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(I don't own any characters etc etc)
“And the guy said, ‘I don’t care if it smells like rotting fish, that’s my report and you’ll take it!’” Genma told the group of jonin as they sat at a table for dinner one night.
Asuma shook his head as he ate. “That’s playing dirty, and gives us a bad name.”
Kurenai nodded. “Let me guess, a new jonin?”
Genma nodded and rolled his eyes. “Brand new. So new that the first thing he does is go and boss the chuunin in the missions office around, like they’re suddenly beneath him or something! The nerve!”
“So then what happened?” Raidou asked.
“Nothing,” Kakashi interjected, as he had been there with Genma to turn in a report on their way to dinner. “Absolutely nothing,” he sighed.
“What?” Asuma asked, surprised.
“He’s right, nothing happened,” Genma agreed. “The guy had the poor taste to say all this to Iruka –”
“Of all the people to do that to!” Kurenai laughed as Asuma and Raidou shook their heads in agreement.
“So of course Iruka was chill and looked bored throughout the whole exchange. Just recited some code of conduct from the village about reports not meeting standards don’t have to be accepted, and told him to come back when it’s appropriately presented. Then the guy tried to pull rank.”
“And failed, of course,” Kakashi added, as Genma nodded. “And still got no reaction.”
“Finally, seeing Iruka wouldn’t give in, someone else stepped in and pulled the guy away to talk some sense into him before it got really heated.”
“I’m both glad I missed it, and sorry I wasn’t there,” Raidou laughed.
“He didn’t even react, really,” Kakashi commented. “Nothing big, no outburst, nothing.”
“Who?” Raidou asked.
“Iruka. He’s always so calm and chill,” Kakashi stated. “I don’t get it.”
“He’s yelled at you for late reports,” Kurenai pointed out. “Plenty of times.”
“Sure, but even that’s been fairly mild, usually,” the copy nin contested. “I just wonder what would get a big reaction from him.”
“Nope, that’s nothing any of us want to see,” Asuma told him. “You don’t want to go there with him.”
“I think I do,” Kakashi said, and the table grew silent and looked at him.
“What?” Genma finally asked.
“Yeah, I think it would be fun,” Kakashi replied, nodding at the thought.
“What are you, a little kid?” Asuma nervously laughed. “You want to pull his ponytail and run away?”
“I’m just looking to have some fun, get under his skin a little. Get a reaction from him and make him break his cool persona,” Kakashi said, shrugging.
“Your funeral, not ours,” Kurenai sighed, shaking her head.
“He can’t be that bad?” Kakashi asked, but the others shook their heads.
“There’s stories,” Raidou said in a voice just above a whisper. “Word gets around.”
“And I think if the guy today had tried one more thing, we’d have seen Iruka really react,” Genma added.
“Look, I’m not going to beat him up or pull rank,” Kakashi mused. “I’ll just be…annoying. Something like that, to get that kind of reaction.” He shrugged again. “It’s good for me to have something to keep myself busy when I’m in the village, you know that.”
“Right, like a hobby,” Asuma encouraged him. “A real hobby, not this for a hobby,” he tried, but the copy nin shrugged.
“I’ll say it again, it’s your funeral,” Kurenai reminded him before quickly moving the topic along lest they encourage Kakashi, who only half-listened to the new conversation as he began to plan and plot.
____
Kakashi knew from vast experience that when he turned in a several months late report, he got a stern talking to from the teacher and occasionally a mild raising of the voice. So, he had something to start with, and start he did!
He began small, turning in a four month old report, and received a frown and reminder of the benefits of turning them in on time. A six month old report earned him a sigh and a longer lecture, including about his role in the village and expectations. Kakashi knew he had to change his strategy to keep things fresh, and so plopped down a damp report one night that Iruka had to carefully unroll.
“How is the ink not running when the scroll is so wet?” Iruka asked, surprised. Kakashi sighed as he realized the man was so interested in that aspect that he was too distracted to react to the overall condition of the scroll. So next time Kakashi made about half of the ink actually run, and Iruka frowned as he passed it back and requested he turn in a legible report.
Unfortunately, Iruka didn’t realize the ink had stained his hands until Kakashi was just outside the door and out of view, and the jonin sighed as that part of his plan fell apart as well. Sure, it had gotten a reaction from Iruka, but it was not directed at or even really witnessed by Kakashi, so the jonin still considered it a fail.
