Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
He could hear the annoying ticking of the clock that was hanging on the wall in front of him. He was sitting on a cold chair in front of the dentist's office. There were only two people left before him, and he could feel himself getting more and more nervous. His mood didn't fit the brightly colored place. The walls were painted a bright yellow color and the whole place tried to create a feeling of comfort for the people in it. There were other doors stretching across the hall with different names on them, written in a neat fashion. You'd think there wouldn't be anything wrong with the place. But there was. The smell. The smell was disgusting, a mix between the smell the dentists' equipment gave off, water, and a faint smell of cigarettes, probably from the people standing outside. The entrance was just down the hall and people came in after they had smoked, so it wasn't surprising. The reception desk was right next to the entrance and the woman standing there looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but here. The only sounds that could be heard were the drilling sounds from the closed room, the annoying ticking from the clock and an occasional tapping of feet from the other two people next to him.
The assistant of the dentist came out of the room, calling one of the two people left. The man came out just a few minutes after that though. He either had some documents to sort out or he was just here for a normal check up. The other man went inside and the aloof man cursed his bad luck. And his best friend, since he was responsible for bringing him here. They had gone to a restaurant to celebrate his friend's birthday and that's when he found out. The aloof man had been hiding it well but when his eccentric best friend practically shoved a piece of cake in his mouth while he was distracted, he had grimaced, putting his hand on the place where his throbbing tooth was. His friend had instantly asked him what was wrong and he couldn't cover it up, he was forced to go to the dentist. He tensed when a door opened, looking up and sighing in relief when he saw it was another door. There was a kid getting out of the door, holding a tissue and a lollipop in his hand. The kid grinned at the dentist that walked out as well, and he could see one of his front teeth was missing. The dentist patted the kid's head and the child ran out of the front door. A woman was there waiting for him, probably his mother.
"Hatake Kakashi-san?" He was startled out of his thoughts when the assistant appeared again. The last man was done and Kakashi wanted to curse. It was his turn now. The silver haired man could feel the tension he had momentarily forgotten come back at him with full force. He longingly stared at the exit, wanting to just run out like the kid did but he knew he was going to be dragged back here again. Sighing, Kakashi got up and followed the assistant inside, closing the door behind him and looking around the room. It was painted a pale green color with a simple desk in the right corner of the room and a chair in front of it. The desk was pretty long, stretching till the middle of the wall. There were a lot of papers neatly stacked on it, a radio, and a calendar hanging on the wall over the desk. On Kakashi's left side was another desk with a sink and a silver tray with all of the dentist's tools on it. There was a clothes hanger next to the desk with the sink and Kakashi left his jacket on it, noticing that there was also one more jacket on the hanger, except his and the assistant's. In the middle of the room was the chair. "Please have a seat until the dentist comes, Hatake-san." He nodded at the assistant, sitting in the chair but not lying down, while she went to the tray of tools and started cleaning them. The silverhead closed his eyes, taking deep breaths, the music from the radio calming him down a bit. He hoped they didn't turn the radio off, because if he had to listen to the drill-like sounds the machines made, he would probably go insane.
"Ah, Umino-san. I let our patient come in. I hope you don't mind."
'Wait, Umino? No...No, no, no. No fucking way.' Kakashi thought, his nervousness rising. He almost had a heart attack when he found out who had entered. Brown hair tied in a ponytail, warm brown eyes and a familiar scar running across his nose. Umino Iruka. A classmate from university. A classmate Kakashi had a crush on. After university they had kept in touch, sending a few emails now and then, sometimes texting each other for hours, asking how the other was and what they were doing. But Iruka had never mentioned anything about becoming a dentist. Actually, Kakashi clearly remembered Iruka wanted to become a teacher. The man had a strong desire and passion for the job, determined to get it. That was one of the first things that attracted the silver haired man to him.
"Kakashi-san." The silverhead yelped when the brunette hit him with a clipboard on his head.
"Maa, Iruka, I thought you're supposed to take care of patients? I'd like to avoid going to the hospital too."
