Iruka laid in bed, dozing, curled up, burrowed under blankets, still in the pleasant realm of those that were half asleep and not quite awake. Reality was made up of only the hypnotic sound of the fan spinning overhead and the soft texture of the pillow beneath him. It was drizzling slightly, the breeze that wafted through the half-opened window next to him brought with it scents of damp grass and clean rain. A stray raindrop sneaked though, landed on his cheek, a cold wetness, startling him into consciousness. Not willing to give in to awareness just yet, he turned, snuggling deeper, wiping the errant drop onto the pillow. His movement pulled the blanket down, exposing his tanned bare back to the morning chill.

He sensed rather than heard the door open. The wind seemed to rush out of the room as the pressure was released. The gentle swoosh of the door as it shut, footsteps, and the bed next to his prone body sinking under a weight. A whisper of a caress running down the hollow of his scarred back made him shiver more than the chilly air. A smooth brush of cloth-covered lips. A face was pressed into his dark hair, inhaling deeply. Iruka's slight smile was hidden by the pillow.

'It's raining' Kakashi murmured.

'Mmm... .' came the muffled reply. He was still deciding if it was worth waking up. It was early yet. School wouldn't start for a couple more hours.

'You're going to catch a cold if you don't cover up.' Continued the silver haired jounin as he sneaked under the sheets, curling himself about Iruka, tugging him closer and pulling the blanket more securely around them.

'Mmm' sighed the younger teacher. Refusing to budge. Kakashi was warm. Warm and quite naked, save for the mask. Pale skin so soft and smooth against his.

A man-made cocoon, a closed circle, the blankets erected an impenetrable barrier around them. For a moment, it was possible for both to believe that nothing in the world was strong enough to breech that barrier. It was just the two of them enclosed within and that was enough. The rain began to fall harder; droplets hit the glass plane of the half-opened window spattering the two beings curled up on the bed. Iruka gave a muffled 'eep' and snuggled deeper into the blankets. Kakashi laughed softly at the still sleepy chunin and murmured,

'Do you think it's worth moving? Or shall we just get wet? I'm rather fond of the way your skin feels wet.' The lower curvature of the masked face took on the shape of a sly grin; the single exposed eyebrow raised itself suggestively.

Iruka couldn't see Kakashi's face but he knew the man well enough to imagine the leer on the pale, masked face. Trying not to laugh, Iruka pushed the fair-haired man away and reached up to pull shut the window. The raindrops continued to beat down on the window plane. Musical in its rhythm, twinkling fairies, dancing on glass, twirling, prancing. A soothing sound. His hand gets wet in the process and Kakashi takes it and stares at the droplets of water on the dark skin, tracing a pattern with the dampness.

'How was the mission?' asked Iruka, tilting his head so that it rested against the jounins', allowing himself to enjoy the careless motions of Kakashi's fingers. His own hand reaching out to trace the bridge of the covered nose.

'Don't wanna talk about the mission...I'd rather...' The sentence was interrupted as Kakashi shifted, pushing the younger man onto his back and sprawled out on top of him, pinning him to the bed. One pale hand rose up to cover the dark eyes above the scarred nose, slightly rough in its impatience. His other hand reached to tug his mask down.

'Don't.' Iruka said, jerking his face away but still keeping his eyes closed.

'What's wrong?' questioned the older man, all motion stilled at the uncharacteristic harshness in Iruka's normally mild, melodic tone.

'Put your mask up.' The sentence didn't leave room for the argument the young teacher knew was sure to come from the jounin.

He waited until he heard the cloth shift back to its original place. Iruka left his eyes closed a few beats longer, feeling the weight of the single-eyed stare on his face. Kakashi didn't move off him though. The lean muscled body remained poised over Iruka's form, tense, coiled, waiting. Impatience and confusion all but rolled of him in waves. For once, the genius jounin's emotions were unchecked, unshackled. Only Iruka was capable of unleashing this.

'Ruka.' Stern. The name held a question.

Brown eyes snapped open but refused to meet the pale blue eye hovering above it. A tanned hand slapped against Kakashi's chest and shoved. Hard. The chuunin quickly slid out from under the other man as Kakashi fell to the side, ninja reflexes useless against the shock from receiving such a push from his usually affectionate lover.

'Ruka!' Harsher this time. Louder.

Iruka didn't deign to answer, instead getting off the bed, a slight shudder running through him as his feet hit the cold, hard floor.

'I'm going to take a shower. You should get dressed. You have to meet Naruto and the rest in a bit don't you?'