“Maybe I should’ve had more ink run…” he sighed as he thought about what to do next.
At least it succeeded in making Iruka more cautious about opening his scrolls, Kakashi was pleased to note. And Iruka needed to be cautious, for the next scroll was covered in mud, at least on the outside. The jonin tried to help wipe it up but just made more of a mess of the man’s desk, and watched for a reaction with bated breath.
Iruka clenched his jaw, inhaled deeply, glaring angrily at the muddy desk and scroll, before clearing his throat.
“Only turn in clean reports, as you are responsible for ensuring the safety or overall status of them when you bring them here,” Iruka said through clenched teeth, and Kakashi sighed before nodding and walking away.
The next report was brought in by his ninken, with clear instructions from Kakashi to keep the scroll firmly between their teeth the entire time, no matter any tearing from their teeth or drool. He eagerly waited for their return and detailed report, but frowned upon learning that Iruka was understanding that these things happen sometimes with ninken. And that Iruka had invited them to sit on his desk, and even gave them head scratches and belly rubs!
“Traitors! All of you!” Kakashi groaned.
“But he’s nice!” Bisuke told him.
“He asked us about our day and apologized for not having treats for us!” Urushi added, and Kakashi looked at them in surprise.
“Did he?” he asked, before shaking his head and scowling. “That’s not important,” he sighed. “But you know what? Since he likes you guys so much, let’s give him something he’ll really enjoy…”
_____
“There are paw prints all over your report,” Iruka sighed wearily as he looked up at the copy nin.
“What? Where?”
“Where? Literally everywhere!” Iruka snapped, and Kakashi grinned underneath his mask. Now they were getting somewhere!
“Oh, that,” Kakashi casually agreed. “Well, ninken do what they do, you know?”
“They should not do anything on your formal reports for the village,” Iruka protested, but was cut off by Kakashi leaning over the desk.
“Those are Bull’s,” he began to point out. “And those are Guruko’s, the little scamp. And see those? You can tell they’re Akino’s because, look here…” he continued, walking Iruka painstakingly through each and every set of paw prints. Iruka propped his chin on his hand as he accepted his current fate, and sighed at the end.
“While I appreciate the unexpected lesson about your ninken, their pawprints are still not appropriate to be on a scroll,” the teacher told him, now sitting straighter in his chair.
“Scroll? More like a work of art now!” Kakashi mused and Iruka frowned. Any minute now, Kakashi gleefully thought to himself!
“I can’t help but notice that your reports have become…substandard,” Iruka commented with a frown. “Late, hard to read, etc.” Kakashi silently shrugged. “That won’t do, we won’t continue to have this occur.”
“Oh? And what are you going to do?” Kakashi asked. Would he explode? Erupt? Throw a desk?
“From now on you are to write your reports in this office.”
Kakashi blinked. “What?”
Iruka nodded, a blank look on his face. “That’s the safest option. If you write them here they will be on time, clean, and complete.”
“I….uh…you can’t,” Kakashi sputtered. “You can’t do that…”
“I gave this much thought, and had the Hokage sign off on it,” Iruka said, shrugging. “I felt there was no other option, and this report just confirms it. There’s plenty of places to sit and you can take your time with them, but that is what is expected of you now.”
“Huh,” Kakashi mused, studying him. “Huh.”
They looked at each other in silence before he shrugged. “Then, til next time, sensei.”
“Have a good night, Kakashi-san,” Iruka said, nodding once before turning back to his work.
“Well, looks like I need a new plan,” Kakashi said to himself as he headed home. “Again.”
_____
“So, he wants me to write my report here?” Kakashi said to himself two weeks later after returning from a mission, entering the missions office and finding Iruka there. “Fine. I’ll sit here. I’ll sit here his entire shift,” he decided, parking himself on a chair and pulling out his Icha Icha, making sure he was directly in Iruka’s line of sight.
Kakashi waited for the man to come over, perhaps to tell him to put the book away, question why he wasn’t writing, or something similar, but to his surprise, Iruka ignored him. Sure, the chuunin glanced at him every so often, but that was it. And Kakashi being Kakashi, he had decided to plan ahead and arrived at the start of Iruka’s shift, meaning they were in the same room for six long hours.
As the end of the shift neared, Kakashi sighed and quickly wrote out his report before turning it in with the teacher, who silently accepted it with a raised eyebrow.
“It could do with more information,” Iruka commented. “Especially since you had so much time to write it.”
