like he’d grown a second head. Eventually, he sat.

“Err…this looks good, Kakashi,” he complimented. Kakashi smiled happily. He’d put a lot of work into the meal. “Naruto still hasn’t come back?” Iruka asked, a bit worriedly. Kakashi shook his head.

“He’s still training, but he’s in good hands.” Kakashi picked up his chopsticks. Iruka did the same, and was about to dig in, but Kakashi stopped him with a look.

“What? Is there something on my face?” Iruka asked self-consciously.

“Aren’t we supposed to say thanks?” Kakashi asked. Iruka gave him that strange look again.

“Naruto isn’t here. I only do that for his sake, really,” Iruka explained. Kakashi nodded, his revealed eye making a happy curve.

“Alright then, let’s eat!” Kakashi tugged his mask down and took a bite. Iruka ate some of his own serving. He tried to hide the grimace, he really did, but he disliked steamed vegetables and he’d just gotten a big bite of them. “What? Do you not like it?” Kakashi asked immediately. Iruka forced himself to swallow and shook his head.

“No, no, it’s wonderful. Thank you for cooking for me,” Iruka said with that polite smile Kakashi seemed to see so often.

“So you don’t like your vegetables steamed,” Kakashi said, as if he had a hidden recorder somewhere. Iruka snorted and put down his chopsticks.

“Okay, what’s up with you? You’re acting strange, Kakashi.” The silver haired shinobi coughed awkwardly into his hand.

“Well, we’ve never really had a proper conversation, have we? You said I just felt lust, so I’m trying to learn more things about you.”

“Like the kind of things Mizuki knows about me?”

“Yes. Wait! I mean…no…I’m just curious,” Kakashi replied with a light blush and a dismissive wave of his hand. He suddenly became very interested in eating his meal. Iruka nodded and then grinned at him over his chopsticks as if he was highly amused. He took another bite, and his grin turned playful.

He asked, “So what do you want to know?”

Kakashi’s blush intensified. He knew Iruka was teasing him, but how else was he supposed to go about falling for the man? He didn’t even really know Iruka! But he’d made the man smile, even if it was at him instead of with him, and that could only be a good sign.

“What do you like to read?” Kakashi asked.

“Novels that aren’t pornographic,” Iruka quipped. Kakashi glared at him weakly.

“You’re mocking me,” he said. Iruka rolled his eyes.

“I just don’t expect you to actually fall for me. It’s a waste of your time, Kakashi. You can do better than me,” Iruka said as he took another bite. Kakashi shot him another glare.

“What if I’ve spent my whole life searching for someone who hates steamed vegetables and doesn’t like porn? Did you ever consider that?”

Iruka, who had just put food in his mouth, gasped in laugher and then started choking. With wide, panicked eyes Kakashi hauled him out of his chair and proceeded to try and squeeze the offending food out of Iruka’s chest. Jarred by the motions, Iruka spat the food still in his mouth out all over the table. He sucked in a huge gulp of air.

“Are you okay?” Kakashi asked quickly. Iruka wheezed in air and glared at him. When he found his voice he immediately started scolding him.

“What did you squeeze me so hard for?!”

“You were choking! I probably saved your life!” Kakashi replied, drop dead serious. Iruka shook his head wearily and moved to clean up the mess he’d made of their dinner. “Sit down. I’ll get it,” Kakashi ordered. Iruka obeyed hesitantly, watching as Kakashi cleaned up the table. After he’d recovered a bit, Iruka felt the urge to say something.

“I’m sorry I ruined your nice dinner,” he offered. Kakashi glanced at him from his spot in front of the sink.

“It wasn’t food you liked anyway,” Kakashi replied dismissively. Iruka sighed in mild annoyance. There was an awkward silence. Kakashi peeked at the brunette, who quickly glanced away. “So,” Kakashi cleared his throat unnecessarily, “What is your favorite food?”

“Ramen, I guess,” Iruka replied politely. Then, after another awkward pause, “What’s yours?” Kakashi grinned.

“I like miso soup.”

