Work Text:
(I don't own any characters etc etc)
It was pretty terrible, as far as cards went.
A big orange frog (so not Valentine’s!) with big googly eyes pasted on, sitting on top of a big red heart.
And that was just the front of it.
Inside it said “I’m toad-ally yours! Happy Valentine’s Day!”
Overall, it was a disaster.
So, that made it practically perfect for Naruto, Iruka thought, smiling as he grabbed an envelope to go with it, snagging some candy on his way to the register.
___
He sat eating the candy that night (chocolate, naturally), trying to think of what to write. Sure, Naruto was a freshman in college now, but that didn’t mean that Iruka couldn’t send his favorite (also, only) almost-brother a silly card, as was their tradition.
“When I saw this card, I knew it was perfect for you,” he wrote. “Googly eyes and all. It’s only missing some glitter, maybe next year’s will be covered in it! Yours, Iruka.”
Satisfied with his work, he nodded and put it in the envelope, setting it on the side of his table as he pulled some actual work towards himself, unwrapping another piece of chocolate along the way.
___
“Do you think he’ll finally make a move?” Genma asked his table.
“It’s the right time of year,” Yamato said.
“Perfect to show one’s true love how you feel!” Gai added.
“True love is a bit much,” Yamato laughed. “More like, super big crush.”
Genma nodded as he put a toothpick in his mouth. “Super big crush he’s too much of a pansy to do anything about.”
“I am right here,” Kakashi said, shaking his head as he kept his eyes on his phone.
“You’re here reading Icha Icha on your phone,” Yamato began.
“Again,” Gai chimed in, and the others nodded.
“And Iruka’s over there,” Yamato continued. “You could finally go ask him out, that’s all we’re saying.”
“I’m doing research for that,” Kakashi protested, eyes briefly leaving his phone to glance at a certain man across the room.
“It’s been a few months,” Genma sighed. “You like him, he likes you. Just do something about it.”
“I don’t know for sure he likes me,” Kakashi argued. “We have no evidence.”
“He always smiles when you are near him!” Gai recalled. “And thanks you when you help him!”
“I cover for IT when they’re busy, everyone thanks me when I help them,” Kakashi sighed.
“And has complimented all your projects!” Gai continued. "And responds to your emails extra fast, you always say you never have to worry about him returning information to you right away!"
“Plus he was totally giving you slightly drunk puppy eyes at the Christmas party,” Yamato said. “You just got all flustered when he made that adult joke to you and you drank yourself stupid.”
“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Kakashi sighed.
“And he’s single, so what’s stopping you?” Genma asked.
“It’s also February, and we’ve barely had any interactions since the Christmas party,” Kakashi argued.
“January was busy for us, no one had a life after the holidays,” Genma reminded him, and the others nodded again. “I feel like I can finally breathe again.”
“That, and we got hit with a snowstorm for a few days, so not many people came into the office for a bit,” Yamato added.
“Again, Valentine’s Day is perfect for this romantic event! You can confess your feelings, ask him out, woo him on a special date! Then we shall have two more lovebirds in our office!” Gai said, grinning widely.
“Isn’t one set bad enough?” Kakashi joked, as the group looked at Kurenai and Asuma, who were engaged. And also sitting with Iruka, Kakashi noted. They were both friends with the couple…what would it be like to double date with Iruka, he wondered?
Kakashi shook his head and locked his phone. “I just think that ship has sailed,” he said, gathering his trash from lunch and standing, Yamato joining him.
“You never know,” Yamato said, shrugging.
The two men standing said their goodbyes to the other two and walked to throw out their trash, passing by the table with Iruka and the others on their way out of the office’s large break room before they returned to their floor.
“Hey Kakashi,” Asuma called out. “You still coming over for the last playoff games this weekend?”
Kakashi nodded, trying not to look at Iruka but failing. “Yeah, of course,” he said to Asuma before his eyes glanced to the brunette man.
“My team is out of the playoffs, so I’m detached from it all,” Iruka told him, rolling his eyes. “Our coach needs to go, I think.”
Kakashi nodded but kept silent, and Kurenai snickered.
“Well, we should get going, lots of work to do,” Yamato said, practically pulling Kakashi along with him as Iruka waved at them.