“I spent a lot of time reflecting on the mission, but I’ll keep that in mind for next time,” Kakashi agreed. “Since I assume writing them here will remain mandated after this?”
Iruka nodded. “It appears to be working already,” he said with a light tone, and Kakashi couldn’t help but feel laughter bubble up. The man was goading him, eh?
“Careful what you ask for,” Kakashi told him before turning and leaving, for he had a new idea.
____
The next time Kakashi had to write a report, he again sat reading for the entirety of Iruka’s shift, before turning in a half-assed but still acceptable report. No, he didn’t intend to change his strategy just yet, for he wanted to keep the man on his toes, perhaps even extra vigilant.
But the time after that? Well, he began to seek Iruka out every five to ten minutes to inquire about aspects of the report format.
“You already asked about what goes in that section,” Iruka said with a frown after the fifth interruption.
“I just wanted to be sure,” Kakashi sweetly told him before walking away.
“You’re a jonin,” Iruka sighed three interruptions later. “Don’t you know all this?”
“I’m just double and triple checking,” Kakashi shared. “I want to write only the best for you.”
“For the village, and for yourself, or so I’d hope,” the teacher commented, but the jonin shrugged, and Iruka rolled his eyes as he answered the latest question.
This continued for the next two weeks, and Kakashi delighted in his time at the missions office, sitting and reading and thinking of more and more outlandish and specific questions to ask Iruka about the reports. He would watch the man work or even just interact with other staff as he plotted and planned, looking for anything about the chuunin he could use to his advantage. And if that meant that he also began to think about the younger man outside of the missions office, well, it was common behaviors on missions, Kakashi thought to himself.
As for Iruka, he tried to accept that the jonin was going to remain a pain in his butt for longer than expected. He complained about this one night while at the missions office for a surprise last-minute shift.
“At least getting called in on short notice means some peace and quiet from Kakashi,” he sighed to Kotetsu and Izumo. “He’s giving me such a headache!”
“Ah I don’t know, you hide it well when he’s here,” Kotetsu commented.
“Maybe you don’t mind,” Izumo teased. “Maybe you like him being here, giving you attention?”
“Hardly!” Iruka said, shaking his head. “He’s annoying! I’m exhausted from having to be more patient than usual.”
“Well it was your idea to have him sit here to write his reports,” Izumo reminded him.
“How was I to know it would mean he would sit here my entire shift?!” Iruka protested. “It seemed like a good idea at the time…”
“I’m sure he’ll lose interest,” Kotetsu comforted him. “It’s a new fad for him, a hobby.”
“Yeah, Iruka-watching is just killing time for him before the next shiny thing,” Izumo laughed.
“I think I just need to speed that along, make him think twice about spending all his free time here,” Iruka said, more to himself than his friends, drumming his fingers on the desk as he thought about it.
He put a plan into action the next shift he had that Kakashi appeared for, a scheduled one this time. As Iruka clocked in at five in the evening, a certain masked someone appeared five minutes later, settling in with a bright Icha Icha cover on display as a blank scroll sat in front of him.
“I need to strike first and now,” Iruka thought to himself, before inwardly shaking his head. “No, that would be too obvious. I’m here for six hours, so is he; I just need to wait…”
And wait he did, not that anyone else could tell. Kakashi asked questions here and there, but nothing Iruka couldn’t handle. Finally, though, Iruka felt he could make a move, at about nine o’clock. He stood and called out to the other desk worker on shift that he was taking a short break, as it was fairly quiet in the office.
Feeling Kakashi’s eyes on him, Iruka stood and left the room, heading to a staff lounge. This was not uncommon, but returning with two drinks in hand was, Kakashi noted. The jonin was especially surprised when Iruka approached him, and Kakashi lowered his book to greet him.
“Here,” Iruka said, passing him a cup.
“What’s this?” Kakashi suspiciously asked.
“Coffee,” the teacher said, sipping his own drink. “I thought you might like some.”
“Oh?” Kakashi asked, still surprised.
“Well, I figured you’ll be here a few more hours, and you might need to keep your energy up to write the report.”
“How thoughtful!” the jonin mused. “Thank you!”
Iruka just shrugged and returned to his desk, and Kakashi quickly took a sip of the warm drink. It was nothing special, really, semi-crappy coffee common for lounges in the tower, but it would do the trick. And, Kakashi thought, it really was thoughtful of Iruka to make him one. Iruka was…he was being nice to him?
