Chapter Text
(I don't own any characters etc etc)
Iruka got to the shop early the next day as discussed, and took full advantage of the coffee the Yamanakas had brought in, clearly knowing what they would need to fuel everyone that day.
To his surprise, Kakashi entered shortly after he did and joined him to fix a coffee.
“You’re not late!” Iruka commented, before raising his eyebrows. “Have you been late to this at all?” he asked, as he had been joining the team only after the academy had ended each day.
“I was a little,” Kakashi admitted. “I had to keep up appearances, after all, but even I wouldn’t purposely jeopardize Naruto’s first mission.”
“That’s quite mature of you,” Iruka said, smiling as he sipped his coffee.
“Thank you,” the jonin said. “Plus, I didn’t want you to yell at me for ruining his mission, as you inevitably would have,” he said, walking away with his drink.
Iruka frowned. “I wouldn’t have!” he called out. “Probably…”
___
Deliveries began early, with Yamanakas and a number of Naruto’s clones running in and out of the store.
“Do you think it was fate that Naruto has this mission?” Iruka asked Kakashi, as no less than five Narutos were running around them.
“I think he’s set a pretty high standard,” Kakashi agreed. “And he may have to do this mission for the rest of his life.”
Iruka laughed. “Better him than us,” he said, making the copy nin nod several times.
Sakura, Kakashi, and Iruka helped several other Yamanakas in the back of the store to retrieve orders, as several more experienced members of that clan manned the front area and the onslaught there.
Orders were called out and the crew in the back brought them up, for what felt like hours; it was, in fact, all day.
The line outside of the store remained long but was fast-moving, and soon the group was shuffled around to change their tasks.
Iruka and Kakashi were tasked with making more red rose bouquets, as the store planned to have a set number always available for people to buy that day.
“Clearly, the village has a lot of procrastinators,” Kakashi mused, as their supply of already tied bouquets was selling fast.
“Right?” Iruka laughed. “Who in their right mind waits until the day of? It’s too risky.”
“Oh?” Kakashi asked, studying him.
“Sure,” Iruka said, shrugging. “It’s a gamble if it’s available, and most places mark up the prices a ton.” He shook his head. “Unnecessary stress.”
“I suppose you’re someone who plans a day like this well in advance,” Kakashi commented, as he reached for more flowers. “Right?”
“You say it like it’s a bad thing,” Iruka countered. “But yes, when I have plans for it or something similar, I plan ahead. It takes the stress off my shoulders and then I don’t leave anything out.”
“What about the fun of spontaneity?” Kakashi posed. “Seize the moment and all that?”
“That’s fun too,” Iruka agreed, “but not for something like this.”
“I thought you told Naruto you stay in on Valentine’s Day anyway?”
Iruka nodded. “Yeah.”
“So you plan to stay in?” Kakashi probed.
Iruka shrugged. “Yes, but not like, over the top. We would plan what to eat and order it in advance, or buy groceries a few days before. Plan a menu together, maybe. Pick out something to drink together, a dessert. Plan ahead for a gift, nothing crazy.”
Kakashi didn’t comment, and they worked in silence for a moment.
“You’re always away for a mission?” Iruka asked, and the jonin shrugged.
“Sure, why not? I don’t care much about this so-called holiday,” Kakashi said. “And I haven’t had a date for it in…who knows how long. Might as well take a mission and let someone else stay home.”
“That’s fair,” Iruka agreed. “And here you are, in the village for it for once! What will you do with yourself?” he teased. “Something spontaneous?
Kakashi playfully sighed. “I might just try to forget this mission ever happened,” he commented, making the teacher laugh.
They were interrupted by several others coming to collect their work, and separated to move to other work stations for much of the rest of their shift.
As the morning became afternoon, and afternoon became early evening, the line remained steady, starting to finally dwindle as dinner time approached.
“Finally!” Sakura said, stretching from all the work they had done, though there were still almost two hours left in their shift. “I can’t wait for all this to be done!”
“Me too!” Naruto agreed, or at least one of his clones; everyone had lost track of where the real Naruto was.
At six o’clock, a Naruto approached Iruka, motioning Kakashi to join them.
The adults traded a look of surprise before turning their attention to their team leader.
“Uh…I know I’m in charge of the team,” Naruto began, “but what would you say if I left a little early?”
“What?” the adults asked in unison.
“You can’t!” Kakashi chided him. “You have to see the mission to the end! Besides, if I’m here for that long, so are you.”
“Uh….see, the thing is…” Naruto began, looking around before lowering his voice and gesturing for the two to lean towards him, which they obliged. “I have plans tonight, and the Yamanakas said it would be fine to go early, since we’re closing up soon…”
“Just under two hours away isn’t exactly ‘soon’,” Iruka sighed. “What are your plans?”
“Sakura agreed to go to dinner with me!” Naruto whispered as his face lit up with excitement. “And I made dinner reservations in advance, hoping she’d say yes!”
Iruka smiled, ignoring the jonin next to him sighing.
“Naruto,” Kakashi began in a tired voice.
“Of course you can go early,” Iruka interrupted him. “Of course.”
