The Infected

Chapter 1

"Everything is Calm and Normal"

A brightly colored liquid began to bubble over a flame, its hue rapidly darkening, and Sasuke jotted down the reaction in his lab book. He'd been coming to school early for the past month to use the lab facilities for his science project. The lab was well stocked and the school was deserted in the mornings, so the arrangement was almost perfect for the anti-social boy, with only one exception.

"Maa...Sasuke, do you think Iruka likes red roses more than white ones?" his eccentric chemistry teacher mused aloud. He sat at his desk, reclined in a rolling chair, idly perusing a Japanese manga that was definitely not school appropriate.

"Teachers aren't supposed to discuss their personal lives with their students," Sasuke answered, without any hint of true annoyance in his tone. Despite Kakashi Hatake's oddities (including his unorthodox fixation with Iruka Umino), he was still by far Sasuke's favorite teacher. Sasuke knew that the silver-haired man was a genius and he respected his intelligence, even if he didn't understand why Mr. Hatake was working as a sophomore chemistry teacher instead of in a laboratory somewhere curing cancer. Hatake didn't offer the reason, and Sasuke didn't ask.

"I bet he'd prefer red. Hmmm...definitely red. I think I'll leave some on his desk tomorrow, and say they're from a secret admirer," Kakashi schemed. Sasuke huffed in amusement and jotted a few more notes down.

"First of all, everyone including him will know they're from you, and he'll only get embarrassed and teased about it. Secondly, while he may or may not share your orientation, its obvious to anyone with eyes that your advances make him uncomfortable," Sasuke assessed, as if he were a scientist analyzing a particularly uninteresting specimen. Kakashi pouted at his surly yet brilliant student's back and then flipped another page in his manga.

"He's not uncomfortable around me. We've been on several dates," Kakashi insisted, sounding only mildly defensive. Sasuke shot him a challenging look.

"How many of these so called 'dates' were the mentoring sessions the principal ordered him to attend with you?" Kakashi's sour expression told the Uchiha his hypothesis had been correct. His victory was short-lived, however. Kakashi grinned at him suddenly, with scary cheerfulness, his vaguely Asiatic eyes squinting happily into little upside down Us.

"You made a miscalculation about three steps ago, Sasuke." The dark-haired boy turned back to his project hastily, just in time for the chemical he was working with to belch a particularly putrid smelling cloud of gas into his face. He gagged, frantically trying to wave away the cloud of fumes.

"Don't worry, it's not dangerous to breathe, though it might sting a bit," Kakashi added. Sasuke's lungs were burning, not merely stinging, and he scowled heatedly as his irritating teacher as his project literally went up in smoke.

"You could have said something!" Sasuke accused indignantly. His teacher flipped another page in his book and merely grinned.

"Ah, but Sasuke, science is all about those little surprises that make it fascinating."

"Damn it. This is completely ruined," Sasuke grumbled, surveying the angry liquids festering over their burners. "I'll have to wait till after the weekend now. How annoying."

"I'd let you come in after class today, but Iruka and I have a date."

"Mentoring session," Sasuke replied caustically. Kakashi just grinned. His rebuttal ("No, Sasuke, it's definitely a date.") was partially drowned out by the bell ringing and the clatter of Sasuke hastily tidying up his workstation. Sasuke collected his things and slung his book bag over his shoulder.

"I assume I'll see you third period, then?" Sasuke asked. Kakashi made a noise behind his book that could have either been confirmation or denial. Sasuke's class with Kakashi wasn't until the end of the day, but he had homeroom for a half-hour before third period with Umino, and since Kakashi's conference period was during second, he'd fallen into a daily habit of paying the language teacher a friendly (though usually unwelcome) visit. Despite his seeming lack of enthusiasm, Sasuke knew he'd be seeing Kakashi on his way into Umino's classroom, when Kakashi was heading back to his own classroom after yet another embarrassing attempt to flirt with the new teacher.

