Gossip Game 5
Chapter 5: Work and Play
A few days later, Iruka walked in to join Genma in the secret file room in the Hokage Tower, where Genma was sitting with folders scattered around him on the floor. Iruka had come in wearing civilian clothes: a comfortable pair of workout pants and a t-shirt with the words “Teachers Know All The Tricks” on it. He word no headband and his hair was loose. Even though the man looked exhausted, Genma couldn’t help smiling at the fact that his hair was down.
“It sounds like I missed a lot,” he said casually.
Iruka laughed harshly. “Yeah, you could put it that way.” He took a seat next to Genma, pushing a few things out of the way.
“So, people are still giving Nara Shikamaru trouble about his relationship with the Sand ninja, despite the fact our treaty with them has held for a while now?” Genma asked. “How ridiculous is that?”
Iruka’s laugh this time was a bit more friendly. “Starting with the easy stuff, huh? Yeah, Shikamaru-kun is still getting some trouble over that. I don’t think there’s much we can do about it, but there were a couple of people who refused to work with him over it, and Tsunade needs to figure out how to deal with such pettiness.” He paused, then picked up a file and flipped it open. “Hyuuga Hiashi has gone more paranoid than usual, we need to keep an eye on that. It’s hard to deal with the Hyuuga clan period, but we’re going to have to keep an eye out at least. Also, Anko’s curse seal gave her a bit of a problem a few days ago, and that’s going to have to be looked into.”
Genma sighed. “Poor Anko. She gets so tired of always being watched so closely, but there’s really nothing else anyone can do.”
Iruka nodded. “Other than that, the big news is all Sasuke stuff. People are really freaked out about Tsunade letting him go on missions, but Naruto is with him, and sometimes Sakura, and they’re doing very well. Still, that might cause some real dissent, and we already had someone try to get a shift on his “guard team” that we’re pretty sure meant to do him harm, but Ibiki-san is working on figuring that out.”
Genma reached out and grabbed each of Iruka’s hands from where they rested on his legs, inspecting them carefully. Iruka didn’t fight him at all, knowing what Genma was looking for. To his surprise and delight, there weren’t any fresh marks there, which meant Iruka had been letting up on punching holes in himself. “You still haven’t told me the other big part, though,” he said softly, dropping Iruka’s hands.
“I know. I wish you could just read the report, but I suppose I ought to tell you so you can ask me questions or whatever.” Iruka paused. “Heiji-san is dead. I heard a rumor, originally through Anko, and then later confirmed by a couple of others, that he was acting strangely. So, as our orders direct, I went to check it out, expecting to file the report after seeing what was going on with my own eyes. If it had been you, it wouldn’t have been a problem to take care of it… but I’m not you.”
Genma sat silently and waited for his friend to continue his story, and Iruka sighed and turned so he was leaning his back against Genma’s side. Genma, recognizing the gesture, reached out and pulled Iruka into his arms. “When I got to his place, he was putting together his things as if he were going somewhere. He exited his home, and walked towards the outskirts of town, and I was ready to report back about it, but then I saw that he was meeting a few others. One of them was his daughter, you know, the one that’s about eight years old, and the other was a Genin who is known to be a friend of hers..”
“It happened so quickly, I didn’t even have time to think. Heiji grabbed his daughter and put a sword to her throat, and was talking to the Genin. I don’t know if it was just some kind of stupid plan to make sure he escaped, or if there was something he wanted the Genin to bring him, because I couldn’t hear and he wasn’t facing me to read his lips. So I did the only thing I could do… I replaced the girl with myself, and told her and the Genin to run for help. So then I was fighting a Jounin by myself, starting out at a disadvantage because he was holding onto me with a sword pressed to my throat. You can read about the whole fight in the report, but… I had to use some of my best tricks to get out of it. And his daughter wouldn’t run away, but stood there cowering and watching, and twice I had to nearly get myself killed protecting her. I finally caught him with one of my wire traps, but it was a close thing. He was going to kill his own daughter, Genma! I thought it was a bluff at first, but when he kept going for her during the fight… and then even after I caught him he was laughing at me for being a fool to care so much. Apparently he wound up dying during questioning somehow, but I haven’t asked for the details.”
Genma was stroking Iruka’s hair soothingly. “I’ll get those details from Ibiki later, Ruka-kun, and from all the reports. You did a good job.”
