FIC: What Genma Wanted Ch5 Pt1 (Pockyverse)
Title: What Genma Wanted Ch5 Pt1
Fandom: Naruto
Characters: GenRai + Iruka; Aoba
Genre: From Crack is born Romance, Angst and some other stuff
Rating: Mostly R, veering into NC17 on occasion
Warnings: Language, innuendo, some sex
Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does, along with whatever other people/entities are along for the ride.
A/N: More angst, but it's getting better
Still no beta. I'm tormenting myself enough as it is.
Summary: Aftermath of a fight. Actually still really Ch4 but I split it up because it was just too long. Pt1 - Aoba and Iruka have an, uh, interesting conversation.
Iruka heard the commotion coming up the stairs, but kept his eyes closed. He hadn't been asleep for long, and he was groggy, grumpy, and hungry. It sounded like Genma didn't WANT to come inside. Iruka relaxed a bit - fighting this way was exhausting - and if Genma was afraid to see them, then maybe he realized he had been out of line as well. The door banged open suddenly, with Aoba announcing their arrival so forcefully Iruka nearly jumped out of his skin, scrambling for a weapon and coming up with his pen. Given the right angle, he was pretty sure he could kill someone with it.
---
Genma knew Aoba was trying to distract him up the stairs, and he allowed it because it WAS kind of funny. Like he wouldn't know his own apartment, especially when he could feel the people inside. He felt a little nauseous thinking he would have to face Iruka first, but Aoba was shoving him inside and there Iruka was, sprawled on his couch, almost wearing a pair of shorts that were several sizes too large, and brandishing a pen as a weapon.
He felt equal parts of fear, humor and lust and stopped dead in his tracks in the entry. There was just such a lot of Iruka exposed currently, and with his hair sticking out everywhere and the sleepy look in his eyes... Aoba bumped into him, looking up and making a strange noise in his throat. Genma nearly laughed then, wondering how this whole thing was affecting his friend after the bizarre incident with Iruka earlier that day. Kicking his sandals off, Genma made his way deeper into the room, searching Iruka's face for some hint of what was to come. At least his eyes weren't dead anymore - true, angry flashes weren't the most welcoming sight, but it beat vacant by any measure.
"I didn't realize there would be a test," Genma finally quipped, gesturing at the pen still in Iruka's hand.
Iruka flushed and scowled back at him, then the pen. Tossing it on the table, he sat up all the way, wincing slightly, and rubbed his eyes with both hands. "Oh, it's you two." He shoved the papers back into his bag and stood up to walk around the coffee table.
"Don't leave." Genma tried to keep his voice steady, but he wasn't above begging, even with Aoba still staring over his shoulder. He stumbled closer, his hand out, but afraid to touch Iruka, sure the man would shake him off.
"It's late. I have to work tomorrow." His posture was rigid, muscles tensed.
Genma tried again, trying to grab Iruka's shoulder. As expected, Iruka shrugged away from him, and Genma clenched his jaw to keep the hurt inside. "I have to... I have to see Raido. Just... just don't leave yet. Please. I have to see Raido. Just... Wait, okay?"
Iruka snorted, but finally relaxed a bit. "Fine."
"Fine," Genma gasped, breathing heavily. He wondered if Iruka would mind playing host, but decided he had infringed on Iruka's good nature far too often today. "Aoba, get the drinks, would you?"
Aoba made a confused noise but shrugged when he caught Genma's eye.
"And stop perving on him," Genma whispered savagely before he entered the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.
"I'm not..." Aoba replied, then turned and looked at Iruka. Okay, so he was, a little.
Iruka stared back, a sullen look on his face. He realized Aoba couldn't go into the kitchen while he stood in the way, and he wasn't going to go near the crazy man if he could help it, so he turned back to the sofa and dumped his bag back on the ground.
The way clear, Aoba went into the kitchen and found whatever alcohol Genma had in his icebox and cupboards along with a mismatched set of cups. He sat in one of the chairs.
Noises from the bedroom shattered the awkward silence in the living area. Aoba saw Iruka tense again, his eyes clenched tightly.
"Umino," Aoba said gently, "Come drink. It'll be a while."
Iruka turned sharply, his eyes still hard. As the shouting got louder, he shuddered and nodded, making his way slowly to the dining table and sitting across from Aoba.
What happened? Aoba wanted to ask. It wasn't even a day ago he met Iruka, cheerful and happy. What could have gone so terribly wrong during that time? Aoba knew his own fight with Iruka was a small thing, surely not enough to effect this kind of change.
"You were right," Iruka mumbled, playing with the empty cup in his hands.
"Um, yeah. About this..." Aoba nodded toward the bedroom door. "I, uh, I guess I shouldn't have said anything. But really, Umino, it's almost over."
They both cringed a little when a loud thump was heard, like a heavy object thrown against the wall.
"They're still fighting," Iruka gasped, shaking his head. "How is it almost over?"
