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Kakashi had a routine: he woke up, got ready, visited the Memorial Stone, then went about his day doing whatever Lord Hiruzen needed him to do. This chilly winter morning was no exception. The jōnin stood at his usual place in front of the Memorial Stone, staring at the names of his teacher and teammates, offering prayers for their souls, and asking for forgiveness. He hadn’t realized he’d been standing there for hours again until he’d seen the snow piling up around his feet and heard the sounds of Konoha waking up, which mostly consisted of street vendors yelling at all who passed by. He moved a bit then continued to stand there, figuring that no one would need him for another three hours. But he hadn’t counted on the fact that Umino Iruka would be visiting the Memorial Stone as well.
The academy teacher called out to him, smiling gently as he did so. Iruka wasn’t a frequent visitor like Kakashi was so this surprise visit had him a little curious as to why the always-cheerful, always-passionate Iruka decided to drop by today when Kakashi knew for a fact that it wasn’t the anniversary of the chūnin’s parents’ death. So he asked the teacher why and Iruka huffed, as if he were slightly annoyed but his smile was still there, and said, “I saw you standing here still as a statue and covered in snow with no jacket or scarf. So I thought I’d give you my scarf. And my jacket, if it fits.” Iruka laughed a bit and started untying his scarf.
“That won’t be necessary, Iruka-sensei, but I appreciate the offer.”
“Eh? But you’re freezing to death. Look at you,” Iruka reached for Kakashi’s hand and held it up between his soft hands. “Your hands are ice cold.” Kakashi was too shocked by Iruka’s boldness to stop the chūnin from taking off his fingerless glove and warming up his hand, lips brushing against his skin, fingers intertwining with his. It was a futile attempt because as soon as Iruka moved away, his hand went cold again, but seeing the other man practically kissing his hand with his eyes closed so that his long eyelashes fanned out against his rosy cheeks had Kakashi’s heart racing and his stomach twisting up. But Iruka was unaware of his troubles and moved closer to the jōnin to reach for his other hand. When the chūnin was satisfied with his work, he threw his scarf over Kakashi’s head and bundled the jōnin up as if he were one of Iruka’s students. The smell of jasmine wafted up from the scarf and Kakashi wished he could bury his nose in it forever. It must’ve come from Iruka’s hair; the jōnin remembered how the other man liked to oil his hair with jasmine oil after a bath, not that he’d gone peeking into Iruka’s apartment during such a private moment of course, rather it’s from what he remembered when they’d gone to the hot spring a while ago. Iruka had invited him because he wanted to hang out at one of his favorite places so Kakashi had gone, expecting Iruka to invite other people, but to his surprise, it was just the teacher waiting for him at the entrance. He’d been annoyed because of how late the jōnin had been but dragged him inside as soon as Kakashi had greeted him. When they started to undress to cleanse themselves, it was then that Kakashi realized he hadn’t been prepared to see Iruka naked; he thought that since Iruka would be bringing other people, the jōnin wouldn’t be so close to the teacher when they undressed. He was wrong in the best-worst way possible. Watching Iruka unzip his flak jacket was mesmorizing because it was like the teacher was doing it slow on purpose; the way the thing slid down Iruka’s shoulders and restrained his hands behind his back had Kakashi’s body reacting in an inappropriate way. So Kakashi forced himself not to even glance Iruka’s way until they were safely underneath the hot water. He mentally thanked Guy for showing up right then and there and distracted the teacher with small talk – well not much could be small with Guy involved – so that Kakashi could actually relax a little during their time together. After they all got out of the water and got dressed, that’s when Kakashi saw Iruka pull out a vial and pour jasmine oil onto his hands. It smelled wonderful then and it smelled wonderful now.
“There we go. Now that’s much better,” Iruka stepped back to admire his work. He patted Kakashi’s chest and smiled. “I just felt so worried seeing you out here like that. But I’m just worried that it’s still not enough….”
“Mah, it’s enough, Iruka-sensei. Really.”
“I’m not convinced. Why don’t you come eat breakfast with me? That way I’ll stop worrying about you.”
Kakashi sighed. “You’re not going to give up on this, hm?”
“Nope,” Iruka smiled.
“Then lead the way.”
Iruka laughed and the two of them walked away from the Memorial Stone. Kakashi listened as the teacher talked. He wasn’t in the mood to engage in conversation, but the chūnin more than made up for his silence in a way that made him feel like he was just as involved in their conversation about books as Iruka was. He felt heard without uttering a single sound and it was relieving. Suddenly, it seemed like his world zeroed in on Iruka’s presence. All the noise in the background faded away. Buildings, people, and colors faded into white as Iruka became all that he saw, his bright eyes shining despite the dreary gray sky. He was attentive to every movement the teacher made: when he stepped to the right and closer to him to avoid a passerby, when he readjusted his headband, when he waved at someone behind Kakashi, when his hands waved around as he started talking about a certain book he’s very interested in. Kakashi was so invested in observing Iruka close up that he hadn’t noticed they’d arrived at the restaurant the teacher had wanted to try out.
The jōnin was forced to look away as they chose a booth to sit at. Everything exploded with sound – sounds of people talking, plates clattering, chefs cooking, cutting, and serving – and Kakashi cringed so noticeably that Iruka stopped talking and asked if anything was wrong. The jōnin shook his head and asked what Iruka would be ordering to stop the teacher from worrying about him even. He must think I’m pathetic , Kakashi thought. He held the menu higher so that it would hide his face.
