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Kakashi stared at the number on the piece of scrap paper before closing it back between the pages of Icha Icha Paradise. He then looked, again, at the number on the apartment door. The numbers were the same. He knew they were the same because he had memorized the address with his Sharingan. He closed his eyes and recounted how he had gotten there, triple checking that it was indeed the right street because chakra exhaustion could mess with his mind sometimes. Confused, Kakashi knocked on the door this time before opening it.
Sure, enough Iruka was still there. The man was clad in worn loungewear with headphones on. He held a duster in hand that he was using as a microphone. Kakashi shifted his weight as he cleared his throat, the bags in his hands shifting uncomfortably in his arms. When Iruka continued to dance around the living room without turning around, Kakashi cleared his throat a little louder causing the man to jump and pull a kunai out, dislodging the headphones as he turned in Kakashi’s direction.
“Oh, my gods. Don’t you knock?” Iruka clutched his chest as he caught his breath and put the kunai down on a nearby shelf.
“I did.” Kakashi said as he looked around at partially unpacked boxes.
“You did?” Iruka looked sheepish as he pulled the headphones down to sit around his neck before turning the Walkman off and placing the device on the shelf as well.
“Yes.” Kakashi shifted his weight again unsure what to do.
“What are those?” Iruka asked his gaze on the bags.
“Groceries…” Kakashi said also glancing down at the bags he had brought, “I just got back and heard Naruto had moved. Is this not his apartment?”
“It is. Uh, It’s mine as well.”
“Oh.”
“Oh! Let me help you with that.” Iruka lunged forward to take some of the bags from Kakashi, causing the Walkman which was still attached to him, to crash off the shelf. Iruka to scrambled to pick it up with a string of creative curses, pushing his disheveled hair out of his face.
“Is Naruto home?”
“No, he went out a few minutes ago. Do you buy him groceries often?”
“Ah. Yes. Since he had gotten his own apartment. Most of the time he doesn’t know it's me though.”
“Oh. Thank you for taking care of him.” Iruka bowed causing his headphones to fall and hit him in the face, causing him to blush and splutter more curses.
“Well.” Kakashi shifted again, glancing at the kitchen and then back at Iruka.
“I’m adopting him.” Iruka blurts out his face now colored Inuzuka red.
“Oh?”
“I don’t know why I just said that.”
“Does Naruto know?”
“Yes. We talked about it before he moved in. This way he can have a bit of stability here and not have to worry about his apartment so
much when he’s away on missions. And I can be notified when something happens.
He will probably move back out in a few years. But it helps to have others
around. At least at first.” Iruka’s voice trailed off at the end as the two of them stood there awkwardly. “I’m sorry, do you want to come in for some tea or something? I’m sure I can find my kettle somewhere. Though I had left it to Naruto to pack my kitchen so who knows where it is…”
“That’s alright Sensei. To be honest I was just stopping in to give him these groceries and remind him that we have a mission tomorrow.”
“Oh. Okay. Well.”
“Goodnight, Sensei.”
“Goodnight, Hatake-san.”
“Just Kakashi is fine.”
“Goodnight, Kakashi.”
Iruka pulled his small scarf around his neck trying to cover up to his ears with the moth-eaten material, lamenting the loss of warm weather. A cold front had moved in earlier that week, dropped the temperature below freezing, and seemed reluctant to loosen its grip on Konoha.
Iruka sighed a clouded breath as Naruto rambled on about his latest training mishap. A bulky blue and orange scarf wrapped warmly around his neck.
Iruka stuck his hands beneath his armpits to try to get some feeling back into them.
Winter was indeed here.
He silently cursed past him for not replacing the scarf last year. Or the year before. Or the year before that. He always forgot he wanted to replace it until the weather got cold and he had to pull it out of storage. When he had pulled it out of its box this year Naruto had called it Iruka’s “old man scarf”. Iruka had taken offense to that. He wasn’t that old. But when he thought about it, he had owned the same scarf for as long as the two of them had known each other. Which was basically Naruto’s whole life.
So yeah. Iruka had an old man scarf.
The two of them got to Ichiraku’s and Iruka gratefully sat down next to the small heater inside warming his hands.
“Some weather we’re having, huh?” Teuchi greeted them.
“It doesn’t usually affect me this much.” Iruka said as he shuddered.
“It’s cause you’re getting old Iruka-sensei.” Naruto said as he sat down and unwound his scarf.
Iruka rolled his eyes letting the comment slide as Teuchi chuckled. “The usual?” he asked.
“Yes please.” Iruka and Naruto said at the same time.
Naruto carefully folded the scarf on the counter next to him.