“Great job, genius,” Yamato sighed as they waited for the elevator. “He made small talk with you and you dropped the ball!”
“He looked good today, I got distracted!” Kakashi sighed, running a hand over his face. “His hair should be a crime.”
“Your stupidity should be a crime,” Yamato muttered. “Come on, we’ve got to figure something out for you, even if it’s some stupid secret admirer stuff.”
“You know, that might not be a bad idea,” Kakashi admitted.
“I was joking,” Yamato sternly told him as the elevator opened and they stepped in. “You’re not doing that.”
“But –”
“No.”
“Jiraiya wrote –”
“No.”
“You just have to consider –”
“No,” Yamato repeated, crossing his arms and pulling his sternest face as the doors closed.
___
Iruka sat in his cubicle at work, though his mind was elsewhere - about two floors up, and a few rows over…
For that was where one extremely cute coworker sat, not that he had memorized the man’s location or anything!
Iruka sighed as he paused working, his computer waiting for his next activity.
He liked Kakashi, he really did. And he thought the other man liked him, at least a little.
After all, hadn’t they always had good rapport at meetings, as Iruka’s department had begun to work more closely with Kakashi’s in the final quarter of last year. And wasn’t Kakashi always quick to help if Iruka had an IT problem?
Anko pouted that she never got that much help from anyone, not that Iruka was counting his wins…
And then he thought he was getting somewhere at the Christmas party when he had liquid courage to make a few innuendos. Kakashi had blushed at them, and replied with some seriously cheesy pick up lines, Iruka recalled, smiling at the memory. Then they had both drunk a bit too much, Gai had come up with some drinking game, and the night got fuzzy from there.
Not fuzzy like they did anything together (unfortunately), but at least they hadn’t done anything weird or uncomfortable either.
Iruka frowned when he thought about how the business had been tasked with large projects for this first quarter and everyone had been tense, uptight, rushed and stressed for a few weeks.
Now things were feeling more settled…and it was a certain romantic holiday coming up…
Thinking about Naruto’s card, Iruka wondered if there was a card out there to get a message across to Kakashi?
“I like you as more than a co-worker?” Too boring and/or straightforward, but not in a fun way.
“I choo-choo-choose you?” Too expected.
“Let’s go on a date? Finally?”
Iruka had to admit, that last one wasn’t half bad. Maybe he could find a card with a silly pun on the front and a blank inside, and ask the man out that way…
He only had about a week and a half until Valentine’s Day, Iruka realized; he would need to start looking around…
___
Iruka was largely unsuccessful in finding the right card, but even after several days of searching, he still felt some hope it would work out.
He continued to tell himself that as he frowned while thinking about it all as he ate heart-shaped chocolate at home, looking at the calendar. It was Tuesday, February 8th, and Valentine’s Day was the following Monday.
Still time to find a card for Kakashi, but, he realized, not much time to get Naruto’s card into the mail!
He put it in his work bag, deciding he would just address it at work the next day before sneaking it into the office’s outgoing mail, and went to finish some chores before bed.
___
The next day Iruka pulled out folders from his work bag, remembering the days before last quarter when he rarely took work home. Soon, he sighed, this would be over too, just a few more weeks of it…
Anko popped around to talk about a project with him, sitting on part of his cubicle as they chatted for a while.
Suddenly, she sat straighter, fixing her clothing and smiling.
Iruka’s eyes widened. That could only mean a handful of people were coming by. Their bosses…work visitors…or…
“Hi Gai, Kakashi,” she practically purred, though Iruka knew it was more for Gai than Kakashi. “How are you?”
“Wonderful as always!” Gai told her, grinning. “And you?”
“Better now that you’re here,” she laughed, showing more teeth than usual, Iruka noted, trying to not shake his head at her antics. “Iruka and I were just talking shop.”
“Ah, that is what we came for!” Gai said, looking at Iruka, who was now looking at Kakashi. Kakashi, who was looking at Iruka, and nodded.
“Uh…we have to grab those reports that Genma’s email was about?” Kakashi said, running a hand through his hair, Iruka’s eyes following his movement.
There was silence in the air.
