A/N - Again, thanks for the reviews, loves ;) they really do help me keep going. I was having a very un-inspiring night, so you were thisclose to not getting an update. Anyway, this is just part 1 of the Kakashi and Minato Date Night (which will probably be just two chapters) and I'll also probably edit and change parts of it once a bit more inspiration hits, so stay with me! It'll get better again :) Enjoy!
Kakashi found himself barely able to concentrate on anything the entire day Friday. He'd practically been skipping as he and Naruto had walked to the academy. As 10am found him humming a long-forgotten love tune while drawing up an assassination plan for an S-ranked missing nin from the Bingo Book (who'd been popping up far too often far too close to Konoha for comfort), Kakashi knew there was something seriously wrong with him. Rather than cause him to lose himself in insane training though, as that comprehension might once have brought him to, the infamous copy nin just chuckled and changed his tune to a jaunty whistle. Yeah, he was in deep.
By 1pm, Kakashi couldn't even sit still long enough read a mission briefing, never mind draw up the schematics for a 6 man ANBU squad response; so he coerced both Tenzo and Yugao into an incredibly unevenly matched sparring battle against him. Now, this is something a ninja should never, ever do; it must be written in the rule book of shinobi how-to's somewhere: Never use advanced ninjutsu sparring as a method of working out pent-up, nervous energy. It's really just asking for trouble.
Neither Tenzo nor Yugao were able to so much as touch Kakashi; he was practically flying away from their attacks, moving as though limbless through the trees. He massacred Tenzo's entire wood-clone army with a single delightful burst of chidori and parrying against Yugao's moon dance looked as though he were preforming a moving art piece he'd rehearsed for weeks. Kakashi had shadow clones bursting out of the ground to pull on Tenzo's ankles, causing him to fall more than once, while Yugao was confined to the very tops of the trees as four very energetic nin-dogs pursued her. Both of Kakashi's opponents were gasping for breath, shooting each other glances that quite clearly stated they were going to sedate this masochist the minute they got their hands on him.
Minato's day was, well, not quite so entertaining. His leg kept bouncing as he scrutinized mission report after mission request until his eyes were sore. He'd gone through four cups of soothing, stress-relief tea and was still as nervous as though it was his first date ever. And it wasn't even a date! He struggled to pay attention to his diplomatic team's reports about the problems in the other four villages, though he did dutifully take notes so he'd be able to read them over tomorrow when he didn't feel like a hormonal teenager.
After his fifth trip to the bathroom that day, Jurou finally came in to file away the end of the day reports, thus letting Minato know he could finally go home without looking like a twat who left work early on a Friday simply because he could.
The only problem was, as soon as Minato left the office, he had no idea what to do with himself. He'd said he would provide the sake for their board games that evening, so he supposed he ought to go to the market and get some. But there he didn't know if he should go for a more expensive, flavorful brand (would that be setting a mood? Or high expectations?") or just a cheap, haphazardly picked bottle (as though it doesn't matter at all? Would it seem like he was just trying to get them drunk?)? Eventually he settled on one, mid-price range bottle, fairly decent flavor, but not too sentimental-looking. It was just alcohol after all and just spending some quality time with his friend. Besides, if he didn't choose soon, Kakashi was going to think he'd stood him up or something, even though this WAS NOT A DATE! He really needed to remember that.
"Kakashi?" Minato stepped quietly into the house. He didn't sense Kakashi's presence immediately, but that wasn't entirely unusual, Kakashi was incredible at masking and sometimes quite literally just forgot to lift his cover.
"I'm here, Minato-sensei," Kakashi meandered into the living room gracefully, a stark contrast to the nerves quivering in his stomach. Minato winced slightly at the honorific.
"How about we drop the titles tonight, Kakashi?" He requested softly, placing the bottle of sake on the counter. "We're friends and…. I'm not actually your sensei anymore."
"Oh," Kakashi let his breath out with a light whoosh sound, then smiled so warmly Minato's tingled all the way down to his toes. "I can do that. Minato."
