Iruka once again woke to the sun streaming through his window at an ungodly hour. He briefly glared at Mr. Ukki, wondering how long Kakashi expected him to baby his plant, before he rolled over and slammed his spare pillow over his head. He had entertained himself until relatively late the night before by sharpening all his weapons that he often neglected. May as well use this vacation to its fullest advantage, even if that 'advantage' was a very boring walkthrough of his less important chores.

He sighed as he fingered the newly sharpened kunai he always kept under his pillow. Not that he, a simple schoolteacher who almost never went on missions, really needed that sort of protection, but it was a shinobi thing. It also wasn't pressing for him to even keep his weapons in tip-top shape, which was probably why he put off sharpening them for so long. His face took on a hint of sadness at the thought.

He loved his position at the academy. It had been his idea, after all. He even liked working the mission desk. It felt right to him to be the one to greet tired ninja as they finally arrived home and needed a friendly face to remind them why they had struggled back. But… he was still a ninja, when all was said and done. He got itchy fingers and the desire to be out in the field working off excess energy just like any other.

The chuunin drug the kunai out and lifted it so it the sun glinted off it. Hmm…

Making the decision quickly, he flung the other pillow off his head and swung out of bed with renewed vigor. He couldn't get lazy just because he was on vacation. And what good were freshly sharpened weapons if one wasn't planning to use them?

His favorite training field was unoccupied at such an early hour of the morning, and Iruka smiled slightly in the crisp dewy air. It had really been too long since he had actually formally trained. He was usually far too busy with classes – which provided him plenty of exercise, but it wasn't the same.

The teacher ran through a short series of warm-up exercises before a feral grin made its way onto the usually kind face. He drew a freshly sharpened kunai and locked his eyes on one of the training posts. He liked to think that, even though it was an inanimate object, it trembled in fear.

Kakashi had awoken to the sounds of Iruka rousing, but didn't actually emerge from his room until he heard the chuunin leave the apartment. He was vastly curious as to where the other man was off to so early in the morning while on vacation, but he decided he had pried enough the previous day. So he did what any sane person would've done…

That is, he pretended to still be sleeping until Iruka left, and then he followed him.

He was a little surprised when the chuunin led them to the training fields, though he wasn't exactly sure why. The man was a fellow ninja after all. It only made sense that he trained just like any other ninja. Kakashi had just never seen him do it. He half-expected it to be boring, but was a little ashamed to admit that he jumped when Iruka made his first attack on the training post.

Sure, he had seen the teacher angry and passionate before, but yelling at someone about a late mission report or their social ineptitude was in a different category than actually trying to kill something – or at least, beat the living crap out of it. Which Iruka was effectively doing with a flourish, as though the pole was actually fighting back.

Kakashi briefly considered jumping into the clearing and offering to spar. Even if they were in vastly different classes skill-wise, the effort the chuunin was putting into a simple solo exercise made the jounin twitch anxiously at the thoughts of what kind of tricks the crafty teacher would have up his sleeves if faced with a real opponent.

However, he decided against it. He had been up Iruka's ass the past several days, and while he felt he was an utter pleasure to be around, he wasn't unaware of the fact that very few people saw it the same way. So, after a few minutes of watching and admiring the tan man zip through the air and wield sharp weapons with ease, he left him in peace to enjoy some time to himself.

In fact, halfway back to the shared apartment, the jounin came up with what he felt was a brilliant idea. When Iruka returned from his workout, hot, sweaty, and hungry, Kakashi would have a lovely meal prepared for him. The Sharingan user nodded happily to himself as he swept into the apartment and then the kitchen.

Now… what the hell were all these contraptions?

Iruka returned home a little after noon, thoroughly exhausted but happy. He hadn't had such a good workout in a long time. He would undoubtedly be sore the next day, but it was worth it. In fact, he was in such high spirits from the endorphin rush, that he was even in a much more optimistic mood about his 'mission' with Kakashi. For the first time since he had gotten drafted for the task, he wasn't dreading the rest of his day with the jounin.

