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A lazy swell of heat had sunk its heavy claws into Konoha; the brightly colored awnings of local merchant reflecting the harsh rays into unprotected eyes while in the middle of a packed street in the village's shopping district, without a proper warning, Iruka had an Important Realization.
This Important Realization decked him harder than an infamous Might Guy Dynamic Entry and Iruka struggled to drag air into his suddenly empty lungs. He stood fixed in place, blinking back against the rushing waves of understanding crashing over him as he watched Kakashi’s gloved hand smother affectionately against Naruto’s mess of spikey blond hair, now almost reaching the Copy Nin's chin. Naruto pushed the hand away half-heartedly, whining about the unfairness of still being treated like a child, even though he was almost 18. Iruka could feel the brewing of the usual back and forth between the two about how the blond couldn't possibly be considered an adult when his diet of ramen and old milk hadn’t changed since he was 12.
When had they fallen into this routine?
Shinobi couldn't be predictable, it tended to get them seriously maimed. Yet here he was, listening to a conversation he'd heard a hundred times before, able to wordlessly mouth along to both sets of lines like they were reading straight from a script.
"I haven't had spoiled milk in months. And ramen is definitely good for you, at least Ichiraku's is. It's got vegetables and Ayame says each bowl gives you extra energy for training." With Naruto's voice steadily growing louder Iruka could feel the curious gazes of the villagers turning to watch the scene.
"We have missions most of the month and whenever you are home our fridge is cleared out before dinner. And as tasty as Ichiraku's is, I doubt it has much of an effect on your performance with the much salt."
Naruto turned up his nose at the slander he was being forced to listen to. "It's not that bad, even Iruka-sensei says that ramen every now and then is good for you."
"Unfortunately Iruka also consumes more ramen than is considered safe for the average man. Yo, Iruka?"
The pair seemed to notice the lack of contribution from their third member and Iruka flinched as two sets of eyes shifted to observe him, expressions warry of the unnatural stillness in Iruka's frame. His brain was too overwhelmed by the tight coil of fondness in his chest and eyes blinking fruitlessly against the after image of the word ‘family’ and ‘home’ in obnoxious bold letters over his vision. When had those words applied so perfectly to the three of them anyway? When had it felt more right to be together than apart? Not one to hold his tongue on the best of days he belatedly realized his distraction probably had warning bells going off in his companions' minds.
Slipping over to him with scarred fingertips poking tentatively at Iruka's vest Naruto's eyes pressed into thin appraising lines.
“Hey Iruka-sensei? You okay? Your jaw looks kinda painful hanging that far away from your face.”
Kakashi had appeared noiselessly at his shoulder, a comforting hand at the small of the chunin’s back, and muttered lowly, “My, my sensei. The last time your mouth was open that wide we were doing something a bit less publicly acceptable- ow.” He rubbed at the tender spot where Iruka had managed to pinch against his arm as the younger man flushed a brilliant red. His body finally cooperating from the sheer indignance, Iruka briskly strode ahead of the two and pointedly ignored the soft huff of a laugh behind him.
The stubborn part of his brain insisted that he could simply walk away from the lingering haze of his epiphany, that breaking off the weight of heavy ties to the two shinobi would be simple if he just walked far enough ahead, a physical distance to match the sudden collapse of his emotional defense he had constructed. Which was absurd, he thought irritably, because he was keenly aware of their chakra signatures at all times, even now while his brain fired warning signs of Iruka you idiot, what happened to look underneath the underneath?
With a steadying exhale, he concluded that the village had probably figured out their ragtag family dynamics long before he had. The few stalls they'd already visited had given him enough product for a three person meal without his asking, tossing casual inquires about their plans for the day that had seemed harmless before Iruka's own muddled brain had caught the implications; Kakashi and Naruto were expected dinner guests at Iruka's table, two lingering shadows that accompanied the teacher around on his grocery trips with an unending stream of commentary. The merchants seem to have the impression that any events of Iruka's life were inexplicably intertwined to the two and that wasn't true! At least it hadn't been some time ago. He wondered if being part of a family had felt this way when he was younger? Being automatically associated with someone should have been terrifying right? Life as a shinobi was full of unknowns and he was acquainted with the danger of having a family to come back to in a world that reeked of death and danger. Having something just meant you could suddenly lose the very thing you depended on and he just specifically remembered making a promise to himself to avoid that trap at all costs.
Lives being entwined in one another, more than just for missions or lessons, was a daunting thought for someone who'd purposefully placed people a respectable distance away. He'd made friends and had dated casually but none of it had ever felt permanent. The moment anyone tried for anything deeper they were met with a disarming smile and a polite coolness that efficiently ended the whole ordeal. And here he was, grabbing cabbages that Naruto scrunched up his nose at while Kakashi chided him offhandedly about his inefficiency as a ninja if he couldn't maintain some kind of diet that included greens.