A new thought emerged as Kakashi sipped his coffee, read Icha Icha, and glanced at Iruka here and there (which really, had all the makings of quite a nice evening in!). Was Iruka…flirting with him? For it was a common ploy in Jiraiya’s stories, including the very one Kakashi was reading that night. A small gesture of help and support? Offering someone a drink without being asked? Thinking of them? Showing you cared?
“Oh,” Kakashi thought, stunned at the thought, and even moreso when he realized he wasn’t against the man’s intentions. “Huh.”
The shift continued, and Kakashi felt a renewed energy and vigor from the idea that Iruka might like him and had dared to show it in such a subtle but cute way. The jonin found he could barely sit still as the night drew on, so surprised at the turn of events, and near the end of the shift finally scribbled a report.
Iruka accepted it after providing significant feedback, which Kakashi tried but mostly failed to actually hear, as he was far too busy studying the other man instead. How he wore his hair, the way his eyes crinkled just so as he chastised him, the way his lips turned into a delightful frown at the increasingly messy handwriting.
Kakashi thought about all of that as he walked home, a bounce in his step, and laid awake in bed replaying it over and over.
“This is straight out of Jiraiya’s books for sure!” Kakashi said to himself as the clock turned to two in the morning and he was still bright eyed and bushy tailed. “Just look at me, a crush is keeping me awake all night!”
But something in his mind nagged at him as he longed for sleep, cute chuunin or not. Something made him second guess it all. He reviewed his day, finding nothing strange until….
Kakashi groaned and ran a hand over his face. “The coffee! I can’t sleep because of it! Not because he has a crush on me, but because he must have done something to it! He must have made it extra caffeinated…why did I ever drink anything he offered me? I know better than that!” Kakashi sighed. “I might like the idea of him liking me, but I still need a new tactic…” he thought to himself, before pausing. “A new tactic,” he repeated, looking over at Icha Icha Tactic and smiling.
_____
Iruka had felt slightly guilty from his prank, as part of him worried he might have tampered with the jonin’s coffee to the point of giving him a heart attack. Though, really, if anything had happened to Kakashi surely it would have made village gossip? Either way, when the man next appeared in the missions office two days later Iruka was both relieved and frustrated.
“At least there’s no evidence from the coffee,” Iruka thought to himself as he settled in to work, warily keeping half an eye on the copy nin.
Nothing was amiss that day, and Kakashi got in Iruka’s line with an hour left, turning in a mediocre report. Iruka provided feedback and reviewed that the purpose of Kakashi writing the reports in the office was to encourage and support him to write better reports, not just timely ones.
“Better reports, got it,” Kakashi cheerfully agreed before he left, leaving Iruka to frown at his back before moving onto the next person in line.
But the next shift, Kakashi got in line after an hour, report in hand. It was, naturally, suspicious to Iruka but he kept a poker face on as he greeted the jonin.
“All set?” Iruka asked, but Kakashi shook his head.
“I thought about what you said, and I thought that it might help if you reviewed my report as I write it.”
Iruka paused to think about it and nodded. “That sounds good,” he admitted, and Kakashi passed his report over, with only the first two sections filled out. Iruka dutifully offered feedback and Kakashi obediently took his scroll back and moved back to his seat, for that was what everyone now considered it to be as it was the only one the jonin sat in so he could have a prime view of Iruka.
The teacher noted that Kakashi didn’t immediately resume writing, but he just shrugged at the man’s actions (or lack of) and turned his attention back to his line. His line, which Kakashi got back into about an hour later, asking for feedback on the next part of the report.
This continued for the entire shift until a full report was turned in at the end, though Iruka noted only about half the notes he had offered had actually been implemented. Still, it was progress, and Iruka thought that perhaps his friends were right and this was the start of Kakashi losing interest.
He wasn’t sure about that thought as the jonin kept this up for the next three shifts, but he was still turning in halfway decent reports on time, so Iruka couldn’t really complain.
The fourth time Kakashi repeated this, Iruka frowned at the report before looking at the jonin.
“Problem?” Kakashi blandly asked.
“This seems…different from other reports,” Iruka commented. “But I can’t figure it out.”
Kakashi shrugged. “It’s just the first section, a report never makes sense with that alone.”
“That’s true,” Iruka agreed, and returned the scroll. “A bit more information there wouldn’t hurt.”
“Noted,” the jonin replied, taking the scroll and sitting down.
