Fate of an ANBU: Chapter 24
Once I finish Fate over on ff.net, I'll post a link so anyone who wants to read it all at once can. Until then, just know it's there if you want to read it.
So, here is Chapter 24. I'm posting 25 in a few minutes.
Egh, I don't love this update. I originally wrote the scene out during an AP exam and loved it, but, of course, you don't get to KEEP things you write during AP exams, and I never could get it quite right the second time... ah well. I'm sure the APUSH graders enjoyed reading the original, at any rate :)
The days and weeks passed slowly. Kakashi recovered physically, his status changing from incapacitated to merely injured. He started physical therapy that Iruka helped him with, since he flat out refused to leave the house for anything, not even check ups. The psych nin still came once a week, with medics twice a week, and Kakashi did begin to recover- mentally. Slowly, yes, so slowly it was at the pace of a sloth, but it was a recovery. His mood swings were continued, but his depressed, frightened moods began to get less common, and he seemed less innocently childlike on the rare occasion that he was struck by a bout of oddly disturbing happiness.
But every time that Iruka thought Kakashi was really making progress, it would start all over again.
The pattern was impossible not to notice- every time the psych nin had a session with Kakashi, his progress would rewind and reset almost completely.
Iruka wasn't allowed to sit in on the sessions anymore. He would've protested, but Kakashi hadn't seemed very against it.
When Kakashi was woken- and Iruka, as well- by a nightmare for the fourth time that night after one of the sessions, though, he'd decided he had had enough. Those dammed sessions were supposed to be helping, not hurting.
When the medic came the next day, Iruka insisted that the psych nin come back so that he could speak to him. He refused to take no for an answer, and Karena only held out for five minutes before she agreed.
The psych nin, Dari, came by quickly enough, while Karena was still busy with Kakashi. Iruka made sure Kakashi didn't know what was going on before going to talk with Dari, doing everything he could to keep his temper under control.
"I want to know what you're doing to Kakashi during your sessions. Whatever it is, it's making him worse, not better, and I want to know what it is."
Dari didn't seem very intimidated by him- none of the ANBU ever did- but the fact that he was there at all proved that he was not someone the ANBU wanted to blow off. That, in and of itself, was good.
Dari just shrugged in response to his question, face just as blank as if he'd been wearing his ANBU mask. "A regimen I designed to reach Lion-sama's objective the fastest. Negative side effects are to be expected."
Iruka narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Lion? His objective? …I don't like the sound of that. "And what exactly is Lion-sama's objective?"
Dari frowned, as if it should be obvious. He paused before answering, but when he did, his voice was cautious and carefully expectant. "…To have Kakashi recover as quickly as possible to the point where he is able to rejoin ANBU."
A vein throbbed in Iruka's forehead.
When the teacher didn't say anything, Dari sighed a little, seeming exasperated. "It is not expected that he will ever be up for the position of commander again. We expect to get only three more years out of him, tops, before he breaks again, likely for good. Lion believes it is worth the trade-off, and so my job is to get him to recover quickly to that point where he can serve again."
Those. Fucking. Bastards.
Lion didn't give a damn about Kakashi's mental health, his recovery. He never had. The only reason this medic and this psych nin ever came here at all was because they wanted Kakashi to become their perfect weapon again. If they didn't think he was capable of serving again, they never would've wasted their time on him. After years of giving everything he had for this village, they would've just tossed him out on his ass because he was no longer usable. So many years of service- and it was all worth nothing.
Not even that. Not even that was enough, though. The way Dari spoke- like it was a certainty that if Kakashi reentered ANBU, he would break again. Likely for good.
They didn't care at all. They didn't care that Kakashi would go through all of this again, that he would suffer like this all over again; they didn't even care. All that mattered was that they got the absolute most they could out of him before they tossed him aside like trash.
Iruka didn't know if he had even been so angry in his life. He was so furious he was seeing red, and his fists clenched.
