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wind-becomes-lightning · 2 years

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Homecoming v.2

...get it.. because the first chapter of my long form sayuri fic is called "homecoming" and this would be version 2... funny... no you dont get it.. thats ok...

Day 6! :) Uh, I had sooo much on my mind for this one and i shortened it quite some so it wouldn't get out of hand. But there is sooo much still in my brain that will never come out. Classic "In my head AU"

Blink and you miss it reference to @depressedhatakekakashi's Yua because when I thought of this scenario and where Kakashi possibly could have gone, she would not leave my mind.

Uchiha Sayuri is this bitch

Role Reversal Au (but not like a total role reversal, Sayuri still has her scumbag father)

Rated M (there is mention of domestic abuse in here)

4116 words

for @narutoocshipweek Day 6: Role Reversal.

On an Anbu mission out of town Sayuri stood face to face with a ghost.

She didn’t need more than one look to realise who she had stumbled upon, the hair silver grey and white as it used to be, the uncovered eye lazy and disinterested. He was tall now, yes, stronger, larger, but he was still the same. No matter how many years she hadn’t seen him, she still felt hot now that she was back in his presence.

That Hatake Kakashi hadn’t died wasn’t a secret to her. In fact, she hadn’t thought him dead the moment he had run away. Kakashi was not a shinobi of second class. He had been Jounin at the age of 12 and not for no reason. No, Sayuri hadn’t believed what people had told her that he had died when he ran away from his shame and anger and disappointment. Neither had Rin, for what it was all worth. All of them had strongly believed that he was still alive somewhere, holding on, doing whatever it was that took his mind off things. But as years passed many lost their belief, even Gai after a while thought it must have been true. If Kakashi were still alive he would have sent them a message by name, he would have to have a reputation. There weren’t many people with sharingans running around.

But Sayuri had always known that he was still alive and around somewhere. At least since the mark on her wrist appeared and branded her. Soulmates were a weird concept that she could not wrap her head around until it was suddenly there. Three little symbols on her 14th birthday marking his name on her left hand. She couldn't exactly tell people that she knew he was still alive. Also because part of her wished to never see him again after everything, Rin dying, Kushina dying….. She didn’t feel like explaining this to him.

Running from him forever however just put her right here in this place with him. He was wearing armour, his hair long and pulled back in a tiny ponytail not unlike the way his father had worn it when he had come back from whatever place he had travelled to that had kept him from Konoha as long as it did. Back when he appeared with a child but without a wife and refused to talk about the circumstances. Sayuri of course had not yet been born back then, but her father had complained about it often enough.

Kakashi’s eyes shot up as if he could feel her stare on his face and their eyes met for the first time in almost 10 years. His were still as grey as ever and hers were the signature black that the Uchiha genes provided. He nodded and Sayuri nodded back. What else was there to do? She slid over to his table and sat down on the opposite side without asking if it was alright with him, placing her Anbu mask on the table next to her.

“Your mask is a dog”, Kakashi stated without introduction or hello or other conversation starter. “That’s a fun twist of fate is it not?”

She didn’t feel like telling him that it was a Hound, which was yes, a dog, but bigger, and that yes, she had picked it because she had remembered his dog pack back from when she was young, instead a million other questions swirled around in her mind. And though she should have maybe asked “Where were you?” or “Why didn’t you message us that you were alright?” or “What the hell are you wearing?” The words she settled on were more personal and expressed a deep pain in her heart that she had maybe always felt, but that was definitely bubbling to the surface now.

“Why did you leave me?”

This was probably not the right thing to ask, seeing as Kakashi hadn’t left her personally. He had just left their village, their teachers, their friends -one of whom happened to be Sayuri. But it felt like a direct slide to her, now that teachers and friends had died or moved on, she could not help but feel angry and disappointed at it. Here he was, all grown up and healthy and happy from the looks of it and that stung more than she could admit out loud.

Kakashi waved to the barman and he brought two sake cups to place before either of them. He drank the entire cup before he spoke, throwing the long hair into his face. He wasn’t wearing a hitai-ate anymore, but his sharingan eye was covered by a thin bandana bearing rune-like symbols that Sayuri had never seen. He sighed deeply: “You must have known I was still alive out there.”