"I'm sure your head won't break from that, Kakashi-san. Jokes aside, I'm glad to see you're doing fine if you count out the tooth." Iruka smiled. He went to his desk and opened a drawer, pulling out a pair of white gloves and putting them on. Kakashi paled when the fact that Iruka was going to be the one to fix his tooth hit home. Even if he had a crush on the brown haired man he did not like his job. Even if it was Iruka, Kakashi had a hard time lying on the chair. He jumped when the chair moved up, going closer to the big lamp attached to it. He guessed it was made like this so the dentist would have easier access to the patient's mouth. There was also a mini-sink next to the chair near Kakashi's head. The assistant came closer and turned the sink on. The constant stream of water and the radio made the silver haired man a bit calmer. "Kakashi-san, your mask."
"Oh, right." The silverhead had totally forgotten about it. Before he wore it because his... "admirers" were getting out of hand (not like the mask helped a lot but at least some of them backed off). Now he just wore it out of habit. He also wore a white eye patch but removed it after university since it always fell off and he didn't need it that much. His scarred red eye got a lot of attention on the streets but he didn't care anymore. Kakashi heard a cough before realizing the brunette was motioning for him to open his mouth. Iruka had already put a white mask over his mouth. The dentist grabbed his sickle probe, or as Kakashi liked to call it, "the mini saw", that would soon be pressing every tooth in his mouth until the bad one was found. The silverhead squirmed uncomfortably when Iruka started to check his teeth, asking him if it hurt or not. Kakashi had already told him which tooth was the bad one but he knew Iruka had to check all of them. That didn't mean he had to like it though. He hoped all of his other teeth were good because even if Iruka was his dentist, he didn't want to come back to this hellhole. He flinched when Iruka pressed on his bad tooth but was relieved to hear he didn't have any other problems. Maybe there was someone that liked him up there. That thought quickly came crashing down when the brunette told him he was going to start cleaning the tooth, since Kakashi didn't want him to give him a painkiller. The silverhead did NOT want a syringe in his mouth, thank you very much. Iruka agreed since the caries wasn't too bad.
The table or holder for the dental tools that was attached to the chair (how many things were attached to this thing?) had tools that Kakashi didn't want to ever be near his mouth. Iruka grabbed the dental drill from the table and put a bur on it. As far as Kakashi knew, the burs come in different shapes and sizes, depending on the seriousness of the caries. He wanted to jump off of the stool when Iruka turned the drill (nice name and the fact that it's the thing's actual name makes it even more funny to the silverhead) on and held Kakashi's mouth open. It was hell. He almost wanted to cry. Kakashi knew he was acting like a five year old but it did hurt, and he knew for a fact that people didn't feel the pain after they had gone to the dentist a few times. And this was his first time. He didn't have any problems with his teeth as a child and he was grateful for that, because it hurt like a bitch. This continued for a while, Kakashi having to spit in the mini sink a few times and brush his mouth with a tissue. The nurse had put a thing that would suck out his saliva, she was pulling his cheek and there was a goddamn tampon between his cheek and teeth, so when Iruka asked him if his tooth hurt while his fingers were ALSO in his mouth, Kakashi wanted to scream that his tooth's pain was starting to feel normal compared to his cheek's.
After what seemed like a decade to Kakashi, Iruka was finally done and all of the shit in his mouth was removed. The place where the tampon was left a dry taste in his mouth and his cheek hurt from all of the pulling. The chair was finally lowered and Kakashi put his mask back on, wanting to whoop in joy but feeling too exhausted to do so. Physically, he felt fine but mentally he felt like someone decided to play football with him as the ball. The fact that he was standing so close to Iruka also didn't make the situation any better. The brown haired male had literally explored every part of Kakashi's mouth. With a drill. While the silverhead produced more saliva than his pug. Charming. Still, jokes aside, Kakashi was happy he had met the brunette again. He had almost lost hope when they parted ways after university. He hadn't been sure then, if his feelings were real. He had thought it was just his mind playing tricks on him, since he hadn't had a person enter his small group of friends in a long time, let alone get close to him. But after parting ways with the brunette, Kakashi felt a need to see him again. After a while that need shoved the feeling he hadn't been able to figure out in his face. Attraction. He was attracted to the brunette and he still regrets he didn't realize his true feelings sooner.
