Chapter Text
“Kakashi, will you please just tell me what you did to my computer?”
“Maa, Tenzou. Where’s the fun in that?” Kakashi said as he took a sip of his water and leaned back in his chair. Tenzou had opened his laptop during their lunch break only to find that, in the very brief time he had spent pulling a protein bar out of his bag, Kakashi had, yet again, messed with it.
Tenzou groaned as he put his hands in his hair staring at the computer screen which was, to his dismay, still upside down.
Off to Kakashi’s other side, Gai was in true form, radiating optimism. “What a fun challenge Kakashi has set up for you, Tenzou! Allowing you to learn more about computers and become more self-reliant!”
“Please stop talking.” Tenzou groaned before taking a frustrated bite of his protein bar and going back to hopelessly clicking buttons on his laptop. “Kakashi, seriously! I have to send some emails. Tell me how to fix this, please.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
“I have to email the graphic designer about the label for the new drink flavor.”
“Agreed! While it was a very good design we were thinking of something bolder! More youthful!”
“Which is exactly why I need to email him our critiques, Kakashi.”
Gai continued to go on about his vision of what the new flavor label should look like. When Tenzou turned his laptop on its side in order to use it, Kakashi had to huff in laughter. The screen reversal would automatically go away after an hour when their lunch break was over. It was for Tenzou’s own good. After all, what was the point of taking a lunch break if they worked during it?
Kakashi had, at this point, mostly tuned out his friends and his gaze went across the hall to where the new HR office was.
In the last month, Senju Corp™ (the company Kakashi worked for) acquired Sarutobi Group™ causing a shift in office spaces and the moving of several employees from one location to the other. Kakashi had yet to meet his new neighbor since the other’s move had been delayed but from what he had heard, he was the adoptive son of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the previous president of Sarutobi Group™.
The Sarutobi Group™ was old. While they didn’t have much these days in the way of money or commercial value, the name still had power. When neither the biological eldest nor youngest son showed any interest in running the company, the company head, one Hiruzen Sarutobi, chose instead to sell it to Senju Corp™ for a hefty profit. Ensuring not only his children’s lives would be comfortable, but also his great-great-great-grandchildren.
The Senju Corp™ was a large umbrella corporation. Odds were high that if you had drank, eaten, watched, or even thought about something with a label on it, the Senju Corporation had some sort of influence on that item. So purchasing the other company had been nothing, and Kakashi had hardly thought about it. His workload had increased slightly while he got all the new employees online and organized the other members of IT (there was now eight total), but Kakashi considered this job so easy he almost had to laugh at it. He spent most of his time bored out of his mind and putting off tasks that take him all of ten minutes to complete just to make life interesting.
He watched the office with mild interest. The new occupant was currently enjoying a lunch break with a few of the other employees. They seemed comfortable around each other, arms slung across each other’s shoulders, food being stolen off of plates. Kakashi knew two of them as the new communications employees, Izumo and Kotetsu. And then there was Anko, who was a for-hire consultant, with a rather terrifying reputation. Which left the brunet with a large scar across his nose as the new HR employee. Kakashi’s gaze lingered as he watched the man grin at something being said before he broke out into a loud laugh that floated its way across the halls.
At that moment Kakashi knew two things for certain.
One: That Iruka had the most melodious laugh that he had ever heard in his life.
And Two: That he was going to spend the rest of his life chasing that sound.
“What are you staring at so intently, Rival?” Gai asked as he tried to follow Kakashi’s line of vision, “Oh! The new HR employee, Umino Iruka, I believe was his name! From what everyone has told me he is an excellent employee and a very kind man.”
“Isn’t he the one who was basically running the show over at Sarutobi? He was in charge of Accounting, HR, and Hiruzen’s assistant from what I recall. I saw him at meetings a few times.” Tenzou added while he typed away.
The occupants of the other office slowly turned to look across the hall, the woman Kakashi knew as Anko leaned across Iruka to get a better view.
Iruka gave a small friendly wave and Kakashi felt his heart rate pick up. Next to him, Gai started to wave enthusiastically at the same time Tenzou’s phone alarm went off, signaling the end of their "break".
"Oh thank god," Tenzou said as his computer reverted itself. He closed each window properly before putting it away, "I have to go, I have a meeting on the second floor."
"I shall also take my leave! I must get back to work and ensure all is well in the world of sports drinks."
Kakashi waved at his friends as they left, taking out his phone and checking his email he sighed. Someone in accounting got a virus from a porn site again. And another person opened a phishing email. And someone else needed help with their excel files.
When Kakashi glanced back up across the Hall the door was shut.