There was yet another awkward silence. Finally Iruka said, “That’s nice.” Kakashi pulled some ramen out of the pantry, glad that he had some on hand, and began to prepare it. Iruka bit his lip, and then said worriedly, “Kakashi, are you trying to make this like a date?”

“What makes you think that?” Kakashi asked smoothly. Iruka shrugged with a bit of a blush.

“It’s just that the only other times we’ve had dinner you always let me cook and clean up afterwards, and you’ve never pulled out my chair before – I don’t think anyone’s ever done that, actually.”

“Then I’m doing good?” Kakashi asked. Iruka’s eyes narrowed in triumph.

“I knew it! You are trying to make this into a date!” Iruka accused. Kakashi shrugged.

“I never denied it. I just wanted to make sure you understood that this is how someone that’s interested in you should treat you,” Kakashi said. Iruka scowled.

“Don’t judge Mizuki,” he warned. Kakashi shot him a look.

“You came to that conclusion on your own. I didn’t mention any names,” Kakashi retorted. Iruka looked surprised that Kakashi had taken the upper hand in their banter.

“Well…I just thought…”

“Do you always have to have the last word?” Kakashi asked in a cheery voice. Iruka looked taken aback at first, and then merely sullen. He stubbornly didn’t reply. “No, I’m sorry, what were you going to say?” Kakashi encouraged. Iruka stood up and joined him in the kitchen. He stared intently at the smirking man. The noodles began to soften in the boiling water behind them.

“I’ll have you know Mizuki is very charming – he’s just insincere about it. But is anyone really sincere when they’re trying to schmooze someone?” Iruka asked. Kakashi nodded his head, as if acknowledging the point. After a few silent seconds he sauntered forward and tilted Iruka’s face up with a pale, slender finger.

“I don’t know if you know this or not, but when I look into your eyes, I don’t see my own. They're so soft and brown, like adorable puppy eyes, but I like to look underneath the underneath.” Kakashi tilted Iruka’s face a bit, bringing his own closer to it and cupping his cheeks with his hands. “When I do that, I see the loneliness, but mostly I see this tireless faith and strength. It makes me wonder, am I looking into your mother’s eyes? And if they are your mother's eyes, your father must have loved her very much. Eyes like yours are hard to resist,” Kakashi commented as he tilted his head to one side. Iruka was struck speechless.

Kakashi smiled at him confidently and kissed the tip of his nose. He pulled back, and Iruka almost fell forward when he was no longer resting in his hands. Kakashi turned and fussed with the food on the stove. Over his shoulder he said, “But you’re probably right. There’s nothing different between that compliment and one that’s not really sincere.”

Iruka didn’t know what to say, but he knew Kakashi had won their argument – hands down. Were his eyes really that expressive? He read others so well, but it seemed no one had ever put any effort into reading him, unless it was to find a weakness of course. Iruka was lost in thought while Kakashi re-set the table.

“Let’s try this dinner thing again, hmm?” Kakashi suggested. Iruka glanced up at him, startled out of thought. Kakashi smiled, and some of the awkwardness disappeared. Iruka joined him at the table, and together they ate the hot noodles. Iruka didn’t know what compelled him to speak up so suddenly, but he did.

“Mizuki has a fiancé in Konoha,” he said. Kakashi paused in his eating for a moment, but then took another bite as if he wasn’t going to reply. Iruka took another bite and swallowed thickly. He stared into his bowl and felt the urge to speak again. “She’s going to be hurt – just like the others. I wish I could prevent that, but part of me wants her to see what Mizuki really is.”

“Do you think you’re the only person who can love him?” Kakashi asked in a distinctly neutral tone. Iruka actually considered the question.

“I think you have to know a person’s bad side and their good side before you can really love them, and she can’t have seen his bad side. She wouldn’t have stuck around afterwards.”

“You did,” Kakashi remarked pointedly. Iruka shifted a bit uncomfortably in his seat. Still, there was something so relieving about being able to discuss the situation with another adult.

“I guess it’s possible, but Mizuki never treated girls like he treated me. He was always gentle with them. He says I’m the only person he can really be himself around.”

“Do you feel like yourself around him?” Kakashi asked gently. Iruka fell into thought again.

