The night was dark and the rain came down in sheets, pelting the windows, but Yuriko, Kakashi, and Iruka were safe and warm in bed. Yuriko was deep in thought, bordering on being asleep while Kakashi tenderly caressed her arm and her fingers aimlessly intertwined with Iruka's atop Kakashi's chest. Iruka was the first to break the silence when he asked her what was on her mind- she was uncharacteristically quiet and contemplative.
"I was thinking about my first year here in Konoha," she breathed. "... about everything that I went through to get me here and how difficult it was for me…"
Kakashi's hand froze and body stiffened, so Iruka withdrew, sitting up enough on his elbow to look at the both of them with concerned eyes. He'd never asked about their relationship before and they'd never talked about it but now that it was brought up, he was curious despite it seeming like a heavy topic.
"What brought this on?" Kakashi inquired, worried that it might lead to an episode for her.
"I'm not entirely sure… probably the rain. I have so much to be happy about and thankful for now, but it wasn't always like this. If it hadn't been for each of you, I-... I don't know where I would be."
"How did the two of you meet?" Iruka asked. "I overheard Anko and the others saying that you were on the same ANBU squad at some point, but it was when you had both given up your masks."
"Our first interaction was a sparring match," Yuriko grinned. "... but first seeing each other was when he passed by me as I was leaving the Hokage's office after requesting to become a shinobi here."
Kakashi nodded, humming in agreement. "I was impressed with your fighting skills. You held your own very well despite it not being your all."
"And I was starstruck. I held my own against the great 'Copycat Ninja' of Konoha and he'd complimented me on it. But if I'm honest, your tardiness tarnished it quite a bit."
"Starstruck? Really?" Kakashi inquired with an amused grin.
"Shut up," she muttered in response, her cheeks crimson and body tensed realizing that she'd just confessed something that she'd never intended to tell him and Iruka chuckled, watching their banter. They were both adorably in love and as they gazed into each other's eyes, Iruka wondered why they had sounded so melancholy when Yuriko brought it up initially. It sounded like they had been in love at first fight, as it were, but he could feel the stifling darkness underlying it all.
"Why do I get the feeling that it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows from the beginning?"
"It wasn't," Kakashi stated. "Not in the least."
"Why not?"
"Our first mission together was… trying," Kakashi stated, attempting to be ginger with his wording.
Yuriko chewed on her lip for a moment, also trying to decide her words wisely. "I did things… used jutsu that I wouldn't have had it not been a critical mission. I didn't handle it well. Rather, I didn't handle it at all, really… It brought back horrible memories. And even when we came back, I met one trigger after another after another after another…"
The room went silent and the men could see and feel the shadows of the past creeping into her mind and sapping the life out of her violet eyes as she withdrew into herself mentally. It was then that Kakashi spoke up, hoping that his voice would bring her back even if only a little. She had been doing exceptionally well without a PTSD episode in months, so he wondered why her mind had decided to be so cruel to her out of the blue by drudging it all up again. His unasked question was answered when a low rumble of thunder permeated the near silence and Yuriko tensed and cursed under her breath, her body trembling.
Iruka's eyes widened in panic seeing Yuriko shrivel up into herself faster than a drop of water into a dry sponge, but Kakashi was on top of it. He shushed her, securely wrapping his arms around her, and stroked her hair while he hummed a song that Iruka had never heard before. It wasn't long before Yuriko's body relaxed, breathing deepened and she was lightly snoring. Her expression was still troubled, but she was calm and that was really all that mattered to Kakashi.
"She can't handle thunderstorms," Kakashi mumbled in response to Iruka's silent inquiry, remembering the first thunderstorm that had rendered her completely helpless. "I don't know why. It's something I haven't been able to bring myself to ask and I'm not sure if I ever want to."
Kakashi explained what had happened and Iruka listened in devastated apprehension, his heart constricting the more Kakashi talked. When Kakashi finished, a tense silence filled the room as Iruka gazed at Yuriko asleep in his arms. He remembered that thunderstorm. It was the day that he'd first met her and suddenly, he wondered if he had been one of the triggers that caused her PTSD breakdown. Their topic of conversation had been macabre, so it was very possible, he thought, and the guilt constricted his chest. He'd already apologized to her back then, but he wondered if it was enough.
