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Working at the Mission Assignment Desk would normally not be an escape from unruly children for Iruka, because he often found himself thinking that he would rather spend time teaching pre-genin than struggling with shinobi who constantly complained about the missions they were given. That's why he always tried to get two specific shifts, because that's when Yondaime was present and the ninja were less rebellious in front of their Hokage: early in the morning before classes and early in the evening right after dinner. That was exactly the kind of break from the youngest students Iruka needed.
However, the most enjoyable shifts were when Kushina came with young Naruto and Iruka was always reassigned to take care of the nine-year-old. Although he was Naruto's teacher, the young Namikaze saw him more as a stepbrother – Kushina and Iruka's parents came from Uzushiogakure, so the two families often visited each other.
Right now, Iruka covered his mouth with a hand to hide a yawn. It was quite early and even the members of the Hokage's guard looked as if they regreted taking over their duties from the ANBU who were watching over the Yondaime's safety at home before he started work. Another advantage of the early shift was that hardly anyone actually started missions at this time of day. Everyone began the day with training and reported for missions a little later so the peace and quiet allowed for a rather lazy start of the day – and for Iruka to wake up properly before taking on his duties as a teacher.
Namikaze-sama was busy filling out his paperwork but every now and then he glanced toward the door as if expecting… something. Iruka looked that way with curiosity but Genma and Raidou (and a third shinobi in the Hokage's guard, whose name Iruka did not know) were becoming increasingly tense. Raidou even approached Yondaime and whispered something in his ear but Namikaze-sama laughed briefly in response and waved his hand, saying, “No, it's nothing, don't worry,” so Iruka decided not to worry about it. Nevertheless, he flinched when the door opened and none other than Kakashi Hatake entered.
Sakumo Hatake was known as the White Fang of Konoha but it was his son, Kakashi, who was now the talk of the town. When Yondaime restored Sakumo’s memory to glory a few years ago and placed his name on the Memorial Stone, not everyone was happy with it and they still looked askance at Kakashi. However, stories of his achievements, his role in ending the war – and also just mere rumors – had grown so much that no one dared to even mutter under their breath if they still thought Sakumo deserved nothing. The Hokage had cleared Sakumo's name, but it was up to Kakashi to prove that the Hatake name still mattered. And he proved it with interest; everyone in the village talked about him and there were even a few whispers that he was on track to become the next Hokage – either him or Itachi Uchiha.
Of course, Iruka also knew these stories and rumors. It was impossible to distinguish between them so it was difficult for him to form an honest opinion about Kakashi Hatake – especially since he had never met him while working on assigning missions and accepting reports. Kakashi was sent on A and S rank missions, which were assigned by the Hokage himself in his office in the Hokage Tower. So this was the first time Iruka had seen Kakashi with his own eyes. Even if he didn't know from the stories what Hatake looked like exactly, he would still have confirmation that it was him in the next words from the Yondaime: “Kakashi-kun! You're here!”
Kakashi nodded, slowly approaching the desk. “I was supposed to report for duty for a B-rank mission, so I'm reporting, Minato-sensei,” he said in a bored tone.
Namikaze-sama shook his head but smiled. “You currently have less than half your chakra so I didn't want to send you anywhere, but you insisted. You'll get a short B-rank mission. But rest a little longer, you can start it tomorrow. No, not you can, you have to start it tomorrow, that's an order.”
Kakashi nodded and turned his one exposed eye to Iruka. Iruka, who was watching him motionless, his eyes wide open and his mouth slightly ajar. Kakashi's visible eyebrow furrowed slightly.
“Iruka-kun?” prompted Yondaime. “A short B-rank mission?”
Iruka flinched and lowered his gaze to the tabletop. He reached to the side and pulled out a scroll from the pile he had prepared earlier. He quickly wrote down the serial number and, without looking up, handed it to Kakashi.
“Good luck, Kakashi-kun!” the Hokage called after Kakashi, and when the man was gone, Yondaime looked at Iruka. “Tough night last night, huh? Still not awake yet?” he asked with a slight smile.
“Um, yes, exactly,” Iruka replied and smiled slightly, then immediately set about completing the rest of the mission assignment paperwork.
He was glad Kushina wasn't there because she would have seen right through him. Meeting the legendary Kakashi Hatake confirmed Iruka's belief that confident, strong, and mysterious men were very much his type. He had barely seen Kakashi's face and knew very little about him but he still felt drawn to the masked shinobi and it was definitely not just curiosity. Kushina had known about his preferences for some time and insisted that he finally admit it to his parents but Iruka refused, saying that until he was sure there was no point in talking about it. Well, now that excuse wouldn't work anymore.
He shook himself and hid this infatuation in the same compartment where he kept his infatuation with Yondaime. He grimaced a little because he knew that at least half of Konoha was in love with the Hokage and Kakashi and Iruka already didn't stand out in any particular way in the whole village. It turned out that even his crushes were the same as most people's. He pouted and decided to put it behind him for now because there was nothing he would do to change it at the moment.
The evening shift was different from the morning one because there were definitely more people in the room – some were resting before taking on missions for the next day, others were finishing or correcting their reports, and some were just socializing. The queues were quite long but the presence of the Hokage reduced the tension so there was no unnecessary jostling, either with other shinobi in the queue or with the shinobi working behind the desk.
Iruka was checking a report from Uchiha with his goggles hanging around his neck, his left eye covered. It was Uchiha with whom Kakashi shared the Sharingan, which is why there were a lot of rumors circulating also around him – they focused mainly on the event in which the Sharingan changed owners and Uchiha gained scars on the right side of his face. These were not burn scars like Raidou's so the gossipers had a field day.
