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From the moment Kakashi met Tenzo at the monthly staff meeting, he knew that he was in trouble. Not only was the new substitute unfairly attractive, with a mess of brown hair and dark eyes glinting with curiosity behind rectangular black glasses, but he was also unexpectedly witty and quick to smile - like teaching hadn't sucked out his soul yet, which made sense when he explained that this was his first teaching job.
Give it time, Kakashi had thought, listening to him tell Guy, the enthusiastic physical education teacher, how excited he was to work there. That will change. It wasn't that teaching at Konoha Primary School was awful by any means, and it certainly paid better than a lot of other schools in the area, but when you go into education expecting to shape lives only to find out that you're really at the whimsy of bureaucracy and overpaid donors, it can leave you disillusioned.
Minato, the principal of the school and Kakashi's... optimistic brother, could try to change that all he wanted, but a system that didn't want to change wasn't going to.
Still, Tenzo's fresh eyes and unbridled optimism had been refreshing, and he couldn't help but be drawn to that.
Which leads him to where he is now - locked in a very small supply closet with Tenzo five months later, seriously questioning his decision to become a teacher.
"And I thought the frogs were the worst thing Naruto would do this week," he mutters, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. When Tenzo makes a curious noise, Kakashi sighs. "I guess I forgot to tell you. Yesterday he brought a box full of frogs for show and tell and lost the lid. Then he lost the frogs."
"Oh." Tenzo has the nerve to sound amused, and Kakashi has to remind himself that Tenzo hasn't had the nightmare of teaching his nephew yet. "Well, that explains the frog I found in my desk this morning. I was wondering where it came from."
"Interesting thing to be worried about when we're trapped in a supply closet during lunch," Kakashi says, raising a brow when Tenzo chuckles. Leave it to Tenzo to find the humor in a crappy situation, though he supposes that is one of the things he likes about him. "What? Do I need to remind you that you're the one that dragged me in here? This is your fault-"
"My fault?" Tenzo's tone is one of offense, but it's offset by the grin on his face. "I would think that it's Naruto's fault for following us and locking us in. You know, your nephew is the only kid I've ever met that would rather pull a prank than eat lunch."
"I..." Kakashi stares at him for a moment, unsure how to respond, but then he sighs and shakes his head, unable to resist a smile. "Yeah, you're right. He is something else."
"Hatake Kakashi, telling me I'm right?" Tenzo fakes a gasp of surprise, and Kakashi can't help but laugh at his dramatics, letting his arms wrap around Tenzo when he steps closer. He's not sure when they'll be let out of here, so might as well make the most of it right? "Say it again, please."
"Tell you what," Kakashi says instead of answering, grinning at Tenzo now. "Treat me to dinner tonight and I'll tell you you're right as much as you want."
Kakashi means it as a joke, but Tenzo cocks his head thoughtfully, looking like he's seriously considering it. For a long moment he doesn't say anything, but then he breaks out into another wide grin.
"I suppose I can agree to that," he tells him. For a moment, Kakashi feels bad - this is the second time he's managed to convince Tenzo to pay for dinner this month, but he forgets all about it when Tenzo closes the small bit of distance between them to kiss him.
If someone had told Kakashi five months ago that today he would be kissing Tenzo in the supply closet, he wouldn't have believed them - but here they are, and he wonders when he had become someone that takes part in this kind of inappropriate behavior on school grounds. It's not like he'll get in trouble if they get caught - Minato has always been lenient with him - but he prides himself on his professionalism, and this is about as unprofessional as it gets, especially in a school.
It's just a kiss, Kakashi reasons with himself - he's not very convincing, but it enables him to let himself get lost in the soft press of Tenzo's mouth for whatever little bit of time they have, consequences be damned.
Of course, he very much regrets that when the door finally opens and it's Kushina standing on the other side holding the chair Naruto had used to block them in, but if he's honest, the verbal lashing she gives them in her office is totally worth it.