His head pounded to the beat of the music, and Iruka wondered why he'd come here in the first place. Oh yes, Naruto. The young man had seemed depressed about something lately. Even Sasuke hadn't been able to cheer him up, so Iruka had decided to invite him to this party. He hadn't realized it would turn into a booze-fest with music loud enough to wake the dead. Perhaps he should have. It was Kiba's Bachelor Party after all. Iruka groaned as pain shot through his skull for the hundredth time, and downed another shot to numb his headache. He'd just about made up his mind to leave when a man sat down next to him, to his left.

Iruka didn't know what it was about the mysterious Jounin, but lately just seeing that man was enough to make his legs feel a little unsteady, set his heart racing, and put a fluttering in his stomach. He had no clue what all of those feelings were supposed to mean, but they'd been getting worse with each passing month. For years the two of them had been regularly spending time together, mostly going to Ichiraku Ramen, or sometimes just walking around the village together. Kakashi loved saying things to make him blush, which Iruka had to admit he found both annoying and mildly enjoyable.

It was almost like having an older brother. A highly perverted older brother. Pranking Kakashi for revenge had only served to increase the sense of bonding, not to mention Iruka found it highly entertaining. It had been YEARS since he'd faced such a challenge for his gifts, and knowing that he'd gotten THE Hatake Kakashi of the Sharingan was always deeply satisfying. At first they'd met up so Iruka could keep informed about Naruto, his favourite student. Somewhere along the line though, that had changed.

They'd started talking about themselves, their pasts, their secrets, and a million other little things which they'd never really talked about with anyone else. It was almost like they were dating or something. Just the thought was enough to make Iruka blush. That didn't make him gay, did it? Maybe he was bi… Then again, that might explain why he'd never really been interested in any of the women he'd spent time with before. Luckily, when Kakashi put his hand on Iruka's shoulder, he was too drunk to flinch in surprise. "Ooooooooooooi, Earth to Iruka-sensei… Jeez, are you that drunk already? You're such a light-weight, Umino. Want me to take you home?"

Iruka blushed horribly, hoped to hell that Kakashi would mistake the redness of his face as being caused by the alcohol, and nodded a little. The motion made his head hurt again. Kakashi chuckled at Iruka's grimace, before standing up and helping the slightly shorter man off his stool. He put his right arm around Iruka's waist, and pulled Iruka's left arm around his shoulders, and the two men walked out of the bar, Kakashi supporting Iruka each time the man stumbled a little.

(I am a page break, fear me)

Iruka woke up slowly. His head was throbbing, his throat was on fire, he was nauseous as all hell, and his lower back was pure agony. What the hell had he done to it? It wasn't really his back though, it was more like… his ass? But why would his ass be so sore? Just then, his pillow MOVED. His WARM, MUSCULAR pillow. HOLY SHIT! Iruka shot up, and looked at the person he'd been lying half on top of. His face was mostly covered by the sheets, but distinctive silver, spiky hair lay spilled across the pillow.

'KAKASHI? Oh shit oh shit oh shit… What the hell happened last night? I remember the party, and lots of drinking, then… staggering home with the help of Kakashi, then… Crap, what happened then? I don't remember a thing. What the hell did we do? Why are we both naked? And if my ass hurts, that has to mean we… OH SHIT! Just how drunk did I get last night?'

Kakashi moaned, still mostly asleep, and reached out to pull the other body back against him. His chest was getting cold. Then, something in his brain registered that he wasn't alone in his bed. His mattress felt different too. Wait, was this actually his bed? He cautiously opened his good eye, and looked at the face of the man who was awkwardly trying not to be pulled against him, and blushing madly. His other eye shot open in surprise, his Sharingan spinning with emotion, and the sudden heavy chakra use made his head spin. Dammit! It had been YEARS since he'd last done that… Accidentally using his Sharingan unexpectedly always left him feeling dizzy and a little nauseous.

