Written as part of a multi-fandom soulmate AU challenge, for the prompt 'key'.
Familiar chakra meandered into range, languid and subtle but sparking slightly as Iruka felt it wash over him. He went still.
He put the eggplant he had been inspecting back down on the vegetable stand with a polite nod to the proprietor, then looked over his shoulder. He fought a brilliant grin down into a more respectable smile as he caught sight of an unmistakable wild shock of silver hair. He headed for the familiar figure.
"Kakashi-san! Welcome home." Iruka smiled, ducking his head.
Kakashi's eye crinkled and he dipped his own head in response. "Thank you, Iruka," he paused, "sensei." he nearly purred, his visible eyebrow twitching. Iruka fought down a flush, but felt warmth creeping over his cheeks anyway. "It is good to return to such a cute welcome."
Iruka cleared his throat silently as he noticed Genma standing beside Kakashi, now eyeing him with blatant curiosity. And possibly disbelief. Although that shifted quickly, with a sharpening gaze, to be aimed at Kakashi.
Kakashi, as Iruka would have expected, didn't react at all to the sharp look. Kakashi was nearly unrattleable, as far as Iruka could tell. Though that wasn't really surprising.
"Will I see you?" Kakashi asked, ignoring Genma entirely.
Iruka's smile widened. "If you want to. . . Tonight?" he asked, keeping his voice soft.
Kakashi smiled under his mask, the expression just dramatic enough to show a little through the fabric as his eye closed. He dipped his head lazily and moved past Iruka. The back of one gloved hand brushed past Iruka's, first a shiver of warm metal on his wrist, then the tickle of warmer skin from Kakashi's bare knuckles just above Iruka's own. The contact left a sparking rush of chakra curling around his wrist before slowly dissipating.
Genma hung back for a moment, brows drawing together as he looked Iruka up and down almost suspiciously. The senbon in his mouth waggled in a rather distracted, contemplative manner. Iruka smiled cheerfully at him, then walked away as well, heading in the opposite direction, resisting the urge to look back over his shoulder for Kakashi.
He'd see Kakashi again soon - even if tonight was perhaps not quite soon enough to suit him, after the Copy Nin had been sent away for almost three weeks. Iruka quietly scolded himself for being so attached so quickly - their first 'date' had only been a little over five weeks before Kakashi's latest mission - but he couldn't quite make the self-reproach sincere.
He had missed Kakashi, in ways he never would have expected not so long ago.
Iruka headed towards home, thinking of the grading waiting for him there and wondering how much of it he could get done before his shift in the mission room, given he would no longer have time for it this evening. If he could manage to focus on his grading at all, he thought wryly.
Iruka attempted to rein in some of his outward delight that his boyfriend was back as he walked across the village towards the solo jounin apartments where Kakashi lived. Iruka had been initially surprised to learn that Sharingan no Kakashi lived so simply, tucked away with so many other jounin in the building. And faintly surprised that the building was still standing and relatively intact, housing so many jounin. Even then, he hadn't asked about the Hatake compound, but now he knew Kakashi better the tiny apartment was less surprising.
Iruka made his way up the stairs, unable to suppress his broad grin. Kakashi's apartment was on the top floor, but Iruka reached it quickly.
Iruka took a quick breath before he tapped lightly on his boyfriend's door, and smiled as he felt the cool, prickly tingle of Kakashi's chakra rushing against his fingers - recognising him, the prickles didn't escalate to a sting, or worse, and Kakashi opened the door a moment later, already smiling at him. "Iruka-sensei." he greeted in a low purr, tipping his head and moving aside in invitation.
Accepting the invitation, Iruka brushed past Kakashi's shoulder with calculated awareness even as he felt Kakashi's wards slide over him.
"Good evening, Kakashi-san." Iruka murmured as the door closed behind him. His eye narrowed, and Iruka laughed a little, dipping his head and looking up at Kakashi as he moved towards his boyfriend. He'd wanted to catch Kakashi into his arms on the street earlier when he had first returned - and again when he had shown up in the mission room.
He had come to Iruka to turn in his mission report, as he usually did, but this time there had been a small, vibrantly purple ayame bloom tucked in the centre.
Kakashi was still as Iruka finally wrapped him in a warm but not too restrictive hug. Still, but pliant, not stiff, as Iruka had feared he would be the first time he'd initiated contact and Kakashi had jerked from his habitual slouch into a ramrod straight pose.
"I missed you, Kakashi." he said softly, resting his chin on Kakashi's thin shoulder, cushioned only by his loose shirt. Iruka didn't let himself think whether it was all right, or made sense, for him to have missed Kakashi as much as he had, just spoke honestly.
Kakashi returned his embrace, a little too tightly to be entirely comfortable - though Iruka didn't mind - and nuzzled against his cheek. There was a low sound in his throat in lieu of words, but Iruka thought he understood. He smoothed one hand up and down Kakashi's spine, lingering against him.