"Kakashi-san? Are you okay?" The silver haired man was startled when he found worried brown eyes staring at him. The brunette was oblivious to the close proximity of the two, and Kakashi fought back a blush at it. He had never been so grateful for wearing a mask.
"I'm fine, Iruka. You don't need to be worried for me. But you can be if you want to. I like your concerned face way more than your angry one." Iruka had already removed his gloves and mask, and Kakashi almost smirked when he saw a blush blooming on the brunette's cheeks. Iruka sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"You haven't changed at all, have you, Kakashi-san?" Kakashi just grinned under his mask and he knew Iruka could tell, judging from the exasperated look the brunette gave him. Iruka walked to his desk and sat in his chair, picking up his clipboard and jotting down something on it.
"So, when would you like to come again?" Kakashi could hear the imaginary grenade drop in the background.
"I...I have to come again?" The silverhead refused to acknowledge the trembling in his voice.
"Of course. I've prepared your tooth for the seal, and for now I've put some medicine where the seal will be. I want you to come again so I can finish my work on the tooth by putting the seal. Don't worry, you've passed the painful part, Kakashi-san." The silverhead hoped so, because he wasn't ready for another drilling session. "Is next Thursday okay with you?"
"Yeah, I can come at two o'clock." Iruka nodded, writing down the appointment on his clipboard.
"Umino-san, I'll be leaving now. Goodbye and have a nice night." The brunette looked up at the assistant, giving her a polite smile.
"Ah, sure. Goodbye, Suzuhara-san." The assistant nodded at Iruka and Kakashi before exiting the room. Kakashi realized this was his chance to talk with Iruka. But it would be weird to suddenly ask him to have dinner together, wouldn't it? "Uh, Kakashi-san?" The silverhead was startled out of his thoughts. It seemed to happen a lot today.
"Yeah?"
"I was wondering, since we haven't seen each other in a long time, would you like to have dinner with me? There is a good Chinese restaurant near here and you are my last patient for today." Kakashi couldn't believe his luck. He promised to himself at that moment that he would make the best out of this. And thank Gai later for bringing his ass to the dentist. "Uh, you don't need to accept if you don't want to, you know! I was just offering and I'm sure you're a busy man..." Iruka trailed off, scratching his cheek nervously.
"Oh, of course I accept. I was going to ask you the same thing, actually. It'd be nice to catch up." Iruka smiled and got up, picking up his jacket from the clothes hanger and leaving his white coat on it. The two males exited the building, walking in comfortable silence. They arrived at the Chinese restaurant, both deciding that a table in the more secluded part of the room would be better, so they can actually talk to each other without having to shout. After placing their orders and having some small talk, Kakashi decided to ask the question that was bugging him from the start. "Iruka, I've been wondering something. I know you wanted to become a teacher. Heck, everyone that was close to you knew how much you wanted the job. So, what happened? Why did you change your mind?" The brunette flinched, and Kakashi was sure he was expecting the question. Iruka sighed, suddenly looking very tired.
"Well, I hadn't given up on becoming a teacher, the problem was that...I couldn't meet the standards of the places I wanted to teach at. And after that my family became...worried...for my future and my father told me to look for another job. He's a dentist himself and he offered me to try my hand at it. I didn't want to at first but...after I kept being rejected I...I g-gave up. I started learning about dentistry and I actually had a knack for the job. Remembering different instruments and their uses, the different caries and all that wasn't too hard for me. So, as you can see, I found a job, my family is happy but..." He took a shaky breath, shaking his head and smiling at the silverhead in front of him. Iruka was startled at the intense expression the silver haired man was wearing. The brunette managed to tear his gaze away from the mismatched eyes. He remembered Kakashi as a laidback person, so seeing him with such an expression was really weird. He could still feel the stare and he felt...uncomfortable? No, that wasn't the right word. Iruka frowned, not being able to put a finger on the feeling. He remembered he had stopped his story suddenly, so he decided to continue when the silverhead beat him to it.
