FIC: What Genma Wanted Ch6 Pt1 (Pockyverse)

[realnobiki]

Title: What Genma Wanted Ch6 Pt1
Fandom: Naruto
Characters: GenRai + Iruka; guest appearance by Mizuki
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: Nothing happens in this chapter. Nothing. They talk, and they talk, and they talk some more. I'm not trying to bore you to death, I promise, but Iruka won't shut up.
Still no beta. I'm tormenting myself enough as it is.

Summary :Next day - Iruka talks with Mizuki; goes back to Genma's place and they talk some more. And they keep talking.



Mornings always come too quickly when you didn't get enough sleep the day before. Or the day before that. And waking up between two warm bodies huddled against you wasn't exactly conducive to bouncing out of bed, eager to start the day, even if he had been a morning person. Raido wasn't a morning person. Hard to be sneaky and stealthy in the bright sunlight. He tried to curl up to a sitting position, but some magnetic force kept pulling him back to the mattress. The accursed bed monster? Looking down at his stomach, he sighed. No, just Genma.

Peeling Genma's arm and leg away, Raido tried again. He made it to the edge of the bed and didn't make the mistake of looking over his shoulder. His pillow would be rumpled just so, and the sheets would still be warm, and it would be so easy to wiggle back into his spot... But Raido had a job to do, and he had to look the part. Sleep-deprived was definitely not part of that look, so Raido took the necessary steps to banish it. Aspirin, check. Shower, check. Coffee, check. He checked the time. And groaned. Only 6:30am. Note to self - check clock BEFORE wiggling out of bed. At least he had time to make a proper breakfast.

He heard the bedroom door open just as he was sitting down to eat.

"Iruka, breakfast is ready!"

A string of curses answered him as a thing shambled into the dining area, looking kind of like a cross between a zombie and Genma. Definitely not Iruka.

"What time is it?" it growled.

"7:00 o'clock."

The thing groaned as it slumped into a chair. "Why the fuck am I awake?"

Raido shook his head, biting back a laugh, and pushed his cup of coffee over as an offering.

"Why are you awake?" he asked. "You're off today."

The Genma-ish thing made a groaning gurgle of indeterminate meaning. Good thing Raido spoke hungover-zombie-Genma-ese. It meant 'don't talk to me. ever.', or in layman's terms 'thank you for the coffee'.

They sat together in silence until Raido had to leave. Technically, he didn't start until 9, but he needed to meet up with his contact from Sandaime's real bodyguards. He was paid to observe and to act as a visual presence, but the actual guarding was still carried out by ANBU. Technically, he wasn't even supposed to know they were there, but he would never have been chosen if he hadn't show impressive skills in observation. Really, it wouldn't do if he were to get in the way by accident. So, as long as he didn't explicitly inquire, and they didn't explicitly explain, it served everyone's goal if he saw more than he should. Not that his skills had been in evidence yesterday, he grumbled to himself as he tied his hitai-ate around his forehead. Iruka had been walking around bruised for hours.

Pushing the thing that was starting to look more like Genma away from his neck, Raido shrugged into his vest. No formal robes this time, he sighed with relief. Sandaime wanted his shinobi to look like shinobi, not some fashion plate from a fifty-year-old epic romance. "Be good," he whispered in the Genma-thing's ear, laughing at the pained look. "And quit trying to mark me every time I have to go to work." It was Genma's thing, to leave a visible something high on Raido's neck just before he had a guard assignment. That last time he swore half the attendees hadn't even looked at Sandaime. They were too busy trying to figure out if he had a bite-mark or a bite-mark-shaped scar. Honestly, sometimes it made getting almost burned to death a good thing.

"'m always good," it whispered back, but the leer wasn't quite there.

Raido ruffled the thing's hair and left. No mention of what this evening would bring, because Raido had a job to do. It would probably be boring and mundane, but there was always the possibility of something happening.

---

By 8:30, Genma was Genma again. He was usually more of a morning person than Raido, but he'd had rather a lot to drink the night before. But still, it was his day off. Technically, one of several, but it was a day off. He should be in bed, curled around Iruka who was still snoozing away. Not up, showered, fed and dressed! "Why the fuck am I awake?" he asked the table before he kicked it. Raido wasn't here to complain, and he was pretty sure the table wouldn't tattle. Instead, it pouted in wooden silence and Genma kicked it again, just because.

