"Iruka-sensei!"

The blond graduate leaped forward, faster than Iruka could blink, and tackled his teacher to the tree. Iruka laughed and enclosed his arms around the spitfire, not quite ignoring the flares of pain from his back and multiple kunai wounds. "Hey, ouch! That hurts!" But the words were said in jest, because he was too happy and proud to ruin the mood.

Days later, Iruka laid stomach-down on a surgery table, the cool metal starting to warm from his body heat. His shirt was off and his hair was down, but pushed to the side. His standard, shinobi uniform pants were replaced with baby blue scrubs and his bare feet hung off the end of the table. He wriggled his toes uncomfortably.

A medic-nin stood above him, sharp brown eyes analyzing the puckered flesh that crawled over Iruka's shoulders. An infection was starting to set in, despite the best efforts of Iruka and a full team of medic-nin. The wound wasn't necessarily deep, but it was in such a sensitive, highly connected area, that anything could go wrong. The price I pay for saving the spitfire's life, Iruka thought warmly. He would do it again a million times to protect his kid brother, but now that he thought back he could have done something else to help ease the pain he was in. Like maybe tackling Naruto out of the way instead of blocking the blow with his spine.

I was incredibly stupid and reacted only on instinct in that moment. Guess this is what I get. Learn from it now and never do it again. Because ouch.

"Iruka-san, I'm going to give you some Elma cream," the medic-nin said in a casual voice, as if talking about the weather and not a dangerous wound disabling a shinobi. "No need to worry, it will only numb the skin around your wound."

Iruka privately thought the medic was thinking along the same lines as he, and agreed that Iruka was a bit careless. But he probably only thinks that way because of who I protected, not because of how I got the wound.

"Go ahead." No way was he going to let on to how much of a relief that would be. He was in so much pain and it was getting to the point that it was annoying. He hated sleeping on his stomach, and he couldn't stand the stiffness in his whole body from the constant need to be upright and not touching anything. It was all rather pathetic.

The numbing sensation (and wasn't that an oxymoron?) that spread across his back loosened the tension from his abdomen and limbs. He couldn't tell if it was released from his shoulders and lower back, but he assumed so, because he felt minimal soreness. He smiled dopily.

The medic-nin saw his expression and chuckled, nodding in understanding. "Now, Iruka-sensei, I am going cut the top layers of skin off of your wound. I want to get to the source of the infection. Tell me if you feel anything."

Iruka grunted in acknowledgement, drowsy now with relief. He heard the careful snip of surgical scissors and a fleeting pressure of fingertips against the corded muscle of his back. The cutting went on for what seemed like hours, and only stopped when the medic-nin let out a hiss of surprise. "Iruka-san, I seem to have found the source of the infection."

After a pause – of which the medic carefully prodded the injury and Iruka carefully held his breath – Iruka said, nonchalantly, "And that is?"

"Oh, um, yes – the source of your infection seems to be a tic."

The pause this time was longer, and awkward.

"Excuse me?"

…

The next day Iruka stood in his Hokage's office, frown firmly in place and back smarting from the abrupt removal of his home. "Sir, can I respectively decline? I am perfectly capable of handling myself."

The four other occupants of the room were silent, three staring solemnly at the back of said capable Chuunin and one reading from a bright orange book with a red cancel sign. The sight of it out of the corner of Iruka's eye made him do a full body twitch, and he could feel the amusement from the other.

"I am afraid that you cannot decline, Iruka," Sarutobi said from behind his oak desk. "It is summer, so there are no classes that need your attention, and I cannot send you on a mission with your injury. To become fully operational again, you must go through rehabilitation, with the help of a squad of Genin."

The implied fact that he was not a fully operational shinobi, and wouldn't be for a very long time to come because of his hasty reaction, stung. Iruka shouldered the burn like he shouldered his injury – without a flinch.

He gave a partial bow and murmured, "Yes, sir," before standing upright again and accepting the paperwork his Hokage handed him. The papers held a series of questions the team he was assigned to needed to answer, as well as a paper that held lines for medic-nin signatures. He tucked the papers under his arm and turned on his heel, face set and moody, and walked past Team 7 and out of the door. He heard Naruto's hasty footsteps and saw him fall into step beside him, frowning worriedly at the floor. Sakura's footfalls were quieter, but they ran to catch up, too, and soon Sasuke and Kakashi were heard behind the three.