Kakashi finally tucked his yaoi manga away and glanced at his sloppily written lesson plans. None of his classes were doing lab work, which meant it would be yet another boring day with only his Iruka-time to make things interesting. Kakashi stood and stretched his tall, lanky frame and then uncapped a dry-erase marker, scrawling some barely legible notes across the pristine, white board.

His students shuffled in and quieted with little fuss. Kakashi pretended to take attendance while secretly not giving a shit, and then proceeded to lecture on auto-pilot, while his mind was actually puzzling over an unexpected development in one of his pet projects at home. Using this technique of mental multi-tasking, Thursday morning quickly slipped away and it was his and Iruka's free period.

The addition of Iruka Umino to the staff had been one of the happiest days in Kakashi's recent memory. Iruka Umino was young and new to the country, and he still possessed the fiery motivation all new teachers have to change the world one class at a time. While Kakashi had learned that Iruka had spent some time in the States as a child, he was still largely unaccustomed to American life and the education system in particular. For that reason, Principal Tsunade had thought to appoint Kakashi as a mentor of sorts, since Kakashi had been teaching for over five years and also spoke Japanese. He'd even lived in Japan with his parents for a year as a child, but then his parents had died and he'd gone back to the Sates and the care of his maternal grandparents.

Kakashi had at first disliked the idea of having to babysit the newbie, but after one look at Iruka Umino in their first staff meeting, he'd been singing a different tune. The man was gorgeous. He was dark in skin-tone for a Japanese man, but he had the most beautiful chocolate colored, almond shaped eyes. His hair wasn't the typical black shade either, but it was a lustrous auburn with the satiny shine and natural straightness of Asiatic hair. Kakashi assumed (though Iruka always avoided the topic of his parents) that the man was also bi-racial. He liked to think Iruka's non-Asian half was something more exotic than American, though, perhaps Indian or Spanish.

He made the short trip to Iruka's hallway, passing his long time friend Asuma on the way and inquiring politely about Kurenai's health. The two happily married teachers were eight months pregnant, and Kurenai would be going on maternity leave in just a few short weeks.

"She's doing good. Not feeling nearly as sick now. I know she's getting tired of me always trying to get her to eat something," Asuma replied, already grinning that 'I'm-going-to-be-a-daddy' grin.

"Still doing alright on the patch?" Kakashi asked with a smirk. Kurenai had requested the gruff math teacher ditch his addiction, for the health of their baby. Kakashi knew, however, that Asuma still sneaked off sometimes during their conference period for a quick smoke behind the school—that was, in fact, probably where he was headed. A guilty grin was Kakashi's answer.

"You going to see Iruka?" Asuma asked knowingly, nodding his head in the vague direction of Iruka's classroom. It was Kakashi's turn to flash a grin.

"I think I'm making progress," he commented optimistically. At the end of the hallway, a kid slouched by in a lazy stroll, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. Kakashi and Asuma could see his i-pod headphones even from the end of the hallway.

"Shikamaru, skipping class again and listening to that damned music player that I take up every other day. That kid's gonna drive me crazy this year. I better go get him back where he's supposed to be. Later, Kakashi," Asuma said, heading off down the hall after the brilliant slacker.

Kakashi continued on to Iruka's classroom, where the soft sounds of traditional Japanese music could be heard, along with a conversation spoken entirely and fluidly in the language. Kakashi's brain immediately clicked over into Japanese, and he pushed open the slightly open door to see Iruka leaning against his desk conversing with one of his seniors and fluent speakers, a boy named Haku. Kakashi had taught him three years ago—he was a good kid, though obviously very different. He sometimes wore girl's clothing to school, but he didn't seemed to be teased much for it. The only other times Kakashi saw him outside of Iruka's classroom, he was always hanging around the school's security guard, never talking, just standing close nearby and placidly watching students shuffle past.

Iruka, however, seemed to really like the feminine Japanese-American.

"I was homesick at first, but it's not too bad now," Iruka was saying. They looked up when he entered.

"Hello, Iruka, am I interrupting?" Kakashi asked with a smile. Haku's intelligent eyes darted between them both and then he smiled knowingly at the blush on Iruka's face, and the flash of mild irritation in his expressive eyes.