“I didn’t really. You could have dealt with the situation better, I think. Not only that, but all of this… the whole job that you do, I’m really not cut out for it. You have no idea how many times I’ve wanted to kill people while you’ve been away. Not just Heiji, who was obviously actually trying to defect, but all the idiots who still say bad things about Naruto, and the people throwing fits over Shikamaru’s relationship with Temari, and the Hyuugas still arguing their succession and clan politics and all that junk. I can’t look at all these things impassively and pick them apart the way you do, deciding which things are important. I’m too emotional.”
“It’s a hard thing to do, taking a step back like that,” admitted Genma. “When you first got me started doing that job in the first place, I would get torn up every time I heard something bad, or untrue, or just plain cruel. Learning to take a step back and not feel those things was hard, and… it’s just really not right for you. You shouldn’t have to fill in for me, but there really isn’t anyone else with the proper clearances, or the skill really. You say you aren’t good at it because it tears you up inside, but outwardly everything has been done just as well as I would do it,” said Genma. He sat there, holding onto Iruka, soothing him, until he could feel the other man calm.
“Don’t let go,” said Iruka, when he felt Genma beginning to loosen his grip on him. “Can’t we go over everything with me sitting here?”
Genma nodded, and they proceeded to run through all the other random bits of gossip that might need attention, and the observations Iruka had made about the shinobi he’d seen over the past few days. When all the business was out of the way, Iruka asked, “How are things going with Raidou?”
“He’s Raidou,” said Genma with a shrug. “It’s funny being with him. He’s still being kind of awkward, like he doesn’t believe I really want to be with him. We’ve had some fun though, even gone on what you could call ‘dates’. But I’m starting to really wish I could just tackle him into bed, because we don’t seem to be making much progress with the touching thing, and I’m really getting antsy about it.”
Iruka grinned. “Awww, poor little Gen-chan isn’t getting any!”
Genma poked him in the side. “Shut up, you! I can handle it, but it’s just strange because he’s stayed at my house like every night since we first decided we were going out, but not much has happened. The most we do is kiss, and while he’s very good at that, I want more! I can understand why he’s being this way, though. He’s still really shocked at having a chance with me, when he’s dreamed about it for so long, and he’s still really unsure about my feelings. He feels like if anything happens between us before I’m sure how I feel, he’s just going to be another one of my random bedmates, and we know I’ve had plenty of those.”
Iruka laughed. “Maybe he’s worried he’ll catch something, since that’s the case!”
Another poke from Genma, and Iruka pulled away from him enough to be out of reach. “I got tested, stupid! Besides, I seem to remember you whining because Kakashi didn’t let you fuck him on the first date, even after you pretty much threw yourself at him. So you shouldn’t make fun of me!”
The blush that spread across Iruka’s face was beautiful, and Genma found himself amazed again at how such tan skin could still show a blush. “Yes, yes, you’re right. I tend to be rather impatient about such things myself sometimes, and if it were me in your place, I’d be whining too. Can you talk to him about it, or would that just make things worse? And have you tried your full-on Shiranui Seduction Tactics?”
“I think that would scare him away,” Genma admitted. “It will be all right, one way or another. I’m sure once he gets comfortable with our relationship, we’ll be all right.”
“You sound like you really want this to work,” said Iruka with a small smile.
“I do,” said Genma softly. “I can’t explain it. At first I thought I should give it a try because I love Rai so much, and he’s one of my closest friends, and I was so lonely… but now it seems like it’s the right thing to do for a billion other reasons. You should see him, Iruka, when he actually lets all his walls down and just is himself… he’s so beautiful. He isn’t talking very well with me still right now, but I have faith that soon he’ll be over that, and after that happens… I think things will be great between us. I wonder if perhaps I’m already in love with him and just don’t really understand it fully yet.”
“I’m so happy for you, Gen-chan,” Iruka said honestly, standing. “I’m glad to hear it’s going well, even if you might be a little sexually frustrated right now.” At this, he stuck out his tongue.
Genma stood as well, and then lunged at Iruka, delivering an obviously pulled punch to his gut. “Get outta here, boy. This is my area again now, and I don’t want to see you around here for a long time, okay?”
“Gladly!” declared Iruka. “Get back to work, lazybones, and it might keep your mind off all that sex you’re not getting!” Then a mischievous glint came into his eyes, and his posture melted into his best seductive pose. “I’m going home to see Kakashi now, and I think I’m going to try to get him to engage in a little bit of bondage, maybe play the sub for me a bit… you know how sexy I am when I’m in charge…” he trailed off.
Genma licked his lips. “Yes, Sensei, you are quite sexy in charge. Now get the hell out before I jump you, okay?”
Iruka went, smiling all the way.
