Fic: Firsts part 2
No way this entry is too big. Again!
The dark room was silent except for the sounds of heavy breathing and the scent of sex hung thickly in the air. On the bed, two figures stretched out with one man draped exhaustedly over his taller companion. Their eyes were closed in contentment. Both of their hands found each other, intertwining the fingers tightly. The movements were minimal except for the lazy kisses the darker man dropped on the fairer man’s neck, shoulders and chest.
The sound of a chuckle broke the silent cocoon surrounding them, “If this what greets me every time I go for a long mission, perhaps I should take them more often.”
Iruka unravelled the intertwined fingers so that he could use his arms to brace himself on Kakashi’s chest, smiling teasingly down at his lover. “True, being on an extended mission may grant you certain perks, but you forgot one very important thing.”
Kakashi folded his freed hands behind his head. “Yeah? Remind me.”
“Well…” Iruka pretended a thoughtful expression. “You will miss doing this every night.”
The smirk on Kakashi’s face at Iruka’s remark was lewd enough to make him blush. “Then, I guess I'll have to do it again to make up for the last two weeks I wasn’t able to.”
Iruka’s eyes went wide at the blatant invitation. When he felt Kakashi’s deft hand caress the small of his back then move to cradle the curve of his ass, Iruka yelped. “Kakashi! We’ve done it twice already!”
Using his other hand to slide through the silky strands of his lover's hair, he asserted a gentle pressure to bring Iruka’s lips down. “That should cover two of the nights that I missed. We still have another twelve nights to go,” he purred against Iruka’s bruising lips.
“But I…!” Whatever protest that Iruka tried to voice was silenced with an open-mouthed kiss. The scandalized muffle was abruptly transformed into a resigned whimper and finally settled, to Kakashi’s delight, into a needy moan. He loved the fact he had the power to cause Iruka to melt in his arms with only a few practised kisses. Kakashi exploited his larger form to roll their position so that he was lying possessively on top the responsive sensei.
Iruka had learned from the first time he tasted Kakashi’s persuasive kiss under a tree with the afternoon sun shining over them a year ago that he had no will or strength whatsoever to deny Kakashi anything. The jounin knew all his sensitive spots and Kakashi was not above using that knowledge to render him into this. A simple touch from Kakashi and Iruka was lost.
Kakashi ran his lips over the addictive caramel skin - the full lips, the stubborn jaws and his lover’s neck - as he kissed and nipped along the well-trodden paths. The skin was already bruised from previous love-making but Kakashi could always find another untouched spot to taste. This wide expanse of honey-colored skin was his to explore. Only his and no one else’s.
“Kakashi…”
The said man abandoned the skin under Iruka’s ear to taste his name on his lover's lips. Then he looked down at the panting man; he was torn between untold affection and amusement at the way Iruka’s heavy lids covered the expressive soft-brown eyes in utter exhaustion. A soft smile broke out before Kakashi chuckled, “Looks like round three will have to wait.”
Iruka let out a breathy laugh, “I can’t believe you just said that you're willing to postpone sex.”
“Yeah, well,” Kakashi grinned. “There’s always a first time for everything.”
Iruka waited until Kakashi rolled them back to their original position where he was comfortably lodged within Kakashi’s arms with his head nestled on the contour of Kakashi’s neck before he spoke up. “And I bet not all your first times are as memorable as this.” He laughed quietly. “The first time Hatake Kakashi postpones sex!”
“I’ll have you know that I remember all my first times,” Kakashi declared. “One of the perks of having the sharingan is that I can recall every moment as easy as playing a movie projector.”
Sleepiness was completely forgotten as Iruka propped upward once again; his deep curiosity was switched on. “Really? So if I asked you questions like 'do you remember the first book you’ve ever read', you still can remember?”
“Can’t you remember?” Kakashi asked back, his eyebrows raised. “I don’t need sharingan to remember that.”
Iruka looked almost sheepish. “I’m not sure of the first book I read but I think it was The Legend of the Nine Jinchuuriki.”
“Kind of ironic, isn’t it?” Kakashi teased. “Your first book was a children's book about the nine jinchuuriki and you ended up taking care of one them.”
“Well, I prefer to think of it as fate,” Iruka said primly as he tucked a loosed strand behind his ear, smiling down at Kakashi. “What about you? What was your first book?”