"No," he managed, voice a hoarse, trembling whisper. "...No." He crossed his arms with an almost protective growl, body thrumming with a coarse fury. "He- he gave everything for you, and all you people can think is how to best exploit him. He's given everything for this village, and the least he deserves is to be treated like a person, a human being, damn it, not just your soldier Hound! I- I won't let you take him back! He doesn't want to, he's already said he's not going to- you have no right to try and force him back!"
"Iruka-sensei, look-"
"No!" he spat. "Don't you Iruka-sensei me! Kakashi- Kakashi is my friend! And I'm not going to let you hurt my friend more than you already have!"
With one powerful shove, Iruka had pushed past Dari, storming back to his bedroom to fling the door open and grab Karena by the wrist, hauling her to her feet. The medic had been sitting next to Kakashi, helping him stretch out his leg, but Iruka just yanked her up and pushed her out of the room too. "Out," he snarled, pointing at the door to his apartment. "I want both of you out of here right now."
Karena looked stunned, Dari, unsurprised, but Iruka was too furious to care. "Iruka-sensei," Dari muttered, nodding over his shoulder at where Kakashi had probably followed, "I understand that you're angry, but-"
"No. No, you don't understand or give a fuck about this- or him! You just want him to do your dirty work for a few more years before he breaks again! You know what? I have had enough of you sick ANBU, enough of you thinking you're all high and mighty just because you can hide behind those masks, enough of you treating your members like dirt!" He pushed Karena and Dari back when the medic tried to take a step forward, forcing them back towards the door. "I am not going to let you force him back into that hell! He doesn't want that, and I'm not going to just stand aside and let you break him like you did already! He is a human being, god damn it, not a weapon, not a tool, not an ANBU, but a human being, and I will not have you treat him otherwise! Get the hell out of my apartment now!"
Experienced, battle-hardened ANBU or not, neither Dari not Karena had ever been faced with a truly pissed off Umino Iruka. Dari backed away immediately, mumbling something about having somewhere else to be, and when he turned on Karena, the redhead vanished almost immediately.
"…Iruka?"
Iruka's heavy breathing froze at the quiet voice from behind him. His furious trembling stopped and his mouth dropped open slightly, Kakashi somehow snapping things back into perspective.
And… shit. Kakashi had heard all of that.
Iruka took a few long moments to rearrange his expression into something that wasn't enraged or furious, then slowly, almost sheepishly turned back to Kakashi. He found it hard to meet the jounin's eyes and shifted his weight uncomfortably. "Y-yes?"
"…Do you want to explain what just happened here?"
Iruka scratched his scar, miserably embarrassed. He chanced a look at Kakashi to see the jounin watching him closely, one eyebrow raised- he seemed almost amused. When he opened his mouth, then found he really didn't know what to say, Kakashi smiled with his eye and gestured with his good arm at the door. "I guess Dari had something to do with it?"
Iruka managed a sheepish nod. He took a deep breath, then cautiously met Kakashi's lone eye and spoke up. "…I n-noticed that you always seemed to… well, get worse after a session with him. I got worried. So I asked Karena to send him here so I could ask him what he was doing; if it was necessary."
Kakashi blinked, and Iruka thought he frowned beneath his mask. "You could've just asked me."
Iruka flushed. "Considering how it turned out, I probably should have. I just thought that if I didn't like what I heard, then I could just ask Dari directly to stop if I heard it from him, but if I asked you then I would have to wait until next week to talk to him. And… well…"
"And I suppose asking him to stop was… what I heard?"
Kakashi looked like he was having way too much fun with this. Iruka huffed when he looked up again to see his gleeful eye smile, grumbling, "I did it for you! You could be appreciative!"
"Maa, I'm sorry. I never intended to give you the impression that I'm ungrateful." Kakashi continued to smile and and gestured at the couch. "Mind if we sit down? My legs are tired."
"Oh- right. Sorry." Iruka followed him to the couch and sat beside him, then found himself shifting awkwardly again. "…I probably shouldn't have gone off on them like that, at least without consulting you. But I just lost my temper. He- he just seemed so… so- I don't know; like this was just something normal to them and all they cared about was making you go back into ANBU again. I just- he made me furious! Don't they care at all? Don't they see you- us as anything but tools for Konoha?!" He leaned forward and rubbed his hands over his face, suddenly feeling very, very tired, fed up and exasperated with the ANBU and the whole shinobi system.