At 8:45, he finally shrugged and gave up waiting for Iruka. The guy must have been really exhausted. Genma contemplated running over to the Academy and just telling them the man was sick, but it smelled too much of 'note from your mother' for his taste. Laundry, however, he could do, and have it done before Iruka needed to get up. It sounded like a plan, so Genma got up, making his way around the table warily, just in case it decided to retaliate. Who knew, it might have been made from the demonic tree that had thrown him to the ground so long ago. "You can be replaced," he hissed around his senbon before he left, kicking the laundry basket down the stairs and around the corner to the communal washing machine.

---

Iruka woke with a jolt, followed by a wave of pain. He lay back gently, breathing deeply, trying not to think 'ow ow ow' because that almost never helped. When the wave passed, he rolled over slowly and pushed off the bed. The bed was empty. He felt around the apartment - empty as well. Just how late was it? Surely they didn't take his joke seriously? Stumbling to the other side of the bed, he fumbled for the clock. Fuck!

He was late, later than late. True, the only meeting he was actually required to attend didn't start until 11, but this was his job. He was supposed to be there, on time. No shower, he decided as he brushed his teeth and dragged a comb harshly through his hair. Probably a good thing, because his ribs felt worse, and he wasn't sure he would be able to rewrap them on his own. He washed his face carefully, probing at the bruise. The small ones on his cheek were all but healed, but the large one on his jaw actually looked worse, a sickening melange of purple, yellow and blue. It felt better, though, and right now that was a good thing, because the rest of him felt stiff and achy.

Dressing quickly, Iruka stopped to grab a cup of lukewarm coffee, drinking it all in three gulps. He grabbed his bag, shoved his shoes on and was out the door in fifteen minutes. When he didn't trip over a laundry basket, Iruka smiled for the first time. Genma had gotten up early to do laundry. Maybe Yamashiro was wrong. Maybe Genma didn't apologize in formal words, and maybe he didn't even consider it an apology at all, but doing the laundry first thing definitely looked like an apology to Iruka. Sometimes actions did speak louder than words.

---

"Nice of you to show up today, Umino!" Ushio-sensei stood in the corner of the teachers' office, posting notices on a bulletin board.

Iruka groaned out some kind of reply, but Ushio wasn't listening so it didn't really matter.

He made it to his classroom and slumped over his desk for a few minutes. There was a meeting in ten minutes to discuss toilets. Then the required one at 11 about class composition and student body projections. Iruka had to pay attention to that one, otherwise Fumiki-sensei would make sure every troublemaker in the entire Academy ended up in Iruka's class. The man had been a teacher for a long time, and while he was obviously very proud of Iruka's achievements, he also never let Iruka forget how beastly he had been as a child. "Payback," he would grin each time he handed Iruka a new student card, all because Iruka had demolished the man's prized rosebushes as a prank.

"You look like hell," a cheerful voice called out from his door, and Iruka smiled for the second time today.

"Mizuki! You're back! I didn't think you would make it in today."

The pale man took a seat on top of Iruka's desk with an easy grin and a shrug. "I left skidmarks getting out of there," he confessed. "Do you know why Konoha's divorce rate is so low? Besides the 'dying young' thing. I'll tell you why. Because getting married is such a pain in the ass, no sane person would ever consider doing it again."

"Surely not as bad as that?"

"Four hours, Iruka. Four hours. That's how long they argued about my clothes. My clothes, Iruka!"

Iruka blinked up at his friend, confused. "I thought you were going to wear your formal uniform."

"So did I. But Tsubaki's great-grandmother doesn't think it's nice enough. So then they argued about that for a while. Then they argued over what else would be appropriate."

Patting Mizuki's knee consolingly, Iruka stood up. "Toilet meeting," he said, pointing to the clock.

Mizuki slung his arm over Iruka's shoulders as they left the classroom together. "Ah, yes, time to answer the question of life - how many pieces of paper does it take to clog a toilet? Man, it's good to be back!"