Next Chapter
A few days later, Iruka walked in to join Genma in the secret file room in the Hokage Tower, where Genma was sitting with folders scattered around him on the floor. Iruka had come in wearing civilian clothes: a comfortable pair of workout pants and a t-shirt with the words “Teachers Know All The Tricks” on it. He word no headband and his hair was loose. Even though the man looked exhausted, Genma couldn’t help smiling at the fact that his hair was down.
“It sounds like I missed a lot,” he said casually.
Iruka laughed harshly. “Yeah, you could put it that way.” He took a seat next to Genma, pushing a few things out of the way.
“So, people are still giving Nara Shikamaru trouble about his relationship with the Sand ninja, despite the fact our treaty with them has held for a while now?” Genma asked. “How ridiculous is that?”
Iruka’s laugh this time was a bit more friendly. “Starting with the easy stuff, huh? Yeah, Shikamaru-kun is still getting some trouble over that. I don’t think there’s much we can do about it, but there were a couple of people who refused to work with him over it, and Tsunade needs to figure out how to deal with such pettiness.” He paused, then picked up a file and flipped it open. “Hyuuga Hiashi has gone more paranoid than usual, we need to keep an eye on that. It’s hard to deal with the Hyuuga clan period, but we’re going to have to keep an eye out at least. Also, Anko’s curse seal gave her a bit of a problem a few days ago, and that’s going to have to be looked into.”
Genma sighed. “Poor Anko. She gets so tired of always being watched so closely, but there’s really nothing else anyone can do.”
Iruka nodded. “Other than that, the big news is all Sasuke stuff. People are really freaked out about Tsunade letting him go on missions, but Naruto is with him, and sometimes Sakura, and they’re doing very well. Still, that might cause some real dissent, and we already had someone try to get a shift on his “guard team” that we’re pretty sure meant to do him harm, but Ibiki-san is working on figuring that out.”
Genma reached out and grabbed each of Iruka’s hands from where they rested on his legs, inspecting them carefully. Iruka didn’t fight him at all, knowing what Genma was looking for. To his surprise and delight, there weren’t any fresh marks there, which meant Iruka had been letting up on punching holes in himself. “You still haven’t told me the other big part, though,” he said softly, dropping Iruka’s hands.
“I know. I wish you could just read the report, but I suppose I ought to tell you so you can ask me questions or whatever.” Iruka paused. “Heiji-san is dead. I heard a rumor, originally through Anko, and then later confirmed by a couple of others, that he was acting strangely. So, as our orders direct, I went to check it out, expecting to file the report after seeing what was going on with my own eyes. If it had been you, it wouldn’t have been a problem to take care of it… but I’m not you.”
Genma sat silently and waited for his friend to continue his story, and Iruka sighed and turned so he was leaning his back against Genma’s side. Genma, recognizing the gesture, reached out and pulled Iruka into his arms. “When I got to his place, he was putting together his things as if he were going somewhere. He exited his home, and walked towards the outskirts of town, and I was ready to report back about it, but then I saw that he was meeting a few others. One of them was his daughter, you know, the one that’s about eight years old, and the other was a Genin who is known to be a friend of hers..”
“It happened so quickly, I didn’t even have time to think. Heiji grabbed his daughter and put a sword to her throat, and was talking to the Genin. I don’t know if it was just some kind of stupid plan to make sure he escaped, or if there was something he wanted the Genin to bring him, because I couldn’t hear and he wasn’t facing me to read his lips. So I did the only thing I could do… I replaced the girl with myself, and told her and the Genin to run for help. So then I was fighting a Jounin by myself, starting out at a disadvantage because he was holding onto me with a sword pressed to my throat. You can read about the whole fight in the report, but… I had to use some of my best tricks to get out of it. And his daughter wouldn’t run away, but stood there cowering and watching, and twice I had to nearly get myself killed protecting her. I finally caught him with one of my wire traps, but it was a close thing. He was going to kill his own daughter, Genma! I thought it was a bluff at first, but when he kept going for her during the fight… and then even after I caught him he was laughing at me for being a fool to care so much. Apparently he wound up dying during questioning somehow, but I haven’t asked for the details.”
Genma was stroking Iruka’s hair soothingly. “I’ll get those details from Ibiki later, Ruka-kun, and from all the reports. You did a good job.”
