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Puffing into a scarf that was starting to bead with moisture, Iruka struggled through the snow behind Hatake Kakashi, the Jonin who was running point for their four-man team. Teeth clenched tight, Iruka’s nose and sinuses were aching from the cold air he drew in with each breath despite the scarf wound tightly around his face. The blizzard had blown in without warning, and as the snow climbed first ankle and then knee deep, Iruka had started to grow worried - none of them had packed enough supplies or clothing for an extended period of snow travel, and it was starting to look like the next few days of travel were going to be just that. Behind Iruka, two of his fellow Academy instructors were also puffing and huffing, as dismayed by the extreme weather conditions as he was himself.
Kakashi didn’t seem particularly bothered, but then, when did he ever? The man was as enigmatic and obnoxious as always, though at least he’d stopped reading his damn book on every break they took, instead checking in with every member and making sure all fingers and toes were accounted for. Even more surprising had been the fact that Hatake himself seemed to be slowing with the weather, too. For someone who seemed unstoppable, it was a bit disconcerting to realize that even Kakashi couldn’t ignore the toll that such an intense weather pattern was taking on his body.
The one advantage that Iruka could think of was that he and the other two academy teachers were alphas, rather than betas or omegas. The reason this was a boon had to do with the fiact that an alpha’s internal body temperature tended to run a bit higher and their stockier builds tended to provide more insulation. It wasn’t ideal in the summer months, but in situations like this it made it easier to huddle together to keep warm. The previous night had turned into something of a cuddle pile, Iruka and the other two instructors - Aoto-sensei and Suzuka-sensei - huddling together in a tangle of limbs, their blankets tucked tightly around them to provide additional insulation. Kakashi had declined to join them, curling himself up in his own bedroll, apparently content to shiver the night away in isolation. Last night, the snow had been just beginning to dust the ground, though. Now, it was nearly knee-deep, and quickly approaching hip-depth as they waded deeper into the mountains. Now that it was nearing time to break for camp, Iruka was beginning to feel genuinely worried for Kakashi. The Jonin hadn’t really brought any more snow gear than the rest of them had - the blizzard was out of season and had caught them all by surprise. Iruka worried that Kakashi wouldn’t be warm enough throughout the night if he tried to curl up by himself again.
Finally, just as Iruka was beginning to realize his scarf had soaked up so much of his breath that the condensation had soaked it through and was beginning to chill his face instead of protecting it from the elements, Kakashi called them to a halt.
“The storm doesn’t seem to be letting up,” he said stiffly, “And there’s a Konoha safe house not far from here. It’s not currently stocked for winter, but it’ll provide some shelter while we wait out the storm.”
“Honestly, if it has four walls and a roof, that’s good enough for me,” Aoto-sensei said, relief evident in his tone. He was the oldest member of the team, and he’d confided in Iruka earlier, telling him that his joints had been getting stiff from cold.
“We can just sit close together and share our warmth,” Suzuka-sensei added brightly.
Kakashi didn’t say anything to that, and Iruka found himself watching the man more closely. He wondered if Kakashi would insist on sleeping alone again. Of course, with the shelter, he’d probably be fine, but he still worried after spending so much time in the bitter cold. Wouldn’t it be nicer to warm up with another person, instead of shivering alone under a ratty blanket?
As if sensing his thoughts, Kakashi glanced at Iruka. “Question, sensei?”
Feeling his face heat despite the bitter cold that was starting to make his nose and cheeks go numb, Iruka shook his head. “No question. Sounds like a plan. We’ll follow your lead, Kakashi-san.”
Kakshi nodded sharply, turning and once more leading the march, veering off the path and heading deeper into the forest. Now that they had a destination in mind, somehow the trudging felt worse. Iruka’s face was getting colder as the wind burned his eyes, cut through his scarf, and seemed to even pierce his clothes to reach the very marrow of his bones. He couldn’t help noting that when he glanced back to check on Aoto-sensei and Suzuka-sensei that they seemed equally miserable. Knowing that there was a house somewhere out there had reinforced for them just how terrible it was to be without a house at this moment. By the time they reached the safe house, Iruka was ready to throw off his scarf and burn it, he was so frustrated witht he way his breath had been turned against him, instead of keeping his face warm it was now acting like an ice cube pressed against his face. He should have worn wool, he thought irritably, but no, he hadn’t packed his warmest clothes, just a light scarf in case he got a little chilled. But they really hadn’t been expecting this, so he couldn’t blame himself completely.
