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Call to Arms	By : Ash_Gray_Kitsune Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Kakashi/Iruka Views: 1571 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga, anime, or characters. And I sure as heck don't make any money from them.

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Call to Arms

"Gomen, Iruka-sensei."

"For what?" The younger teacher glanced at him, rather confused, as they ran through some basic taijutsu exercises together. Kakashi had to smile under his mask; such a sweet man, really, and he really did feel bad for stealing his weekend away; Iruka had little enough free time, though the jounin didn't seem to begrudge him his request to train during the times when he wasn't asleep or in class.

"For monopolizing your only free time. By the way, your armor should be ready by today for the first fitting; Nikorai was pretty happy that you're close to my measurements."

"Oh, it's no problem, Kakashi-sensei...why is that?" Kakashi grinned.

"Because the set I have him keep in reserve will only need a few adjustments for you." Iruka's jaw dropped, and he tensed, shocked that his new partner could be so glib about something so...expensive! "Relax! He keeps it because I'm such a reckless bastard; he told me that since I have a brand new pupil, he was going to use my set as an apology-gift." Iruka rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless.

"Remind me to thank him when I go pick up the katana I commissioned a while back. His wife should be nearly done with them."

"Oh really? Gai kept saying that you were a nunchuck man." Kakashi bend down to stretch out his back, groaning softly as his vertebrae finally popped and the muscles eased. He heard Iruka copying him, his voice coming out with a grunt as he replied with a touch of wry sarcasm.

"Well, Gai is a bit of an idiot when he's drunk, as you so eloquently showed me last night."

"Fair enough, fair enough. So, I'm supposed to start you on the basics of missions; I suspect that all we'll need to do is review, correct?"

"I would hope so, since I teach a class of genin the same damned things every day." He laughed and leaned back, bringing one leg up flush against his torso, watching with delight as Iruka copied that move as well. Damn, but that man was well-built. Long legs, a slender torso, broad, fine shoulders... They switched legs, and Kakashi settled back into a more serious tone.

"Alright then, how many hand signals do you know?"

"All eighteen in our regular repetoire, and several of the special forces ones, since I've also filled in for Shikaku and Asuma for the young chuunin from time to time."

"Excellent, we can review those later on. Chakra limits?"

"Roughly the same as any other nin, though I do get more of a workout with mine than most."

"Oh?"

"There's a reason why Uzumaki Naruto believes I have eyes in the back of my head." Kakashi snickered, stretching his arms before him and popping his knuckles.

"Sounds pretty good to me, Iruka-sensei. Tell you what; I won't insult your experience by running you through the typical jutsus, if you'll sit with me for a bit and tell me exactly what your strengths are, and what you feel you need to work on." Iruka nodded, then gracefully thumped to the ground, his legs crossed, arms propping his chin up. Kakashi joined him, sitting directly across from him and mimicking his position, but not mockingly; he was genuinely interested in Iruka's self-inspection. He usually had to present his pupils' weaknesses to them, sometimes viciously, but someone like the new jounin was mature enough to accept that he not only had those weaknesses, but that he had the strength to overcome them. He nodded for Iruka to start.

"Well, first off, I've got a temper. I believe you've been on the receiving end a few times, am I correct?" At Kakashi's veiled grin, he smirked, then continued. "I also, due to the time I spend with my students, have a tendency to get strains more often than I should. Especially with any Hyuuga children in the class. I'd like to work at building my flexibility a little more, because of that. I need, desperately, some work with genjutsus; taijutsu and ninjutsu are perfectly fine, and probably actually a great deal better than most nin due to the kids' recess. Ah...Hmm...I think the only other thing I need work on is summons. I haven't used one since I was a genin myself." Kakashi nodded, making notes on each point Iruka had specified. All of those were exactly what he himself had seen, through both overt and covert examinations. He had been the one to suggest Iruka to the ANBU squads, when the elders had demanded a new squad formed of those nin with aquatic abilities. A bit stupid, he thought, but then again, several of the new jounin would never have become jounin without this opportunity. Not that they weren't skilled enough; just the opposite, in fact. Their skills, however, weren't considered 'of use' to the village as a whole, unless they were in positions of relative power, such as Iruka as a teacher. The other four were being trained by members of his own former squad at the moment, and would meet in exactly five weeks, wherein Iruka would take leadership.