He quickly closed both eyes again, and held a hand over his scar. Crap! Did he really just see…? "Iruka, please tell me that isn't really you. Tell me this is just a dream, and I'm going to wake up any second." He realized that his arms, and one of his legs, were still wrapped around the tan, naked man, and quickly released him and scrambled back against the headboard, blushing even brighter than poor Iruka was. It stood out more on his pale skin.

A hand flew instinctively to cover his mouth and nose, while the other hand tried to hide his chin and most of his jaw-line. Oh crap, he wasn't wearing his mask, and now the sheet wasn't covering his mouth… Iruka could've seen his whole face! Nobody had seen that much in decades! It took him a few moments more to remember which of them had removed his mask, and what their reasons had been, before he relaxed back against the headboard, and tentatively dropped his hands into his lap.

Iruka scrambled back too, to the foot of the bed. Kakashi needn't have worried about him seeing his face, because right then he couldn't look the Jounin in the eyes. He was absolutely mortified! "Sorry Kakashi, this isn't a dream. I guess we both got really drunk last night. I don't remember most of it, but from the pain I'm feeling, it seems we didn't just pass out together. I think we… well… you know…" Kakashi grimaced, and looked away. "I'm really sorry, Iruka. Did I hurt you? There's blood on the sheets… and on me… I don't think I used any lube…" Iruka's blush spread to his ears and neck. He looked like he wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and die.

He inspected the pale green sheets himself, and sure enough he spotted a fair amount of blood, as well as several suspicious white stains. He just blushed even redder, and chewed his tongue. Kakashi looked down at himself, and realized that Iruka wasn't the only one who'd be in pain for the next few days. He must've been really rough with the poor man. "Shit, I've really done it, haven't I? Iruka, would you like me to take you to the hospital? I might have injured you." Iruka shook his head frantically. "NO! HELL NO! Absolutely not! No hospital! I'll just take a couple of sick days off from work. I'll be fine, really. I think it would be best if we pretended this never happened."

Kakashi frowned a little. He didn't know what he'd been expecting but… It felt like he'd just been rejected. That was ridiculous, wasn't it? "Okay, but I'm going to leave Pakkun with you, and I'll stop by later with some painkillers. If you keep bleeding, or the pain gets to be too much, send Pakkun to me, and I'll get a hold of a friend of mine. I've met a few very discrete medic-nins over the years. We have a deal?" Iruka just nodded, still blushing, and still unable to look his friend in the eye.

"Iruka… please look at me…" The Chuunin gulped, but he slowly brought his eyes up to meet Kakashi's. That was when he realised that he was looking at the man's whole face. His eyes flew wide, and his breath caught in his throat, as the pale man's beauty flooded his senses. He had an aristocratic jaw, delicate but strong. His nose was straight, and almost a tiny bit small in proportion to his face. His mouth was a little wide, like it had been made for lusty leers and mischievous smirks. It suited him perfectly.

There was a tiny, barely noticeable silver scar on his bottom lip, almost at its left edge, running vertically from top to bottom. Iruka had a sudden desire to lick the little scar and make it better. 'GYAH! Where did that come from?' He quickly shook his head to clear his mind of the unexpected mental images, and returned his gaze to Kakashi's eyes. Well, one of them anyway. He still kept his left eye closed.

Kakashi smiled, but there was a bit of sadness to it, and regret lingered in his eye. "Iruka, I hope you can forgive me someday. I'd really hate it if I couldn't be friends with you anymore." That got Iruka's attention. "Kakashi! Of course I still want to be friends! You're the best friend I've ever had, you're like a brother to me! We just have to forget this ever happened, okay? It shouldn't be too difficult since we can't remember last night anyway. Don't beat yourself up about this, okay?

It was just… an accident. Yes, just an accident. Accidents happen, right? It's fine now. You should go, you're probably late for something. Just do me a favour, and send a note to the Ninja Academy for me? I have to let them know I won't be coming in for the rest of the week." Kakashi nodded, and got up from the bed. Iruka watched him leave, and frowned when a small, dull ache settled into his chest. Why did he feel cold all of a sudden? It must have been his imagination.