Not a reply to her question, he was just evading what she had accused him of. Of course, he was aware she had known he was still alive. Sayuir’s eyes darted to her left wrist that was at the moment covered under her thick black gloves and then to his hands, which too were behind gloves. If she had his name it meant that he had hers. At least theoretically.

“You could have contacted me”, she now said and the words were bitter on her tongue. Kakashi just shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “I did not think I had anything to say”, he replied and sounded like a spoiled little child.

Sayuri took her own sake cup and drowned it down, filled it and downed it again. “Gai thought you were dead”, she said bitterly. “Does that mean nothing to you?”

“You could have always told him.”

He must have known well enough by now that the soulmate marks were only visible to oneself, and, at least that's what the legend said, to your soulmate. So Sayuri had tried and failed to inform Gai about Kakashi’s wearabouts, had told him she was sure he was still out there, without mentioning her mark, but Gai had always assumed she was just telling him things to please him. “You don’t have to lie to me, Sayuri. It is ok. I am quite fine.” It had been a hopeless case. Even though he’d been away, there was no way Kakashi didn’t understand that.

“Oh yeah, that would have been so easy, you got me”, she spit out and moved her head away. “Still, I thought you’d be more interested in knowing how we are all doing.”

She noticed that he was wearing a tiny Hatake symbol on his frontal plate. It reminded her a little of the Uchiha crest her father wanted her to wear underneath her ANBU armour plate as if it made a difference. She had objected of course, to no avail. Everybody in ANBu was supposed to know which clan she belonged to first and foremost. IT was disgusting actually.

“I was. But I don’t think I could have just returned after I was away for so many years. Don’t you think they would have asked questions?” Kakashi said and he was obviously right. Had he returned after he was declared dead he could have been seen as a threat to the village. Especially if his answers about where he was and why he didn’t give notice were unsatisfactory.

“But then again, I’m not sure Minato-sensei would have done that to me”, he continued musing. “He did have a soft spot for me anyway… I assume MInato-sensei did end up becoming Hokage, right?”

Of course, Sayuri laughed which gained her a confused look by her opposite, he did not know that they died. Why should he? But that also meant he was in a place so cut off from the outside world that he hadn’t heard about the Kyuubi. He must also not know about Rin, about the other changes in the world. It was so hard to believe that he was away so long and so thoroughly that he missed the death of two of his most important people.

Sayuri emptied another cup of sake. That was three in quick succession and she was well on her way to getting blackout drunk. Maybe that was the only way she could deal with this situation right now, she thought. “Minato is dead. So is Kushina-sensei and….” Her voice broke before she could name Rin.

Kakashi’s eye went wide, she could see him breathe in and out below his mask. “Died?” His voice was quieter and he copied her and emptied a cup of sake. Who knew how many he had had at this point.

“When I was 13, yes. The nine-tailed fox attacked the village and killed both of them. They left behind a baby son”, Sayuri explained and remembered that night. The screams, the chaos, the specific instructions that they were not allowed to help the fighting shinobi. She had just recently joined ANBU on Kushina’s encouragement and felt utterly helpless and horrible. And then the persecution of the Uchiha made her father even more unhinged than he already was…

“You know if you’d contact me once you saw the burn mark on your wrist, then you’d maybe know about them dying”, she said in anger and tapped with her finger next to his left hand. Kakahi pulled the hand away as if she had burned it and frowned: “I was not able to contact anybody at that age. I’m sorry to hear of their death….”

He really seemed like he meant it. “Whatever”, Sayuri said. “Their son looks exactly like Minato, he keeps the village on its toes. Not that I could take care of a child - can’t even take care of myself…”

It was weird sitting there with him and drinking sake cup after sake cup with a long lost friend. The guy she used to crush on when she was younger and more naive. He looked so similar to the version of him that had been dominating her mind, but he was so different. The lines around his eyes were deeper and his facial structure was more mature. Also his voice, of course, his voice had dropped down and was now naturally vibrant, filling her ears and echoing off her insides. He looked good, well fed, well grown, not a mess like she was. And that, above all, pissed her off.

“So you have been doing well for yourself, huh, have enjoyed some fruitful years”, Sayuri said coldly, gesturing to his belly as if there was any fat there to make fun of. It was a petty thing to be mean about, of course and untrue on top, but she felt petty.