“Iruka,” Anko said, then nudged him with her foot. “They have to get the reports. Your reports? For Kakashi?”
Iruka nodded, then shook himself out of his stupor. “Right! Reports for Kakashi!” he said, and turned to grab them.
Anko smiled at the men about it, as Iruka slightly flailed about.
“Here you go,” he said, handing the stack to Kakashi.
“Thanks,” Kakashi said, as he accepted it. “We’ll be in touch.”
“You know where to find him,” Anko called out as the two men started to walk away. “Anytime.”
She turned to Iruka and scowled. “What was all that about?”
“What was all what about?” Iruka asked.
“You got all…I don’t know…soupy or something.”
“I don’t think that’s a word,” Iruka said, shaking his head.
“Well you could have said more to him, that’s all,” Anko sighed. “A ‘hi, how are you? How have you been? What are your lunch plans?’”
“I have lunch plans with you,” Iruka reminded her, frowning.
“But if the guy you like is free, you cancel on me to go with him!”
“That’s rude.”
“Then I cancel on you so you can go with him, who cares!” Anko said, throwing her hands up in frustration. “You may have missed a chance! Again!”
“I know, I know!” Iruka groaned, hiding his face behind his hands. “I was surprised he was here, and then it felt like there were too many people around…and then there was his hair, and I forgot we were at work…” He shook his head and sighed. “I do have an idea, but it’s still hard to figure out…maybe it’ll still work out, I don’t know…”
___
Later that day, Iruka remembered he had to address Naruto’s card, and went to his workbag to find it.
He frowned when he couldn’t find it in any pocket, and sighed, cursing himself for being forgetful and leaving it at home.
However, when he got home it was nowhere to be seen.
“I really thought I put it in my bag,” Iruka said to himself. “In the main pocket, near the…”
His eyes widened as a realization hit him.
“Near the reports…that I took out and gave…to Kakashi!” he said, squeezing his eyes closed and frowning. “No, no, no! That did not happen! These things don’t happen to me!” But nothing else seemed logical, for where else could the card be?
“What did I even write in it? Did I say I loved him? Does it say ‘Naruto’ anywhere? Does Kakashi even like frogs?” he wondered, groaning and feeling sick. “This is a disaster! It’s more than a disaster! I have to quit my job now!”
Iruka pulled out his phone, but didn’t have anyone to really talk to about it. No one from work, no matter how close he was with them, for word would surely get to Kakashi, and Iruka wanted to cling to a shred of hope that the other man did not, in fact, have a frog themed Valentine’s Day card from him.
He slept fitfully that night and slunk into work the next day, keeping his head down low as dread filled him yet again, his morning coffee standing no chance against the anxiety.
Iruka really thought about quitting his job. Calling out sick for, what, a week, at least? That was probably his best option, and maybe he would start to look for new jobs in that time…
At the very least, he had to avoid Kakashi at all costs.
The worry was already getting to Iruka, and it had barely been twenty four hours!
If only he could go back in time, he thought to himself over and over. Put the card in a different pocket in his work bag. Check the folders before giving them to the other man. Anything!
Time that day seemed to move like pudding, though Iruka was also constantly checking between his work, his clock, his email, and his phones, so that didn’t help either.
At least Kakashi hadn’t reached out, so Iruka figured that was probably a good sign? Maybe the other man hadn’t actually gotten the card? Perhaps Iruka had dropped it somewhere? (He could only hope!) Or Kakashi had saw it, but didn’t read into it?
Iruka also clung to the hope that at least human resources or any supervisors weren’t reaching out, so at least if Kakashi had received it and believed it to be from Iruka, he wasn’t in trouble…
And part of Iruka felt a bit…disappointed, maybe? That Kakashi hadn’t reached out about it? Perhaps to thank Iruka for the card, return the sentiment?
Though, again, Iruka racked his brain trying to remember what, for the love of ramen, he had written in it to Naruto!
Still, Iruka only felt the smallest bit of relief when his eyes finally closed far too late that night, as he just had to get through one more work day before he could find something over the weekend to distract himself from his deathly embarrassment…
____
Luck was never on Iruka’s side, truly. For the next day, in the middle of the afternoon, when the weekend was so close Iruka could taste it, he was asked to go pick up paperwork from Kakashi for his team.
