Iruka stepped out of the shower, his brown hair cascading down his shoulders. He quickly wrapped a soft towel around his waist and exited the steamy bathroom. Iruka had hoped that after some contemplation in the shower, he would figure out how he wanted to face the other after passing out on him. He had been so exhausted he didn't even remember fainting, and then he had that kind of dream so suddenly afterward. Iruka made his way to the room and almost dropped his towel at the sight of the elite masked ninjas inside his home. Thankfully, Iruka managed to keep his grip on the towel even though it was considerably lower than before.
"W-what are you doing here? You can't just startle someone like that!" Iruka scolded indignantly. He was further bewildered when the masked ninja suddenly knelt before him, much like they did with the Third Hokage.
"Pardon our manners, Umino-san, we've been sent by the Third Hokage to request your presence in a briefing of your latest mission." Iruka moved his tangled, wet hair from out of his face, "I'm sorry I yelled. I was just startled, I'm not used to ANBU just showing up inside my home." Iruka gave them a sheepish smile, "Um, just give me a minute to get dressed, there's tea on the veranda, I don't know if you guys noticed before you came in." After the ANBU quickly excused themselves, Iruka closed the door behind him, blushing brightly.
Iruka could only hope they hadn't seen anything before he caught the towel. Iruka towel-dried his hair as he quickly took out a clean set of clothes from his closet. He dressed quickly because frankly, he didn't know who was watching, but he made sure to keep all privates out of view of the window. The brunette grabbed the brush from the drawer on his nightstand and pulled his hair back into his typical high ponytail. Iruka put on his shoes that lay neatly at the end of the bed. He groaned at how polite Kakashi had been while he was passed out.
When he exited his room, he made his way down the hallway to the living room where the dispatched ANBU were quietly sitting on his small couch, with one standing and looking at the wall of pictures his students gave him. The tray of tea and sandwiches had been brought back inside and was empty by the looks of it. The window had been closed, and he figured that had been their point of entry. Iruka smiled at the curious ANBU.
"Oh, those were given to me by my students! Quite the little artists, aren't they?" The ANBU nodded slowly, "We must go now, Umino-san." He walked towards Iruka and grabbed his arm. Iruka tensed at the touch, and then suddenly he was in front of the Hokage, and the touch was gone as soon as it had come. He made a note to add a question about the transportation jutsu to his tests when they covered the chapter about the ANBU and their role.
It seemed like a slightly biased question, but from his experience, the ANBU's favorite jutsu was the teleportation jutsu, even though the jutsu itself was incredibly hard to master. Hound stood coolly in the middle of the room in front of the Hokage, and the previous ANBU from before disappeared without a trace. The Third Hokage took a long drag from his pipe as he looked at the two in front of him. He exhaled a cloud of smoke, "I wanted you to be here to let you know as I render this decision." The Third Hokage took another drag from his pipe, smoke clouding the room as he spoke once again.
"I want to let it be known that as of this moment from here forward, Kakashi Hatake codenamed Hound is no longer a part of the ANBU." Hound quietly removed the mask from his face as he looked at the ground. Iruka's mouth fell open, and he knelt into seiza bow almost immediately, "Lord Hokage, I beg of you to reconsider! If this is because of our last mission, then I must take all of the blame for what happened! Kakashi did everything perfectly and managed to create a distraction to provide ample opportunity for me to escape from such a hostile situation! I beg you to reconsider!"
The Hokage held his hand up to silence Iruka's pleas as he inhaled from his pipe again. He exhaled slowly, "Unfortunately, after long hours of preponderance over this issue, I have come to the same decision as the Head of the ANBU, who specifically requested that Kakashi retire." Kakashi clenched his hands into fists at his side but said nothing. Iruka felt as if he'd been doused in cold water, and he imagined that the news for Kakashi was much worse. Iruka continued to look up at the Third Hokage pleadingly.
The Hokage smiled at the two, "I've thought about this long and hard, Iruka-sensei, and I know that this is the best road for Kakashi-san. Even though his skills will be dearly missed as an ANBU. I want to let it be known that his talents will not be wasted and that they will be used to teach the next generation of ninja as their jounin squad leader." The Third Hokage looked pleased with his explanation as he took in the faces of the two in front of him. Iruka's was blatant shock, Kakashi Hatake, teaching? Kakashi kept his features as stoic as always, though he did let out a small sigh in annoyance. The Third Hokage stood up from his chair and waved them off before he exited the room, "That is all, you two are dismissed." Iruka stood up and dusted his pants off after being on the floor, he bit his lip nervously.