"No, Mr. Hatake, you aren't interrupting. Haku and I were just chatting. He's a library-aid next period, so he can usually stay a bit longer to talk with me. I miss hearing fluent Japanese, so it's always a treat for me," Iruka said, giving the slender boy a fond smile. Haku tucked some of his long dark hair behind a delicate ear and once again looked between them both meaningfully.

"Mr. Hatake speaks Japanese, too, doesn't he?" Haku asked. So far, no English had been spoken.

"Yes, but I've discovered Mr. Hatake's Japanese vocabulary is not always entirely appropriate." Haku laughed, and it sounded more like the soft giggle of a girl rather than the laughter of a seventeen year old teenage boy.

"It's probably due to his choice in reading material. It's quite distinctive, if I remember correctly," Haku replied, obviously teasing. It was no secret that Hatake openly read books that were borderline pornographic during school hours. Somehow, he'd managed to get away with it for years. "Well, I better be going. I'll see you tomorrow, Iruka-sensei." The Japanese boy bowed politely and then left, flashing Kakashi a sweetly encouraging smile as he left. "Good luck," he muttered in English.

Iruka clearly didn't hear the comment, as he had moved back around his desk and was stacking up some papers that needed to be graded.

"Having a good morning?" Kakashi asked. The brunet man smiled at him and shrugged his shoulders. Today, he was wearing a light blue button up shirt and a soft white, V-necked sweater. He'd already taken his tie off, and the top few buttons were undone on his shirt, giving the outfit a more relaxed look than Kakashi was accustomed to seeing him wear. He definitely liked it. Kakashi wore the same khaki pants, dress shirt, tie and sport jacket combo nearly every day of the year, but Iruka was always finding ways to look both professional and youthful at the same time.

"I was about to get some coffee in the staff room. Would you like to come along?" Iruka asked him politely. Kakashi smiled.

"I don't drink coffee, but I'll walk with you," he replied. Iruka blushed again, and Kakashi reveled in it. The man was endlessly amusing.

"I thought we weren't meeting until after school today, Mr. Hatake. Has something come up and you can't make it?" Iruka asked. Kakashi tried not to be hurt that Iruka's tone sounded almost hopeful. He knew the teacher disliked the idea of having a mentor now that he'd pretty much figured things out, but Kakashi kept suggesting times for them to meet with the hope that one day soon they'd talk less and less about how Iruka's classes were going and more and more about the naughty things they could do to each other in bed.

"I've told you to call me Kakashi a million times, haven't I? And no, we can still meet after school today. I just know we have the same conference period, and I like to spend it with you."

The teacher, predictably, flushed with color. "It's very thoughtful of you, but I'm really quite settled now. I can make it through the morning without needing a counselor...barely," Iruka joked, thinking fondly of his third period class and particularly of a certain boisterous blond that was always causing chaos. Thoughts of Naruto's antics made him smile, and Kakashi hoped the gentle expression was for him.

"I'm not that serious about my mentoring assignment, Iruka. I just like spending time with you," Kakashi replied, as they began to walk down the hallway. This time, Iruka responded to his teasing with misdirection instead of denial.

"So, do you have any fun plans for the weekend?" Iruka asked. Kakashi continued to glance at the man with fond, adoring looks as they walked and conversed, looks which Iruka pretended he didn't notice.

"Maaa...nothing too exciting, though I'm sure I could think of something entertaining that we could do if you'd like some company." The language teacher tensed up, and hastily entered the staff room, stammering out that he already had other plans, but thanking him for trying to make him feel welcome on the staff. Kakashi grinned at how purposefully obtuse Iruka was being. It was obvious he couldn't bring himself to be impolite, but it was also clear Kakashi's increased flirting was pushing the man into a corner.

As he fixed his coffee in the empty staff room, he concentrated on the machine with all the intensity of someone diffusing a bomb. Deciding to give the amusing man some time to cool off, Kakashi idly wandered over to the snack machine and purchased a cereal bar. He'd woken up late that morning and missed his usual breakfast of fruit salad and toast.