But as the shift continued, one of Iruka’s longer shifts, the report became more and more unusual, until Iruka realized what he was reading. It was definitely not a mission report. No, it was a mission report form containing Icha Icha! He willed a blush down as he realized it as he read the final section of the report, feeling Kakashi intently watching him. He had been inadvertently reading Icha Icha all day, Iruka realized? And giving feedback on it? He was mortified!
“I won’t accept this report,” Iruka calmly stated.
“Why? You’ve given such helpful feedback all day,” Kakashi argued.
“We don’t accept plagiarism in reports,” Iruka told him with a raised eyebrow, pausing to wave goodbye to the other desk worker as they clocked out. It was late enough that only one person was needed, and unfortunately that left Iruka alone. Well, alone with Kakashi…
“But it fits!”
“I don’t see how describing a scene of…” Iruka paused as he looked at the final section, the one that clued him in. “Heavy and terrible flirting relates to the supposed actual mission of transporting a scroll.”
“And if I asked you if that’s a scroll in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?” Kakashi asked in a low voice.
“Get out,” Iruka said, rolling his eyes. “We’re closed, you’re done, go home. And take this with you.”
“The missions office never closes!” Kakashi laughed. “You just don’t know how to appreciate a good report.”
“I don’t think you know what a good one looks like,” Iruka replied as he began to sort through other scrolls to prepare them for the next shift to file.
“I do, and this was a good one, admit it. It was fun to read, eh?” Kakashi continued, shrugging as Iruka shook his head. “You know what this is from, don’t you! How?” he gasped.
Iruka cleared his throat. “There’s always snippets of best sellers in newspapers, and it’s far too easy to overhear discussions of books. The character names gave it away.”
“You haven’t read it yourself?” Kakashi pouted, and Iruka shook his head. “Well, we can fix that!” he said, pulling a chair up to Iruka’s desk and taking out Icha Icha Tactics.
And so, to Kakashi’s delight and Iruka’s chagrin, the jonin spent the next two hours reading from it aloud so Iruka could get the “true experience.” No matter that some scenes were already spoiled, having been written in the report. Or that Iruka was actually quite curious about the main characters’ initial meeting, since it hadn’t been shared earlier in the so-called report. And if Iruka went to sleep that night wondering just how the main characters would react to the other characters plotting to spoil their second date, well, he was going to keep that to himself, thank you very much. And maybe go to the library the next chance he got…
_____
Kakashi knew he couldn’t repeat his Icha Icha endeavor again, as much fun as it had been. But he was far from over his mission to get a reaction from Iruka, especially as the teacher hadn’t really responded to inspiration from Jiraiya.
So, he decided to pursue a new avenue, and Iruka was instantly suspicious when the copy nin appeared in his line halfway through his shift five days after Kakashi read aloud to him, having immediately entered the line upon arriving there.
The man’s absence was not missed by Iruka and his friends, who teased him about missing his new best friend whenever Iruka looked up at the doorway.
“Yes?” Iruka greeted Kakashi, who gave him an eye smile.
“That’s not the greeting I was hoping for.”
“It’s the one you got. What is it today?”
“Here,” Kakashi said, dumping an armful of scrolls onto Iruka’s desk, to the man’s surprise.
“What’s all this?”
“I’m going on a mission for about two weeks or so, and I found these as I was getting ready. I thought, why not leave them with you while I’m gone?”
“What?” Iruka protested.
“Sure, you can read them and give me notes and feedback, and I’ll make the changes when I’m back.”
“What?!” Iruka repeated. “But…but that’s…”
“I knew you’d agree to it,” Kakashi cheerfully told him. “Since you care about a well-written report so much, you won’t mind taking time out of your busy schedule for it.”
“That’s right,” Iruka agreed. “I can be busy here, so I don’t know I’ll get to them while you’re gone.”
“So take them home,” Kakashi commented, shrugging as Iruka’s mouth fell open. “Work on them there. I mentioned it to the Hokage in passing, how much you’re helping me with improving my reports. So if you’re not done when I get back, well, that might not look good for you. Might suggest you don’t care, that it’s not actually important to you…” the jonin trailed off.
“Fine,” Iruka said through clenched teeth. “I’ll get them done.”
“Great, thanks!” Kakashi said in a delighted tone before leaving.
