In the silence of the night, there came a crash.
And some swearing.
Iruka levered himself up, peering hazily through the pre-dawn darkness towards the window. He knew those curses. And that voice.
Yawning, he glanced at the clock. Three o’clock in the morning. An hour before his alarm usually went off. But Kakashi was back, which was ample excuse for getting up early.
More swearing.
Becoming concerned, Iruka threw off the covers and swung his legs off the bed. “Kashi?” he queried. There was a moment of silence, and then Kakashi’s voice floated up, sounding rather aggrieved. “Iruka, could you give me a hand, please?”
Iruka jumped off the bed and skipped to the window, hindered slightly by the pile of stuffed animals and the string from a kite. Leaning over the windowsill, he looked down and gasped.
Kakashi was hanging from the tree, holding on by one hand, while the other tried to free himself from…
…from the mobile that had been hanging from Iruka’s window.
Iruka bit back a laugh and climbed out the window. Inching out on the branch, he carefully leaned down and began to unwind the strings of the mobile from Kakashi’s arm and body.
“I didn’t realize how big this was.” Iruka was trying to be careful not to break the strings, growing fragile from their long time hanging at the window. “Boy, Konohomaru really put a lot of effort into this.”
Kakashi didn’t say anything. Finally, he finished and pulled himself up, cradling the only slightly injured mobile to his chest. After a moment, Kakashi climbed in after him, still grumbling under his breath.
Iruka sat the mobile down and pulled Kakashi into the bed, laughing at the copy-nin’s startled grunt. “Bad mission?” he asked, massaging Kakashi’s shoulders happily.
“Not really.” Kakashi’s voice was mild, but there was still a hint of anger in the set of his shoulders. “It was fine until I got attacked by your damn…what the hell was that, anyway?”
Iruka laughed. “A mobile.”
“…attacked by your damn mobile. Iruka, lover, we really got to talk about this strange obsession you have with collecting stuff.”
Iruka stopped massaging him and blinked. “Strange obsession?” he repeated.
“Yes.” Kakashi pushed himself up and stood. Looking at Iruka, he reached down and picked up something randomly off the floor. “What is this?”
Iruka stood and swiped it from Kakashi’s hands. “This is a lion. Ino made it for me when her mother started to teach her to sew. She said it was because she thought I was brave, like the lion in the story I’d read her class the day before.”
Kakashi stared at him for a moment. “You remember that? It was…what…six years ago?”
Iruka patted the lion and sat it back down. “Yes. It was important to her.”
Still staring oddly at Iruka, Kakashi leaned down and picked up something else. “And this?”
“That’s the rock that Lee brought me from his team’s trip to the Singing Falls. See?” Iruka took it from Kakashi and turned it, showing the jounin the way the small light sparkled off the crystals set into the rock. “He said it reminded him of me.”
Kakashi shook his head. “Hmmmm.”
“What’s your point, Kakashi?” Iruka sat the rock carefully down on the table and reached out to take Kakashi’s hand. “You seem rather bothered this morning.”
“Well, being attacked by an inanimate object in a place you view as safe is rather disconcerting.” Kakashi shot back. Iruka chuckled and moved to stand in front of him, wrapping his arms around his waist. “I know. I’m sorry.”
Kakashi sighed and cast his eye around the room. “Iruka…you really should get rid of some of this stuff. I mean…” he freed himself from Iruka’s arms and picked up a battered notebook. It was missing most of its pages. “Why do you have this?”
Iruka took it from Kakashi’s hands and carefully turned the pages. Inside, the lines barely visible, was a sketch of Iruka. Whoever had drawn it had added hearts, flowers, and several happy faces. Under it, written in a childish hand, were the words “My favorite teacher.”
“Oh.” Kakashi looked at it for a moment, and then sighed. “Ok, maybe I can see keeping that one. But what about this?”
Kakashi picked up the kite. Closing the notebook, Iruka laughed. “Oh, that. Well, you see…Naruto had never flown a kite before. Neither had Sasuke. So one day I took them to the toy store, bought that kite, and took them up on the top of the mountain. I taught them how to fly it. Naruto, of course, managed to get tangled up in the line and nearly went off the edge of the cliff.” Iruka chuckled, shaking his head. “I nearly had a heart attack!” He set the notebook down and crossed his arms, smiling tolerantly at his lover. “Kakashi…”
Kakashi rolled his eyes and set the kite down. “Fine, fine. Iruka, I understand…these things are all good memories, huh? But do you really need them all? Some of them must be less special than the others…”
Iruka shook his head. “No, not really.”
Kakashi threw his hands up. “But we can’t live like this!” he cried.
Iruka laughed and once again wrapped his arms around his Kashi. “Kashi, love…I have to live like this. I’m sorry. I know it bothers you. But…being a teacher is what I love. Those kids, the ones I’ve taught, the ones I’ll teach…they’re a really important part of my life. Everything I have was given to me by someone I love.” He grinned suddenly, his brown eyes twinkling. “I’ve never thrown anything you ever gave me away.”
“What? Nothing?” Kakashi gave in to the inevitable and wrapped his own arms around Iruka. “Really?”
“Really. I even still have that stupid plastic ring you bought me last summer when we went to the carnival.”
Kakashi remembered that clearly. It had been really fun, and a much-needed moment of relaxation. That had also been Iruka’s official “coming-out” day, when they’d let it be known in no uncertain terms about their relationship. Naruto’s face had been priceless…
Looking down into Iruka’s eyes, Kakashi gave up. “You’re hopelessly sentimental, soppy and way too much of a nice guy.”
“I know.” Iruka snuggled into his chest, sighing happily. “But that’s why you love me, right?”
Kakashi laughed and hugged him. “Yes, you idiot. That’s some of the reasons I love you.”
Iruka grinned and pulled away. Hmmm. Well, my love, I’ve got an hour until I’m officially up. You want to see what we can find to fill the time?”
Kakashi eagerly pulled his mask down. Iruka turned and walked back to the bed, closely followed by Kakashi.
Until Kakashi tripped over one of the things on the floor.
Iruka caught him neatly and then rolled into the bed. After a long moment of silence, Iruka started chuckling.
Kakashi sighed.
“Sorry, lover.” Iruka turned onto his side so that he could look down at Kakashi. “You love me?”
Dispite himself,Kakashi felt a grin tugging at his mouth. “Of course.”
“Well then. Love me, love my junk.” Iruka said solemnly.
Kakashi blinked a few times, and then sighed. “Really? I didn’t know that was a condition. I’ll have to get back to you on…”
“Finish that sentence and you’re a dead man, Kakashi.”
Kakashi started laughing and pulled Iruka closer.
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Chapter notes: I don't own Naruto. I'm not affiliated with the creators or Bandai. I don't have a million dollars or a shiny car. See how deprived I am?