A/N: And as promised, here we go! Next chapter is in progress. But I can't promise it will be out tomorrow. Still, thanks everyone for reviewing. And I hope this longer chapter makes up for the previous short chapter. Happy reading!

Chapter 21: Made Official

Kakashi stared in boredom at the box and the glass of sake that was placed in front of him. He nodded his thanks to the kunoichi and placed the box away before pushing the glass of sake towards Genma beside him.

The honey-haired jounin downed yet another cup of sake on Kakashi's behalf and watch as the kunoichi walked away in disappointment. He sighed and shook his head.

"It seems endless." Genma chewed on his senbon and grimaced. "Much as I love to drink, but this amount of sake is just too much."

Asuma sighed and rubbed his temples, already feeling the after effects of too much alcohol. "Kakashi, aren't you grateful that we are here to help you out? With the amount of sake they toast, I'm sure it's enough to knock you out for three days."

"Yeah." Raidou grumbled. "I swear they are competing to see who can get Kakashi drunk first and after that, possibly drag him to their house."

Kakashi sighed as he rested his head against an arm on the table and ran a hand through his untamed silver hair. He glanced up slightly when yet another person make its presence known at their table.

"Kakashi-senpai, are you alright? How much did you have to drink?" Yugao stared at her ex-superior in surprise. Hayate stood beside her, coughing a little before checking out the four jounin, who were slumped over the table, in concern.

"I lost count." Kakashi muttered. "I hope you are not here to toast."

Yugao and Hayate gave him an amused look. The kunoichi shook her head and stepped away from the table. "I will be back in a while."

When Yugao had moved away, Kakashi shook his head to clear it and sat up in his chair, giving Hayate a smile. "How are things going with Yugao?"

The other jounin coughed again before he shrugged. "Um… Good."

"Just good?" Genma grinned. "Let us in on a little detail. Like how many dates you have gone on. How many times you have kissed. How many –" A smack across the back of his head silenced him. He turned and glare at Raidou.

"What was that for?"

Raidou ignored him and turned to Hayate. "Don't mind him. He's drunk."

Hayate chuckled as Yugao returned with a few glasses of juices.

"Here, have some of these. It will help." The kunoichi handed out the glasses to the four jounin who took it gratefully. She handed one to Hayate and raised another one in her hand. "I guess I will toast you using the juice then. Here's to you, senpai. Happy birthday and may you find your ideal partner soon."

Kakashi almost choked on the mouthful of juice he just took. He glanced up at Yugao and stared at her strangely.

"What?"

The long-haired lady grinned and gestured to another table. "Anko was telling us that you intend to find your partner amongst these kunoichi tonight."

Kakashi shifted his gaze and stared at the other table where Anko was sitting with Kurenai, Izumo, Kotetsu and Iruka. He cursed under his breath, wondering what nonsense that the snake user had been sputtering again. He turned back to Yugao and sighed.

"I'm honestly not in the mood to find out what she had said. But pray tell her that if she spreads anymore rumours about me, I swear I will tear her apart and feed her to her own snakes."

Yugao and Hayate gave him another amused look as the copy nin cursed under his breath. They raised their glasses again in another toast before walking away to join Kagari and Aoba at the other table.

Raidou groaned when they were left alone again. "I think Anko is the reason why every kunoichi insists on toasting you at least five times, Kakashi."

Genma chuckled and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, they probably came up with some twisted logic that the more times you see them, the higher their chances are."

"If that's the case, I suggest we retreat for the night." Asuma gave a dry smile. "I'm not too keen on the idea of waking up to a horrible hangover tomorrow morning."

Kakashi nodded and was about to voice his agreement when someone sat down in the empty chair across from him.

"Hi, Kakashi-san." A sweet, sultry voice sounded. Kakashi raised an eyebrow as he looked at the girl.

Genma straightened up immediately when he realised who it was, his eyes darting anxiously over to Kakashi, worried about what the other man would do. Raidou shook his head and mumbled something about dense people and not understanding the meaning of 'no' and 'not interested'. Asuma leaned back in his chair with a solemn expression as his gaze strayed over to Iruka for a minute before drifting back to the person sitting before them.

Kakashi did not make a move as he watched the woman, waiting for her to make her toast and leave him and his friends to their peace. When the woman made no move, he frowned.

"What is it?"

"Nothing." The woman smiled brightly. "I just thought I would come over and join you. It's not easy waiting for your table to be cleared of those detestable women. I was getting impatient."

Kakashi's frown deepened when he felt a feet stroking his under the table. He shifted and managed to move his legs away as he glared at the woman.