“I didn’t really. You could have dealt with the situation better, I think. Not only that, but all of this… the whole job that you do, I’m really not cut out for it. You have no idea how many times I’ve wanted to kill people while you’ve been away. Not just Heiji, who was obviously actually trying to defect, but all the idiots who still say bad things about Naruto, and the people throwing fits over Shikamaru’s relationship with Temari, and the Hyuugas still arguing their succession and clan politics and all that junk. I can’t look at all these things impassively and pick them apart the way you do, deciding which things are important. I’m too emotional.”
“It’s a hard thing to do, taking a step back like that,” admitted Genma. “When you first got me started doing that job in the first place, I would get torn up every time I heard something bad, or untrue, or just plain cruel. Learning to take a step back and not feel those things was hard, and… it’s just really not right for you. You shouldn’t have to fill in for me, but there really isn’t anyone else with the proper clearances, or the skill really. You say you aren’t good at it because it tears you up inside, but outwardly everything has been done just as well as I would do it,” said Genma. He sat there, holding onto Iruka, soothing him, until he could feel the other man calm.
“Don’t let go,” said Iruka, when he felt Genma beginning to loosen his grip on him. “Can’t we go over everything with me sitting here?”
Genma nodded, and they proceeded to run through all the other random bits of gossip that might need attention, and the observations Iruka had made about the shinobi he’d seen over the past few days. When all the business was out of the way, Iruka asked, “How are things going with Raidou?”
“He’s Raidou,” said Genma with a shrug. “It’s funny being with him. He’s still being kind of awkward, like he doesn’t believe I really want to be with him. We’ve had some fun though, even gone on what you could call ‘dates’. But I’m starting to really wish I could just tackle him into bed, because we don’t seem to be making much progress with the touching thing, and I’m really getting antsy about it.”
Iruka grinned. “Awww, poor little Gen-chan isn’t getting any!”
Genma poked him in the side. “Shut up, you! I can handle it, but it’s just strange because he’s stayed at my house like every night since we first decided we were going out, but not much has happened. The most we do is kiss, and while he’s very good at that, I want more! I can understand why he’s being this way, though. He’s still really shocked at having a chance with me, when he’s dreamed about it for so long, and he’s still really unsure about my feelings. He feels like if anything happens between us before I’m sure how I feel, he’s just going to be another one of my random bedmates, and we know I’ve had plenty of those.”
Iruka laughed. “Maybe he’s worried he’ll catch something, since that’s the case!”
Another poke from Genma, and Iruka pulled away from him enough to be out of reach. “I got tested, stupid! Besides, I seem to remember you whining because Kakashi didn’t let you fuck him on the first date, even after you pretty much threw yourself at him. So you shouldn’t make fun of me!”
The blush that spread across Iruka’s face was beautiful, and Genma found himself amazed again at how such tan skin could still show a blush. “Yes, yes, you’re right. I tend to be rather impatient about such things myself sometimes, and if it were me in your place, I’d be whining too. Can you talk to him about it, or would that just make things worse? And have you tried your full-on Shiranui Seduction Tactics?”
“I think that would scare him away,” Genma admitted. “It will be all right, one way or another. I’m sure once he gets comfortable with our relationship, we’ll be all right.”
“You sound like you really want this to work,” said Iruka with a small smile.
“I do,” said Genma softly. “I can’t explain it. At first I thought I should give it a try because I love Rai so much, and he’s one of my closest friends, and I was so lonely… but now it seems like it’s the right thing to do for a billion other reasons. You should see him, Iruka, when he actually lets all his walls down and just is himself… he’s so beautiful. He isn’t talking very well with me still right now, but I have faith that soon he’ll be over that, and after that happens… I think things will be great between us. I wonder if perhaps I’m already in love with him and just don’t really understand it fully yet.”
“I’m so happy for you, Gen-chan,” Iruka said honestly, standing. “I’m glad to hear it’s going well, even if you might be a little sexually frustrated right now.” At this, he stuck out his tongue.
Genma stood as well, and then lunged at Iruka, delivering an obviously pulled punch to his gut. “Get outta here, boy. This is my area again now, and I don’t want to see you around here for a long time, okay?”
“Gladly!” declared Iruka. “Get back to work, lazybones, and it might keep your mind off all that sex you’re not getting!” Then a mischievous glint came into his eyes, and his posture melted into his best seductive pose. “I’m going home to see Kakashi now, and I think I’m going to try to get him to engage in a little bit of bondage, maybe play the sub for me a bit… you know how sexy I am when I’m in charge…” he trailed off.
Genma licked his lips. “Yes, Sensei, you are quite sexy in charge. Now get the hell out before I jump you, okay?”
Iruka went, smiling all the way.
Next Chapter