“It was a manual for shuriken application.”
It was Iruka’s turn to raise his eyebrow. “Are you serious?” When Kakashi didn’t answer, Iruka jaw dropped open before he erupted into laughter. “A manual for shuriken application? Man, I know you're a genius but who reads that crap at such a young age?”
Kakashi laughed. “Why, sensei! I never thought those kind of words would come out of your mouth. I’m shocked!”
The deep flush across Iruka’s scar made Kakashi laughed even louder. “Shut up.” Iruka pouted.
Kakashi ceased immediately but the amusement was still clearly visible in his eyes. Clearing his throat, he restrained himself from kissing those pouting lips before giving up the effort and bringing Iruka’s lips down to meet his. A few moments later, Kakashi spoke up. “Since we are clearly having fun with ‘first time’ game, I think it is my turn to ask you right?”
Iruka was still breathless from the kiss before so he merely nodded.
“Great,” the silver-haired jounin grinned. “Tell me about your first kiss.”
Iruka snorted and blushed. “You know all about my first kiss.”
“A peck that lasted only a second from your genin team mate is not something I would consider as a kiss,” Kakashi reminded. “I’m talking about moving lips and all those tongues meshing. If you can’t recall which type of kiss I’m referring to, I’ll be more than happy to demonstrate to you.”
Iruka blushed deeper at the leer on his lover’s face. A year with this maddening man did not make Iruka any more immune to all those perverted innuendoes than before he met the jounin. Iruka didn’t think he would ever be accustomed.
“Well…” Iruka began hesitatingly. “There was this man that I met a long time ago.” Kakashi quieted down. Whenever Iruka sounded like that, Kakashi had learned to stop teasing and to start listening. “I remember the kiss very well. He kissed me in such way that as soon as the kiss ended, I fancied myself to be in love with him. For a long time.”
Kakashi watched the faraway look in Iruka’s dark eyes. He knew Iruka was remembering the kiss and willed himself to not be a jealous bastard. He willed himself not to start asking Iruka the man’s name so he could hunt the man down. It would be stupid and irrational because it was his fault for asking Iruka about his first kiss.
But he hadn't expected Iruka’s answer to be someone other than him. When he first kissed Iruka, he was convinced the man hadn’t kissed much - probably at all - so he was hoping Iruka’s answer would be him and he could proceed to reminiscing with him. But then, like fear, love was a not rational feeling either. Despite of all the justifications Kakashi told himself, his heart tightened in growing jealousy. He was one possessive asshole and Kakashi knew that.
Iruka was oblivious to his lover’s mood as he continued. “I remember when he first slid his tongue into my mouth. I was so shocked that that action was included in the art of kissing!”
“Yeah?” Kakashi’s voice sounded rough and Iruka looked down to his lover with confusion in his eyes.
“Kakashi?”
“So…” Kakashi pretended a nonchalant tone. “How old were you when this…” Asshole - pervert -bastard. “…man kissed you?”
“Seventeen.” Iruka answered uncertainly. He had known this man for a year and he had never seen Kakashi look this… odd. The muscled chest beneath his body went rigid and the bi-colored eyes were cold. If it was anybody else, Iruka would have described the mood as anger.
“So, was he good looking?” There was that tone again. Iruka was unsure what was happening right now. And to think only a minute ago, they were sharing laughter, enjoying the aftermath of their love-making.
“I… I don’t know.” Iruka bit his lips, wishing that they were talking about something else. If this topic was so unpleasant, why would Kakashi want to keep on prodding? “It was dark and he was in ANBU. And I kept my eyes closed when he took off his mask to kiss me.”
It took Kakashi more than just a minute to break free from his jealousy haze and take in what Iruka was saying. An ANBU mask? Suddenly a strong wave of memory washed over Kakashi. A memory of meeting a breath-taking, compassionate and gentle-hearted boy nine years ago. He remembered the way the boy made him feel that night and how all those feelings lingered with him long, long after that.
Iruka said he was seventeen when he met the ANBU agent. And if Iruka was what he thought he was, the age would match. Iruka was twenty-six and nine years ago, without any of them knowing, they had met. Kakashi’s heart came alive and his breathes quickened with that revelation. He had to make sure.
“Tell me about that night.”
Iruka pushed himself into a sitting position, straddling Kakashi, as he shook his head. “No. You’re acting strange and I think it would be best if we talked about something else.”
