'Tryin' to Get to Heaven,' Part 17

[midnightdiddle]

!-!-! Two and a Half Months Before !-!-!

“Come on,” Kotetsu wheedled shamelessly, leaning forward on his hands. “Just one cigarette, c’mon.” Asuma looked down at him disinterestedly, shoving the pack back into his vest.

“Get lost, kid,” he said gruffly, and Kotetsu fell backwards, hitting the ground in a cloud of dust.

“Stupid bastard,” the chuunin said conversationally to no one, looking up at the sky between the trench walls. “Won’t even give up one lousy cigarette.” A foot connected with his ribs and he rolled with it, breath coming out in a whine.

“You’re in the way,” Izumo grumbled, arms full of bags. Kotetsu glared up from his sprawl and Izumo stepped over him.

“Asuma got cigarettes, and he won’t even give me one,” Kotetsu informed Izumo with a groan.

“You’re annoying,” Asuma said lazily, stretching out his legs across the trench. Izumo paused midstep and looked over at Asuma, thoughtful.

“Give me one?”

Asuma dug through his vest and pulled out the pack, tapping out a cigarette. Izumo shifted the blankets and bags in his arms until he was holding them with one arm and reached out, grabbing the cigarette with his free hand.

“Thanks.”

“What the hell?” Kotetsu sat up, head hitting the dirt wall, and as he rubbed his head he looked reproachfully at Asuma. “Izumo doesn’t even smoke.”

“Neither do you,” Izumo said, turning so he could shove the cigarette into Kotetsu’s mouth. “Stop whining and come help me.” Kotetsu leapt to his feet and grabbed some of the gear from Izumo’s arms. Asuma glowered at them, grumbling to himself as the two chuunin left.

Kakashi watched Izumo and Kotetsu walk by, following them with his eye, then turned back to Iruka. The teacher was slumped against the trench wall, tapping his fingers against his knees, and he was staring at the ground. He glanced up at Kakashi for a moment, gave the copy-nin a short smile, then tilted his head up.

“The clouds are nice,” he said idly, fingertips pausing for a moment before they resumed their pattern. “Shikamaru would like them. He would watch clouds during class, so I could never seat him by the windows.”

“Yeah?” Kakashi followed Iruka’s gaze upwards and watched the clouds silently for a few moments. The clouds moved along slowly, sliding beyond the trench walls, and when they were out of view Kakashi looked back to Iruka. “You like clouds, sensei?”

Iruka’s smile came back, widened. “I like clouds, but I like other things more.” Kakashi’s bored expression melted away, replaced by curiosity.

“Like what, sensei?”

Iruka stopped tapping on his knees, dropping his hands so he could draw circles in the dirt. “Lots of things. I like teaching, I like my students. I like ramen, and Naruto, and I like houseplants. They’re nice, they brighten up a room.”

“Do they?” The boredom was back in full force, Kakashi’s shoulders slumping.

“More than that,” Iruka continued, ignoring Kakashi’s interruption, “I like fucking.”

The copy-nin looked up, startled, and Iruka grinned madly, eyes narrowed in laughter. “Do you?” Kakashi forced out, flushing beneath his mask when his voice broke. He cleared his throat and tried again, with all the shreds of calm he could gather together. “Do you, now?”

“Mmm,” Iruka hummed cheerfully, standing about slowly. He brushed the seat of his pants, then shoved his hands into his pockets. “It was nice talking to you, Kakashi.” The grin was infuriated, and Kakashi wanted to lick it off the teacher’s face.

“Of course, sensei,” he said instead, watched the chuunin walk down the trench, following Kotetsu and Izumo. The jounin sighed when Iruka was out of sight and stretched his arms overhead, rolling his shoulders until the popped. With a second sigh he himself stood. Maybe Asuma would like some company.




And that ends the chapter. A chapter's done! We're nearly half-way, or so! I think... So, off to sleep for a very, very long time. Or not. Whichever. ^__^ Thank you for your encouragement.

Comments

[luv-wiz.livejournal.com]

That was ... unexpected . O___o;;

Iruka was very bold here ... >__>

....

cool . ^^ * fan-girl mode *

[aozora23.livejournal.com]

^__________^ Go Iruka!! That was awesome! I love him. And the bit with Kotetsu, Izumo and Asuma was priceless. Love it all, now I'm going to read the entire chapter on ff.net.