Contains: Mentions of cutting.

AN: This was written as a belated present for o0o_faor_o0o[at LJ]'s birthday. It's also based on a prompt given to me some time ago by aramiahatake[at LJ]. I'm pretty sure they've forgotten it by now.

Roots and Wings (or the Life of Shinobi Parents)

Iruka was only sixteen when the Third called him in for a Very Special Mission late one evening.

"How special, Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked, practically quivering with excitement even as he stood at attention in front of the Hokage's wide desk. "May I ask the rank?"

The Third gave him a long, assessing look and Iruka had tried to look like the competent Chuunin he had trained to be, instead of the prankster brat that the Third always had fished out of trouble. Iruka saw his wrinkled cheeks move up in a tired smile.

"I wonder," the Sandaime said slowly, "if you will be able to shoulder this responsibility that I am forced to give you. You, Iruka, of all the villagers..."

He trailed off, contemplative smoke puffing out of his pipe. Iruka tried to look as sage as possible, but he was confused.

"I think you might do a good job," the Third finished decisively and then nodded his head. "I have heard that you are doing very well as an assistant sensei."

"Oh!" Iruka raised a hand to scratch the back of his head, and remembered that he was standing in front of the Hokage, returning his arm to his side. "I really like working with the genin, Hokage-sama."

"And they like you, is that so?"

"I haven't had any complaints, sir," Iruka said very seriously and then grinned. "Not yet, at least."

The Third nodded again. This was apparently a very different nod from the one before, because a shadow detached itself from a corner; this ANBU guard went to open a door to one side. Iruka stared as a little blond boy was carried out of a small side-room a few moments later. The boy was asleep, his body limp as the ANBU marched right over and handed him to Iruka, who automatically held open his arms to receive the warm, small body.

Iruka's mind ground to a halt as he realized just who this child was. The child muttered and snuggled close, gripping onto the front of Iruka's vest with small grubby hands; he had scars on his face, strangely neat lines on each cheek.

"The Jinchūriki," Iruka finally whispered, his voice rasping. He looked up at the Third in disbelief, and blinked at the Hokage's heavy stare."Th--this is the Nine-Tails."

"He is the host for the Nine-Tails," the Hokage said with gentle rebuke. "In all other aspects, he is a normal boy. Just a little boy in need of a family." Sandaime's gaze was fixed on Iruka's.

"He has a demon in him!" Iruka burst out unnecessarily and the little boy flinched, waking up and squinting at Iruka. Even though his eyes were still half-slitted, Iruka could see that they were a brilliant blue, a pretty, wild colour. As Iruka stared back those eyes widened, and the little boy began to go rigid in his arms from suspicion and fear.

"No, it's alright," Iruka said quickly to the little Jinchūriki, but he must have been very unconvincing, because the host of the Nine-Tails opened his mouth and began to wail. Iruka shot a desperate glance to the Hokage, who was still watching him very carefully. Iruka stifled a long sigh and shifted the little boy, so that the blond head was resting on his shoulder. He didn't like to hear children crying, even though he was struggling with an urge to shudder in revulsion. This child was the container for the demon that had killed his parents. This child... this crying little boy who was hanging onto Iruka with a kind of desperate surprise, as if he was amazed that he could be held this way.

"It's okay," Iruka murmured and patted his back awkwardly. The boy's crying tapered off almost instantly and he drew back to look in Iruka's face, blinking those watery eyes at the young Chuunin.

"Hello," Iruka said and offered a wary smile. The little boy just kept blinking. "I'm Iruka."

More blinking.

"What is your name?" Iruka asked and only received a stare for his troubles.

"Naruto," the Third offered when the silence stretched out too long. "His name is Naruto Uzumaki."

"Naruto," the little boy echoed quickly and then nodded his head, his little face serious. "Naruto 'Maki," he finished with a little lisp, obviously not able to enunciate his own name properly as yet.

"Oh, that's a nice name," Iruka said and then smiled faintly; he was still quite discomfitted, but that was fading quickly under the palpable innocence of the jinchūriki. It was hardly believable that this child was the vessel for one of the most malevolent forces in the world... but Iruka had good instincts when it came to children, and this one was a good one.

The surprised grin that bloomed over the little face at Iruka's remark was like a ray of sunshine, and Iruka grinned back; he really couldn't help himself.