"It's their job not to," Kakashi said softly, breaking the short silence. "Lion-sama is commander because he's able to view us as weapons first. ANBU needs that- that's what ANBU is, Iruka. Most don't ever really understand that mentality, but when you've been a member for as long as I have- it's pretty hard not to. To be honest, I already knew that Dari's sole purpose here was to get me back to ANBU-service level."
Iruka frowned. He looked at Kakashi out of the corner of his eye to see the jounin seeming distant and thoughtful, almost introspective, not at all as disturbed or angry as Iruka had been. The teacher paused, then asked, "How? Did he tell you?"
Kakashi shrugged one shoulder, scratching under his sling's strap. "Not directly. But it was rather obvious, when his, ahem, sessions consisted of genjutsu to get me used to combat situations again. ANBU combat situations."
"What?!"
Kakashi really didn't seem anywhere near as disturbed as Iruka thought he should be. What was wrong with him? Was this really something normal among the ANBU? Or was Iruka the only one who saw something wrong with so-called therapists using genjutsu on their patients?
"You know, child assassination missions, fighting child soldiers, etc." Kakashi shrugged again. "You know that one of my… problems has been children. Pretty unfortunate issue, for an ANBU, so they were trying to get rid of it. Predictably, they were unsuccessful. But I never- Iruka? Is something wrong?"
Iruka tried for a moment to make himself look less stricken or horrified then decided it didn't matter. What was the point of hiding his disgust at this? "You know, yes, Kakashi. Something is wrong. How on earth can you just talk about this like- like it doesn't even matter? Like it's normal? Like it doesn't even bother you?! How is it that I seem to care more about this than you?! It's awful, what they were doing, and you act like it doesn't matter!"
Kakashi seemed surprised, but only for a moment. "Iruka, haven't you heard the saying that if you cry every time a teammate is hurt, you won't have any tears left? This is exactly the same. I'm used to it. Just because it's something perhaps worthy to get worked up and horrified by- I've seen it all and lived it for many years now. And I was never going to rejoin ANBU. I let Dari have his fun, because in the end, it wouldn't matter- Hound's not going coming back. He's gone. They don't want me, they want Hound- once they eventually figured out that he's not going to show up, they would let me go."
Iruka took a long five seconds to just accept it and not get even angrier at the ANBU or even more perplexed by his unspeakably odd friend. "…Well… at least the situation's settled now, right? That's one good thing out of all of that."
Kakashi smiled with his eye again. "Maa, yes. But, actually- I wanted to thank you, Iruka. About what you said to Dari, well… no one's ever done something like that for me before. So- thank you."
Iruka blushed at the powerful sincerity in his words and the way he seemed to be able to make him melt inside with just one eye. He stammered for a few seconds before just staying silent. This was another 'symptom' of Kakashi's break that was both unsettling and unnerving. He had abruptly become more open with his emotions, almost like a child would be- instead of Iruka having to unravel a puzzle to discover the perverse jounin's motives, like before, Kakashi would just flat-out state it and smile. He didn't know if he'd be relieved when Kakashi managed to get over it and become more like himself again or exasperated once again.
But then the moment passed, and Kakashi shift to face him with a conspiratorial look in his eye. "But, now that you've scared off Karena, looks like I'll need a new medic. How about you become my physical therapist, hmm?"
Iruka rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I'm going to the hospital first thing tomorrow to get you another one."
"What? Come on! I think you would do a fine job! And about Karena's limitation, you know, no more than half an hour on my feet per day- we can just forget about that! You're my medic now, and I'm sure you agree that she was just being overly cautious-"
"I am not your medic, and I am getting you a new one tomorrow. One who is not me."
"But, Iruka~!"
Iruka stood with a huff, turning to glare down at his petulant houseguest. "You keep whining, and the only thing you're getting for dinner is what you can fix yourself. Understand?"