Behind him, he could imagine the side-eye Naruto was inevitably giving Kakashi and smirked at the loudly whispered “perv sensei” as the teen hurried to catch up with Iruka's longer strides. Iruka focused on calming himself, inhaling the smell of fresh baked goods, distracting him from the heat at his cheeks.
The wave of initial panic receded and Iruka matched his pace to Naruto's stride. The mere thought of leaving Naruto behind once more caused a painful ache deep within his chest and he firmly shook his head to dispel the notion. On the heels of hurt, his brain supplied an unwanted image of no more mornings full of messy silver hair and warm beds, no more huffs of laughter that stretched pale lips and pulled at a low laying beauty mark. It physically hurt his heart to think of that loss, even as imaginary as it was. These memories already had established themselves as part of Umino Iruka, as much a part of him as his job as a teacher or being a chunin or a lover of ramen and hot springs. Losing any part of himself would leave him with an irreparable hollowness.
He squared his shoulder, determination coursing through his frame and will thrumming against his skin. He just had to accept that the two most stubborn knuckle-headed Leaf shinobi were now fully under his protection and affections.
Besides, when had this become so deeply ingrained in him? Six years ago he would've rather socked Kakashi in the face for his teasing remarks and Naruto had been just a wisp of a trouble maker with a dream too big for a child that small. But Iruka knew Naruto, he had an incredibly terrifying way of dislodging your sense of balance and turning everything on its head. The flicker of loneliness in Naruto's actions that matched eerily to Iruka's own childhood had Iruka kicking himself for not acknowledging the boy sooner. Every toothy grin, every trick or trap laid that asked for someone to notice him seemed to scream at Iruka. One near-death experience later helped him sort through the jumble of emotions regarding one Uzumaki Naruto. After that first piece had shifted the emotional wall he'd constructed after his parent's deaths he couldn't turn away from the boy who'd become family.
Then there was the mess of Kakashi. The jonin had nearly driven him straight back to his own prankster days during his earliest time as Naruto's team leader. The slouching posture of the jonin with terrible handwriting and worse people skills had been anything but impressive to Iruka, who ignored the hushed whispers of the mysterious Sharingan No Kakashi. Iruka hadn't been able to make the two imagines align in his mind. So he took Kakashi at face value and treated him like he would any ninja who deemed it safe enough to turn in a dog shit mission report or anyone who enjoyed taunting a man who looked death in the face every day in the form of tiny destructive terrors with underdeveloped hand-eye coordination skills and abysmally short attention span.
Iruka could recite the Shinobi code forwards and backward in his sleep (and Kakashi often grumbled that he did although Iruka was mostly sure he was teasing him). Look underneath the underneath. Naruto, Konohamaru, most of the genin and chunin of the village would huff it out on pure reflex at a sharp look from him. But he hadn't even listened to the mantra, assuming Kakashi was a lazy asshole who rather enjoyed terrorizing the youth of the village.
The act was only partially true; he could be lazy and he most certainly was an asshole sometimes but he cared deeply about the village's future, he just had a wildly different approach to preparing them than Iruka's own brand of firm guidance. And the first time he'd actually took a moment from actively avoiding the jonin he felt like he'd been the asshole the last year of his life.
The following months of casual, occasionally awkward, conversations during Naruto’s absence morphed into tentatively planned meetups instead of one of them stumbling across the other when they both happened to be in the village. Finding the underneath to Hatake Kakashi had been interesting, the teasing revealing itself as an oddly worded but nonetheless real glimpse at the inner workings of the other man. To Iruka, who was rather good at reading the nuances of a majority of Konoha's finest (which was quite impressive considering the sheer weirdness that permeated the general population of the village) he found he enjoyed working through the puzzle of an awkward man trying his best and the hardened life-long blade of a shinobi. Kakashi's presence became an anchor to the chaos in Iruka's schedule; the man's lazy intonation a balm to Iruka's tired brain even if the other man insisted on being a pain in the ass.
By the time Naruto had come crashing back into the Konoha gates, taller and with a bag of new tricks to show, he and Kakashi didn't even broach altering their set up instead choosing to wait patiently for Naruto to parse together the inevitable conclusion on his own. Which he did, after several long rather comical weeks and a firm push from Sakura in the right direction. With the unusual ability Naruto could show at accepting what he deemed a just cause, he gave the equivalent of his blessings and 'veiled' threats, red-faced and awkward before settling back into the unoccupied slot of Iruka’s life as if he’d never left.
