Chapter Text
Iruka Umino had finally reached the end of his rope.
It was in the early hours of Monday morning, 1:45am to be exact, and the only reason he was even awake this late was because of his next door neighbor -- who apparently played electric guitar until early morning on school nights.
Iruka groans as another song starts up, running a hand through his hair in exasperation. He needed to sleep. It would be his first day teaching at his new school tomorrow and he needed to be as well rested as possible to keep his anxiety down. He hadn’t slept well the past few nights, having spent most of his time moving into the new apartment. It was always hard to sleep the first couple nights in a new place.
Iruka paused and crossed his fingers as the last chords of the current song died out, hoping desperately that his neighbor was done for the night.
He wasn’t.
“Fuck.” Iruka hissed out loud as he ma de a snap decision. He hadn’t really wanted his first interaction with his neighbor to be a bad one, but apparently there was no helping it.
Iruka didn’t even bother put ting on shoes before exiting his apartment and stomping down the hall. Whoever was in there was in the middle of a song but he honestly didn’t care . Iruka banged against the door with the side of his fist, loudly, crossed his arms over his chest, and waited.
A dog started barking the second Iruka had knocked, the guitar cutting off almost immediately as well. He hears someone whistle sharply and the barking stop ped . Iruka thinks that if he wasn’t so mad, he’d probably be impressed by this person’s dog training. He hear d shuffling noises behind the door before an unlocking sound. The door swung open and holy shit Iruka was not expecting this.
The man who’d answered the door was a few years older than Iruka himself and more than a couple inches taller. He was long and lean, with pale skin and silver-grey hair that defied gravity, and handsome as hell. Well, at least Iruka got the feeling he was handsome. It was hard to tell with 2/3rds of his face covered in a mask and an eyepatch. The one eye that was visible looked him over with interest, the man crossing his arms and leaning casually against the doorframe. At the movement, his plain white t-shirt stretched around his arms and fuck this guy was built. He tilts his head, soft-looking hair falling gently across his eyepatch and oh my god please stop thinking about how soft his hair looks holy shit-
Iruka snapped out of it, realizing a little too late that he’d been staring and, if the heat on his cheeks was any indicator, blushing as well.
“Do you know what time it is?” He snap ped , remembering what he came here for and regaining some of his earlier composure.
The man blinked, surprised, before fishing out his phone from his back pocket and checking the time.
“1:54?” He tried, his voice a quiet rumble that some deeply buried part of Iruka decided it liked a lot . He forced it back down and continued.
“You’ve been playing guitar since 10pm, and loudly I might add.” Iruka glared. The man had the decency to at least look guilty at that. “I don’t know what you have to do tomorrow, but I need to be awake in 4 hours to teach at an elementary school, so can you please, please quiet down?”
“Sure. Sorry to keep you up, teach.” The man shrugged after a second, looking nonchalant, but Iruka could still hear the way his voice lifted at the end of the nickname.
“Thank you.” Iruka sighed, relieved, sending the man a grateful nod and smiling tiredly.
The other man saluted wordlessly and Iruka takes that as his cue to leave. He feels the man’s eyes on him for a moment before his neighbor’s door clicks shut, and Iruka lets his shoulders sag. While that wasn’t the worst interaction they could’ve had, it certainly wasn’t great, but Iruka was incredibly thankful that his neighbor wasn’t as much of an asshole as he’d thought. He locked his front door behind him, and all but collapsed into bed. It takes a couple minutes, but Iruka’s ears eventually picked up the sound of guitar again. He sat up, about to retract all of his earlier statements about the guy not being an asshole when he realizes that it’s acoustic this time, softer and more gentle.
Earlier, Iruka had been too pissed to truly listen to the guitar his neighbor was playing, but now he strained his ears to catch every note. The man was skilled, incredibly so. The song was beautiful and calming, and before long, Iruka was fast asleep.
—
Iruka, despite not enjoying conflict, was glad he’d gone out of his way to confront his neighbor. After that disaster of a night, the man had stuck to a strict schedule of electric guitar from 9-11pm, and then, occasionally, acoustic guitar afterwards. It didn’t happen a lot, and while Iruka’s actually started to enjoy the electric guitar, he finds himself unconsciously crossing his fingers every night for another chance to hear the man play acoustically.
Iruka, heading home after a particularly rough school day, was surprised to see his neighbor exit his own apartment at the same time. He almosts avoids him entirely, his weariness bone deep and starting to make him a little irritable, but he makes the mistake of looking over at the man, and immediately knows he’s too gay to go inside right away.