"Right," Minato murmured. "Well, shall we go to dinner, then?"
"Lead the way," Kakashi responded, gesturing for Minato to leave first.
The two walked in a companionable, though slightly nervous, silence on their way to the sushi restaurant. They (read Minato) were greeted by several passing shinobi, made polite small talk, and then continued on their way, so it took a bit longer than anticipated for them to actually reach their destination.
"Ah, Hokage-sama, we have the table you requested set up in the back," the host just inside the entrance to the restaurant greeted them gracefully. He took two menus as well as the drinks menu and gestured for them to follow him. Kakashi pressed his lips together firmly, waiting for the moment the host left them to accost Minato. The blond knew from the look on Kakashi's face that he was about to get the third degree.
"You reserved a table?" Kakashi gave Minato an incredulous look, causing a reluctant flush to spread across the other man's cheeks.
"No! I just called to ask if they would have any space available on a Friday night," he shot back, trying to cover up their host's inference lest Kakashi be uncomfortable from it.
"And then specified to save the table in the back?" Kakashi now just wanted to prod the blond man into an even more adorable reaction than simply the reddened cheeks.
"Of course I did!" Minato responded swiftly, a little indignant. "So you have no excuse to inhale your food or keep your mask on the entire meal."
This was a more direct response than what Kakashi had bargained for, and he felt his own face heat up quickly.
"Oh."
"Yeah, 'oh,'" Minato reached across their small table to bat the side of Kakashi's head. "I prefer to watch your whole face, it's much better than just one eye."
Kakashi was too stunned by this admission to jump away from Minato's hand and also failed to notice that it remained beside his head for just a heartbeat longer than was generally socially acceptable for a playful swat. Instead, he slowly pulled his mask down his nose, flicking his eye up to look sheepishly at Minato, his lips quirked ever so smoothly into a crooked leering pout.
Minato couldn't help staring, that look, a single, sultry black eye staring straight into his soul; he had to pause to catch his breath again. Yeah, this dinner was a bad idea. There would be no sake for him if Kakashi kept looking like that.
"So," Minato coughed, trying to clear his head (student, student, STUDENT, you're the HOKAGE, he's so YOUNG).
"So…" Kakashi responded, drawing out the word, scratching the back of his head, and trying not to be disappointed that Minato didn't leap across the table to kiss him. He'd been testing out those seductive faces in the mirror ever since he got home from beating up Tenzo and Yugao!
Minato forced an awkward chuckle, searching frantically in his brain for a conversation starter.
"I bet the Akimichis have no idea what kind of trouble they're asking for tonight," he started, figuring that would be a safe topic.
Kakashi's brow furrowed minutely as he processed the abrupt change in topic. He held in a dejected sigh, Naruto was always Minato's back-up subject whenever he felt anxious about the tension in a room. Therefore, Minato was clearly uncomfortable being alone with Kakashi in this situation. Coincidentally, Naruto happened to be one of Kakashi's favorite topics as well, so at the very least, they could still share a delicious meal and talk about their favorite pre-genin. And besides, there would be plenty of further opportunity for blatant flirting once alcohol was involved later.
"I thought the world would end that night you said Naruto could have Kiba sleepover," Kakashi couldn't suppress a shudder at reliving that memory.
"Imagine having that whole class."
"You better not EVER do that to me, Minato! I swear I will leave on a 6 month mission before breakfast."
"How do you even entertain that many kids? I have enough trouble with one."
"Simple: give them a ball of string and tell them not to tangle it."
"They're not cats, Kakashi!"
"Roughly the same attention span."
"So you'd put twenty 5 year olds in a room with a single ball of string?"
"No one ever said I would be a good teacher."
"You could be a good teacher. You have potential."
"I wonder what grass tastes like."
"You're one to talk about attention spans. I think goldfish have longer ones than you."
"Hmm, did you say something? I was considering how many courses to order. It is your treat tonight?"
"Kakashi!"
