Tunnel Vision

"Iruka-san, it's good to see you." a woman with dark hair smiled. "What brings you here?"

"I need to see the Hokage." Iruka answered nervously. "Can I do that now, or do I have to make an appointment or something to see her? It's um, about a mission I went on."

"Tsunade-sama is always looking for reasons to get out of doing her paperwork, so now should be fine." the woman sighed. "I'll go and let her know you're here."

"Thank you."

Iruka stood awkwardly by the door while he waited for the woman to return. He didn't remember her, but for some reason he associated her with the word 'pig'. He felt rude thinking about her that way, but there had to be some logical explanation for his association - it certainly didn't seem to be anything to do with her character or eating habits, from what he'd seen.

Before he knew it, she had returned, and held the door open, inviting him in to see Tsunade. He thanked her and went in, hearing the door immediately close behind him; and he hesitantly approached the large desk by the window, stopping in the middle of the room. Tsunade finished filling out a document, and glanced at him as she took a sip of coffee. Then just as she was about to greet him, she looked him up and down, frowning slightly, as though she was confused about something.

"I-Is something wrong?" Iruka asked, blushing self-consciously.

"There's something different about you, but I can't quite put my finger on it…"

"Maybe it's my uniform?" he suggested shyly. "It's a little big since it's one of Kakashi's spares. I've been staying at his place."

"Really?" she asked in surprised interest. "And how is he treating you?"

"He's been so sweet, and is really doing his best to make me comfortable." he smiled as a light blush crept to his cheeks.

"Good, good…" she said with a strangely knowing smirk, like she had planned for and expected this outcome.

"What about your memories?" she asked, taking another sip of coffee. "Have you remembered anything since being with Kakashi?"

"No, I haven't remembered anything at all, except for Naruto when Kakashi and I had ramen for lunch yesterday." he said disappointedly. "I've been trying, but my memories are still out of reach."

"Hmm..." Tsunade pursed her lips. "Shizune said you wanted to see me about your mission. What did you want to discuss? Did you learn something?"

"It's more of a hunch…" he said hesitantly. "I hope I don't sound crazy when I say this, but I had a dream about the mission last night, and I was able to figure out which parts were based on real memories, and which was just my imagination. I know what the man who poisoned me looked like, and that the attack took place around the outskirts of the village, although I'm not sure how far out. I also don't know for sure, but there's a chance that scroll I was supposed to bring back is around there, too." Tsunade stared at him blankly as she processed his story.

"I know it was just a dream, but my instincts are telling me that my information is right."

"What makes you so sure?" she finally asked. "How could you tell your memory from your imagination?"

"Because of a feeling I've been getting since returning to the village. If something is supposed to be familiar, it feels like my memories are on the tip of my tongue, just out of reach; and if I'm seeing something for the first time, it's just... normal, no response. So when I woke up from the dream, I could tell which elements weren't imagined, because I recognised them like they were a part of my missing memories."

"Interesting…" she mused. "How accurate do you think this feeling is?"

"I want to say one hundred percent of the time, but…" he faltered.

"But…?" Tsunade prompted.

"There has to be some flaws… I don't get the sensation when I'm at Kakashi's house. We're together, so obviously I've been over there before; but everything just feels… new, like I'm seeing it for the first time. I wish I knew why…" he said dejectedly.

"Well, there's no use worrying about something you can't control." Tsunade commented thoughtfully. "Since you seem so confident about your information, I'm going to send a team out to conduct an investigation."

"Really? You believe me?" Iruka asked.

"Of course I do - I trust you." she shrugged. "Besides, it's better to have checked and found nothing, than to not take precautions and have everything fall apart."

"Well, please tell the team you send to be careful. The man to look out for has a scar slashed across his entire face, in the shape of an X; and the poison that was used on me is infused in a paper bomb. There could also be more people, but he's the only one I saw in my dream."

"Thank you for the details." Tsunade said.

Iruka was about to respond, when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and glanced over distractedly. Shizune had returned from a room she had been in, and was holding a pig in her arms, wearing a red coat and pearl necklace. His eyes widened in both surprise and realisation as he solved the mystery of why he had associated Shizune with the word pig. It wasn't because he thought of her as one; it was because she often carried one. And now he was embarrassed because of his first assumptions.

"Is there something else you needed?" Tsunade asked.

"N-No, thank you, Tsunade-sama." he answered quickly.

"Then you may go. I'll call you back in after the investigation; but if you need to share anything else beforehand, you don't have to wait until then."

"Thank you for your time." Iruka said politely, bowing before he left.

When he walked out of the building, he found Kakashi leaning against a tree, reading a bright orange novel - a dirty romance, by the looks of it; and as he got closer, he noticed a light tinge of blush peeking through Kakashi's mask. He held an expression Iruka was sure he had seen hundreds of times before, and when he put two and two together, he became certain that Kakashi was up to an erotic scene; and a grin broke out on his face as he beelined straight for him.

"Reading about what you want to do to me tonight?" he teased.

"I-Iruka!" Kakashi exclaimed in surprise, snapping his book shut.

His face was growing redder by the second - Iruka had completely embarrassed him; and he had become flustered, unable to come up with anything else to say. He glanced away shyly as his heart pounded wildly; and Iruka wrapped his arms around his waist, and pulled him close, chuckling to himself. As Kakashi accepted the embrace, he suddenly felt hot breath against his neck, and soft lips gently brushing against his ear, which sent a wave of tingles down his spine.

"Or maybe I could do something to you, instead." Iruka murmured suggestively.

Kakashi's breath caught in his throat as Iruka's hands slid down his back and then slowly onto his ass. He was completely caught off-guard, not expecting Iruka to be so forward, especially in public; and he was panicking, still lost for words. He wanted to let Iruka know he was interested, that the way he was touching him made him feel like fireworks were exploding inside him; but his heavily pounding heart was louder than all of his thoughts, and nothing coherent was coming to mind. He was truly speechless.

Iruka pulled back, instantly taking in the nervousness and blush across Kakashi's face; and his heart fluttered wildly - he couldn't believe how adorable Kakashi looked when he was embarrassed. Then he saw the lust and desire dancing across his expression, like Kakashi's gaze was communicating the words he was having trouble saying; and Iruka felt like he was falling in love with him all over again. He pulled Kakashi's mask down, pressing his lips against his in a long and tender kiss; and when he was satisfied, he broke away, gazing at him affectionately.

"I love you." he smiled amorously.

"I... love you, too." Kakashi replied dreamily, still in a daze.

And with the way his whole body was pulsing out a fuzzy warmth, it felt like he meant it, too.