Iruka slouched back against one of the wood blocks that lay scattered around the training ground, sighed and checked his watch again. It was completely unlike Anko to be this late. The one, and only time, he’d been late to training with her happened because his students had strung him up from the ceiling when he’d fallen asleep during a pop quiz. He’d had to give them an A+ on stealth – they’d managed to truss him up and get him a good three feet off the ground before he woke up – but an F- on originality. He chuckled at the memory, wondering how his students would react if they knew that their teacher had pulled the exact same prank on his sensei when he’d been in the Academy.


And even though he’d been late for a good reason, Anko had thoroughly trounced him that day, turning him into a veritable pincushion of senbon. It had taken him a good 4 hours that night to get them all out.


The soft crackling of leaves behind him was the only warning he got, and Iruka whirled, wrenching his shoulder back when he realized that she was making no move to attack him, and narrowly avoided burying his fist in her face.


He leapt backwards, trying to put as much space between himself and her before she attacked. And, even though she didn’t move to follow him, Iruka would not be surprised if this was a new tactic to lull him into a false sense of security and make him let his guard down.


Anko shook her head quietly, “No more.”


Iruka blinked, still half-expecting an attack. “What?”


“No more, Iruka-kun. I can’t teach you anything more; Ibiki feels the same way.” She grinned happily. “I think Shizune has a few things that she wants you to learn, but we’re done.”


Iruka was shocked. Granted, Anko had cancelled their last two lessons, both of which had immediately followed Kakashi’s mission where they’d - Iruka could feel himself start to blush at even the thought of what had happened in the shower that night. He had to wonder if that particular mission had been a kind of ‘final exam’ for his training as a touchstone.


Honestly, he was amazed that they thought he’d passed. He certainly wasn’t sure that he had any clue as to what he was doing. But Kakashi was alive, and as sane as he had been – for what that was worth – so he couldn’t have messed up to badly. At least that’s what he kept telling himself.


OOOOOOOOOOOO


The bright moon cast deep shadows across the entire village when he returned, and he unconsciously skipped from dark patch to dark patch even though he was back in Konoha. The mission had taken a full week to complete, but he had come out of it nearly unscathed – a few bumps and bruises, but nothing to worry about. Even so, Kakashi was glad to be home.


The window slid open with an easy touch, and he dropped lightly to the floor. He sniffed at the air as he strode down the hallway. Was that…pork? Whatever it was, it smelled amazing, and he was certainly going to raid the fridge in the morning.


He found his pants after a quick search through the drawers, stripped off his uniform and left it in a pile on the floor. At least the majority of his uniform was free of blood and he wouldn’t get yelled at in the morning for staining the floor. He settled down on top of the covers, smiling softly at the incoherent mumbling his presence elicited from the figure already in the bed. Iruka was sprawled on his stomach across his side of the bed, chin pillowed on his arm and hair strewn across the pillow.


Kakashi propped himself up on his hand and gently brushed back the strands of hair that partially covered the chuunin’s face off his forehead before running his thumb over the rough scar the cut across Iruka’s nose. He stirred slightly, wrinkling his nose against the touch and giving his head a little shake. The jounin dropped his head down on the pillow and watched the expressions play across the other man’s sleeping face, and he slowly relaxed into the peaceful feeling that always seemed to envelop him when he came home to his touchstone’s apartment.


OOOOOOOOOOOOO


The painfully bright rays coming through the open window woke him, and he stretched out his arm, hoping to encounter the warm body that had occupied that space during the night, even though he knew that Iruka was already up and gone. It was a weekday, after all, and Iruka had to be at the Academy to teach.


As he stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing his hand across his unmasked face, he quite nearly missed the note pinned under the bowl of fruit on the table. Kakashi had been shocked by the fruit the first time he saw it; if it had been in his house, it would have been rotten before he’d gotten a chance to eat it, but he had to admit, the prospect of fresh oranges the morning after a mission as almost as good as getting to crawl into bed with Iruka. Almost.

He scooped up the note on his way to the refrigerator, pausing briefly to read it as he scanned over the note.

‘Kakashi, Had to get to class. There’s food in the fridge left over from last night; help yourself.’ Here there was a pause; a darker blotch of ink left from Iruka hesitating as he wrote the note. ‘Lunch? ~Iruka.’


The jounin grinned and checked the time - less than an hour until Iruka’s lunch break. He replaced the container of food he’d pulled out of the fridge and closed it, heading for the shower.


OOOOOOOOOOOOO


Iruka was sitting cross-legged on the floor, cleaning training kunai when he arrived. Kakashi could see from the door that the somewhat sharp blades were completely covered grass, mud and some other stuff that he wasn’t sure he wanted to identify. The chuunin heaved an enormous sigh, cocking his head to one side as he scrubbed more vigorously at the one he was holding.


“Maaa, Iruka, you look like you could use some help.” Kakashi leaned against the doorframe, studying the look of frustration on his touchstone’s face.


The chuunin looked up sharply and then smiled tiredly at him. “Kakashi-san.” Iruka jerked back when Kakashi appeared, crouched in front of him, mask pulled down around his neck, and caught his chin. “A-a-ano…?”


“Kakashi.” He insisted, again. He’d managed to convince Iruka to drop the honorific, but it seemed that he had to remind the chuunin every single time.


“Are you alright?” Iruka asked. “I mean, after the mission last night. You seemed to be okay this morning, and I had to leave. I just wanted to make sure…”


“I’m fine!” Kakashi released his hold on the chuunin’s face and scooped up a kunai, settling own across from Iruka.


“I’m glad.” Iruka whispered, and Kakashi found himself staring at the lowered eyes. Did Iruka…really… A somewhat snappy comment brought him out of his thoughts. “Are you going to clean that? Or do you just feel more comfortable sitting around with a kunai in your hand.”