It all made sense now, but in the general hustle of day to day Iruka had thought he was still firmly an outside force to the two, fond of these men who'd managed to carve out some unidentifiable space in his life but a safe enough distance to see this kind of trouble on the horizon. As a true shinobi who'd watched more families than he cared to count broken and ripped apart by the hardships of ninja life he'd figured he could keep them at enough of an arm's length that if disaster struck again, that there would grieving but able to move on with enough time.
Listening to the mostly one-sided bickering beside him brought him a joy he hadn't noticed for a long time. He knew this kind of contentedness from a time when there had been a different set of people by his side, holding old but comforting memories in his heart. So while he didn't realize the moment it all snapped together, he found that it didn’t particularly matter anyway, it just mattered that it had happened. Three orphans with less than stellar pasts who had somehow settled into a stitched together existence? Iruka shook his head, concerned at how strangely poetic the whole thing was getting. That was usually Kakashi's role, ever the hopeless romantic at heart despite the frequent appearance of familiar trashy novels or the lewd comments that seem to drop from his tongue without preemptive.
For now he pushed the fading buzz of his thoughts aside, managing to pull himself back to the present to prevent several street wide disturbance he’d undoubtedly hear about from Tsunade, even if she seemed to wave off most of the small scale mishaps caused by Naruto at this point anyways. The Sanin had been dropping hints of her imminent departure from office while not so subtly hinting at her replacement which Kakashi had done his best to ignore, eyes distant and fingers twitching for the cover of a familiar book.
He bullied the thoughts to the back of his mind, setting them aside to process when he could spare the extra emotions they were sure to bring. For right now he needed to focus on not upsetting the safety of the civilians who were being subjected to their odd patchwork family.
-
"Slow down Naruto, you still need to breathe. There's still plenty left."
A pair of offended bright blue eyes regarded Iruka as if he had just suggested discontinuing their weekly Ichiraku night. The blond gurgled disgruntledly around a mouth full of dumplings before slurping the rest of the leftover sauce.
"No way, I've been starving for the last two hours! It's time to fill up."
Iruka's laugh was full of affection as he pointed accusatory chopsticks in Naruto's direction. "Part of that was us having to clean the living room from your 'special secret ninja chop'."
"Hey, it worked most of the time when I had to cook for me and Pervy Sage!"
"That was when you two were eating outdoors though, generally not a lot of walls or floor to clean if things got a bit out of hand hmm?" Kakashi pointed out lazily.
"Okay but I swear it was never this messy. At least I never found any pieces in my clothes. Although I never tried it with cabbage so maybe that's why?"
"Sure, that's it. Must be the cabbage's fault." Kakashi said dryly while popping another dumpling into his mouth.
"That's gotta be it. I'll try again tomorrow -"
Iruka crossed his arms over his chest in dismissal, eyes closed and brow furrowed. "Not in my kitchen. I'm still not sure we got everything up tonight."
Pakkun paused from licking between the pads of his paws to regard the men around the low table. "Nah, but me and the pack got the last of it so no worries."
Iruka wanted to bang his head against the table in exasperation but a warm hand settled atop Iruka's thigh and squeezed reassuringly before he could enact his plan. Kakashi's eyes remained focused on Naruto's animated speech but Iruka figured the small twitch of thin lips was probably directed at Iruka's chakra spike. Honestly, the disaster in the kitchen was nothing compared to some of the more daring stunts Naruto had pulled before so Iruka settled back in his seat and chalked tonight up as a win overall.
They had survived the remainder of their shopping and the subsequent trip home without any major mishaps. While he was grateful that Naruto had developed an interest in helping around the house, Iruka spent a solid twenty minutes convincing Naruto that the boy didn't need 'special ninja training time' to chop vegetables, which ended in a rather lively conversation about the merits of practicing your ninjutsu whenever and wherever you could. At some point during the conversation, Kakashi had managed to unleash his ninken, all of the furry animals excited for table scraps promised earlier in the day. Throughout dinner Iruka found it increasingly difficult to ignore the proverbial puppy dog eyes as he ate even if Kakashi didn't seem phased in the slightest.
They made it through clean up and feeding the dogs before they all managed to arrange themselves like a puzzle in Iruka's living room for the romcom Kakashi “accidentally” borrowed instead of the new release he’d meant to pick up, although Iruka didn’t miss the wink the jonin sent his way when he settled into a corner of the old beaten up orange thing Iruka called his couch. Used to Kakashi’s taste in movies by now, he shushed Naruto’s groan of disapproval as Iruka settled into the open invitation of Kakashi’s arm thrown over the couch back, uncovered eyes watching him happily.
At the movie’s supposed climax (did it really count if all the main character did was figure out she’d been in love with her best friend the whole time?) Iruka felt the wispy brush of unruly silver against his cheek, tangling with the brown strands Kakashi had tugged free earlier. warm puffs of breath ghosted uninhibited against the column of Iruka’s throat, the steady in and out a dead giveaway of the other's nap. That and the small spill of drool that had leaked onto Iruka’s shirt collar.