His neighbor was dressed in black jeans and boots, the tucked-in dark red t-shirt he sported a stark contrast against his pale skin. His silver-grey hair remains gravity-defying, and when he looks up, Iruka notices the smudge of red eyeshadow on the man’s visible eye. He was still wearing the mask and eyepatch, which was a little strange, honestly, but it isn’t Iruka’s place to comment-- so he stays quiet. Strapped to the other man’s back, however, was a guitar case and Iruka was itching to ask about that, at least. Still, he’s dead tired, so they just kinda stare at each other for a moment before the other man approaches and speaks up.
“Hey, uh-“ He starts, looking a little awkward. “Sorry about a last week, I didn’t realize someone had moved in.” The man rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “I feel like we got off on the wrong foot.”
Iruka nods in agreement, and the man looks relieved.
“Kakashi Hatake.” the man offers a hand to Iruka.
After a second, he takes it.
“Iruka Umino.”
Iruka doesn’t know how he can tell but he gets the feeling Kakashi is grinning.
The palm of his hand is calloused, yet still soft, and Iruka finds himself growing warm. After a second, an angry buzzing noises sounds, and Kakashi sighs, pulling away from Iruka in order to grab his phone from his back pocket. He glances at the caller ID and grimaces.
“I gotta take this,” he looks over at Iruka and smiles visibly with his uncovered eye. “Have a good night, teach.”
And with that he picks up the call and walks away, a slight sway in his hips.
Iruka stand there, a little thrown off guard, and watches Kakashi answer the phone as he moves down the hall.
“Maa, what’s up?”
Iruka sees Kakashi pull the phone away from his ear, the tinny sounds of someone yelling reaching Iruka at the other end of the corridor.
“Jeez, okay, no need to be so loud. I’m on my way.”
Kakashi’s voice fades away as he turns a corner and Iruka’s left alone, realizing he’d never gotten the chance to ask what the other man was doing.
This….might be a problem.
—
Before Kakashi is even halfway through the door, he hears Gai exclaim.
“My esteemed Rival!” the man practically yells. “You are late once again!”
“We’re not rivals anymore,” Kakashi sighs, exasperated. It was an old argument at this point, but apparently a necessary one to have. “We’re in the same band.”
“Regardless,” Tenzou sighs from across the room. “You’re still late. What’s your excuse?”
Kakashi thinks of tan skin, of a tight ponytail and of a scar stretched across the bridge of a crooked nose. He thinks of the light blush that colored the man’s cheeks when he’d seen Kakashi approach.
“I didn’t feel like being on time.” Kakashi lies, shrugging. His friends didn’t need to know, at least, not yet.
Tenzou gives him a look, but Gai buys it almost instantly.
“Once Again,” Gai shakes his head, voice way to loud for the small room they’re all in. “You Never Fail to Disappoint with Your Tardiness!”
Kakashi pats him on the shoulder.
“At this point, it’s on you to expect anything else.”
Gai grumbles something, but before their conversation goes any further, one of the stage hands pops his head in the room and glances around at them.
“It’s time.”
Kakashi nods, unpacking and tuning his guitar quickly and carefully, before slinging the strap around his shoulder and straightening up. Tenzou stands and stretches, grabbing his bass, while Gai practically jumps off of the couch he’d settled into and grabs Kakashi’s wrist, dragging him out of the room and towards the stage. They pause for a moment at the edge of the curtains and take a breath. Tenzou claps them both on the shoulder and nods.
“Let’s go.”
Gai steps out first, settling naturally behind the drumset to cheers. He gives his signature thumbs up and the crowd gets louder. Tenzou is next, moving to the far side of the stage, and finally, it’s Kakashi’s turn.
They were a pretty popular band at this point, had built up a solid fanbase over the timespan of a couple years, and, by now, logically, Kakashi should be used to it. He isn’t.
As soon as he steps into the bright stage lights, the crowd reaches new levels of loudness. A couple people scream his name and Kakashi feels his face heat up. Thank god he wears a mask. He steps up to the microphone and grips it tightly, letting the noise of the crowd wash over him before he speaks.
“Hey,” he starts, awkward as ever. Tenzou shoots him an exasperated look that he pointedly ignores. “How’s everyone doing tonight?”
A couple people answer, but mostly there’s just more noise at the sound of Kakashi’s voice. He laughs anyway, tension easing out of his shoulders.
“Welcome to our little show,” he grins, letting the sound of his smile echo in the room. “We’re the band Pathos.”