Everything in the report seemed fine and Iruka was about to approve it when the whole room became agitated. Kakashi Hatake appeared before the Hokage with a puff and a swirl of leaves. Everyone looked at him tensely because he must have had some reason to appear so suddenly. Iruka was sitting next to Yondaime so he could clearly see the scroll in Kakashi's hands – the same one he had given him that morning. He was surprised when Kakashi placed it in front of the Hokage.
“There has been a mistake,” Hatake said, moving the scroll closer to Yondaime.
Namikaze-sama curiously unrolled it and as he read the guidelines on it a broad smile began to spread across his face. Genma and Raidou craned their necks to see what was going on and Raidou couldn’t resist and burst out laughing. Genma also looked as if only the senbon between his teeth was keeping him from laughing out loud.
“What is it, Minato-sensei?” asked Uchiha, still standing in front of Iruka. “What has Bakakashi gotten himself into?”
The Hokage rested his chin on his hand and handed the scroll to Iruka, looking at him with a smile. All eyes in the room turned to the chuunin. “Iruka-kun, tell me, what rank would you give this mission?”
Iruka carefully took the scroll and began to read the guidelines. He blinked and read them a second time, feeling his expression sour. “Rank D, Hokage-sama,” he finally replied, glancing at Yondaime and then at Kakashi. Both were looking at him but while Namikaze-sama's face was beaming with joy, Kakashi's one visible eye was narrowed and it was unlikely he was smiling under his mask.
“Bakakashi on a D-rank mission? Really?” Uchiha exclaimed happily, rubbing his hands together.
“Shut up, Obito,” Kakashi growled, crossing his arms over his chest. “There must be a way to switch it.”
“The paperwork from this morning has already been approved,” Iruka said before the Hokage could speak.
“Minato-sensei,” Kakashi began but stopped when Yondaime looked at him. He was still smiling and resting his chin on his hand but he had an aura of finality about him.
“There's nothing I can do about it now, Kakashi-kun,” he said and handed the scroll back to Kakashi. “But I won't lie, I'm glad you'll be spending more time resting because D-rank mission should be a piece of cake for you.”
Kakashi Hatake looked like he was about to explode. He grabbed the scroll from the Hokage and took a deep breath as he tried to calm himself down. For a moment, you could sense the pulse of his restless, powerful chakra. Iruka remembered how Namikaze-sama had said that morning that Kakashi's chakra was at a low level – if there was so little of it and yet he was able to emit such a pulse... Iruka bit his lip when he realized how powerful Kakashi must really be. Maybe not at the Kage level – but close.
It was probably this fact that gave Iruka the courage he needed. He sat up straighter, ran his hand through his hair to tuck the unruly strands behind his ear, and tilted his head slightly to the side. “Kakashi-san,” he said and waited for Kakashi to look at him. “I can make it up to you for this mistake with dinner, if you agree,” he finished boldly, maintaining eye contact with Kakashi.
Being aware of everything that was happening around him, even if their eyes weren't focused on it, was one of the requirements of becoming a shinobi. It was thanks to this ability that Iruka knew that the muffled sound to his right was the Hokage's jaw hitting the tabletop; the wet choking sounds from behind were Genma, who required immediate medical attention because he had inhaled his sebon into his throat. From behind Obito, one of the kunoichi jumped over Iruka to Genma, ordering Raidou to take him to the hospital immediately.
Iruka, however, was most interested in Kakashi's reaction. According to his observations, Hatake had blinked fifteen times in seven seconds. Iruka bit his cheek, trying to keep a smile on his face, even though he felt worse with every passing moment as the likelihood of rejection grew. He opened his eyes wider and sucked in air through his mouth but then, instead of a verbal “no,” he saw a slight blush on the visible part of Kakashi's cheek, just above his mask. He no longer had to try to keep smiling because he felt himself smiling with double the force. However, it didn't last long because Kakashi suddenly disappeared, using the same jutsu as before but this time to escape.
Iruka's shoulders slumped slightly and he lowered his gaze. He preferred not to look around at those present, because judging by Obito's reaction – who, immediately after Kakashi disappeared, fell to the floor in an uncontrollable fit of laughter – everyone was probably looking at him with pity and wondering why he thought he had any chance at all. After all, this was the legendary Kakashi Hatake. Why would he want anything to do with an ordinary chuunin? Iruka would have liked to run away too but he couldn't just abandon his post. So, despite the blush on his face, he gathered his composure to finish his shift.
When he felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned around in surprise to see the same kunoichi who had been the first to jump at Genma to help. She had markings similar to those of the Inuzuka clan but hers were purple and ran from the middle of her cheeks towards her jaw. She smiled at him sincerely and encouragingly. “He may not have said ‘yes,’ but he didn't say ‘no’ either,” she said and winked at him.
Iruka blinked, analyzed the situation, and smiled because she was right. The blush on his cheeks was no longer from embarrassment, now it was accompanied by a smile. He realized that he had just done something that set him apart from the rest of the village – by asking Kakashi Hatake out on a date, Iruka had broken away from the crowd of fans who watched and admired him from afar, who considered Kakashi an unapproachable object of adoration, but by no means an ordinary person.
“Obito-kun, join Rin-chan, you will replace Genma and Raidou today,” said Yondaime. Uchiha got up from the floor, panting heavily, but walked around the desk and when he stopped behind the Hokage's chair, he was swatted on the arm by the kunoichi who took her post next to him. Hokage in turn looked with a gentle smile at the chuunin sitting next to him. “Iruka-kun, can we resume our work?”
“Of course, Hokage-sama,” replied Iruka, without losing his smile or blush. He knew the parameters of Kakashi's mission so he saw no reason why he couldn't show up after work in the garden which needed weeding and see if Kakashi was already taking care of it and if he might now agree to a date.