“I guess…I feel like the person he needs me to be. Does that make sense?” Iruka asked. Kakashi merely nodded. They finished the rest of the meal in comfortable silence, and something in Iruka felt much better, even though none of his problems had really been resolved.

When the dishes had been cleaned and put away by Kakashi, Iruka stared at him expectantly.

“So what’s next?”

“You said you liked to listen to music in the evenings. Do you like sake?” Kakashi asked. Iruka shook his head.

“I shouldn’t drink,” he replied. Kakashi didn’t push the issue.

“Is tomorrow your first day at work?” Kakashi asked. Iruka nodded.

“It’s Naruto’s first day of school, too. I’m worried that he’s out so late.”

“Don’t be. He’ll get some good exercise and sleep well tonight.” Kakashi had turned on the radio. It was a soothing tune played on an ocarina.

“That’s really pretty,” Iruka commented, a smile softening his face. Kakashi moved to the couch and sat down, patting the cushion beside him.

“Sit with me and listen,” Kakashi cajoled. Iruka shot him a wary look, as if anticipating that the no-sex rule was about to be pushed. Gingerly, he sat on the opposite end of the couch. Kakashi smirked. “Fair enough,” he said. He tugged his mask back up and relaxed into the cushions, letting the music wash over him. Iruka imitated him, but kept cracking open one eye to make sure Kakashi wasn’t scooting closer to him.

He wasn’t.

Iruka enjoyed a few songs before he wanted to move his legs. A quick glance told him Kakashi appeared to be napping. Smiling in relaxation, Iruka lifted his feet onto the couch and lay back, stretching out his legs and toes pleasantly. His feet almost reached Kakashi’s thigh, but not quite. The other man didn’t move. Iruka closed his eyes again.

Two more soft songs lulled him into a state of nearly napping. There was a gentle touch against his foot, but Iruka wasn’t bothered by it. He turned onto his side, burrowing his face into the couch pillow. It pushed his feet into Kakashi’s lap, but Iruka didn’t really notice. He was beginning to dream about a field of flowers, and the meadow grass was tickling his feet. He wiggled them a bit, and the touches became less ticklish and firmer instead. He sighed happily. He never dreamed having his feet rubbed could feel so good.

“Hmmm,” he murmured appreciatively. Kakashi smiled.

“Does that feel good?” he asked softly. Iruka moaned happily and muttered something into the pillow. Kakashi strained his ears, but he couldn’t catch it. The massage stretched on for the most relaxing half hour of Iruka’s life. Then the door bounced open loudly and he sat up instantly, realizing with mild embarrassment that Kakashi had been rubbing his feet – not some faceless stranger in a dream. He jerked them out of Kakashi’s lap, but it was too late.

“Kakashi-sensei, what were you doing to dad’s feet?” Naruto asked. Then, before Kakashi could answer, Naruto turned his questions onto his father. “Are you still sick, Dad?” The little boy came to stand in front of his father and inspect him. Iruka tried to force his blush away. He scrunched up his nose at how badly Naruto reeked of sweat and the outdoors.

“What on earth were you doing? You’re soaked in sweat!” Iruka exclaimed in surprise. He’d never seen Naruto exert himself to the point of sweating. The boy had endless reserves of energy.

“Kakashi-sensei’s friend likes to run.”

“You’ve been running this whole time? It’s been hours, though!” Iruka exclaimed incredulously. Naruto beamed proudly.

“Gai-san said I was tough! He doesn’t think I’m a crybaby at all!” Iruka smiled warmly at Naruto.

“I’m proud that you did well, Naruto, but you need a bath. Go on, off to the bathroom,” Iruka ordered. Kakashi watched Iruka fuss over the boy, and for once he wasn’t bothered that all the attention was immediately shifted away from him and onto Naruto when the boy entered the picture. He wanted to prove to Iruka that not everyone would only take from him in relationships.

He just didn’t know how long it would take to teach Iruka the lesson, and he hoped his lust for the man wouldn’t get in the way before that could happen, as Iruka obviously suspected it would.

A/N: As usual, for the next chapter quicker, check out my livejournal. www.livejournal.com/users/kung_fuu.