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“With our two cats, Cooker and Smudgins, lying undisturbed in the
southeastern and southwestern corners,
We lie loving and warm, looking out from time to time. “Snowbound,” we
say.” -- Hayden Currath "The Curtain"
Winter in Konoha wasn't necessarily the worst when it came to snow and cold weather. Not one compared to other countries nearby and the mountainous regions that could be found elsewhere throughout Konoha. But it was still nothing to be sneezed at, not with thick piles of snow piling up on rooftops and store awnings, making it slightly more dangerous than normal and all the more tedious to travel by rooftop for ninja of all level. Konoha ninja still had plenty to complain about during the cold months and — at least while they were on duty for the day.
There were plenty of ways to stay warm and cozy inside that involved no time in the snow, or for those that wanted to embrace the cold, there were just as many fun ways to spend a day — soaking in the hot springs, building snow-ninja, or going sledding down one of the many hills just outside of the village. And it was all of these potential activities that have Kakashi out looking for all three of his genin.
He'd shown up to Training Ground 18 for their daily training, only an hour late, to be met with no irritated students grumbling at him. In the five months that they'd been a team, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto had grown annoyed enough with his tardiness to their meeting point a few times to simply not wait for him anymore. Often, they would go train on their own or head off separately to do something else. But they were always easy enough to track down and round up.
Kakashi had sent his ninken out to help find Sasuke and Sakura, so he took to looking for Naruto himself. And given that Naruto hadn't been at one of his usual, preferred training spots, the next logical places to check would be Ichiraku's, Iruka's place, or Naruto's own apartment. He knew that Iruka was meant to be out running errands for part of the morning, so that had pushed Iruka's apartment to the bottom of his list. Ichiraku's had been open, with Teuchi and Ayame still setting up for their day, but no Naruto in sight, which left Kakashi on his way to Naruto's apartment a few blocks away. And even with the snow slowing him down a bit, he found himself outside of Naruto's front door quickly enough.
He gave a few knocks and called out his name in case the kid was sleeping. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that he'd come to collect Naruto only to find him completely passed out and dead to the world. A few moments passed and no sound of Naruto shuffling down the hallway came.
Kakashi knocked a few more times, letting his senses reach out around him as he did so. He felt two extremely familiar chakra signatures coming from within the apartment, immediately telling him that Naruto was home. But Iruka's chakra, a light, springy thing, was also inside. It certainly wasn't unusual to find Iruka at Naruto's a few times a week, especially given that the man was working up to inviting the kid to move in with him (something that Kakashi was genuinely surprised how it happened yet), but it was unexpected for today. With that, Kakashi didn't bother to knock again and instead went up to the roof and hopped down to the window where Naruto's bed was — a window that was unlocked 90% of the time when Naruto was home.
He opened the window easily enough and slipped into the apartment, taking a quick look around. Nothing was out of place, apart from the literal pile of blankets that were strategically draped over part of Naruto's bed. Before Kakashi could even call out, Iruka's voice sounded from within said fort.
"Please close the window Kakashi. I'm trying to keep the warm air in." Iruka said quietly, popping his head out of the opening of the blanket fort.
He did as asked before stepping around the bed to the front of the fort tube here inside. The scene that greeted him was too adorable for words, even for a former Anbu member and current Jounin team leader.
Iruka was leaned back against the headboard of Naruto's bed, his head supporting part of the blanket that had been half tied to the wall with what looked like a shoestring. He shot Kakashi a small smile as he threaded a hand through a sleeping Naruto's hair — who was half-sprawled across Iruka's lap and buried under two blankets.
"Well, this answers my question of what Naruto's been up to this morning," Kakashi said, pulling up the lone chair at Naruto's dining table so he could sit just at the edge of the bed. "I wasn't expecting you to encourage skipping out on training though."
Erica started softly at that. "He's sick. I stopped by early this morning to drop off some extra fruit I picked up only for him to practically pass out opening the door," He said. "It's a fever, so I didn't want to just leave him. We both know he'd try to push himself too hard otherwise."
Kakashi hummed in understanding. "I'm glad you found him. Who knows if he'd have said anything himself," he said, knowing just how true it was that Naruto would've tried to keep his sickness to himself. "And if you hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to see this sight."