He glances out over the crowd and nods, says some more bullshit that always gets their fans riled up, and only stops once the crowd gets restless. He’s pushed enough.
Time to sing.
“Anyway,” he lets go of the microphone and adjusts his guitar. As soon as he does so, the mood of the concert shifts into palpable anticipation. Even the people at the bar in the back turn their full attention to him as he positions himself to play. “It’s time for what you all came here for.”
Cheers went up as Kakashi takes a breath, and hits a solid chord.
The thrum of his guitar rumbles through the floor as it gets picked up by the amp, and the thump of Gai starting up a beat on the drumset soon follows. Tenzou nods and joins in on bass. Kakashi feels a rush of energy under his skin as his vocal cue comes up and he begins to sing.
He can feel the crowd buzz at the sound of his voice, and fights down a grin, letting the noises around him take over until it was only him and the music filling up his brain.
The concert goes spectacularly, and all too soon Kakashi is catching his breath in the green room, splayed out on the couch with his guitar neatly tucked back into its case. He can still feel the beat of Gai’s drumming in his veins and the bright spotlights were still burned into his retinas, even when he closed his eyes. He’s sweaty and needs a shower desperately, but that would require moving, which is the last thing he wanted to do right then.
He hears Tenzou approach and something cold is pushed into his hand. Kakashi cracks open his one uncovered eye and makes a grateful noise as he registers the water bottle that had been given to him.
“Drink.” The man orders and Kakashi is happy to comply. His voice always gets so much rougher after a show- someone called it sexy once, but it’s more of a nuisance than anything else.
“Thanks, Mom.” Kakashi teases, and earns a smack to the back of his head. “So rude!” he grumbles dramatically.
“Ungrateful.” Tenzou glares at him, but doesn’t comment otherwise. “Gai wants to go out and get drinks, you up for it?”
“Maa, he always wants to go out.” Kakashi waves his hand dismissively. “I’m tired.”
Tenzou snorts and moves to his bag, from which he pulls a bottle of alcohol.
“Too tired to drink, or too tired to go out?” He questions, already pouring two drinks, and Kakashi drags himself into a sitting position, chuckling.
“Never too tired for alcohol, Tenzou.” He winks, pulling down his mask before downing most of the drink handed to him in one go. He ignores Tenzou’s concerned look at his comment and finishes it off quickly.
Gai pops into the room to grab his stuff and bid his goodbyes, loud as always, before heading out for the night.
Despite Tenzou’s obvious dislike of Kakashi’s drinking habits, he pours another drink for both of them, and they settle in for a couple hours, casually chatting and exchanging stories. He’s pretty tipsy by the end of the night, but not nearly drunk enough for what comes next.
Tenzou sets his empty glass down on the table and fixes Kakashi with a frown that pins him in place.
“Kakashi,” he starts, voice serious. “How...are you?”
“I’m fine.” Kakashi answers, deflecting poorly. “How are you ?”
Tenzou ignores his attempt and raises an eyebrow.
“Seriously, Kakashi. You’ve been avoiding your friends, you’ve been isolating yourself and drinking way too much. Something’s up and we’re worried about you.”
“I’m fine .” Kakashi snaps, shoulders hunching, before repeating himself, softer this time. “I’m fine. Just….working through some stuff.”
That was a lie. Kakashi wouldn’t be caught dead working through his problems.
Tenzou must sense that Kakashi isn’t going to budge and sighs wearily, rubbing his forehead like he’d gotten a headache from all of this.
“We should get out of here.” he says after a bit, and Kakashi nods, only swaying a little when he stands. Shit, he was more drunk than he’d thought.
The walk home was short, quiet, and filled with the type of tension Kakashi very much didn’t like. It wasn’t uncomfortable, since he and Tenzou had long grown past ever feeling that around each other, but it wasn’t great either. He’s almost relieved when they reach his front door.
Tenzou bids him a quick goodnight and then Kakashi is alone again, his apartment feeling horribly empty in the dark. His drunken mind thinks of Next-Door-Neighbor-Iruka and he spends the rest of the night staring at the ceiling and wondering what his apartment looked like.
He figures it’d have way more personality than his own, of course. Iruka’s a school teacher, right? He probably hangs his student’s drawings on the wall, or something cute like that.
Kakashi smiles dumbly at the thought.