Kakashi's pout was so dramatic it was obvious even with he mask, but he kept quiet, and Iruka gave a satisfied nod. "Good." Then he turned his back, walking away from the couch.
"Meanie."
Iruka spun on his heel, hands on his hips. "Did I hear something?"
Kakashi withered down and shook his head vigorously, beaming eye smile the picture of innocence. "No! No, nothing at all, Iruka! I swear!"
"That's what I thought."
"Well, isn't this delightful."
Iruka frowned darkly. Kakashi certainly sounded delighted, but that wasn't the word he would use to describe the situation. Delightfully awkward, maybe.
"Delightfully awkward, maybe," Kakashi's friend remarked, and Iruka's frown turned into a smile. Maybe they would get along.
"Now, don't be like that. But now, introductions. Iruka, my favorite kohai. My favorite kohai, Iruka."
Iruka watched as Kakashi's friend/kohai flushed, in anger or embarrassment, he wasn't sure, and turned to face his captain. "Don't I get a name, Senpai?"
Kakashi snapped his fingers- still seeming to draw far too much enjoyment out of the situation than he should have. "Oh, I'm sorry, Tenzou. I'm just so used to introducing you as-"
"Save it, Senpai." Tenzou seemed almost exasperated, like he had grown quite used to dealing with Kakashi and his moods, and Iruka had to grin. Perhaps they would get along very well indeed.
Iruka led the two to his living room, and Kakashi plopped down on the couch as if he owned the place, looking up at Tenzou with a beaming eye smile. "So, to what do we owe the pleasure? Or does Iruka owe the pleasure, since I'm still mooching off of him."
Iruka rolled his eyes while Kakashi's old teammate just looked at him with an expectant smile. "Actually, Senpai, I just came here to talk with you. Update you on what's going to happen to your- uh… our-… the team." He cast a wary glance over at Iruka, though, who immediately sighed and stood up again.
"Say no more. I've heard a lot of 'sorry, it's classified' these past few weeks. I'll… just be in the kitchen. Making tea. …For a long time."
Tenzou smiled gratefully while Kakashi gave a cheerful wave, and the teacher headed off to leave the two former teammates alone.
If there had ever been any doubt about whether the situation was awkward or not with Iruka, said doubt was certainly gone now that he had left. Tenzou didn't know what to say, Kakashi wasn't sure what his kohai had or hadn't been told, and neither really wanted to be the one to break the ice.
It was finally the wood user who cleared his throat, wringing his hands out uncomfortably in his lap as he did so, eye focused firmly on the coffee table. "Ah… um, well… I didn't expect you to be so- after what we heard, I mean, I thought- well, er…"
Kakashi tilted his head to the side, watching as Tenzou trailed off into a miserable, embarrassed silence. He sighed, then, and put up his best reassuring eye smile. "I don't know what Lion-sama told you, but it happened over a month ago. You know as well as I do that breaks that last that long are likely permanent. Did you really expect to come here and find me like that?"
Tenzou clenched his hands tighter together. "Er, well, no- it's just that Lion-sama made it out to seem like it was really bad!" His defensive protest died down quickly, and Kakashi watched curiously as Tenzou sighed again, rubbing his hands over cheeks flushed light red. "You quit ANBU, after all. That's… pretty serious."
"Not because I can't be in ANBU anymore," although that is true… "but because I don't want to be in ANBU anymore. I haven't, really, for a while. Last mission just provided me with the catalyst I really needed to quit." Kakashi leaned forward and met Tenzou's eyes, frowning slightly. "Lion-sama's just pissed I don't want to stay in ANBU, it seems. Don't listen to him. I'm really not that bad off. Been better, but…" He shrugged his good shoulder. "I've also been worse."
It was silent and still for a few moments before the wood user finally sighed himself, relieved, the tension easing out of his shoulders as he looked up with an innocent smile. "Thank god. The way Lion-sama was putting it, you were really…" He shuddered and lowered his eyes to the table. "Well…"
Kakashi narrowed his eye, and his fists clenched in anger. "What exactly did he say about me? Do I need to go talk to him?"