“Where did you get that anyway.” Iruka asked as he sat next to him.
“Kakashi-Sensei gave them to all of us. Isn’t it great! It’s super soft, here feel it!” Naruto held an end out so Iruka could run his hand over the soft fabric.
Iruka had trouble letting it go when Naruto pulled it back. Surely a scarf like that would have cost a decent amount of money, but maybe the store would have a sale when the weather got warmer and Iruka could finally replace his.
“Did he happen to say where he got it?”
“No, he didn’t. I think he made it, I don’t think there’s a tag on it anywhere.”
“Ah.” Iruka said disappointed,
“Why do you want one?”
“I need to replace my, “old man scarf” as you put it.” Iruka said as he unwound the scarf and folded it next to Naruto’s new one.
“You really do.” Naruto said as he poked at the disintegrating fabric. “I have old socks with holes less worn than this.”
“If they have holes in them, why do you still have them?” Iruka asked.
“Why do you still have this scarf?”
“because it still works.”
“Same answer.”
“Socks with holes in them do not “still work”’
“Neither does this scarf, sensei. I can see through it.”
Naruto held the scarf up to his face and peered at Iruka through a hole, demonstrating his point.
Teuchi came over with some warm tea for them and Iruka clutched it to his chest to warm himself up.
“I think we need to go through your wardrobe again and toss the old items.”
“Not again! Didn’t we just do that?”
“You just told me you have socks with holes in them.”
“Yeah. So?”
“So? We need to see what else needs replacing.”
“Only if you agree to replace your scarf!”
“I’ll think about it.” Iruka agreed.
“Ah, Naruto. Iruka-sensei.” Iruka turned to see Kakashi standing at the entrance rubbing his hands together for warmth.
“Hello Hatake-san.” Iruka gave a small bow, smiling at the other man.
“Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto greeted waving and coming dangerously close to hitting Iruka in the face, “Come sit with us!”
“Unfortunately, I am here for take-out. I have to go home and pack.”
“Aw man. You’re going on a mission without us?”
“Even I need a break sometimes.”
“But what about training?”
“Maa, I’m sure Gai will be more than happy to step in for some joint training sessions if you are that desperate.”
“Nope! All good. I am never doing that again. Bushy brows is cool and all but I could barely walk for a week last time.”
“You can at least sit and have some tea while you wait for your food. Warm yourself up a bit.” “
“Oh. Thank you, Sensei.” Kakashi said as he sat down next to the other man. Iruka saw Kakashi’s gaze flicker to his scarf before flickering back to Naruto as he rambled about how annoying Sasuke was going to be this week with Kakashi gone.
Iruka placed his hand over his scarf in an attempt to hide it before quietly slipping it into his jacket pocket as Teuchi brought over their meal and handed Kakashi his take-out bag.
“Make sure you keep up with your training while I’m gone Naruto. Or I will make sure to involve Gai in training for at least a month.”
“Ugh! Fine. Fine. But after you get back you better get us a good mission! None of those D-rank cat-catching ones!”
“We will see.” Kakashi said before smiling at Iruka, “I’ll see you around Sensei.”
“Safe travels Hatake-san.”
“Just Kakashi, please.”
“Safe travels, Kakashi.”
It took Kakashi longer than he thought it would to finish the scarf. A lot longer. Usually, he could get one done in about a week or so depending on the pattern. He had started knitting it while he was on his escort mission after seeing Iruka’s worn scarf at Ichiraku’s. But the first one got blood on it, on the way there. Then the second one had gotten burned on the way back. Then he was in the hospital and could hardly move his hands to use the needles.
So it ended up taking an extra month for him to finally finish it. And it took him another two weeks before he decided to actually give it to Iruka. During that time it had sat wrapped in paper on his coffee table. Judging him while he thought himself in circles.
Maybe Iruka didn’t want a new scarf. Maybe his old one held sentimental value. Maybe Kakashi was overstepping by giving him a handmade gift when they only ever really talked about Naruto. Maybe Kakashi was overthinking this whole thing.
The truth was he had been thinking about Iruka a lot more than he had before he had walked in on him singing and dancing in his apartment. A memory that both mortified Kakashi and warmed him at the same time. How could a ninja be so wrapped up in cleaning to not notice someone knocking on their door? What if Kakashi had used the window like he usually did? Did Iruka not expect an enemy to use the front door? Kakashi guesses that was a fair assumption. They had just moved in and Iruka probably hadn’t even given his address out to his friends yet. The whole thing just seemed like a comedy of errors. Yet, every time Kakashi interacted with the teacher he was left feeling like he wanted to stay in the other's presence. He wanted to talk to him more and learn more. Iruka had such an open and warm way about him that Kakashi was intrigued by. Maybe it was from spending so much time around kids?