"You still want to become a teacher, right?" Iruka nodded.
"I...I don't think I'll ever give up on it. Not fully, at least. Ah, sorry Kakashi-san. We came here to catch up, and here I am, filling your head with my sad story."
"Maa, don't worry about it. I like listening to you talk. Most of my other friends are really loud, so you're like a breath of fresh air." They both laughed at that but for some reason the brunette felt nervous. He felt like he had disappointed the silver haired man somehow. "Oh, our food is here." Iruka looked up and indeed it was. They had started eating and slowly Iruka felt like he was back in school, chatting with the silverhead. It felt nice. But that nervousness he had felt was growing stronger. After they had finished their meal they went out of the restaurant and noticed it had gotten pretty dark outside.
"Well, Kakashi-san, I should go now. It's getting pretty dark. Also, thank you for listening to me. I hadn't told this story to anyone, since I always felt like I'd fall in their eyes after all that boasting I did of becoming the best teacher. So, thank you, and I hope I haven't fallen in your eyes either."
"You haven't and there's really no need to thank me. I'll always be here to listen to you, so you can confide in me more often, ne?" Kakashi winked and the brunette rolled his eyes, smiling anyway. Suddenly the nervousness faded away. Maybe he was worried about disappointing Kakashi? Iruka didn't really know but he felt like it would have hurt him if he saw disappointment in those mismatched eyes. "Ah, since it's pretty late I'll walk you home. And before you say no, I insist that you don't have a say in this." Iruka just laughed and followed the silver haired man. He didn't live that far away from the restaurant, it would have taken him around five minutes but he decided not to comment. Besides, he liked the laidback man's company. The weird feeling he had felt before came back again and he frowned. "Iruka? Something wrong?" The brunette snapped out of his thoughts. They were already in front of his house.
"Thank you for the meal and the company, Kakashi-san. And don't worry I'm fine. Just spaced out for a while." The brunette turned to the door to his house and got ready to unlock it when Kakashi spoke again.
"You know, I don't think you should have given up." The brunette paled, feeling a sharp pain shoot through his chest. He knew that pain. It was the pain he felt after every rejection, every disappointed and pitying gaze he got, and he was going to feel that pain again. He should have expected it really. Everybody said it. He should have tried harder. He shouldn't have given up. Even if they said they understood his reasons they still gave him disappointed looks. And now the silverhead was going to become one of them too. Iruka took a deep breath, preparing for the words to come. "I'm not going to judge you, Iruka." The brunette was so startled he had dropped the key for his house, turning sharply around to look at the silverhead. "You could still try, you know? How about lowering your standards? You don't need to push yourself to become a well known professor. You could just teach first graders if you want. The point is that you can teach, and you don't need to strive to teach the best of the best. You can teach snot nosed brats but I'm sure you'll still be happy with that. Besides, you've always been good with kids. Hey, Iruka, why are you crying?" The silverhead stopped his speech, giving Iruka a worried look.
"I'm sorry. It's just...it's been a long time since someone actually tried to give me advice. To help me achieve my dream. I just got looks of pity. You know...maybe deep down I knew I had other options but after getting rejected so many times I...I got scared. I felt like I'd get rejected even if I tried again and again, and I still do, Kakashi." The brunette finished, tears streaming down his face as he finally let his worries out. He felt a lot better. He was startled when he was pulled into a hug.
"I don't know what will happen. I don't know if you'll make it or if you'll get rejected again. But what I do know is that it's better for you to try again. Because you'll regret it if you don't. You know, until now I've been regretting one thing, too. And, even if everything falls apart after this, I don't think I would be able to move on if I didn't do it. So, sorry and thank you for this, Iruka." The brown haired man didn't have time to comprehend Kakashi's words before he felt another pair of lips on his own. It was a brief kiss. If he hadn't felt the taste of rice that Kakashi had at the restaurant, he probably would have thought he had imagined it. "Well then, see you next week, Iruka." Kakashi was already walking away, mask back on and waving back at the brunette, the street lights giving a luminous glow to his silver hair. Ah, now Iruka knew what that weird feeling was. Attraction.