"Alright, I think we can work a few things out. You're excellent with leadership over a large group, you rely on common sense instead of bravado, and you know what you can and cannot do. The genjutsu, then, will be the focus of the next three weeks; after that, we'll round things out and get you used to wearing that armor and carrying large weapons. Is there anything else you'd like to add before we get started?" Iruka shook his head, and looked slightly surprised when Kakashi pushed his hiate-ate up, revealing his Sharingan eye. "Now, Iruka-sensei; break my genjutsu!" The eye swirled dangerously, and Iruka found himself falling into silver and red, his world going completely black.

"Ow..." Iruka's soft groan made Kakashi smile, and he reached over, shaking his pupil's shoulder gently.

"Wakey, wakey, Iruka-sensei. I know it sucks, but you'll feel better with a little food in you." Groaning, Iruka sat up, rubbing his face with both hands and noting several bruises, presumably from when he'd tried to attack Kakashi through the genjutsu.

"Bet I made a right ass of myself..." He sighed, one eye opening against the hazy twilight, and he reached painfully for the small cup of juice and the pastry Kakashi held out. He ate it slowly, both savoring the treat and making sure that it didn't come back up to say hello. He caught a glimpse of Kakashi shaking his head, the older man's mask pulled down, revealing a pale, sharp-featured face, but with a wide, easy smile. It was quite clear that Kakashi wasn't nearly as cool and cold as most nin thought him to be. His Sharingan was closed and covered with a plain bandana; his hiate-ate was poking out of one of his flak jacket pockets. He looked tired, but pleased; Iruka must have done better than he'd imagined, though he wasn't too sure of that.

"Not at all. Actually, I'm really impressed; the only other person who could throw off my genjutsu like that was Nara Shikaku. And doing so well over ten times...damn, I'm actually ecstatic!" He grinned over at the teacher, and gave him a solid salute, then settled back, growing serious. "I mean it, you're one of the best I've seen at fighting the techniques. Now, I want to know something; can you cast them?" Iruka nodded, but sighed again.

"I'm horrible at laying down the base spell; building it up is okay, but actually casting it is like balancing on a rooftop screaming at the top of my lungs in a different language. So, yes, but you wouldn't want me to." Kakashi smiled slightly, but sighed as well, knowing that Iruka wouldn't like what he had to say next.

"Forgive me, then. One of the goals this next week will be genjutsu casting. I'm afraid that you have to be at least proficient enough to do so in battle before they'll pass you for the squad. Tell you what; I'll treat you to dinner and desert tonight, and we'll start fresh in the morning." Iruka smiled, and nodded, downing the last of the juice.

"I'll hold that to you, then. And no Ichiraku's! I spend enough time there with Naruto." Kakashi grinned.

"Fine with me."

Iruka stretched, groaning faintly as his shoulders popped, and he smiled over at his partner. His partner...he'd been part of a team as a youngster, of course, but he'd been mostly alone over the last few years, having only the mission room and his classes for company. That was another relief, though; he'd been pulled from mission room duty now that he was a candidate for ANBU, and he no longer had to deal with reports badly written, burned, soaked, or soiled in dirt. In fact, there were only three people who he actually looked forward to receiving the reports from; Shikaku, Kurenai, and surprisingly, Kakashi himself. In fact, he'd learned a lot about the man walking next to him, talking animatedly about the various techniques he'd Copied over the years. The truly secret ones, of course, would remain within his mind, but there were several that made Iruka laugh, such as a trick he'd learned with a slingshot back when he was a kid, and used to great extent in irritating the crap out of certain Elders.