Tenzou released a shaking sigh again, reaching up to rake his fingers through his hair. "No, Senpai, don't commit career suicide because of me. We probably just overreacted… we were worried, you know. You were hurt as badly as we were but for him to let you stay with Iruka… the situation had to be pretty bad."
Kakashi lowered his eye to the table as well. "Four weeks ago, I guess it was." His quiet murmur penetrated a dark silence, and he saw Tenzou shift nervously and clasp his hands even tighter together. Kakashi took a moment to rearrange his features in what he hoped was a nice, reassuring smile, and continued on brightly, trying to dispel the moment. "But that was four weeks ago! Everything's fine now, everything's now. See? Would I be teasing you if it wasn't fine?"
Tenzou crossed his arms and glared at him, but there was a relief and near-happiness behind the expression. "I could actually do without the teasing, Senpai…"
"But I wouldn't be your dear old senpai if I didn't tease you, now, would I?"
Tenzou huffed again, but he was unable to keep his lips from pulling up into a smile as he rolled his eyes. Kakashi nodded happily. "Now, enough of that depressing talk! You said you were coming here to give me news of our team. So give me news!"
"Ah, right." Tenzou straightened up a bit, rubbing his hands over his face again, seeming to forcibly cheer himself up. "Well, there's Gai. He's quit ANBU as well. He signed up to be a jounin-sensei, actually."
"Really?" Kakashi smiled thoughtfully, dwelling on the possibility of Gai training Konoha's youth. "Good for him. The job suits him. Although I do fear about those new genins and the possibility of them being traumatized…"
Tenzou smiled weakly. "Yes, I know. …He didn't tell me why he quit ANBU, but I think it's for the same reasons you did. He never really seemed cut out for it, anyway. Plenty skilled enough, but…"
"No one is cut out for it, Tenzou. It's just a matter of time until you can't handle it anymore," he cut in quietly. Then he shook his head. "I'm just glad Gai got out now. You're younger than him, Tenzou, and better at handling it than him. I'm not so worried about you yet."
Tenzou blinked. He seemed a little caught by surprise and looked down, scratching awkwardly at the back of his neck. "I… er, well…" He coughed and smiled uneasily. "About me, actually. I'm staying in ANBU. I hoped you wouldn't be disappointed, but… well, the commander was very against me quitting, and I just…"
Kakashi looked over at him worriedly. "Don't just listen to him, Tenzou. If you can't handle the work, then quit. I'll pull whatever favors I still have to to help you get out. I'm serious."
Tenzou shifted again, seeming dreadfully uncomfortable. "Actually, Senpai… I don't think I'm at that point. Yet, anyway."
Kakashi searched his expression for any sign of deceit or uncertainty, but when he found none, he relaxed with a soft, relieved sigh. "That's fine, then. But don't let him bully you into staying in ANBU longer than you can handle. I let him do that with me- and look where it got me. I'm serious about this, Tenzou; you have a lot of potential, and I don't want to see you end up like me."
Tenzou smiled weakly again, but it seemed forced. "Come on, Senpai. Bully? You? I don't see you letting anyone do that."
Kakashi grinned slightly. "Aww. I appreciate the thought, Tenzou. Still have some respect left for me, I see."
Tenzou's uncertain smile grow stronger, and he shrugged. "For some reason, anyway. I don't know why."
"You love me. Admit it."
"Senpai…"
The two lapsed into a pleased silence, Tenzou seeming nervous and Kakashi waiting uncertainly. When his kohai didn't say anything for a few long moments, he cleared his throat and looked away. "So. …Genma."
Tenzou looked away as well. "Been promoted to ANBU captain."
Kakashi nodded, keeping his expression unreadable. "I see. Are you in his squad?"
"…No. He requested otherwise."
Kakashi began to frown again. "Does he have a problem with you? Because he knows that you were acting under orders that night- my orders. If he has a problem with anybody, it should be me."
