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

2/7

It was the next day when Kakashi Hatake was sitting at the bar with some of his friends, his encounter with Iruka the day prior still fresh on his mind as he settled into the booth. The music was loud, the building was bustling, and it wasn't really his scene, but he found that he didn't really mind it as he listened to the casual conversation between Might Guy, Asuma Sarutobi, and Kurenai Yuhi.

"So, my eternal rival!" Might Guy exclaimed, turning to Kakashi with a bright smile. "Valentine's day is a week away, and as much as I like beating you at things, I'd rather you not be totally alone like I am! So, what are you and Iruka's plans? Would you like help setting up a date?"

"...Iruka and I's plans? What date?" Kakashi questioned, tilting his head. He felt nervous for a moment before remembering that he was at the edge of the booth and could leave whenever he wanted.

"Oh God, they still aren't dating?" Kurenai asked, expression some sort of a cross between horror and realization as she placed a hand over her mouth, covering her rose-hued lips, matching red nails contrasting against her pale hands.

"Apparently not! It must still be a crush, then! Kakashi, my dear rival, I'll help you with a romantic gesture if that's what you need!" The thought of all of his friends knowing about his crush on Iruka made him blush under his mask, sure, but the thought of Guy even coming close to helping him plan a romantic gesture made him want to hurl. Sure, he knew that Guy meant well, but he was so enthusiastic and into the bigger, flashier things that Kakashi knew Iruka wasn't. If Guy tried to help him plan something like that, it'd turn out disastrously.

"What are you going on about?" Hatake finally asked, wanting them to get to the point of whatever it was they were talking about- or, him and Iruka, he supposed. Were his friends getting invested in this, too?

"Your crush on Iruka. You two have been hanging out a lot more recently, so we figured that one of you had finally gathered the courage to ask the other out..." Kurenai admitted, which made both Asuma and Kakashi laugh in disbelief.

"I have a crush on Iruka?" Kakashi rolled his eyes, sarcastic as all of his friends shot him looks of disbelief. "That's news to me."

"Don't act dumb, Kakashi, it's painfully obvious." Kurenai rolled her scarlet-hued eyes just as Kakashi had seconds before, flicking a few stray locks of dark hair behind her shoulders.

"Come on, my eternal rival! Valentine's Day is in a week and love is in the air! Why don't you just make a move?" Guy tossed an arm over Hatake's shoulder, though Kakashi moved away from the touch, and the ravenette quickly pulled back with a small laugh.

"Yeah, the day I admit to having a crush on Iruka is the day Asuma's chainsmoking becomes healthy," Kakashi spat, looking over at Asuma, who had been taking a drag off of a cigarette during his friends' (and girlfriend's) conversation.

"Guess my chainsmoking's become healthy, then," Asuma mumbled, face completely straight as he put his cigarette out in the ashtray that sat in front of him and let it rest there. "Because you just admitted it indirectly."

"Not the day you have a crush on Iruka, but the day you admit to it, which implies that it's pre-existing, which we all already knew." Kurenai teased, making Kakashi sigh in defeat.

"When do you think he's gonna notice us?" Kakashi tried to act casual despite how his friends had almost all just called him out for his crush on Konoha's dolphin, gesturing towards Iruka, who'd actually been sitting at the bar the entire time, not addressing any of them despite drinking with them at this exact bar on a regular basis. Thankfully, the brunette was out of earshot, so he couldn't hear any of the embarrassing conversation that was being had about him.

"He looked over here earlier, I think he's just too shy to come up and talk to you in a setting like this," Kurenai stated, though Kakashi shook his head. if anything, he thought the opposite was true, as Iruka had been approaching him more and more recently.

"True, but you have to remember that this is also Iruka's thinking place!" Surprisingly, Guy was the one who discouraged anyone trying to gain Iruka's attention. "He could be busy!"

"His... Thinking place?" Kakashi focused on Iruka, who was still sitting at the bar. His back was facing them, but Kakashi could see numerous empty glasses and crumpled papers around where he sat, as well as the fervent movement of the brunette's arm from his writing.

"Yes," Asuma started, taking a drink of his beer as he sighed and leaned further back into the booth, the arm of his that was around Kurenai's shoulder anything but subtle. "When he's not hanging out with us, he comes here to reflect or make lesson plans, and sometimes to write, though the writing thing has only come up recently... I haven't been able to figure it out because of how secretive he is. Every time I've asked, he's hidden the writing and changed the subject."

"Well, it isn't really anyone's business, I guess." Kakashi scratched the back of his head, gaze falling from Iruka's back and landing on Asuma's face instead. "If he wants it to be private, he has that right..."

"Fair point," Asuma shrugged, dark eyes landing on the door of the bar when it opened, following by the small bell that rung every time someone walked in. "Oh, is that Anko?" Right as he said that, Anko, who had been the person to enter, walked all the way in and approached their table. She was wearing her trenchcoat over her usual mesh shirt and shorts, her utility belt still on, so Kakashi figured that she must've just gotten back from a mission or something.

"Anko, I believe you owe me some money," Kurenai spoke, letting out a chuckle as she held a hand out, her palm open. "I was right, they do like each other."

"Ah, damn!" Anko yelled, reaching into one of the pockets of her trenchcoat and grabbing a few dollars before handing it to Kurenai... They must've made a bet, which was honestly unsurprising. "Lone wolf Kakashi had to go and let me down! I was honestly expecting for you and Yamato to be fucking."

"Right..." Kakashi awkwardly slipped out of the booth, allowing Anko to take his seat, his one uncovered eye flickering over to where Iruka had been sitting. The brunette must've left during the chaos, both him and his numerous piles of empty glasses and crumpled papers nowhere to be seen. "Well, I should be going. I have plans tomorrow, so I'll see you all around. Bye."

"Bye, Kakashi!"

With that, he quickly exited the bar, relieved to feel the cool night's breeze flowing through his hair as he fully stepped outside. Of course, his attention was quickly captured by a piece of crumpled paper that was on the ground.

"Hm? What's this?"

With a sigh, he picked up and unfolded it, immediately recognizing the neat and loopy handwriting that filled the lines.

This was one of Iruka's letters, wasn't it?