Work Text:
Iruka walked down the hallways of the large production building of Nine Tails Studios, turning and following the directions he’d been given by the receptionist. He made his way down the hall at the far right, checking the numbers tacked next to the rooms as he walked along. Finally, he stopped in front of the door marked 103.
He pulled out his cellphone from the pocket of his jeans and checked the message he’d been sent, confirming that he had indeed reached the proper room before nodding to himself turning the handle. He pushed the heavy wooden door to the room open and sipped inside.
Inside, the production crew and other staff were already humming with anticipation. Scripts were laid out on the tables, some cast members already seated, others scattered around the room talking and mingling with each other. Some, who recognized each other but were not interested in engaging in conversations, waved to each other instead.
Iruka looked around, feeling a little nervous.
This was the cast reading after all for the newest, and most highly anticipated, drama to be filmed by Channel K. It was based on a hugely popular manga series about an ordinary high school teacher turned vigilante and his growing relationship with a police officer who partnered up with him to fight crime. When he had first been approached by his agent Asuma regarding the role he’d been stunned, sure that the casting director had mistaken him for someone else. (Though really, there was no other Umino Iruka, so that was a moot point).
Asuma had assured him that the offer was real, that as long as he auditioned well, the casting director was interested in seeing whether he could fit the part.
Iruka had leapt on the opportunity. He read over that script a thousand times, even going as far as cornering his brother Naruto to borrow and read some of the Hero Sensei manga, wanting to get his characterization right. And all of that work had paid off since he was now in this room, with the rest of the cast for Hero-Sensei.
He was a little curious about the cast around him though. Hero-sensei, for all that it was about a crime fighting vigilante teacher, was also a love story. And he knew that the producers for the live-action drama had decided to keep that aspect of it when transferring the manga into a screenplay.
However, the producers didn’t reveal any of the other details about the cast to him, or to the other members, so he had no idea who the actor playing his eventual love interest would be. Being a younger and newer actor made him feel just a little out of sorts especially in a room, that upon looking around, had numerous distinguished figures.
In fact, as he stepped further in and actually took a proper look around the room, he was shocked at the multitude of important A-list actors around him. Itachi Uchiha was talking with the director over in a corner, Tsunade-hime, the Tsunade-hime, standing next to them. Bee-san, a well known rap artist was chatting away with Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi-san’s younger brother. And then, there was... Kakashi?
In hindsight, he thought, staring across the room at the white haired man who had the nerve to wave at him, he really really should have known better than to not ask just who the other actors in this show were.
He scowled, debating on walking over and giving Kakashi a piece of his mind. He’d spoken openly to the man about this assignment at length, over long nights spent curled up on their sofa, over breakfasts and lunches and dinners. And all this time, Kakashi had known about it, known about it and kept quiet despite the fact that he was in it too!
The jerk!
How dare he treat Iruka like that? Like a fool? Kakashi knew how much he was looking forward to this, how hard he had worked to get here in this room full of A-list actors. And yet, in all of their conversations, he’d never once said anything, opened his mouth to let Iruka know that he too would be in the drama, that he would be there to support Iruka.
It kind of hurt to know that Kakashi didn’t trust him to at least share that information.
And it also angered him because he would have liked to know the projects Kakashi was in, he wanted to support his boyfriend after all. But then, Kakashi would do something like this, and it would just...be too much.
Sometimes, he wondered why he put up with the white haired actor.
He didn’t get a chance to dwell too long on Kakashi’s presence however because the director, the renowned Jiiraiya-san-- disciple of the late esteemed director Hiruzen-sama whose work the Seven Ninja was still lauded as one of the best directorial masterpieces of all time--clapped his hands, catching everyone’s attention. Iruka stared at the man waiting to see what he would say.
“Welcome everybody to the first cast reading of Hero-Sensei. ” The director stated, smiling.. “Since we are all here, why don’t we get started!”
Everyone took that as their cue to usher themselves into their seats. Kakashi took the one next to him, gabbing his hand under the table and squeezing, fingers tracing the word Sorry on his palm. Iruka sighed, squeezing back. Well, he thought, at least Kakashi apologized, meaning he was quickly learning the error of his ways. But, it didn’t mean Iruka was going to forgive him just yet.
In the meantime though, he’d work hard on not letting his anger at Kakashi get the best of him right now. He was an actor after all, and actors could hide their feelings when need be. Besides,it would make for a cruddy work environment if he brought a domestic dispute to work, so he might as well let this go for now.
Kakashi would hear from him about it later though.
Jiraiya-san nodded from his position at the head of the table once everyone had gotten comfortable in their seats. He smiled at Iruka welcomingly and then smirked at Kakashi. Kakashi’s grip on his hand tightened, and Iruka frowned. He had a feeling something was up.
“Ah, Umino-san,” Jiraiya-san began speaking, “I’m glad to see you’ve met Kakashi-kun. It’s good to have a friendship with the person playing your love interest in the drama.”
Iruka clenched Kakashi’s hand tighter under the table, nails digging into Kakashi’s hand.