As fast as the red-hot jealousy had come, the feeling quickly vanished and Kakashi wanted to laugh when he realized Iruka had known he was feeling off but the innocent sensei didn’t know that he was jealous of the man nine years ago. Kakashi sat up as well. He leaned against the headboard, keeping the slender chuunin on his lap. “Please,” Kakashi murmured. “Tell me.”
Iruka sighed. He really didn’t understand the man. And Iruka well knew that was one of the many reasons why he couldn’t resist him. “I was on my way back home from the mission on which I made my first kill… It wasn’t pretty - I mean - when I had a breakdown. I was just half-way from home but I… needed to clean the blood and I found a stream.”
Kakashi’s smile slowly grew as his conviction hardened. But he let Iruka continue uninterrupted.
“And there I was, bawling like a baby under the small waterfall…” Kakashi chuckled and Iruka grinned, happy to notice Kakashi’s weird mood was gone. “… when suddenly an ANBU agent appeared from nowhere, scaring the crap out of me.”
“What did he say to you?” Kakashi asked quietly.
From the moonlight that filtered into their room, Kakashi could see the grin on Iruka’s face soften into one of those fond smiles that he had learnt to love so much. Iruka raised his eyes to meet Kakashi’s eyes before he whispered softly. “He gave me a very good piece of advice; one that I hold so close to my heart.”
“And what is that?” Kakashi held his breath; his heart pounded heavily. If Iruka said what he had told the boy that night then he knew without a doubt that this was the boy that had haunted his dreams for so many nights after.
“He told me that time heals everything and even if it doesn’t, it will help you endure.” Iruka reminisced.
Kakashi inhaled sharply at the answer. “Oh, my god…” Kakashi breathed. The answer was exactly what Kakashi wanted to know. It told him that even though it took nine long years, he had finally found the first person who had taught him to feel beyond superficial feelings.
He couldn’t believe it. Iruka was the first to teach him to love. Twice - when Iruka was seventeen and he was twenty-one and again when Iruka was twenty-five and he was twenty-nine.
Iruka had been his beginning long before he had chosen the academy sensei.
Oblivious, Iruka continued on. “Because of those words I managed to hold on. Some of the pain time did heal and the rest of the pain, time has helped me endure. And I’m glad I followed his advice because if I had given in to my pain all those years ago, I would never have been able to be with you like this now.” Iruka faltered. He could never say out loud the part where they had shared the kiss and how he had let the stranger go.
But Kakashi seemed to notice the hesitation and he decided to continue the story for Iruka. “After that, both of you shared the most unforgettable kiss under the tumbling waterfall before the ANBU soldier had to go away with his leader,” Kakashi said huskily.
Iruka’s eyes went wide as he met Kakashi’s eyes in disbelief. “What…? How… how do you know?”
“But the soldier didn’t want to leave. Instead, he begged for your name, not caring about the consequences of exposing his identity to someone.” Kakashi finished instead.
Iruka was shocked when his mind began to make the connection. It could not be… Kakashi was there? As… as the ANBU agent…? How is that possible…? He spoke up shakily; he was almost afraid to say anymore. “And… when I finally gave in to his request, he pushed me into the darkness and a second later his ANBU leader came. After he left, I… I never saw him again.”
“I never found that boy again either no matter how hard I searched. Without a name or even a clear memory of his face, my search was a futile act from the very beginning.” Kakashi held Iruka’s face within his hands, knowing the shock and awe on Iruka’s face was mirrored on his own.
“My god…” Iruka whispered. “You are him?”
“Yes.” Kakashi answered solemnly. “I am Hound. And now you know my every secret.”
Iruka couldn’t find any words to say. Inside his mind, he recalled the night and compared Kakashi’s voice with the one that had been haunting his dreams for many, many nights. Suddenly, all those instantaneous attractions made sense - why he was left breathless when Kakashi had leaned close to kiss his ear, whispering ‘Happy Birthday’; why he was anticipating the fateful kiss under the tree with bright afternoon sun showered upon them and why his heart clenched in indescribable pain when he shared Kakashi’s pain that night at the hospital.
The attraction wasn’t new and it had been blooming for the last nine years - never ceasing and deep down, Iruka knew it was never forgotten either.
“No wonder I fell in love with you so quickly…” Iruka murmured.