All that quickly flew out the window though when he approached his apartment door and instantly smelled something foul from the other side. Fearing the worst, he pushed open the door and was only half-shocked by the sight that awaited him. Smoke clouded the air and it was probably only the open window that had prevented the fire alarm from going off. Nearly every pot and pan he owned was strewn in various places around the kitchen, each filled with something gooey, black, and more unrecognizable than the last. Two knives (not just one, but two) were sticking out of his ceiling… And one, Kakashi Hatake, supposed genius, was standing in the midst of it all, covered in various foodstuffs.

Iruka might have laughed at the sight if it wasn't his kitchen.

Kakashi noticed him instantly and froze. The shock slowly melted off the teacher's face to be replaced with a terse glare. The jounin remained completely frozen.

Iruka sighed and crossed his arms, eyes never blinking. "I'm not a T-rex… I can still see you even if you don't move."

Kakashi shifted a little, shoving his hands in his pockets and curving his eye into a crescent. "Welcome home?" he tried.

The tan man brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "You wanna tell me what the hell you've done to my kitchen?"

"Not particularly?"

"Kakashi."

The jounin gulped just slightly as the brown eyes bore into him. "I was trying to make lunch," he mumbled to the ground.

Iruka's eyes lost the sharp edge to them, but he still looked annoyed. "You couldn't even cut vegetables properly yesterday," he ground out. "What could have possibly possessed you to think you could cook an entire meal without supervision? Do you even have a recipe?" His eyes scanned every surface in the kitchen, looking for a cookbook, but none was to be found. "What were you even trying to make?"

Kakashi brought a hand to the back of his head sheepishly. "Well… no… not exactly. You don't use a recipe, so I was just kinda trying to remember what you do… Turns out, it's harder than it looks…"

The teacher's shoulders slumped, too worn out to be properly angry anymore. "And how the hell did two knives manage to end up – you know what? Forget it." He threw his hands up in front of him. "I don't even want to know. I'm taking a shower. Clean this up."

By the time Iruka emerged from the bathroom in a fresh pair of clothes, thoroughly rinsed off of grime and sweat, and expecting to have to pitch in on the clean-up, he was surprised to find the kitchen spotless. The only indication that anything had been amiss was the jounin himself who was still covered in splatters. "Wow." He stepped slowly into the room. "How did you get this done so quickly?"

Kakashi just smiled at him, and the chuunin jumped and squeaked when an unexpected hand came down on his shoulder from behind. He whirled around to find another Kakashi grinning happily and waving at him. Another popped up from under the table, a rag in hand.

Iruka merely sighed lightly at the shadow clones, a bemused smirk just barely visible on his face if you looked closely. "Very good," he praised vaguely (at least, Kakashi was going to take it as praise). "Well, I am starving, and since you didn't manage to produce anything edible, I –" He was hastily cut off as yet another Kakashi suddenly appeared holding a plate directly in front of his nose.

The chuunin blinked, cross-eyed, before taking a step back and studying the dish in front of him. The Kakashi clone gently took his hands, turned them up, and placed the plate in them, smiling widely before popping out of existence. The teacher titled his head at the slightly squished pieces of bread in his possession.

The real Kakashi placed his hands on his hips proudly. "Peanut butter and jelly," he announced, and Iruka shifted his confused gaze up to him. The jounin glanced away, looking a little embarrassed. "Even I can't screw that up."

It took a second, but slowly, a wide smile formed on the teacher's face and he laughed heartily. The silver-haired man blatantly slumped into a more relaxed pose when he heard the genuine laughter. Iruka shook his head, his still slightly damp hair swishing softly. "Alright. Let's eat." He settled down at the table.

Kakashi shifted to move away. "I should go clean up first."

"Don't bother." The jounin froze at the command and peered at the other man who was grinning up at him. "When we're through, I'll teach you how to really cook. Maybe you'll actually be able to make something decent by dinner time."

"So, may I ask what prompted your attempted display of domesticity this morning?"

Kakashi glanced up from his measuring cup at the question, not missing the heavy teasing that Iruka's voice held. He pouted just slightly and went back to leveling out the flour the way the other man had taught him moments before. "Well, you've been making some pretty heavy hints the past few days about how pathetic it is that I don't know how to cook for myself. Plus, you said that someone to cook for you would be a turn-on." He shrugged nonchalantly as Iruka's eyes shot to him. "I figure, if you would appreciate it, so would the people I'm attempting to date."