"Iruka-sensei?" Sakura asked softly, warm hand slipping into his cold one. Iruka dropped his stern face and smiled at her, reassuringly.

"Yes, Sakura-chan?"

The girl blushed at the endearment (because she graduated, so now she is an adult) and looked ahead. Iruka watched her face a moment more before doing the same. "Are you going to be okay?"

Iruka smiled again at the honest concern in the small girl's voice.

"I will be, yes."

"But right now you're not."

The smile slipped from his face at Naruto's statement. He glanced over and saw his spitfire glaring at the floor, clearly blaming himself. Iruka reached a hand and tousled yellow-blond locks, smiling when the boy grumbled and tried to duck away. "Of course I'm okay right now. I'm being looked after by the greatest ninja ever, remember?"

A smile tugged dangerously at a frowning mouth, and though the boy tried to resist, it bloomed across his face. Naruto took Iruka's other hand and the three of them, with the two silent ones at their backs, made their way to Iruka's home.

…

"Wow, Iruka-sensei, I really like your house!"

The exclamation came from Sakura, and Kakashi dragged his eyes away from blurred words to the warm, honey-toned furnishings inside the other teacher's home. The decorations were everything Spartan.

The couch and recliner were both a darker shade of bark brown, with cream carpets and the same shade brown on the cabinets and counters in the kitchen. There was an armoire pushed to one wall, closed with a lock on the side, and a bookshelf on an adjacent wall, filled with large tomes and cubbies for scrolls of all sizes. There was a fireplace, but instead of iron holders for wood, or even ash at the bottom, there were candles – lots of candles. There was only one wall hanging, and it was a family portrait of a young Iruka and who were obviously his late parents. Kakashi stared at that the longest, studying the threesome.

Iruka had laughed at Sakura's exclamation and moved forward to the kitchen. "Thank you, Sakura. I have to say I'm a bit fond of it, myself."

Naruto laughed and even Sasuke cracked a small tilt of the lips at that one, and Kakashi watched the young girl's face blush flamboyantly. Kakashi smiled secretively to himself as he saw underneath the underneath. Looks like Sakura's got her eyes on not only Sasuke, but her old teacher as well. This would prove to be interesting. Not that it would snowball into anything, really, because he could tell it was just a puppy-crush, and not to mention Iruka was twice her age. It not only would not go anywhere – if it did, it would be downright wrong and Iruka would be locked up. Who would trust him around their kids and the youth of Kanoha again?

And Kakashi's thoughts about this were getting way in depth. The price one paid for being a genius. It's why he always carries his book around – easy to get lost in thoughts when others thought he was reading.

He focused on his surroundings again, ignoring the discomfort he felt for being in a stranger's home. He didn't like Iruka, not really. Kakashi thought the man was loud, prissy, and a bit of a pushover. He had a bit of grudging respect for the man for putting his life in harm's way for his student, but that respect was run over by the shear incredulousness he felt at the stupidity of the sensei. Did the man really have to jump in front of a giant shiruken? He could have just tackled the boy out of the way! That's what Kakashi would have done. Kakashi mentally added idiot to the list of negative things he used to describe the tan sensei.

"Would you all like tea?" Iruka asked as he traversed his kitchen, pulling a kettle out of a small cupboard above the stove. There was a wooden box with a carving on the lid, and when opened it revealed a multitude of tea packets. Kakashi's nose picked up oolong and jasmine among others. So the sensei was tea fanatic. It didn't really surprise him – tea fit the image Kakashi was putting together in his head.

"Yes, please!" Sakura's easy respect was new. Kakashi had never heard that politeness in her voice before, and certainly not toward him. Irritation welled up before he squashed it. The sensei had his students for three years. It made sense that Sakura would respect him more. Kakashi was just used to all of the automatic respect he gained by just being Kakashi. In a way it was refreshing for his students to have no regard for him, but they were his students, and to get them to learn, they needed to respect him. He decided to observe the way Iruka handled his interactions with his previous students to gain a bit of social knowledge. It would prove useful.

