When Iruka woke he felt 100 percent better. He rolled over unto his back and sat up slowly, feeling loose limbed and utterly relaxed. He'd never had anyone massage him to sleep before…

Kakashi wasn't in the room, so Iruka got out of the bed and grabbed his shirt from where it was lying on the bedside cabinet, neatly folded, and pulled it on. It smelled fresh and clean, like it had been washed.

Iruka blushed; he'd have to find a way to properly thank the jounin. Another man might have simply thrown him out, or even reported him to the Hokage for trespassing.

"Good evening, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka looked down in surprise; Pakkun was sitting near his feet, he hadn't noticed when the pug came in. "Umm Good evening, Pakkun"

"Kakashi has left on his mission; he took the notes you were supposed to give him from your pocket. He says your Kunai need sharpening, he put a note back in your pocket and asks respectfully if you will take it back to the Hokage for him. He apologises for you walking into the trap. I'm to show you how to get out of the apartment, you must stay on the left side of the hallway, duck below the painting of the cactus on the left wall, and most importantly you must not, under any circumstances step unto the doormat. Oh, and he said to leave the door open when you go."

Iruka blinked and tried not to grin while Pakkun recited the message as if it was a grocery list. "Thank you, Pakkun. Please thank him for me when you next see him?"

The pug nodded pleasantly. "Come on, I'll show you out."

Iruka followed the little dog out of the bedroom and through the hallway. He stayed as much to the left as possible, and when he came to the cactus painting, he got on his knees and crawled past it, just in case. Pakkun roll his eyes at him. One flying jump over the doormat later, Iruka was safely outside of the apartment.

Pakkun sat down and raised a paw at him. "Well Iruka-sensei, I'll be going now."

"Wait!" Iruka said.

"Hnnn?"

"Umm Pakkun? Is there anything Kakashi likes?"

Pakkun raised a doggy eyebrow at him.

"I want to thank him," Iruka said, feeling vastly uncomfortable under the little pugs questioning stare, "maybe he'd like a gift of some kind? But I don't know him very well, so do you know if there is something he likes that I could buy for him…or something?" Iruka's words trailed off when Pakkun's other brow raised to join the first.

"You want to thank him for setting a trap that had you hanging in his hallway for twelve hours?"

Iruka blushed. "He did get me out…"

"He could hardly let you hang there and rot…"

"He made sure I was okay…"

Pakkun sighed and muttered something that Iruka couldn't quite understand, though it hardly sounded flattering. After a little shake off its head which made his ears flap around, the pug spoke up again. "Icha Icha. He likes anything that has to do with Icha Icha. The man is addicted to that series. And food, food is good too. Or sake, or Puripuri mushrooms…but you're not supposed to be able to buy those anymore…not after that guy did the thing with the…yeah, best skip those."

Iruka blinked. No, he would most definitely not be buying Kakashi those mushrooms, or porn for that matter. Sake would be okay though, or he could cook the jounin a meal. Iruka was good at cooking…

"Thank you, Pakkun," he said, "you've given me some ideas."

The little dog sank through his paws a little in a mockery of a bow and with one last wave disappeared, leaving a small puff of smoke behind.

Iruka turned and made his way down to the street. Halfway home he remembered the note for the Hokage that Pakkun told him Kakashi put in his pocket. He fished around in his inside pocket and indeed, he found a small sealed envelope. He turned around and went back to the Hokage building. He'd better deliver it right away. It could be of vital importance.

Tsunade took the envelope from him and opened it up immediately. Iruka waited, feeling a little uncomfortable. She hadn't said anything, should he just go? "Umm, Tsunade-sama, am I dismissed?"

"Just a second, Iruka-sensei"

She ambled from behind her desk and approached him closely. One hand landed lightly on his shoulder as the other one came to rest on top of his hand. A small wave of energy flowed through him at the touch and his skin tingled with it. Moments later, Tsunade stepped back with a little smirk.

"You're fine, Iruka-kun. Go home and enjoy the rest of your weekend."

Iruka watched as she crumbled the letter he'd brought her and tossed it into the trash can. Mission notes weren't treated that way and he blushed when he realized Kakashi had sent him to the Hokage for the sole purpose of being checked over by her.

He turned quickly and rushed out of the office, followed by a soft chuckle from the Hokage. He felt so embarrassed...

That evening, he looked through his cookbooks to see if there was anything special he could make for Kakashi. Even though the visit to the Hokage was rather mortifying, it was kind of nice of the jounin to go that far to make sure Iruka was alright.

He finally decided on baking a cake. It would be easier to give than an entire meal. Now he just had to hope Kakashi had a sweet tooth.

Five days later Iruka took Naruto out for ramen and, with some subtle questioning, found out that Kakashi had indeed returned from his mission. That evening he baked his specialty, royal chocolate cake, and nervously made his way back to the jounin's apartment.

This time he made sure to stay well away from the door opening. "Kakashi-san?"

"Come in!"

Iruka jumped over the doormat, trying to keep the cake straight. He walked through the hallway keeping as far to the right side as he could. He wondered what the jounin was doing, there were strange sizzling sounds coming from the living room.

A tiny needle prick on his right shoulder startled him and he looked to the side, right at the cactus painting. He'd forgotten to duck, damn it he was going to make a fool of himself all over again… Already he could feel himself start to get woozy and he quickly dropped to his knees, putting the cake down safely before he could fall on top of it and squash it beyond recognition.

Mere seconds later Iruka lost consciousness.

"I did it again."

"No, he did it again"

"I set the trap"

"He was supposed to duck. I told him."

"Why do you think he brought a cake?"

"It's for you."

"Why would he bring me cake?"

"Because you got him out of the trap last time"

"I could hardly let him rot."

"That's what I said."

"Maybe it's for you?"

"And you think he'd bake a cake for a dog?"

"Maybe"

"Maybe you should stop whining and mate with him."

"…"

"What? He follows you around and tries to give you food. Of course he wants to be your mate. He's not the brightest little ninja we've ever met, but I think you could do worse."

Iruka listened dazedly to the voices. Were they talking about him? They were! The irritation he felt about being called dumb was soon overshadowed by mortification. They thought he wanted to mate with Kakashi!

Images of 'mating' with Kakashi assaulted his mind, sending a blush to his cheeks and tingle through his stomach. His breath quickened.

"I think he's coming to," the pug muttered.

"Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi asked, "Are you alright?"

Iruka opened his eyes and nodded, slowly pushing himself up to lean on his elbows. "How long was I out for?"

"Just a few minutes… I administered the antidote as soon as I noticed."

Iruka blushed and avoided Kakashi's eyes. "I'm sorry for causing you trouble again."

"It's my fault, I should have come out to meet you, but Pakkun contracted fleas and I was busy getting rid of them."

Iruka looked questioningly at the pug. "There are umm medicines that work well."

"Our way is more fun." Kakashi stuck a finger up in the air and Iruka blinked when something that looked like a tiny blue electrical storm popped up above it.

"Small-target practise," the jounin said, just before flicking his finger against the skin of Iruka's arm.

"Ow! Hey!" Iruka jumped at the sting and automatically reached out and slapped the back of the jounin's head.

Kakashi sniggered, Iruka blushed and Pakkun rolled his eyes.

"Maybe you should get Iruka-sensei something to drink," the pug said to Kakashi in a tone that clearly said 'do I have to do everything for you?'