"What do you usually eat for breakfast, Iruka?" Kakashi asked, watching the little coil of metal rotate and drop his bar to the bottom of the machine.

"Um...lots of things, I suppose. Back home I had a more traditional breakfast of rice and whatever else I had lying around, but lately I've been stopping at a kolache place by my apartment." The word 'kolache' sounded funny when Iruka pronounced it, and Kakashi grinned. Everything about Iruka was sexy, especially his hint of an accent.

Kakashi took a bite of the cereal bar, surreptitiously checking out Iruka's posterior as he bent over to search for a coffee mug in the cabinets. Oh yeah, when he said everything about Iruka was sexy, he meant everything. Especially that part.

The teacher stood, mug in hand, and waited for the coffee pot to fill. He glanced back, clearly to see what Kakashi was up to, and seemed unnerved to find himself being stared at.

"Did a student put a note on my back or something?" Iruka asked, his pony tail swinging as he tried to pat at his own back to find what Kakashi was looking at so intensely.

"There's nothing on your back, Iruka, don't worry," Kakashi assured. He didn't, however, offer an explanation as to why he'd been blatantly staring. Kakashi decided to push his luck a little further today. "You know, for our date today, there's a coffee place near my house that's pretty good. If you like coffee, we could get a bite to eat there while we talk." So far, their "dates" had only been at the school. Iruka shifted uncomfortably.

"Err...thank you for the invitation, but it would really be more convenient for me to talk in my classroom like usual." For the first time on his self-appointed mission to flirt with the adorable teacher, Kakashi wondered if Iruka was straight and just too embarrassed to say so.

"Do you have plans this afternoon, with a new girlfriend, perhaps?" Kakashi asked. The Japanese man blushed yet again and busied himself with pouring a mug of coffee. Kakashi noted with amusement that he added a ton of sugar and cream to the bitter drink, till it looked more like hot chocolate.

"No girlfriend, I just offered to treat Naruto to some ramen this afternoon," Iruka replied. Kakashi's eyebrows arched in surprise.

"He's that loud kid always hanging around Sasuke Uchiha, right?" Kakashi didn't have him in any of his classes—all his students were advanced learners. Iruka smiled at the description and blew delicately on his cup of caramel colored coffee. The aroma was soothing, and he let it calm his frayed nerves. He didn't know why he always felt so on edge around the odd chemistry teacher, but lately he was beginning to suspect that man was flirting with him. At least, that's what all his students told him. He had a hard time believing that, though, preferring to think Kakashi's behavior was just friendliness.

"Yes, he's best friends with Sasuke. He lives in the apartment next to mine, but his father is a businessman and never seems to be home, always working late. Children shouldn't be left alone so much of the time, so I try to treat him to dinner every now and then and in return he's been helping me get settled in the city."

Kakashi smiled, but inwardly he was cursing his luck for not being the one with the apartment next to the sexy teacher. This did open up new possibilities, though. If Iruka was close to Naruto, and Naruto was best friends with Sasuke, and Sasuke was his evil prodigy, then just maybe...

Kakashi's scheming was interrupted by the entrance of some English teachers, all of them close to retirement, who quickly took to fussing in a motherly fashion over Iruka. Kakashi watched in amusement as the older ladies pushed parts of their home-baked lunches on him, even giving him baked goods they'd brought especially for him. With his arms full of cookies, cakes, and samples of what he'd been assured was simply the best recipe for the dish that he would ever put in his mouth, Iruka managed to escape the staff room with Kakashi on his heels.

"When did you charm the English department?" Kakashi asked, his amusement written all over his face. The blushing language teacher merely shook his head.

"I'm starting to learn that politeness and common courtesy is highly appreciated by the elderly in America. It's more expected behavior in Japan, but here they all want me to marry their daughters," Iruka joked weakly. Kakashi plucked a little plastic bag full of what looked like chocolate-chip cookies off the top of the pile.