“Love interest huh?” He asked. Kakashi grinned back and waved his other hand at Iruka. Iruka pasted on a smile, eyes steely. “It’s nice to work with you, Hatake-san. I look forward to a cordial working relationship.”
Kakashi smiled back, hands frantically sketching sorry over and over on Iruka’s palm.. “Me too, Umino-san, me too.”
* * * * *
When Kakashi first got the call from Tenzō, he’d been ecstatic. He knew about the show Iruka had just landed a lead role in. He was so proud of his boyfriend and even more excited to see Iruka finally grow in his career. But to know that Tenzō had somehow convinced the director to give Kakashi a role in that show too, especially as Iruka’s love interest, made him ecstatic!
He was grateful he had such a great manager.
It was hard keeping things a secret from Iruka because he’d wanted to surprise him.
In hindsight, he should have known that that plan was bound to backfire. Iruka had given him the cold shoulder for a week after learning who Kakashi was playing in the show, and only a good amount of groveling on his part (and maybe, if he was being truthful some apologizing and food and offers of a massage or two) had made Iruka turn around and forgive him for hiding such an important detail.
And things had been going well for the most part.
In their two months of filming, Kakashi could easily say that their off-screen chemistry helped a lot with the scenes they were shooting. There were times even that he didn’t have to delve too deep into his character because he just knew how to act with Iruka, how Iruka would react to the scenes. It made Jiraiya-san very happy since he didn’t have to worry about telling them to redo scenes or order multiple takes.
It might have also helped that Iruka often practiced with Kakashi at home because he wanted those scenes, the ones they both were in, to be perfect.
Today, though, that wasn’t the case.
Kakashi fidgeted, wiping the sweaty palms of his hands on his pants, pulling and tugging at the collar of his police uniform the costume department had thrown at him earlier. He tried to run over his lines and remember them, telling himself over and over that he knew them, that he wouldn’t mess up this pivotal scene in the drama.
But it was hard to keep his mind clear today when all he wanted was to walk away from the set.
Today was the pivotal day that Iruka’s character and Kakashi’s character realized they might have more than friendly feelings towards the other.
Today was the day Kakashi didn’t have to act for once because all he had to do was be himself around Iruka. All he had to do was feel what Kakashi felt, fall in love with the same man he’d fallen in love with years ago.
And it was all because he and Iruka were together. In fact, the two of them had been together for at least a year now. But, that was a secret, something they chose to not advertise because Kakashi was not a fan of others digging into his private life, and Iruka was not a fan of others thinking he was using Kakashi to succeed in the industry.
And it had been fine, hiding their relationship from others and going about their careers in the industry.
But, today, as Kakashi ran over the lines in his head again, he realized that everything was not fine.
How could he act like he started liking Iruka for the first time when he’d fallen for the man so long ago? He’d tried practicing with Iruka, and every time, Kakashi could feel it, could tell that he was, for the first time in his acting career, letting the real Kakashi bleed into his acting.
That wouldn’t do.
He decided to play if off and took deep breaths. He could do this. He was the Kakashi Hatake, and Jiraiya had hired him to act as Detective Nakamura. He could push Kakashi down until he was nothing more than Nakamura. He could.
So why then were his palms still sweaty?
He took a deep breath as Iruka joined him on set. He could do this, he reminded himself.
You are Detective Nakamura. You’ve come to the Sensei’s home for the first time. All you have to do is escort the man inside and patch up his wounds. Just go help Iruka’s character with his wounds, the sensei with his injuries , Nakamura!
Kakashi noticed Jiraiya nodding to someone and then the clapboard fell, someone screaming action.
The scene began.
And the scene ended three minutes later with Jiraiya calling cut.
“Kakashi,” he began, “why are you so hesitant about moving the shirt aside to see to the Sensei’s wound? You’re still not aware of who he is besides a friend, remember? You won’t feel that way until later once you’re done patching up the wound.”
Kakashi huffed, running a hand over the back of his neck. “My bad, I was moving a little too early I guess. We’ll try again?”
Jiraiya nodded, waiting until the characters were in their position once more and then called “Action” one more time.
And another time.
And another.
And another.
And another.
And…
“Kakashi,” the director called, “what is wrong with you today?” He sighed, running a hand over his face. “You’re not normally this bad. In fact, you rarely are. What has gotten in you? First you get too shy, then too aggressive, then too soft. And now, laughing? What is with you? Why can’t you stay in character today?”
Kakashi looked away, not sure how he could tell Jiraiya that it wasn’t that he couldn’t stay in character, it was that he couldn’t stay in character and still keep his feelings for Iruka hidden from the camera. Jiraiya was a master director, and he was skilled at finding out things about his actors while filming. Kakashi wasn’t sure how he would feel if Jiraiya caught on to his feelings.
He wasn’t sure how he’d feel if Jiraiya realized that Kakashi, not Detective Nakamura, cared for Iruka. He wasn’t sure how he’d feel if Jiraiya found out he was in love with Iruka.
He liked that he and Iruka were able to keep their relationship private, a thing just between themselves.
He wasn’t ready yet to share that with the world.