Iruka had just moved in a week ago, though, so maybe he hadn’t actually had a chance to unpack and decorate just yet. Still , Kakashi thinks. Even if he hadn’t touched a single moving box, his apartment would still probably feel comfortable and cozy, like an beloved sweatshirt. It’d be warm, just like Iruka.
—
Iruka sits out on the balcony in back of his apartment. Being on the fourth floor offered a pretty good view, and he was happy he’d been able to find a place with such a nice outdoor space. It’s been roughly a month since beginning his teaching job and he’s finally, finally starting to get into the groove of things.
Earlier in the day he’d decided to make good use of the nice weather before October hit, and had dragged out one of his kitchen chairs to the balcony to grade papers. It’s been a good number of hours since then, the sun long since set, and Iruka had to go inside at one point to grab a sweater and to make sure the balcony light worked properly.
He’s almost done with the last stack of papers when the door on the balcony next to his slid open, allowing his neighbor to spill out into the cool night air. A small brown pug follows at his heels and circles the balcony for a minute to look for a place to sit. Kakashi practically collapses into the only chair, the pug jumping up into his lap immediately, and Iruka almost wants to ask if the man is okay before he catches the light glinting off a bottle gripped in Kakashi’s hand.
He’s drunk . Iruka’s mind supplies helpfully.
The other man buries his head in his hands, letting out a tired breath and Iruka suddenly feels like he’s intruding on something he shouldn’t be privy to.
He and Kakashi had exchanged words a couple times in the hallway since the guitar playing incident, but that didn’t mean Iruka felt even a little comfortable being a voyeur of the man’s obvious sadness.
Before he can do so much as think about moving, Kakashi notices his presence and looks over, eyebrow pulled together in confusion. He doesn’t look angry so much as hesitantly curious. After a long moment of silence, Iruka decides to bite the bullet.
“Hey.” He calls out, raising a hand in greeting.
Kakashi’s eye is bright in the darkness and he slowly raises a hand in response.
“Hello.”
Iruka feels a shiver go through him. If he’d thought he’d liked Kakashi’s voice before, nothing compared to the husky rumble that greets him now.
“What happened to your voice?” Iruka blurts out, not thinking, wincing as Kakashi only raises an eyebrow at the question in return. “I mean...It’s rougher than before. I was just…” he trails off, embarrassment stealing the words from his brain.
Kakashi looks at him for a long moment before replying, his voice betraying the smile hidden by his mask.
“I’m a singer.” he explains. “There was a concert tonight.”
Iruka tilts his head, surprised.
He wasn’t quite prepared for that answer, but at the same time...it kinda made sense.
“A singer?” Iruka echoes, curious. “I thought you played guitar?”
Kakashi laughs, the sound bouncing off the walls and Iruka wants to listen to it forever, probably.
“I do both.” The silver haired man shrugs.
“You must be mighty popular, then, huh?” Iruka muses, a blush high on his cheeks as he realizes a second too late that he’s flirting .
“Of course.” Kakashi catches on and winks at Iruka (though how Iruka can tell it’s a wink and not Kakashi blinking, he’ll never know). “Fans can’t get enough.”
Its Iruka’s turn to laugh, and he sees Kakashi sit up a little straighter in his seat.
“Well why wouldn’t they?” Iruka covers his grin with his hand, trying to reign himself back in. “A pretty boy guitarist that can sing? Fans must find you irresistible.”
Kakashi pauses at that, staring at Iruka for a long moment.
“You think I’m pretty?” He asks after a second, bemused, his voice softer than before.
“To be fair, I’ve only seen a third of your face.” Iruka shrugs and points out, trying desperately to save face. Kakashi laughs at that and sets the bottle of alcohol down, apparently having forgone any plans to drink more.
“So you must have fallen for my stellar personality, instead, right?” Kakashi jokes, propping his head up with his arm and waiting for Iruka to respond.
“Kakashi, this is our second conversation, and you’re drunk.” Iruka laughs as the other man pouts and looks rather upset at his response.
“I think you’re pretty.”
It’s mumbled under Kakashi’s breath, barely loud enough to be heard, but Iruka catches it anyway, and it knocks him backwards a bit.
“You’re drunk.” Iruka says again, not trusting his brain to come up with anything else.
“You wound me, Iruka. I’m not nearly as drunk as I would like to be.” Kakashi bemoans, falling backwards dramatically into the chair.
A twinge of worry rings in Iruka’s chest, but the man ignores it in favor of standing up and stretching. He feels Kakashi’s eyes on him more than he sees them.
“You should try and sleep, Kakashi.” Iruka checks his phone. “It’s nearly 3am.”
