If Kakashi was perfectly honest with himself, his retirement from the ANBU came more as a relief than a disappointment. Even though he had been shocked that the Third Hokage himself chose to retire one of his best ANBU ninjas. Kakashi would have continued as an ANBU until he had been decommissioned. He never really had time to focus on himself because there was no point in emotions as an ANBU. That was the real reason he had been retired, because he had started to feel emotions again, and perceptive old men like the Third Hokage could tell. Kakashi could not help the sigh that escaped his lips as he blankly stared at the bowl of ramen before him.
Iruka, beside him, began to fret internally and wondered if perhaps it had been a mistake to take the man to a ramen booth. Naturally, a man of Kakashi's rank could afford to eat better than the ramen Iruka could barely afford. Iruka thought back to the barren apartment Hound had and quickly thought otherwise. Ramen was better than what he had at home, if he had anything at all. Iruka frowned, it must be because of the news they received earlier. Of course, Kakashi would be bothered, he had been suddenly retired from the most prestigious ninja organization in the Hidden Leaf because Iruka got too involved and found out one of the village's top secrets, Hound's identity.
"Don't fret, Iruka-sensei." Kakashi smiled softly at Iruka, unmasked, and Iruka's face turned a brilliant shade of tomato red. Kakashi chuckled, Iruka was so expressive that it was like watching a movie all at once. Iruka quickly turned away and began vigorously slurping his ramen down. He had to get some fresh air soon and fast. Iruka would not be able to survive sitting next to such a devastatingly handsome man who gave him his first genuine smile, unmasked. Iruka glanced up at the waitress to see her absolutely smitten and practically drooling behind the counter. Honestly, he could not blame her, if he had any less scruples, he would probably do the same.
Instead, he could only look away so the masked man could eat in privacy and save his heart from the continuous fluttering that was happening by simply looking at Kakashi's face. Kakashi glanced his way secretly, Iruka looked quite cute with a tomato-red face. They continued eating in awkward silence, perhaps due to the awkward tension in the air, neither dared to converse with the other. Iruka was nervous around Kakashi, a little too nervous to simply be out of respect for the powerful ninja. Kakashi found that he quite liked making Iruka nervous or feeling any sort of way about him for that fact. Kakashi pulled up his mask; he had felt comfortable around Iruka to expose his true face, but it backfired on him as it only made Iruka more uncomfortable around him.
"Maa~ Iruka-chan, if you keep acting this way, I will think you have a crush on me." Kakashi smiled devilishly under his mask to tease Iruka, even though he knew that that possibility was extremely far from reality. Iruka choked, yes, he choked on his ramen. Iruka coughed violently, turning an even more brilliant shade of red, "K-Kakashi-san! P-please don't surprise me like that! O-of course not!"
Kakashi chuckled in amusement at the many faces of the man before he forced himself to conceal the sting of rejection, "Forgive me, Iruka-chan. I could not help myself." Iruka huffed as his face slowly faded into a pinkish hue, "I think I am done eating now, I'm afraid I must get back to grading the work from when I was gone." Iruka smiled at the masked man, "Thank you again for your kindness in assisting me home last night. I am ashamed to say I do not have your level of endurance as a simple schoolteacher." Kakashi's eye widened a bit, before curving into a soft smile, "Maa~anything for a comrade."
Kakashi decided it would be better never to tell Iruka-sensei that he had only fallen out because of a genjutsu. Iruka nodded before exiting the ramen stall after paying for their meals. He felt bad leaving first when he was the one who had invited Kakashi-san in the first place, but he was beginning to lose his composure around the other man. Iruka ruffled his hair as he instinctively walked towards his home, "Shit." Did Kakashi notice that Iruka had begun to look at him in a different light? Or had he been simply teasing him just because he knew how to ruffle his feathers?
No, Kakashi had to be joking; he only considered Iruka as a comrade in arms, and he said so himself. Still, he was so close to the truth, and Iruka was not sure if his heart could last. It would be better to distance himself from the silver-haired jounin for a while and force himself to get over this ridiculous crush of his. Yes, that is all it was, a crush. Iruka was sure he could overcome this, so he and Kakashi could remain friends, or whatever they were.
Kakashi watched silently as Iruka briskly walked away from the ramen stall and ran a hand through his silver hair in frustration. He had effectively managed to make Iruka-sensei uncomfortable enough to leave abruptly like that. Kakashi had not meant to offend Iruka with his teasing, he had truly hoped that it would be true. Iruka's vehement denial and surprise at the comment meant he crossed a line that should never have been crossed. He sighed once more, finding that he longed for the other's presence even more now that he had gone.
