All for the Sake of Pleasure

Chapter 19

Kakashi stared down at the hysterical pug, not for the first time wondering if it was too late to teach Pakkun some respect. All but glowering at his laughing dog, he plopped himself down on his bed and absentmindedly rifled through his entire wardrobe for what seemed to be the thousandth time.

Was tonight going to even be a date? It could be, judging from the way Iruka had been looking at him last week when he asked Kakashi out. Had Kakashi not been paying more attention to his bloody arm, he probably would have realized at the time that Iruka was looking at him like a starving man looked at chocolate cake. But it was not until Iruka had vanished with Saki that Kakashi got the distinct feeling that, somewhere in that seemingly innocent mind, Iruka was trying to decide what he would nibble on first. And that sent Kakashi's mind spinning – and it was not entirely confusion that made his mind go blank for hours afterwards. No, the mental image of Iruka and chocolate cake was one that could not be shaken from his head all too easily.

Then again, Iruka could have been truthfully asking out of gratitude for babysitting Saki...

But those were the least of Kakashi's worries. His mind raced much faster than the average person's; he could judge people's intentions in a matter of seconds. He would figure out if Iruka meant tonight to be a date when he finally got himself over to the chuunin's apartment. He had to be able to see if all Iruka felt was gratitude or if it was something else entirely. If he felt like another sensual dessert under that brown gaze, he would definitely have his answer.

Kakashi had always thought Iruka was an odd bird. He raised Naruto single-handedly, for heaven's sake! After all that time, he was bound to have a few screws loose, but nothing could have prepared Kakashi for the real Iruka. Not only was he a pervert when he thought no one was looking, but he was apparently scatterbrained beyond belief and a master at making hardened shinobi feel guilty.

How else could one single chuunin get two of the strongest jounin in the village to come over to Kakashi's apartment the day after he babysat Saki? Not only had Iruka somehow convinced Naruto and Sasuke to come for a visit, but the two young men had, without any prompting on Kakashi's part, stated that they were his slaves for the day. It was like his own personal Christmas that glorious day. Ooh, the blackmail material Kakashi now had on those two! The picture he was able to get of Sasuke in his "uniform" for the day would last him a lifetime. Then again, he might be scarred for life after discovering that Naruto just happened to have a skimpy maid outfit in Sasuke's size...and was very much willing to run home to get it, despite the glares his lover was giving him that would have frozen hell over.

Kakashi had no idea what Iruka had done to get those two so complacent that Sasuke cleaned his entire apartment in a maid's outfit and Naruto gave the entire ninken pack baths while Gai and Kakashi watched the new Icha Icha movie. Whatever it was that Iruka did, Kakashi was in awe of the seemingly nice teacher.

" You're going to be late, idiot." Kakashi was pulled from those fond memories at the sound of Pakkun's exasperated tone. No, it wouldn't do to be late to his first date. Ever since Sasuke and Naruto came over the other day, all Kakashi could think about was the message they passed on from Iruka, who apparently had realized a few hours after leaving Kakashi's apartment that he had not given Kakashi a date or time. The message was simple: dinner, Wednesday night at six. And not to be late. It should have been easy enough, since Kakashi could probably find Iruka's apartment in his sleep, he had been there so many times to spend a few hours with Saki.

But tonight was different. Iruka was actually inviting him over. Iruka, the man who was single-handedly raising Saki, the brunet who frightened seasoned jounin into bending to his every whim, and the man who fascinated Kakashi had asked him on a date. And that was why, at five thirty, Kakashi was still in a towel and eyeballing his dog as though Pakkun would magically tell him the answer he had been hoping to hear for the past hour of hysterical laughter on the dog's part.