Fan club of... Kakashi!
By Eleawin

The 2nd part is finally corrected, almost a year after the first part... Gomen v.v
Thanks to Carcinya for the beta, praise her unlimited patience XD

Iruka had spent the worst morning of his life. In every room where he went, at every corners, he could hear all sort of comments concerning Kakashi.

" He's 26... The perfect age to get married!" one said.
" Not only is he one of Konoha's finest ninjas but he is also drop-dead gorgeous !" he heard someone say.

Iruka sighed heavily. He would have carried out his plan catch this damned fan-club and feed it to Kyuubi but his good and generous nature fought back. Frankly, how could he resent their loving Kakashi?"

He smiled sadly. Every single women of Konoha passed the word on claiming him. Iruka didn't think he had a chance now... He made his way towards the teachers' to brood in peace, resigned. With all the opportunities open to him Kakashi would never choose Iruka; that was obvious.

He had only taken three steps when Anko appeared in front of him, a broad smile plastered on her face.

"Iruka?" she said. "How are you?"

The young man blinked once, blinked twice, and bit back a sigh.

"Fine," he answered in neutrally. "Is there something I can do for you Anko?"

The kunoichi shot him a sidelong glance and clasped her hands together. "In fact... I think you know Hatake Kakashi? The guy who was in charge of your protégé..."Iruka glared at her suspiciously. He felt this was leading to no good. And Anko's smile wasn't a good sign. The young woman waved a sort of badge under his nose, on which "Kakashi Fan-Club" was written in bold red letters.

"I must ask a favor of you, Iruka," she said, her gaze flickered about, putting on a crafty look – not so good, Iruka thought . "Since you are acquainted with him, would you be a darling and arrange me a date with him?"

Before Iruka had the time to choke with indignation, the two women who had been speaking with each other in the corridor turned around.

"Anko!" one of them yelled. "You can't get Kakashi like this! If Iruka were to arrange a date for someone, it would be for me!"

She blinked.

"Wouldn't you, Iruka?"

Before Iruka had the time to choke once again with indignation, Anko burst out laughing. A smile that Iruka qualified as purely sadistic appeared on her lips. In a flash, a kunai materialized in her hand out of nowhere.

"Oh, don't worry," she said, toying casually with her weapon. "We'll fight for Kakashi. The winner gets the date."

And she gave them a glare-o-death worthy of her infamous sensei Orochimaru. The other women left without a word and ran away. Anko turned once more towards Iruka; the angelic look came back on her face.

"So, Iruka?" she asked charmingly. "You can't refuse me this favor, we've know each other for years.."

Luckily, she mistook the red on Iruka's cheeks for shyness and gave him a broad smile, sure of her success.

"Thanks!" she laughed. "And here."

Before Iruka could move away, Anko had pinned the badge to his Chuunin jacket and vanished. He stood there for a while, in the middle of the corridor, trying to get his breathing under control, until the Hokage asked him what was the matter.

"Mad! They're all raving mad!" he yelled, sobbing.

Poor, poor Iruka…

And poor, poor Kakashi...

He had been trying to get away and hide for the last 24 hours, without respite. Followed relentlessly by a horde of fanatic kunoichi, he had had to resort to using Anbu techniques in order to escape. We should get them to join the hunter-nin, he thought, exhausted; they were tougher than all the Anbu teams in all the villages of the world combined. It seemed impossible to make them give up!

First, he had considered leaving the village, but he couldn't just forsake his students. Then, he had tried to persuade the women that he was a very bad match, explaining that there was a reason for his being single. But nothing had worked. They didn't want to listen. What they wanted was to tear off his mask!

He shivered again. It was cold in Konoha's cellars. In the dark, he settled himself as comfortably as he could in the threadbare sofa in the bunker, having decided to wait until the agitation had calmed down. Depressed, he thought again about his Come Come Paradise falling out of his pocket during his flight. He didn't even have something to read ! He decided to take a nap until somebody went looking for him. He would have to remember to thank Tsunade for the hiding place...

The Hokage offered Iruka a cup of tea, like a kind grandmother would her grandson. Except that there was nothing even remotely grandmotherly about Tsunade

"So, tell me, Iruka. What's wrong?" she asked firmly, sitting down behind her desk.

