Verbatim (Kakashi Hatake x Iruka Umino)

Chapter Twenty

Kakashi Hatake felt a bit trapped as he crossed his arms, Asuma Sarutobi on one side of him and Might Guy on the other. He'd been on a walk to clear his head after the events from the night before when both men had approached him, Guy practically insisting on both of them joining. Kakashi had allowed it, not necessarily minding their company and not in the mood to argue.

Well, actually... On a normal day, he wouldn't mind their company, but they were both currently staring at him with concern in their eyes and it had him both annoyed and uncomfortable.

"Kakashi, you look conflicted," Asuma spoke first, placing a hand on Kakashi's shoulder. Tired and irritable from not having slept last night, he jerked back from the touch but continued walking. Asuma only frowned and kept his pace, Guy doing the same. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," He answered, letting out a sharp breath from his nose, which was covered by his mask.

"Is it something to do with Iruka again, my dear rival?" Guy piped up, and Kakashi felt his posture straighten a bit as he shot the taijutsu expert a small glare. He hadn't talked about the Iruka situation with Asuma at all, not wanting the word to spread.

Though Guy could usually keep his mouth shut when it was important despite what he'd just said, most of their friends couldn't. It wasn't that they intentionally gossipped, but they always went and told the wrong person. If Asuma or Kurenai knew about something, they'd tell each other, and then Asuma would mention it to Kakashi, or Guy, who would go and tell Lee, who would tell his teammates, and then it'd spread to the Hyugas, which would respond in Konohamaru hearing it from Hanabi and Hinata's teammates hearing it from her, and then it'd inevitably go to Asuma's team from them and to all of their parents, and eventually, the whole village would know.
An unintentional gossip chain, truly.

"Iruka?" Asuma questioned, glancing up at the sky, and then back at Kakashi. "Oh, that's right, you two have left the bar together a few times over the past year," Suddenly, Kakashi regretted having grabbed Iruka's hand so boldly and walking with him out of the bar like that the last time they'd all had a get-together, but he figured that there was no going back and changing it now. "I never looked into it that much, but it's clear that you two have a thing for each other. Are you guys dating?"

"You and Kurenai also clearly have a thing for each other but won't admit that you're actually dating, right?" Kakashi teased, trying to take the attention off of himself and put it on Asuma instead, as his and Kurenai's not-really-a-relationship-but-actually-totally-secretly-a-relationship was a rather popular conversation subject at the moment.

"W-Woah, I know you're upset right now, but I was asking about you, not me!" Asuma sputtered, face bright red. Kakashi grinned under his mask at the sight as the tan ravenette threw his hands up and tried to verbally back himself. "No need to get defensive."

"Yeah, Kakashi, there's no need to attack the secret relationship that everyone already knows exists!" Unfortunately, Kakashi's attempt at taking the spotlight off of himself had failed, and Guy quickly steered the conversation back to him and Iruka. "What about you and Iruka?"

"God..." Kakashi groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose between his thumb and pointer finger.

"Maybe we shouldn't pry too much," Asuma relented, but Kakashi gave him a dismissive wave. He didn't really want them to put their noses in his business, but he was mature enough to acknowledge that they were just trying to be good friends. They meant well and wanted to help, and maybe they could help him figure things out.

"No, it's fine," Kakashi put his hands in the pockets of his pants, suppressing a frown at the thought of how jumbled this whole thing with him and Iruka had become. "Things are complicated, that's all. I know he likes me, I'm just not sure how to let him know that I like him back. I'm sure you've both picked up on the fact that I can't emote very well."

"Yeah, that might be the one thing that Guy's actually got on you, Kakashi," Asuma teased, earning a small laugh from the silver-haired man and a playful glare from the older ravenette.

"Hey!" Guy exclaimed, crossing his arms and feigning hurt as he looked in the opposite direction of Asuma and Kakashi, struggling not to smile at his own little joke. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Anyways, I think you should just be honest with him about everything," Asuma spoke again, and Kakashi had to try not to be cynical about it. Be honest about your feelings was the advice that almost everyone would give in a situation about this. It was quite typical, but he figured that it was used so commonly advised for a reason even though he wanted to spout some negative bullshit about it being cliche and overused. "Put it all on the table. If he likes you back, which he seems to, he should reciprocate, and you two can finally end the pining."

"That's so much harder than it sounds. How do you tell someone that you've been in love with them for a good ten years so casually?"

"A good start would be simply saying 'I love you', if you want my advice," Asuma responded, offering a sheepish smile in return.

"That would make sense..." Kakashi acquiesced, running a hand through his hair. "But still..."

"Kakashi," Guy smiled as well, placing a hand on Kakashi's shoulder, and this time, the silver-haired man didn't pull away. "For someone so lax, you're worrying a lot about this! Just calm down a bit and use the power of youth to fuel your bravery!" Kakashi and Asuma both deadpanned at the 'power of youth' narrative that Guy always used, so the ravenette quickly changed the subject. "Anyways, wanna go get some ramen, guys? It might, uh, soothe your nerves!"

The last place Kakashi wanted to go was to Ichiraku Ramen as he suddenly thought about the time he'd been there with Guy so many months earlier- the time that Iruka had been sitting there and likely eavesdropping on their conversation, but he couldn't bring himself to say no.

"Sure."