Iruka looked at the mess on his desk and sighed as he grabbed a box to put them in. He had hoped to keep them to the missions office, but within a few days he realized he’d need to work on them at home as well, and so regardless of where he was Kakashi’s scrolls became part of Iruka’s evening routine. Whether it was in downtime at the missions office, or after completing grading at home, he would make a new cup of tea and grab one of the jonin’s reports to read and make notes for.
On day ten, Iruka looked at the calendar in his kitchen, cupping his tea with both hands.
“Only a few days until Kakashi gets back,” he said aloud, feeling excited by the prospect before catching himself smiling at the thought. “It’s not because it’s him,” Iruka told himself, talking to himself. “I only look forward to him coming back and writing these himself, to him actually making these corrections. It’s not that I miss him annoying me, or sitting there reading, or us keeping each other on our toes,” he admitted, again smiling at the memories. “It has become fun, even if he’s a bit annoying at times,” he mused, the smile remaining on his face as he got back to work.
Though Iruka was relieved and happy to see Kakashi return safely after that mission, he didn’t dare let on about it, and instead passed the box of scrolls back to its owner, along with several pages of notes. And if Kakashi then took up residence at the desk next to Iruka so he was that much closer to ask questions about the teacher’s notes, well, both men decided to not read into it.
Kakashi would, while he was there for hours, make them both tea or coffee, as he didn’t dare trust Iruka with it again, and Iruka tried to not show how surprised and flustered he was by the man’s actions.
Kotetsu and Izumo just looked at them with raised eyebrows and wide eyes the first few times Kakashi brought two cups in for he and Iruka, with the teacher looking at them and shrugging. And when Kakashi realized he was being rude to the others, and began to make drinks for everyone else working there? Well, that won him quite a few points with everyone, leading to people telling Iruka to keep Kakashi around.
“I’m not his keeper!” Iruka hissed as Kotetsu commented on it as they walked back to the office from an archives room.
“Sure, but you’re why he’s here,” his friend reminded him before they separated to head to their respective desks.
“He’s here to write his reports,” Iruka protested.
“Yeah, because he has to sit right next to you to do that? Not to mention, he’s still reading a hell of a lot more than he is writing.”
Iruka rolled his eyes. “Don’t remind me. At least he’s not reading to me,” he muttered.
“What?” Kotetsu asked, and Iruka shook his head a few times.
“Nothing! Nothing!” Iruka said.
“Okay, well have fun with nothing,” Kotetsu whispered, laughing as he went to his desk and leaving Iruka to head to the vacant seat next to the jonin.
As Kakashi eventually neared the end of the scrolls Iruka had reviewed, the copy nin having taken his sweet time with them, he was horrified to realize he had no other reports to turn in. Nothing hiding in corners in his apartment, nothing left in a rucksack, tucked away in a closet. And the thought that he would soon have no reason to be with Iruka in the missions office left him feeling quite sad, to his surprise.
But, not wanting to take time to reflect on why he felt that way, he did what always worked for him - bury feelings under work, and so off he went to get a mission for himself. Not just one; to be safe, he took quite a few. And each time he returned from a mission he signed up for more, so he always had a few to work on. Which, really, meant he had a constant need to write a report and present it to Iruka for feedback, still sitting there for the man’s entire shift.
While it is not uncommon for a jonin to be busy, friends began to notice the uptick in Kakashi’s missions and commented here and there, wondering what was going on?
“You can have some time off, you know,” Kurenai reminded him.
“We don’t have to always have a mission,” Asuma agreed.
“It isn’t healthy for anyone to always be on the go!” Gai cried.
“I’m not, I rest and take breaks,” Kakashi protested.
“You seem to either be in the field on a mission or in the missions office,” Genma mused, but Kakashi just shrugged and changed the topic.
“So what if I’m a bit more tired these days?” Kakashi said to his bathroom mirror reflection that night as he got ready for bed. “I’m helping the village, and it’s worth it to see him…”
“See him, or see a reaction from him?” his brain posed as he got into bed. “Because there hasn’t been a stunt from us or him for a while.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kakashi yawned to himself, immediately falling asleep.
_____
He continued to take on multiple missions, and while Iruka noticed it, the chuunin didn’t know what, if anything, could be done. He had no business saying something to the man; a chuunin based in the village most days questioning a jonin active in the field? Talk about disrespectful! And the copy nin didn’t seem to be getting injured, just running himself ragged, which gave Iruka no basis in which to ask for a blackout for the man on being assigned missions, either. That was not his department, and he would not overstep like that.
