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Sakura raises her hand to wave at somebody behind Naruto but lets it sink before he can turn.
“Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei were just walking past”, she explains.
Naruto nods. “Makes sense. They normally hang out on Thursdays.”
“Really?” This is news to Sakura. Not that they would spend time together, she was a shinobi with eyes, but the regularity. Someone like Hatake Kakashi lived an unpredictable life, but maybe his becoming Hokage had changed that somewhat.
“Yeah, since like…”, Naruto scratches the back of his head in thought, “since like forever, really. They started when I was away with Pervy Sage at the latest, maybe even earlier.”
Sakura’s eyebrows inch closer to her hairline. Scratch the idea with Kakashi-sensei’s new regular life. This habit reached almost as far back as she had known the other man and she never noticed it. A few of her questions must have been visible on her face, because Naruto continues: “I don’t think a lot of people know about that, they are both so insanely private.”
He holds his hand in front of his face to imitate Kakashi’s mask and against her better judgement, Sakura laughs.
“And they weren’t really doing it every Thursday, what with Kakashi being out of the village so often. I only know it because Iruka would either kick me out on Thursdays or guiltily let me stay at his place alone.”
Sakura’s eyebrows rise a bit further, this time for another reason.
“Are they... you know?" she leaves the question hanging in the air between them. Does not know what word, what descriptor could end the sentence.
Naruto pulls a face, ready to protest and then stops. “I'm not actually sure.” He is almost cute, all confused like that, Sakura allows herself to think. “I don’t want to think about their private life. It’s like thinking about your parents fu-”
He just stops mid-sentence, as if he was caught in a genjutsu. His head grows red from the neck upwards until the colour reaches his hairline.
Sakura laces her fingers together in a way that is carefully modelled after Tsunade-sama and fixates Naruto from above her short nails.
“Do you think of Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei as your parents, Naruto?” It feels a bit like one of the training sessions from her psychology classes. Without the training part.
“Yes? I mean, Iru- and then Ka-” He stammers before he catches himself. “Yes. I do think of them as my parents.” Sometimes, Naruto is emotionally mature in a way few other shinobi are. He just says things and then also means them. He probably gets it from Iruka-sensei.
“Oh god, I am the worst son ever. I don’t even know if my dads are together!” He groans and buries his head in his hands. That is another admirable ability: To accept life-changing facts lightning fast.
Sakura chuckles. “Wanna go on a reconnaissance mission?”
*
This was the worst. They had been spying on Kakashi and Iruka for four weeks already, had roped Ino and Shikamaru - who literally saw Kakashi daily at his job - into the whole ordeal and they were not a step closer to understanding the relationship between the men than before.
Yes, they often ate lunch or dinner together, but so did non-romantic friends. Yes, sometimes Kakashi stood closer to Iruka than strictly necessary and yes, sometimes Iruka’s hand lingered on the Hokage’s shoulder for a while, but there was no definitive evidence. Not that he wanted to see them make out or anything, Naruto had shouted once over tea at the Nara compound. It had spooked a deer. But a little kiss would be good.
They are in the Nara compound again. The deer have grown a little more accustomed to Naruto’s volume, so as long as he lies down with Shikamaru and looks at the clouds, they stay close enough for Ino to pet one absent mindedly.
“There is only one way left.” Her tone is so decisive that Naruto sits up from the grass. Even Shikamaru looks over. Sakura knows the look in her friend's eyes. She is about to propose something stupid.
“You” Ino points a dramatic finger at Naruto “must ask them.”
“What?”
“Just ask them if they are together. We are not getting anywhere here, and I don’t think we will. They are just too damn private about everything. And it’s not like we can compare their behaviour to anything if they really have been together for that long. Also, Naruto, no offense, you might be the greatest Ninja of all time, but I think Kakashi-sama can beat you in the stealth department.”
Naruto flushes and bristles at the same time and flicks a blade of grass over at Ino.
“You can’t do that to me” he whines. “It’s so embarrassing. They will think I am the densest ninja in all of Konoha and then Kakashi will never make me the next Hokage.”