---

Meetings done, Iruka and Mizuki decided to lounge on the grass for a bit before Iruka had to leave for his Mission room shift. They shared Mizuki's lunch while Mizuki told Iruka everything about the formal engagement ceremony he had endured all weekend.

"Why don't you just tell them to leave you out of it?" Iruka asked innocently.

Mizuki laughed in his face. "Do you think I didn't try that? And when that didn't work, I tried the 'give Tsubaki whatever she wants' angle. Of course, Tsubaki's family took that as pretty much carte blanche to do their worst. And then every time I tried to sneak out, Tsubaki would look at me and..."

"You would roll over and do whatever she said?"

"Pretty much, yeah. I guess, in the end, it all works out, because I'll have her, and her insane family will be somewhere else, far far away." Mizuki smiled at Iruka, his eyes lit up the way Iruka thought a man's eyes should when speaking of his beloved.

"Sorry I missed your birthday, though. That's what really sucked most of all. Not only was I stuck in the Valley of The Insane Old People, but I was missing the party, too. How was it?"

Mizuki eyed Iruka's face with interest, working up to a direct question.

Iruka choked and sat up, waving his hand. "Mizuki, I don't even have time to summarize it. I mean, dinner was great, and we had a great time at the bar. But then, everything just went whoosh up and whoosh down, over and over. And it didn't stop! I spent the entire day yesterday in a constant state of shock."

Mizuki narrowed his eyes. "Were those bruises an up or a down?"

"Mizuki!" Iruka gasped out, shaking his head. "They had nothing to do with these. It was a training accident."

"Don't lie to me, Iruka. I know you better than anyone. I mean, if you're into that kind of kinky stuff, I'll back off, but I don't think you are."

"Look, I know you're not happy with my friendship with them."

Mizuki snorted in response, but didn't respond.

"And at the moment, I'm not completely happy with them either. But NOT because they hit me or anything like that. When did you become such a pervert? I got these from sparring with someone I barely knew. He was a lot stronger, and things got a little intense. It's no big deal." It was close enough to the truth that Iruka felt his conscience twinge only a little. But really, he didn't have to tell Mizuki everything.

"Please tell me you at least got a punch or two in?"

Iruka nodded. "I did, and he said I hit hard, and Genma said he had a swollen eye. Hey, did you know if someone slaps you hard enough your vision goes all weird? I think that might be an interesting technique to teach the kids."

Mizuki shook his head. "No, it's risky. Too much force and you could really hurt someone. But it's an interesting observation. Slapping, huh? That explains the bruises on your cheek." He grinned, brushing his finger against Iruka's face.

"Iruka, it's not that I don't like your, uh, friends..." Mizuki started again. He hadn't missed Iruka's admission earlier.

"You don't like them. You don't trust them. You think they're using me. You think I can do better. Did I forget something?"

Mizuki laughed at Iruka's flawless recitation. "Fine, yeah, I've said it before. But I'm your best friend, Iruka, so sue me if I care what happens to you."

Iruka nodded. "I know that. I appreciate you looking out for me, really. But in this case, I think you're wrong. We just got in a fight, that's all."

"And?"

"We're going to talk this evening. Yes, they agreed to talk." He glared at Mizuki for a minute until the man's look of shock dissolved into an easy grin. "I don't know what's going to happen. I just know some things have to change."

Mizuki bumped his forehead against Iruka's shoulder. "Hey, look at the bright side. If you do break up, there's still time for you to find a fiancee. Then we could have a double wedding!"

"After you spent all this time telling me how awful the engagement has been? I don't think so!"

"Awww, come on. We could be partners in misery. Although, if you found another orphan, you wouldn't have to go through all this crap. It would just be the two of you." He lay back against the grass and stared up at the sky, sighing.

"Too bad you fell in love with Tsubaki before you thought it through," Iruka teased.

"You'll see, my friend. One day, when you're done wasting your time with men who can't love you back."

Iruka frowned, but he couldn't really deny it. They couldn't even admit they loved each other.

