It is nice to know that there are people who are enjoying this story, thank you! Here is the 3rd chapter of the story, enjoy!
At Kurenai's place
Ding Dong.
"I will get that." Asuma calls out to Kurenai, who is busy in the kitchen.
"Looking for Kurenai?"
"No, I'm looking for you."
"Didn't we just meet each other at the Memorial Stone?"
"We need to talk."
"Now? Kurenai is trying out a new dish, she needs me to do food tasting for her."
"Try out some other time."
"I heard that Kakashi Hatake! Don't even think of trying to take Asume away during my food tasting." Kurenai appears from behind Asuma.
"Yo, Kurenai. I really need to borrow Asuma for a while."
"To talk about Iruka?"
Kakashi's eye widen slightly, "You told her?" Giving an unbelievable glare towards Asuma.
"Not him. The whole market is literally gossiping about the breakup between you and Iruka when I was getting my ingredients for my new dish earlier."
"I did not expect the news to travel that fast." Kakashi is truly amazed at the efficiency of how news can travel in a Shinobi village. 'In just an hour after it happened.'
"I have heard a few version of why it happen. Do you want to know?" She says in a sacarstic tone.
"Tell me." He dares her.
"Come on in. It will be better if we can talk inside." She is not going to back down on this. Iruka is her friend and she is going to lecture Kakashi for giving up a precious gem like Iruka.
Both Asuma and Kurenai step aside from the door and let Kakashi in. Familiar with the place, he sat himself down at the elegant silvered armchair, with the back facing the window with a small rectangular balcony garden filled with homegrown flowers blossomed with different vibrant colours, free of pests. The owner has taken great care in keeping them.
Asuma takes the initiative to make some coffee for the three of them, leaving Kurenai to have a good chat with Kakashi. Hoping that she will have a better luck in guiding Kakashi to self-realise how important Iruka meant to him.
"I'll start from the one with what most number of people actually think has happened. The first one is you have enough fun of a lowly rank chūnin and you became bored with him so you left him. The second possibility is a third party has comes between the both of you and that's why you decide to dump Iruka and go for the newer lover. Next is Iruka cannot satisfy your demanding needs so you ended this relation. Personally, I like this one, Iruka has packed and throw away all of your Icha Icha series and replace it with educational books with orange cover, and when you found out, you told him this relationship cannot work out. Whichever version is the truth, you don't deserve Iruka."
In the mean time, Asuma has returns with a tray of coffee. He takes his rightful place beside Kurenai.
"Why do I seem to be the bad guy in all the version?"
"It is a common knowledge to everyone that you are always the first to end any of your relation and your relation does not last for more than a month, which we are surprise this time it manage to last longer than that. Rumor is, Iruka has been the more tolerance one and giving his best to work this out."
"No one will think if it is Iruka who chose to end it?"
"No way he will end it."
"What if he did?"
"He will not. I have know him well enough."
"Not enough I suppose."
"Impossible! He will never do that."
"It is possible, he may be the one stringing with me all along, always giving this good Sensei appearance in front of the public to make people likes him. He is a great pretender."
Her eyes flicker with anger, clenching her fist tight. "Don't you dare insult Iruka! You are his everything! Do you know the amount of time it has takes for him to confess to you, knowing that you could reject him and the hurt he might get if it does not turn out well!" At that instant, Asuma holds and gives a gentle light squeeze on her hands to sooth the anger building up in her.
Grateful to her partner, she controls her anger and relaxes a little before continuing in a softer tone. "You know nothing, Kakashi. How much courage he had muster when he decide to tell you his feeling and how thrilled he was when you agree to it. He was in tears, happy tears when he came and told me about it. I can remember that day. He was elated. Repeating again and again how you have nodded your head in consent. At the same time, fearing, it was just a dream. A dream he would wake up from any moment. I have to constantly assure him it is really happening and he is not dreaming. His joy, the happiest moment in his life." Clenching her fist tighter, "He will never,ever leave you. He loves you too much to think about leaving you. It is your fortune to have Iruka choose you as a lover. So don't you dare come and tell me it was him who choose to leave you, not even..." her words trail, "unless... " realisation hitting on her. "It can't be."
"What is it?" Kakashi sees the expression changes from anger to horror, and then sadness fills the red amber eyes of the kunoichi.
She turns to Asuma, who has been sitting quietly beside her, deep in thoughts. This time, it is Asuma who speaks.
"Kakashi, why are you here? What did you want to talk to me about Iruka Sensei?"
"It is something you said at the Memorial Stone... Not once did I mention who initiate the break up, yet you have say it's a good thing he breakup with you. You know something, didn't you? Now, I know both of you know something I do not know of. What is going on?"
"Before I answer to your question. How did Iruka initiate the breakup?" He needs to know how much Iruka is willing to let Kakashi knows.
Kakashi creates a clone of himself and henge himself as Iruka and repeats the conservation between him and Iruka from earlier on; he has remembered and mimics every action to the very last detail.
Kurenai is stuns by what Iruka said but Asuma remains quiet throughout. Only after Kakashi de-henge and his clone disappears, Asuma begins his questioning.
"You just watch him leave?"
