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“That’s fate,” Neji said, and for a moment no one was sure if he was referring to Iruka’s predicament or Tenten. In such a case, they felt compelled to agree with him anyway.

There was another tense silence. Then Sakura hobbled out of the kitchen. She was doing fine until she came upon the table, where she collapsed into a sobbing mess. Kakashi and Sasuke, the masculine cowards that they were, took a step back and just stared, as if that was going to solve the problem. Naruto, the other masculine coward, refused to come out of the kitchen until the mess was delt with. That left Iruka, who was the only one brave enough to sit next to Sakura patted her shoulder until she calmed down.

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Now here is an interesting equation: Facing rubbing rituals + Lee + Gai equals scarring mental images.

Kakashi’s mind blanked out again before he could quietly go insane.

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Sasuke matched Kakashi’s reproach with a death-glare of his own. But Kakashi was an Elite Jounin, which meant he could project more Doom and Death into his glare than Sasuke could ever hope to. Eventually Sasuke backed down, completely out-glared. But he was no less belligerent than before.

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“You are early, Kakashi,” Sandaime observed. His keen glance went from studying Iruka to Kakashi before it settled down to the papers on his desk. Kakashi decided he really, really didn’t like Sandaime’s Gaze of Inexplicable Interest, and scheduled to investigate it further after the meeting.

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Iruka immediately left the conference room afterwards, but he didn’t leave quickly enough to leave the ensemble of jounin and chuunin, and the Hokage untouched from his Distress Shockwave Pulsar. Once the group recovered from the split-second onslaught, a good majority of them proceeded to give Kakashi glares that promised a prolonged, torturous death. Even Sandaime wasn’t happy with him, and he was the current head of the ‘swim or die’ school.

Iruka struggled momentarily with the urge to teach Naruto how rainbows were formed, and ended up in compromise. “Rainbows are crooked sun rays, Naruto.” Gaara silently nodded. His blond companion who was now covered with soapy spray and sand looked confused, and then smug, “Hai, hai, bubbles have Rainbow-Making Jutsu.” Gaara nodded again and thought to himself what a uselessly unlethal skill Rainbow-Making Jutsu was. Iruka heard Sasuke snort something derisive from behind him, but couldn’t comment because his teeth were clenched.

Ah, right. Sorry. Well, whenever Kakashi’s around a... certain person... he acts totally differently: he loses his cool attitude and gets all shy and intimidated!”

“No!”

“Yes! He can’t even manage to talk to that person correctly. Right, Aki-chan?”

“Yeah, we’ve seen it several times. Whenever that person speaks to him, he starts babbling and positively runs away like a school girl!” Iruka blinked, stunned by this new revelation. He had never imagined Kakashi-sensei could be that kind of man! To run away in front of his crush...! How so... unKakashi-ish!

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The chuunin felt his heart stop as those words came to his hears. What? What! No. No no no no no no, there was a mistake somewhere! Kakashi-sensei, in-in love... with him? No no no, there was a mistake; they were mistaking him for someone else for sure...! There had to be a mistake-

“Heh? Who’s that?”

“You know, that tanned chuunin who always put his hair in a ponytail? He’s got a scar on his nose.”

Okay. There was no mistake.
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“Well, it’s true that I would have prefered it to remain secret, but...” Iruka started off quietly, unsure exactly how to describe his current situation. “I think I’m better off than Hatake-sama... He’s the one who probably wouldn’t want something like that to be known...”

“Don’t say that!” Tsunade yelled angrily, her powerful fist slamming on the table in a loud bang. Iruka stared at her, dumbfounded. “Don’t you dare say something like that again! You shouldn’t think so lowly of yourself like that! It’s not because Kakashi’s a bit famous or stronger than you that you don’t have a chance!”

... Wait... wha...?

“Don’t give up before trying! You’re still young, go for it! You’ll never find out if he returns your fellings if you keep on thinking like that!”

“...return my... feelings...?” Iruka wispered in a white voice, his stunned brain trying to process the information he’s been given.

“He might, you know,” the Godaime calmed herself a bit, bending over to get closer to the chuunin, her eyes filled with true concern. “It’s common knowledge that he swings both ways, so you do have a chance with him. If you want my advice, you should go for it. That Hatake kid would be stupid to turn you down,” she added the last sentence to herself silently.

“I’m... in love with Kakashi...?” Iruka stared in front of him blankly, information finaly proceeding. Tsunade gave him a sorry look, taking his shock for love-induced detress.