The chuunin stared at him a second longer out of the corner of his eye but finally nodded and turned back to the recipe he had dug out. It had taken awhile to find one, being as Kakashi was right in that he rarely used them anymore. But he didn't trust, genius or not, for Kakashi to be able to jump from zero culinary skills to remembering anything that didn't have a concrete recipe attached to it.

Even now, the supposed prodigy was having a difficult time grasping how to maneuver his way through simple cooking techniques. How the man could be so adept at flinging around shuriken and kunai, yet have almost no dexterity for a paring knife struck the chuunin as insanely funny. But he learned quickly from his first outburst of hysterical giggles that Kakashi did not take kindly to having his skills (or lack thereof) mocked. Iruka had damn near ended up with the paring knife through his hand (though Kakashi would continue to swear up and down that that was an accident, brought on by his 'terrible cooking skills').

"Well," Iruka exhaled, trying to sound cheery and supportive. "You're certainly right. Women love a man who can cook."

"Actually…" Kakashi passed his measuring cup to the chuunin for inspection on whether he had done a good job. Iruka turned his head fully at the other nin's tone. The jounin's eye curved into a smile. "I think I want to try picking up men."

Iruka blinked rapidly at the blunt confession. He gulped once, then turned away quickly, not wanting to offend the other man with his surprise. After all, Kakashi had basically admitted to being bisexual the first day he asked for his help. He had just said that he'd prefer a girlfriend. "Oh?"

"Yes," Kakashi continued languidly, not seeming at all perturbed by Iruka's reaction or his own confession. "I've been thinking today about my lack of luck with women. And while I do appreciate your efforts to school me in the art of talking to them, I can't help but feel that it's partially your fault I've been failing."

Iruka just about dropped the measuring cup, and quickly put it down before he created a mess. He whirled on the jounin, eyes flashing with impending danger. "I'm sorry… what?"

Kakashi just stared at him boredly, as though what he was saying was just common knowledge. "Well, in all fairness, sensei, you should have told me you were gay before trying to give me pointers on the opposite sex."

Iruka wondered if it was possible for one's brain to actually explode. It certainly felt like it, but being as he was still standing, he supposed it hadn't actually combusted. His face instantly flamed an impressive shade of red, and he whipped back around to the counter, wishing he had left his hair down after eating so it could cover him. "Wh-what!?"

Kakashi just continued gazing at him evenly. "Maa, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. I clearly have nothing against men, or men being with men, for that matter."

"How – why would you think that?" the chuunin demanded.

The jounin leaned against the counter now. "Your wording yesterday."

Iruka vaguely glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.

"You kept saying 'someone who' when describing the type of person you would want to date – not 'a woman who.' Not that that's a huge giveaway, but it was a bit of a tip-off that you're not completely woman-centered. I would've just pegged you as bisexual then, but, thinking back on it, you all but admitted that you don't really know any females worth dating." Iruka's eyes widened fractionally. "You had to get your friends to find some to introduce me to. Even if you're not the most social person in the village, if you had any dating experience with women, you'd know at least a few that you considered decent dating material." Iruka's blush was lessening, but he still refused to say anything. "Plus, I found your porn collection last night after you holed up in your room."

That prompted an immediate reaction, with the chuunin once again spinning back to him, a dark red staining his cheeks again. "WHAT!?"

Kakashi just shook his head pityingly. "Really now. A fake back on your bookshelf? You're a shinobi, Iruka-sensei. I'd expect someone who insists on pretending that they're oh-so pure and innocent to hide their dirty magazines better."

Iruka's eyes practically glowed with rage. "You – you – " Kakashi just stared at him. "Stop snooping through my things!"

The jounin shrugged. "I'm also a shinobi. It comes with the territory." The tan jaw clenched so hard that Kakashi could hear the other man's teeth grind together. His eye drooped in exasperation. "If you're going to get so upset every time I see some of your personal things, you shouldn't have invited me into your home."

"I didn't invite you!" Iruka pointed out heatedly. "You showed up with all your crap and practically forced yourself inside!"

"I asked first."

"After assuming that I would say 'yes' and carting everything you owned to my doorstep!"

"I had to pack up all my stuff and carry it around with me anyway since my apartment was flooded. You still could've said no and sent me to a hotel."

Iruka scoffed loudly. "Yeah right. You knew damn well I wasn't going to do that."