Sakura shoots Ino an amused look.
“Kakashi-sensei is going to make you Hokage the moment you are a jounin. The man hates paperwork. And he already knows that you are the densest ninja in all of Konoha. He has met you.”
Naruto lounges at her and they roll around in the grass like they are little genin again. They get a little too wild, apparently because all of a sudden they are tangling in the air, lifted by shadowy tendrils.
“These meadows are older than you, show some respect, kids. The Nara compound is not a training ground.” Shikaku’s upside-down mouth shows something like amusement before he puts them back on the ground.
“And tell me what you find out. I’m hoping to win the betting pool.” He winks and Shikamaru sighs.
“Dad, really?”
Shikaku laughs. “You should start to pitch in. Shinobi love to gamble.” His face grows stern for a second. “There are also pools about you. So don’t disappoint me, I want to take Yoshino out to that new restaurant at the western gate.”
He leaves four flustered shinobi until Shikamaru sighs again. “Retirement left him with too much time.”
*
They go through with Ino’s plan. That is to say, they resign. There really was nothing to gain from analysing and re-analysing and plainly, overanalysing the amount of space between Iruka and Kakashi at any given moment. Even though Shikamaru had fun coming up with a formula to predict the distance between them. Not that he would admit that to anyone, lest they would want him to work more or worse, harder.
So, they send Naruto to his doom. Or dinner at Ichiraku Ramen, to call it by a more descriptive name.
Kakashi arrives on time because he arrives with Iruka which almost makes Naruto back out again, because that has to be a sign. That has to be the ultimate sign, no need to ask, no need for a kiss, only Hatake Kakashi being on time for ramen.
But Iruka-sensei has already sensed that something was up, and Naruto knows that he knows, so there is no possibility for him to just ignore the elephant in the room. The ramen stand. Whatever.
They talk a bit about the village, the kids in the academy, Naruto’s friends and his latest missions. Kakashi’s eye smile is a little different from his usual one, but Naruto is too stressed to pay any real attention to that detail. He wolves down a second bowl of ramen just to occupy his mouth.
“Naruto” Iruka-sensei says and Naruto swallows. He uses his teaching voice, not the watch out, you’re in trouble-voice, but his hey buddy, I’m an adult that can help you with your problems-voice that is reserved for teary eyed pre-genin. And Naruto apparently. He does not even know why he is so nervous to ask them. It is nothing bad, it is nothing secret, it is nothing that changes anything. Ok, it might be something secret, but it is nothing bad and it changes nothing. Nope. No change in Naruto’s relationship with his teachers/male role models/stable figures during an unstable and frankly traumatic childhood and youth/parental figures. He might have identified the problem.
“Naruto?” comes Iruka’s voice through the haze of his own thoughts. Steady brown eyes meet his gaze, and he can almost feel Kakashi’s grey ones contemplating him carefully.
“Are you together-together?” It just blurts out of him, probably a little too loud for the situation. Not that he ever had great volume control.
Something strange happens then. Nothing. For a second, absolutely nothing happens. He is sure that Kakashi has stopped breathing. Iruka’s eyes are wide open, a complex emotion that Naruto himself is too confused to interpret reflecting in them. Then Iruka blinks, looks at him and then looks at Kakashi. Long. Too long for polite society and Kakashi stares back as if that is all it takes for them to communicate. Maybe it is, because just as Naruto starts to grow restless, Iruka interlaces his fingers with Kakashi’s and squeezes the other’s hand. Slowly, deliberately. Like he savours a new, not-yet-familiar feeling. Kakashi squeezes back.
Iruka turns to Naruto and his smile almost splits his face. It makes Naruto giddy with the happiness Iruka is emanating.
“I guess we are together-together.”
Kakashi nods shyly.
*
When Naruto tells the others about his dinner, they are again sitting on the soft grass of the Nara compound. At the end of the tale, Sakura’s eyebrows fly all the way to the heavens before returning to her face to help her frown. “Well Naruto, I don’t think being too dense is going to be a problem when trying for Hokage.”
Shikaku is not taking Yoshino to that restaurant with his winnings.