'Ruka... What....' Softer. Confused. Hurt.

There was no reply from the teacher; he didn't even seem to hear the question. Iruka picked up the towel hanging of the back of the chair, wrapped it around his waist and made his way to the shower...

When he came out, the pale Copy Ninja was already dressed in a tight black turtleneck and his usual dark pants. The ever present mask was in its usual position. His forehead protector slated over the Sharingan eye. Kakashi stared at Iruka clad in only the damp towel as he emerged from the shower.

'Well?' asked Kakashi, irritation taking the place of his initial confusion. Hurt made his voice harder than he would have liked. There wasn't even the usual appreciative leer at the half nude, damply tanned form.

'Turn around' was the reply.

'What?'

'Turn. Around.'

'You've got to be kidding me.'

'Turn around Kakashi' Iruka said flatly, unmoving.

'Fine. It's not like I've never seen you naked you know. In fact...'

'Lucky for you then. I usually have a cloth tied around my eyes when we fuck.'

Kakashi fell silent. The two men stared at each other, both unrelenting.

'That's not fair' Kakashi whispered finally, turning away.

'You started it.' said Iruka, reaching into his closet, jerkily yanking his clothes out, pulling them on in short, sharp tugs.

'You said you were fine with it.' came the angry retort.

'Oh right, it's my fault then. What was I thinking? Wanting to see the face of the man who's making love to me.' Fully dressed, the younger man finally looked at the older ninja and signaled that he was done.

Kakashi turned back to glare at the tanned form of his lover and asked,

'Why now? Why all of a sudden?'

'Because I'm tired Kashi. Because I'm sick of it. I'm sick of you coming and going whenever you please. Expecting me to welcome you into my bed, into my LIFE!' Iruka yelled. 'I'm sick of fucking a faceless man. I'm SICK of you.'

The violence of the answer threw the jounin. He knew that sooner of later this would happen. He just didn't expect it to be sooner. He had expected at least a little more time with the irrepressible young academy teacher before it all blew up in his masked face. As it always did. There was no hint of a problem before he left for his mission two weeks ago.

'So what do you want now?' questioned the masked jounin. He thought he already knew the answer. Iruka wanted to see his face. They always did. They never understood why he had to keep it covered even when having sex. And after the initial kink factor of being blindfolded in bed wore off, the request always arose.

[Let me see your face Kakashi. Why won't you take your mask of? Just a peek Kashi-kun. Pleeeaaase?]Whiny. Petulant. And when he refused to give in, then came the anger, the threats.

[If you don't take your stupid mask off you can go to hell. Are you going to remove it?]

He never said yes to such requests. He would not be threatened. He would not allow himself to be coerced. He never allowed it. He would not allow it with Iruka. Not even with Iruka who always kept his eyes closed when Kakashi kissed him, even if the jounin didn't reach up to cover his eyes. Not even with Iruka, who once suggested that Kakashi make love to him on his knees, from behind, because there wasn't anything to bind his eyes with and Iruka knew it was the only position where Kakashi felt secure in un-masking his face. So he said,

['I want to feel your lips on me. Take the mask off. Do me from behind. I won't look. I promise.']

The present day Iruka sighed and rubbed the scar on his nose. Wary. Tired of fighting. He was never any good at it anyway. Particularly not with the older jounin.

'Could you just leave me alone for a while? Just go...go do whatever it is that you do when you're not on missions or training and still disappear.'

'What? What does that mean?' Asked Kakashi, vaguely disconcerted. He was prepared to reject an appeal to remove his mask. He didn't quite know how to respond to what Iruka was asking.

'It means go away, go be somewhere else. Somewhere not here. Not around me. I need...I need some time to think about... some...some...' Iruka floundered...and finally came up with 'Stuff.'

'Stuff?' The Copy Ninja couldn't help it, he smiled, single uncovered eye curving slightly. It was just like the young chuunin to throw him for a loop, to say something so unsuitable for the situation, so weird and yet have it make sense anyway.

'Yes. Stuff.' Muttered Iruka embarrassed. What an anti-climax, he thought to himself.

'Ok. And when you're finished thinking about this Stuff...'

The younger man kept silent.

'Ruka?'

'I'll...I'll come find you.' Iruka said to the floor.

'Is that a promise?' Kakashi reached out and gently tipped the other ninja's face up to his. Finally looking into the dark brown eyes that first drew him to the younger man.

'Yes. I'll come find you.'

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