Warmth crept through Iruka's body - yes, he had missed Kakashi . . . and being so close to his lean, powerful body was . . . having an effect on Iruka. He shivered and hugged himself a little closer, turning his head for a kiss without thinking. He stopped himself quickly. He brushed his cheek against Kakashi's instead, the fabric covering his face soft against Iruka's skin.
He pulled back, hands trailing slowly over Kakashi's sides. Kakashi clung to him a little tighter, nose nudging along Iruka's cheek before he loosened his hold again.
"Iruka, is something wrong?" Kakashi asked when there was a little more space between them, a calculating look in his eye.
Iruka smiled, shaking his head, and trailed his knuckles up Kakashi's jaw before cupping his cheek. He leaned up and kissed Kakashi's lips softly through the mask.
Kakashi's eye widened at the new contact, and Iruka stroked his cheek, fingertip trailing over the narrow strip of skin visible between hitai-ate and mask. "Nothing is wrong, I'm just happy to be with you." Iruka said honestly. "I missed you." he repeated.
Kakashi lifted his chin, and Iruka hurriedly dropped his hand, stepping back. He opened his mouth to apologise for the presumption against Kakashi's boundaries, his stomach twisting, but Kakashi caught hold of Iruka's wrist and drew him close again.
Releasing Iruka, Kakashi reached up, hooking his fingers over the top edge of his mask and loosening the taut fabric. Iruka's eyes widened, and Kakashi cleared his throat softly, pulling the mask away until it hung loose around his neck, baring the other half of his face to Iruka for the first time.
For a moment Iruka thought crazily that there had been another mask beneath it, as the lower half of Kakashi's face was still obscured by blue, but then he realised it was his skin. Kakashi-
Kakashi bore his Mark on his face? It wasn't unheard of, but . . . rare, very rare. Rarer still given its size. It covered almost the entire area the mask normally hid. Iruka stared, eyes caught in the swirling lines of the complex - beautiful - Mark.
A cresting wave swept over the sharp prow of Kakashi's nose, the layered blues of the currents beneath continuing all the way to his jaw, deepening as they went. A silvery blue and black dolphin dove in a sleek curve through the deepest waters along the curve of his jaw on the left side.
Kakashi, Iruka realised, actually looked nervous, thin lips pressed together, gaze focused away from Iruka, fingers curled in tightly at his sides. Kakashi had been understandably hesitant and his shock was not . . . helping. He reached up and caressed Kakashi's jaw, coaxing his gaze back to meet Iruka's.
"Kakashi?" Iruka murmured. "I. . ."
Before he could finish, or perhaps even be sure what he would have said, Kakashi kissed him. Iruka moaned against his mouth, soft and warm, and let his hands return to Kakashi's face, cupping his jaw.
It was sweeter than he would have expected, back on their first date, but Kakashi was sweeter than he would ever have expected, before. Iruka smiled against his boyfriend's mouth with that thought. He actually forgot about the Mark as he lost himself in the heated, dizzying slide of the kiss. He had admittedly been longing for this, though his action hadn't been intended to-
Kakashi nipped gently at his mouth as he pulled back, his breath fanning against Iruka's face as he barely moved enough to break contact.
"Ohh. . ." Iruka licked his lips reflexively, tipping his head for another fleeting brush of a kiss. He nuzzled Kakashi, an affectionate gesture he'd already become used to sharing with his boyfriend - there may have been no kisses, but despite his occasional odd reactions and the paranoia really mostly to be expected of a jounin, Kakashi was not standoffish or reserved in the least - and closed his eyes with a hum as Kakashi tucked one arm around his waist.
"Kakashi," Iruka asked as he leaned back a little, still well within Kakashi's half-embrace, "is this why. . ." he trailed off.
Kakashi's mouth tugged downwards, and Iruka brushed his fingertips over the sharp frown unhappily. "Wouldn't you?" he asked, meeting Iruka's eyes, fingertips against the mask now hanging loose below his throat.
Iruka blinked, confused, then- He snorted, then smiled coaxingly and fluffed his fingers through the hair that spiked down over Kakashi's hitai-ate. "No, I understand," he hid his Mark, as did most shinobi - most people - though his own was in a more usual place, "no, I- Is this why you haven't wanted to kiss me?" he asked, and flushed. "Not that I-"
"Who said I haven't wanted to?" Kakashi asked, smirking. It softened around the edges after a moment. ". . .yes." he added more quietly. "I could have hidden it with a jutsu, but. . ." His gaze slanted away.
"I don't like to hide mine that way either." Iruka admitted. "It's . . . different. Like denying," he paused, "them," he said weakly, "rather than keeping it hidden. Private."