"It's great, Iruka. I'm the most important person to Tsubaki in the world. With her, I can do anything. You'll see. One day I'll be invincible."

Crawling to his feet, Iruka looked down at his friend. "Such a romantic. But then, you always were the more mature one."

Mizuki jumped up and brushed himself off. "Don't forget smarter and better-looking," he grinned.

As Iruka walked off, he thought it was weird that he and Mizuki had become friends. Mizuki didn't need him, but he stuck by Iruka, helping him, lending him strength and confidence. Iruka owed Mizuki a lot. It was a shame Raido and Genma couldn't understand, that they couldn't get along with Mizuki. Iruka felt he had to hide so much, that his life had been forced into compartments. This section was for Raido and Genma and that one was for Mizuki. The wall between the two was unbreakable. It wasn't the way he wanted to live his life, but until now he hadn't thought to question it. Maybe tonight, he thought.

---

Raido walked into the house and stared. Everything was clean. Piles of laundry sat on the coffee table, waiting to be put away. The floor was still shiny from its recent dusting. He could smell food cooking in the kitchen. Kicking off his sandals, he bent down and placed them in the rarely used cubbies. They just seemed so messy in the spotless entry otherwise. Holding the bag of meat pastries in one hand, he ventured into the dining area. "I'm home?" he called, not entirely sure he had walked into the right apartment.

"Welcome back," Genma called from the bedroom.

Raido set the bag down on the counter and walked into the bedroom. Blinking his way around the room, Raido couldn't remember when it had been so...clean. "Uh, Genma? Did you spend the entire day cleaning?"

Genma looked up from the other side of the room as he smoothed a clean blanket across the foot of the bed. "I got bored," he admitted with a shrug. "Wasn't much else to do with you and Iruka gone, and I can't chance an accident so real training was out."

"Great job," Raido said with a grin. "If you ever want to give up on the shinobi life, you could always find work as a maid. I've never seen the place so clean."

With a snort, Genma put his hands on his hips and glared at Raido. "Maid, my ass. I'm gunning for concubine."

Raido shuddered at the thought of Genma as some noble's plaything. "Genma, I just spent an entire day in a roomful of men who probably keep concubines. Trust me, you wouldn't like it. By the end of the day, I was hoping something would happen just so I could launch a stray kunai or two."

"That bad, huh?" Genma said, ruffling Raido's hair. "Bath's ready. Seemed a shame not to use it when I spent an hour scrubbing it."

"Wouldn't need to spend an hour if you did it more than once a year," Raido answered, pulling Genma into a hug. "I brought you a treat. It's on the counter."

Apologies given and accepted in both camps.

---

The same scene played out when Iruka came in the door thirty minutes later. This time, though, Genma met him in the living room and dragged him directly into the bathroom. Raido came in behind them and checked Iruka's bruises, grimacing. "They're healing," he finally pronounced, "but they were much worse than I thought. What did you tell them at school?"

Iruka smiled weakly. "Only Mizuki asked, so I told him I was sparring with someone." He didn't miss the twin grimaces at his friend's name, but he chose to ignore it for now.

"They're not broken, right? Just bruised?" he asked anxiously, poking at his ribs.

Raido nodded. "Seems that way. How do you feel?"

"Stiff. Achy. It got better the more I moved around. So, can I have a bath?" He eyed the tub longingly. He liked his tiny apartment, but he really missed not having a tub.

Genma looked at Raido and clapped his shoulder, leaving. "Okay, Mr. Medic, I'm leaving this up to you." He didn't want to see the look on Iruka's face if the answer was no.

Prodding again, Raido chewed his lip. Normally, hot water on bruises would be just asking for trouble. But Iruka HAD iced them, and the salve had worked some. "Yes, you can have a bath," he answered finally, holding his hand up to add his conditions. "But only fifteen minutes. And you have to let me wrap the ribs again when you're done."

Iruka nodded happily and finished undressing. Raido left and shut the door behind him.

"You are such a pushover."

Raido shrugged and nodded, sinking into the couch with a groaning stretch. "Hope to hell those ribs aren't cracked," he finally growled out, staring at Genma.