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders: “You Uchiha have always been a major pain in my ass, really. It was so quiet with none of you around.” Now he was being petty back at her.

“Oh yeah?! Well you have my brother’s sharingan eye, so show a bit of respect to my family!” Sayuri screamed a little louder than really necessary. Kakashi pulled a brow and she could read the question on his face before he even said it. No Sayuri’s connection to her family had not deepend, no she still despised the fact that she had been born into the Uchiha clan. Using them to win an argument was stupid. Idiotic. Childish.

It was even worse because now people’s heads turned over and put Kakashi into their lenses. A shinobi running around with a sharingan eye for the taking was not usual, especially if they weren’t actually part of the Uchiha clan. Sayuri could clearly feel the eyes of all of them aimed at their table and could sense the killing intent polluting the air.

“Let’s go into my room”, Kakashi hissed quickly and grabbed her, before she could stop him from it. She had just about time to grab her mask before he dragged her up the stairs into a small room with a tiny futon and a kimono folded over a bamboo chair. At least that answered the question that she hadn’t asked and showed her that he did not always wear this weird armour outfit.

He let go of her hand and she laughed a little cruelly: “Can’t you defend yourself anymore? Did the last ten years make you weak?” Kakashi turned his head, it was a little red with anger. “I didn’t want to cause a scene, something you should understand or not? Anbu squad leader Dog” Kakashi said back and a shadow fell over his eyes.

“Hound, actually.” Sayuri shrugged her shoulders theatrically: “Wouldn’t have surprised me if you had not been able to do something about them. You don’t at all seem like the person you were when you were a child.” She looked up and his icy glare met hers. “I mean except the part of you not caring about your friends and comrades. You were good at that already when you were ten.” She grinned a lopsided grin and knew she was now dangerously close to crossing a line.

“I do care about my friends and comrades,” Kakashi growled between gritted teeth.

“Ohhh, well if that would be the case, why didn’t you send a message? At least to me?”

“Why do you think you are entitled to have me message you? Why do you think of all the people that I trusted, you were the one I would tell where I went and what I did? You were only a pain in my ass most of my childhood, “ Kakashi’s eyes now were alight with a fury that ignited her own.

Without saying a word she ripped her arm protection off her arms and pulled her gloves down. All of it fell to the floor with a loud clunk and she pushed her wrist into his face: “Because of this! Because I felt like you would want to talk to me about this. Was this nothing to you?” The skin below her left wrist was burned in like the tattoo on her left arm. Three tiny symbols were visible right beneath it and it had Kakashi’s name on it. He looked down on it and stretched his left hand. Then he looked up at her arm.

Sayuri was full of bruises, it was the way she was. Her missions took a toll on her and she was clumsy when she was distracted. Kakashi touched the arm, let his thumb run from her wrist to her elbow and up her arm to her sleeves. He was surprisingly gentle when handling the wounds and his first direct touch in many years made her blush against her will.

“Who did this to you?”, he asked with a grumble and picked up her other arm to inspect her bruises. She bit her lower lip. There was this inclination to lie to him. It could have been so easy- she lied to her subordinate Tenzo all the time about it. The reality was embarrassing and terrible and a little hard to admit to herself. But somehow she couldn't bring herself to lie to Kakashi specifically. She squirmed: “I came home late recently”, she explained. “He did not like it.”

“You father?” Kakashi asked and his eyes went wide again. He grabbed her wrist so that his thumb hung over his own name. “He is still hitting you?” Sayuri nodded, though she did not look in his face. “You should be stronger than him now, right?” he seemed genuinely angry on her behalf, “Why don’t you put a stop to this?”

Sayuri tried to get out of his grip but he held onto her even tighter: “I don’t know! He is my father. I have nobody else. Maybe - Maybe - Maybe I deserve this..” She bit her tongue at the last part. She knew she’d said too much.

He seemed like a slow erupting volcano: “You don’t deserve this. He should not do this. I’ll- I’ll get him to stop…” She laughed a cold unforgiving laugh as a reply: “And how? You don’t even want to go back to the village. You could have helped me long ago, but it did not matter. Rin didn’t matter, Minato didn’t matter… Obito didn’t matter…” She dragged the last name out and knew she was hurting both of them by calling it.