"You don't have to show me." Kakashi said with a crooked smile. "I just . . . wanted to kiss you, very much. You were teasing me, sensei." He tapped a fingertip on Iruka's mouth, and he instinctively parted his lips and caught it between his teeth.
Kakashi's eye widened, and Iruka grinned, tonguing the tip of his boyfriend's finger before releasing it. He'd point out that the initial tease hadn't been on purpose, but that one sort of had been, so Iruka elected not to bring it up.
"You can . . . see it if you like." Iruka offered, eyes tracking down to the striped dolphin on Kakashi's face. Iruka. He swallowed down the impulse to say- to- No. "It's a little more. . ." He raised a hand to his chest, covering his heart and thinking of the dog that stood proud there, despite the injury it bore with grace.
Iruka had wondered as he got older if it meant his soulmate had died fighting, and had come to live his life under the assumption that the one represented by his Mark was gone. It hadn't bothered him much, as he grew older and left his first crush behind.
"Over your heart?" Kakashi asked, eyebrow arching out of sight. "How. . ." he trailed off, lips twitching, but didn't tease.
Iruka slipped back out Kakashi's hold and shed his flak jacket with a quick movement, letting it fall aside and leaving him with only his turtleneck covering his own hidden Mark. "If you want to see. . ." He wondered, now, and his eyes strayed back to Kakashi's Mark. A striped dolphin in a dark sea. Could it. . .
"Do you want to show me?" Kakashi asked, turning it back on him with subtle emphasis.
Iruka swallowed. "Maybe." he said with a shiver. His eyes ticked to Kakashi's Mark. Maybe to both questions.
He raised his hand, trailing his fingers over the hidden Mark, then reached for the hem of his shirt. Kakashi's hands slid over his, helping him pull it up and away before stopping. Iruka set his jaw, then ducked out of the shirt completely.
Kakashi reached out, fingers resting high on Iruka's chest, just beneath his collarbone. Kakashi's attention was fixed on the Mark over Iruka's heart.
Iruka didn't need to look down at it himself, and he couldn't have dragged his gaze away from his boyfriend's face if he tried.
He looked shocked, but Iruka was . . . used to that. Everyone did when they saw his Mark, even his mother had been when it first appeared, with three days of burning under his skin, so many years ago. He supposed Kakashi probably was accustomed to that reaction as well, with his Mark blazoned so boldly across his face.
Kakashi tentatively let his fingers trail down Iruka's chest, flicking a glance up to meet Iruka's eyes. He nodded shallowly, allowing permission, and bit his lip as Kakashi lightly caressed his chest, his skin tingling beneath the touch. Kakashi's fingertips followed the sweep of the dog's head, then down, probably tracing one of his slender legs. Then Kakashi's caress stopped, but his eye was still fixed on Iruka's chest.
Probably on where the dog's silvery-white fur was soaked with bloody crimson, a cracked heart showing through his chest and dripping lifeblood between his paws.
Kakashi looked up again, finally, and Iruka met his gaze squarely. "I," he paused, "don't allow it to be seen, much." he admitted, and licked his lips. "It makes people nervous. And it's. . ."
"But you let me?" Kakashi asked, fingers tapping lightly at Iruka's skin.
"It's you." Iruka said without thinking. "I mean, I would let you-" He cleared his throat, embarrassed. He would let Kakashi do a lot of things.
Kakashi smirked, which was slightly infuriating and irritatingly sexy usually, but with his mouth actually on display was much worse for Iruka's self control. "Oh?" he asked, eyebrow arching, but he only touched the Mark again, the smirk fading away. "You believe this. . ." he hesitated.
Iruka swallowed nervously. "I had always thought it meant," he looked away, gaze catching at a scorched mark that looked like electrical discharge on one wall, "my . . . soulmate was dead. Perhaps, like- like my parents, died valiantly defending. . . But still dead."
Kakashi's expression showed surprise when Iruka tentatively looked up at him again.
"I felt like I was dead for a long time." Kakashi said, his voice utterly flat. "Still moving, still fighting, but as dead as everyone who I ever carried in my heart."
Iruka's heart twinged, and he reached up, hands tucking under the loose edge of Kakashi's mask to rest low on his neck. He tugged Kakashi against him, offering a soft kiss when Kakashi rested his brow against Iruka's.
He didn't have any words to offer, the cool plainness of Kakashi's admission too much to respond to so easily, but sometimes a comforting touch spoke louder anyway.
He thought of the dog's cracked heart, pouring blood out with no recourse, though the dog still stood strong and proud, and had to kiss Kakashi again. Partly to offer comfort and partly to stifle his own urge to speak. Kakashi softened again under the kiss, strong fingers digging into Iruka's hips as he held on tightly.
"I've never thought much about who it could have been." Iruka said once he could control himself. "Who it. . ."
"I can't exactly ignore it." Kakashi said wryly, fingers ghosting over his own face. "I have tried, though."