"Iruka," the Third interjected. "I would like you to take care of Naruto Uzumaki."

Is that my mission? Iruka wanted to ask, but he took a look at Naruto's now uncertain expression. He thought about his own recent childhood, how he wanted his parents, even one of them. Even now, he would give anything just someone to go home to instead of the lonely apartment that he paid for with his own mission and teaching wages. Iruka took a deep breath and then knelt down, setting Naruto on his own feet; already Naruto's expression was one of deep sadness, full of a too-mature knowledge that he was unwanted and unloved. This shouldn't be a mission; Iruka understood why the Third had said it like that, though. It was an underhanded thing to do, really, but it was probably necessary to get Iruka's mind invested in this. The Hokage knew him too well.

"Naruto," Iruka asked, "Would you like me to take care of you?"

Naruto's eyes were like huge marbles in his head. He turned around and looked back at the Hokage, who nodded once, very slowly. The little boy then turned to Iruka again.

"I'm not... I can't promise that I'll be perfect." Iruka was hesitant, but determined. "But I will try my best."

Naruto didn't answer, at least not in words. Instead, he flung his arms around Iruka's neck, hugging him so tightly that Iruka nearly choked.

"Well!" The Hokage seemed extremely pleased. "Thank you, Iruka."

"Thank you, Wuka!" Naruto cheered. Iruka, now temporarily deaf in one ear, just hugged him in return.

*

"I beg your pardon, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said. "But I do not think I am the best person to take up such a task."

"Ah, I'm so sorry to hear that you think so." The Sandaime strolled slowly along the sidewalk, nodding and smiling at the people who greeted him on the street. "But it is quite understandable. After all, you are quite young. How old are you?"

"Twenty-one," Kakashi answered as he walked slightly behind and to the left of the Third.

"Yes. Still quite young. It was wrong of me to ask this of you. After all, raising a child of the Uchiha clan could be far harder than, say, an S-rank mission."

Kakashi made a face behind his mask. "I'm sure it's not that hard, Hokage-sama, but--"

"And, you do know that Iruka Umino is raising the host of the Nine-Tails. He is doing a good job, for about two years now, but I think I am wrong to expect the same of a higher ranking shinobi such as yourself."

Kakashi's face was positively wrenched behind his mask. One of the reasons he wore it was because he had unfortunately very expressive features, and if anyone could see his face now, they would probably think he was going through a seizure. What was the Hokage asking of him? How could he take care of the seven-year-old Uchiha, the last in the world according to all known sources? That was madness. Complete madness.

"Oh, what have we here!" The Third said with false surprise as they turned a corner and happened upon a small park. A young boy, dressed completely in black, was sitting on one of the swings. Alone, he wasn't swinging or even playing by himself. He was just sitting there, staring off into the distance as his dark hair blew into his small face. "Hello, Sasuke!"

The boy turned his head towards them and Kakashi frowned. There was a curious blankness in the the little face, a complete detachment from everything. He nodded, sliding off the swing and walking towards them. Kakashi stared at down at his lack of emotion.

"Hello," Sasuke finally said in a low voice.

Kakashi gave him a little wave. The Hokage held out his hand and after a long beat, Sasuke put his small hand into it.

"Did you know," the Third said conversationally as they continued walking around the park, Kakashi trailing behind in his usual slouch."That Kakashi here has a Sharingan as well?"

Sasuke looked over his shoulder and gave Kakashi a very sour stare. While Kakashi was just a little relieved that the child had some form of expression, he was a touch annoyed that the Hokage had brought up the whole Sharingan thing; he had received those glares from nearly every Uchiha about Obito's eye. His likeness was probably printed on some Uchiha scroll of doom, right under the words KAKASHI HATAKE, SHARINGAN THIEF, BECAUSE THERE IS NO WAY ONE OF US WOULD JUST GIVE IT TO HIM LIKE THAT. Too bad they were nearly all extinct now; he had been getting used to the constant sneers.

"He does," the Third continued blithely. "It would be nice, wouldn't you think, if you would be able to live with the Copy-nin and learn all about the Sharingan?"

"No," Sasuke snapped. "It would not be nice. I don't like him."

"I think that would be a wonderful idea," the Third said as if Sasuke had not spoken. "But I think Kakashi is afraid of the responsibility."