“Maa, it’s friday,” the man waves a hand dismissively. “There are a billion things I’d rather do than sleep.”
There’s something else there, but Iruka doesn’t push it. He doesn’t know Kakashi nearly well enough to ask.
“Friday or not,” Iruka picks up his graded papers and tucks them under his arm. “It’s still 3am. I’m going to bed, at least.”
He sends a tired salute Kakashi’s way and is halfway inside the apartment when he pauses and glances back behind him.
Kakashi is staring somewhere off in the distance, shoulders set and tense. The brown pug has gone back inside sometime during their conversation, allowing the other man to pull his knees up to his chest and look- Iruka had never thought he would use this word to describe Kakashi but- small .
He purses his lips, thinking hard, before speaking again.
“If you need anything,” Iruka calls out, pulling the other man out of his thoughts and back to the present. “You know where I live. Goodnight, Kakashi.”
He doesn’t catch Kakashi’s look of stunned gratefulness, but he does hear the quiet return of goodnight that reaches him just before he shuts the balcony door.
Iruka sleeps well that night, but has strange dreams he doesn’t quite remember- only the feeling of having been searching for something remains the next morning.
—
Iruka doesn’t hear from Kakashi for a couple days after that. He doesn’t come out onto the balcony again, and he doesn’t seem to leave his apartment at all . The guitar playing doesn’t stop, but it’s all acoustic now ; the melody changing every night, but somehow always quiet and kinda sad.
It bothers Iruka that he doesn’t know how to help, or even if he’d be allowed to in the first place. He didn’t know Kakashi that well, but still. He wanted to do something.
So he went to the store on the fourth day of radio silence and bought what he needed to make cookies.
About a quarter of the way into the process, a rapid knocking sounds at Iruka’s door. He startles, not having expected anyone to bother him today.
He pads over to the door and looks through the peephole, unable to help the fond smile that pulls at his mouth when he sees his unexpected visitor. He quickly unlocks the door and swings it open.
“Naruto!” He grins, bracing himself for impact as the 12 year old launches directly into his chest. “What are you doing here?”
Despite having his face smushed into the front of Iruka’s t-shirt, Naruto attempts to answer, though he’s largely muffled by the fabric.
“You’ve been so busy these past weeks, Iruka, I missed you!”
Iruka laughs and pries him off, but not before ruffling the blonde’s already spiky hair.
“I missed you too, kid.”
Naruto beams at that, before he fully throws himself into the apartment, darting around from corner to corner to check things out, asking all sorts of questions about Iruka’s new place. After a quick tour, Naruto settles down at the kitchen table and Iruka goes back to baking.
They pass the time easily as Iruka finishes up the last batch of cookies, Naruto loudly chattering about his school life from his seat a couple feet away.
After awhile, the kid’s curiosity gets the better of him and he finally asks the question that had been bugging him for awhile.
“What’s with the cookies, Iruka?” Naruto blurts out, fingers gripping the edge of the table tightly as he leans forward in interest.
Smiling lightly at the boy’s antics, Iruka shakes his head and packs about half of the cookies into a bag, the other half going onto a plate he then sets out in front of Naruto.
“These are for you and me,” he nods, laughing as Naruto’s eyes light up. “But these are for my next door neighbor.” He gestures to the bag he’d left on the counter. Naruto pauses with a cookie halfway into his mouth and looks surprised.
“Why would you make cookies for your neighbor ?” He frowns, clearly confused.
“He needs them more than I do.” Iruka answers vaguely, but it seems to satisfy Naruto enough that he shoves the rest of the cookie into his mouth with a happy noise.
As his ex-student stuffs himself, Iruka grabs a piece of paper and a pen and scrawls out a quick note. He’s not entirely satisfied but it would do. He folds it neatly into fourths and tucks it into the bag.
“Do you want to come with me?” Iruka asks, already slipping off his apron and brushing the flour from his jeans.
“Sure.” Naruto shrugs, pushing himself off the chair and grabbing Iruka’s hand on his way out. It warms him, to say the least, that his ex-student would feel comfortable with that level of closeness. Not for the first time, he’s glad he has Naruto.
Iruka doesn’t bother locking the door behind him, as they only had a short walk down the hall, his mind already preoccupied with the small bundle of nerves building up in his gut.
What if Kakashi didn’t want his gift? What if he was turned away? What if he was ignored?
Anxious thoughts swirled around his head and Iruka only hesitated a little before knocking. Naruto notices, of course, and frowns.