Kakashi took a deep breath and let it out before knocking on the apartment door.
“Just a minute,” Iruka’s muffled voice called back. Kakashi’s thumb moved across the paper around the scarf as he waited for what seemed like minutes.
Eventually, Iruka opened the door. His hair was coming out of his ponytail, and he had a pen line on his cheek.
“Hatake-san!” Iruka opened the door wider as he ran his hand over his shirt in an attempt to unwrinkle it.
“Just Kakashi is fine.”
“Right. Sorry. Kakashi. What brings you here? Naruto is out with friends tonight.”
“Ah. I actually just stopped by to give you this.” Kakashi held out the wrapped scarf.
“Oh? For me? Thank you. Please come in.”
“I really shouldn’t.”
“It’s the least I can do. I have something for you as well.” Iruka said as he gestured for Kakashi to follow him in.
“If you insist.” Kakashi said as he followed Iruka inside and took off his shoes before putting on a pair of slippers Iruka handed him. Iruka put the still-wrapped scarf on the table where he had clearly been grading before digging around in his bag for something.
“It’s not much. But I thought of you while making it. We were using clay the other day in class. It helps with fine motor skills and helps the students understand different chakra types and how they all can interact. Ah ha! Here it is.”
Iruka stood up and held his hand out. Kakashi held his palm out so Iruka could drop a small clay pug into his hand. “I’m afraid my art skills leave a lot to be desired. I was originally thinking of giving it to you for your birthday but I didn’t know when that was, and since you’re here now. Well.” Iruka shrugged, “Oh! Tea. Right.” He disappeared into the kitchen leaving Kakashi to stare at the small dog.
It really wasn’t great. Kakashi ran his fingers over the small fingerprints left in the clay from where Iruka had pinched it. A small Konoha headband was crudely drawn across its forehead. Kakashi knew he would treasure it the minute Iruka said he had made it, but looking at it now Kakashi knew it rivaled Mr. Ukki in terms of space in his heart.
“I won’t be offended if you don’t want it. I know it’s just a trivial thing and most shinobi don’t like having things.” Iruka returned suddenly, glancing back at the kitchen for a moment before addressing Kakashi again.
“Water is warming for tea, please have a seat.” Iruka gestured to the small couch before remembering the papers everywhere, “Oh. Sorry. Let me clean this up.”
Kakashi put the small dog in his pocket before stopping Iruka from frantically cleaning, taking his hands in his.
“Please don’t worry about it, Sensei.”
“But,”
“Please just sit down. I just came to give you this.” Kakashi picked the package up from where Iruka had put it down. “And if you don’t open it soon, or while I am here, I will probably have a panic attack due to anxiety.”
“Oh.” Iruka said down next to Kakashi, accepting the gift from him. The tea kettle started to go off and Iruka made to get up to get it but Kakashi stopped him.
“I’ll get it. Just open the gift, please.”
Kakashi went into the kitchen and prepared the tea Iruka had set out to make. He heard the rustling of paper and then it went quiet. He waited for something but when he no longer had an excuse to linger in the kitchen he finally poked his head out and saw that Iruka was wiping his eyes with his sleeve.
Kakashi came over and placed their tea cups on the floor before kneeling in front of Iruka.
“Are you alright Sensei?”
“Iruka. Just call me Iruka, please.”
“Alright. Are you alright Iruka?” Iruka let out a sob. And Kakashi swallowed. “If you don’t like it I can take it back.”
Iruka clutched the scarf closer to his chest. “I love it. So much. Thank you.”
“Oh.”
Iruka buried his face in the scarf still sniffling, “I’m so embarrassed by the gift I gave you now. And the fact that you saw my “old man scarf”. I’m going to die of embarrassment now.”
Kakashi chuckled, “Don’t talk about little Pugsworthy like that. He’s a precious member of the Hatake family now.”
Iruka chuckled into the scarf, “You mean it?”
“Iruka I love it more than I love my first edition Icha Icha collection.”
Iruka laughed again peeking out from behind the scarf at Kakashi, “I don’t think it’s that good.”
“But it is. Because you made it, for me .” The two of them stared at each other for a few moments. Kakashi’s hand had somehow found its way onto Iruka’s knee in reassurance and he was suddenly very aware of how close they were.
Slowly, Iruka leaned forward and gently pressed a kiss to Kakashi’s masked lips.
“Thank you, Kakashi.”
“You’re welcome, Iruka.”