Verbatim (Kakashi Hatake x Iruka Umino)

Chapter Eighteen

Iruka Umino felt himself fidget in his seat as he lingered in the bar despite feeling incredibly awkward, all of his friends having conversations of their own. There were enough people at this particular gathering for them to sit at the bar instead of trying to cram themselves in a booth, so he was at least glad to have his personal space, though he didn't dare occupy himself by slamming drinks like he had the last time they sat at the bar, which ended up in a one night stand with no other than Kakashi Hatake that he had struggled to remember the morning after.

Speaking of the Jonin, Kakashi was sitting in the barstool to his right, while all of his other friends- Anko, Shizune, Genma, Ibiki, Guy, Kurenai, Asuma- were lined up in the barstools to his left. There was a brief moment of silence in whatever conversation each of them were having, and Iruka was surprised to hear his anonymous pen name spoken by his longtime crush.

"You know, I heard that Risso will be publishing another book soon."

"What?" Kurenai, who was on the opposite end of the bar as Kakashi, perked up and tried to look over everyone else there to see him. Iruka, on the other hand, was too worried about what Kakashi was going to say next to really pay attention to her. Kakashi wouldn't expose him, would he? "Where'd you hear that?"

"Well, I know you guys won't believe me, but I actually know who they are."

No- Kakashi was a man of his word, and he said that he'd keep Iruka's secret. The brunette allowed his eyes to fall shut as he took in a deep breath and then exhaled, trying to block out all of the noise around him so he could calm himself down.

"What!? Who is it, my eternal rival?" Guy asked enthusiastically, slamming his hands down on the wooden bar top hard enough for it to nearly break from the pure force.

"Ah, can't tell, it's a secret," Kakashi chuckled as all of their friends groaned in unison at his tease, placing a finger over his mask-covered lips and glancing over at Iruka- just long enough for the brunette to notice it, as he'd been looking for it, but not long enough for anyone else to pick up on the subtle and somewhat flirtatious gesture. "But look forward to the new book soon."

Everyone else aside from him and Kakashi, obnoxious and feeding off of each other's chaotic energy as well as on the way to getting absolutely hammered (as well as Shizune, who seemed like she'd be stuck getting every drunk person home safely), uproared, their voices drowning out just about everything else in the bar.

"That was mean," Iruka took the opportunity to turn to Kakashi without anyone noticing, shooting him a glare. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Iruka." Seemingly unbothered, Kakashi leaned a little closer, eyebrows raised.

"Hm?"

"Come home with me?" Iruka blinked at the question. Neither him nor Kakashi had really had any alcohol yet, so the silver-haired man offering that up had the brunette taken aback just a little bit. "To stay the night, I mean, not just sex. You know I enjoy your company, so... Yeah." If Iruka hadn't known better, he would've thought that he saw a heavy blush peeking up from underneath Kakashi's mask, but he figured it was just the lighting of the bar and brushed it off. "Last time you stayed, you left your clothes, so I went ahead and washed them for you. You have a clean outfit for work tomorrow, and I'll make you breakfast in the morning."

"I'm down, but do we just..." Iruka stopped, looking over at their friends, who were still clearly distracted. The last time he and Kakashi had done this, he'd slipped out of the building and waited for Kakashi so they wouldn't leave at the exact same time and catch the attention of everyone they knew. "Leave together?"

"Why not?" Kakashi shrugged, which had Iruka furrowing his eyebrows together in confusion. Another more trivial fear of his in regards to the potential of him and Kakashi having a relationship is that the older man would be a bit embarrassed to be seen with him. He knew it was somewhat ridiculous since Kakashi had no shame anyway, but it was hard to get rid of his deeprooted insecurities. "I don't really care if they say anything, to be honest."