“It’s no business of mine,” Iruka tried to tell himself day after day, for he either worried for Kakashi as the man yawned while sitting next to him taking his time writing a report, or worried for the man when he was on a mission and the seat was vacant.
One day, Kakashi followed Iruka to a nearby staff room where the teacher needed to do some filing, stating he needed to be near the chuunin in case he had a question about the report he was supposedly writing.
Iruka rolled his eyes, as it was not the first time Kakashi had followed him around during a shift, though it had been a while since he had last done that. Probably just another of his games, Iruka mused, thinking nothing of it.
The jonin sat on a sofa at a short table, Icha Icha in his hands, blank scroll on the table as Iruka got to work. The next thing Kakashi knew, early morning sunlight was streaming in through the window, a sharp contrast to the darkened skies from Iruka’s nighttime shift. Kakashi also realized he was alone, laying down on the sofa, and…covered by a blanket?
He yawned as he sat up, running a hand through his hair as he tried to make sense of it all. Just then, a cat-masked ANBU appeared bearing two cups of coffee.
“Morning, sunshine,” Tenzou cheerfully greeted him as he passed him a cup. “How are you?”
“I don’t know,” Kakashi admitted with a wide yawn under his mask. “What time is it?”
“Six. You’ve been asleep for a while.”
“Really?” Kakashi asked, frowning at the thought as he sipped the coffee.
The ANBU nodded. “Seems like you fell asleep pretty quickly. I passed by on rounds and one minute you were up, a short time later you were passed out, hard. Umino covered you with the blanket to help.”
“Really?” Kakashi asked again. “Huh.”
“Perhaps if you weren’t taking on so many missions unnecessarily you wouldn’t be exhausted.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I wonder why you’re doing all that,” Tenzou mused. “Just like why you’ve become a permanent fixture in the missions office? Well, at least you are when you’re actually in the village and a certain someone is on duty there. And if I’m not wrong, those two events seem to line up an awful lot…”
Kakashi shuffled in his seat on the sofa. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he repeated.
“Sure,” the ANBU said sarcastically. “You could just ask him out.”
“I don’t…I’m not…that’s not…” the copy nin mumbled, but the ANBU just finished his own cup of coffee before disappearing from the room.
Kakashi frowned as he stared into his own cup, his friend’s words ringing in his mind as he tried to make sense of quite a number of things he had been avoiding.
_______
Iruka’s concern and frustration with the other man’s steady stream of missions continued to bubble up. He tried to ignore the worry he felt when Kakashi was away, and tried to fight the irritation he felt when Kakashi sat next to him yawning. It was like Iruka couldn’t win, and he felt angry at himself for not knowing why he was so bothered by it all!
One day, about three weeks after Kakashi had fallen asleep in the lounge, the jonin was present for a short evening shift of Iruka’s. The chuunin was working alone until the next shift came in, and his irritation at the other man increased as Kakashi sat on the other side of the desk for no apparent reason, yawning as he rubbed sleep out of his lone eye as he finished his report near the end of the shift.
Iruka spent his time reading reports from other shinobi while muttering a stream of profanity to himself about why the other man was there and not resting at home like any sane person might?
“Here you go,” Kakashi said about ten minutes later, passing the scroll to Iruka, who accepted it, frowning as he did so.
Kakashi yawned again and something in Iruka snapped. He slammed the scroll on the desk, startling the other man.
“This is ridiculous!” Iruka hissed.
“What?” Kakashi asked, surprised. “It’s not that bad,” he protested, nodding at the report. “I’ve gotten better, you have to admit. After all, I’ve written so many, and practice makes perfect, eh?” he asked, yawning again.
“It’s ridiculous because of that,” Iruka told him in a weary tone. “You’ve written so many reports because you go on so many missions.”
“I’m good at my job, what can I say?” the copy nin argued, shrugging.
“Well, don’t!” Iruka snapped.
“What?”
“Don’t!” Iruka repeated. “Don’t push yourself, don’t kill yourself, don’t exhaust yourself!”
Just then, the door opened and the next shift arrived, cheerfully greeting them. Iruka politely returned the greeting and let them know he had nothing to report before he left without so much as a glance back towards Kakashi.
The jonin sat there, stunned by the man’s outburst before collecting himself and his report and leaving the office, reflecting on it all as he walked around the village, taking a long way home.
“I finally got a reaction from Iruka,” he thought to himself. “But why don’t I feel victorious?”