Raidou straightened himself as he finally broke the silence that hung at the table. "What do you want, Harumi-san?"

Harumi smiled. "Well, if you want me to be direct, I would say it's him. But well, after my last few attempts, I guess I will have to take this slower for Kakashi-san to start accepting me."

Raidou could hardly believe what he heard. Alright, scratch dense. This woman is more than dense. Or perhaps, she's just being annoyingly persistent.

"And I would really appreciate if you could actually spare us some alone time." Harumi narrowed her eyes at the other three men who were really hindering with her plans by being there. "I would like to talk to Kakashi-san in private."

"No." Asuma spoke before the silver-haired jounin could deny her. "I don't think that would be appropriate, Harumi-san. If the others see it, they will demand some alone time with Kakashi too. And I am pretty sure Kakashi doesn't have so much time on hand to accommodate to everyone." The bearded jounin spoke in a light-hearted manner. But the underlying warning for the woman to leave did not go unnoticed.

"But I'm different from the rest." Harumi smiled, undeterred. "I'm on a much closer term with him." She smiled at the copy nin. "Isn't that so, Kakashi-san?"

Kakashi's eye narrowed. Now, he remembered who this girl was. He voice was clipped as he spoke. "I really don't think so."

=-=-=-=

Anko chuckled all of a sudden, making her friends at the table stare at her in bewilderment.

"Anko, are you alright?" Kotetsu glanced at her worriedly. "Did you have too much to drink?"

The kunoichi shook her head as the laughter wracked her. She pointed at the other table, causing the other four shinobi at the table to turn towards the direction she was pointing in.

But all they saw were Kakashi, Asuma, Genma and Raidou sitting at their table and another kunoichi who had joined them.

"What is it, Anko?" Kurenai frowned.

The purple-haired lady finally managed to get her hysterics under control. She took in a deep breath and beamed at them. "That's Harumi!"

Iruka felt his heart missed a skip when he remembered the conversation from earlier on. He stared at Anko, his mind suddenly going blank. He took another glance at the lady, recognising her as one of those jounin he always collected reports from. He studied her silently and he felt his chest tightening.

If he was being honest with himself, he would agree that she was indeed beautiful. He wouldn't be surprised if she would be able to entice Kakashi to her. He swallowed hard. He wasn't a woman. He didn't have her assets. He couldn't even match up to her rank. How was he ever going to vie with this woman for Kakashi's attention?

The lump in his throat refused to dislodge and he downed his glass of sake, hoping to force it down.

Izumo clasped a gentle hand on his shoulder as he spoke in a low tone, so as not to draw attention from the others. "Are you alright?"

Iruka nodded quietly, not trusting his voice then. Izumo's eyes softened as he spoke quietly. "Kakashi-senpai will not be attracted to her."

The tanned chunin turned to look at his friend as he whispered hoarsely. "Why are you so sure?"

Izumo sighed. "Have some faith in him, Iruka." He looked at his friend with a soft smile. "Have some faith in yourself."

The chunin did not utter an answer as he turned back to study Kakashi and the kunoichi. The jounin seemed bored with the lady who was talking away. But does that really mean he wasn't interested?

Kurenai and Anko shifted their gazes back to their table.

Kurenai stared at Anko with a indecipherable look in her eyes. "What is she doing with Kakashi?"

Anko raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. "You haven't heard of her?"

Kurenai shrugged. "No."

Kotetsu grinned. "And neither have we. Care to tell?"

Anko stared at them for a moment before she broke into a grin. "So you guys haven't been updated with the gossips in the village. Well then, I supposed I could let you know. Now, where shall I start?" She mused for a moment before she turned to the group in front of her.

"Let's being with her acquaintance with Kakashi. Sometime two months back, Harumi was sent on an undercover mission. But I guess somewhere along the way, things went awry and she was on the verge of being discovered. So a backup team was sent to aid her. And Kakashi was on the backup team. So, well, there was this one time, her identity was almost exposed and in order to keep their cover from blowing, Kakashi pressed her against the wall and pretended that they were a couple making out, just so the soldiers walking past them wouldn't suspect anything."

At that sentence, Iruka paled. Kurenai saw red. She leaned towards Anko and glowered. "Kakashi what?!" Anko stared at her, startled.

"What's with the reaction?" The snake user blinked. "It was just an act. There wasn't anything physical going on."

"There better not be." Izumo muttered under his breath. Anko raised an eyebrow at that.

"How did you know?" Kotetsu stared at her curiously.

The kunoichi broke away from her musings over Izumo's words and grinned at Kotetsu. "Ah well, I was on the back-up team too."

"So, what happened after that?" Kurenai frowned.

