Title:Iruka's Obsession

Pairing: Kakashi / Iruka

Rating: Adult –Eventually. But not for the first few parts.

Warnings: Romance, Comedy, Action

Summary: There are so many fics with Kakashi stalks Iruka angle I thought I'll give it a reverse spin.

Beta: kokiden – thank you

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters. What I'm doing is strictly for fun. I do not gain anything from this apart from a few reviews.

A/N: This has spoilers for most of the Naruto anime episodes. I've concentrated on the filler episodes a lot. For those who don't know, the Mizuki incident takes place from episode 140 onwards and the Land of Bird arc from 160 onwards. I suggest 167 if you want to see Kakashi blush.

This is in several chapters

Iruka was sure his curiosity was going to get him killed one of these days. He was sure he was going to die a painful and lingering death, and everyone was going to cheer. But at that moment he didn't care. He was going to find the answer to a question that had been bugging the people of Konaha for a long, long time. What exactly did Hatake Kakashi hide under his mask?

So, it wasn't exactly right. Heck, it was morally wrong, but Iruka didn't care; he was finally going to take a peek under that mask even if it was the last thing he was ever going to do.

It had all started very normally when he'd decided to drop into the Konoha main hospital to refill the school's first aid kits. While it was possible to get first aid kits from just about anywhere in the village, the hospital always had a ready stock of them, and the nurses were always willing to give them out to the school kids. So he had dropped in at the entrance on his way home and…

"Iruka-sensei." The familiar voice made Iruka turn around startled, then smile when he saw the concerned face, framed with pink hair.

"Sakura," he said. "Here to visit Lee?"

"Yes." His former pupil blushed prettily before bringing up her bouquet of flowers as if to hide her face. "And Kakashi-sensei was moved to the hospital since Gai-sensei went to bring back Sasuke."

"Where did Sasuke go?" Iruka asked in concern, latching onto Sasuke's name though his stomach was fluttering at the mention of Kakashi. He did not mention that it was rather nice of Sakura to keep her love options open by bringing flowers to another boy while her main pursuit was out of town.

"He went after Itachi after he heard his brother was going to hunt for Naruto." Sakura bit her lower lip as her hand fell limply to her side; some of the flowers lost their petals at the impact with her leg. Iruka could sympathize with her, since she'd lost both her teammates in one go.

"Gai will bring him back safely," Iruka said trying to cheer her up though he did not want to even think about what Itachi could do. If he had left Sharingan Kakashi incapacitated who knows what he might be capable of. But then again, if Gai's boasts were true, he was ahead of Kakashi in their rivalry-matches, and even Sharingan probably failed to process a combination of green spandex and orange leg warmers.

"I really hope so," said Sakura as she brought up a yellow flower and absentmindedly plucked off a petal. "I don't know…" she drifted off with a shrug and then smile. "I guess I'd better go now. Lee starts his physical therapy right about now, and he's always early."

"I came to get the school first aid kits refilled," Iruka said, holding out his back pack full of empty first aid kits as if to show proof. "I might drop in on Lee afterwards," he added guiltily as he realized he had not visited Lee since the third stage preliminaries of the Chuunin exam.

"I'll tell him that," said Sakura with a small smile. "I'd better get going, Iruka-sensei," she added then was gone down the corridor, walking with a swaying gate that was very…female. Iruka blinked a little and wondered when Sakura had started to develop hips, but that thought was overrun by a large pair of breasts that were stuck in his face as the Head Nurse intercepted Iruka and his empty first aid kits.

"I hear Kakashi-sensei is here," Iruka said a little hesitantly, trying hard not to blush. It was not as if he had done anything wrong. After all, the nurse had no way of knowing that he'd been fascinated with Hatake Kakashi for a long time--- well, since he was twelve or eleven or maybe younger. Since he'd learned that the silver-haired, masked boy close to his age was ANBU. Plus he'd always had a weakness for silver haired men.

Not that he liked Kakashi or anything, he hurriedly defended himself before he could turn the shade of red that required nurses to pump oxygen into him. He had been flattered when Kakashi had told him that Naruto was hoping to grow up like his sensei. It meant that the boy regarded him as someone to look up to, and the fact Kakashi hadn't dissuaded the blond's ambition meant he thought Iruka was a good role model. Him, an insignificant school teacher whose one and only noteworthy feature was the scar across his face. Until then Iruka had been interested in Kakashi in the sort of mystery-man-with-possible-good-looks way, had crushed from a distance but would never speak to this person. It was sort of like having a crush on a movie star or a dead national hero.

Then, to Iruka's chagrin, at the Chuunin exam nominations, Kakashi had put him in his place by reminding him that the Genins were no longer Iruka's students. Indeed, while he, a mere Academy teacher, had students, the senior Jounin had subordinates. That in itself made Iruka aware of just how wide their social gap was. He had been angry at Kakashi for putting Naruto and his team in danger, but then they'd all made it through with all their limbs attached.

He realized he was standing in front of the room door, hand on the knob, wondering if he should go in or not. It was just then that he heard footsteps in the corridor and decided to slip in rather than stay and face whoever was arriving.

Which led to him standing over Kakashi, who was lying fully clothed and very still on his back, his visible eye closed. The other eye had been covered by a luminous silk scarf that probably belonged to Gai, and Iruka found the gesture rather sweet. Hatake Kakashi had been well cared for. He was clean, fully dressed down to his flak jacket; he was even wearing his metal plate gloves, and his sandals were by the side of his bed. Iruka decided not to imagine Gai doing all the washing and dressing--it was rather disturbing. Then he wondered just how close those two were.

Kakashi looked as if he was sleeping, so Iruka decided it prudent to call out just in case Kakashi did decide to wake up. When his "hello" didn't produce any visible results, Iruka wondered if he should try to draw a mustache on Kakashi the way he used to do for his sleeping classmates. But then he realized he did not know if Kakashi had a mustache in the first place. Or an upper lip for that matter, if he was inclined to listen to Naruto's speculations.

It was then he decided he was going to pull the mask down.

So before he could change his mind, Iruka moved swiftly, hooked a finger on either side and pulled it down. Then froze.

God…

Oh hell…

How old was Kakashi anyway?

Iruka knew Kakashi was older than him but with his eyes closed and his face relaxed, he looked sixteen. He looked as if he'd never shaved or needed to worry about acne.

It was a pretty face, bordering on beautiful, the type you'd expect on a girl or an Uchiha Sasuke. The only thing that saved the face from being perfect was the scar over his eye. It was a rather long scar, reaching almost to the jaw, making his mouth slightly crooked.

It was a rather kissable mouth, Iruka noted, then decided he needed to get out of there before he got it into his mind to actually kiss the comatose man. It was bad enough he'd invaded his privacy but to actually molest him would have been too much.

So Iruka hurriedly pulled up the mask, making sure it matched the tan line exactly, then exited the room faster than he'd thought was possible.

On his way back, though, Iruka started to wonder againjust how old Kakashi was and if he really had become a Chuunin at the age of six. Maybe he should look into that, he thought.

He was just curious. He was not obsessed. He was not. Really.