Kakashi was lying in bed. Well he could lie in bed just as well as anywhere else.

"It really does hurt quite a lot Iruka."

"I don't believe you. You've caught me like this before. You know what they say, 'fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me'."

"I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

"I'm not going back in there, you should sleep, you'll need it. And besides I'm already showered and almost dressed. Get someone else to do it, Sakura or one of the other medics. This is important too."

"Being on time for a dull teacher's meeting is more important to you than I am?"

He heard something drop to the floor in the kitchen. "You know that's not true."

"You're the best, it will only take a minute. You know my body so much better than anyone else. If the muscle stays cramped like this I won't have full range of movement." He paused, letting the implications sink in.

Iruka opened the bedroom door and felt his chest tighten as he saw Kakashi lying naked, on his stomach, face half buried in a pillow. Morning sunlight from the window over the bed shone onto his pale skin making him glow like a fallen angel.

"Alright, where does it hurt?"

"Here in the hollow of my back, next to the spine."

Iruka sat on the bed and spread his hands on the white skin. "My mother called this 'laying on hands'. She showed me how. She had beautiful hands."

"You do too, everything about you is beautiful."

Iruka snorted. "You're lying here like this and you say I'm beautiful?" He pressed the palm of one hand down the length of the other man's spine, feeling it relax as he went, then curved it around the globe of his left buttock.

Kakashi rolled over to face him. "Just lie next to me for a little while."

"Do you mean lie or get laid? You just knew that once I got my hands on you I wouldn't be able to stop didn't you? Well they're probably going to drink coffee and chat for the first fifteen minutes anyway."

He slipped off his shirt and lay on the bed. "Kakashi, is there something about this mission you're not telling me?"

"I haven't told you anything, it's forbidden. You know that."

Kakashi traced his fingers over Iruka's scar, then his chin and throat, letting them find their own way down his body as he kissed him gently. He hadn't been lying, not really, it did hurt to leave Iruka, quite a lot. Especially when he knew there was a good chance he might not come back.

Iruka felt hands on the buttons of his pants and adjusted his position to give them better access. He knew that when he came home this evening it would be the black uniform that was missing from the closet. Every word from Kakashi's mouth might be untrue but he couldn't lie to him.