"Do you mind?" Kakashi asked. Iruka shook his head.

"Help yourself. If I eat all the things they keep baking for me, I'm going to gain fifty pounds. I usually just let the students eat it."

"Ah, and that would explain why they're all so fond of you—not that it's surprising. Who wouldn't be fond of you?" Kakashi asked, idly eating one of the delicious cookies. They were scrumptious. Buttering up to the book club had its perks, apparently. Beside him, the adorable brunet blushed yet again and averted his eyes.

The short walk back to Iruka's classroom ended and he dumped his armload of goodies onto a spare desk. The classical Japanese music was still playing softly, and Iruka dropped into his chair with a sigh, rubbing tiredly at his eyes and then yawning hugely. He covered his mouth a second too late and then looked hastily at Kakashi.

"Excuse me, I don't know why I'm so tired today," Iruka apologized. Kakashi worked on his second cookie as he half-sat on a student desk, merely watching the object of his affections. Iruka couldn't meet his eyes for long, and nervously looked out his window. "So...err...how have your classes been going, Mr. Hatake?" Iruka asked. Kakashi shook his head with exasperation.

"Kakashi. Call me Kakashi," he repeated. "And my classes are boring as usual. Sasuke Uchiha's been keeping things interesting in the mornings, though. I think he's got his eye set on winning the National Science Fair this year, and he's been dabbling in things way over his head with highly amusing results."

The brunet smiled politely. Kakashi wanted to get underneath that polite smile. He wanted Iruka to smile at him like he was the love of his life. 'Patience,' Hatake mentally reminded himself, 'Just have patience!'

"I'd tell you how my classes were going, but then we wouldn't have much to talk about this afternoon," Iruka replied. Kakashi's look turned a little sultry.

"Oh, I'm sure we could find something to talk about," Kakashi said, his flirtatious intent glaringly obvious—to anyone but Iruka, of course.

"Yes, I didn't mean to imply that you weren't interesting company Mr. Ha—I mean Kakashi," Iruka replied neutrally. The eyes Kakashi was so entranced by darted to the clock on the wall, as if the man was wondering if he was going to get any of his conference period to himself. If Kakashi were polite, he'd make his excuses and leave, but Iruka was the polite one—he was a man on a mission to seduce.

"Iruka, can I ask you a personal question?" Kakashi began. The Japanese man's eyes widened apprehensively, and Kakashi didn't miss the nervous gulp.

"Err, I suppose so," he replied. Kakashi grinned, a little lecherously.

"Do you prefer white roses or red ones?" he asked, tilting his head in curiosity, his eyes arching happily as he smiled. He didn't miss Iruka's look of complete bewilderment.

"I'm afraid I don't understand why..." Iruka began to say, but then he trailed off, looking at Kakashi as if seeing him for the first time. "Mr. Hatake, I'm afraid I have to ask...are you...um...flirting with me?" He looked so embarrassed as he asked, that Kakashi could only just barely hold back uproarious laughter. True, Kakashi had been particularly bold today, but he'd been flirting with the man for three months now—everybody knew that. Iruka was slow on the uptake, but Kakashi just found it endearing. He stood, casually dropping the left-over cookies on the desk and closing the distance between himself and the flustered teacher. The brunet stood nervously as he was approached, taking a half-step backwards. Kakashi advanced closer still and Iruka backed up again, his back gently colliding with his white-board. Making his intentions very obvious, Kakashi placed a hand on the board beside Iruka's head, leaning over to speak directly into Iruka's ear.

"You're adorable when you blush, you know that?" Kakashi half-whispered, smirking against Iruka's soft cheek. Up so close, he could hear Iruka's quick gasp and saw the way the man's hands tightly gripped the chalk rack behind him.

Whatever Iruka's reply might have been was interrupted by the loud clanging of the school bells. Pleased with the timing, Kakashi pulled back quickly and casually waved goodbye over his shoulder.