Kakashi crossed his arms, looking defiant. "Well, it's not my fault it's so easy to predict when you'll give in."

The chuunin gaped in wild offense. The silver-haired nin almost took back his mild insult, but decided against it. He was already used to Iruka's shouting. What he was not used to, or expecting, was for the teacher to reach for the recently forgotten measuring cup full of flour and fling it at his head.

He blamed the Evil Kitchen Gods of Cooking for his inability to dodge in time, as it should have been easy enough for him to sidestep a mere chuunin attack with something that wasn't even a real weapon. As it stood, however, his black mask was now painted white, and his usually silver hair looked much more fluffy than it normally did. He blinked a couple times, his charcoal eye now being the only colored thing to peek out of his completely white head.

The anger quickly melted off Iruka's face and he snorted. Then he chuckled and snorted again. Before long, he was bent over in absolute hysterics at the ridiculous sight in front of him.

Kakashi glowered down at him. Apparently, the little sensei hadn't gotten the memo the first time about how inappropriate it was to laugh at him. He swiftly grabbed an egg off the counter and chucked it at the brunette head.

Iruka gave a startled cry as it hit the top of his head and exploded into a gooey mess. He pawed the eggshells out of his hair, glaring at the smug jounin… though how smug he really looked still covered in flour was a matter of opinion… The teacher growled and snatched up the entire bag of flour from beside the jounin and smacked him heartily with it. The bag exploded in a flurry of white, covering them both in a dense cloud of powder.

Kakashi took the opportunity to tackle his opponent, who was laughing once more, to the floor, straddling him with his knees jabbed sharply into his sides. He pinned the teacher's wrists to the floor, grinning triumphantly. He was just leaning over to gloat in the other man's face, when a shift in his position had the sensei yipping and jumping beneath him in a way he had never witnessed before. He froze, tilting his head at the heavily panting man.

His lone eye carefully raked over the chuunin's body, wondering what had caused such a reaction when he realized the position of his knees. He experimentally tightened them into the trapped sides again and was rewarded with another jump and small, unmanly scream.

He smiled wickedly.

"Stop it!" Iruka pleaded through the bit of forced laughter in his throat. "That tickles!"

"Oh, does it?" Kakashi asked innocently, jabbing the teacher's side with his knee again.

Iruka jolted and whined, struggling against him. "Get your bony knee out of there!"

"Bony?" Kakashi repeated, acting offended. "I'll have you know that an elite ninja, such as myself, is all brawn and sinewy muscle."

Iruka snorted derisively. "You're the lankiest bastard I've ever met."

Kakashi huffed indignantly. He moved to pin the tan wrists with just one of his large hands. "Well, this lanky bastard thinks you are possibly the most ticklish bastard he's ever met." He scooted down, free hand hovering over the chuunin's sides now.

Iruka squirmed before he had even been touched. "Don't!" he cried pathetically right before Kakashi's hand descended on him and he erupted in protesting giggles. His legs began thrashing wildly, and it took every ounce of the copy-nin's shinobi training to keep his target pinned down, which admittedly, didn't last long.

Now Iruka knew how Kotetsu and Izumo always managed to destroy something in the mission room when they started a tickle war. In only five minutes, and a completely one-sided tickle fight, his poor kitchen almost looked worse than it did when he had come home to Kakashi's first 'cooking' attempt. He supposed that was what happened when you let ninja near even as innocent a thing as tickling. Shinobi could certainly create destruction out of anything…

The tan man was flushed and out of breath, but a large grin was plastered across his face. Beside him, Kakashi was grinning as well. Iruka assumed it was because of his pitiful surrender and pleading apologies. The jounin, in actuality, was just glad that Iruka didn't seem to remember why he had been mad at him in the first place.

The teacher shook his head in disbelief. "Ok, cooking lesson over for the day," he announced, out of breath. "I need another shower."

"I need a shower too," Kakashi protested. "I'm more covered than you are."

Iruka smirked at him, pushing himself to his feet. "You get seconds. You need to clean this place up again."

"Me!?" Kakashi's eye went wide. "You're the one who started it."

"Actually, you started it by pissing me off," Iruka reminded, and his smirk turned decidedly more smug at the surprised look in the exposed eye. "Yes, I still know why I was mad enough to throw flour at you." But his smile didn't drop, and his shoulders were still relaxed, indicating that he was apparently over it.