Sasuke's dark eyes were mocking in that complete way that only children seem to possess. "Yeah, he looks scared."

"I wasn't aware you could see past my mask," Kakashi remarked flatly. "And tiny Uchiha such as yourself are not too fearsome."

"I'm not tiny!" Sasuke blazed, yanking his hand out of the Hokage's and rounding on Kakashi. "I'm not tiny, I'm the last Uchiha! I'm going to be better than every other Uchiha and make him pay!"

"Make who pay?" Kakashi asked with uncharacteristic gentleness. Sasuke rubbed at his eyes, but they were devoid of tears as he frowned up at Kakashi.

"Nobody," he muttered, but the name Itachi echoed in his voice. Kakashi looked up at the Third, who stared steadily in return. Kakashi sighed.

"I'll take care of you, tiny Uchiha," he said mockingly and grinned at the little boy's furious glare.

*

Iruka sighed at Naruto's sullen face as they walked home from the Academy, both their hands filled with the grocery bags. "Don't give me that face," he warned. "Don't you even dare, Naruto."

"I'll give you any face I want," Naruto sulked and then appeared sufficiently chastened as Iruka glared down at him. "Sorry."

"What did you think was going to happen, Naruto?" Iruka snapped as they turned onto their street. "Why do you keep provoking Sasuke like that in class?"

"His face provokes me." Naruto narrowed his eyes at nothing at all. "His stupid ugly face. He thinks he's so cool, you know what he calls me? Dead-last, Iruka! DEAD. LAST."

Iruka wrinkled his nose. For a few years, Naruto had called him 'Papa'; now it was down to his first name. Iruka didn't really mind, he wasn't Naruto's real father, but it had been so cute to hear the name in Naruto's little chirping voice. It had given his heart such a full feeling.

"When I become Hokage," Naruto vowed, a usual threat. "I'll make sure to... to arrest him, or something."

"Just for having a face you don't like?" Iruka watched him as he keyed open the front door. "That's not the mark of a true leader."

Naruto huffed and toed off his sandals, leaving them in an untidy pile and running to the kitchen to place his armful of groceries on the counter. He raced back and took Iruka's bags so that he could take off his own sandals and place them neatly on the low shelf, putting Naruto's in place as well.

"A true leader," Iruka continued, "is someone that will do what is fair and right, even if he doesn't like it."

The line of Naruto's shoulders was tense as he unpacked the groceries. Iruka placed his hand in Naruto's hair, ruffling the untidy blond mop. As a child, Naruto had had hair so light that it was almost white, but it had darkened to the colour of sunflower petals through the years. Naruto turned his head and made a mocking face at Iruka.

"I guess so," Naruto finally conceded. "Being a Hokage is hard, though."

Iruka smiled and was about to say something else, when a sharp knock sounded at the door.

"I'll get it!" Naruto sprinted away, leaving the eggs half-packed. "Oh, hello, Mizuki-sensei," Iruka heard him say at the door and turned to see his partner walk in.

"Hey," Mizuki said, giving him a sharp smile. "Am I in time for dinner?"

"Oh, Tsubaki finished cooking?" Iruka shot back coolly. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Naruto's bewildered expression. He wanted to kick himself; Naruto shouldn't be witness to his constantly failing love life.

Mizuki just kept smiling that knife-edged grin. Leaning casually on the wall as if he had every right, he looked at Naruto and said, "I heard you and the Uchiha boy got into a fight today."

"Mizuki," Iruka snapped, but it was already too late. Naruto's face had gone red again, but before he could say anything, Mizuki continued, "Oh, and you lost, right? That's too bad, really. But you should know better. Sharingan no Kakashi is his guardian, so he would definitely be stronger than you."

"I can be stronger!" Naruto yelled and subsided when Iruka held up a quieting hand. Everyone knew that Naruto was easily excitable. It was hard for Iruka to deal with this, because he could be that way himself at times, but someone in the house had to be the calm one. Mizuki, however, was definitely pushing it.

"My apologies, Iruka-sensei," Mizuki said humbly before Iruka could berate him. "I was just offering to help Naruto increase his fighting skills. I mean, it must be hard to be taking care of him all by yourself, right?"