"Hey, I'm leaving Wednesday. If you find out sometime after that, you have my permission to beat Aoba into the ground."

Nodding, Raido leaned his head against the back of the couch and waited.

Thirty minutes later Iruka emerged from the bath feeling so much better. True, his ribs were aching even more now, and the bite mark was glowing against his skin, but he was relaxed and clean and all the dull muscles aches were blissfully gone. He found the pair of shorts he wore yesterday on top of the stack of towels and slipped them on. They were comfortable and Raido never seem to wear them anyway. He dried his hair with the towel and left the bathroom, remembering to cover the tub so they could use the water again.

"How do you feel?" Raido asked from the couch, his eyes zeroing in on Iruka's bruised ribs.

"Much better," Iruka said, smiling. "But my ribs are still aching. Could you go ahead and wrap them now?"

Genma grinned and went into the kitchen, then returned waving the disgusting ointment at Raido. "This again?"

Raido stood and poked at Iruka's rib. "You stayed in too long," he complained. He checked the bruise on Iruka's jaw and nodded. "Yeah, that again," he finally called back to Genma. When he was done, he held Iruka's jaw gently, his eyes serious. "If they're not feeling better by tomorrow evening, I'm taking you to the hospital. No 'buts', Iruka."

Frowning, Iruka squirmed away, then grinned. "You're not the boss of me, Raido."

Genma howled as Raido stood there, dumbstruck, shaking his head. "He got you!" Genma gasped through his laughter. "He so completely got you!"

"You know, Iruka," Raido said softly, "If you're going to act like a child, I'm going to treat you like a child." He stepped closer, daring Iruka to run.

Iruka stood his ground until Raido got just within range before he tried to lunge for the couch, yelling, "BASE!"

Raido closed his hand around Iruka's arm, pulling him away from the couch just before Iruka landed. He held Iruka gently, mindful of the ribs, but firmly. There was no way Iruka was going to get away. "Bad children get spanked," he whispered wickedly into Iruka's ear.

"You wouldn't!"

"He would," Genma said, laughing as he flopped onto the couch. "I know you really bought into the whole 'nice guy' thing, thinking I'm the pervert, but Raido is the true deviant."

In a heartbeat, the mood changed. Raido drew back, aware the fun moment was over. Iruka looked at him, a little sad look. "So, I guess this is the part where we talk."

Iruka looked down but shook his head. "I think we should eat first. Genma spent all day cooking, it looks like."

"It won't be ready for a little while," Genma answered, leaning against the couch. "We can talk for a bit, then eat."

Folding his legs under him, Iruka sat down on the floor at the coffee table, picking at the hem of his shorts. "Genma, could I get a shirt from you?" he asked suddenly. "I feel a little chilled."

Genma got up and found one, tossing it across the room, smiling a little as Iruka pulled it over his head. It felt nice to see Iruka dressed in their clothes, even if they didn't fit. Maybe because they didn't fit. He flopped onto the sofa heavily.

Raido sat down at the other end of the table, near Genma. "Well, you wanted to talk, Iruka. So, talk."

---

Iruka took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm not ready to end this. I just want you to be clear about that."

The other two men nodded. "You said that last night," Genma reminded him.

"But the way things are right now...it can't continue like this." He stopped and looked at the table. "It's not healthy. We...we're keeping things from each other, and even if the reasons seemed, I don't know, reasonable I guess, it needs to stop. I need you both to be honest with me."

"About what exactly?" Raido asked.

"About everything!" Iruka said heatedly, then stopped again. "Well, probably not everything. I mean, I think there are probably private things you keep to yourselves, and things that you think just aren't important, and that's okay. But if it's something important, something that could affect someone else, or something that's bugging you about someone else, you should say so." He glanced at Genma briefly and flushed.

Genma bristled a little, anger crossing his face, but Iruka waved him silent.

"Just...let me, for a bit. Please?"

Genma relaxed, but his hand on the arm of the sofa was tense, clenched tightly.