“Are you nervous?” He asks, a little too loudly for Iruka’s tastes.
“No,” he shoots back, steeling himself. “I just wanted to make sure my timing was good.”
“Yeah, right.” Naruto sniffs, and Iruka knocks then, rolling his eyes.
A couple seconds pass before the muffled sound of footsteps approaching was heard, and the door swung open.
Kakashi stood in the doorway, shoulders tense, gazing at his two visitors with barely concealed surprise. His eye flickers from Iruka to Naruto, and his confusion visibly grows.
Iruka takes the moment to observe his neighbor. He hasn't slept much, if at all, since Iruka last talked to him, that much was obvious. He had a dark bag under his visible eye, his hair and clothes were disheveled, and the apartment behind him was a mess. He looks like shit.
“You look like shit.” Iruka tells him, eyeing the other man.
“Thanks.” Kakashi murmurs, shoulders slumping.
Iruka sighs and extends the arm holding the bag of cookies.
“Here,” he nods, taking Kakashi’s look of confusion in stride and clarifying. “They’re cookies. Homemade. Thought you might need something like that.” He shrugs.
Kakashi’s hand is trembling slightly when he takes the bag, but Iruka doesn’t press.
“Thanks.” Kakashi says again, sincere this time.
“Why are you wearing a mask?”
They both jump at the sudden, and loud, question, all eyes turning to stare at Naruto.
“It makes me look cool.” Kakashi tilts his head.
It’s a clever deflection, said to keep Naruto from digging any more, and it works.
“Haa?” Naruto makes a face. “But you don’t look cool at all!”
“Naruto,” Iruka warns tiredly. “No need to be rude.”
The 12 year old pouts and pulls at Iruka’s sweater impatiently.
“He’s weird, Iruka, let’s go back inside.”
Iruka sends an apologetic smile Kakashi’s direction just as the boy starts to pull harder.
“Naruto, stop pulling on my sweater. Let me say goodbye.”
Naruto lets go but crosses his arms, looking like a much younger child about to have a tantrum. Iruka sighs wearily, and turns back to Kakashi, who’s been staring at Naruto curiously.
“My offer stands, by the way.” He says, watching as Kakashi’s head snaps up to look at him. “If you need anything, just let me know. I’ll see you later, Kakashi.”
With that he takes his leave, grabbing Naruto by the ear and dragging him back into his apartment.
Naruto yells so loudly he couldn’t hear the click Kakashi’s door closing even if he had strained his ears. He doesn’t turn around to check either way.
Naruto’s still pouting and rubbing his ear an hour later, so Iruka caves and pulls out three ramen packets. The kid brightens up instantly, going from petulant to practically vibrating with excitement in less than a second.
They’re halfway through their meal when Naruto speaks again.
“You’re neighbor is weird.” He states, and Iruka is about to lecture him for being rude again when the 12 year old continues. “But he’s also really sad.” A pause. “I think it’s a good thing you’re here, teach. I think he needs you. And...”
Iruka raises an eyebrow as Naruto trails off.
“And?” He prompts. Naruto makes a face, choosing his words carefully before continuing, which is almost as surprising as the thing he says.
“Maybe you need him too.”
—
Kakashi stares at the bag of cookies for half a day before caving.
The cookies are good. Really good.
He eats three before he notices the note, tucked into the bottom of the bag.
He unfolds it curiously, eyebrows drawing together as he starts to read.
Kakashi , it starts, in a loose script that could only be Iruka’s. You’ve been quiet since we talked, so I wanted to make sure you knew you could come to me if you wanted. No pressure or anything, but I’m here. I hope your days get better.
It’s signed Iruka , and, underneath the signature, was a phone number.
Kakashi feels his heart stop in his chest for a full three minutes before he so much as moves.
He shakes his head after a while, blinking away his surprise. Surely Iruka was just being nice, he shouldn’t get so worked up about it. It wasn’t even like Kakashi was super interested anyway, his neighbor was just attractive. Very attractive. And kind. And a really good baker. And a teacher. And-
Kakashi groans, burying his head in his hands on top of the counter.
Christ, who was he kidding? He was fucking screwed .
He wanted to scream at himself. Of course this would happen. Of course he would like a guy so obviously out of his league it wasn’t even funny.
“Fuck.” he says out loud, causing Pakkun to look up and over at him from his position on the couch. Kakashi could almost hear the pug’s question when their eyes met.
“Sorry.” he apologizes. “I just....don’t know what to do. About this….About Iruka.”