"It's not hard," Iruka said through lips tight with anger, and he tried to give Naruto a reassuring smile. "But, if you do have the time, Mizuki-kun," he grinned as Mizuki stiffened at the diminutive, Iruka knew he absolutely hated that, "then I'm sure that Naruto would appreciate some lessons from you."

Let Mizuki have Iruka's little brat unleashed on him for a few days, Iruka thought with malicious glee. Hell, even after a few hours of undiluted Naruto, Mizuki would run away screaming. Mizuki, unaware of the danger, simply inclined his head and stared at Iruka for a long moment. Iruka sighed internally; he knew what that look meant. It was Mizuki trying to be seductive and it worked on some level, because Iruka gave him a little smile.

"I'll be starting dinner, soon," he said and Mizuki grinned, settling himself at the kotatsu.

*

"Very good," Kakashi praised as Sasuke finally managed to get under his defensive chakra and land a strike. Sasuke gave him a dark look, his own cheek reddening from one of Kakashi's quick light blows. "Whoops. Sorry about your face."

"It's okay," Sasuke said grudgingly and then straightened from his attack-stance. "I'm hungry."

"Maa, me too," Kakashi groaned; he held onto his stomach comically, hoping to pull a smile from his taciturn charge. Sasuke didn't smile, but his expression lightened considerably: the Uchiha version of laughter. Kakashi counted that as a win. "Maybe we should cook something."

"You should really learn to cook," Sasuke said ten minutes later as the delivery-boy handed over the bags of food. He eyed Kakashi, who rummaged around the kitchen for a few mismatched bowls. "Not that I care, or anything, but if you learn to cook, then you wouldn't always have to order in. That would be cheaper."

"But why waste time cooking when we can get someone to do it?" Kakashi wondered and grinned as Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"You're so lazy," Sasuke accused, a constant refrain. "Why is someone like you so lazy."

"Because on every mission I have to be not lazy," Kakashi answered, slurping rudely. "Give me a break."

"Do you have a mission soon?" Sasuke asked carelessly, but Kakashi heard the loneliness in the boy's voice. The Hokage tried to give Kakashi less missions, and Kakashi actually tried to be as present as possible for his brat, but Sasuke seemed to carry his solitude everywhere he went.

"Well... yes. But not for long," he finished quickly as Sasuke looked down at his chop-sticks. "At least, not long enough for you to get into a fight with that Uzumaki boy again."

"It's not a fight if your opponent is a loser," Sasuke sneered, poking at his rice. "I don't know why I even bother, he's such a dead-last."

Kakashi chewed slowly, thinking about a boy he knew so long ago; Obito looked like Sasuke, but they were worlds apart.

"Sometimes," he remarked, "even a dead-last can surprise you."

Sasuke appeared to consider this, his dark eyebrows slightly raised. He then shrugged dismissively and went back to eating in his oddly neat fashion... but Kakashi thought he looked a little less contemptuous than before.

Which was always a good thing, in Kakashi's book. He smiled to himself and they finished eating in companionable silence.

* * *

a few years later

Iruka smiled as Haruno-san waved from the door. Sakura's father was where she got all that pink hair from, surprisingly, but he kept it tucked under a hat nearly constantly. Nonetheless, the parent-teacher meeting had gone very well. Iruka had nothing but praises for Sakura; she was quick, smart and responsible, and was very active in class.

Iruka looked down at his list at who he had to speak with next and his day suddenly darkened. UCHIHA, SASUKE was next, which wasn't bad in itself. Sasuke was his best student, brilliant at everything. Iruka was forced to give him advanced lessons in Offensive Tactics and assign him to help the students that were behind; he had also advised Sasuke's other teachers about this and they did the same. Iruka didn't pair him with Naruto though; Iruka wasn't a genius, but he wasn't stupid either.

Sasuke wasn't the problem. It was the name in the Parent/Guardian column: HATAKE, KAKASHI.

Iruka tried not to grind his teeth too hard. Kakashi. The man was absolutely horrid. Iruka didn't hate people, he tried not to, but Kakashi seemed to bring out the worst in him.

Like after that time he had fought Mizuki to protect Naruto. He had received visits from all his students in the hospital, even Sasuke; Naruto had taken to sleeping in his room, and the nurses allowed him to do so. Late one night, Iruka was surprised to see the Copynin saunter in, hands in pockets and a languid expression that seemed to encompass everything and then reject them summarily: the bright flowers on the shelf next to Iruka's bed, Naruto snoring loudly in the small chair next to the door and Iruka himself.

