Verbatim (Kakashi Hatake x Iruka Umino)

Chapter Twelve

A few days passed, and Kakashi Hatake was antsy about the entire situation with Iruka Umino. Either his ninken had been wrong about where the box had come from, or it was just someone who lived in the same apartment as Iruka who had written the book... Right.

After all, if Iruka had written Verbatim, why wouldn't he have mentioned that it was him?

Kakashi sat at Ichiraku, no other than Might Guy by his side. The ravenette had dragged him along, but honestly? It was nice to feel valued, nice to be seen as a friend instead of friend-killer Kakashi.

So, he tried to enjoy the company despite the fact that he was still conflicted over Iruka, but regardless of his efforts, Guy seemed to easily pick up on his change in mood.

"My eternal rival!" The other Jonin paused, looking over at Kakashi. He had been eating his ramen- something they'd usually make a contest out of- but he stopped just to address the silver-haired man's (apparently) evident sulking. "You look upset! What's wrong? Is there anything I can do?"

"I'm not sure if you can actually do anything about it, but..." Kakashi trailed off, staring into his own bowl of ramen, which he hadn't touched. Due to how confused and stressed he'd been over the past couple days, his eating schedule- not that he really had a healthy one in the first place- had been thrown off. "I am having a slight issue."

"And what would that be?"

"This is gonna sound super weird," Kakashi had thought back on the incident since it had happened, and it was admittedly creepy. Like, tracking a box back to someone's house to find the author of his favorite book? That was downright stalkerish- not that he'd really thought about it in depth like that at the time. Now that he was beginning to tell Guy about it, he felt terribly embarrassed. "But the other day after you and Lee left, I noticed that the box that Verbatim was dropped off in at the bookstore was sitting out front, so I may or may not have had one of my ninken track the scent of the box to where it originally came from."

"A little weird, but I admire your youthful determination!" Guy, ever the positive, complimented him. Kakashi could only sigh. "So, where'd your ninken go?"

"Iruka's apartment complex." He deadpanned, which earned him a confused glance from Guy. He was pretty sure that, if Ichiraku was a building with a roof above them instead of a cabana, the ravenette's eyebrows would have shot through it.

"Oh! Do you think it could be Iruka?"

"Iruka? No, he's too innoce-" Kakashi quickly cut himself off, remembering him and Iruka's hook up just months before. Images of the brunette riding him dry and leaving marks on his body that lasted for a good week afterward flashed through his head, reminding him of the fact that Iruka wasn't as demure as he'd initially suspected. "Well, no, I guess he's not all that innocent in that sense..."

"What makes you say that?"

"I'm not sure if I can trust you to keep this secret..." Kakashi hadn't told anyone about what had happened between him and Iruka, or even about his feelings towards Iruka in general, so this would be a big step.

"I can! Why it would be totally unyouthful for me to spill a secret that was trusted to me by my best friend!" If it were anyone else saying that, Kakashi would've taken it as sarcasm, but considering that it was Guy, he'd learned to take the ravenette's somewhat humorous way of speech seriously. "I could never!"

"Right..."

"So, what's going on?"

In between his question and Kakashi's next words, Guy took a moment to finish off the ramen he'd been working his way through before (not) subtly pulling some cash out of his wallet to pay the tab for both him and Kakashi- something he did every time despite Kakashi's objections.

"I'm in love with Iruka," Kakashi confessed, looking up to see that Ayame and Teuchi were listening intently. Suddenly, he wondered how much gossip they had heard over the years, but he didn't mind it much since he knew that both of them wouldn't go spilling his secrets- after all, they'd seen his face numerous times when he ate there, and they'd never talked about it to anyone else. "Have been for a few years. We both got a bit tipsy at the bar a few months back and hooked up. Things have went back to normal since then in terms of our relationship and neither of us has brought it up, and even though Iruka doesn't seem like the person to casually hook up with his friends- acquaintances, coworkers, whatever me and him are at this point- I'm thinking that it was just casual for him, and... I'm just so confused about what to do."

"I see..." The bright smile that Guy had been wearing seconds before fell, replaced by an expression that made it clear that he was in serious thought. "You know, that does remind me, now that we're here. It was a long time ago, so I'm not sure if you remember, but it was the last time we went for ramen. Iruka was there, no?"

"Yeah, he was sitting at the end stool," Kakashi nodded, able to remember that day rather clearly despite the fact that it had been nearly a year since then. Iruka had been sitting at the far end of Ichiraku, away from him and Guy, seemingly pouring over a binder or a notebook- Kakashi couldn't remember- probably a lesson plan. Though Kakashi had expected at least a greeting, Iruka hadn't said anything, only sparing Guy and Kakashi the occasional glance. He'd left while the two rivals were in the middle of a ramen-eating contest. "But it looked like he was busy, so I didn't want to bother him. I was a bit surprised that he didn't say hi to either of us."

"So, you're in love with Iruka!"

"Yes..." Kakashi answered, wondering what that had to with the last time they'd seen the brunette at Ichiraku until he remembered what him and Guy had been talking about in Iruka's presence that day; his lack of reading material due to Jiraiya's hiatus, which just so happened to be quickly remedied by the publishing of Verbatim a few months after.

"And you think he may have written Verbatim!"

"Also yes."

"And you remember the conversation we had at the ramen stand that day?" Apparently, Guy was on the same page as him.

"Right... We were talking about how I couldn't find any new books, and he- he overheard it. He must've at least heard bits and pieces, and he's a Chunin."

"Plus, if you think about it, the two main characters are a lot like you and Iruka!"

"Ah, I thought I was the only one who saw it like that..." Kakashi let out a deep breath, thinking back to the two characters, Kujira and Shirogane, who bared a striking resemblance to him and Iruka. Initially, he thought that he'd been so lovestruck that he was simply inserting himself and Iruka into the story as some sort of weird self-comfort, but if Guy thought the resemblance was there, too? "Well, damn."

"You can't be a hundred percent sure, but I think there's a good chance that he's the author! Maybe he overheard your issue and decided to help you out?" Kakashi blushed at the thought but huffed when Guy quickly played off the suggestion. "Nah, I'm kidding, that's a little much! But still, you should just ask. Iruka's always been a pretty honest person."

"That's true. Thanks for the advice, Guy."

"Any time!"

Kakashi sat there, staring down into his ramen as he considered all of the possibilities.

He'd have to meet up with Iruka soon.