Pakkun stares at him pointedly for a little longer before letting out a big doggie sigh and laying back down, content to laze around for a little longer.
Kakashi lets out a sigh of his own and grimaces. He might as well text the other man and thank him. It’d already been a couple hours since the man had come by and he didn’t want to seem rude by not texting at all. He pulls out his phone and punches in the number, saving the contact under Iruka and pausing after that.
Wai, what the hell was he supposed to say, anyway?
He paces for a bit, sits down, stands up, paces some more, becomes so distracted he accidentally steps on Bisuke’s paw, apologizes profusely, gives belly rubs to make up for his mistake, remembers the task at hand and then starts pacing again.
It takes him a while to get there, but eventually Kakashi types out a quick Thanks for the cookies -k and hits send. Not the most eloquent of messages, but it was the best he got.
Now it was back to pacing again, though this time Kakashi was anxious for the other man’s response.
He likes Iruka, and hopes to god he isn’t too awkward in the coming conversation to ruin his chances of ever getting close to the other man.
Despite his nerves, Kakashi feels a thrill of excitement go up his spine when his phone buzzes a minute later.
from: iruka
hey! no problem! what’d you think?
from: kakashi
you should become a baker for a living
they’re really good
from: iruka
haha thank you!! i’m glad you enjoyed it i wasn’t sure if i made them right
naruto liked them but i don’t exactly trust that kid’s judgement when it comes to food
from: kakashi
was that the kid with you earlier?
from: iruka
oh yeah sorry i didn’t introduce you two. he’s a student of mine from a couple years ago
he’s a good kid but needs better manners as you’ve probably noticed. sorry about that btw
from: kakashi
nah it’s fine lol. i’ve gotten worse comments on my appearance than a 12 year old calling me uncool
—
Kakashi was at band practice the next week, the three of them taking a quick break from practice to chill out in Tenzou’s living room. Kakashi had brought Bisuke with him and was sprawled out in the armchair with the dog on his lap, absolutely sitting the wrong way , while Tenzou idly surfed the TV channels . His feet were up and resting on Gai’s lap as the other man recounted a story of something that’d happened at work the other day.
Gai was a teacher at a mixed martial arts school downtown and was constantly trying to get Kakashi to apply for a job there. Despite Gai being older than him by a year or two, the both of them were pretty evenly matched when they sparred, and Gai never let him forget it.
That is, unfortunately, yet another reason why he calls Kakashi his “Esteemed Rival” and all that.
Gai was halfway into an animated retelling of a situation between two of his students, Rock Lee and Neji Hyūga, when Kakashi’s phone buzzes loudly on the coffee table.
Everyone goes completely still for about five seconds as they all process this. Kakashi deeply regrets leaving his phone out in the open. The only texts he’d ever received before about a week ago were exclusively from the two people sitting in the room with him currently. Three things happen at the same time :
- Tenzou’s head snaps up to stare at Kakashi in stunned confusion before he abruptly asks “Who’s texting you?”
- Gai, eyebrows raising in surprise, snatches Kakashi’s phone off the coffee table
- Kakashi falls off the armchair in a desperate attempt to grab his phone before Gai could, taking a yelping Bisuke down with him.
The noise Kakashi makes upon hitting the floor is embarrassing, but not nearly as embarrassing as Gai looking up from the screen of his phone and asking, a sly look in eye, who Iruka was.
“No one.” Kakashi snaps immediately, already defensive. “Give me my phone back.”
“It’s obviously not no one,” Tenzou points out. “Otherwise you wouldn’t be on the floor right now.”
“Give me my phone back.” Kakashi ignores Tenzou and pushes Bisuke off his lap, sitting up in order to lunge at Gai, who easily maneuvers out of the way, eyes focusing back on Kakashi’s phone screen.
“If He’s No One, Kakashi,” Gai fixes Kakashi with a look . “Then Why is he Inviting you To A Most Casual Dinner at His Apartment?”
Kakashi freezes at that.
“He’s what?” he blurts out, caught completely by surprise at that.
“‘I made too much food tonight, Naruto and I can’t eat it all. IDK if you’ve eaten yet but there’s a plate for you here if you want it.’” Gai reads out loud and Kakashi feels his face heat up at the looks both his friends are giving him after that and he shrugs noncommittally.
“So what?” He snaps, crossing his arms. “He’s just a nice guy. It doesn’t mean anything.”
Bisuke licks the side of his face and gives Kakashi a look .