His face went white and then red with anger. He stepped forward to press her back against the closed door. “Well I’m trying to help you now, am I not?”

“Don’t you think that's a little late?” she spit back.

“Sage, do you ever shut up?”

“Could ask you the damn same.”

They stared at each other, the air between them sizzling with electricity. He was still holding her wrist with his name under his fingers. Sayuri was breathing heavily now as if the air had suddenly gotten unbearably humid, which was so unusual for the country they were both in at the moment. She stared up at the grey eye and the bandana, and looked into the face of the man who used to be a boy that was her friend. Now he was just… Well, she did not know who he was.

Her fingers found his own left hand and without breaking eye contact she undressed his glove and let it fall to the ground. There were some new scars around his hands, from sharpening swords or kunais or whatever he had been doing, but when she looked down she could see the three symbols engraved there. Her heart jumped a little when she saw it was her name, even if she had known it before. Maybe deep down she’d still be scared that she was somehow misunderstanding this whole soulmate thing.

Strangely mirroring him she let her thumb run over her own name, gently holding his wrist between her fingers. Kakashi let her do this and watched her from overhead. Neither of them spoke for a bit, the fight seemingly on hold like they had both been put in a daze. Soulmate marks were odd and seemed to evade proper research. Nobody knew where they came from and why they appeared and disappeared. And nobody knew what incredible power they held once they were unified next to each other.

There was a pull right behind her ear, as if it was dragging her head upwards. Something magnetic was forcing Sayuri closer to him and she let it happen, let herself get dragged into his orbit. Kakashi too seemed to be pulled in by the gravity and he let go of her wrist to move finger mechanically up to his mask. They looked at each other one moment and Sayuri was confused and insecure and felt the weight of everything crushing and disappearing around her, but the next moment her eyes fell shut on their own and she just let whatever was happening happen.

Once as kids they had kissed, or rather, Sayuri had kissed Kakashi as a fun prank. It had been so long ago that she’d forgotten most about it other than the embarrassment she had felt after she’d done it and his shocked face. This was not like that time. It was like they had always done this, as if they had kissed each other a million times before this one. It was so easy, so intuitive and it felt like coming home from a long mission. Kakashi pushed forward into her and she let him, a little dazed at the taste of all of it, the encompassing feeling of melting away under the touch of someone else.

They got dragged underwater like in a spiral, hands grabbing each other greedily and fast as if there was sudden hunger involved. The leftover glove dropped and Sayuri who did not know how to get the armour off let her finger get guided by his hands until she figured the clips and slings out, while his mouth explored her cheeks, her neck and her shoulder. Neither of them spoke much other than affirmations and sighs and names. The world ceased to exist and there was only them and their pull to be as close as they possibly could.

Every of his touches felt like a flame moving up her skin, each of his kisses left a little bruise behind that did not sting like the others did. He was careful with her injuries, she found more and more scars on his body. Wherever this body had been in the last ten years, Kakashi had definitely looked after it even when he was injured. There were so many questions that needed answers, but right at this point she just let herself be undone by him. Maybe she should have been angry still, but she found herself unable to think and feel anything but the greatest desire.

Kakashi held her steady when they were done, both on their backs on the floorboards. They hadn’t walked to the futon that was not far from them and had instead stayed on the hard ground, unable to make it one more metre for more comfort. The wild feeling had not yet passed completely, but Sayuri could feel her breath calm under his embrace, could feel herself ease into the crook of his neck. It was like this place had always been her place and in some way this might be true. After all, they had been branded soulmates.

“Come with me”, he whispered into her ear suddenly and she opened her eyes to turn to him. She had pulled the bandana from his head and let his hair fly down over his face in her frency, but he had kept his sharingan eye pressed shut all through it. It made her smile to think that he felt like this moment was too private to share with Obito, no matter how much Kakashi must miss him.

Sayuri reached her hand forward and ran her fingers through his hair: “Come with you, where?” She still had no idea where he had lived most of these years and he had not told her about it.

“I was in the Land of Iron” Kakashi explained and Sayuri moved away from him a little. The samurai land? Getting in there was surprisingly hard and usually foreigners were killed on sight. If he had lived there for so many years he must have been very lucky. But on the other hand this would explain why he missed so much of the world news. The samurai were notoriously against engaging with the outside world. “Turns out my mother is still alive there” he continued.