“Great!” Naruto cheered. “We’ll be leaving soon, thanks!”
The adults watched him run off, before turning to look at each other.
“I feel like the bad parent here,” Kakashi scoffed.
“I guess that makes me the loveable father figure,” Iruka laughed. “Come on, he’s got a date tonight, we couldn’t say no.”
“He’s got a mission to finish,” Kakashi reminded him.
“And we’ll see it to the end, and he’ll write the report,” Iruka countered. “Plus, if the client gave him permission, who are we to disagree?”
“And allow us to be in a position to do extra work?” the copy nin sighed. “Sakura will be gone too.”
“Just two more hours,” Iruka said. “We’ve done all this so far, what’s another two?”
“Those are some heavy last words, sensei,” Kakashi told him, shaking his head. “Heavy last words.”
_____
“I regret it all,” Iruka sighed, with half an hour left until closing. “I mean, I do, and I don’t. I’m glad Naruto is out with Sakura, but damn this is a rough end to a mission. Relatively speaking.”
“I bet Sakura only said yes so she could leave early,” Kakashi muttered as he passed by carrying more bouquets, making Iruka laugh.
“She always was a smart student,” the teacher recalled. “Good for her, if so.”
“Hmph,” Kakashi replied, as he continued to walk, leaving that part of the store as Iruka continued to work.
Iruka didn’t see the copy nin after that, even when the Yamanakas announced the shop was finally closed to customers and thanked everyone for making it through another Valentine’s Day.
The chuunin was asked to help with the last bit of re-organizing before leaving, and when that was done, he looked around for Kakashi, not wanting to leave without at least checking in on his current teammate as the Yamanakas began to trickle out of the store.
Kakashi was coming into a back work area from another part of the building when Iruka found him, telling him they were finally done.
“We can leave, and I can sleep!” Iruka sighed.
Before either could say anything more, there was a knock on the shop’s front door, and Kakashi hurried out to respond to it.
Iruka frowned at the interruption, waiting to hear from Kakashi about whichever last minute customer had appeared.
However, to his surprise, Kakashi reappeared with several takeout bags.
“What’s all this?” Iruka asked, as Kakashi closed the work area door behind him and set the bags on a table, starting to go through them.
“Dinner,” Kakashi said, taking out Ichiraku’s containers. “Drinks,” he continued, pulling out a small bottle of plum wine and two cups. “And dessert,” he stated, pulling out a white bakery box Iruka couldn’t see the inside of.
“What?” Iruka asked, confused and surprised.
Kakashi shrugged as he folded up the bags. “I figured, we’re both here for Valentine’s Day, and both without dates. So, why not have dinner together?”
“Here?” Iruka asked, still confused by it all.
The copy nin shrugged again. “It seemed like as good a place as any. After all, we’re still surrounded by tons of roses and flowers,” he said, which was true about the work area. “People would pay good money for that, right?”
Iruka laughed. “That’s true,” he admitted. “And the Yamanakas are okay with this?”
“Yeah, they laughed when I asked,” Kakashi admitted, and Iruka swore the man’s face seemed slightly pink, or at least what the mask didn’t cover up. “We’ll just close up when we leave.”
Iruka smiled. “This is very thoughtful, Kakashi,” he said, dropping formalities, because why not? “I appreciate it, thank you.”
They sat to eat, and Iruka smiled again.
“So, weren’t you the one ragging on me earlier for being a planner for this sort of thing?” Iruka teased. “Yet this seems pretty well thought out.”
“I was spontaneous, and only thought about it once Naruto told us he had an actual date,” Kakashi replied. “So, not much planning. I’m just that good at it?”
“You’re trying to show him up?” Iruka laughed. “Are you competing with Naruto?”
“No, but I may not have thought to have dinner with you tonight like this otherwise,” Kakashi admitted. “Though, this probably isn’t as nice as other Valentine’s dinners you’ve had…”
“It’s lovely,” Iruka told him, looking at him. “Really.”
Kakashi returned the look before giving him an eye smile. “Good. It’s the best one I’ve had, for what it’s worth.”
“And it’s only just begun,” Iruka said, winking. “I can be spontaneous too, you know.”
It was Kakashi’s turn to laugh. “Is that a threat, or a promise?”
“Both,” Iruka informed him. “You’ll see after dinner. You, me, the dessert, and a surprise.”
“Can’t wait,” Kakashi said, and they moved the conversation to other topics, getting to know each other more outside of being fellow shinobi and parental figures for Naruto.
____
Later that night, they enjoyed the last of the wine with their dessert on top of Hokage Mountain, in a hidden spot Iruka liked to visit, sharing it with Kakashi.
They had their first kiss there, under the starry night sky, tasting like chocolate cake and plum wine.
They exchanged more kisses when Kakashi walked Iruka home, at the same doorway they had met at just the other night.
And the next day, they met for a late morning brunch date, the first of many dates.
Iruka never spent another Valentine’s Day single, and Kakashi only left the village for a mission on that day if he absolutely had to.
And if they always had a Yamanakas flower bouquet on that day, well, that was just for the memories…