Anko folded her arms and leaned back in her chair. "I honestly think she doesn't know what it means by mission requirements. After we came back to Konoha, she wouldn't leave Kakashi alone all because of that one act. Many a times, she propositioned him. And every single time, Kakashi either ignored her or turned her down. I've never seen anyone so persistent ever in my life. She would appear in front of Kakashi at every opportunity and asked him to go into a relationship with her." She glanced over at the other table. "And I'm guessing she's at it again."

Iruka kept his head bowed as the others at the table turned towards the silver-haired jounin's direction. There seemed to be some conversation going on and they could feel the angry spiking of chakra from Kakashi and the others.

"Doesn't she ever give up?" Kurenai could feel her rage rising at the thought of someone else trying to hit on Kakashi. She stole a glance at Iruka to make sure that the younger man was alright.

"Nope." Anko downed her glass of sake and fiddled with her cup. "And much as I like to tease Kakashi about her, I honestly don't fancy seeing them get together. Anyone would be better than her. She thinks too highly of herself."

"Kakashi-senpai looks angry." Kotetsu muttered into his cup. "And I got a feeling she's going to get into a lot of trouble if she keeps up with this. Man, if Kakashi-senpai really gets infuriated, I sure don't envy her."

The spike-haired chunin's eyes widened when he saw Asuma stepping away from the table and approached them. "Woah….. Asuma-senpai looks really angry too. But why is he heading our way?"

Izumo turned in the direction and stared at the bearded jounin. "Probably he can't stand that woman too and decide to stay away from the table."

"Some friend he is." Kurenai raised an eyebrow mockingly. "He could at least stay and help Kakashi fend her off."

Asuma reached the table where the group were talking and studied each and every one of them silently. Then he turned to Iruka who was staring at his cup blankly and clasped a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Kakashi asked for you to join him over there."

The chunin looked up and his eyes widened in surprise. Kurenai and Izumo stared at each other before exchanging a knowing smile. Kotetsu frowned confusedly and Anko stared at them curiously.

"Why Iruka?"

Asuma merely shrugged and evaded the question. He waved a hand and gestured for the stunned chunin to follow. Iruka stood from his seat and was about to take a step away when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. Izumo stood beside him, smiling.

"Fight for what is yours, Iruka."

The tanned man nodded and trailed after Asuma nervously.

=-=-=-=

"I said I'm not interested, Harumi-san." Kakashi's voice dipped dangerously as his eye narrowed. "And I don't think it's that hard to comprehend that one single statement."

"But you didn't even give it some thought." Harumi's smile did not falter. "I assure you that you won't regret this."

Genma allowed his forehead to meet the hard surface of the table. Probably that act could render him unconscious and he wouldn't have to suffer through this incredulous conversation. Raidou was already pouring himself glass after glass of sake, hoping to drown out that sickeningly sweet voice beside him.

Kakashi almost growled when the kunoichi shifted into the seat which Asuma had vacated, and leaned in closer to him. He turned to regard her with a steely eye.

"Probably I should make myself clearer, Harumi-san." Kakashi paused for a moment as he considered his words. When he was finally sure of his own decision, he eyed the kunoichi blandly. "I am not interested in another relationship, because I am already in one."

Genma's head snapped up from its position on the table. Raidou's hand paused mid-air in the midst of pouring himself another drink. Both men stared at their friend in stunned silence.

Harumi faltered for a second before she managed a nervous laughter. "Quit joking, Kakashi-san." She grinned. "That lie isn't going to deter me."

Genma and Raidou shared the same sentiments. Surely there are better excuses than this if Kakashi wanted to discourage the woman from approaching him. After all, it was a known fact that Kakashi never got himself romantically involved. Not now, not ever.

Their eyes followed their silver-haired friend's every movement, wondering how he was going to pull this off. Their brows raised when Kakashi stood from his seat and stepped away from the table.

"That is not a lie." Kakashi walked over to where Iruka stood nervously beside Asuma and reached out for his hand. He laced his fingers with the younger man and tugged him forward. Turning to look at the kunoichi, his mood shifted and he gave her a one-eyed smile. "I am attached."

The glass shattering drew the attention of every single person in the room towards them. Raidou cursed at his carelessness as he muttered an apology and kicked at the shattered glass of the sake bottle on the floor. Then he sighed and raised tired eyes to look at Kakashi. Why the hell did he get Iruka involved?

Kakashi did not falter from the disruption. He slipped an arm around Iruka's waist and tugged the chunin closer. "This is Umino Iruka. My boyfriend."

Iruka felt his face heating up as the woman stared at him with a mixed of emotions. Incredulousness, disbelief, anger and shock. She stood shakily from her chair and eyed him in dissent.