Several minutes later he felt the sleep heavy thump of Naruto’s head as it fell into the stretch of Iruka’s legs, Pakkun muttering tiredly at the extra weight as the boy covered more of his back than the span of fingers that had been rubbing the coarse fur. In the stillness he remembered mess of emotions from this morning, could feel the irrecoverable hold these two had on him. It wasn't as terrifying as a much younger Iruka had hypothesized after the death of his parents, naively swearing off fragile things like relationships. This was warm and safe and so much a part of present Iruka that he couldn't hold on to his youthful promise anymore. He knew losing either of the two would likely irrecoverably damage him. It was a very real threat considering his two precious people were Uzumaki Naruto and Hatake Kakashi, but when weighing it against the happiness seeping into his very core as grounding as Kakashi and Naruto pinning him to the couch, it was easy an easy choice. He'd made a speech to Naruto about it long ago, on a rainy day surrounded by heavy hearts and tear-stained faces. Iruka was a shinobi and he knew the risks, he'd still choose this slice of humanity if he could.
Like floodgates being forcibly torn open In the darkness of his home, covered by the still of the night and the peaceful thump of Kakashi’s heart against his shoulder and Naruto’s soft snores by his knees, hot tears formed unbidden at his eyes, blurring out the soft glow of the screen before him.
Even in sleep Kakashi seemed attuned to Iruka’s internal struggle. He felt the other turn, the jut of his sharp chin cutting into the curve of Iruka's shoulder at the small hitch in his breathing that he was unable to suppress, the pair of no longer mismatched eyes watching him with a hint of concern.
“Everything alright?” He muttered, kissing against the other man’s pulse point in comfort, the soothing action pulling even harder at the tears threatening to spill.
Pull it together Umino, he told himself sternly even as his lip trembled slightly in protest.
“Yeah, just really invested in the movie.” He wobbled out, annoyed his voice decided it wasn’t going to cooperate.
The tone seemed to trigger a reflex in Kakashi, who immediately made to lean back and up to get a clearer grasp of Iruka’s generally more expressive face. The fact he knew Kakashi could be a cold killing blade for Konoha if needed but more often than not was a hairpin trigger away from trying to right the imagined wrongs of Iruka’s world was oddly comforting.
Iruka laughed, the sound watery but genuinely happy and he shushed Kakashi’s tense form. “Don't worry Kakashi, it’s nothing.”
The answer clearly registered as unsatisfactory to the other, his arm slipping between the back of the couch and Iruka’s lower back, pulling Iruka closer into his side as if braced to keep the chunin's thoughts firmly planted here with him instead of torturing him in his own brain.
“Doesn’t sound like nothing.” He said petulantly.
Iruka shrugged against the solid mass of Kakashi’s body resting on him, realizing that wasn't probably the answer Kakashi had in mind. Instead of trying to verbalize the current mess of thoughts, he quietly readjusted the young man on his lap. Naruto had flourished since his days in the academy, a headstrong caring young man that had survived every horror the world had thought to throw at him. Iruka felt the surge of pride once again threatening to overwhelm him and he had to bite down on his lip to stop the grin from stretching too wide across his face. He received a small grunt for his efforts, Pakkun huffing his assent before burrowing closer to the furnace of Naruto’s body. The silence ticked by, slightly warped from the dramatic background music and the dual snores of Pakkun and Naruto.
Timing had never really mattered all that much to Iruka. When something was supposed to happen, it would. It'd taken him years to become a chunin and even longer to believe in himself as unshakable as the Third had. Naruto had failed three tries to become a genin, and even longer to find a place he belonged. As for Kakashi, he was pretty sure the man had trained himself when he was no bigger than Iruka's students to not hope for things like love, family, or finding peaceful moments in a day. Now he sat tucked against Iruka in a space rapidly becoming Kakashi's own home, arm slung low around a man that had barely registered on his radar as anything more than an uptight teacher with questionable judgment. None of them had been explicitly looking for one another and yet, he couldn't imagine a life without them. Iruka hadn’t realized he’d been waiting for his family until they found him.
The three of them made quite a team, didn't they?
In the quiet of his apartment, buried under the weight of love in all its forms and incandescently happy, Iruka let himself enjoy the moment and acknowledging the good and the bad of having a family again for as long as they could keep this thing going.
“I’m just really happy.” Iruka finally whispered into the dark, feeling the slow tug of an unmasked cheek pull into a smile in response.
Kakashi settled deeper into the couch, humming contently against Iruka's side.
“Maa that is pretty important Iruka.”
Iruka placed a small kiss on the top of silver hair in agreement.