“Y-your mother..” She blinked at him. It worked with the stories she had heard of Sakumo staying away for a few years and suddenly returning with a son and no woman to show for. Maybe she’d stayed there. Maybe she hadn’t been permitted to leave.

Kakashi nodded: “Yes, she was there. I travelled around on my own for a while and then I heard rumours. I did some searching and finally found my way into the Land of Iron, which was very dangerous of course. She protected me though as soon as I found her.”

Not surprising that his mother would be a strong, independent warrior, Sayuri thought and her mind’s eye showed her her only far long gone memory of her mother. “She will protect you too if I bring you, I swear.”

“I’m not sure… I have responsibilities and… subordinates… and Gai…” Sayuri thought of Tenzo, her number two, who was like a brother to her and all the others that had been in her graduating class. If she would also disappear suddenly it would just open old wounds again. She squirmed away from him a little more, though his hand kept hold of her hips.

Kakashi smiled and she saw the kindness in his eyes: “If you want to contact them, we could do that. You could write them all about this, if you want. As long as you leave my mother out, at least for now.” He put his forehead against hers. “I just want you to be safe from him.”

Sayuri touched her own arm and let her own fingers run over the bruises. Her father would probably not care if she’d disappear. He would assume she had died and feel better because of it. Her friends however would surely worry, no matter how worthless she sometimes thought she was. She looked up at Kakashi and knew that he was sincere with what he was saying.

Maybe this was her destiny. They had been marked as soulmates after all. She leaned up to kiss him and he held a hand against her cheek.

“Fine. Let’s go home together.”

#fanfiction things #oc: sayuri #narutoocshipweek2022 #naruto oc ship week 2022 #like sayuri is also the one who killed rin in this scenario #in my head both kakashi and obito saw it happen but kakashi was too far away to she WHO did it #so he just has the mangekyou but he doenst know that it was here #this could lead to future issues #also makes her guilty as hell #and thats why she got into anbu just like kakashi would have anyway #after that incident was when he went to the land of iron #thats not mentione dhere but that was sort of my idea #meow #yes im uploading this early because nobody reads these anyway so the timing does not matter #does a little dance

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shushmal · 4 years

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A pinch hit written for the @kkirzine! Leftover sales are almost over! Check it out here!

Sakumo’s face lights up, his lips turning up into a wide, excited smile. Kakashi’s hand is so small cupped between his father’s, one of his thumbs rubbing along the line of kanji on Kakashi’s skin. It doesn’t smear like ink but shines brightly as if it had just been brushed on. “The gods have blessed you,” he says, looking at Kakashi as if he couldn’t have been prouder. “Your soulmate was born today.”

“Oh,” is all Kakashi has to say about that, because he’s four and he’s really not sure what a soulmate even is.

Read it here on Ao3!

Kakashi’s four when he finds it. He’s pulling on his shirt by himself—because Kakashi’s not a baby anymore and only babies have to be dressed by their fathers—when he notices it. The black lines are stark against the creamy white of his wrist, and for a long moment Kakashi stares at it, confused.

“Otou,” he calls when he hears Sakumo walk by his door. “Did you write on me again?”

Sticking his head in the door, Sakumo raises his brow, his face open and indulgent. “What was that?”

“Did you write on me again?” Kakashi repeats, holding out his arm as his father crouches in front of him.

“Oh,” is all Kakashi has to say about that, because he’s four and he’s really not sure what a soulmate even is.

“It’s traditional to send a gift,” Sakumo adds, chuckling at his disinterest. “What would you like to give them?”

Kakashi thinks about it a moment, nose wrinkling under his mask. “Maybe a new kunai?” he says and pouts when Sakumo snorts.

“Well, they’re a baby right now,” Sakumo says, rolling Kakashi’s sleeve back down and fussing with Kakashi’s flyaway hair. “They won’t need kunai just yet.”

“It’s never too early for kunai,” Kakashi says, matter-of-fact. “Maybe a sword would be better, anyways.”

Sakumo actually tilts his head back and laughs with his full body.