Aoba looked away from the hurt in Iruka's eyes. "Genma and Raido have been friends a long time. This isn't the first fight they've ever had. Hell, it's not even the WORST fight they ever had." He chuckled when he glanced up and saw disbelief on Iruka's face. "They're actually pretty predictable, usually."
He pushed a beer in Iruka's direction, exhaling when the younger man finally opened it and poured it into a glass, taking a drink.
"They fight, usually just a shouting match, but sometimes it gets physical. Genma gets hyped up and usually tears out of here to find somewhere to cool off, while Raido..." Aoba stopped. He really had no idea what Raido did.
"Lays in the dark alone and stares at the ceiling," Iruka supplied, not bothering to hide his annoyance.
Aoba shrugged. "Whatever. Genma cools off and comes home. They rehash whatever they had been fighting about..."
Another crash from the bedroom signalled the demise of something inanimate.
"Aaannddd then it's over. And they make up."
Iruka snorted. "Until the next time."
"Until the next time," Aoba agreed.
The shouts were dying down now, the voices muffled. Iruka put his head down on the table and stared at the wall. "This isn't healthy, Yamashiro," he said finally.
Aoba rolled his eyes under his sunglasses. "Maybe not, but it's the way it's been for as long as they've been together."
"So they fight like this, say all those horrible things to each other, then apologize and go on like nothing happened?"
"Apologize?" Aoba choked out, trying not to sputter beer all over Iruka. "No, I don't think they actually APOLOGIZE or anything like that."
Iruka tilted his head so he could see Aoba. "Too girly?" he asked in a light voice.
"Ummm. About that." Aoba ducked his head, blushing slightly.
"It's okay. You're probably right. Maybe it is girly to think we shouldn't fight each other like this when there are scores of enemies out there waiting to kill us." Iruka grimaced, twisting it into a slight grin. "Although, for some reason, today I seem to be doing my best the beat the crap out of everyone I meet."
Aoba laughed at that. "Well, about that. I think you've had more than enough reason to do it. I mean, I thought you were kind of a wimp..."
"Girl," Iruka corrected. "You said girl."
"Yeah, that. But you know, you held your own pretty good this afternoon. And I am the one who, uh, slapped you." Aoba stared at his glass of beer, waiting for a reply.
Iruka laughed at that, sitting up finally and resting his hand gingerly on his cheek. Aoba noticed again how nice Iruka looked when he was smiling. Even the nasty bruise didn't detract any from his looks.
"That slap," Iruka finally gasped out, still laughing. "It was actually pretty effective. I certainly wasn't expecting it."
"Really? I mean, I KNOW you weren't expecting it. I wasn't even expecting it. But effective?"
Iruka nodded. "With enough force and spin, putting enough chakra into it, you probably could have snapped my neck. Even without that, my vision was cloudy for quite a while. Coulda done without the hair pulling though."
"It was the fastest way I could think of to get you on the ground. Umino, you hit HARD! If that last punch had landed, it would have broken my nose!"
Iruka realized he hadn't heard anything from the bedroom in a while and almost stood up to check. Aoba reached out and grabbed his wrist, pulling him down.
"Uh, you don't want to do that. Not yet." Aoba grinned sheepishly. "This is usually the time I leave." He chuckled a bit at the confused look on Iruka's face. The guy really was kind of clueless. "Um, Umino, have you ever heard the term 'make-up sex'? You know, after a fight?"
Iruka stared back, still confused. Aoba could gauge his thought process by the emotions flickering across his face. He could almost see the lightbulb come on over Iruka's face when his eyes widened and he blushed a deep red. "Oh," he breathed. "OH!"
Aoba laughed when Iruka hid his face in his hands, the blush spreading down his neck and chest. "Yeah."
"That is so Genma," Iruka said in a small voice, and Aoba laughed because, yeah, it really was.
"Have you ever seen them?" Iruka asked suddenly.
"Umm, not really. There's usually other people involved when we've been in that, uh, situation," Aoba admitted, trying to ignore the noises from the bedroom. "Have you?" He nearly slapped himself because, duh, of course Iruka had seen them.
"Actually, not until today," Iruka admitted, looking at Aoba through his fingers. "It's, uh, really intense."
Aoba tried to hide his surprise, opting to pour another glass of beer. They could hear the headboard banging and Aoba knew he was going to blush now, because it was just so damn AWKWARD, sitting there across from the man he'd practically molested, listening to their friends... He couldn't even think the rest of that sentence, not when he could HEAR it.
Iruka grinned suddenly. "We are such a group of fuck-ups, you know that, Yamashiro?"
"How so?"
"Genma spewing all kinds of hate out of his mouth when he gets mad, Raido going around trying to control every little thing, me spazzing out and punching people, and you, uh..."
"Trying to justify an uncomfortable attraction to another man by calling him a woman?"
"I was going to say 'throwing a hissy fit because his best friend isn't whoring around with him anymore', but that works too." Iruka winked at the shocked look on Aoba's face.
"You are SUCH a bastard, Umino. You've been hanging around with those two much too long."