They ordered, talked while their food arrived, and then gave their thanks as they dug into their food. Iruka was just about to sip from his tea when he started coughing hard enough to have Kakashi and other patrons looking at him concerned for his wellbeing. Iruka wiped his mouth in a daze, his wide eyes staring at Kakashi’s exposed face.
“K-Kakashi, your face….”
The jōnin said nothing. He waited for Iruka to say something. The teacher’s face relaxed, seemingly in realization that this was a test of sorts to see if Kakashi could be comfortable around Iruka, if the jōnin could be himself without fear of judgement, and the chūnin didn’t disappoint. The teacher calmly picked up his chopsticks and continued eating his breakfast with a smile. Kakashi followed suit. They started talking again although not full-on conversations – Iruka complimenting his face with a teasing grin that had Kakashi regretting having his face exposed, ergo his embarrassment. They finished their meal, and when they asked for the check, Kakashi didn’t even let the piece of paper touch Iruka’s finger.
“Kakashi, please give me the bill. I’m the one who invited you so –”
“And to show my gratitude, I’ll pay.”
“But Kakashi!”
“Mah, I’m the senior here Iruka-sensei so it’s my job to pay.”
“Kakashi….”
“You seem to be quite fond of calling my name,” Kakashi chuckled as he put money down to cover the bill. “And it sounds so lovely coming from you that I wouldn’t mind it if you do it more often.” The jōnin looked up at Iruka and his heart banged wildly against his rib cage when he saw Iruka blushing hard, looking away all nervously like some maiden in one of his Icha Icha novels. Kakashi was so distracted by the teacher that he accidentally dropped the money onto the floor, so he dove for it to hide from Iruka, but when he was getting back up, he ended up banging his head against the table and just like that, his suave demeanor went up in smoke. Iruka was laughing as he rubbed his aching head thinking, Where’s the nearest ditch?
Iruka was still laughing after a couple of minutes before he finally started to sober up. “Oh, Kakashi! Are you okay?”
“Mah, you’re asking now?”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Iruka was still wiping tears from his eyes. “It’s just that I’ve never seen you be anything but calm and collected.”
Kakashi felt those words pierce his heart. He wanted nothing more than to disappear.
“Oh, but Kakashi, this side of you is just as charming so don’t feel bad! You’re still pretty cool.”
He wanted nothing more than to stay here with Iruka forever.
“So you think I’m charming and cool?”
Iruka paled. “Did I say that? What I meant to say was – actually, would you look at the time? I should get going. You know, things to do, places to be. Thanks for the meal!”
The teacher tried speeding away but Kakashi wanted to tease him some more so he followed. He was momentarily blinded by the sunlight reflecting off the snow on the ground, but once he caught sight of Iruka’s ponytail, he chased after the chūnin like a hound. The jōnin caught up in no time, scaring some pedestrians nearby when he materialized out of thin air, and immediately started teasing
harassing
Iruka, who took to the rooftops and hopped around like a bunny trying to avoid a predator. Kakashi had fun calling out the teacher’s name, repeating the compliments he’d been given loud enough that he was sure the ANBU hiding around must’ve heard, and scaring the shit out of the chūnin when he body-flickered right next to him. They were on the roof of an apartment about to move onto a platform built behind a park where cherry blossom trees grew when Kakashi poofed and reappeared right in front of Iruka. He startled the teacher but he hadn’t realized how badly he’d scared Iruka until the other man was slipping off the roof because of the loose snow. Kakashi reached for Iruka, it was too late to steady him, so he made sure to twist them around so that they’d land safely. The jōnin landed on a crouch and caught the teacher in his arms before he hit the ground. After the adrenaline passed, Kakashi helped Iruka onto his feet and steadied him before letting him go.
They looked at each other and laughed.
Iruka smacked Kakashi’s arm while laughing. “You idiot, don’t scare me like that.”
“Mah, sorry, sorry. Still think I’m charming?”
Iruka sighed heavily. “I don’t know after that stunt you just pulled….”
Kakashi slouched, his head hanging low. He’d only been teasing, trying to get a rise from the teacher when he said, “Looks like I just ruined your impression of me on our first date,” but when he looked at Iruka’s smile melting away that’s when he realized that his words came from the heart. It seemed that he’d said those words to gauge Iruka’s reaction to defining their relationship. Because as the years went by, even Kakashi could tell that there was something different about their friendship. He didn’t goof around or rough-house with Iruka as he did with Guy and the rest of his jōnin compatriots. Nor did he stay as reserved with Iruka as he did with other colleagues who weren’t of his rank or who were more Iruka’s friends than his; like those chūnin who usually guarded the front gates. And the same went for Iruka, who had no issues being so familiar with him. There was a delicacy to their friendship but their bond wasn’t fragile. As much as he irritated Iruka, or Iruka scolded him, they could never stay mad at each other for too long; they always came back to each other and picked up right where they left off. It was as if their relationship wasn’t a year old but centuries old. So when Kakashi said what he said to see if Iruka would confirm that he felt what he felt, he knew Iruka would smile and nod.
They were ninja. They didn’t do public displays like kissing in broad daylight. They brushed their hands together before pulling away and started walking through the snow to the park in front of them. If they were closer together than necessary, well, they were just keeping warm and avoiding flying snowballs from kids playing.