“That is supposed to be my line.” Kakashi looked down at the upturned face.
The dark-haired sensei shook his head softly. “No, they were your words that I held so deeply inside. It was your strength that you showed me that night that really taught me what being shinobi really meant. The feelings that I feel for you are an extension of all the feelings that I felt for that ANBU operative nine years ago.”
Kakashi could only pull Iruka’s face closer, kissing the lips of the man who was his beginning when he was twenty-one and once again, when he was twenty-nine. Only now did Kakashi understand why loving Iruka was as easy and as important as breathing.
It was because he had always, now and then, been in love with Iruka.
“You are mine…” Kakashi growled in between kisses. “You’ve always been mine.”
Iruka tightened his grip on Kakashi’s shoulders in response, trying so very hard to not drown from the relentless kisses and yet, he knew implicitly that he would lose the fight eventually. The revelation had shaken Iruka to his very core but as the knowledge that Kakashi was the man from his past settled in, Iruka knew there was no one else he rather the stranger be but the strong and gentle man Kakashi was.
After a while, Kakashi lifted his lips away and whispered hotly. “I seem to be your first for a lot of things. Let me add one more. I want to be the first to make love to you on the beach. I recall sometime ago you said to me that you've never been to the sea.”
Iruka was both blushing and laughing as Kakashi pushed him down on the bed. It looked like there would be no postponement tonight.
* * * * * * * *
Author's Notes
Thanks to Fluffy Dolphin for beta-ing this for me. She has always been the greatest!
Regarding the age different of four years between Iruka and Kakashi was not fictional. I finally decide to stop guessing and start finding out the real information about Kakashi and Iruka. I've got my information from www(dot)leafninja(dot)com and they have a lot! So, the age different might be different from the age that I guessed in The Beginning universe, so, let's just ignore it yeah?
And... the fact that Sandaime is still alive in The Beginning universe also is the result of my guessing. I wanted to do the timeline of before Naruto went off with Jiraiya but if that is so, Iruka would have been 22 and not 25! So... another thing to ignore...
After ignoring all those glaring mistakes, this one-shot takes off a year after The Beginning but nothing that cannot be understood without reading The Beginning.
The dark room was silent except for the sounds of heavy breathing and the scent of sex hung thickly in the air. On the bed, two figures stretched out with one man draped exhaustedly over his taller companion. Their eyes were closed in contentment. Both of their hands found each other, intertwining the fingers tightly. The movements were minimal except for the lazy kisses the darker man dropped on the fairer man’s neck, shoulders and chest.
The sound of a chuckle broke the silent cocoon surrounding them, “If this what greets me every time I go for a long mission, perhaps I should take them more often.”
Iruka unravelled the intertwined fingers so that he could use his arms to brace himself on Kakashi’s chest, smiling teasingly down at his lover. “True, being on an extended mission may grant you certain perks, but you forgot one very important thing.”
Kakashi folded his freed hands behind his head. “Yeah? Remind me.”
“Well…” Iruka pretended a thoughtful expression. “You will miss doing this every night.”
The smirk on Kakashi’s face at Iruka’s remark was lewd enough to make him blush. “Then, I guess I'll have to do it again to make up for the last two weeks I wasn’t able to.”
Iruka’s eyes went wide at the blatant invitation. When he felt Kakashi’s deft hand caress the small of his back then move to cradle the curve of his ass, Iruka yelped. “Kakashi! We’ve done it twice already!”
Using his other hand to slide through the silky strands of his lover's hair, he asserted a gentle pressure to bring Iruka’s lips down. “That should cover two of the nights that I missed. We still have another twelve nights to go,” he purred against Iruka’s bruising lips.
“But I…!” Whatever protest that Iruka tried to voice was silenced with an open-mouthed kiss. The scandalized muffle was abruptly transformed into a resigned whimper and finally settled, to Kakashi’s delight, into a needy moan. He loved the fact he had the power to cause Iruka to melt in his arms with only a few practised kisses. Kakashi exploited his larger form to roll their position so that he was lying possessively on top the responsive sensei.
Iruka had learned from the first time he tasted Kakashi’s persuasive kiss under a tree with the afternoon sun shining over them a year ago that he had no will or strength whatsoever to deny Kakashi anything. The jounin knew all his sensitive spots and Kakashi was not above using that knowledge to render him into this. A simple touch from Kakashi and Iruka was lost.