Kakashi’s formal kimono is stiff and itchy and heavy, and he’s never worn it before today. But his father told him that they were having very special guests tonight and even paid the woman down the road to cook for them. Sakumo gently swats Kakashi’s hands away from his obi and fusses with Kakashi’s hair when it refuses to lay flat.

“Hatake-san,” Yua, their neighbor, says as she peeks around into the room. “Your guests are here.”

“Thank you, Yua-chan,” Sakumo says, pulling Kakashi into a more formal position on the floor. “Please show them in.”

“Who’s even here?” Kakashi grumbles as she turns away. “Why do I have to wear this?”

Sakumo presses his hand to Kakashi’s back, straightening his spine. “A good shinobi sits quiet and observes until the answers come to them,” he says, his voice chiding but gentle, and he smiles at Kakashi when he immediately falls silent and attentive.

Yua slides open the doors, presenting a man and a woman, both kneeling at the threshold. Together, they bow low, and it’s then that Kakashi notices the baby in the woman’s arms.

“Hatake-san,” the man says, his voice almost too soft to carry. “Thank you for your invitation.”

His hand still at Kakashi’s back, Sakumo bows just as deeply, Kakashi mirroring him. “Umino-san, welcome to our home.”

Umino-san smiles nervously at them when they rise, hands twisting in his kimono, but his wife is smiling. “If it’s fine with you Hatake-san, let’s skip all this formality,” she says. “Hatake-kun, come meet Iruka!”

“Kohari!” Umino-san hisses, embarrassed, but the woman just grins, beckoning Kakashi over.

Kakashi, stunned, looks at his father, but Sakumo nudges him forward. “Go on,” he says, and Kakashi goes.

Sitting up, Kohari adjusts the bundle in her arms as Kakashi approaches. In the folds of the blankets is a round little face, smooth in sleep, with a thick tuft of hair on his head. “This is Iruka,” Kohari says as Kakashi bends closer to see. “Please be good friends with him and take care of him in the future.”

Looking from her to the baby in her arms, Kakashi nods hesitantly, saying nothing. Kohari isn’t put off at all, gently shifting her baby until she can show Kakashi his arm, chubby and round with baby fat. Kakashi’s whole focus narrows down, the world fading away. At this moment, the only people that exist are this strange woman and the baby in her arms, because there, on Iruka’s delicate skin, is Kakashi’s name in the same bold letters, almost too big for the tiny wrist cradled in Kohari’s hand.

“He’ll grow big and strong,” Kohari says. “One day he’ll be a formidable shinobi, just like his mom and dad, and he’ll make you an excellent partner, Hatake-kun.”

Iruka wakes as she talks, blinking too-big eyes sleepily. His eyes are a deep, warm brown, and they focus on Kakashi, unblinking. Kakashi can see Kohari smile out of the corner of his eye.

“Iruka-chan,” she coos. “This is your soulmate. Say hello!”

Iruka gurgles back, a high, childish pitch, and he waves his arm at Kakashi, fingers grasping. Kakashi reaches up without a thought, and Iruka’s hand wraps around one finger, already calloused and scarred from regular throwing practice.

Sakumo leans in close over Kakashi’s shoulder, a steadying hand at his son’s back. “Always remember him, Kakashi,” he says softly. “Always remember how blessed you are.”

It’s only a few months later that Sakumo is dead.

Umino-san and Kohari still knock on his door to see him, or to leave him groceries and gifts. But Kakashi is a soldier. Things like family, like love are useless to someone like Kakashi.

They never stop coming by for nearly ten years. And when they stop, Kakashi barely notices—the loss of his sensei, his Hokage and commander, leaving him numb. By the time Iruka even crosses his mind, he’s graduated from the academy, an independent kid with his own life. And Kakashi feels he has no right to invade it.

But if he leaves a few vegetables on Iruka’s windowsill, then that’s just for Kakashi to know.

When ANBU get hurt, there are no emergency contacts made for them. But for a regular shinobi, soulmates are the first notified in the event of a hospitalization. Kakashi’s soulmate is an academy teacher though, and he’s glad for it, that the most danger Iruka faces is a few badly thrown shuriken.

So when he appears in Iruka’s hospital room in the dead of night, he already feels wrong-footed and Iruka is already glaring at him from where he’s face down on the mattress.

“Visiting hours are over,” he hisses.