He still felt betrayed by the scarf, and he might have been a bit more harsh than was necessarily called for when he wrung it out and hung it up to dry. Kakashi was carefully digging through his pack in the back corner while Aoto-sensei and Suzuka-sensei were following Iruka’s lead and stripping off their freezing cold clothes. They left their shinobi blues on, of course, but wraps, sheaths, flak jackets, hats, scarves and gloves all came off, draped over various chairs or dangled off hooks. The safe house was sparsely furnished - a wooden table with two chairs was perched in one corner, there were two futon mattresses tucked into a closet, and a drying rack with some hooks was set in the other corner. There was a small wood-burning stove that was sadly not well stocked, and a kettle on top of the stove. The firewood in the room would be enough to cook a meal, but not enough to keep the fire stoked through the night, and the walls of the cabin were not nearly insulated enough to keep the chill out.
Kakshi continued digging in his mission pack while Aoto-sensei and Suzuka-sensei laid out the futons. Iruka quickly discovered that the cabin had no indoor plumbing, so he wandered outside and packed several handfuls of snow into the kettle before scuttling back inside, setting the kettle down with a clatter and tucking his fingers under his armpits, hissing through his teeth. “Shit, that’s cold,” he grunted, willing sensation to return to his fingers before his own appendages froze his sides, too..
Kakashi glanced up from his pack, an emotion crossing his face too quickly for Iruka to identify what it was.
“You got water?” Aoto-sensei asked, wandering over now that he’d finished setting up the first futon.
“I got snow,” Iruka corrected. “We need to light a fire to turn it into water.”
Suzuka-sensei glanced behind the stove with a grimace. “Not much firewood.”
“I think there’s more outside?” Iruka said, already shuddering at the thought of going back out in the blizzard to find more firewood. Hopefully it would dry off enough to use later.
“Supply run comes next week,” Kakashi spoke up for the first time since they’d all traipsed inside. “That’s the last of it. Make it last.”
Aoto-sensei grimaced. “Right. Guess we’ll save half for tomorrow?”
“We don’t know that the snow will be gone tomorrow, though,” Suzuka-sensei protested. “Kakashi-san, are we staying here until the snow stops or until the snow melts?”
“We need to get you back before school starts,” Kakashi answered, glancing between Iruka and the other two teachers as he rose to his feet. “So we’ll be heading out tomorrow. If we need to redirect our route to stay in another safehouse tomorrow, so be it. We can’t afford to waste an entire day hunkering down waiting for the snow to stop, though.”
“That makes sense,” Iruka said, forcing himself to sound as pleasant as possible even though his hands were only just starting to regain feeling after handing snow with his bare hands and he really wasn’t looking forward to more freezing temperatures so soon after escaping the worst of it.
Kakashi nodded, and wandered over to where Suzuka-sensei had managed to get a small fire started on the stove. He didn’t remove any of his clothes, despite the fact that he, too, had been covered in snow upon arrival. Instead, he stood in front of the stove, slowly dripping puddles onto the floor. To be fair, Iruka, Suzuka-sensei and Aoto-sensei were dripping too, they’d just removed their flak jackets in order to expedite the drying process.
For several minutes they all stood in front of the stove, just basking in the warmth of a wood fire before Suzuka-sensei finally said, “So… dinner time?”
As one, everyone turned to their respective packs and began digging out their rations before immediately returning to huddle in front of the wood stove. Iruka ended up standing next to Kakashi, with Suzuka-sensei on his right and Aoto-sensei to her right. As the room began to slowly warm up and the snow in the kettle melted, Iruka began to notice a peculiar scent floating in the air. He inhaled a little more deeply, frowning. It smelled almost familiar, but he couldn’t place it.
Fortunately, he didn’t have to, as Aoto-sensei wrinkled his nose, setting down his rations. “Huh, was the last operative stationed here an omega?” he asked, and just like that it clicked.
No wonder Iruka recognized the scent - it was that of an omega in pre-heat. But it was still oddly familiar, like the scent of someone familiar to Iruka specifically. Iruka wondered if maybe the scent belonged to one of his former students.
Beside him, Kakashi shifted awkwardly before coughing in that way someone did when they didn’t really want to say something but felt they probably should. “No, that’s… me. Sorry.”
As one, Iruka, Aoto-sensei and Suzuka-sensei turned to stare at Kakashi.
“You’re going into heat?” Iruka asked, like an idiot. In his defense, he hadn’t known Kakashi was even an omega, and the idea of it hadn’t quite sunk in yet.
Kakashi sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets and hunching his shoulders slightly. “We were supposed to be back today,” he said.
“Do you have suppressants?” Iruka asked, before he could stop himself. “I have-”
“No, I can’t take them,” Kakashi cut him off, “Doctor’s orders.”
Considering the doctor in question was probably also the Godaime Hokage, Iruka trusted there was a good reason for that. “Oh,” he said weakly. “So you expected to be back…” he turned back to the kettle, which was starting to hum as the water within began to heat, producing just a wisp of steam from the spout.