He couldn't help but to lean forward in his seat, with a somewhat lovestruck look on what was visible of his face. There was something about the sight of Iruka looking quite cozy inside of the makeshift blanket fort that just made Kakashi feel all warm and fuzzy in his bones. It wasn't the first time that he'd seen his boyfriend in such a state, but that certainly didn't stop the soft flush from rising on his cheeks as he leaned over Naruto carefully.
Iruka certainly caught sight of the flush as well and raised a brow "What is it? Don't tell me you're feeling sick as well."
"Oh no, definitely not feeling sick. I just want a kiss."
"Why?"
"Because you're adorable." Kakashi said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. With that, he swooped in, pulling his mask down long enough to press a chaste kiss to Iruka's lips before returning to his seat fully.
When he looked back to Iruka, mask back in it's rightful place, he was rewarded with an equally pink-faced and delightfully flustered Iruka who was looking everywhere but at him.
"Is something the matter, love?" Kakashi teased. "Not starting to feel sick too, are you?"
"N-No!" Iruka said, flushing an even brighter pink.
Oh, how he wanted to marry his lovely chunin schoolteacher one day.
~ ~ ~
Iruka and Anko had been friends for years. Both would even go so far as to say they were chosen siblings even, given that they’d grown up together and seen each other through all of the ups and downs that life could possibly throw at them. And as siblings, they’d also quickly become drinking buddies when they’d come of age — schedules and timing permitting for a night out to blow off steam. One such night out was exactly how Iruka found himself buzzed and seated across from Anko at one of their preferred bars on a chilly night.
A few empty glasses graced the table between them as they’d already been drinking and having a good time for the last two hours. Both were on their final drink it seemed, before they’d make their way out of the bar and either decide to head to another locale or back to one of their respective apartments for a late coffee and bite to eat. Though with how Iruka was feeling, he had a feeling that they’d most certainly be heading back to someone’s apartment soon enough.
“Anko, I just… I just can’t fully commit to the idea of marriage,” Iruka said for the second time in 10 minutes. “Because if I do, if I say the words out loud and start planning a propos—a p-word, I’d never be able to keep it a secret from him.”
Anko snorted as she took a long draw from her drink. “So the solution is to just not acknowledge it, unless you’re drinking with me, and wait until the day you choose to do it?”
Iruka gave a sharp, self-assured nod. “Yes. Otherwise that smug, silver-haired, gorgeous jounin will absolutely sniff out my secret.”
Wit that, Iruka sighed loudly and laid across the table, pressing his forehead into his arms.
“You really are disgustingly in love sometimes, you know that?”
“I do know, since you tell me all the time.”
“Well don’t count on me ever stopping Iruka. I’ll be saying it as long as I’m alive. Hell, maybe I’ll even find a way to come back if I kick it first just to haunt you with it too,” Anko teased. “It’s just too easy to get you flustered.
Iruka sighed again, lifting his head up just enough so he could polish off what was left of his drink. He couldn’t help that he was so easy to tease over the very real want to ask Kakashi to marry him. They’d been dating for several years and they’d said a mutual “I love you” only a few months into their relationship, so it wasn’t something that was just a recent thought for him. He’d had plenty of time to think about marrying Kakashi and how much he wanted to just ask him.
The only thing stopping him was the need to work up the courage to just do it—hopefully sooner rather than later, especially with how much he’d been thinking about it lately. It was a clear sign he needed to just commit to the idea.
“Look, you have free reign to tease me well into the afterlife and beyond Anko,” Iruka said, leaning back in his seat and stretching his arms overhead. “But as payment, I’d like some coffee.”
Anko laughed before downing the rest of her own drink. “Alright, coffee at my place so we can sober up a smidge,” She said, slamming her empty cup on the table. “I certainly wouldn’t want you to find your way to Kakashi’s place in this state and give yourself away.”
Iruka snorted at the idea. “I’d never be able to live it down if I proposed to him after I’d be drinking. He’d be sure to bring it up for the rest of our lives.”
“Well, we’ll make sure that doesn’t happen. Coffee and you stealing all my blankets off my couch will take care of that,” Anko said, reaching across the table to give him a nudge in the shoulder before heading to the door. “Let’s go.”
~ ~ ~
Another cold day found Iruka counting down the hours until the end of his mission desk shift. Time just seemed to be dragging on and on, and he was more than ready to be on his way home, fresh snow falling and the chill of winter be damned. Kakashi and Naruto were back from a long mission that had kept them away from the village for the last few weeks and that meant that it was a long awaited date night. It was a tradition that had started early on in their relationship, especially given that both Iruka and Kakashi often had very different schedules that made more regular dates sometimes difficult to plan. So, any time one of them would return from a mission that took them out of the village, that first or second night back was a dedicated date night. It was both much needed time together and it gave them the opportunity to take in the fact the other was back safely (though not always uninjured in some capacity.)