"Hello?" Iruka had said, wondering what he was doing in here.

"I was just checking on Sasuke's favourite teacher," Kakashi had told him; his tone seemed to imply that Sasuke's opinion in this matter was highly questionable and Iruka started to bristle.

"I see," Iruka said and pressed his lips tightly together, not wanting to say anything else. Kakashi's gaze flickered to where Naruto was curled up tightly and then returned to Iruka once more.

"I guess you feel like a bad parent now, don't you?" Kakashi commented, voice light and eye dark. "I mean... letting Mizuki trick your boy like that."

Iruka blinked at him and tried to exhale slowly. His back was in pain, his head hurt and here was this... this asshole voicing the worry that had been going through Iruka's head every night he had been here in the hospital. Questions had circled through his mind: how could he have missed that? Wasn't he enough of a positive influence in Naruto's life? How badly did he err in allowing Mizuki to help 'train' Naruto? Well, he knew that his primary mistake had been trusting Mizuki so implicitly, and he knew that he should have told Naruto the full story of what the boy was. Iruka had been working his way up to that last part, really, but he had been busy making sure that Naruto didn't lack for anything, especially love and affection. Naruto still received too many cold stares and rebuffs, and Iruka had made it his primary task to shield him from most of that.

He should have told Naruto, though, never mind the unspoken rule that no-one in the village must speak of Nine-Tails; he shouldn't have let Mizuki blurt out the secret it like that and he shouldn't have let Mizuki imply that Iruka's care was really just a mission. Iruka hadn't thought of it that way for years. He and Naruto hadn't discussed that as yet, but Iruka hoped that at least his actions had told Naruto something. Iruka loved him... and now here was Sharingan no Kakashi dredging up every fear he had.

Shouldn't, shouldn't, shouldn't; Iruka was well aware that he couldn't change what had happened and he hated Kakashi in that moment for saying such a thing like that to him, hated him because it was true, he was a bad parent.

"I--"

"No one is perfect," Kakashi had cut in before Iruka could finish his sentence and then turned around to leave. "I suppose that if Naruto thought you were terrible at the whole guardianship thing, he wouldn't be in here with you."

Kakashi exited as abruptly as he had entered and Iruka stared at the painted-white wood of the door, fists clenched tightly in his lap. He heard a small shifting sound and glanced in Naruto's direction, surprised to see him awake and smiling slightly, head still resting on the arm of the chair.

"You're the best parent in the whole wide world," Naruto had insisted in a whisper. Then he had simply closed his eyes and went back to sleep, still with that small, contented smile. Iruka had felt a little like bursting into tears, but he was a chuunin, for crying out loud and had manfully surpressed the urge.

Now, Iruka tried to put aside his personal annoyances and prepared to deal with Kakashi as a teacher with a parent. He had five minutes left before the appointed hour, so he could definitely manage a smile when Kakashi showed up. A smile, at least.

...two and a half hours later, when Iruka had already met with six other (responsible! and early!) parents, Kakashi slid through the door and said, "Oh, hello!"

Iruka stared at him. This was so unbelievable. Kakashi seemed completely unfazed as he approached the desk that Iruka was cleaning because he had thought he was finished for the day. He sat in the chair placed before Iruka and adopted an expectant air. Iruka, who had been on his feet as he placed his students' files back in order, sat down slowly in his own seat and just blinked.

"We should be conferencing now," Kakashi advised him with gentle mockery. "That is why they call it a parent-teacher conference, yes? Sorry I'm late. An adventure just rolled up to me and took me along for the ride."

"I don't think there's much to say," Iruka finally managed to say through stiff lips. "Sasuke is a very good student. He's a genius, in fact, but I expect you know that already."

"Can I ask you something?" Kakashi leaned forward and put one elbow on the surface of Iruka's desk; he rest his chin against the shelf of his wrist and considered Iruka. "Isn't it a conflict of interest?"

Iruka said, "What in the world are you--"

"Naruto, I mean," Kakashi cut in and honestly, Iruka was damned tired of his habit of not letting Iruka finish his sentences. "How can you be both a parent and a teacher for him? Do you have a parent-teacher meeting with yourself? If so, how do you assess your progress and his?"

