"Oh, Genma, what's going on here anyway?" asked Iruka, remembering.
Genma shrugged. "There really isn't a lot to say about it. I guess those missing-nin that were messing around in the woods had a more complex plan than we thought, because we got a bunch of suspicious missions coming in. Tsunade's trying to figure out if there are still some accomplices out there somewhere, or in here somewhere, or if it was just a process that they had already put motion before they were wiped out."
"In here?" asked Iruka, softly. "So that's why you were so busy. I should let you get back to work, Genma! But come to that party tonight if you're not too busy, okay?" He knew he didn't have to tell Genma any details, because he'd catch them as he made his rounds.
Genma shrugged. "Party, tonight, got it. As for work, it'll be easier now that I have a juicy piece of gossip to be spreading. Makes everyone more comfortable and talky. Will take care of some of the ranting going on around here too… if you're sure you don't mind that bit being spread?" The question was obviously aimed at Kakashi, who seemed to be smiling, if his eye was any indication.
"I can take an ego hit to play the gossip game," he said casually. "Besides, underneath the underneath, there's more to it than that."
Genma rolled his eyes and said, "Well, I'm off then, lovebirds!" and waded back into the crowd, wearing a "I have a secret" grin.
Iruka turned to Kakashi. "Underneath the underneath again?"
Kakashi pulled Iruka a little tighter with the arm that was still around him, and said nothing. Together they wandered through the room, greeting people they knew occasionally, until they made it back to Yori's desk. People looked at them funny, but no one said anything… yet. "Yori-san, have you met my boyfriend?" asked Iruka casually, and Yori 's green eyes narrowed.
"We've met, haven't we, Hatake?" she said tightly.
Kakashi waved happily. "Yup, you're the spineless wimp Iruka has to train to actually make us lazy shinobi do our paperwork," he said cheerfully.
Iruka stomped on his foot. "Be nice to Yori, she has a hard job, and she's going to be my coworker. If I catch you giving her any problems, I'll start putting up extra traps and not telling you about them." For emphasis, he poked the spot on Kakashi's leg where he'd seen the bandage, and Kakashi winced.
"Let me start over." Kakashi said. "Hello, Yori-san. You are the lucky person who gets to train under the wonderful Iruka-sensei to learn all the complexities of the difficult job here at the mission desk." He looked to Iruka as if for approval, and Iruka nodded.
Yori laughed. She couldn't help it. She thought Iruka was cute, and would have liked to think he might have interest in her someday, but watching him handle this infamously troublesome Jounin was just too much fun. "I look forward to seeing you both at the party tonight, Hatake-san, Umino-san," she said politely, trying to cover for her laughter.
Iruka grinned. "Oh, we'll have loads of fun!"
Behind them, Iruka could hear whispers of "Did Iruka just introduce Kakashi as his boyfriend?" and "Iruka has a boyfriend?" and "Genma said WHAT about them?" Iruka smiled broadly, thinking it had been a long time since he'd played the gossip game, and he'd almost forgotten how much fun it was.
The pair ate an early dinner at the restaurant they had discovered on their first date, realizing this time that there was no name posted anywhere, just a sign that said "Open". This led Kakashi and Iruka to even more conversation about who owned the place and why it was designed the way it was. Again they were the only patrons. They were served by the same friendly waitress, and sat in the same booth. Just as they were digging into dessert, an older man came out of the kitchen and wandered in their direction.
"I heard you had been in here the other day, Hatake, and I was sorry that I had missed you," he said gruffly, and Kakashi found himself staring at the man, trying to remember where he knew him from. It took a few minutes, but after staring at the man's puffy features and dark eyes for a few long moments, he figured it out.
"Gaho-senpai?" he said incredulously. "We were joking about this place being shinobi-owned, but… what are you doing running a restaurant?"
The older man smiled at Kakashi, and lifted his chin to reveal an ugly scar across his throat. "I got out of the shinobi business after I nearly got beheaded. It was a couple of missions after that last one I ran with you, and it was enough to make me realize I was too old for that kind of mess. So I'm doing this now, and it's nice… not having anyone trying to kill me every day. You ever going to retire, Hatake?"
Kakashi shrugged, and looked sideways at Iruka. "I never had a reason to think about it before, but now, someday I might want to. Who knows, maybe I'll even become a schoolteacher, I hear that's an easy job!" he said brightly, ignoring the eyes starting daggers at him from across the table.
Gaho laughed, watching the interaction between his two customers. "It's good to see you playing around like this, Hatake. Last time I saw you… you were much older then, even if you were less than half the age you are now. Going to introduce me to your salvation?"
Iruka choked, not quite comfortable with being called anyone's salvation, especially when in this case it was pretty much the other way around. Or maybe they were saving each other. Who know? "Umino Iruka, meet Nakae Gaho. This man saved my life a time or two, when I was a new Jounin, after I lost my team," he added, and if one looked closely enough, they could have seen a tear staining the cloth of his hitae-ate, below his Sharingan eye.
"Then I have much to thank him for, because had he not saved your life, you could not be in mine," said Iruka, smiling. "Thank you, Nakae-san," he said politely.
"You're quite welcome, Umino-san, and it's a pleasure to meet you. I hope to see you and Hatake back here often. Try coming later in the evening sometime, it gets rather lively… as long as you don't mind Mitsurashi… she gets a little crazy, and she can't seem to stay away!"
Iruka grinned. "Oh, I can handle Anko!"
"Great, then, I'll be seeing you. For right now, though, back to the kitchens! Oh, and dinner's on me tonight, so don't even think about paying!" and with that, Gaho turned and walked away.
Kakashi and Iruka burst out laughing as soon as he was gone, amazed at how accurate their jokes about this place had been. Then Iruka realized it was getting pretty close to time for his party, and they rushed off. Kakashi might be late all the time, but Iruka was determined not to pick up that habit.