Chapter Text
Iruka fidgeted. ”It’s just, I noticed your emotions have been all over the place…”
”That’s because you keep rejecting me. ”
Iruka thought Kakashi might be joking at first, but the werewolf appeared perfectly serious. ”I do… What? When have I ever rejected you?” Iruka gaped. Kakashi looked to the side, pouting. He didn’t look very upset at least. Nor did he look surprised. He’d known Iruka wouldn’t know.
…Wait. Did that even make sense?
”It’s a werewolf thing,” Kakashi muttered.
Iruka did the sensible thing; Poking Kakashi. Twice, until Kakashi’s lip curled, baring teeth. ”You can’t just leave it at that. Explain,” Iruka demanded, poking him again, several times in succession until Kakashi eventually had enough and caught the offending finger.
Iruka was used to Kakashi keeping secrets, could understand it to a certain point, but there was a limit to even his patience.
”I already said it’s a werewolf thing. You can’t help it. It’s… The thing with the girl –”
”Suzy,” Iruka interjected.
”Did not help. I shouldn’t have been out and about so close to my rut. That doesn’t happen, unless…” Kakashi’s face did something curious right then, if Iruka didn’t know better he’d call it a grimace, but it was gone before he could make proper sense of it. Kakashi cleared his throat. ”That is, mated pairs do not act that way.”
Mated pair. Iruka had some knowledge on werewolves thanks to his Hunter training, but not much, and he wasn’t sure it was applicable in this setting. From a Hunter’s perspective, mated pairs were especially dangerous since they’d violently protect each other – much like a mother would its cubs – but the texts never cared to go into the particulars. Iruka didn’t know if mated pair was a term Kakashi used to refer to their status as lovers or…
Iruka felt his cheeks heat, thinking of it. The term sounded awfully intimate.
Iruka blinked as something Kakashi said earlier clicked in his head. He gasped. ”It’s because I don’t act like werewolf preparing to mate with you!” He looked to Kakashi for confirmation. The werewolf, though his arms were folded, managed to look especially discomfited. Iruka thought back to his training, everything he’d read about animals, and hazarded a guess. ”You’re releasing a lot of pheromones right now, aren’t you? Pheromones meant to attract me.”
Kakashi wouldn’t look at him. Iruka felt triumph surge in his chest.
Iruka continued. ”But because I’m human…”
”If you were a werewolf, you’d be preparing to go in heat,” Kakashi filled in, voice flat. ”Unless you had someone else, that is. Or just weren’t interested. ”
Ouch. Iruka felt Kakashi’s words as he would a physical punch in his gut, stripping him of his surging joy. He didn't know what werewolves going into heat did to prepare, but he could hazard a guess he hadn't been doing anything close to it.
Kakashi let out a sigh, gaze dropping. ”A field trip was the last thing I wanted, but then you said you’d looked for her and she was still missing I knew I couldn’t say no. And I thought it would be fine! Either we found her or we didn’t, nevertheless it shouldn’t have taken more than half a day at most, but…”
”I chased after her,” Iruka said. Kakashi nodded.
As the silence between them weighed, Iruka thought back on everything they’d been through together. For two years they’d been coming together in an odd dance, living together, yet Kakashi stayed away enough that Iruka began to suspect maybe he was the one the werewolf came to when he wanted to get a reprieve from his normal life. On a few occasions he caught himself thinking maybe they weren’t right enough for each other, but maybe… Maybe they just had a lot of culture shock to overcome.
Iruka slid his hand down to grasp Kakashi’s, managing a cheeky smile. ”You know, things would go a lot more smoothly if you just told me of these wolfy things before they’re actually happening.”
”I wasn’t supposed to spend my rut with you.”
Iruka flinched. For a dangerous moment, he thought his heart actually stopped in his chest.
”No, that came out wrong,” Kakashi said hastily. ”I meant… Well, exactly what I said, really.” Which wasn’t awkward at all. Kakashi must have sensed the murderous direction Iruka’s thoughts had taken, for he elaborated quickly. ”That is to say, my kin did not think it was a good idea. My ruts have always been irregular, but I’ve been feling it in my skin for a while now and thought I could be with the pack when it hit.”
”Oh,” Iruka said, not knowing how to feel. Kakashi stared at him, in a way Iruka thought might be meaningful, but he had no energy to even begin and interpret it.
”Of course, it didn’t exactly end up going that way,” Kakashi added, and the feeling that Iruka should be hearing something said between the lines intensified.
”You thought it wasn’t coming, started to return, and bam! It hit,” Iruka guessed.
”…Something like that.”