"I understand why you didn't want me to know how...how you fought together. And I admit if I had seen something like yesterday..." Iruka voice wavered and he squeezed his eyes closed, trying to keep it together. This had gone better in his head, he decided. "I would have been upset. Maybe upset enough to say 'forget it, it's not worth it'." Another deep breath. "But, honestly, if you had made the effort to let me know that it happened, sometimes, and if you didn't let it build up like that, it wouldn't have been so bad, and at least I would have been expecting it. It was upsetting, really hard, that Yamashiro knew, and he was the one willing to tell me, and I didn't even believe him because..." He put his head in his hand for a moment, then looked up fiercely. "Because you had done such a good job of hiding it from me. So not only were you two fighting, but you were deliberately waiting to do it when I wasn't around."

Raido shifted on the floor, unable to look directly at Iruka.

"I know why you did it, I do, and part of me appreciates that you wanted to protect me from it. But Genma's was right, Raido, I'm not a child, and if I'm old enough to be here, I'm old enough to experience the consequences. I want to. It's part of who you are, the real part, that you get mad and Genma gets mad, and I get mad, too." He laughed weakly when he caught the other two shooting looks at each other. "We should be able to tell each other when we get mad without it turning into a meltdown."

"Can you stay out of it if it's just between the two of us?" Genma asked seriously. "I mean, even if it's right in front of you, because yesterday you didn't."

"Yesterday, it concerned me because you were using my name," Iruka replied. "Even if you think it wasn't about me. If it's not about me, then don't use my name. Fight about whatever it is that's bothering you. Don't drag other stuff in. I think it confuses everyone. But if you can do that, yes, I can agree to stay out of it."

Genma nodded, a thinking nod, not an agreeing nod. "It's not how we usually fight, Iruka."

"I know," he said softly. "But I think it would be better for both of you. Yamashiro said you once fought for weeks. It's great that your friendship withstood that, but...I worry, Genma. I worry that one day, you're going to say something and it will all crumble. And if you leave, or Raido leaves, and something...happens...the other one will be..." Iruka rubbed his eyes, because this was the very heart of fear in a relationship in Konoha, that something would happen, not because it might, but because it often did. "I don't want you to leave on a mission without making up. Not ever. Not even once. Even after I'm gone, and I'm just a memory. It...would be hard enough for Raido to lose you. But I think that way, thinking angry thoughts at someone you care about, and then they're not there..."

"You're right," Raido said, and Genma looked over to see his friend's face had gone a little pale. "He's right, Genma. Do you remember?"

Genma nodded, "Yeah, I remember. Of course I remember." He slid onto the floor next to Raido, his head on Raido's shoulder. "I remember thinking I was going to die, and the last words you heard from me..." His voice tightened as Raido pulled him closer.

Iruka sat silently, wondering if he should wait until they were done, or go on. "I know you said you weren't in love," he said, deciding this would be the right time for this particular conversation. "But it's obvious to me that it's more than just friendship."

The other men smiled weakly from across the table. "Uh, yeah, I guess it's a little more than just friendship," he admitted, his voice thick. He and Genma never talked about what would happen 'if', and thinking about it was uncomfortable on a level far beyond Iruka's words.

"Gadunkadunk," Iruka said suddenly.

Genma laughed in response. "Excuse me?"

"Gadunkadunk," Iruka said again, cheerfully. "It's a word. I don't know if it means anything, so I'm declaring a meaning for it."

Raido looked at Genma, shaking his head. "You can't just decide a new word, Iruka."

"Sure I can, I'm a teacher," he replied with a shrug. "My students claim I make up words all the time."

"That's only because they didn't do their homework." Genma put his arm on the table and leaned forward. "Okay, sensei, what does it mean?"

"Gadunkadunk means gadunkadunk, obviously." He laughed, then shook his head. "It's the level of feeling somewhere above friendship but below love. I thought you needed a word to describe it. So now you have one, and I won't make the mistake of calling it 'love' again."

"Iruka, you're a nut," Raido said evenly.

"So what does it mean exactly?" Genma asked, still leaning forward.

"I dunno. It's your feeling, so it's your word. Maybe it doesn't need a meaning exactly. As long as you know it's there. And...it's not as strong as love. That's the important part." He smiled again because he was going to say something mushy, and Genma always said he hated mush. "Love is strong, but love can still break. Gadunkadunk is not as strong, so you need to be more careful with it. Like, maybe not saying everything hurtful thing you can think of when you're fighting?"

