Hello everyone! Thanks for reading!

This story is un-beta'd so I apologize for any spelling/grammatical errors or plot holes. For the sake of the story, Kakashi and Iruka are older than they would have been after the Kyuubi attack. Iruka is 16 and Kakashi is 18.

Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own Naruto or any of these characters. All rights reserved to Masashi Kishimoto and any other creators in the franchise.

Chapter 1

The first sounds of morning drifted through the sleepy town. Konoha was alight with the morning buzz as various merchants began to set up for the day and a few sleepy civilians or shinobi ambled to and fro, conducting their morning business. In a quieter section of the village dedicated to shinobi housing, the morning was only just beginning.

Sunlight filtered in through the window and spooled across a small bed in the center of a bedroom. Inhabiting the bed, in a disarray of limbs and snuggles, were two young shinobi. The brunette cuddled in closer to his silver partner, burrowing his head into his companion's neck. Slowly the older man began to stir, the impending sunlight made him squint his eyes. He smiled at the sight of his dolphin sprawled across his chest. He didn't want to move and risk waking him up.

Kakashi ran a hand through Iruka's long brown locks and placed a light kiss on his head before glancing at the clock. Kakashi barley concealed a groan at the time it read. He would have to wake his dolphin soon and head out, he was already two hours late for his mission. Sandiame would not be pleased.

"Ruka," Kakashi whispered, "wake up." He lightly shook Iruka's shoulder to stir the brunet.

"mmhh," Iruka mumbled into Kakashi's shoulder, "what time is ittt?"

"eight-thirty."

"eight-thirty… wait…EIGHT-THIRTY?!" Iruka sat up quickly, wide awake, "I'm going to be late for work Kakashi!"

"Maa that makes two of us then," Kakashi said meekly.

"Kakashi! Your mission!" Iruka gasped, "Get up! Get up!"

Iruka slid off of Kakashi's chest, albeit a little reluctantly, and out of bed. He hissed slightly when his feet hit the cold floor. Kakashi smirked as he watched his boyfriend frantically pull on his boxers and search through the closet for a clean uniform. He would have to skip his morning shower if he wanted to be on time.

Now dressed, Iruka made a beeline for the bathroom, shooting a glare over his shoulder at his lazy scarecrow, "Kakashi!"

"Maa ok ok," Kakashi mumbled, "I'm coming."

Kakashi trudged over to their shared closet and pulled on his ANBU uniform. He knew that his position was meant to be a secret but he couldn't keep it from Iruka. Although Iruka knew he was in ANBU he didn't know which identity he went by.

Kakashi ambled out into the kitchen where Iruka was making some coffee. He couldn't help but smile as he watched his brunet scurry throughout the kitchen.

Iruka placed a steaming cup in front of the older man, "how long is your mission going to be?"

"Two weeks."

Iruka bit his lip. As much as he hated his boyfriend being in ANBU he knew Konoha needed him. The Kyuubi attack was just over six months ago and the village needed all the help it could get.

"I'll miss you," Iruka mumbled, wrapping his arms around his scarecrows neck, "please be careful."

Kakashi buried his face into Iruka's soft hair, "I'll miss you too. I'll be as careful as I can."

They stayed in each other's embrace for a few more minutes before reluctantly pulling apart, "I need to get going, who knows what disasters the kids have caused already," Iruka chuckled.

"I don't know how you can deal with those brats every day," Kakashi grinned, "I would rather take an S-class mission than deal with them."

Iruka giggled at his boyfriend and pulled his face close so he could nuzzle their noses together. It was incredibly cheesy but Iruka knew he would miss their contact over the next couple of weeks.

"I better finish gathering my stuff," Iruka mumbled, pulling back from their embrace. He headed back to the kitchen while Kakashi went to grab the rest of his uniform.

Kakashi was just finishing strapping on his armor when he heard Iruka call out from the front door that he was leaving. Kakashi headed over to the front door quickly to say goodbye to his love. Now that he had someone waiting at home for him, taking missions became an even more daunting task.

Kakashi swooped him up in one last hug and pressed his unmasked lips tightly against his dolphins. Their mouths moved softly against one another's for a few moments before Iruka pulled back and leaned his head against Kakashi's armored chest, "I love you."

"Love you too," Kakashi mumbled, giving Iruka one last peck before relinquishing his hold on him.

Iruka cast his boyfriend one last smile before heading out the door and taking off into the morning. Kakashi turned back into the apartment to grab his mask. He had a feeling this mission would be longer than expected.

….

Thankfully Iruka made it just in time to the Academy. It was his first year teaching, so it wouldn't be good for a new sensei to show up late only a few months into the school year.

Iruka loved teaching. Dealing with a bunch of pre-genins all day was a lot of work but it had great rewards for the brunet. He loved watching his kids learn new things every day and improve. He was also much happier teaching than taking missions like other shinobi. Iruka knew he wasn't cut out for missions like Kakashi was.

The only drawback with being a teacher was that it reminded Iruka of his own lackings. While he knew Kakashi would never talk about it, Iruka knew he wanted to have a family someday. It saddened Iruka that he and Kakashi would never be able to have their own family. Iruka loved children and wanted nothing more than to have his own little ones to looks after.

Iruka pushed his depressing thoughts out of his mind. It would do him no good to get all worked up over it and spoil his mood. They were still a very young and new couple. They had only been dating for five months but they had quickly moved in with one another and were deeply in love. Iruka knew that when the time was right they could sit down and talk about their future, but for now he should be content with where they were at now.

Iruka turned his attention back to his class as the final bell rang for class to commence. "Gather up your stuff everyone, today were doing weapons practice."

The whole class erupted into cheers and scurried out to the grounds with their young sensei closely trailing behind. Iruka hoped the task of dealing with six year olds and kunai would keep his mind off of his favorite jounin.

….

Kakashi was panting heavily, they were only a day into their mission and had already been ambushed by two sets of missing nin. The first set had easily been dispatched but this second group was giving Kakashi and the others a harder time. Kakashi continued to push on, his mind racing with his thoughts of his little brunet at home waiting for his safe return.

Kakashi narrowly avoided the katana that just barley nicked his neck. Shaking his head slightly to clear his thoughts, Kakashi ran forward, chidori pulsing in his hand. Now was not the time to be distracted by a certain chunin.

Kakashi ducked under the incoming katana swing from the beefy nin in front of him and plunged his chidori straight through his chest. The man died instantly, crumpling to the ground in a heap.

"Good work, Hound-san," Hawk said, "let's move out, Weasel and Mouse can deal with the rest."

Kakashi nodded in affirmative. This is going to be a hell of a mission he thought to himself as followed Hawk into the trees.