The young man sighed; he had a troubled look on his face, his cup in his hands. And he shook his head.

"Nothing, Hokage-sama," he murmured pitifully.

"Tsk tsk," Tsunade said." Don't give me any of that. Besides," she added, "you should be ashamed of yourself, lying to your leader like that! Act like a responsible shinobi, Iruka, and tell me what's wrong!"

With the woman nudging him, and the pressure caused by the latest events, Iruka broke down and ended up pouring out everything.

He confessed everything, absolutely everything, to Tsunade: how he loved Kakashi, how much it that the latter didn't notice him, how this new fan-club had destroyed his meager hopes... Tsunade listened, silent for once, her face furrowed.

Iruka stopped at length, breathless, his cheeks flaming. At this moment, he'd have wanted to hide somewhere, thank to a jutsu or something else. He wished he could vanish, weighed down by shame and discomfort. What sort of ninja was he?

He gave Tsunade a desperate look, expecting her to have somebody throw him out for wasting her time like that. But it never happened.

"I see," Tsunade muttered, crossing her arms.
"You see?" Iruka repeated, surprised.
"Yes, that's what I said. I have a mission for you, Iruka."

The Chuunin wondered how the Hokage could be thinking of giving him a mission under such circumstances but he kept silent. Instead, he nodded and listened intently.

"It's an A-ranked mission," Tsunade said. "It will require great courage and sensitivity. I give you the task of soothing the poor hunted animal hiding in the bunker under the Academy, Iruka. Go, and try to not fail."

A good ninja was not to ask questions and had to obey to his superiors. Iruka didn't consider himself to be a good ninja, but good enough to abide by the rules. Hence, ten minutes later, he was walking down in a cold underground passage, a kunai in his hand. If Tsunade-sama had wanted to get rid of him, she wouldn't have done it halfheartedly. Iruka wondered what sort of beast he would find in the bunker... With his luck, certainly something strong and horrible! Maybe another fan club that would ask him to get them dates with Kakashi...

But this mission had the advantage of keeping his mind busy. Concentrating, he walked cautiously down the corridor, a ball of light hovering over his left palm. There wasn't a noise to be heard, except for the wind blowing through the ventilation shaft. Iruka finally sighted a half-open door.

Putting a cautious hand on the handle, he looked first into the room, readying himself for anything. At first sight, the bunker seemed empty. But his senses informed him of a presence in the room, a quiet and peaceful presence, maybe unconscious. Iruka felt relieved. He had finally achieved his mission, it seemed.

Somewhat reassured but still on his guard, Iruka neared his target, currently asleep on the sofa. And he was so surprised that he dropped his ball of light.

There was an angel stretched out in front of him. It was either an angel, or a dream. There was Kakashi in front of him! Iruka stayed a while without moving, hardly daring to breath, afraid to wake him up. Kakashi looked so peaceful, his hair brushing over his cheek and his forehead in the light breeze. He wished he could have pulled Kakashi's mask off, seen the face he loved and had never seen...

How long did Iruka remain standing there before finally deciding to wake him up? Iruka didn't know, and he did it reluctantly. He saw Kakashi blink, confused, and then slowly sit up. His heart hammering for no reason he could name , Iruka took a step back.

"I.. Iruka?"

Kakashi clearly hadn't expected Iruka to come looking for him. Meeting his gaze, Iruka noticed that the ninja had taken off his hitae ate, revealing the sharingan eye . He couldn't help staring at the crimson eye, fascinated... So red and so piercing, looking straight into your soul... Iruka shook his head, forcing himself back to reality.

"Hokage-sama asked me to ..." Iruka hesitated. Maybe Tsunade's words 'to soothe the poor hunted animal hiding in the bunker' would hurt Kakashi. And besides, what did she mean by that?
"... To look for you."

Kakashi's eyes widened for an unknown reason. Surprised, Iruka followed his gaze and lowered his eyes to the"Kakashi Fan" badge which proudly decorated his vest. He flushed darkly and hurriedly tore it off.

"It's not what it looks like!" he mumbled, red in the face.

