Chapter Text
(I don't own any characters etc etc)
Having survived his meeting with Tsunade, Iruka went home and took a nap, as he felt drained from that morning’s events. He stayed home for the rest of that day, before filling the next two days with exercise, spending time with friends, and working the missions office.
Anything to avoid thinking about it all. Tsunade knew from the start it was a lie but hadn’t said anything…Kakashi had been relentless…all their friends seemed on board with it, Naruto even appeared to approve…Kakashi had gone above and beyond even when no one was watching…what, Iruka wondered, did that all mean?
On January 5th, he was walking to a morning shift at the missions office when he spied a familiar sight on his way.
“Hello, Bisuke!” he greeted the ninken.
“Hi, sensei!” Bisuke replied. “How are you?”
“I’m well, and you?” Iruka asked, pausing to scratch the ninken’s head.
“Good! We got back late last night.”
“What? Oh!” Iruka said, understanding hitting him. “Um…”
“Boss is in the hospital, he’s pretty tired,” Bisuke said. “Otherwise, he’s okay.”
“Oh, good,” Iruka commented, surprised at the relief he felt.
“You want to come see him?” Bisuke asked, his tail wagging at the prospect.
“No…not right now,” Iruka said. “I have to head to the missions office. Maybe later.”
Bisuke nodded and left, and Iruka sighed.
“There’s nothing to all this,” he told himself as a range of emotions flooded his body.
Would he go see Kakashi? Of course not! He had no reason to, no business. After all, it was all out in the open, exposed. They had nothing to do with each other anymore. No, Iruka had taken care of it all, and it was now over and done with. And probably cleaner and less painful than Kakashi would have managed, Iruka thought.
Naruto showed up at the missions office later inquiring about having lunch together; Iruka had to tell him that he wasn’t free, since he had agreed to work a double as they were suddenly short staffed.
Iruka did, however, give the blond some money for ramen, telling him that Kakashi was back and suggested he get food for the copy nin as well, so that the jonin and Naruto could both have some company at lunch. Naruto was only too excited by the prospect and ran away, thanking Iruka over and over.
The teacher smiled but shook his head.
“I only did it for Naruto,” he told himself. “Not because I wanted Kakashi to have a good meal or some company…I mean, I’m still angry at him for all of this!”
But he found he had difficulty believing even himself…
____
“I hear Hatake’s back in town, you want to leave early?” Kotetsu asked Iruka the next day.
“No,” Iruka replied through gritted teeth.
“You sure? We can handle all of this,” Izumo agreed. “It’s light compared to yesterday.”
“I’m fine.”
“Aw, don’t be mad because he had to miss new year’s,” Izumo said. “He was called away on a mission.”
“Why would I be mad?” Iruka asked. “There’s nothing to be mad about! He’s him, I’m me. End of story.”
Izumo and Kotetsu exchanged a silent look, not pushing it further.
Eventually, Iruka’s shift was over, an hour before his friends’ one ended, and he waved goodbye as he left.
He just had to get home, Iruka thought. Get home, and not run into anyone else asking about Kakashi, or asking if he was going to see the other man.
Get home, not run into anyone else, and eat dinner. Get home, not run into anyone else, eat dinner, and not think about the jonin. Easier said than done, Iruka wryly mused. That seemed to be all he thought about since the relief of not feeling like a criminal settled in after the meeting with Tsunade. And as the stress from that left him, so did a good amount of his ill will towards the copy nin. After all, they were consequence-free, so why waste his energy being angry at the other man?
But…now what? There was nothing to hide, he told himself. There was nothing to be done, right? They would go back to being casual acquaintances, having dinner with Naruto, seeing each other in the village here and there.
Was that what Iruka wanted? He wasn’t sure. It was stupid, he told himself, to think anything else, though. It was all fake, false, built on lies. None of it had been real….but some had been nice.
He had not wanted nor sought a boyfriend at all, much less for the holidays, but it had been pleasant. To have someone to go to a festival with (somewhat). The holiday party. A surprisingly welcomed addition to his and Naruto’s holiday season tradition.
Iruka groaned as he left HokageTower, pulling his scarf tighter against his neck.
He rubbed his forehead and shook his head. “What am I going to do with myself?” he said aloud.
“I was wondering the same thing,” a certain voice said nearby. “What am I going to do with you?”
Willing away a smile, Iruka composed himself before turning to find Kakashi leaning against a building.
“I don’t know,” he said, shrugging. “Not involve me in any more of your wild schemes? I’ve half a mind to murder you for this one.”
Kakashi shrugged as he moved from the building, approaching Iruka with his hands in his pockets.
“But I have so many good ones,” the copy nin sighed. “And it’s a new year, so there’s so many more opportunities for my shenanigans!”
Iruka rolled his eyes and couldn’t keep a laugh down.
“Welcome back,” he said to the jonin. “Did the hospital release you already?”
“Something like that,” Kakashi said, waving the idea away. “Happy new year, by the way.”
“And to you,” Iruka said, with a tip of his head.
Then, to his surprise, Kakashi moved into his space and quickly kissed his cheek, mask and all, before taking a step back, hands now out of his pockets and hanging by his side.
Eyes wide, Iruka looked at him. “What was that for?”
The copy nin shrugged. “It’s a new year’s kiss. I missed it.”
Iruka rolled his eyes but smiled. “It’s…anyway,” he sighed, steeling himself as he brought himself back to reality. “There’s something you should know.” He paused. “Tsunade knows. We can drop it.”
“What?”
Iruka nodded, surprised at how sad he felt. “I told her while you were on the mission. Just after new year’s actually. I guess one of my resolutions is to be more honest,” he said bitterly. “She knows, she knew, she doesn’t care. So, it’s all taken care of.”
They looked at each other in silence, Kakashi unreadable as usual.
Just as Iruka was about to say goodbye so he could go home and curl up in bed, dinner be damned, Kakashi shrugged and gave him an eye smile.
“Who cares?” the jonin asked.
“What?”
“I still wanted to make up for new year’s. Who cares who knows what and when? Let’s do this for real.”
“I….you….” Iruka began, surprised yet again by the rush of warm emotions. “Really?”
“Really. I’m glad I picked you for this, it’s been fun. Why end a good thing?”
Iruka looked at him and laughed while shaking his head. “I’m not sure it’s all been good,” he teased.
“Well, lots of relationships have a rocky start,” Kakashi countered. “But as long as we keep trying, that’s what counts. It’s been almost a month, I’d say we’re doing pretty good, all things considered. And what a story, huh? We’ll tell it over and over when we’re old and grey together”
Iruka studied before shaking his head again. “You’re already grey. And did you plan all this?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kakashi said. “I often just rush into things that work out over time. One of my many amazing qualities, no?”
“No,” Iruka sighed. “You’re kind of an idiot about all of this.”
“Yeah, but your idiot.”
“Don’t remind me,” Iruka said, reaching out to grab one of Kakashi’s hands, linking fingers. “Come on, I need dinner, and then we’ve got apology sake to drink.”
“We’ve got what to drink?” Kakashi asked, as he was led away.
Iruka sighed but smiled. “It’s a long story…”