The thunder rumbled, closer than it had been before and the room illuminated with a flash of lightning and Yuriko whimpered in her sleep, her brows furrowing, breathing speeding up, and body shaking. Kakashi sighed, tenderly running the back of his finger up the bridge of her nose and between her eyebrows, coaxing the tension from her expression.
"I didn't know it at the time, but I was already falling in love with her…There is no greater terror than watching something you love fall apart in front of your eyes. I pray you never have to see it, Iruka."
Iruka's concerned gaze turned to Kakashi and his heart constricted seeing the tortured look on his face. Without thinking, Iruka gently cupped Kakashi's cheek in his hand and turned his head to face him. Kakashi's face flushed, breath caught in his chest, and heart thudded hard in his ribcage. Iruka's chocolate brown eyes were tender but the shadows of sadness made them warmer and pulled Kakashi in, drowning him in their depths. Iruka realized that while Kakashi was caring for Yuriko, nobody had been caring for him, so he had taken everything on and carried it all on his own. It seemed so heavy, Iruka thought. The weight of not only his own tortured past but Yuriko's as well must have been suffocating.
"Iruka?" Kakashi breathed, unconsciously begging Iruka to free him from the stifling depths of the sadness in his eyes.
Without a word, Iruka closed his eyes and pressed his lips to Kakashi's and Kakashi's eyes widened briefly before closing as he melted into their first true kiss that wasn't spurred on by lust or curiosity. Gently, Iruka deepened it, his tongue tracing along Kakashi's lower lip and asking for permission to enter and Kakashi sighed into it, his own hand reaching to caress Iruka's jaw and into his hair as he allowed Iruka's tongue to slip between his lips and into his mouth. As Iruka's tongue swept Kakashi's mouth, he felt his chest become more and more full as he stole Kakashi's breath and some of the burden that Kakashi had been bearing. Kakashi's temperature rose as the aching kiss continued and he felt simultaneously asphyxiated and liberated as Iruka's lips consumed his. Kakashi's head grew lighter with the lack of air and just before he felt as though he'd faint, Iruka pulled away. They stared at each other, panting to catch their breath and Kakashi's eyes searched Iruka's that were full of love and resolve.
"What was that?" Kakashi breathed, still dazed.
Iruka's eyes softened and the corners of his lips curled up into an affectionate smile. "A promise."
"A promise for what?"
"That just as you have always been there for Yuriko, I will always be there for you, Kakashi. Whenever you feel like you're suffocating and no matter how much you try, you're still drowning, I will always- always - be there."
Kakashi's cheeks burned and his eyes widened once more before his own lips turned up into a grin with the realization that the kiss had been so much more than just a promise. It was Iruka's love confession. He hadn't said it, but the emotion that he'd poured into the moment was palpable. "I'm truly a blessed man."
Kakashi pressed his lips to Iruka's forehead and it was Iruka's turn to blush as the epiphany of the kiss's meaning and Kakashi's words dawned on him, as well. He'd been unsure about his feelings for Kakashi for a while, but now they had made themselves known. His heart swelled and he sighed in content, relaxing and curling up into Kakashi's side again, gently taking Yuriko's hand once again and resting it on Kakashi's chest above his heart, his own hand securely holding hers.
Kakashi pulled the blanket up, swaddling them all in warmth and he felt Yuriko sigh and relax into a deeper sleep, a small smile curling her lips and her fingers slightly tightening around Iruka's. Even asleep, she was too cute, Iruka and Kakashi thought, each smiling. Iruka allowed himself to enjoy their closeness and warmth and his eyelids began to droop with the heaviness of sleep, and Kakashi could feel it dragging him under, as well. He squeezed his partners, pulling them ever slightly closer.
Two of the most important people in his life were right there in his arms. They had given him so much already, and yet they kept giving each and every day. They gave him love and support and the strength to take on the world and asked for naught. For everything they each gave to Kakashi of themselves, Kakashi responded in turn by giving everything he could of himself.
"How did we ever get so lucky?" he whispered to nothing and no one in particular and succumbed to the welcome warmth of their love and the embrace of sleep.