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

2/8

Iruka Umino was nervous as all hell as he stood at the doorstep of no other than Kakashi Hatake's apartment, face already burning bright red in embarrassment as he carefully knocked on the door.

On most occasions, he'd be hesitant to show up to the silver-haired man's apartment unannounced, but considering that the brunette had accidentally left one of his failed love letters somewhere at the bar the night before and had no idea whose hands it could be in, he felt like he didn't really have any other option. He stood there, waiting for Kakashi to answer while simultaneously cursing himself for not just throwing the damn letters away at the bar. The only reason he'd taken the failed letters home in the first place was that he knew his nosy ass friends were at the bar and he didn't want them to have access to them. Thinking back on it, he realized that he'd been a little paranoid and that if he'd just thrown the letters away, he probably wouldn't be in the predicament he was now. Then again, Might Guy would totally dig through a bar trashcan just to find something he could tease Iruka about, so maybe this would turn out better.

He'd written ten failed drafts, so you dear readers could probably imagine his panic when he got home and emptied his pockets to find only nine failed drafts.

Honestly, Iruka was just going through the list of people he knew who were at the bar last night to see if any of them had found it. If it wasn't any of them, he didn't care all that much since there weren't names or details that were too personal in that letter since he hadn't been able to get past two sentences on any of the ones he'd written. So, his plan was to stop by the homes of everyone he had seen there- Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, Guy- and see if they'd found the letter. First was Kakashi's apartment.

A few moments passed, and Iruka wondered if Kakashi was even there. He was about to turn and leave when the door finally creaked open, revealing no other than Kakashi, who looked ̶f̶u̶c̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶s̶e̶x̶y̶ terribly exhausted. The silver-haired man only had his mask pulled up to his nose, so both eyes were revealed, his headband was absent, and he didn't have a shirt on, the only thing covering his muscular body being a pair of grey sweatpants that left little to the imagination.

"Hey, Kakashi," Iruka waved, doing everything he possibly could to keep his eyes on Kakashi's face. Even then, his heart was still trying to leap out of his chest at the sight of Kakashi's eyes trained on him. "How are you today?"

"I'm well," Kakashi answered, opening the door all the way and raising his sharp eyebrows. "Would you like to come in?"

"Sure," Iruka nodded, walking into the apartment and taking in his surroundings as Kakashi shut the door behind them. Though Iruka wasn't sure what he was expecting since he hadn't really been in Kakashi's place for a few years, he wasn't surprised since it hadn't changed much; simple, with white curtains on the one window, a cream-hued carpet, a glass coffee table, two couches, and a small side table with a few drawers beside one of the said couches in the living room. Since Kakashi quickly moved to sit on one of the couches, Iruka followed, sitting on the couch across from him so they were facing each other. Iruka looked off to the side, sighing before starting with, "I wanted to talk to you about something. I was at the bar last night working on something, but when I left, I think I might've dropped a piece of paper."

"This one?" Kakashi questioned, reaching over to the side table and grabbing a piece of crumpled paper that Iruka recognized as the letter he'd dropped. The older man held it out to him as he began to explain just how he'd come across it. "Yeah, I picked it up and read it after seeing it on the ground outside the bar, recognized your handwriting. I was gonna come find you to give it back some time today, but I guess you've done that part for me. That being said, I won't tell anyone what I read since it wasn't really my business anyway, so you don't have to worry about that."

Okay, so Kakashi hadn't figured out that the letter was for him- thank God.

Hey, I've tried writing this a million times and haven't managed to get it right yet, but the main point is that I've liked you for a good five or six years and wanted to tell you since everyone's in a romantic mood because of Valentine's day. I don't know if you're- The letter was cut off at that point by Iruka's own scribbling, as he'd grown frustrated with it and crossed out the following words in pen.

"Oh, thank you so much!" Iruka smiled, gently taking the letter out of Kakashi's hand before folding it and putting it in his back pocket. "Actually, I'm kinda glad it was you who found it!"

"Yeah, better than Anko or Guy, I suppose," Kakashi muttered, leaning back into the couch and loosely crossing his arms.

"Anko was there? I didn't notice her..." Iruka muttered, embarrassed at the thought of her. Last time he'd hung out with her, Kurenai, Yamato, and Genma, he'd found out that the four and a few of their other friends had bets on whether or not Iruka and Kakashi had crushes on each other, as well as when or if they would start dating. While Kurenai had made a bet that the two would be dating by Valentine's Day, for whatever reason, Anko thought that Yamato and Kakashi had something going on. "Well, she's been making some embarrassing bets about me with Kurenai!"

"The ones about us dating, right?" Kakashi asked, making Iruka's soul leave his body. Though it was impolite and a little weird, he found that he couldn't keep his eyes on Kakashi's face, so he briefly stared at the other man's ripped midsection, which was on full display. Thankfully, the older man seemed like he didn't notice. "Yeah, they told me about that last night... Before you get all worked up over it, don't. I don't mind them teasing about it, I know you don't really think of me like that."

"Haha, yeah..." He agreed even though he knew the exact opposite was true. He figured he'd end the discussion, take the letter, and leave, but to his surprise, Kakashi kept talking.

"Seriously, though, about the letters... I've never been much of a romantic myself, and maybe this isn't my place, but I've noticed the mood you're in recently." Kakashi ran a hand through his messy hair, pushing it back and out of his face before making eye contact with the brunette. "There's only six more days to take advantage of this whole Valentine's Day craze and make a move, so I think you should get it out of the way. I mean, how long did you say you've liked this person? Years? You only live once, and the worst you'll get is a no."

"No means a lot when it comes from certain people, though..." Iruka gave an awkward smile, feeling terribly embarrassed as the thought of what would happen if he tried to confess to Kakashi crossed his mind. He could only imagine it ending in two ways- Kakashi being weirded out and avoiding him, or Kakashi teasing him about it. Either way, he didn't see Kakashi actually reciprocating his feelings. "This probably sounds ridiculous, but I've always had this looming fear of rejection, and I think I'd rather live not knowing than find out that he'd be uncomfortable at the mere thought of me being interested in him."

"That's fair, but I think anyone would be lucky to have you," Iruka blinked at that, able to see a light pink dusting Kakashi's pale cheeks peeking up from where his mask ended at the bottom of his cheekbones. "You're a caring person, Iruka, and I don't think you realize just how valuable you are to people."

"Really? I'm not sure if I believe that, haha..." Iruka trailed off, running a hand through his ponytail and chuckling.

"I can understand that. Just consider what I've said, yeah? Trust me when I say I know about regretting not being able to say something important to someone because I waited too long."

Iruka suddenly felt guilty as he thought about what he knew regarding Kakashi's past- rumors he'd heard about the older man's father, who'd killed himself after a mission went wrong, the death of Obito Uchiha and eventually Rin Nohara, and all of the time Kakashi had spent in the Anbu- even the nickname "Friend Killer Kakashi", which he didn't really have a lot of background on.

"I know. Thank you for the advice, Kakashi," The brunette stood up, careful to make sure that he had the letter with him as he offered Kakashi a smile and a wave. "I'll see you later?"

"Of course," Kakashi stood and waved as well, walking the younger man to the door. "Have a good day, Iruka."

"You, too."