“I’m sorry for the inconvenience,” Kakashi said stiffly. “I won’t allow it to impede my performance.”
That wasn’t what Iruka had been worried about, but he saw Aoto-sensei sigh with relief to his right, and made a mental note to refer him to the chapter in their sensitivity training about secondary genders. Clearly he needed a refresher if he thought Kakashi would allow something as mundane as a heat to hold him back or impact his ability to lead their team.
“The thought never crossed my mind,” Iruka assured him, before shooting an irritated glare in Aoto-sensei’s direction.
“So…” Suzuka-sensei glanced over her shoulder at the two futons in the back. “Will you be needing a nest?”
“No,” Kakashi answered, his response curt and clinical.
“You’re not going to sleep curled up by yourself again, are you?” Iruka demanded.
Kakashi turned his dark eye on Iruka and considered him for several long seconds before slowly nodding. “That was the plan.”
“But it’s freezing in here and we don’t have much firewood!” Iruka protested. “You should use one of the futons.”
Kakashi lifted an eyebrow. “And where will you sleep, then?”
Iruka sputtered. It was true that one futon was barely large enough for two full-grown adults. Three would be highly unlikely to fit on a single futon, even if they all lay single-file. “I… I could sleep on the floor instead,” Iruka said in a small voice, already hating the idea.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Suzuka-sensei said in a no-nonsense tone. “Aoto-sensei and I will take one bed, you and Kakashi-san can take the other.”
Iruka turned and looked at Kakashi, then back at Suzuka-sensei, as if to say did you not hear the last five minutes of our conversation, or…
“He’s not in heat yet and it makes more sense than sending you to sleep on the floor when there’s a perfectly good bed right there,” Suzuka-sensei said in response to Iruka's unspoken objection, treating him to a sigh of mild exasperation. “We don’t have much firewood and it’s going to get cold tonight - we need to share warmth if we want to sleep comfortably through the night.”
Kakashi looked like he was about to object, when Aoto-sensei added, “What, do you not trust Iruka-sensei to be respectful? I can see why, he is a bit of a troublemaker,” he added, a glint of amusement in his eye.
Sighing, Kakashi glanced at Iruka. “You’re fine with this?” he asked.
“It’s just sharing a futon to keep warm,” Iruka said, shrugging. “I think it’s more important to ask if you’re comfortable, as you’re the one going into heat. I know that can be an unpleasant experience at the best of times, so if you’re not comfortable I’m happy to accommodate.”
Suzuka-sensei snorted to herself, but otherwise busied herself with watching the fire dancing in the small wood stove, reaching into the small stack of wood and tucking another log inside. Aoto-sensei also found something else to occupy his interest, lifting the lid of the kettle to watch the water and make sure it was close to boiling.
Kakashi shifted his weight from one foot to the other, staring at the floor for several seconds before finally saying, “I’m fine with sharing if you are.”
Feeling as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, Iruka sighed in relief. “Oh, good, I really wasn’t looking forward to freezing tonight, my fingers are still like little ice cubes after the snow, feel-” Iruka reached out to place his fingers against Kakashi’s face before pausing, realizing it was still covered with a mask. “I mean-”
Kakashi snorted in amusement. “I believe you, there’s no need to prove it.”
Iruka chuckled. “Yeah, but half the fun of cold weather is inflicting my icy hands on other people.”
Lifting a lone eyebrow skeptically, Kakashi said, “What about snowmen?”
“See, that’s the other half of the fun of cold weather,” Iruka quipped, tossing a wink in his direction.
Kakashi chuckled at that.
“Ah-ha!” Aoto-sensei said, popping open the lid of the kettle and tossing a bag of tea inside. “Water’s ready.”
“Are there cups in here?” Suzuka-sensei wondered aloud, glancing around.
“I think it’s going to have to be canteens,” Aoto-said lifting his own. “Lukewarm tea is still better than cold tea, though.”
After washing the bland taste of rations from their mouths with tea poured into half-full canteens, they bedded down for the night. Iruka awkwardly hovered by the futon until Kakashi finally told him to just lay down, that he’d be there in a minute. It was so odd, how awkward it felt clambering into the futon, kicking his feet around to try and warm the kakebuton blanket, waiting for Kakashi to join him. He hadn’t felt even a little bit awkward when he’d huddled with his fellow Academy instructors, but there was something about the idea of laying next to Kakashi that had his heart fluttering and his stomach feeling a little bit sick.
It could be that Kakashi was in pre-heat and being near an omega in pre-heat always gave Iruka a few jitters. Harmless, but still not exactly something that he enjoyed. Maybe it was the added formality of an actual futon instead of just a pile of bodies trying to fight the chill of falling snow. Perhaps the awkwardness was simply the result of being told to go to bed and wait for his commanding officer.