Kakashi ran his lips over the addictive caramel skin - the full lips, the stubborn jaws and his lover’s neck - as he kissed and nipped along the well-trodden paths. The skin was already bruised from previous love-making but Kakashi could always find another untouched spot to taste. This wide expanse of honey-colored skin was his to explore. Only his and no one else’s.
“Kakashi…”
The said man abandoned the skin under Iruka’s ear to taste his name on his lover's lips. Then he looked down at the panting man; he was torn between untold affection and amusement at the way Iruka’s heavy lids covered the expressive soft-brown eyes in utter exhaustion. A soft smile broke out before Kakashi chuckled, “Looks like round three will have to wait.”
Iruka let out a breathy laugh, “I can’t believe you just said that you're willing to postpone sex.”
“Yeah, well,” Kakashi grinned. “There’s always a first time for everything.”
Iruka waited until Kakashi rolled them back to their original position where he was comfortably lodged within Kakashi’s arms with his head nestled on the contour of Kakashi’s neck before he spoke up. “And I bet not all your first times are as memorable as this.” He laughed quietly. “The first time Hatake Kakashi postpones sex!”
“I’ll have you know that I remember all my first times,” Kakashi declared. “One of the perks of having the sharingan is that I can recall every moment as easy as playing a movie projector.”
Sleepiness was completely forgotten as Iruka propped upward once again; his deep curiosity was switched on. “Really? So if I asked you questions like 'do you remember the first book you’ve ever read', you still can remember?”
“Can’t you remember?” Kakashi asked back, his eyebrows raised. “I don’t need sharingan to remember that.”
Iruka looked almost sheepish. “I’m not sure of the first book I read but I think it was The Legend of the Nine Jinchuuriki.”
“Kind of ironic, isn’t it?” Kakashi teased. “Your first book was a children's book about the nine jinchuuriki and you ended up taking care of one them.”
“Well, I prefer to think of it as fate,” Iruka said primly as he tucked a loosed strand behind his ear, smiling down at Kakashi. “What about you? What was your first book?”
“It was a manual for shuriken application.”
It was Iruka’s turn to raise his eyebrow. “Are you serious?” When Kakashi didn’t answer, Iruka jaw dropped open before he erupted into laughter. “A manual for shuriken application? Man, I know you're a genius but who reads that crap at such a young age?”
Kakashi laughed. “Why, sensei! I never thought those kind of words would come out of your mouth. I’m shocked!”
The deep flush across Iruka’s scar made Kakashi laughed even louder. “Shut up.” Iruka pouted.
Kakashi ceased immediately but the amusement was still clearly visible in his eyes. Clearing his throat, he restrained himself from kissing those pouting lips before giving up the effort and bringing Iruka’s lips down to meet his. A few moments later, Kakashi spoke up. “Since we are clearly having fun with ‘first time’ game, I think it is my turn to ask you right?”
Iruka was still breathless from the kiss before so he merely nodded.
“Great,” the silver-haired jounin grinned. “Tell me about your first kiss.”
Iruka snorted and blushed. “You know all about my first kiss.”
“A peck that lasted only a second from your genin team mate is not something I would consider as a kiss,” Kakashi reminded. “I’m talking about moving lips and all those tongues meshing. If you can’t recall which type of kiss I’m referring to, I’ll be more than happy to demonstrate to you.”
Iruka blushed deeper at the leer on his lover’s face. A year with this maddening man did not make Iruka any more immune to all those perverted innuendoes than before he met the jounin. Iruka didn’t think he would ever be accustomed.
“Well…” Iruka began hesitatingly. “There was this man that I met a long time ago.” Kakashi quieted down. Whenever Iruka sounded like that, Kakashi had learned to stop teasing and to start listening. “I remember the kiss very well. He kissed me in such way that as soon as the kiss ended, I fancied myself to be in love with him. For a long time.”
Kakashi watched the faraway look in Iruka’s dark eyes. He knew Iruka was remembering the kiss and willed himself to not be a jealous bastard. He willed himself not to start asking Iruka the man’s name so he could hunt the man down. It would be stupid and irrational because it was his fault for asking Iruka about his first kiss.
