o~o~oOo~o~o

And even though I know these tears come with pain

Even so, and just the same

Make it rain

o~o~oOo~o~o

The next time Iruka found himself in the presence of Kakashi Hatake, he'd been surprised by the jounin casually lounging in a tree. Sure, before their mission together, Iruka had heard tales of the infamous Copy Nin, but he'd always assumed they were exaggerated—until he'd personally seen the Sharingan in action. Kakashi was known for being cold and distant, but Iruka just found him to be awkward and somewhat emotionally stunted—as if he'd skipped right over some major childhood developments.

After overcoming his emotional crisis of being Naruto Uzumaki's sensei, Iruka was grateful for the advice that Kakashi had given him. Something about their conversation that day continued to itch in the back of Iruka's mind for weeks after the incident though. Kakashi had seemed sad over how the village had treated Naruto as an outcast, yet he didn't make any attempt himself to be in the boy's life. Little things started to piece together to make a bigger picture, and it made Iruka's stomach ache as he tried not to think about it too much.

But with each passing interaction with Kakashi or each overheard comment about how it was weird to see the jounin around the village so much, the knot in Iruka's stomach grew. Kakashi's time in the ANBU Black Ops was apparently the village's worst-kept secret. Iruka had been at the bar one night with a group of friends when Mizuki made a taunting comment about something Kakashi-related when Asuma Sarutobi stepped up to their table with a menacing glare aimed at the white-haired chuunin.

Mizuki merely glared right back at the older man, not showing an ounce of fear. "Something to say, Sarutobi-sama?" His voice was filled with derision, knowing just how much Asuma hated to be addressed formally.

"Maybe you should keep people's names out of your mouth, you bottom-feeding leech." A new voice spoke from behind Iruka, who turned to grin at the newcomer. Anko Mitarashi stood with her arms folded across her chest. Over the past few years, she'd become one of Iruka's closest friends, and she took zero shit from anyone. While she wasn't one of Kakashi's biggest fans, she seemed to dislike Mizuki with a passion that Iruka didn't understand. Then again, he always tended to see the good in everyone and ended up the peacemaker of the group.

Anko sat right down on Iruka's lap and smiled devilishly at Mizuki. "Something to say, Mizuki-san?" she questioned in a mocking tone.

Mizuki's expression soured, and he frowned. He was willing to push Asuma's buttons because he knew the jounin wouldn't retaliate, but everyone knew Anko had a vicious streak that rivaled most of the missing nin listed in the Bingo Book. Asuma rolled his eyes and placed a hand on Iruka's shoulder before leaning down so that only he and Anko could hear the older man's words.

"You should mind your friend's tongue, little brother. It might not end well for him one day."

Iruka laughed. "His choices are his own; I take no responsibility for them."

Asuma shrugged and walked back to the bar where Kurenai Yuhi and Might Guy waited for him. Anko nudged Iruka with her elbow.

"Pay him no mind. You know how protective Asuma is."

"I didn't realize he was so close to Kakashi," Iruka mused.

Anko nodded. "Yep, they went to school together. Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, Guy, and a few others."

Iruka looked at Anko in surprise. "Wait, what? How did I not know that?"

Anko shrugged. "Kakashi's a little younger than them, but he's a genius. He was a chuunin at six and a jounin by thirteen. After Lord Fourth and his teammates all died, Kakashi went off the radar. Everyone knows, but doesn't officially know, that he went deep into ANBU for years."

Suddenly, as if he'd been hit by lightning, all of the puzzle pieces slotted into place—the timing, the distant attitude, the aura of somberness—it all somehow fit in a way that Iruka hadn't been able to see before.

Kakashi Hatake had been the ANBU called Hound. The timing matched up too perfectly.

Something twisted in Iruka's heart. He had a face to connect with his soulmate. Now that he was out of the Black Ops, there could be a chance for them to talk it over. Iruka stopped that train of thought almost immediately. He wasn't going to get his hopes up. Kakashi had been out of ANBU for a little while now. If he'd wanted to get to know Iruka as his soulmate, he would've approached him already. But he hadn't, so Iruka had no choice but to respect his decision.

He felt sadness fall like a blanket across his shoulders, and a short time later, Iruka found himself saying goodbye to his friends. His comfortable bed called to his weary mind like a siren.

o~o~oOo~o~o

Deciding to keep his distance from Kakashi was easier said than done. It seemed as if Kakashi was there every time he turned a corner—whether it was while he was working the mission desk at Hokage Tower or the jounin preferring to lounge in the tree directly across from Iruka's classroom, he just couldn't escape Kakashi Hatake. Instead of forcing the issue and changing his routines to better avoid the other man, Iruka just went with the flow. It came in helpful the day Kakashi sat next to the chuunin as he was having an existential crisis over teaching Naruto Uzamaki. Iruka was having such a difficult time reconciling his feelings about the boy who housed the demon fox spirit inside of him, but Kakashi's words and advice unlocked a key in the teacher's heart that helped him look at things from a different perspective. Underneath the underneath, so to speak.