But no, in reality, it wasn’t any of those things. It was the fact that Iruka had been nursing a juvenile crush on Kakashi for literal years and the idea of laying beside him for any reason made his heart jump around in his chest like a bird fluttering inside a gilded cage. It got even worse when Kakashi finally added one last piece of wood to the fire before gliding back across the room to crawl into the futon beside Iruka. He settled beside him, leaving a few inches of space between them, but it didn’t make Iruka feel any less aware of his presence. In fact, it was almost worse like this, because he was terrified of making the first move, of overstepping his welcome. Kakashi was the one in pre-heat, he was the one who was dealing with the uncomfortable cramps and mild fever that often accompanied the first day or two of a heat, and Iruka didn’t want to do anything to make him more uncomfortable.
For several minutes, Iruka simply lay on his back, unmoving, staring at the ceiling, before he felt Kakashi nudge up against him, a bloom of soft omega scent accompanying the motion. Iruka realized that Kakashi had removed his flak jacket and associated gear - that’s what he’d been doing while Iruka and the others had been huddled in bed. Now that he was only in his shinobi blues, like Iruka, it was a little clearer why he’d kept the flak jacket on - he’d obviously sweated a bit into his clothes, and they smelled quite strongly of omega. The flak jacket had been trapping the scent in, but that was also likely the reason why he’d been so sweaty under it, as it clearly hadn’t been a very breathable fabric.
“Sorry,” Kakashi grunted in an undertone, voice so quiet that Iruka had to strain to hear him even from a scant six inches away, “I didn’t bring my scent blockers.”
So that’s what he’d been looking for in his mission pack, Iruka realized. “It’s okay,” Iruka assured him. “You smell nice.”
...wait.
What?
Shit.
For a long moment, Kakshi said nothing, and Iruka could feel his entire soul escaping through his open mouth as he lay back and longed for the sweet release of death to save him from this torment of his own making. He tried to say I’m sorry, but all that escaped was a strangled squeak, and Iruka resigned himself to a slow death by absolute mortification.
Then, Kakashi shuffled a little closer, his shoulders brushing against Iruka’s. He was shivering lightly. “Good to know.”
Feeling the tremors, Iruka frowned a little, his embarrassment momentarily forgotten in the wake of his concern. “Are you cold?” he asked, still keeping his voice low and hoping he wasn’t disturbing Suzuka-sensei and Aoto-sensei.
“Mm,” Kakashi shrugged, his arm brushing against Iruka’s as he did so. “A little.”
“We can - if you want - I’m - Naruto calls me a human space heater,” Iruka managed to say, attempting to give some sort of explanation of what he was trying to accomplish with Kakashi. What he'd wanted to say was that this situation was similar to how he would huddle up with Naruto at the kotatsu on a cold winter night before carrying him to his room and tucking him in bed. Iruka just wanted to offer Kakashi the chance to seek a little extra warmth from him. Turning on his side and lifting one arm to make room in front of him, Iruka continued to attempt his explanation. “I’m usually big spoon, but uh, I can-”
Before he could finish his halting offer, Kakashi had scooted backwards, curling up so that his narrow frame was now right up against Iruka, his back pressing into Iruka’s chest. Rather than trying to continue his clearly doomed explanation, Iruka allowed his hand to slowly, oh-so-slowly drape over Kakashi, who not only didn’t seem bothered by the motion, but actually purred, before going completely still, not even breathing.
Iruka, too, had frozen at the sound, as he had only ever heard Naruto purr with him before. The sound was usually reserved for members of a pack, or for people that an omega felt safe with. Iruka had been carrying a torch for Kakashi for a long time, but he’d never dared act on his feelings, convinced that they would have been rebuffed. Kakashi wouldn’t have been mean about it, but Iruka was certain he wouldn’t be interested. But this… this was a lot more than Iruka would have expected from him. Slowly, Iruka inhaled. “Okay?”
Kakashi’s frame relaxed, his body going lax once more as he huffed. “Yeah. Sorry for-”
“It’s fine,” Iruka said quickly. “Better than fine, I - thank you.”
For a long moment, Kakashi didn’t say anything. Then, with an amused huff, he pushed a little bit closer to Iruka, one hand reaching up to lay over Iruka’s arm. “Naruto was right,” he said in a fond tone. “You really are a human space heater.”
Iruka laughed quietly at that, leaning his head forward to rest it against the back of Kakashi’s neck, inhaling his scent with a slow smile. “Shut up and go to sleep,” he muttered.
“Sweet dreams,” Kakashi murmured.
“Sweet dreams,” Iruka echoed.
They were indeed quite sweet.