Iruka nodded with a pained look. "You're probably right. I find myself doing and saying things I would never have even considered before I met them."
They drank their beer in silence for a moment, but Aoba found he preferred the conversation to just waiting for the noises to stop.
"Umino, about Genma. He, uh, he's really upset about what happened between you two today." Aoba paused, because it really wasn't his place to bring this up, but hell, he had brought up a lot of other stuff earlier so if he could help fix this one little piece, he might be able to sleep tonight.
Iruka's eyes hardened a little. "He should be," he finally spat out. "And don't try to say he didn't mean it."
"No, no, I won't. The fastest way to get Genma to tell the truth is to piss him off."
Somehow that didn't seem to make Iruka happy. Groaning internally a bit, Aoba pressed on.
"It's just, I've never seen him like that before. Even when he and Raido didn't make up for weeks one time, I never saw him so... lost." Aoba shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "He kept saying he was worm slime."
"He said I was a wuss in bed."
Aoba groaned now. "It would have to be that, wouldn't it? And today, of all days too." He blushed again, realizing what he had said.
Iruka looked at his glass, his face pulled taut. "I tried. I really tried. It was just, you know, a little overwhelming. A LOT overwhelming." He shrugged, staring deeping into his glass. "He said he understood, and it would get better. And first times are like that."
If a naked woman had woken Aoba up that morning and told him he would be giving sex advice to a man he barely knew, concerning two of his friends, and then said she would give him a good-morning blow job, Aoba knew without a doubt he would have turned over and gone back to sleep, because insanity like that had to be contagious.
"Umino. ARE you a wuss in bed?"
Iruka's eyes shot up, his mouth set angrily. "I..." He set his mouth in a line and chewed on his lip a bit, thinking. Finally, his eyes closed and he slumped forward. "I guess I am. I mean, I really have no clue what's going on more than half the time, and they're always willing and eager to just pull me wherever they want me. And when the two of them get going, I'm pretty much out of my mind in about eight seconds."
That was way more than Aoba ever wanted to know, but he pressed on. "So, you're kind of passive?"
"Yeah," Iruka breathed, a small frown on his face. "I guess I am. But I thought that's what they wanted."
Aoba nodded, trying to convey the confidence he certainly didn't feel. "Well, maybe they did at first. Or maybe they thought you would catch on sometime. I mean, this is the first time any of you have done this sort of thing, right? A closed group?"
Iruka nodded, the tiniest hint of a blush on his face.
"Right," Aoba choked out, trying to grin. "Obviously, it's new for you. But it's new for them, too. So, can you maybe chalk it up to all of you making a few mistakes along the way and resolve to do better?"
"Makes sense, I guess," Iruka shrugged.
Aoba breathed a sigh of relief. Conversation over, no damage done, and maybe, just maybe, Genma wouldn't kill him. They both jumped when they heard the bedroom door open. "Don't look," Aoba mouthed across the table to Iruka. "Not over yet."
Iruka blinked to let him know he was understood. He shut his eyes so he couldn't tell who came out, and then they heard the shower running.
"How did you know?"
Aoba grinned. "Until one or both of them comes out here, dressed, it's best not to draw attention to yourself. Otherwise, it might start up all over again. Consider it the final decompression stage."
"This is really fucking complicated, Aoba."
"I know! Girls are SO much easier. You admit you screwed up, even if you didn't. You buy them whatever they want. Give them a little extra attention for a while, and presto, it's over."
Iruka narrowed his eyes and Aoba felt a shiver along his neck. "Just how many long-term relationships HAVE you had, Yamashiro?"
"Um, define long-term."
"That's what I thought. You are so full of shit."
Laughing, Aoba drained his glass. This kind of conversation he could have. He was starting to relax a little now, convinced the worst was over.
"What about us?"
Apparently, the worst was NOT over. "Us?" Aoba hoped his voice wasn't the shrieky squeak he heard in his ears.
"You told me to stay away from you. But here we are, drinking together."
"Oohhh," Aoba sighed, relieved. "Okay, ground rules. You - no more sticking your tongue in my ear."
"Okay. You - no more pushing me up against walls and kissing me." Iruka stopped and grinned wickedly. "Unless I ask you to." He laughed at Aoba's outraged flailing. "Joke! Joke!"
"Bastard! You - no more teasing me in public, period. And if you notice me doing stuff, just... I don't know, give me a shove or something." Aoba knew he had never blushed so much in one day in his entire life. Not even when his jounin sensei took him to a strip club and a chesty woman had grabbed his entire face and... Nope, not even then.
"Fine." Iruka grinned again. "These are really dumb rules."
Aoba sniggered back. "Yeah, and we'll probably forget most of them anyways. How about this - I will admit you are the one man in the world I would consider going gay for."
Iruka stared at him before laughing. "And I will stay the fuck away from you whenever possible so you won't have to make that choice."
They looked at each other across the table and cracked up.
"Bastard."
"Asshole."
It wasn't quite a friendship, but at least they could be in the same room now.
Read on to Chapter5 Pt2