But he hadn't expected Iruka’s answer to be someone other than him. When he first kissed Iruka, he was convinced the man hadn’t kissed much - probably at all - so he was hoping Iruka’s answer would be him and he could proceed to reminiscing with him. But then, like fear, love was a not rational feeling either. Despite of all the justifications Kakashi told himself, his heart tightened in growing jealousy. He was one possessive asshole and Kakashi knew that.
Iruka was oblivious to his lover’s mood as he continued. “I remember when he first slid his tongue into my mouth. I was so shocked that that action was included in the art of kissing!”
“Yeah?” Kakashi’s voice sounded rough and Iruka looked down to his lover with confusion in his eyes.
“Kakashi?”
“So…” Kakashi pretended a nonchalant tone. “How old were you when this…” Asshole - pervert -bastard. “…man kissed you?”
“Seventeen.” Iruka answered uncertainly. He had known this man for a year and he had never seen Kakashi look this… odd. The muscled chest beneath his body went rigid and the bi-colored eyes were cold. If it was anybody else, Iruka would have described the mood as anger.
“So, was he good looking?” There was that tone again. Iruka was unsure what was happening right now. And to think only a minute ago, they were sharing laughter, enjoying the aftermath of their love-making.
“I… I don’t know.” Iruka bit his lips, wishing that they were talking about something else. If this topic was so unpleasant, why would Kakashi want to keep on prodding? “It was dark and he was in ANBU. And I kept my eyes closed when he took off his mask to kiss me.”
It took Kakashi more than just a minute to break free from his jealousy haze and take in what Iruka was saying. An ANBU mask? Suddenly a strong wave of memory washed over Kakashi. A memory of meeting a breath-taking, compassionate and gentle-hearted boy nine years ago. He remembered the way the boy made him feel that night and how all those feelings lingered with him long, long after that.
Iruka said he was seventeen when he met the ANBU agent. And if Iruka was what he thought he was, the age would match. Iruka was twenty-six and nine years ago, without any of them knowing, they had met. Kakashi’s heart came alive and his breathes quickened with that revelation. He had to make sure.
“Tell me about that night.”
Iruka pushed himself into a sitting position, straddling Kakashi, as he shook his head. “No. You’re acting strange and I think it would be best if we talked about something else.”
As fast as the red-hot jealousy had come, the feeling quickly vanished and Kakashi wanted to laugh when he realized Iruka had known he was feeling off but the innocent sensei didn’t know that he was jealous of the man nine years ago. Kakashi sat up as well. He leaned against the headboard, keeping the slender chuunin on his lap. “Please,” Kakashi murmured. “Tell me.”
Iruka sighed. He really didn’t understand the man. And Iruka well knew that was one of the many reasons why he couldn’t resist him. “I was on my way back home from the mission on which I made my first kill… It wasn’t pretty - I mean - when I had a breakdown. I was just half-way from home but I… needed to clean the blood and I found a stream.”
Kakashi’s smile slowly grew as his conviction hardened. But he let Iruka continue uninterrupted.
“And there I was, bawling like a baby under the small waterfall…” Kakashi chuckled and Iruka grinned, happy to notice Kakashi’s weird mood was gone. “… when suddenly an ANBU agent appeared from nowhere, scaring the crap out of me.”
“What did he say to you?” Kakashi asked quietly.
From the moonlight that filtered into their room, Kakashi could see the grin on Iruka’s face soften into one of those fond smiles that he had learnt to love so much. Iruka raised his eyes to meet Kakashi’s eyes before he whispered softly. “He gave me a very good piece of advice; one that I hold so close to my heart.”
“And what is that?” Kakashi held his breath; his heart pounded heavily. If Iruka said what he had told the boy that night then he knew without a doubt that this was the boy that had haunted his dreams for so many nights after.
“He told me that time heals everything and even if it doesn’t, it will help you endure.” Iruka reminisced.
Kakashi inhaled sharply at the answer. “Oh, my god…” Kakashi breathed. The answer was exactly what Kakashi wanted to know. It told him that even though it took nine long years, he had finally found the first person who had taught him to feel beyond superficial feelings.
He couldn’t believe it. Iruka was the first to teach him to love. Twice - when Iruka was seventeen and he was twenty-one and again when Iruka was twenty-five and he was twenty-nine.
Iruka had been his beginning long before he had chosen the academy sensei.