"Bu….. But he's a man!" The woman sputtered. "And I know him. He's the chunin from the mission room. He's a chunin! How could he ever match up to you?"

"If I'm in love with ranks, I would have opted to marry the Hokage long ago." Kakashi snapped. "And as for his gender, I have no problems with it. So I don't see why it is any of your concern." And as if to prove his point, the jounin leaned forward and pressed his masked lips against the chunin's.

Iruka tensed when the jounin's lips came upon him. Then, when Kakashi's fingers began to rub soothing circles in the small of his back, he began to relax. He rested one of his hands over the arm holding his waist and pressed into the kiss.

The kunoichi was at a loss for words. The whole room fell into a state of shocked silence at the sight of the intimate exchange. Even Gai did not make a single noise.

Genma did not move from his spot as he gaped at the sight of his two friends kissing. His senbon teetered between his lips, in danger of falling off. Beside him, Raidou was in a state of shock himself, if the wide eyes and stiffed posture was anything to go by.

Asuma smirked in satisfaction as he stood behind Kakashi. He had to give it to his friend. At least Kakashi had finally found the guts to make his stand known.

From the other table, Kurenai finally managed to get her dropped jaw to close. Impressed was the understatement. She hadn't expected Kakashi to take such a stance to make his relationship with Iruka known to the village. But then again, she wasn't going to complain at the results. From the smirk on Izumo's face, it seems that he had the same thoughts.

Anko was silently gaping, for once at a loss for words. She blinked a few times; trying to make sure what she was seeing was for real. Kotetsu's hand was frozen in a mid-move of lifting the cup of sake to his lips as his gaze fixated itself on the sight before him.

And then, Genma's senbon finally decided that it did not want to continue hanging so uncertainly in between parted lips. The clear metallic sound of senbon hitting the ground rang through the air, piercing through the heavy silence and breaking into the trance-like atmosphere. With the silence shattered, the whole room came back to life.

At first, there were hushed whispers as people talked about what they had just seen. Then a moment later, sharp shrieks were heard and the piercing voices of shocked kunoichi began to rise into the air. About a split second later, someone cheered.

"Good for you, Kakashi!"

Anko snapped from her daze at the loud voice. Immediately, she sprung from her seat and called out over the din in the room. "Hey, someone get me the camera!"

Amidst the cheers and jeers, another group sat in the corner of the room, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

"That was….. Wow……." Kagari stared, still stunned by what he had witnessed.

"Yeah. Who would have expected Kakashi to pull that?" Aoba muttered. "That's surprising."

"He got together with Iruka?" Hayate blinked. "Since when? Why didn't we know?"

"He's good at keeping things apparently." Yugao smiled, glad that her ex-captain had found someone whom he could trust. "Regardless, I think we should be happy for him."

Iruka pulled away from the kiss and flushed at the commotion that had risen in the room. He could hear the complaints and grumblings of the kunoichi around him. But he could also hear the loud congratulatory calls and whistles from Kakashi's other friends. The copy nin held on tightly to his waist and gave him a smile.

Asuma stayed silently at the back as his eyes swept over the room, reading every single person's reaction to this blatant confession. Then his eyes met Kurenai's and the kunoichi graced him with a grateful smile to which he answered with a shrug.

Genma finally managed to stumble up to them and clasped a hand on Kakashi's shoulder for support. Raidou was right behind him, staring at them in disbelief.

"Well Kakashi, I hope you are prepared to explain yourself." Genma scowled. "Trust you not to tell us about this earlier!"

The jounin shrugged. "It wasn't official then."

Raidou raised an eyebrow. "So it's official now?"

Kakashi shifted his hand and held the chunin's, lacing their fingers together. He smiled warmly at the younger man. "Yes, it is."

Iruka felt a smile tugging on his lips as his heartbeat refused to calm down. He still couldn't quite believe it. Just like that, Kakashi had made their relationship known to everyone. It was almost surreal. He reached up and traced the copy nin's jaw, just to make sure that it is solid and that he wasn't in a dream.

Kakashi caught the hand and pressed his masked lips against the knuckles. And when he stared right into Iruka's eyes, the chunin felt a surge of warmth running through him.

It was finally official. His perseverance had finally paid off. Iruka felt the tears of happiness in the back of his eyes. He was sure that as they embark on their journey in this relationship, there are bound to be problems ahead. But as long as Kakashi is with him, Iruka believe that there is nothing he cannot overcome.

As he wrapped his arms around the older man and leaned in, there was only one thought running through his mind.

He will never give this up.

=-=-=-=