Drabblefic

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this fic. I mean, come on people, it's called FAN fiction for a reason!

Iruka peered curiously towards the shore of the lake where he'd left his clothes, scanning for any humans or nin-animals that could be nearby. Sensing nothing, he swam towards the shore and launched himself out of the water, shedding his seal-skin in moments and hurrying to where he'd left his clothes. He didn't particularly like this part of his secret, but the carefree, playful nature of his seal form was what kept him from going insane.

The life of a shinobi was never easy…

Now dressed, Iruka tied his hair in its customary ponytail, trying his hitai-ate around his head firmly once that was done. He stashed his furry pelt in the hidden cache, then stuck his hands in his pockets and headed casually back into Konoha.

That night…

Hatake Kakashi had noticed something odd about one Umino Iruka. The man rarely – if ever – returned to his apartment at night, although Kakashi had no idea where he actually went. He could admit – to himself, at least – that he was stalking the chuunin schoolteacher, but he had (in his mind) a good reason! The chuunin was just so cute…he made the cutest noises when Kakashi teased him, and the blushes he gave were absolutely adorable! (Kakashi had quite a crush on Iruka…)

The jounin blinked in surprise when he saw a seal in the lake, a frown creasing his forehead a second later. What was a seal doing in a freshwater lake?

Thoroughly confused, the jounin shrugged to himself and went back to thinking about the adorable, kissable, fuckable chuunin he'd developed feelings for.

Iruka crawled up the shore as the sun rose, 'standing' in the orangey light for a moment before starting to shed his pelt. It fell from his emerging human shoulders and down to his waist, and he rested for a moment before shedding the rest. Once that was done he stood and stretched, body bare and a pool of silvery-blue fur at his feet, before picking up his pelt and walking over to where he hid his clothes. It didn't take long to dress and hide the pelt, and he headed back to Konoha casually as he did every morning.

He didn't realise a certain silver-haired jounin had seen the entire thing.

Kakashi's mind reeled at what he'd just witnessed at dawn, especially since he hadn't been trying to find Iruka for once.

He definitely hadn't seen a seal on the shore of the lake…

He hadn't seen that seal shed its skin and turn into Iruka…

He hadn't perved on that gorgeous tanned body while said gorgeous tanned body stretched lithely in the morning light…

And he hadn't seen Iruka stash the seal skin in an illusion-covered tree…

Oh, to hell with it! He'd seen it all happen, and now he just had to research it…he wanted Iruka to come home with him at night, not go swimming as a seal (if that was really what he'd seen…)

Without further stalling, he headed for the library to look up the Umino line and legends of shapeshifters.

Kakashi was grinning behind his mask as he found Iruka's seal skin and stashed it inside his flak jacket. Now all he had to do was wait…Iruka would be along soon, and Kakashi would 'casually' ask what was wrong when the chuunin couldn't find it. Whether or not Iruka would tell him the truth was another matter entirely.

Kakashi smiled, and settled in to wait.

Iruka was incredibly eager to swim as he hurried towards the lake and the tree where he kept his pelt, but that eagerness melted into panic when the pelt wasn't where he'd left it. His breath came in short gasps, his eyes wide and lip trembling as he frantically felt around for the unmistakeable silky fur.

"No," he whispered fearfully, almost hyperventilating. "No, no, no, no-no-no-no-no!" He collapsed to his knees, wrapping his arms around himself as he started sobbing in desperation. To lose his pelt was to lose half himself…he'd never be the same. His selkie part was so important…it was half his very being.

"Iruka-chan?" a familiar voice asked concernedly. Iruka stiffened, his sobs halting, and lifted his head to find Kakashi crouched in front of him. The jounin's visible eye widened, and then the selkie found himself being embraced gently. "What's wrong, Ruka?" Iruka hesitated, struggling internally, then buried his face in the jounin's shoulder and began crying again as he choked out the story.

"I…I lost something important," he sniffed. "It's very precious to me…and I've lost it!" Iruka half-wailed, the sound muffled by Kakashi's vest. The jounin stroked Iruka's hair comfortingly, although he was now feeling very, very guilty. He hadn't thought the seal-skin was so important to his little 'Ruka…

"What does it look like, Ruka?" he asked quietly. "I could help you find it."

"You'll laugh," Iruka mumbled. Kakashi smiled slightly.

"No, I won't. You can trust me on that, 'Ruka." Iruka stayed silent for a moment, trying to banish his tears.

"It's…it's a seal pelt," he mumbled. Kakashi didn't make a sound. "I bet you're wondering what's so important about it," Iruka sniffed. When Kakashi didn't answer, he looked up at the masked jounin.

"If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to," Kakashi shrugged. "It's none of my business." Privately he was cursing himself for upsetting the little chuunin so much. "I'll help you look if you like." Iruka stared at him in shock.

"You…you will?" Kakashi just shrugged again.

"Sure. If it's so important to you, I'll do what I can." Another wave of guilt crashed over him as he saw Iruka's hopeful face. "Come on, let's look where you last saw it."

After another fifteen minutes of searching, Kakashi could see that Iruka was only moments away from breaking down again, and forced the chuunin to sit down, crouching in front of him. He forced Iruka to look at him, dropping his mask so the larger portion of his face was visible to show his sincerity.

"Iruka, calm down," he ordered gently. "Stay still and stay here. I'll go get you some water." Iruka nodded, focusing on breathing evenly as Kakashi strode away.

Once he'd gathered the water in a canteen for Iruka, he pulled the pelt from his vest and headed back to the chuunin swiftly.

Kakashi passed the water to Iruka, encouraging him gently to drink, and then crouched in front of him.

"I think I found it," he said simply, holding out the pelt. "Is this it?" he asked, and felt even guiltier than before when he saw the pure joy on Iruka's face. The chuunin reached out with a trembling hand and lifted the pelt onto his lap, running his other hand over the fur delicately before a beatific smile spread across his face. A moment later, Kakashi let out a yelp of shock as the chuunin glomped him with a happy cry and started nuzzling into his neck.

"I-Iruka?" he stammered, his arms automatically looping about the other man's waist and noting absently how delicate he felt.

"Thank-you-thank-you-thank-you!" Iruka babbled, trembling in Kakashi's arms. "You have no idea how much this means to me!"

"I can guess," the jounin said dryly, and Iruka gave a nervous laugh as he propped himself up and realised suddenly that he was practically straddling the jounin. The fact that said jounin's hands were on his hips was the only thing that prevented Iruka from scrambling off him and making numerous apologies. Instead, he leant back down, hearing Kakashi stifle a gasp as he accidentally rubbed against the silver-haired man's groin, and lightly pressed their lips together.

"Thank you, Kakashi," Iruka murmured, "for giving it back." Kakashi stiffened, guilt overwhelming him, and Iruka sighed, nestling against him. "I could smell it on you, you know," he muttered, nuzzling the man's neck affectionately. "You know, if you wanted my company, all you had to do was ask." Kakashi flushed slightly in embarrassment and guilt, and Iruka kissed him again. Slowly the jounin relaxed.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to the beautiful selkie lying atop his body. "I shouldn't have taken it, but I wanted you…I shouldn't have taken it."

"At least you gave it back," Iruka sighed, wriggling slightly and smiling when the bulge in the jounin's pants returned with a vengeance. He shifted to kiss Kakashi once more, this time with a whispered plea on his lips. "Take me…"

Kakashi was only too happy to comply.

Yeah, I know it's short and kinda sucky, but hey, it was a 30-minute piece of writing *shrugs*

R&R, please!

~Ashuri