How embarrassing! He would never be able to look him in the eye again! Crestfallen, he saw Kakashi raise a hand to his mouth, trying to stifle a fit of laughter and eventually failing. Feeling upset, Iruka waited for his hilarity to stop and dryly motioned Kakashi to follow him.

"Iruka," he heard Kakashi call.

He debated turning around for a few seconds. He felt angry, without knowing why. The faster he got away from Kakashi, the better – or else …

"Iruka?" the Jounin asked again.
"What?" he burst out, aggressively.

Iruka regretted immediately his words when he saw the shocked expression on the other man's face. There was a heavy silence, the two men staring at each other.

"I... am sorry," Iruka finally said wanly. "Sorry."

Kakashi stared at him for a while without answering, before he shook his head slowly.

"No ... that's my line, I shouldn't have laughed. I didn't mean to hurt you," he murmured.

He sounded so contrite that Iruka had to keep himself from sobbing, charging himself for all the sins in the world. Everything was his fault! He opened his mouth, ready to apologize again, when he saw the mischievous glint in his eyes.

"But it's too bad you don't want to be part of my fan-club!" Kakashi said in a cheerful voice. "What – don't you love me, Iruka?"
"What ? But of course I do! Er, no! That's not what I meant! Huh, I mean..." Iruka exclaimed, panic-stricken. "You're making fun of me!" he yelled, cheeks aflame.

He only got a laugh in response. Iruka felt his anger vanish. It was impossible to be angry with this man for a long time! Deciding to play along, he took the badge out of his pocket.

"I'm officially a member of the Kakashi fan-club, of course, who isn't? " he asked, raising an eyebrow.

The Jounin ran his hand through his hair and bowed his head, sitting on the sofa. Definitively amused, Iruka waved a finger under his nose.

"Are you trying to tell me that you aren't a member?"
"No, sorry..." the other replied. "I'm already part of another fan-club..."
"Oh."

Kakashi's words had the effect of a cold shower on Iruka. So, Kakashi was under somebody else's spell? A woman of Konoha had finally got her way, he thought bitterly. Hiding his disappointment with a smile, he mechanically rubbed the sparkling badge on his chest.

Kakashi must have felt that something was wrong because he said:

"I wonder why the serious Iruka decided to join the fan-club..."

He leaned forward a little when the slightly depressed Chuunin came to sit next to him.

"Maybe he admires him," Iruka answered softly. "Maybe he wants him to notice him..."
"Yet he has not failed to noticed Iruka…"
"Maybe that's not the impression he gets?"

Kakashi's laugh made a shiver creep up his back.

"So maybe he is blind..." the Jounin murmured. "Or maybe we're all blind..."

They were so close, leg against leg, shoulder against shoulder. The room was plunged in darkness, Iruka's ball of light on the ground the only source of light.

"If we're blind, I wish someone would open our eyes," sighed Iruka.

Why was his heart beating so fast? Why was such comforting warmth filling him in spite the cold and the drafts of the room?

"Maybe it has already happened..."

Kakashi's voice was a slight murmur in his ear, a murmur caressing and gentle. Iruka quivered, too surprised to move. It was impossible, he repeated to himself, beet red. But when Kakashi's fingers caressed his skin... His soft and warm lips met his own, like in the most beautiful dream he'd ever had. A sublime dream, but Kakashi's body against his own was the most real thing in the world. Maybe it was a dream of love...

Raidou, his cheeks on fire, gave a slight cough, which the two others ignored. Bent over the crystal ball, Tsunade and Genma observed with interest what was happening in the Academy's basements.

"Hokage-sama..." the ninja muttered weakly. "You shouldn't..."
"Oh, Raidou, don't be so uptight!" the leader of the Leaf exclaimed. "I'm the Hokage after all, I have to watch over my fellow ninjas well being! "
"But... Not like this!" the poor Shinobi protested.

Genma gave him a placid glance. Raidou looked everywhere but at the sphere. Raidou didn't know what he was missing... Genma shrugged, chewing on his straw. Finally, being Tsunade-sama's bodyguard had its good points/advantages…

Fin Eleawin
4/04/2004