"Yes, sir," Sasuke added to Sakura's easy "please." While Kakashi stared at the young Uchiha, Naruto had already gotten five mugs from the cupboard above the small, simple dishwasher. They all had phrases like "#1 Sensei" and "The Greatest Sensei Ever" emblazoned across their shiny white faces. The sight made Kakashi's stomach turn.

"So Iruka-sensei! What do you like to do for fun?" Kakashi asked in the sudden silence while they waited for the green tea to brew. It was in leaf form – that was quite something. Usually Kakashi enjoyed macha flavored milk, a commonplace version created by Kanoha, called a latte. Iruka's traditional take was interesting, but not surprising from what he's observed so far.

Iruka threw him a weird look, a cross between a frown and bemusement. "I like to read."

Kakashi perked up and Iruka sent him a glare, silently yelling obscenities to Kakashi, and Kakashi eye-smiled at him, glad to get a rise. "What do you like to read, Iruka-sensei?" Sakura asked, interrupting the silent showdown between her two senseis. Naruto uttered under his breath, "History books?" and Sakura elbowed him, none too lightly. He yelped and jumped backwards into Sasuke, who glared and scoffed the back of a blond head.

"Alright, that's enough out of all of you – " Iruka started, reaching out to put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder to pull him back. Kakashi watched Iruka intently, waiting to see what sort of reaction being jarred would come from Iruka when Naruto jumped upon Sasuke, knocking the boy into him. He had braced, but was still weak from the surgery from a few days prior, and the body weight sent him stumbling backwards into his refrigerator, his shoulders making a solid thump against the white painted metal.

Naruto froze at the pained hiss Iruka had released on impact. The boys both turned, but Kakashi was watching Iruka's face, noting how it had paled considerably and how his brows furrowed a moment before smoothing out, his lips pressed tightly together. "Iruka-sensei – "

"Please get out of the kitchen and go sit down in the living room, now."

The voice was strong despite the wavering undertone, and it brooked no argument. Naruto paled and nodded meekly, and Sasuke followed the boy out of the archway, head down. Sakura stared worriedly at her old teacher before biting her lip and following.

Iruka released a breath and straightened, moving to the tea kettle as it started to squeal, not even sparing a glance at Kakashi. The house was silent, save for the clattering Iruka was making as he set down mugs and poured tea. Kakashi watched Iruka, noting the stiffness in his shoulders and his frowning countenance.

"Iruka-sensei," Kakashi started, and Iruka hummed at him. "May I take a look at your back?"

There was a pause and then a sigh as Iruka finished pouring the hot liquid, and he said, "Yes, but not with the children present. It will be too indecent."

"Very well," Kakashi said over the muffled protest he heard from the other room.

"But Iruka-sensei!"

"No, Naruto. You may not see this. You either, Sakura, Sasuke." Iruka's voice was stern again, and while Naruto kept protesting, he had quieted considerably, and the other two stopped altogether. It really was quite mindboggling to Kakashi, like watching Pukkun flirt with a stuffed animal. (Yes, that had happened. No, Kakashi did not wish to relive it.) He had to admit to himself that he was a bit jealous at how readily his students listened to their old sensei. But he knew he would gain that level of authority soon, so he didn't let it bother him.

Too much.

…

When the children left, Kakashi took their mugs to the sink, rinsing them and putting them in the dishwasher as Iruka followed him with theirs. It was quiet, and neither of them made a move to destroy the sudden peace.

After they stowed the mugs away, Iruka walked into his living room, and toward his armoire. He unlocked and opened it, and Kakashi got a good view of more scrolls and lots of standard medicine and medical supplies. Iruka pulled out a bundle of bandages and some antiseptic.

"The instructions Hokage-sama gave me requires someone to change my bandages," he explained as he sat down on his heels in front of the couch. He gestured for Kakashi to sit behind him on the couch and set about removing his vest and shirt. Kakashi had to help him remove the shirt, and when it was gone only stark white bandages – not so stark white on top of the wound – remained. Carefully (Kakashi didn't like the man, but that didn't mean he wished to cause harm), Kakashi removed the bandages around Iruka's chest.

Once they were all removed, he took a moment to study the puckered, red and scabbing flesh, black sutures patterned along the length, vertical. While he had seen worse (he is a shinobi – he's caused worse), it was still pretty bad, and he wondered how Iruka wasn't wanting to curl into a ball and cry. The grudging respect he had developed for the sensei grew, and he looked at the man in a newer light, eyes less clouded with previous bias. Iruka had a strong character to be able to maintain a straight face throughout the days.