As he finished up that story, leaving Iruka nearly breathless with laughter, he launched right into the time when he'd gone slightly batty from sleeping too long after a particularly grueling mission, and was totally convinced that Konohakagure was a town of zombies, when in reality he'd simply completely forgotten that it was Halloween, and that the jounin were doing a zombie-walk in celebration. Needless to say, after raising half the town with his screams and puncturing several egos (and learning a multitude of new swear words), Kakashi had been utterly embarrassed, though apparently his sensei, the Fourth Hokage, had nearly pissed himself laughing so hard. It was sweet to watch him remember his mentor so fondly; in the last several hours, Iruka had swiftly revised several opinions, and concluded that the Copy Nin was not only an interesting teacher and unexpectedly wise partner, but also the kind of man he wouldn't mind calling a friend. There was something about the way Kakashi seemed to understand him, even when he didn't say a word; he had a feeling it was because they were more alike than they realized. And that was intriguing enough as it is; to have the older jounin open up like this, when he was so notoriously closed-mouthed, was definitely a new development. And Kakashi seemed to realize that, for he looked over at Iruka's pursed lips and distant eyes, and chuckled.

"Yen for your thoughts?" 'Ruka laughed.

"Don't know if they're worth that much, but I was just wondering about something."

"Fire away."

"Why have you told me so much? The way I hear it, not even getting you drunk seems to ply information out of you." Kakashi smiled, but it was sad, and he looked up at the stars through his good eye.

"Well, if I spilled my guts when I got drunk, I never would have survived the S-rank missions, Iruka-sensei. But, other than that, I just...I don't like to talk about myself much in front of people. Most of the jounin and ANBU know my background; they either served with my father, or served with me, and so there was never any need to say anything. You, on the other hand...you're as much an enigma to me as I am to you, I'm sure, and...I dunno. You're easy to talk to. I don't feel like I'm being judged by you." Iruka smiled at that.

"I can promise you that you won't be. I only judge those who turn in reports late." Kakashi barked out a laugh, and turned a smiling eye to his pupil.

"Oh, I see how it is! No wonder everyone fears the great Iruka-sensei when he's on mission room duty!"

"Hey, it's either the fear of Kami-sama, or me. They're more like to fear me, because my retribution is swift and painful."

"Oh? A shuriken in the ass?" Iruka grinned, his teeth flashing whitely in the shadowy night against his dusky skin.

"I tell Naruto where they live." Kakashi's eyes widened, and he clutched his chest, arcing away from Iruka in feigned terror.

"Oh, Kami-sama, you are a cruel bastard!" He shrugged, smirking with his hands behind his head, quite relaxed.

"I've been told that I could take Ibiki's job as interrogator and probably do the job quicker and cleaner."

"Because you use psychological warfare?"

"Mmhmm." Kakashi shuddered, in truth this time, but cast a smile at the teacher.

"Remind me to never, ever, ever piss you off." Iruka laughed out loud.

"It'll only happen once, Kakashi-sensei." He chuckled as well, then sighed faintly as they drew close to Iruka's small home. Most nin, Kakashi included, lived in the apartments that clustered in the center of town; easy deployment, easy to spread orders. But this particular teacher preferred the quiet life, apparently, and had opted to live on the outskirts in a small, low former dojo. It was ringed by an eight-foot wall, and while it looked old and slightly run down, it was clear that the place was well cared for. As Iruka opened the tall gate to let himself in, Kakashi caught a glimpse of the house, and was reminded suddenly of his family's compound, bigger than this by a great deal, but quite the same in style and age. He could see the deeper shadows of trees and plantings that softened the stern lines, and smiled again. Figures; Iruka was quite gentle enough to be a gardener. The teacher had turned to face the Copy Nin, and Kakashi felt tongue-tied for a moment; he really didn't want to say goodnight, but at the same time, he couldn't think of a reason to stay. He's a good reason...He resolutely pushed that thought out of the way and focused on another silly grin.

"Still glad you said yes to Sarutobi?" Iruka smiled, and this time, Kakashi knew that it was directed solely at himself. Wow...it was kinda weird to feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

"Yes, I am...and Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm glad you're my partner in this." With that, he slipped inside, leaving Kakashi to blink at him, then smile wide under his mask and set back out to stroll to his apartment, a light tune on his lips as he whistled into the night air. Well, then...perhaps partner will come to take a different meaning over the next few weeks? Better play your cards right, O Hound of the Leaf; this little fishie isn't going down without a fight.
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Call to Arms