"We're not here to talk about me," Iruka told him freezingly. "That's none of your business."

"I think it is," Kakashi countered. "Sasuke and Naruto spend a lot of time together, even out of school. They're actually good friends. When they're not fighting, of course."

"Of course," Iruka conceded. He wasn't going to waste time probing the complexity of Naruto and Sasuke's relationship. Needless to say, it was one that involved large amounts of screaming at each other. Well, Naruto screamed and Sasuke just gave him cold glares.

"Right. So my point is, I need to know if Naruto is a good enough influence for Sasuke. And for him to be a good influence, he has to have good influences himself. How do I know that you're not easing up on him in school because you take care of him at home? How do I know if--"

"Please," Iruka snapped, meanly happy that he had managed one sentence-cut for himself. "Don't go any further. You might not think I'm a good parent or teacher, but trust me, I try my best. If you have a problem with that, take it up with the school-board or with the Hokage. Not here. Here, we are talking about your son."

"My what?" Kakashi seemed genuinely surprised. "Oh, you mean Sasuke."

"This meeting is over." Iruka stood up. "Thank you for your time, Kakashi-san." He offered a quick bow, determined to end this and send the infuriating man along his way. If Iruka stayed in the same room with him for even thirty seconds more, he was going to commit murder or try to, at least. Kakashi stood up, moving so lazily that Iruka wondered if he had been in the middle of falling asleep. He stared at Iruka's face, which was probably still flushed from his rant and then shrugged.

"See you around, Iruka-sensei," he said and then ambled towards the door. Iruka shook his head, trying to dislodge his towering anger and then went back to tidying up his desk.

*

Kakashi walked slowly behind Sasuke towards Iruka-sensei's apartment. Sasuke was holding a present in his hand, a small trinket for Naruto's birthday, but he was carrying it in a very stiff manner. Kakashi considered the bandages that Sasuke wore on one arm. Even after their disastrous encounter with Itachi, Sasuke still sported the wrappings. Kakashi wondered if the boy had started to cut himself. He wouldn't be too surprised if that was the case; Kakashi used to cut himself when he was a teenager, long thin slices into the pale skin of his thighs. He had needed to know if he was real, if he was a whole person and not just a killing-machine. It had helped, a little, until the Sandaime found out and spoke with him. He had a lot of sessions with the Sandaime after that, just sharing his thoughts and feelings. The Third had just listened.

He had admired that about the Third. He had been an excellent listener, hearing a lot of things that Kakashi didn't have to say. Hopefully, if (or when) Sasuke started to talk to him about cutting, Kakashi would be as calmly intent as the Sandaime had been.

"Let's get this over with," Sasuke said now and then climbed the stairs with the air of one who will soon undergo a painful operation. "I need you to teach me another combo when we're done with this party business."

"Or you could rest," Kakashi said mildly. The look Sasuke gave him indicated that rest was completely out of the question. He was about to say something else, maybe speak to Sasuke about his brother, but they arrived at Iruka's door and Sasuke knocked impatiently.

The door was pulled open by Iruka-sensei himself and all conversational tactics flew out of Kakashi's mind. Iruka-sensei was dressed in a nice yukata; it had a dark-blue background with a large pattern of dragons in a lighter shade. His hair was loose from the normal high pony-tail, waves of soft brown framing his face and it was longer than Kakashi thought, going past his shoulders.

Beautiful, Kakashi thought, watching Iruka's mouth move through a sweet smile and welcoming words that completely disarmed Sasuke; Kakashi had always suspected that Sasuke harboured some small crush on his former teacher. He made a mental note to taunt Sasuke about it later, even as he gazed at Iruka.

After he took the gift from Sasuke and shoo'ed the boy in to where Naruto and a few other boys were playing some loud game, he fixed Kakashi with a cool stare.

"Hello," he said crisply.

"You look so wonderful," Kakashi told him with honest appreciation and smiled as Iruka-sensei's cheeks pinkened.

"Thank you," he mumbled and then said, "It's just for Naruto's birthday." He cast a critical eye on Kakashi's attire, which was just his normal shinobi-issue clothing. "Someone had to dress up."