"I'll see you later, Iruka-sensei," he practically purred, making the man's title seem naughty somehow. The earliest of Iruka's homeroom students began to pile in, Sasuke among them. He took one look at his flushed Japanese language teacher still gripping his white-board and almost looking as pale, and came to the conclusion he'd just missed what was probably a text-book case of sexual harassment amongst co-workers. His best friend, a blond whirlwind more commonly known as Naruto Uzumaki, came barreling into the classroom, followed by the unnervingly quite transfer student from Egypt, Gaara Suna. Gaara went to his spot and didn't say anything to any of them, though he watched them all intensely with his flat green eyes. Naruto took one look at his stunned teacher and let out a cheery laugh.

"Geez, Iruka-sensei, you look like you've just seen a ghost!" At the blond's loud comment, the teacher literally blushed from head to toe, turning an almost alarming shade of red. Sasuke smirked. For the first time, Iruka-sensei looked completely ruffled by Hatake's efforts. Sasuke idly wondered if Kakashi had finally grown tired of Umino's naiveté and decided just to kiss the man. He didn't particularly want to know. He took his usual seat, only glancing up again when Sakura Haruno came running in. She was a friendly girl, very smart, with grades only a little lower than his own. The irony of the fact that both of them were good friends with Naruto, the worst ranked student in their year, didn't escape them.

"Hey guys, hi Iruka-sensei!" She chirruped happily. Upon noticing the extreme blush on her teacher she gave him a more assessing stare. "Oh no, what did Mr. Hatake do today?" she asked, directing the question more at Sasuke and Naruto rather than the flustered language teacher. Iruka cleared his throat, nervously fussing with the papers on his desk.

"That's enough about that, you three. Absolutely nothing is out of the ordinary!" Iruka insisted, his blush slowly fading. Sasuke and Sakura exchanged amused glances while Naruto looked at all of them confusedly.

"Huh? What did that pervy guy Hatake do?" he asked.

"Naruto! He's not a...well...he is a pervert, but you should show respect to your teachers!" Iruka chastised. Sasuke almost chuckled at the usually sweet-natured teacher. Hatake must have really pushed his buttons if the polite man was now acknowledging the universally known truth that he was a pervert. The desks around him filled and Naruto dropped into his own spot after grabbing some of the sweets Iruka usually had sitting in his classroom. Sasuke shook his head disapprovingly—the last thing Naruto needed was sugar. At least he had gym after homeroom, and would burn off the high.

The late bell chimed and announcements came on. They said the pledge and then Iruka passed out some paperwork about photograph day for the yearbook, which was fast approaching.

"I'm also supposed to remind you that the homecoming dance tickets are quickly selling out, and if you'd like to buy some, you can speak with Sakura."

"And you should buy some—it's going to be the best dance of the year, and remember that since we're sophomores, we can't go to prom unless it's with a senior, so this might be your only chance this year to attend a school dance," Sakura interjected. She concluded her sales pitch by darting a hopeful glance at Sasuke. The dark haired boy had not requested to buy tickets yet, and Sakura had turned down two other boys already in the hope that Sasuke would ask her. Sasuke returned her look with a slightly raised brow, as if asking why she was staring at him.

'Ugh! Boys are hopeless!' Sakura fumed. The bell clanged yet again, and the students shuffled out. Only the three friends, along with the ever silent Gaara, lingered behind. Sasuke got the impression Gaara was hoping to walk with Naruto, though it was difficult to pin down the strange kid's motives. Some days he acted like he didn't see any of them, and other days he stuck to Naruto like his second shadow. Naruto, meanwhile, was hanging around Iruka's desk, turning his puppy-dog stare on high potency.

"You're still taking me out for ramen later, right Iruka-sensei?" Naruto confirmed. The soft-hearted teacher smiled at his favorite student and nodded.

"Of course, Naruto, wouldn't miss it for the world. Remember what I said, though—you need to start focusing more in your classes. I only treat hard-working students to ramen," Iruka encouraged. Naruto beamed and flashed a thumbs-up.

"If it's for ramen, I'll make straight As!" Sakura and Sasuke exchanged amused looks and then dragged the boy out of Iruka's classroom, Gaara following quietly behind.