They didn't speak as Kakashi cleaned around the edges of the wound and then re-bandaged it. And if Kakashi was gentler while helping Iruka put his shirt on, Iruka didn't say so.

…

As days passed, Kakashi learned much more from Iruka. He learned the full story of how he got the spinal injury, and he learned that Sasuke and Iruka had a special bond, quite unlike, but similar to Naruto and Iruka's relationship. Iruka won Sasuke's respect by just being himself. He didn't treat the Uchiha with pity, only sympathy. Iruka knew what it was like to lose parents, and he used what he went through to make a connection to the lonely boy. Sasuke was still a bit of a brat, and brooded more often than not, but he was . . . calmer, more relaxed around Iruka.

Sakura acted a bit ditzy around her previous sensei, but she was quite strong-headed and practical when he directed her through a taijutsu kata through voice alone. It was interesting to watch, how Sakura bloomed under Iruka's stern but positive reinforced teachings. In fact, all three of them seemed to work together much better under Iruka's supervision, and that was the deciding factor into Kakashi's new view of the man.

Iruka hated wearing socks under blankets, and he loved honey drops that he could suck on for hours, and he had the most tongue-in-cheek responses Kakashi had ever heard, and he laughed and forgave like he wouldn't make it to tomorrow and wanted to live until then. When his temper was pushed, it tore through the assailant like an earthquake, but he was just as quick to put things back in order, though never back to the way they were, because Iruka changed people for the better, just like he was changing Kakashi.

Kakashi learned to smile more genuinely, and stopped pretending to read his books around Iruka, because he was never lost in his thoughts when he was around the sensei.

The more he learned, the more he experienced, the more he fell.

…

It was Team 7's sixth week with Iruka when Kakashi kissed the sensei.

The kids were on their way out the door, each stopping to give parting words, and Naruto to give a hug, to the tanned sensei. They waved at Kakashi as he joined Iruka in the goodbyes. When they were gone, Kakashi helped Iruka put away the leftover food and dishes from that evening's dinner. Kakashi went to the bathroom to relieve himself afterwards, and when he walked back into the living room, the sight of Iruka kneeling before the couch with his chest bare broke his resolve.

The sight wasn't unfamiliar. It was the perspective his mind had taken that drew his eyes to the way Iruka's mouth as it curved up at his return, and at his soft, golden brown eyes and loose hair. The man was beautiful, and the sight of him literally made his heart hurt with the fullness of it.

Kakashi had stepped forward, fingers slipping his mask down to his chin faster than Iruka could blink, and then he was on his knees, too, lips pressed against soft pink ones, firmly but gently, taking but waiting.

And finally receiving as Iruka regained his senses and the courage to kiss back. It was hot, and slow, and filled with envy, passion, longing, and love. Kakashi's fingers slipped into course brown hair, tangling and pulling that warm, addicting face closer. The kiss picked up pace before they both broke it off, breathing raspy and desperate, and filled with a tentative hope for a new future, a future together.

Iruka smiled (and wasn't that the most breathtaking sight Kakashi had ever seen?), and Kakashi marveled. "You, Iruka-sensei, are the most stubborn, prissy, outgoing, strong, bold, charismatic, passionate, and forgiving person I know, and I love you."

Iruka threw his head back and laughter peeled about the room like liquid sunlight.

"Idiot."

…

Kakashi beamed with pride almost three months later, as Iruka produced signed rehabilitation papers to the Hokage. The old man leafed through them, a warm smile curving around his pipe, and he nodded once.

"Well then, Iruka-sensei, I believe it's time to put you back in the classroom. Young Shikamaru is having quite a bit of . . . trouble with the new bunch. They look like they need the firm hand of one of my finest sensei to guide them. Do you think you're up for it?"

There was a pause, and Iruka's beaming face lit up Kakashi's world.

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

…

A week later there was a yell of, "KONOHAMARU!"

And then there was laughter and a smattering of feet upon concrete. Kakashi stuck his head out of a tree just in time to see his Iruka tackle the mischievous child to the ground, rolling and bearing most of their weight on his back, and smiling as the pair stood back up without a single wince of pain.