But Tenzou shook his head quickly, raising a hand to adjust his headband uneasily. "No, actually- it's not what it sounds like. I talked to him- uh, Raidou, actually. He says Genma wants a fresh start. He's not angry with us- or you, Senpai- but he just wants a fresh start. Whole new ANBU team. …He also said to give Genma time to think and come around, but that's really just hoping. Raidou told me he really wasn't sure if Genma would ever want to have anything to do with us again."
Kakashi heaved a heavy, regretful sigh, leaning over to rest his face in his hands. Genma had reason to be acting like this- he knew that. He'd lived with those missing nin and come to care for them for six whole months- that was no short period of time, in the shinobi system. There was no telling how many times they had fought side by side and protected each other. And for all of that to be turned on its head so quickly, for Genma to be suddenly forced to fight and kill them…
After years of Kakashi pounding into his squad that you never, ever turned your back on a teammate…
He sighed again. Genma was the type to sulk and lick his wounds in private, or perhaps with Raidou- but never with his friends. Kakashi had absolutely no place to question others' coping methods, nor could he really find fault with Genma after what had happened. He didn't agree with what he was doing, but he was probably the last person Genma wanted to see right now.
"Don't hold it against him," Kakashi murmured at length, dragging a hand through his hair. "You know he just has a lot to deal with right now."
Instead of agreeing with him, Tenzou looked away, sighing unhappily. "Don't we all, Senpai."
"It's just your imagination," Iruka murmured into his ear. "Really. No one's staring."
Kakashi paid the teacher no heed and just stared harder at the ground.
Iruka was probably right, he surmised. An injured ninja was not something so out of place to be gawked at in Konoha- or any hidden village, really- and Kakashi wasn't such a recluse that seeing him out and about was a shock. Perhaps seeing him without his customary brightly colored adult literature and with human company might be surprising, but only if the people of Konoha had nothing better to do than wonder about their resident Copy Ninja's lack of a social life.
Still, this was his first time out among the populace since his return, and he couldn't help but be uneasy.
It was half past eight at night, courtesy of Iruka being thoughtful and taking him out when Konoha wouldn't be bustling with activity. There was still a veritable hum of motion and people, because in a village full of shinobi coming and going at all hours of the night, there wasn't an time when the streets were completely alone and deserted- but Kakashi had to be thankful for Iruka's efforts.
The last time he'd been around this many people, it was to kill them.
Kakashi shook himself. Such thoughts would definitely be considered unhealthy.
"You know, Naruto did the funniest thing today," Iruka began, voice purposefully bright and distracting. "Well, perhaps funny is the wrong way to phrase it. I screamed myself hoarse at him for it, and he's got detention for the next two weeks. But the prankster in me was laughing along with him."
Kakashi hmmed thoughtfully, letting Iruka know he was listening even as he continued to stare at his feet. Focusing on them and Iruka was better than looking at his surroundings and all those loud, noisy, perfectly innocently and killable people.
"He somehow got into the closet we keep the practice weapons in. ...Yeah, I'm going to put a lock on it. Anyway, he left some of those grenades that blow out some spray paint or whatever instead of shrapnel and rigged it to blow up when the door opened. All over my clothes- and my face!"
Kakashi grinned softly to himself, planting his crutches firmly in the dirt to drag himself forward another step. He could imagine Naruto doing that- and Iurka's enraged reaction to it.
Quite easily, in fact; Obito had done the same thing to Minato once. Minato hadn't been enraged, per se; the Yellow Flash loved a good prank.
The fact that Obito had been stuck doing solo D-rank missions for the rest of the week was entirely unrelated, of course.
Iruka was still talking, chattering on about the woes of getting spray paint out of his eyes and uniform, and Kakashi welcomed the distraction- as the teacher probably knew he would. Listening to stories about Naruto helped give him something to focus on besides his generally unpleasant situation.
They reached Iruka's favorite ramen stand before he knew it, and the teacher hadn't run out of things to tell him the whole slow way there. It was getting less difficult to breathe easier and just relax, and Kakashi was beginning to think he wasn't so screwed up after all and there was hope for him yet.