"Would you like to get ramen with me?" Iruka blurted before he mentally berated himself. Why would the ex-ANBU want ramen of all things after such news? Kakashi chuckled softly, his one eye creating a downward crescent to show he was smiling beneath the elusive mask he always wore. Iruka gulped as he nervously awaited the final reply of the other.
"Did you just ask me on a date, Iruka-sensei~?" Iruka's jaw dropped, and a bright blush spread across his face, "N-no! Well, kind of, but not like that! I wanted to treat you to lunch as thanks for yesterday." Iruka smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head nervously, "I kind of burdened you yesterday when I fainted, and you were kind enough to carry me home, even with all of your injuries."
"I think you would have been a bit surprised if you had woken up in my bed, Iruka-sensei~." Iruka turned a different shade of tomato as he remembered the dream he had had the night before, and the mess it made. His mortification would have been ten times worse if he had been left to borrow Kakashi's clothes after he dirtied himself. Iruka covered his mouth with his hand and turned to look down at the ground in a failed attempt to cover his blush. He had been extremely lucky that the ex-ANBU had decided to break into his house.
"Ah, yes, thank you very much for taking me home last night, Kakashi-san," Iruka said softly. Kakashi raised a questioning brow. Iruka was suddenly acting strangely compared to before. He frowned, he had a feeling it had something to do with the genjutsu, Raven had put him in the night before. Now, Iruka was acting as if it hurt to even look at him, and he was blushing worse than before from the joke he had made. "Do not worry, Hound, he is dreaming his deepest desires."
Kakashi didn't know what to make of that and Iruka's current behavior. Had Iruka killed him in his dream? He was haunted by nightmares of slaughtering the people he had been told to for his mission. But he had an inkling, it wouldn't be something of a violent nature like his was. Iruka looked up shyly as he lowered his hand, "Let's just go get ramen, my treat, of course." All Kakashi could do was nod and follow the other. It was surreal, without his mask to hide his emotions behind, he rarely ever walked around the village as himself.
Kakashi looked at the leaves on the trees as they walked in silence toward the best ramen in town. Perhaps, they had not thrown him aside like a used tool, but instead, they polished him and set him on the sidelines so he would not break. A squad leader, isn't that what Guy was always rambling on and on about, and his precious students? He sighed; his future didn't look bright currently. Kakashi wasn't exactly a people person, and he wasn't particularly fond of young genin.
"So, squad leader, huh? That's exciting, that means you'll most likely have some of the kids I've taught in your squad sometime in the future. I'll have to tell them about some of the legendary people who became squad leaders." Iruka smiled brightly as he continued chatting almost one-sidedly with a few interjections that Kakashi supplied. Finally, they arrived at the ramen shop and quickly ordered some ramen.
"I was surprised, to say the least, by Lord Hokage's proclamation earlier. How long have you been an ANBU?" Kakashi pondered that question for a moment. Normally, an ANBU couldn't disclose information about themselves, but then again, he wasn't exactly an ANBU anymore. Kakashi's eye widened in realization over what exactly the Head and Lord Hokage had planned, those sly old men. He quickly schooled his features before Iruka caught on to what exactly their intent in retiring him was.
"I've been an ANBU since probably about the age of those genin's you're teaching are now." Iruka turned to look at the man in awe before he dropped his chopsticks, seeing the man unmasked for the first time. A long scar went down the right side of his face, even though most of it was covered by the headband that still covered his other eye. Kakashi had a small mole on his chin, and a chiseled jawline that he could see with the mask on, but there was something different about seeing him without the mask. Iruka's mouth gaped as Kakashi was probably the most handsomely dangerous man he had ever laid eyes on.
Iruka gulped, now understanding why the other chose to keep his face hidden most of the time. Frankly, he would be a major distraction to the other female ninja if he walked around town looking the way he did. Things could get dangerous as the other female ninja fought over the silver-haired jounin. Kakashi chuckled, "I've never had that kind of reaction before. I guess we kind of match," he said as he pointed towards his facial scar. Iruka blushed at the jounin's sultry smile, shit.
Iruka quickly turned away; he had not meant to invade the other's privacy in such a way. Then he even unintentionally gawked at the man for a good while. He bit his lip, "Forgive me for my rude behavior, I had not meant to stare. Y-you're just very handsome to be fair, is that why you cover your face?" Kakashi shrugged, "I've always covered my face, ever since I was a child."
Iruka nodded as he picked up his fallen chopsticks and began vehemently slurping his ramen down much like Naruto would. There was no way a man like that would ever fall for someone like him now. Wait, why did he want Kakashi to fall for him? Let alone a legend of a man like that? Oh, Iruka was suddenly so confused, because as soon as he had seen the other man's face, his heart had started racing almost painfully inside his chest. Iruka's face warmed as he had a feeling it had something more to do with Kakashi rather than the steam from the ramen.