"Come on, Naruto, or you'll be late for gym and have to run laps," Sakura said. Iruka watched the four students go, still smiling fondly. He realized that no matter how many years he ended up teaching, he was always going to remember these kids especially—his first ever students.

The rest of the day went by quickly, and Iruka assumed that was because he was dreading the visit that would come after the final bell. It wasn't that he was opposed to dating a man, it was simply that he didn't have hardly any experience when it came to such matters. Kakashi's smooth lines and unshakable confidence about it all was a little unnerving. As his last student filed out, Kakashi appeared in his doorway, a spray of red and white roses in hand.

"I noticed the gardening club was cultivating these out in the greenhouses, and they were more than happy to donate some in the name of romance," Kakashi explained. Iruka blushed—again—and had that jittery feeling in his stomach, like he'd eaten live fish that kept flopping around inside him.

"Um...thank-you...they're very...flowery," Iruka stuttered, taking the armful of flowers a bit awkwardly and then obviously unclear about where to put them. After a flustered moment of hesitation, he laid them down on a clear part of his desk. Kakashi smiled at him.

"Yes, I thought they were especially flowery, too. So, let's get business out of the way so we can move onto more interesting subjects. Do you have any questions about anything? Your students, your classes, the building? No? That's great. Say, Iruka, are you free this Friday night?" The silver-haired man was invading his personal space again, and even though Iruka realized now that the man had been flirting with him probably since school started months ago, he still felt like all of it was happening with startling speed.

"I...uh...I did have a question! We got that notice in our boxes..." Iruka trailed off as he realized that, yet again, the taller man was skillfully attempting to corner him. He realized with no small amount of alarm that a traitorous part of his mind suddenly liked the idea of being cornered very much.

"Mmm-hmmm—about the fire drill next week?" Kakashi prompted, staring fixedly at Iruka's lips as the flustered man darted his pink tongue over them nervously.

"Yes, that, and I was a little unclear on...on..." Iruka's words faded away as Kakashi leaned in, chastely slanting his mouth over Iruka's. The brunet let out a small whimper of mingled nerves and encouragement, and let his eyes drift shut. His arms wrapped around Kakashi's torso of their own accord, and he leaned into the tall American's gentle kiss. He'd been kissed before, a few times during college, but nothing that electrified him like this did. His co-worker pulled back a few inches, grinned at Iruka's intoxicating expression, and then affectionately kissed the tip of Iruka's nose.

"You'll take your class down the south stairway, and out towards the parking lots," Kakashi said, answering his earlier question. Iruka blinked confusedly.

"Huh?" he asked, clearly dazed. Kakashi laughed, and then tucked a wayward strand of Iruka's long hair behind the curve of his ear.

"You asked me about the fire drill, remember?" The language teacher looked embarrassed, and then purposefully put some distance between them, smoothing out his clothing and hair.

"Right, of course, south stairway. Thank-you."

"And the answer to my question?" Kakashi prompted, casually slipping his hands into his pockets and enjoying watching the flustered motions of his heart's desire.

"I don't know, I mean, I should probably check my calendar..." Iruka replied distractedly. Kakashi just grinned.

"Say you'll go on a date with me, Iruka, this Friday." The brunet stilled and actually looked at him for the first time, without blushing or averting his eyes. He gave Kakashi an adorable half-smile.

"Okay. I would like that," he agreed. Kakashi nodded, satisfied, and resisted the urge to kiss the alluring teacher again, because he knew if he did that, then there was no way he'd be able to let the teacher go on with his afternoon plans. Besides, the first kiss had gotten the job done—Iruka finally looked like he'd woken up and (Kakashi glanced at Iruka's desk amusedly) smelled the roses, so to speak.

Kakashi collected his things from his classroom and locked up, thinking dreamily all the while about Iruka. It had been so long since he'd been interested in something other than his research, but the man had completely seduced him without even trying. As Kakashi drove to his small apartment closer to the heart of the city, he thought of what he should wear, where he would take him, and sternly reminded himself not to push for anything more than a kiss; it was obvious, after all, that he'd need to move slowly with Iruka. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't hear the repetitive beeping of his slender black cell phone, alerting him that he had a text message.