Kakashi tried to fight the juvenile leer that threatened to cross his face, he really did. But in the end, he was fighting a losing battle.


The cleaning rag striking him in the face took him by surprise, though, “Oh, grow up!”


OOOOOOOOOOOOO


Kakashi landed on the roof outside the Hokage’s office, peering in through the window. He and Iruka had just finished lunch, both sprawled on the floor of Iruka’s classroom, cleaning kunai with one hand and eating with the other. He hadn’t even noticed how fast time had passed until Iruka had finally thrown him out just before his students had returned. He’d stood outside the door, listening in on Iruka’s lecture and intermittent scolding of the kids. He’d actually thought about leaving a note to invite Iruka for dinner, but realized right before he’d started writing it that Iruka had only invited him for lunch because he was worried about Kakashi’s reaction to the mission. Would Iruka have invited him without that excuse hanging over his head?


The question scared him more than he cared to admit, which was why he was back here, outside the Hokage’s window.


Tsunade was passed out across her paperwork – a typical sight – and Kakashi figured he should probably wake her up before Shizune found her and beat the snot out of her. He stopped several feet from her desk and waited for her to wake up. He knew better than to shake the Gondaime awake; he would likely be thrown through several walls before she realized that he was a friend.


Tsunade blinked blearily up at him before leaping to her feet and trying to straighten the papers she’d been using as a pillow. “Kakashi-san? What can I do for you?” She moved around to the front of her desk and waved a sake bottle at him. He spread a gloved hand, shaking his head.


“Another mission?” Did he really sound that hopeful? He hadn’t intended to.


Tsunade glared at him. “Didn’t you just get back?”


“Hai, hai. Last night.” Kakashi smiled disarmingly at her.


“And how long was it?”


“A week.” He got the sneaky suspicion that she was patronizing him.


“Kakashi.” She sounded decidedly like she was talking to a child. “You’ve have been in and out of the village on missions for the past two months.” She stepped up to him and slapped a hand across his forehead. “Your chakra is almost completely depleted. If I send you out again there’s no telling what will happen. So,” She dropped her hand from his face and returned to sit at her desk, folding her hands together and resting her chin on them. “Until you return to normal levels, you’re going to stay right here in the village.”


Kakashi gaped at her as she waved him away.


“I don’t want to hear anything from you about another mission until I call you back in, is that clear?”


He grumbled as he turned around and slouched towards the door. In retrospect, he wished he’d beat a hastier retreat – he would have missed Tsunade’s not-so-helpful advice.


“If you want to see Iruka that badly, just go see him. You don’t need to use missions as an excuse to see your touchstone.”


OOOOOOOOOOOOO


Baka, baka, baka. He scolded himself as he made his way down the now-familiar hall. Why are you here? Why did you listen to her? What on earth possessed you to think this…?


His thought was completely cut off when he reached the doorway to the bedroom, and Kakashi went through a brief internal argument – whether Iruka was going to kill him for invading the chuunin’s personal space and how badly he wanted to…. Finally, he couldn’t resist. I’ll leave before he wakes up in the morning. Kakashi promised himself. At least I can have tonight. Kakashi slipped beneath the blankets and cuddled up against Iruka’s side, leg thrown over the chuunin and arm wrapped tightly around his waist. He could feel the other man’s back rise and fall against his chest with every breath, and he slowly relaxed into the wonderful warmth.


“…nice…” The other man exhaled on one of his deep breaths.


Kakashi lifted himself up so that he could peer at Iruka’s face. His touchstone’s eyes were still closed. “Iruka?”


“…feels good, ashe…” He murmured.


Kakashi nestled back down against Iruka’s side. Ash-e. He sounded out quietly in his head. What on earth does that mean?


OOOOOOOOOOO


The unfamiliar, heavy weight resting on his body brought Iruka out of his deep slumber even before the alarm clock went off. He managed to lift his head enough that he could look down the length of the bed and recognize the pale arm draped over his hips. Kakashi. He shouldered the jounin’s weight and managed to roll over without waking the other man up. Once he was on his back, Kakashi settled down onto his chest, burying his nose in Iruka’s neck. The chuunin coughed in an attempt to suppress a giggle, but Kakashi’s breath was tickling the side of his neck.


The jounin continued to cling to him in his sleep, tangling their legs together under the covers. Iruka gently stroked the soft, silvery hair, slowly trying to shake the sleep-induced fog for his head.


Suddenly the neurons in his brain started firing again, reminding him that Kakashi had come back from his mission the day before, and therefore had no real reason to be in his apartment. “Wha…?”


“Mmmm…” The lips moved against his neck, causing the blush to spread furiously across his face and neck. “Ohayo, Iruka.”


“K-k-kakashi-san, what are you…?” Iruka choked out and turned a deeper scarlet when Kakashi pulled himself up so that he was nose to nose with Iruka.


“Ka-ka-shi.” He sounded out his name.


“Kakashi.” Iruka repeated. “But you still didn’t answer my question.”


Kakashi seemed to come fully awake finally, and he pulled instantly away from the startled chuunin. “I’m sorry.”


Iruka scrambled, trying to disentangle himself from the sheets. “Kakashi…!” The jounin had already disappeared down the hall. Iruka flung himself from the bed, racing after Kakashi.


The curtains whipped out into the living room from the stiff wind blowing in through the open window. Iruka collapsed onto the couch, resting his head in his hands. Kakashi, ashe… I didn’t…. He wrapped his arms tightly around himself, trying hard not to think about how wonderful he’d felt when he woke up this morning in Kakashi’s arms.


OOOOOOOOOOOOO