“Maa, I just thought you could use some company,” Kakashi says, probably the first real thing he’s said to his soulmate since the day he was born.

Iruka’s eyes soften a fraction, because Kakashi’s voice is a little weak, shaken, and he sighs. “I guess that’s fine then.”

Kakashi can separate his life in chapters of a book: the prologue he’s forgotten and many chapters of death that make up his history. But now, Kakashi thinks he might like this new chapter dedicated to his students, and to Iruka’s smile that grows more familiar as the months pass.

“How do you get him to stop?” Kakashi whines from where he’s buried his face in his arms.

Sipping from his coffee, Iruka gives Kakashi a thousand-yard stare of a man who has twenty-three kids to teach as opposed to Kakashi’s three. “You don’t. You distract him.”

“I’m running out of cool jutsu though!”

“Don’t you have like a thousand?”

“That number is highly exaggerated, it’s more like high seven-hundreds.”

“That’s still a lot!”

“And yet I’m still running out!”

Iruka has a snorting, ugly laugh. Kakashi thinks he loves it. “Wanna go on a date Saturday night?”

“God no,” Iruka says, wrinkling his nose. “That’s my only chance to get a decent night’s sleep. I plan on passing out for a solid twelve hours.”

“Lucky,” Kakashi sighs, finally lifting his head from the table. “We have a mission Sunday morning.”

“Sucks for you.” Iruka’s smile is the exact opposite of sympathetic as he stands, shouldering his bag and draining his coffee. “Well, I need to get to the missions room. See you next week.”

“Maa, I don’t even get a kiss good-bye?”

Iruka slaps his back hard as he walks past, sending Kakashi sprawling across the table. “Nope!”

Kakashi lands in Iruka’s windowsill with a heavy thump and rattling of glass.

“I don’t have time,” Iruka says, not even looking up from the papers. “I have exams and homework to grade and I’m behind because the Hokage—”

“Iruka.”

Iruka takes one look at him and immediately shepherds Kakashi to the couch. Kakashi strips off his vest and gloves with a sound of disgust, burying his face in his hands when Iruka disappears into his kitchen to put the kettle on.

“Do you have something stronger than tea?” Kakashi calls.

The soft thump of the sake bottle set on the table rouses him, and Kakashi gives Iruka a grateful stare before he pulls down his mask and takes a long draw, straight from the bottle. The alcohol burns its way down his throat, tasteless and cheap and exactly what Kakashi needs right now.

“Buy me something nicer to replace it,” Iruka says.

“As long as I get to drink it with you.”

Smiling, Iruka sits down beside him with two cups of ramen, which Kakashi really doesn’t want, but it is the spicy kind that he likes best.

“Marry me.”

“Not on your life.”

“Iruka-sensei,” Kakashi whines. Inwardly, he’s surprised he’s gotten close enough without getting stabbed. Iruka ignores him and continues stomping home. “Please, just hear me out.”

“I’m sorry, Jounin-sama, but I really need to get home.”

Kakashi tightens his arms around Iruka’s shoulders until he can haul himself up enough to wrap his legs around the man’s waist. Iruka doesn’t even stumble, carrying Kakashi’s full weight easily. It’s incredibly hot. “At least let me apologize!”

Iruka pauses. “You’re going to apologize?”

“Yes, please.”

Huffing, Iruka elbows Kakashi off his back and faces him. “Alright, let’s hear it.”

Dropping into a perfect ninety-degree bow, Kakashi says formally, “I am very sorry for not taking your concerns seriously and for not speaking to you as an equal.” Iruka splutters in front of him. “Furthermore, I apologize for embarrassing you in front of our colleagues and the Hokage. It was wrong of me to—”

“Okay, okay!” Iruka says hastily, grabbing Kakashi by the shoulders and righting him forcefully. “I didn’t need all that.”

Smiling, Kakashi shrugs. “I figured I should be serious.”

“It’s awkward,” Iruka says, flustered, his arms crossed in front of him. “I apologize as well, for not trusting your judgment.”

Kakashi dares to take a step closer. “Call it a truce?”

Iruka eyes him from the side for a moment, before sighing. “Fine. But don’t come crying to me when it all blows up in your face.”

“Are you an idiot?”