Kakashi reached his apartment and took his briefcase inside, setting it down in the small entrance hallway and saying a quick greeting to his houseplant that sat on his nearby window ledge.

"The roses were a good idea, Mr. Ukki. We have a date on Friday," Kakashi said, not at all perturbed by the fact that he held imaginary conversations with his little green friend. Kakashi hung his jacket on the coat rack, toed out of his shoes near the hallway table, and dropped his keys in a little dish he kept just for that purpose. He tended to lose them if he wasn't careful. His apartment was clean but not fastidiously so, there were a few old science journals spread out on his coffee table that he'd been looking over the previous night, and a basket of his laundry sat patiently on the couch, waiting to be folded and ironed. It was a beautiful, sunny Californian afternoon, and Kakashi contemplated the idea of getting out of the make-shift lab in his second bedroom and going for a walk. His kiss with Iruka had given him a new zest for life, he realized with a grin.

He emerged from his bedroom in a relaxed pair of jeans, barefoot, wearing his favorite green T-shirt that had been washed to complete softness. He jauntily grabbed an apple in his kitchen, tossing it in the air a few times before he took a satisfying bite. He hummed a little tune as he searched his nearly empty fridge for something to eat, and then he finally heard it.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Kakashi stood, the cool air from his refrigerator rushing out into his small kitchen. He closed the door, padding over to his front door where he'd left his briefcase.

'I wonder who could be sending me a text message?' Kakashi thought as he located the small device and pressed a few buttons. He didn't get phone calls very often, and for a second he wondered if somehow Iruka had obtained his number and was sending him a flirty little note.

The sender's name was hauntingly familiar—Rin Kishimoto. This was definitely not going to be a flirtatious note, then. Kakashi was almost afraid to open it, his mind racing with all the reasons (none of them good) that his old co-worker might have for sending him something. They'd been friends once, but they hadn't parted on friendly terms, and the people Rin still worked for were a dangerous group. To be honest, Kakashi had been lucky to get out of that circle alive.

With a sense of dread, he clicked on the 'open' button. The message was brief and chilling.

Get out of the city – Rin

Kakashi swallowed thickly and wondered what his chances were of convincing Iruka to come with him to his cabin in the woods for the weekend so early on in their relationship. The message destroyed his good mood, and left him fretting about what to do. He assumed he had a little time, at least, but he quickly turned on his small television to be sure. The newsman was running through reports of burglaries and celebrities—and making no mention whatsoever about impending disaster. Of course, that didn't mean much, but it slightly reassured him.

Kakashi knew that if Rin was contacting him, it could only be because of one thing. She still worked for labs that did dangerous experimentation, and something dangerous was probably about to hit the city. For years he'd lived alone without anyone to really care for, but now his thoughts raced to Iruka. Sure, the man could navigate his way to the grocery store and had learned how to hail a cab, but if something truly horrific were to happen in the city, any kind of crisis the sort of which Rin was forecasting, the foreigner would be all but helpless. As far as Kakashi knew, the man didn't even own a car. He would be trapped in the city with no friends or family to aid him through the disaster. Someway, somehow, Kakashi knew tomorrow at school he had to convince the teacher to come with him.

It was risky, and it could backfire horribly, but one sure-fire way of getting Iruka into his car was to pretend they were going on their date, and then Kakashi could simply start driving up into the mountains. Iruka would probably be angry and frightened, but hopefully he would thank Kakashi later. Kakashi realized he would also have to tip off Sasuke, somehow. The boy was smart and he knew Kakashi wouldn't joke around about something of that nature. Hopefully he'd heed Kakashi's warning and convince his parents to take him somewhere for the weekend, out of harm's way.

Kakashi sighed, angrily deleting the ominous text message. He'd have to get ready for what could potentially be a long stay at his cabin.