"How was your mission really?" Iruka asked, leaning on the back of the couch and running his fingers through the fluffy spikes of Kakashi's hair. Kakashi didn't startle, but then, Iruka didn't expect him to, even if Iruka had come up behind him.

"Hn?" Kakashi asked softly, lowering his book and tipping his head back into the touch.

"Your mission." Iruka repeated, raising his eyebrows.

"A simple D-rank." Kakashi pointed out, with a slow blink. Iruka knew that, of course, as he had both passed over the mission scroll and accepted the report after its completion - on time, as they so rarely were from Kakashi.

"It was." A dull-as-dirt mission to assist on a farm. "For which you looked entirely too entertained upon your return." Iruka said wryly. "I know you. Just tormenting your poor genin wouldn't have you that pleased with yourself."

"Maybe it did." Kakashi countered playfully, and Iruka snorted, tugging lightly at his hair. "Ah, they have spent the last week trying to get a look behind my mask." Kakashi's fingers fluttered along the top edge of the fabric hiding much of his face. "I gather they thought the mission would offer a better opportunity after their repeated failures."

Iruka blinked rapidly, more surprised than he should have been - what was hidden behind Kakashi's mask had been a topic of discussion that flew around the village at irregular intervals for years. Kakashi was usually more aggravated than amused by the attempts to get him to remove it - or to take it off him - but then. . . He held something more of a soft spot for his team, and they would certainly have been less trouble than Kakashi's fellow jounin were, when they got bored and started trying to divest him of his mask.

"I finally showed them, on the way home." Kakashi said, and Iruka's eyes widened.

Kakashi's visible eye crinkled in a smile. Iruka narrowed his eyes and pinned Kakashi with a look. Kakashi raised a hand, beckoning to him, and Iruka walked around the couch, not terribly surprised when he was pulled down into Kakashi's lap. He shifted, making himself more comfortable there, and resumed his suspicious look.

"See for yourself." Kakashi invited, lifting his chin slightly.

Iruka eyed him dubiously. Iruka had seen under Kakashi's mask for the first time many years ago, though he hadn't quite put the battered young ANBU together with the famous last of the Hatakes until much later. Iruka had been devastated in the aftermath of losing his parents, back then, and hardly thinking of the boy with the broken porcelain mask who had scooped him up in the steely clasp of one thin arm and carried him away from the burning battlefield the Kyuubi had left behind despite his struggles.

Iruka had seen under Kakashi's mask many times since then, as well, over the past couple of years, even if few others had. Gai, perhaps. Tsunade, possibly - she was funny about which patient foibles she would work around and which she would dismiss entirely.

Still, Kakashi only gestured shallowly with a tilt of his head, and Iruka shook his head slightly as he obediently reached up to tug the mask away. It wasn't like he was resistant to the idea of unmasking Kakashi.

Iruka stilled for a moment as he got the mask away from Kakashi's nose, then brought it down the rest of the way to hang around Kakashi's neck with one smooth pull, lips quirking. "What in the world." He pursed his lips, meeting Kakashi's gaze.

Kakashi grinned, though it was a little difficult to tell, beneath the second mask he was wearing.

"So how did they react?" Iruka asked, trailing his index finger along the loose curve of the lowered mask.

"They nearly collapsed right there in the street in front of me." Kakashi said, and he was definitely grinning now. "Wailing." he added smugly. Not bothering to hide his own amused grin, Iruka pulled away the second mask - Kakashi protested with a pouty yelp - and kissed him.

Kakashi didn't hold out very long feigning displeasure before returning the kiss, and Iruka purred happily against his mouth, releasing the loose mask and sliding his hand into Kakashi's hair instead. Kakashi's hands curled around his hips, tugging him a little closer, pulling him up along slender, hard thighs.

Iruka rubbed his nose against his lover's as he pulled back. "You'll have to tell me what they tried before just asking." he said, amused, and tugged playfully at the loose fabric gathered around Kakashi's neck.

Kakashi smiled, his gorgeous mouth tugging slightly crooked with the expression. Iruka kissed the tip of his nose, and Kakashi wrinkled it up like a puppy.

Iruka had never told him the way his face crinkled - nose wrinkling, lips pursing into a pout - at that particular affectionate gesture put Iruka in mind of a puppy, because Kakashi would probably make an effort to stop if he knew, but Iruka still thought it was cute, every time.

"Ah, there were some enemy nin - I suppose? - that kept trailing us around trying to assassinate me, too." Kakashi commented, and Iruka froze.

"What?" Iruka asked in a low tone, glaring. His fingers tightened.

"Now now," Kakashi soothed, "they were harmless. They tried using hiccup poison, Iruka-love. Hiccup poison. Against me. Hell, my brats stole their clothes while they were stalking me."

". . .stole their clothes?" Iruka repeated, one eye twitching. "Why? How?"

"Onsen. Apparently Naruto had the idea of appropriating them for the kids to put on the guise of being enemy nin." Kakashi said, and Iruka sat back a little, strangling down the urge to laugh at the mental image he now had, or shake Kakashi in lieu of having Team Seven to hand to shake them for being so foolhardy. "They became," Kakashi paused, "frustrated," his sharp mouth angled into a smirk, "with their attempts at my mask."

"You?" Iruka said, fluttering his lashes as though in overwhelming disbelief. "Frustrating? Why my darling I simply cannot believe it!"

Kakashi pinched his ass, and Iruka let out a loud yelp, laughing even as he jerked forwards, falling against Kakashi's chest. He looked quite pleased with himself, his arms slipping around Iruka's waist and keeping him close.

"You were all right, though, yes?" Iruka questioned, softer.

Kakashi made a low noise in his throat and nodded. "I don't know who trained them, but they were hardly worth being called enemy nin. Your pre-genin could have run them in circles easily." He paused, with a considering hum. "Any of the Academy pre-genin. Yours are pretty tough."

Iruka smiled despite himself. "So you had a fun D-rank mission." he said wryly.

"Don't let it get out." Kakashi teased, fingertips playing along Iruka's waistband, just over one hip. "I have a reputation." Iruka laughed, tilting his head and looking at his lover. That was certainly true. "And I don't want to make it seem like I'd be happy with too many more like that one. My brats might kill me if they keep getting boring missions."

Iruka hid another laugh against Kakashi's cheek, then kissed it lightly. "Our secret." he promised with an impish grin. "As long as you tell me the full story."

"Why Iruka, are you blackmailing me?" Kakashi asked with feigned shock. He tugged Iruka down for a light kiss. "Deal."

I rewatched this episode recently (Gotta See! Gotta Know! Kakashi-Sensei's True Face! - season three, episode 18) and . . . well, story idea. XD