"Well, I'm glad it's you," Kakashi answered and grinned outright under his mask as Iruka blushed again. He hadn't flirted like this in years and he was enjoying Iruka's reactions. Iruka-sensei's default expression towards Kakashi was a frown and to see him smile shyly like that... it was like a revelation, actually. Kakashi wanted to see him smile like that again; therefore, he dogged Iruka's steps all evening, telling him every single joke he knew. Iruka seemed surprised at his attention, but after about fifteen minutes of suspicion, he began to take it into stride. Kakashi liked that; if someone could withstand two hours of Kakashi's regard, then they got high marks in Kakashi's humble opinion.

For his part, Sasuke remained aloof to the games. He refused to join in even after Naruto glomped him in an excited fashion. Kakashi didn't know how to deal with that; he could feel Sasuke moving further and further away and there was nothing Kakashi nor anyone else could do to drag him back.

At least he had some cake, probably because Iruka-sensei made it and gave him a plate without even asking if he wanted any. Kakashi watched Sasuke eat and hoped... hoped that he wasn't still consumed with thoughts of Itachi; but hope had nothing to do with reality at times, and all Kakashi could do was eat three slices of excellent chocolate cake and divide his time between giving Iruka-sensei very long, heated stares and watch Sasuke with a growing sense of disquiet.

From the way Iruka-sensei went red at regular intervals, at least that part of the evening wasn't a complete loss. He kept the vision of Iruka's face in the front of his mind, even as, much later, Sasuke forced him to go through at least six combos, eating into very valuable Icha-Icha time.

*

Iruka waited worriedly at the gates of Konoha, gaze flickering from the tree to tree. His heart seemed to be trying to twist out of his chest and he actually cried out in relief when Kakashi finally appeared, landing lightly beside him with Naruto's limp body cradled in his arms.

"Oh, Naruto," Iruka said sadly, taking him when Kakashi handed him over. Iruka knelt on the ground in an instant, using one hand to support Naruto while he used his other hand to brush blond hair from his forehead. Naruto was so very still and he was bloody and bruised... but he was breathing steadily. Thank goodness.

"Thank you," Iruka said, looking up at Kakashi, who wasn't looking at him at all. Kakashi was staring off into the forest. "Is... where's Sasuke?"

"Take Naruto to the medi-nins," Kakashi commanded and he sounded nothing like his normal friendly, taunting self. "I have to report to the Godaime."

"Yes," Iruka answered and watched as Kakashi raced off.

He spent a very long time at the hospital, making sure that Naruto was looked after and properly settled. He was reluctant to leave, and had been fully prepared to sleep in the seat next to Naruto's bed, but the nurses told him to go home and get some proper rest. Naruto was healing just fine and he could visit as early as he wanted the next morning.

Instead of going home, though, he went to Kakashi's house. He had no idea why, but he felt a strong compulsion that grew even more when Kakashi pulled open the door and stared out at him in a blank fashion, as if he was looking right through Iruka. Without stopping to think, Iruka shut the door, stepped right into his space and put his arms around Kakashi's neck, pulling him into a hug. Kakashi went rigid for a moment but Iruka simply held him tightly.

"I'm sorry," he whispered in Kakashi's ear. He couldn't imagine how Kakashi was handling the breaking of his team, the loss of Sasuke.

"For what," Kakashi said casually, but his own arms were now wrapped around Iruka. "Sorry for what," he mumbled into Iruka's neck. Iruka didn't answer; Kakashi knew what he was sorry for. He was sorry for a breaking heart, no matter how well Kakashi hid it. As much as he had treated Sasuke like an interesting experiment, Iruka knew that at some level Kakashi did love him. A person like Kakashi was fully capable of love... he just showed it differently from Iruka, that was all.

Iruka pulled back a little and pressed his lips to Kakashi's clothed cheek. Then, when Kakashi made no surprised flinches, he placed his mouth against the outline of Kakashi's lips. When he drew back again, Kakashi's gaze was questioning... but warming by the second.

"You haven't lost him," Iruka said softly. "You just had to let him go."

Kakashi nodded and then placed his head into the curve of Iruka's neck again. Some weeks later, Iruka would truly understand that sharp edge of loss when Naruto went off with Jiraiya... but now, he was content to stand there and let Kakashi hold him.

He hoped that for Kakashi's sake, it was enough.

fin

There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots. The other is wings.
~Hodding Carter, Jr.