Iruka nodded, and Kakashi bowed his head again, resting his brow against Iruka's. He leaned into Iruka, carefully at first, and he supported Kakashi gently, rubbing his back.
"You, ah, I invited you for dinner." Kakashi said after a few minutes, pulling away, and Iruka nodded, though he hadn't necessarily assumed that. Kakashi rubbed the nape of his neck, his hair ruffling messily under his fingers - not that it made a difference - and then awkwardly swept his hand over his face. "Ah, there's food . . . waiting."
"Thank you." Iruka said easily, moving away to let Kakashi head towards the kitchen. "Give me a moment to, er, get my shirt back on, and I can help if you need it with anything. . ."
"You don't have to." Kakashi said, and Iruka smiled absently, bending to snag his shirt from the floor.
"If there's anything I can help with, I don't mind." Iruka told his boyfriend, looking over his shoulder at Kakashi. "Just a moment."
"Not that, although that either," Kakashi said, shaking his head, lips twitching, "but you certainly don't have to . . . get dressed again on my account."
Iruka looked at him for a moment, then turned his back again, flushing. He strangled down his first two responses. "I'm not just going to hang around shirtless," Iruka said reasonably, "while you-" he broke off, startled, when Kakashi's shirt soared over his shoulder and knocked his own out of his hands.
He turned around and Kakashi grinned at him, looking more slender still - though too well-muscled to ever seem delicate - now he'd lost his shirt. That smile was also impossible to resist returning. Probably the feeling was strengthened simply because Iruka had never seen the beautiful, sexy smile like this, not properly, but. . .
"You can't possibly be surprised." Kakashi said playfully as he put down what was apparently the last dish and seated himself at the table, watching and waiting for Iruka.
Iruka sighed and joined him, leaving his own shirt on the floor with Kakashi's. "I should be." Iruka told him, and Kakashi arched an eyebrow. "And you could have just let me put my shirt back on." he pointed out weakly as Kakashi began to put food on his plate. "I didn't say I wouldn't take it off again." he added more quietly, staring at his plate.
Kakashi's fingers brushed over his hand and he looked up to find a not-quite-smug smile on his boyfriend's face. "I'll keep that in mind." he said lightly, then pushed another piece of fish onto Iruka's plate. "Eat." he encouraged.
Iruka huffed, but picked up his chopsticks and ignored the slightly odd feeling of sitting there with no shirt on. "Itadakimasu." he said, dipping his head to Kakashi.
He was startled when he took his first bite - he hadn't exactly expected Kakashi to be a bad cook, but. . . He looked up at his boyfriend and Kakashi grinned at him again, and the happy hum of good food melded with the flip-flop of his stomach at the sight in a not entirely comfortable way.
Iruka swallowed without choking, with some difficulty, and grabbed his glass of water. "I didn't realise you were such a good cook." he said once he had taken a drink.
"I don't like people enough to want to go out for food every day." Kakashi said idly, and Iruka's hand hitched as he reached for another bite. "I learned. Thank you."
Iruka felt a lump form in his throat and drank some more water. He'd never quite forgotten - once he learned - that Kakashi had been alone for such a long time, but it was hard to remember all the things that meant, to him. Iruka's heart hurt for him.
He glanced down as he neatly sectioned his fish, eyes flicking to the proud, strong dog with his damaged heart, and then peeking at Kakashi again without looking up fully. He . . . wondered, but he tried to shove that curiosity - that desire to know - to the back of his mind.
He hadn't let any such consideration change things between them before, and he. . .
He raised his head and met Kakashi's gaze, and smiled as he consciously tried to relax. Kakashi returned the smile, his one visible eye crinkling closed, and Iruka's heart eased, his chest warm and just a little tight with affection.
Any thoughts of Marks or soulmates had changed nothing before he'd seen Kakashi's Mark or shared his own, and letting those thoughts creep up and influence him now would do no good.
If . . . they were, then they would find out, eventually, Iruka was sure. He flushed, eyes sliding down Kakashi's well-defined chest appreciatively as his imagination leapt ahead to what it might be like to go to bed with Kakashi.
His mind wandered happily further down that path - he'd always had a vivid imagination - and Iruka hardly even wanted to stop entertaining the fantasy, but he forced himself to focus and behave before Kakashi became curious enough to ask him why he looked so distracted. And before Iruka could give him an honest answer.
I actually wrote this before I saw the episode where the kids try so hard to see under Kakashi's mask, and at the end he shows them that what's underneath his mask is another mask. I may have been amused when I did. XD
Ayame is one of the three types of Japanese iris, and it means good news or loyalty in Hanakotoba, the Japanese Language of the Flowers.
If Iruka's meandering thoughts weren't clear enough - the Marks represent your soulmate, but you won't know for sure if you've found them until/unless you bed them.