Oblivious, Iruka continued on. “Because of those words I managed to hold on. Some of the pain time did heal and the rest of the pain, time has helped me endure. And I’m glad I followed his advice because if I had given in to my pain all those years ago, I would never have been able to be with you like this now.” Iruka faltered. He could never say out loud the part where they had shared the kiss and how he had let the stranger go.
But Kakashi seemed to notice the hesitation and he decided to continue the story for Iruka. “After that, both of you shared the most unforgettable kiss under the tumbling waterfall before the ANBU soldier had to go away with his leader,” Kakashi said huskily.
Iruka’s eyes went wide as he met Kakashi’s eyes in disbelief. “What…? How… how do you know?”
“But the soldier didn’t want to leave. Instead, he begged for your name, not caring about the consequences of exposing his identity to someone.” Kakashi finished instead.
Iruka was shocked when his mind began to make the connection. It could not be… Kakashi was there? As… as the ANBU agent…? How is that possible…? He spoke up shakily; he was almost afraid to say anymore. “And… when I finally gave in to his request, he pushed me into the darkness and a second later his ANBU leader came. After he left, I… I never saw him again.”
“I never found that boy again either no matter how hard I searched. Without a name or even a clear memory of his face, my search was a futile act from the very beginning.” Kakashi held Iruka’s face within his hands, knowing the shock and awe on Iruka’s face was mirrored on his own.
“My god…” Iruka whispered. “You are him?”
“Yes.” Kakashi answered solemnly. “I am Hound. And now you know my every secret.”
Iruka couldn’t find any words to say. Inside his mind, he recalled the night and compared Kakashi’s voice with the one that had been haunting his dreams for many, many nights. Suddenly, all those instantaneous attractions made sense - why he was left breathless when Kakashi had leaned close to kiss his ear, whispering ‘Happy Birthday’; why he was anticipating the fateful kiss under the tree with bright afternoon sun showered upon them and why his heart clenched in indescribable pain when he shared Kakashi’s pain that night at the hospital.
The attraction wasn’t new and it had been blooming for the last nine years - never ceasing and deep down, Iruka knew it was never forgotten either.
“No wonder I fell in love with you so quickly…” Iruka murmured.
“That is supposed to be my line.” Kakashi looked down at the upturned face.
The dark-haired sensei shook his head softly. “No, they were your words that I held so deeply inside. It was your strength that you showed me that night that really taught me what being shinobi really meant. The feelings that I feel for you are an extension of all the feelings that I felt for that ANBU operative nine years ago.”
Kakashi could only pull Iruka’s face closer, kissing the lips of the man who was his beginning when he was twenty-one and once again, when he was twenty-nine. Only now did Kakashi understand why loving Iruka was as easy and as important as breathing.
It was because he had always, now and then, been in love with Iruka.
“You are mine…” Kakashi growled in between kisses. “You’ve always been mine.”
Iruka tightened his grip on Kakashi’s shoulders in response, trying so very hard to not drown from the relentless kisses and yet, he knew implicitly that he would lose the fight eventually. The revelation had shaken Iruka to his very core but as the knowledge that Kakashi was the man from his past settled in, Iruka knew there was no one else he rather the stranger be but the strong and gentle man Kakashi was.
After a while, Kakashi lifted his lips away and whispered hotly. “I seem to be your first for a lot of things. Let me add one more. I want to be the first to make love to you on the beach. I recall sometime ago you said to me that you've never been to the sea.”
Iruka was both blushing and laughing as Kakashi pushed him down on the bed. It looked like there would be no postponement tonight.
* * * * * * * *
Author's Notes
Thanks to Fluffy Dolphin for beta-ing this for me. She has always been the greatest!
Regarding the age different of four years between Iruka and Kakashi was not fictional. I finally decide to stop guessing and start finding out the real information about Kakashi and Iruka. I've got my information from www(dot)leafninja(dot)com and they have a lot! So, the age different might be different from the age that I guessed in The Beginning universe, so, let's just ignore it yeah?
And... the fact that Sandaime is still alive in The Beginning universe also is the result of my guessing. I wanted to do the timeline of before Naruto went off with Jiraiya but if that is so, Iruka would have been 22 and not 25! So... another thing to ignore...
After ignoring all those glaring mistakes, this one-shot takes off a year after The Beginning but nothing that cannot be understood without reading The Beginning.