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Kakashi looked out at the rolling waves. The children were all trying to race Iruka through the water. They weren’t even close. Clearly Iruka was taunting them by slowing down occasionally only to ride the surf perfectly while the younger ones all were overtaken, dragged to the shore by the strong force.
Sarada was sitting under the umbrella with her Mom and Dad, but all the others were in the water, their towels and umbrellas strewn about the sand.
Kakashi found the gaudy orange Umbrella that clearly belonged to Naruto’s clan. He noticed the rainbow umbrella he had bought for Iruka wasn’t staked into the sand. Iruka must have been waiting for him to do it.
Kakashi was late to their rendezvous but not by much this time! He was still the Rokudaime after all. Kakashi turned away from the crowd in the water and set up a space for his own clan of two. He put up the colorful sunshield and opened the two beach chairs.
“Kakashi!” Iruka yelled, drawing his attention from angling the chairs perfectly in the shade.
The creature walking toward him could only be described by one word: glorious.
Iruka had somehow already gotten tanner in the few hours he had been at the beach. He was in the smallest swimming shorts Kakashi had ever seen. Iruka’s solid form sauntered toward him and Kakashi couldn’t stop his gaze from sweeping across the perfect expanse of his husband, grateful every step that such perfection had agreed to attach to him.
Iruka was flipping his hair back into his ponytail and his strong, thick arms were flexing tantalizingly with the movement. The individual bulging muscles were harder to make out now that Iruka wasn’t killing himself with his workouts, but his strength was clear as day still.
Drops of saltwater fell from his hair. Kakashi watched as they landed on his corded shoulders, trailing slowly, so slowly down his chest, glimmering with the salt already starting to crust as it dried in the sun. What few drops survived fell over his large torso, a layer of fat had grown over his once prominent abs, but Kakashi blushed all the same as those drops slipped over his smooth abdomen before being absorbed into the tiny shorts.
Kakashi had little shame as he kept his eyes low, enjoying the way Iruka’s thighs flexed and relaxed as he maneuvered over the difficult sand. He always had thick thighs, but now they seemed obscene. Kakashi didn’t look up until Iruka was only feet from him.
“Hello? Earth to Kakashi?” Iruka’s hand waving in his face woke Kakashi up from his reverie.
“Maa, Iruka, I was just enjoying the scenery.”
The blush on Iruka’s face was worth the slap to his arm.
“Well, Hokage-sama, will you join us mortals?” Iruka teased his leader and husband.
Kakashi looked at himself, he was still in his robes and hat. The sun was strong though, and he didn’t want to burn.
“Only if you rub be down with those tender digits.”
Iruka rolled his eyes. Kakashi had been trying out some of his favorite lines from Icha Icha all summer for some reason. It was exhausting, but also really sweet. Iruka didn’t want to condone the behavior, but he couldn’t help but smile at the silly man.
“Of course, I don’t want my love to do a lobster-no-jutsu,” Iruka winked at Kakashi, knowing that his pale lover couldn’t handle direct sunlight without burning within seconds.
“Not all of us can be bronzed for the gods, cuddle-bear,” Kakashi countered, removing his robes as Iruka squirted SPF +70 on his hands. Kakashi still had on his undershirt, cut so that all his arms and some of his back and chest was exposed, but his mask still attached and most of his torso covered from the beating sun.
“You seem tense,” Iruka said as he rubbed into Kakashi’s bony shoulders, “when was the last time you took a break from that desk and stretched properly?” Iruka chastised like it was his job. Most days, Kakashi thought, it was. He even checked the duties of the headmaster of the academy to make sure they didn’t include “rebuking the Hokage”. Showing the list of his actual duties to Iruka and saying “chastising” wasn’t there was probably not his brightest moment.
“Maa, you know I am just waiting for Naruto to take over here, any day now he says.” Kakashi glanced over at Naruto, who had just flopped into his chair under the bright umbrella. Hinata had just barely gotten in the water, so her chair was much less wet when she plopped down.
“Kaka-sensei, I’m ready, I swear! You know how the council is.” Naruto complained. Boruto and Himawari each grabbed one of their father’s hands and dragged him out of the chair and into the sand. They forced him on his back and began to cover him in sand.
Sarada rolled her eyes at the scene but walked over anyway and started to pile more sand onto the loud blond “accidently” getting some on his face. Sakura snickered as Naruto sputtered up granules.
Iruka turned back to Kakashi’s back, rubbing lotion further down his lean arms, making sure to get just under the tank-top’s seam so, if it shifted, he wouldn’t burn.
“I thought the Hokage was strongest?” Himawari asked, poking at Kakashi’s thin calf.
Naruto burst into laughter, Sakura and Sasuke hid their mirth behind their hands, and Hinata blushed and yelled, “Himawari! Kakashi-sama is very strong, don’t poke him!”
The small child looked mildly reprimanded, but continued, “but, Iruka-gramps is much stronger looking. He’s big!” the child looked Kakashi up and down before turning back to the sand sculpture, throwing, “Kaka-pops is too skinny,” over her shoulder.
Naruto was wheezing under his sand prison, ruining the mermaid outline Boruto was forming. He yelled at his dad to stay still for once.
“I like how strong Kaka-pops is.” Iruka said, slipping his slick fingers around Kakashi’s waist from behind, nuzzling into his neck.
They really had been through a lot in their lives, and in moments like these, Kakashi was happily surprised he survived to experience them.
He turned in Iruka’s embrace, facing the love of his life, “I like how much stronger Iruka-gramps is.” He said, pulling his mask down to kiss Iruka deeply. The smaller ones all made noises indicating they were thoroughly disgusted with the public display of affection. Their parents all turned their heads to give their elders privacy.
Iruka pulled away and his smile was more blindingly brilliant than the late summer sun jealously beating above them.
“Happy early birthday, husband,” Iruka said, eyes sparkling.
Kakashi’s arms wrapped around his partner’s neck, his strong shoulders easily holding his weight. Iruka was strong and solid, even without his former physic. Kakashi couldn’t help but think that he preferred this Iruka. He had loved the muscled man from 15 years ago, but this Iruka, this dependable man in his arms, was the love of his life.
“I couldn’t ask for a better gift.”