Candy Hearts (Kakashi Hatake x Iruka Umino) (Valentine's Day 2019)

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Kakashi Hatake didn't like Valentine's day.

He didn't necessarily hate it either, of course.

It was more a feeling of cold indifference, maybe even a dislike, but definitely not bitter hatred.

He just thought it was a lot of work; mundane C and D rank missions related to people needing things like decorations hung and strewn in preparation for the holiday, putting up with all of the questions about what his plans were from his colleagues, and even worse, the loneliness.

Now, don't get Kakashi wrong. The silver-haired man wasn't one for moping and wallowing in his own self-pity, but he always felt himself frown a little under his mask every time someone mentioned the upcoming festivities for some holiday he was going to be alone on anyways. Worst case scenario, he'd be stuck working. Best case scenario, he'd get to relax at home and read some Icha Icha in an attempt to make up for the love he'd never experienced through fiction and then inevitably lament over his childhood and drink himself to sleep. Often times, the other Konoha ninjas he'd become acquainted with over the years tried to include him in things like Christmas and New Years, but he never joined them, feeling out of place. He'd never really celebrated holidays as a child, teenager, or even as a young adult, and it felt weird to start now.

Valentine's day was in thirteen more days, which would be followed by White Day the following month. Traditionally, on Valentine's day in February, women gifted men with things like chocolate, and then on White Day, men were supposed to return the favor. Kakashi, who had always been single, lonely, and rather gay, felt that the heteronormative tradition wasn't really something he was too enthused by anyways. He wasn't upset that he was missing out on it- no, he just didn't like having it shoved in his face at every opportunity.

For instance, the missions. After Sasuke's departure, Naruto had left to begin his training with Jiraiya, and Sakura was busy training with Tsunade, who was still adjusting to her new position as Hokage. Guy, Kurenai, and Asuma's kids were busy as well and in the midst of training for exams, and the next graduating class of genin wouldn't come from the academy for another month or two. Due to that, there was a slight shortage of people to stick the undesirable festive missions on, which led to a lot of the higher-ranked ninjas being stuck with their usual S, A, and B class work as well as trivial C and D ranked missions. Then again, that wasn't a Valentine's issue- that had been going on for months, though maybe it was because of Valentine's day rolling around that he was slightly more on edge about it than he usually would be.

Another thing, the awkwardness. He didn't fit into Valentine's day in any way, shape, or form. He never quite blended in with the crowd in the first place anyway, but it was always uncomfortable when people tried to pressure him into joining the festivities when he didn't even have anything to celebrate.

Thinking back to the academy graduation that would be coming in the next couple months, though, he thought back to the charming academy teacher; Iruka Umino.

Yet another reason why Kakashi didn't like Valentine's day. He couldn't spend it with the one guy he was interested in, AKA Iruka. Maybe they hadn't agreed on everything, but what could Kakashi say? The guy was intelligent, light-hearted, bright, and dedicated to his kids. He was a good person, maybe even innocent despite his career as a ninja. Kakashi had liked him for a few years, actually. He couldn't help it.

Kakashi had been walking through the village, trying to get home when an arm was tossed over his shoulder. He looked over, giving an awkward smile under his mask as he looked over at no other than Guy, who was rambling about racing Kakashi to the top of the Hokage monument or something.

Kakashi only rolled his eyes, halfheartedly entertaining his friend's banter, completely unaware of the brunette who was watching him with a blush on his tanned cheeks.