He continued to think about it before smiling. “He’s angry because he cares? He cares if I’m okay, if I’m safe, if I’m in danger? He…he does like me, after all?”
And with that renewed realization, Kakashi went home and slept better than he had for some time.
____
Iruka felt more stressed than he had following his outburst at the copy nin, but he also told himself that the man had it coming. And Iruka didn’t know what to think or how to feel when Kakashi was immediately gone for yet another mission, though it was listed as only being expected to be one night away.
Still, he knew it was only a matter of time until Kakashi showed up to turn in the report, and Iruka dreaded it.
“If he brings up what I said, I’ll just play it cool, maybe pretend it never happened,” Iruka told himself as he headed to the missions office the day Kakashi was due back. “Ignore it, ignore him, for as long as I can…”
To say he was on edge for that entire shift was an understatement, and Iruka was only too grateful for the end of it to arrive with no sign of a certain jonin.
“That doesn’t mean tomorrow he won’t show, since he usually doesn’t pop up the day he gets back,” Iruka groaned.
All too soon he was back at the missions office, working all afternoon and evening. He was again on pins and needles, glancing at the door every five minutes, or so it felt to him. The last two hours of his shift he was there alone, and Iruka wasn’t sure if he was pleased about that or not. On the one hand, having a coworker might be a welcomed distraction, but on the other hand, he might not be good company for them.
He stared at the clock, willing the minutes to pass by faster, feeling no relief from his anxiety as time continued.
In the last hour of his shift, with half an hour to go, the door opened and Iruka’s heart sunk. There was the man he did and did not want to see. Alive, in one piece, uninjured, or so it seemed. Iruka felt relief that the man was back safely, but it was short lived as fear and worry replaced it.
Iruka swallowed heavily and watched Kakashi head straight to his desk, taking out a scroll.
“Good evening,” Iruka politely greeted him. “Safe mission, I hope?”
“It was,” Kakashi agreed. “I have my report.”
Iruka nodded and silently accepted it. As he read it, he tried to squash down disappointment that the man had, for the first time in how long, written a report away from the missions desk. Did that mean that he had finally moved onto something else that interested him? Shouldn’t he feel happy about that, Iruka wondered, as heavy fatigue settled on his shoulders instead.
He blinked and returned his focus to the report, not wanting to give away anything to the other man. A short time later, Iruka nodded.
“It’s not bad. More detail would be better, and your handwriting worsened as it continued, but it’s passable,” he said, reaching for a stamp to mark it approved.
“Glad to hear it,” Kakashi agreed, not moving away.
Iruka looked up at him. “Anything else?”
“Oh, right,” Kakashi said, reaching into his vest. “I have another one, actually.”
Iruka heavily sighed as he accepted it, muttering about a stupid jonin stupidly working himself to death. He unrolled it and quickly read it as it was shorter than usual, then re-read it, shocked by its contents. Kakashi stood across the desk with his hands in his pockets as he watched him, finding no reaction.
“This is an unacceptable village report,” the teacher finally announced.
“Really?” Kakashi asked. “Why is that?”
“It has nothing to do with village business.”
“That’s true,” the jonin agreed, nodding.
“But,” Iruka said, pausing and clearing his throat. “It’s approved, nonetheless.”
“What?”
“Your request is approved, though I don’t approve of you using village resources for it,” Iruka said as he stamped the scroll approved before passing it back to the jonin, who accepted it with an eye smile.
“So, dinner tomorrow, then?” Kakashi asked, and Iruka nodded with a smile.
“But tell me you haven’t been overworking yourself because of this?” Iruka asked.
“Ah, well, I don’t want to lie, so…”
Iruka sighed and shook his head. “What will I do with you?”
“Well, I can think of a few ideas from Icha Icha,” Kakashi began. “They never did quite make it into one of my reports before…”
“Not here, no more of that here,” Iruka said, shaking his head again.
“Fair, I’ll save it for our second date.”
“You think there’ll be a second date?” Iruka teased, and Kakashi nodded.
“With everything we’ve put each other through and all the time we’ve spent together for how many months? Of course! We’re practically dating already.”
Iruka laughed, surprised by the man’s train of thought. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Go home and rest, I’ll see you tomorrow after the academy lets out?”
Kakashi nodded and waved as he left, and Iruka returned the gesture. And both men couldn’t help but laugh at the turn of events, wondering how they got from terrorizing each other to a date, but not complaining about it by any means.