"You just said you wanted me to be honest, Iruka. Now..."

"Genma, you can say what you're thinking without deliberately hurting someone else. It may take some effort on your part." Iruka grinned and Raido snorted. "It may take some retraining even."

Genma's eyes narrowed. "But what if I want to hurt the someone else, hmmm? What about that?"

"Then tell them that," Iruka answered seriously. "Tell them 'I'm mad, I want to hurt you'."

Exhaling noisily, Genma chewed on his senbon, thinking. "That sounds kind of harsh to say out loud," he replied finally.

"Is it any worse than what you say normally?" Iruka stared back at Genma.

"No," Genma answered softly. "No, it's not."

He looked up at Iruka. "Can we talk about that now?" he asked.

"Sure," Iruka sighed. "Genma, I know you're sorry you said it, but I know you meant it, too. And...you were right. I am."

Genma blinked his eyes. Every apology he had in mind evaporated instantly, replaced by confused shock. "What?" He looked over at Raido, pointing at Iruka. "Did you already talk to him?"

Raido shook his head, his mouth trying to form words but only incoherent sounds emerged. "What?" he finally spit out.

Iruka nearly laughed because sitting next to each other, it looked like Genma and Raido were playing some bizarre game of copycat - their expressions, even their positions, were almost identical.

"WHAT?" both men managed to spit out simultaneously.

"A wuss in bed. I'm saying you're right, although I would prefer you use another word."

Genma fell back onto the floor. "NEXT!"

"You wanted to talk about it now, so we're talking about it now!" Iruka said back from across the table, coming up on his knees so he could look Genma in the face.

"Raido," Genma gasped, curling up and tugging on Raido's pants. "Make him stop. Please, make him stop."

"Um, Iruka, I think Genma would prefer to have what looks to be a rather interesting conversation sometime later. Preferably in bed."

"I don't think bed is the best time or place to discuss this," Iruka answered honestly. "But if Genma is adamant, I agree to skip it for now."

"Raido." Iruka was looking serious again. "You can't control everything. You just...can't. I can't speak for Genma, but I'm a little scared that you spent so much effort trying to control this, this, whatever this thing is we have."

"I think control is a little strong, Iruka," Raido replied, uncomfortably.

"I think control is exactly the right word," Genma replied, staring Raido down.

Iruka continued, nodding. "It's probably part of your personality, Raido. Some people are like that. But, maybe if you eased up a little, you could enjoy more of what is happening now instead of worrying about what's going to happen, or what might happen."

"This is probably the most uncomfortable conversation I've ever had," Raido muttered. "I think I liked it better when it was all Genma's fault."

Genma grinned and stuck his tongue out. "Ha, those days are gone forever, buddy."

Turning to Iruka, Genma narrowed his eyes. "So, what about you, Iruka?"

"I don't know. You tell me."

Raido shrugged, shaking his head. "Nothing. I can't think of anything I want to change."

Iruka snorted back, "I'm not trying to change either of you. I'm just saying that perhaps I don't really know you, the way I thought I did." He smiled and chuckled quietly. "Okay, maybe I am trying to change you a little bit, about the fighting thing. But, I thought we were friends, and I need for us to be friends." Iruka bit his lip, his eyes flickering. This was getting uncomfortably close to something Genma would consider a 'bedroom' conversation, and some place Iruka knew none of them really wanted to go.

"What?" Raido asked, still a little tense.

"And don't say 'nothing'. You're not allowed to say 'nothing', not after all this," Genma added seriously.

"It verges on what you probably consider 'bedroom only'," Iruka warned.

Genma exhaled, nodding. "It can wait, then."

Iruka laughed when he heard Raido's muttered 'coward' and Genma's whispered 'bite me'.

"Is that it?"

"No, that's not it, Raido," Iruka frowned, a little irritated. "But it's a good start."

"Food's done, either way, so we're stopping to eat," Genma announced, standing up and walking into the kitchen.

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Read On to Chapter6 Pt2
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