“Do you want it to?” Tenzou asks carefully, after a pause.
Kakashi stares resolutely at the floor and doesn’t answer.
Gai sighs loudly and hands Kakashi his phone back.
“Your Silence is More of An Answer than You Wish it to Be, Dear Rival.” he says firmly, sounding exasperated.
“Yeah, and?” Kakashi snaps. “What does it matter if I want it to be more? That’s not going to change anything when it comes down to it. He’ll still be kind, and handsome, and caring, and I’ll just be-” His frown deepens. “I’ll just be me .”
He takes a deep breath and clenches his eyes shut for two seconds. He hadn’t wanted to reveal that much. He usually had better self control than that but there’s something about Iruka that makes him slip up.
Kakashi sighs and rubs at his face over the mask before standing up.
“Kakashi-“ Tenzou starts, cutting off when Gai rests a hand on the other man’s shoulder.
“Let it go.”
Both Kakashi and Tenzou look at the man in surprise.
“Don’t worry about it,” Gai has a wicked grin on his face, and Kakashi suddenly feels like he missed something big. “Our dear Kakashi has somewhere much more important to be, anyway.”
Tenzou lets out a snort and something clicks in Kakashi’s head a second later.
“You fucking- “
He cuts himself off, unlocking his phone quickly and opening the messages app, swearing as soon as he sees his most recent message.
from: kakashi
YES I WOULD LOVE DINNER! THANK YOU IRUKA! I WILL BE HOME SOON!
“Oh, fuck you-“
Gai laughs out loud at Kakashi’s reaction, ignoring the death glare he’s sent in favor of slapping his knee like an old man.
Kakashi swears again when the phone in his hands alerts him to a new message.
from: iruka
….. is everything alright???
Kakashi flushes bright red under his mask and smacks Gai hard on the back of his head.
from: kakashi
fuck sorry my friend stole my phone and texted you that
from: iruka
haha okay that makes sense
no pressure cause idk if your friend answered yes against ur will but do you still want to come?
it’s okay if you don’t wanna, i know you’re probably busy
Kakashi slaps Gai away so he can’t look over his shoulder anymore and frowns. Something about Iruka’s last message seemed really...sad. Like he expected Kakashi to say no.
from: kakashi
i’m not busy enough to miss free food and hanging out w u
i’ll be there
He looks up at Gai and Tenzou, who raise their eyebrows at him, not saying anything, and then at Bisuke, who thumps his tail loudly against the floor.
“Do you mind if I….?” Kakashi mumbles out, embarrassed, looking away.
“Good Lord , Kakashi,” Tenzou’s eyes all but roll out of his head. “Of course you can leave. We were probably just gonna eat and play mario kart anyway.”
Gai gives him an unapologetic smile and a thumbs up.
“Ah, to be Young and In Love!” he yells dramatically, causing Kakashi to choke loudly and turn an even brighter shade of red.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he grumbles, turning away to pack up his guitar. “I barely know the guy. And you’re like... two years older than me, what’s all this crap about me being ‘young’?”
“We may be Physically Close in Age, My Esteemed Rival, but You are Younger in Affairs of the Heart!”
Kakashi shoots his friend a vicious glare as he slips on his shoes.
“What does that even mean -”
“It means you should get your ass in gear before this Iruka guy lets your food get cold.” Tenzou says wearily, quickly shooing Kakashi out the front door before he can get another word in, Bisuke trotting happily at his heels. “Have fun, ‘Kashi. You need it.”
And with that, Tenzou closes the door in his face. Kakashi would be offended by their quick removal of him if he hadn’t also known that they’d been pretty worried about him lately. He hadn’t shown interest in another person for a very long time.
Gai and Tenzou were the only two people he’d let into his life: Tenzou only because he had gone through his own shit and knew when to leave well enough alone, and Gai was…well, Gai. He'd just shown up one day and never left.
Kakashi thinks back to the night on the deck, thinks back to how Iruka had sounded when he told him if you need anything, i’m here .
To him, Kakashi was a drunk stranger that had kept him from sleeping by playing guitar a couple weeks earlier- they weren’t friends. That had only been their second real conversation.
But Iruka had sounded so sincere , like he actually wanted Kakashi to know that he would be willing to help if needed, which was utterly baffling.
“I hope I don’t fuck this up,” he tells Bisuke nervously. “I don’t want him to hate me.”
The dog gives him an exasperated look before setting off down the street in the direction of their and Iruka’s apartment building.
Kakashi laughs, shaking his head, and starts walking.