Kakashi stood up and gave a quick thanks to Teuchi-san before he left the ramen stall to get a breath of fresh air. Kakashi glanced at the path Iruka had taken home. It wouldn't hurt to make sure the chunin had made it home safely, would it? Kakashi's body had seemingly decided as such, as before he had even made up his mind, it began taking him towards the chunin's home. A master of concealment, Kakashi hid himself in the tree that was perfectly positioned directly across the chunin's home. He paused as he found that he had the company of a previous ANBU who had taken the same position. Kakashi's eye widened in surprise to find the ANBU in his spot, and he glared with his one eye until they got the message to leave.
Luckily, the ANBU were smart enough to take a hint and quickly dispersed elsewhere. Kakashi shook his head in disapproval, this angel thing was beginning to get out of hand. Iruka had become their unofficial mascot, and the ANBU clung to watching him live his menial life. The extra protection was nice, but it was turning into Hokage-level protection, and the chunin had no idea the extent to which he was being watched. Kakashi sighed, he would stop by the store to get Iruka some curtains; it was the only way to curb the ANBU's obsession.
He frowned, but then he would lose out on his chance to watch the chunin himself like he was currently doing. Kakashi decided to wait on purchasing the curtains, they would have to wait until it got a bit worse. Mentally, he apologized to Iruka for allowing him to be stalked to this extent, but he was just as bad as the other ANBU currently watching Iruka grade mountains of homework. Kakashi settled himself easily on the tree branch and was content watching Iruka for the next several hours until the chunin retired for the evening. Iruka had graded the children's papers before he retired for the evening.
Kakashi decided it was time to return to his own home, he was sure that Iruka's protection would be phenomenal with his secret guards who watched the premises during the night. They would all do well with personally meeting the teacher, but he knew most preferred to watch in silence and revel in someone genuinely happy with life and the world. It gave them hope that one day they might live such a life or continue their line of work to provide such a life. Iruka enjoyed the little things in life. Kakashi discreetly jumped from the tree and put his hands in his pockets as he coolly walked back to his home.
He had marked the positions of all of the other ANBU and allowed himself to be seen on purpose, to send a message that, ultimately, he found Iruka first, or as a matter of fact, Iruka had found him. Regardless, the message was clear that he was staking his claim, even though Iruka had made it clear that they were to be simply comrades in arms by his rejection. That didn't matter, though. Iruka's presence was calming enough that Kakashi would settle for whatever kind of relationship the other ninja wished. He just wanted to be in his life.
Iruka awoke the next morning to the sound of his harsh alarm clock and sighed. He had not managed to sleep well at all due to the distinct feeling of being watched since he had arrived back home, and it had followed him in his dreams. Iruka doubted that the Lord Hokage could do anything since he could not even identify his stalkers. He would prefer it if they spoke with him rather than treat him like an exhibit at the zoo; it was getting a bit tiring. Iruka made a mental note to teach his class about the effects of stalking when he taught about the concealment jutsu. He calmed himself down and decided to think of it as protection.
As a ninja, one could rarely let their guard down, and here he was, dismayed at the thought that he could relax a bit more easily. Iruka nodded, yeah, that was the best way to think about his situation. He should enjoy it while it lasts rather than fret. Iruka quickly got dressed and redid his signature hairstyle to get ready for the day. Maybe if he were lucky, he would bump into Kakashi-san today. Iruka blushed, he had it bad. Did he not just tell himself to distance himself, and he was already thinking about him again? He shook his head; whatever happened during his day would surely be fate, and as fate would have it, Kakashi had been waiting outside his door. Kakashi closed his signature book quickly and leaned forward, quickly closing the space between them so fast that Iruka barely blinked.
"Good morning, Iruka-chan~ Do you mind if I walk with you on the way to work? I happened to be in the area." Kakashi smiled slyly as the brunette blushed and could only sputter a mumbled agreement. Iruka tried to focus on the floor, but that would not do, because overnight Kakashi had had a long time to think about life by himself, and he had decided he wanted Iruka. But of course, he would have to take his time, because while he was a master of manipulation, Iruka was the one person he did not want to manipulate. He leaned back as quickly as he had leaned forward and schooled his emotions perfectly into his signature lazy smile, "Shall we go?"