"Ah, Iruka-sensei! Here alone with Kakashi-san? Oooh, don't tell me you two are together-"
"Ayame!"
"But, Tou-san-"
Kakashi raised an eyebrow, concentrating as father and daughter bickered back and forth while Iruka's face flamed bright red. The teacher opened and shut his mouth soundlessly as the argument continued before finally clearing his throat, raising his voice over the other two to cry, "We're just friends!"
"I'm really sorry, Iruka-sensei," Teuchi answered promptly, but with an amused twinkle in his eye, "Ayame here needs to learn that not everybody on a date likes to be called out."
"But we're not-"
"Oh, you two look so good together-"
"Ayame!"
Iruka's head hit the counter with a solid thunk. Kakashi watched on in an amused confusion while Teuchi scolded Ayame and Iruka blushed some more, and it took a good few minutes for Iruka's face to regain it's usual hue and the ramen duo to stop affectionately arguing. Iruka still looked decidedly uncomfortable as he rolled his head to blink sheepishly up at Kakashi. "Ah... I'm so sorry about that.. These guys are always trying to get me on a date and they just jumped to conclusions."
Kakashi chuckled to himself, eying Iruka before glancing back at the busy ramen duo. "Maa, Iruka-sensei, I'm not so sure it's jumping to conclusions when they're jumping to correct conclusions."
Iruka blinked, even as Ayame let out a thrilled little gasp, and then the teacher reached over to bash him on the head, yelling, "Kakashi! You idiot!" while the jounin laughed again.
"What, what? I'm just having a little fun."
"Y-you- inappropriate comments- such- such a pervert-"
"Maa, Sensei, wherever would you get that idea?"
"You and those ridiculous Icha Ichas lying all over the place-"
"That doesn't mean anything. I told you, they're adventure romance novels-"
Iruka let out a long, frustrated cry. His head smashed against the counter one final time, entire face the blushing hue of a tomato, while Kakashi gave a victorious little chuckle.
It took at least five minutes for Teuchi to convince Ayame that there were more important things in the world than embarrassing their customers, and even if Kakashi and Iruka had been on a date, which they weren't, there was no reason to call them out on it.
It took another two for her to stutter out a flushed apology, at Teuchi's insistence. Another three for them to remember that, oh, Kakashi and Iruka hadn't just come for the conversation, and rush with a start to start fixing their dinners- and another six for Kakashi to coax Iruka to look up again.
"...Well," the teacher finally managed to mutter, smiling through the statement, "I suppose that was a better distraction than I ever could've been, ne?"
And with that comment to break the ice, the rest of the tension dissolved, leaving behind nothing more than a teacher and a jounin, just Kakashi and Iruka talking like this was nothing more than a dinner between friends.
In some ways, it was.
"In all seriousness, Kakashi..." the younger man started once they'd been served two hot bowls of ramen, flashing him a smile before burying his face in his bowl, "how are you? Doing okay? ...We can go back home now, if you need to-"
"No." Kakashi shook his head slightly, then turned back to face the dark street, watching as the few people left out this late milled about in the dim streetlights. "No, it's okay, Iruka. ...I'm okay."
He could feel the weight of Iruka's gaze on him, skeptical if not suspicious, and Kakashi continued to blink lazily at the street as he shrugged. "Maa, I'm not lying. There's no need to look at me like that. ...If I didn't want to be here, I would have jutsu'd out of here already."
Iruka groaned. "Even though Karena strictly forbade you from attempting any and all techniques..."
"But since when have I listened to medics?"
Iruka sucked up another slurp of noodles- along with an exasperated sigh. It came out rather like a congested huff, and Kakashi caught an annoyed mutter about the most insufferably stupid, unhealthy jounin in the world before the man spoke again. "I'm glad. ...Not that you don't listen to medics, we could do something to change that- but- well, you know." He grinned awkwardly before hiding his face again his bowl, and Kakashi laughed at his embarrassment.
"I'm serious- you don't have to worry. ...I'm fine."
In fact, I think I'm better than I've been in a while.