Of all the people to need to see, of all days, and of all the people to send…Iruka’s shoulders slumped as he waited for the elevator, wondering what he had done to piss off Cupid.
He fought the urge to groan, as he was still at work.
“Just play it cool,” he mentally told himself, clearing his throat as the elevator dinged and he stepped in, joining a few others. “Get in, get the papers, get out. Don’t ask about it, don’t bring it up, don’t make small talk. You have to be back to…make a call, and can’t stay, no time to talk, sorry!”
Nodding slightly, Iruka stepped out onto the other man’s work floor, and walked to his death.
His feet treacherously carried him without thought, which was probably for the best as all Iruka could think of was…well, he wasn’t sure, but anything was better than thinking about Kakashi!
Kakashi, whose work area was similar to Iruka’s own, but with slightly bigger cubicles.
Iruka approached as he usually did, seeing the other man’s back first as he was hard at work at his computer.
“I can do this,” Iruka thought to himself, as he knocked on the cubicle wall. Same as he always did.
“Hi, Kakashi,” Iruka said, trying to sound like himself as the other man turned at the sound of his voice. “Just swinging by real quick to get the files my team needs?”
Kakashi gave him a smile, and Iruka felt his stomach drop.
“Sure thing, let me just check everything is there,” Kakashi said, flipping through a stack of folders similar to what Iruka had given him.
Iruka frowned slightly and fought to keep from sighing at having to be there any longer than was necessary. Without meaning to, his eyes roamed the workspace.
There, Kakashi’s Icha Icha calendar (covers only, work-approved). A few dog pictures. A picture from some work event.
All things Iruka had observed before…but now, in the middle of them, to the right of Kakashi’s computer, was a frog.
A big orange frog with big googly eyes pasted on, sitting on top of a big red heart.
A frog that haunted Iruka’s dreams, now sat staring back at him, mocking him.
Could Iruka just push past the other man and take it back?
Wait, was Kakashi talking?
“Huh?” Iruka asked, looking at the other man.
“Here you go,” Kakashi said, smiling as he held out the folders.
Iruka nodded as he silently accepted them, his brain a puddle of thoughts as he tried to figure out what the frog was doing there…
“Thanks for the card,” Kakashi said, following Iruka’s gaze. “I really liked it.” He paused, and rubbed the back of his own neck. “I was...uh…surprised to have gotten it. But really happy about it, too!”
Iruka opened his mouth, arms full of folders, but closed it, unsure of what to say before opening it again. “You were?”
Kakashi nodded. “Uh-huh. It was cute, how you slipped it in the folders, I’m not brave enough to do that myself. And I'm sorry I didn't reach out about it! I only found it that night when I was here late, and I didn't want to contact you at night...and then I was swamped yesterday." He paused, and Iruka wasn't sure how to respond, but before he could the other man continued speaking. "But, I know we’ve been dancing around something like this, so kudos to you for stepping up!”
“I….what?”
“I mean, hinting about next Valentine’s Day,” Kakashi continued, “real smooth! So, we should figure out this year’s first, right?”
“Uh…right?” Iruka repeated, unsure of what was happening. Was he being pranked?
“Is that too much? Our first date happening on Valentine’s Day?”
“No?” Iruka posed; what was the correct answer, anyway?
“Great!” Kakashi said, smiling widely, and Iruka smiled back, understanding finally sinking in. “Maybe something casual, like Ichiraku’s?”
“That sounds great,” Iruka said, still smiling.
“Great!” Kakashi repeated. “I have your number already, I mean, of course I do. So I’ll call you over the weekend anyway, and we’ll have dinner after work Monday.”
“Sounds good,” Iruka said. “I can’t wait.”
Kakashi smiled again, a smile that reached his eyes. “Me too!” Before either could say anything more, his work phone rang. “I should get that, but have a good weekend!”
“You too!” Iruka said, turning and walking back to the elevator.
Ramen at his favorite place for their first date? This could be love, Iruka sighed to himself, feeling happier than he had for a few days.
And anyway, who cared if he had to get another card for Naruto?