"What else was I suppose to do? Knock him out cold and imprison him?"
"Imprison, interesting. At the beginning, why did you think that Iruka is hiding something from you?"
"He seems distracted. His eyes did not show the usual bright attractiveness and his smile seem to be forceful. Even the words he spoke have an underlying meaning to it."
"You have observe thoroughly."
"I'm the best, it's in my blood to be observant."
"How did you feel when he refuse to tell you what is bothering him?"
"Frustrating. I'm his lover and he is hiding things from me. If there is someone creating trouble for him, I will personally make that person's life miserable."
"What were you thinking when he told you the reason for the breakup?"
"Unbelievable. I did not know Iruka to be a loose person. I always thought of him to be someone who will treat a relationship seriously, I did not expect him to sleep around but who am I to comment on that."
"Did you sleep with another during this relationship?"
"Come to think of it. I did not do anything yet that can give Iruka an excuse to break up with me. You know me, I am the perfect boyfriend."
"That is before you get bored of that person." Kurenai retorts. Anyone whom Kakashi have a relationship with, knows Kakashi is a great lover. He may not be romantic, but when he is in a relation with you, he will make sure nobody messes with you, if anyone tries anything funny with you, he will surely make them pay dearly. That is why, nobody will try to vie with the person Kakashi has takes a fancy on. But when he ends a relation, he feels nothing to that person. It is like there is a switch somewhere in him where he can switch it on and off like a robot.
"Now that the relationship has come to an end, do you feel nothing towards him, is that the reason why you watch him leave?" Asume continues.
"I guess so."
Kurenai touches lightly on the surface of Asuma's right hand, seeking his attention. As Asuma turns his head toward her, their eyes meet for the moment and thoughts are being exchanged. They both know if Kakashi thinks that he has no more emotion attach to the academy teacher, there's nothing more to talk about.
"Are you going to tell me what this is about?"
"I believe, it is no longer your concern." Asuma replies.
"I want to know."
"Why?"
"So that I will know the reason he wants to breakup with me."
"What are you going to do after that?"
"I'm not sure, maybe leave it as it is."
"If you solely wants to know the reason only, then I'm not telling you, you can find out yourself."
"You are wasting time here."
"So are you."
"I will figure out myself then."
Kakashi stands up to leave and Asuma follows behind him to the door. He opens the door and Kakashi steps out.
"You are making this hard for me. It will hasten things if you just tell me what you know."
"I refuse. Not until you know what to do."
"I don't get it. It's just another relationship turned sour."
"Do you get an empty feeling?"
"Huh?"
"Do you feel a part of you is missing?"
"What do you mean?"
"Find out the answer to this two question and may be, you will find what your heart's desire. Ja." Asuma closed the door, leaving a perplex Kakashi at the doorway. 'What does my heart desire for?'
Back in the house, "Did you tell him Iruka would be leaving the village soon?"
"No. He has to figure out his own feeling before he knows what he must do. As on-lookers, we have notice the change in Kakashi. He opens up and treats Iruka differently from his other ex-lovers. He loves him, the care and concern he has showed towards Iruka, yet he did not realise he is doing it. The jealousy he gets when someone is too close to Iruka, the way he marks and wants Iruka all to himself. He smiles when Iruka laughs. He gets angry when others tease Iruka. He has unknowingly fallen in love and if Iruka is his heart's desire, it's time he put in some effort."
"You have a point there."
"Still, I have not expected him to watch Iruka Sensei walk away from him. I have expected him to be more 'challenging' in making the Sensei stay. And I am curious, how did you know there is a reason behind the breakup?"
"It was a week ago I met up with Anko. She told me there is this candidate choosing for the politic marriage between the Fire and Earth nations. Usually, for a politic marriage, they will choose someone from the royal palace, but this time, the matter is delicate, as it is the first marriage between the Fire and Earth nation considering we have been enemy for so long. The Fire Lord wants someone who possesses the skills to survive and the intelligence to negotiate, good social skills among the people, not to mention he must possess a strong loyalty to the Fire nation, to be send into the Earth nation through this marriage. A name list is compiled and Iruka's name is in it. All the chosen candidates are called upon and tested on their abilities without knowing the reason behind this test. Iruka shows the best result, hence the best candidate. But Anko has told the tester to strike his name off the list knowing his relation with Kakashi. Somehow, Iruka must have gotten chosen. This is the only possible reason I can think of why he will wants to breakup with Kakashi."
"He did not get chosen, he volunteered for it."
"What? Why? You are saying he is willing to let go of Kakashi?"
"He must have his reason for doing it," at the back of his mind, 'If the reason for the test is not mentioned to the candidates and his name was strike off from the list, he has no reason to volunteer. This is strange; it is as if the Chūnin has already known. There is something else going on and I'm going to find out what it is before it is too late.'
"I'm going to miss him when he leaves."
Asuma embraces her in a hug. "We all will."
Please look forward to the next chapter. Will Kakashi find out his true feeling towards Iruka in time to stop him from leaving (skew towards a happy ending) or will Kakashi be too late in stopping Iruka and sees him at the wedding instead? (maybe happy ending, maybe not)