"Don't use all the hot water," Kakashi shot after his retreating back.

Iruka waved a hand over his shoulder. "It's my apartment. I'll use all the hot water I want."

The sensei wandered back into the kitchen, toweling his hair off for the second time that day, a short while later. Kakashi was nearly finished, his clones (looking just as messy as he was), helping him once again. He threw the towel at the jounin who caught it swiftly. "Go clean up," he ordered, smiling. "I'll figure out what to do about dinner."

Kakashi nodded and his clones disappeared as he headed for the bathroom.

Iruka scooped the remaining dishes into the sink with a chuckle. So much for that plan…

He sighed, rubbing at the bridge of his nose contemplatively. What were they going to do for dinner now? He didn't much feel like cooking, and he felt a little bad for Kakashi constantly paying for them to eat out. Not that he had ever asked the man to pay for him, but the jounin always did so automatically, and he seemed the type of person who would just ignore protests.

The chuunin resolutely slipped on his sandals and headed out the door. It wasn't the most exciting thing, but it had been a good while since he had resorted to ramen. Surely, it wouldn't be a problem for them to go back to it to for one night.

Iruka approached the familiar ramen stand with a smile. Teuchi greeted him with a wide grin. "Iruka-sensei! Long time, no see."

The teacher scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, well, with Naruto gone, my wallet's been getting a bit of a break," he joked lightly.

"Have a seat." The old man gestured, but Iruka shook his head.

"Actually, I'm just getting takeout."

Teuchi looked a little surprised, and even more so when Iruka ordered for two people, but he didn't pry. "Ayame, help with one more order before you take off!" he called into the back, and the petite girl emerged, her features instantly snapping into a smile when she saw one of her favorite customers.

"Hello, Iruka-sensei!" she chirped.

Iruka grinned back. "Good evening, Ayame." He took a seat while he waited. "Are you leaving early tonight?" He tilted his head curiously as her father's words registered in his head.

Ayame blushed faintly, and Teuchi smiled proudly at her. "Ayame has a date!" he announced loudly.

The flustered girl bowed her head and turned to focus on her cooking. "Dad!" she whined, embarrassed.

Iruka blinked before remembering something. "Oh. With Gai-sensei?"

Both ramen shop workers turned back to him, looking a little surprised. "Y-yes," Ayame finally stuttered. "How did you know?"

"Oh, uh, Kakashi-sensei told me…" He trailed off unsurely, wondering if perhaps it was supposed to be a bit of a secret.

Teuchi looked mildly surprised. "Huh… wonder how he knew so quickly…" he muttered.

Ayame waved a hand dismissively. "Ah. Kakashi-sensei and Gai-sensei are good friends. It would make sense that he would go to him in his excitement."

Teuchi nodded, placated. "I suppose."

Iruka blinked slowly. "Well, it's been awhile, right? What is this – your fourth date?"

The other two looked at him as though he'd grown a second head. "What? No…" Ayame blinked, looking genuinely confused. "Gai-sensei just asked me out this afternoon. This'll only be our first date."

Iruka's face fell and his vision swam just slightly as his brain struggled to process what he had just heard. The ramen shop owners stared at him questioningly, and he gulped, feeling his throat suddenly go very dry. He tried to smile reassuringly at their somewhat worried gazes, but it came out fairly lopsided. "Oh, uh… my mistake…"

Teuchi shook his head, going back to his cooking. Ayame did the same, and Iruka stared at the counter unblinkingly until he was broken out of his reverie by a bag of ramen containers being placed in front of him. "Oh, sorry." He reached for his wallet, but Teuchi held up a hand.

"It's ok. On the house." He peered at the teacher with a mildly disturbed look. "Just go home and relax… you don't look so well…"

Iruka nodded gratefully. "Thank you." He gave one last crooked smile to the concerned pair and turned to leave. The happiness immediately drained off his face once no one else was looking.

He couldn't wait to get home and have a talk with his jounin roommate. His free hand unconsciously came to his side to grip at the handle of a kunai tightly. After all, what good were freshly sharpened weapons if one wasn't planning to use them?

And that's all she wrote for now! Damn, Kakashi, what's yo' deal? Lol Thanks for all the reviews!

DixieGoddess