Luckily, the end of his shift did eventually come after several rejected mission reports and multiple irritated jounin and chunin who would need to completely redo their reports. So really, it was a rather average shift for Iruka. He quickly cleaned up his area and headed out of the tower to make his way to Kakashi’s apartment. More often than not, they’d eat out for date night. But every once in a while, one of them would get bit with the cooking bug and they’d decide to stay in for a home cooked meal, just the two of them. Naruto was home, most likely already passed out and dead to the world, so date night was set for Kakashi’s place by default.
Iruka couldn’t help but to smile to himself as he made the needed signs to undo the wards around the front door before unlocking it and letting himself in. He took his shoes off in the small but neat genkan, following the smell of oden down the short hall and into the kitchen. Two place settings and the meal itself were already laid across the small bar, top set on the pot of oden to keep it warm. Kakashi stood at the sink, washing up what looked to be the last few dishes he’d used while cooking.
Iruka smiled at him, stress from the day immediately melting away as he shrugged his flak vest off and set it onto the back of one of the bar stools. He stepped into the kitchen properly, sliding his arms around Kakashi’s middle tightly, hooking his chin over the others’ shoulder.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
Iruka snorted softly, pressing a few kisses across Kakashi’s shoulder.
"It smells really good. Have you been done long?"
"No, I finished about 20 minutes ago. Food's still hot.”
"Good timing."
"I've been known to have that occasionally."
"99% of Konoha's population would absolutely disagree with you on that.
Kakashi shrugged lightly as Iruka squeezed his arms tightly once more, setting his final dish on to the drying rack. "It's a good thing it's just the 1% I care about then, isn't it?"
"I suppose so. I get to see a side of you no one else does, hmm?"
Kakashi turned in Iruka's hold until they were pressed chest to chest and he slid his own arms around him. "Exactly. Only you get to see under the mask too, so really, you're quite lucky. There are people who would kill to know me in all of the ways that you do.
Erica hugged and response, reaching a hand up to pull Kakashi's mask down so he could press a kiss to his lips. "Well, too bad for them, because there is no way I'll be letting anyone get to know you that well."
"I'd expect nothing less from you," Kakashi but it against his lips. " you can be quite territorial when you want to be."
That prompted an undignified noise out of Iruka as he pulled back just the slightest. "I'm not territorial. I just... well. I just like being the one person who knows what you look like." Iruka said, a soft flush rising on his cheeks.
"And getting to kiss me whenever you like," Kakashi teased, passing another kiss to his lips. When you pulled back again, he couldn't help but to tug his mask down the rest of the way so his neck was visible. "Among plenty of other activities that could certainly be considered just a little territorial."
Iruka flushed even darker at the implication of the fact that he did love to leave marks across Kakashi's neck at any given chance. Just because the skin on his boyfriend's neck was currently markless didn't mean it would stay that way for long--- especially now that he was home. There was absolutely no way to dispute that fact.
"You've certainly never had any complaints," Iruka said, pinching at Kakashi's neck in retaliation.
That earned him an overexaggerated noise of complaint from Kakashi who craned his neck out of reach as he took a step back. "Ow! Pinching me for speaking the truth after I've made a nice dinner just for you, sensei? How could you be so needlessly cruel!"
"And what a lovely dinner it is," Iruka said, moving to pinch him again. "My lovely boyfriend is so thoughtful, caring, and cute."
Kakashi dodged out of the way of his hand and slid into a seat at the counter. "No more pinching. These definitely aren't the kind of marks I want from you," He teased with a wink. "I want something much more personal."
Iruka laughed at that, moving into the remaining seat himself. "Well, I can definitely deliver on that later."
Kakashi started serving out the oden into their bowls. “I really can’t wait,” He said, mind already partially lost in thoughts of what they’d get up to later on in the night. “But first, dinner. I put a lot of work into this!”
“It smells perfect, as always.”
“Good.”
Iruka leaned across into Kakashi’s space, cupping his cheek with a hand and pressing one more kiss to his lips. “Welcome home, love.”
“Happy to be back,” Kakashi said, leaning into his hand and kiss in equal measure. “Very, very happy to be back.”