Kakashi looks up from his book, completely unphased by the shouting or the nurse’s surprised squeak. “Why, if it isn’t the love of my life,” Kakashi coos as Iruka stomps towards him.

“Shut up,” Iruka snaps, coming to a stop right in front of Kakashi. “Really? Ebisu?!”

“Maa, I just,” Kakashi starts, and knows he has to be careful here, “Naruto struggles with the basics, and he really needs to master them to catch up to Sasuke and Sakura. Not that I’m making a comment on your teaching methods, Iruka-sensei—”

“I know that!” Kakashi takes the knock to the head with dignity. Iruka pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. “Naruto’s always struggled, but he works hard and has really come a long way.”

Rubbing the lump on his head, Kakashi glares at him. “Then, why are you so upset?”

“He won’t take Naruto’s training seriously!”

“Really?” Kakashi hums, tilting his head back to gaze at the ceiling. “He seemed honored by my request and has already run his training schedule by me.”

Iruka stops grinding his teeth long enough to consider Kakashi balefully. “You actually reviewed it?”

Kakashi pouts. “Of course I did, Iruka-sensei. Naruto-chan is my precious student after all.”

That earns him a kick to the shin, but the line of Iruka’s shoulders relax. “You should still pay him more attention, you know?” Iruka says with a huff. “He looks up to you.”

“He’s not my problem child at the moment,” Kakashi admits, tilting his head to acknowledge Iruka’s curious gaze. “Maa, I may be out of town for a bit, sensei. Do I get a good-bye kiss?”

Iruka kicks him again. “No way.”

“So violent,” Kakashi says. “You sure you won’t marry me?”

Iruka doesn’t even bother to respond.

Kakashi doesn't startle when Iruka flips the light on while he's haphazardly laying across Iruka's couch. Iruka is still in his funeral clothes, looking worse for wear. Kakashi shifts just a bit, and Iruka flips the lights back off before he sprawls across Kakashi, tangling their legs together. Kakashi wraps him up and rolls him to the side until Iruka’s pressed between the back of the sofa and Kakashi’s front. They don’t say a word, even as the night passes between them, silent and dark.

Naruto’s been gone for nearly five months when Iruka falls into the booth beside Kakashi, making the table rattle. He easily joins the conversation that Kakashi was ignoring, like water flowing into the ocean, laughing along with everyone else. But he’s a warm line along Kakashi’s side, pressed thigh to thigh, their elbows bumping comfortably together.

When the bartender yells for the last call, Iruka hooks his arm with Kakashi’s and drags him outside.

“Sensei,” Kakashi starts as they leave the bustle of nightlife behind them. They walk with their steps synced, their arms around each other. He thinks they would look like a couple if he could see them outside himself, so in love they can’t be separated even to walk home together. “Isn’t it a school night?”

“Actually, I have tomorrow off,” Iruka says. Kakashi turns his head enough to glance the smile on his face. “Are you free?”

“For you,” Kakashi says. “Always.”

Iruka snorts inelegantly. Kakashi loves that about him. “Then, would you like to go on a date?”

Kakashi straightens his spine from his slouch, jostling Iruka beside him. “I thought this was a date!” He shouts, indignant, to cover his shock and Iruka’s laughter.

“Dates end in kisses,” Iruka chuckles. By now, they’ve made it to Kakashi’s front door and he finally realizes that Iruka’s walked him home. “Though I guess, since you’re my soulmate,” he says, like an afterthought as he turns to stand in front of him. “I’ll make an exception.”

He pulls Kakashi’s mask down and kisses Kakashi. For years and years, Kakashi has felt on edge, teetering on his toes, but kissing Iruka is like finding solid ground again. He chases that warmth when Iruka shies away, and whimpers when Iruka meets him again, open-mouthed and wanting. Kakashi wonders if this is what being whole feels like.

“There,” Iruka says, a little breathless, his lips cherry red and shining. He’s looking at Kakashi with smiling eyes, and it feels like standing in the summer sun.

“Marry me,” Kakashi croaks, and it’s worth the embarrassment to watch Iruka laugh.

“Maybe later,” Iruka says against his lips, smiling.

#naruto #naruto fanfic #kakairu #kkir #kakairu fanfic #kkir zine #my fic #shush mal #uwu

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