After that day, Iruka's feelings for Kakashi only strengthened as did his relationship with Naruto. Ashamed and angry at how not only he but the entire village had treated this poor boy over the years pulled at Iruka's already tender heartstrings. Even though Naruto was the jinchuriki for the Nine-Tailed Fox, he and Iruka were more similar than he'd realized. Both young men had lost their parents on the same night, giving their lives for Konohagakure, but at least Iruka had felt the love of his for the first ten years of his life. Poor Naruto was born in the midst of that very same tragedy. His father, Minato, had been the Fourth Hokage at the time and one of the Land of Fire's greatest heroes. To have his son ostracized and treated so poorly was a dishonor upon everyone in Iruka's eyes, himself included.

One afternoon while working the mission desk, Kakashi made sure to stand in Iruka's line, even though others had a shorter wait time. Secretly, Iruka was pleased that Kakashi seemed to be drawn to him, but he still refused to get his hopes up. When the jounin reached the front of Iruka's line, Kakashi smiled with his eyes since more than half of his face was covered by his mask, as usual.

Sighing, Iruka gave the other man the same smile he's given the other shinobi that he had waited on.

"Welcome back, Hatake-san."

"Thank you, sensei," Kakashi replied as he handed over his mission scroll, along with a travel mug.

"I figured you could use a cup of coffee right about now."

"Thank you, Hatake-san," Iruka replied softly.

The chuunin felt his left eye twitch as he unrolled the scroll to not only see Kakashi's normal chicken-scratch handwriting but also stains of various colorations and missing chunks of information. Iruka slammed his hand on the desk and glared at the silver-haired jounin, who looked absolutely startled at the desk worker's reaction. Any benevolence towards the gift of caffeine was washed away with annoyance.

"This is absolutely unacceptable." Iruka began his tirade, but a throat clearing from the middle desk caused the younger man to sigh and hang his head. "My apologies, Hatake-san. I shouldn't have raised my voice, but your mission scroll is a complete wreck. Could you please rewrite it?" Iruka spoke in a firm yet calm voice before glancing over at Lord Third's smirk.

"Maa, sensei. No need to be so formal. I apologize for the poor quality of my scroll. I'll get right to work on a new one."

Kakashi vanished in a swirl of leaves before Iruka even had the chance to look up and see his face one more time. He felt slightly bereft.

The other desk workers studiously ignored the situation as the hokage tsked at the boy on his left side.

"You need to work on that temper, Iruka-kun." Lord Third spoke with an amused tone as he gathered up some paperwork before heading back to his own office. The hokage liked to spend at least a few hours here and there in the Mission room instead of cooped up in his office all day.

As soon as Lord Third was out of earshot, raucous laughter filled the room.

"Okay, okay," Iruka grumbled. "Knock it off now."

A few hours later, just as Iruka was finishing up his shift, Kakashi walked in and straight up to the chuunin.

"Here you are, sensei," the taller man said pleasantly as he handed Iruka a scroll.

Iruka shook his head and chuckled before looking over the scroll and stamping it as accepted.

"You were just in time, since I'm heading out. Your report is much better this time. Thank you for your service."

Iruka gave him a genuine smile before gathering up the scrolls on his desk to place in the box for filing. He stepped over to Genma to say farewell before taking his leave for the night. After slipping his bag over his shoulder, he made his way out of the tower and into the crisp evening air. Iruka stopped in his tracks when he noticed Kakashi leaning against a tree. When he realized he'd been noticed, the jounin straightened and walked over to Iruka.

"Have you eaten yet, sensei?" he asked casually.

Iruka blinked. "No, I was just about to head to Ichiraku's for some ramen though."

Kakashi gave him an eye smile. "Would you mind if I joined you?"

Iruka's heart sped up, and he gripped the strap of his bag nervously. "Of course not. It would be a pleasure."

The pair walked in silence for a few streets before Kakashi broke the ice.

"So, how is young Naruto doing? I've noticed that he's been spending a lot of time with you lately."

"You've been watching me?" Iruka felt his cheeks burn lightly at the thought of Kakashi being interested enough to keep tabs on him. He attempted to quash those hopeful thoughts by telling himself that the jounin was more likely to be keeping an eye on Naruto.

It still warmed Iruka's heart when Kakashi cleared his throat, and a light dusting of pink could be seen just above his mask. He was saved from answering as the pair stepped up to the ramen shop's entrance.