“And Umino!” Jiraiya barked, attracting both his and Iruka’s attention. “You need to stop getting angry at your co-star. Everyone has a bad day. If you want, you two can go take ten and discuss the issue. You’ve had really good chemistry on set so far, and I don’t like that when we finally get to the romance you two seem to be having issues. This is a romance drama, you two. You need to get whatever hang-ups you have out of your system now so we can get moving!”
Iruka's cheeks turned red under Jiraiya’s scolding, and he looked down at the ground.
“I’m sorry.” He apologized. Then, looking at Kakashi, he shrugged his shoulders. “What do you say, Hatake-san? Would it help if we discussed the issues you are having with this scene in private?”
Kakashi licked his lips under his mask. The detective in the show didn’t wear one, but they’d gotten permission from the creator of the manga to have Kakashi wear one since that was Kakashi’s trademark as an actor.
“Yeah, okay. That sounds good.” He replied, wondering if this talk with Iruka would make him feel better.
He followed Iruka off the set towards a set of rooms down a hallway. Iruka pushed one open, the one to the script room where additional scripts and writing materials were kept. He ushered Kakashi inside before entering himself, shutting the door behind him.
“What is with you?” He demanded rounding on Kakashi as soon as the door closed. “Why are you making such an issue with the scene today?”
Kakashi hesitated, not sure how to explain things to Iruka. How could he tell Iruka that he couldn’t act today because he was afraid to spill their secret? So, he stayed silent even as Iruka rounded on him, fingers pointed out and poking at his chest.
“I asked you a question Kakashi.”
Kakashi looked away, fists clenched at his sides. He then sighed, letting his shoulders droop. Maybe, he thought, it might just be best to get this conversation over with. Iruka didn’t seem like he was willing to let this conversation go, and past experience had taught him that it was best to go along with Iruka’s whims in that case.
“I can’t act in this scene, because I won’t be acting in it Iruka.”
Iruka’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean, you won’t be acting in it? We’re actors Kakashi. This is our job. And, surprise, surprise, what you have been doing today, out there,” he pointed to the wall, “is NOT acting.”
Kakashi shuffled his feet, moving his hands into the pockets of his police uniform outfit. He shrugged his shoulders. “It’s true though. I can’t act in this scene, because I won’t be acting in it.”
Iruka sighed, crossing his arms across his chest. “Kakashi,” he said, voice taking on a pleading tint, “can you just tell me what you mean? I can’t play around with you today.”
Kakashi hesitated for a moment, then pulled down his mask, baring his face to Iruka, feeling like he didn’t want his barrier between them when he spoke the words he was about to say.
“I don’t...damn it! Iruka, I won’t be acting out there today, because it won’t be Detective Nakamura out there okay? It’ll be me! ME! Kakashi Hatake, your lover, your boyfriend! And..” He stopped talking, and sighed, lowering his voice, the earlier agitation in it gone. “And, because of that everyone on set will know. About you and me. About our relationship.”
“ Oh.”
Iruka was silent as he processed Kakashi’s words. Kakashi stared at him, waiting, watching, for any sign of what Iruka was going to say or do. If Iruka would ask him to continue keeping the secret, to try to pull himself together he would. He would ask Jiraiya for some time to get over this block and learn how to act around Iruka as Detective Nakamura again. And if Iruka didn’t mind…
Well then, he supposed he would just go out there and do his job the way he’d been wanting to do all night.
“You can’t act,” Iruka began finally, voice pitched low and even, “because you won’t be Detective Nakamura? You’ll be Kakashi out there romancing the sensei?”
Kakashi grinned a little, shrugging his shoulders, pleased that Iruka wasn’t getting too mad. “Not the sensei, but the man playing him, yes.”
Iruka smiled at him, his earlier ire gone from his face. “Okay,” he stated, “I guess I can forgive you then.”
He stepped closer, into Kakashi’s space. Kakashi maintained eye contact, eyes darting down to Iruka’s lips for a second before coming back up to meet Iruka’s warm brown eyes.
“I love you Kakashi.” Iruka whispered. He wound his arms around Kakashi’s shoulders, leaning closer, bending his neck back just a little to look at his lover properly. “I love you.” He repeated as Kakashi bent down so that their foreheads touched.
“Yeah?” Kakashi whispered against his lips.
“Yeah.” Iruka muttered, eyes closing. They blinked open moments later. “And you know what? I love you so much that I don’t care if the world knows.”
Kakashi’s eyes crinkled at the corners, his lips lifting into a smile. “Okay.” He murmured.
Iruka closed his eyes as Kakashi kissed him, slowly, sweetly. He pulled away after a minute.
“Let’s go back hm?” He asked. “And this time, don’t be afraid to let Kakashi show in the Detective, okay? After all,” he grinned, “both of them happen to like me don’t they?”
Kakashi laughed. “Yeah, they do.”
He led Iruka back out, one hand clasped in his, Iruka squeezing it back carefully. They raised a few eyes on set, but no one inquired any further.
And as for that scene: this time they got it perfect on the first try.
