Work Text:
“I never thought you were interested in practical jokes, Hokage-sama.”
Iruka was staring at the prone form lying on the medical bed. The elite shinobi didn’t look injured. In fact, if Iruka didn’t know any better, he would have assumed that the man was simply resting. A soft, dark cloth was hiding the lower half of his face, but the eye he typically kept covered was in full view. The long, savage scar went up further into his hairline than Iruka had originally assumed.
Kakashi was peaceful, and honestly, more than a little cute with wisps of hair falling onto his forehead just asking to be brushed away gently by Iruka’s fingers. Unfortunately, if the Hokage was absolutely serious, then Iruka was halfway to killing him.
“Unfortunately, I have never been more serious sensei.”
When Iruka had been called out of the class he was teaching by a very disheartened sounding Anbu, Iruka had assumed the worst. Replays of how he learned of Asuma’s passing spiraled through his mind and the feeling of helpless panic had frozen his veins. All the faces of his precious former students, chuunin now, had plagued his every thought as he was transported directly to the top-secret ward of the Hospital.
When he arrived to see Kakashi, he had to close his eyes to maintain composure. Naruto would be devastated at the loss.
Tsunade had noticed his misery and given him an explanation that soothed his worst fears, but raised a new batch of questions that Iruka feared the answer to.
Iruka rubbed the side of his face, “The Hatake family is cursed?”
“Yes.”
“That when they reach a certain age, they will enter a coma?”
“Correct.”
“…That can only be cured by true love’s kiss?”
Tsunade rolled her eyes, “You truly are an astute listener sensei, the future of Konoha will excel in your hands.”
Iruka had to refrain from making a scowl at the Hokage, “And I am here because Kakashi knew of this curse, and put my name down as the person who would be able to wake him.”
“Yep,” Tsunade pulled out a scroll and small bottle. Iruka watched the Hokage shoot down whatever liquid-probably sake- in the small flask as she handed the scroll to him.
Iruka unrolled the scroll, immediately recognizing the emergency contact sheet. With a quick scan, Iruka learned more things about Kakashi than he had ever thought he would know.
One, was that if he were to die, everything was left to Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto. Kakashi wasn’t the… most excellent at showing how much he cared about his team, and while Iruka suspected he was more fond of them than he let on, this was definitive conformation that Kakashi viewed his students as his familial legacy. It did wonders to boost the man up in his estimation.
Two was that he only had three people noted as his next of kin and the people given permission to make medical decisions for him should he be out of commission. Maito Guy, which made sense to Iruka, some guy just named “Tenzo” with a poorly drawn mammal (maybe cat?) next to his name, and Sarutobi Asuma, which had been crossed out with a death date denoted next to it. Iruka had no idea his pseudo-older brother was so close with the copy nin.
The final thing that drew his attention was the attached letter, hand written in the disgusting scrawl Kakashi called penmanship.
When the curse on my family comes to befall me, I request that Umino Iruka, Chuunin Academy sensei, be the candidate to break my eternal sleep. I consent to any kiss from Umino Iruka during my incapacitated sleep. Should he fail (doubt), Maito Gai will be a suitable secondary.
The mix of formal and informal language was enough to make Iruka’s eyebrow twitch, if the message itself was enough to make his blood pressure rise.
Iruka rolled the scroll back up, handing the damning paper back to Tsunade. “With all due respect, Hokage-sama, there must be a mistake. Kakashi and I are not really on the closest of terms-“
“There is no mistake,” Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a bone-deep sigh, “I don’t know what the brat was thinking, but he is convinced the two of you are soulmates or whatever. You can say no, I’m not gonna force you to kiss him, but I would appreciate the effort.”
Iruka took a moment to read the exhaustion off of Tsunade. Even with the jutsu keeping her looking young and beautiful, there were still deep purple bruises forming under her eyes from the lack of sleep. Each finger on her hand seemed to tremble from stress, something that Iruka had never noticed about the steel-nerved healer. With everything that had been going on, it was clear the pressure was starting to escalate…
His eyes naturally drifted back to Kakashi on the bed. His relationship with Kakashi was… a complicated one. They rarely agreed on anything, and the most they had ever worked together was making a birthday cake for Naruto together with Sasuke and Sakura as a surprise. They struggled to see the other’s perspective, but overall they respected the role the other played in the lives of the children they both looked after.
Kakashi was strong, kind to his peers, ruthless towards opposition. He loved his village, and as proven by his will and emergency contacts, the people he considered to be family. He was a good man, just not one Iruka ever had an interest in getting close to.
But he thought Iruka was his true love.
There was no evidence for that at all, but Kakashi didn’t seem like the type to do anything that wasn’t calculated. He wouldn’t put Iruka in as a joke, because he would never abandon duty.
“I’ll try,” Iruka agreed, knowing that there was no other option. Without Kaakshi, the village was at risk. And, Naruto would never forgive him if he found out.
“Good!” His agreement seemed to perk Tsunade right up. Had he just been manipulated…? “I’ll give you some privacy.”
She left Iruka alone in the hospital room, leaving nothing but the sound of the Kakashi’s heavy breathing.
Well then.
“You're gonna owe me Ramen,” Iruka said aloud. “A lot of Ramen, actually. There is no way I am just letting you get away with this.”
He moved to sit gingerly on the side of Kakashi’s bed, biting on his lip in thought. Naruto had lamented so long about not being able to see Kakashi’s face, and now Iruka was going to get the honors of a front row seat to just how the infamous masked ninja actually looked. Was Iruka above lording this over Naruto and teasing him about it?
No.
Iruka was careful when he removed the mask, fully intending to slip it back on as soon as he was done. His hopes of this working weren’t great…
“Wait, how long should I kiss you? Does it need to be on the lips? What kind of silly curse even works like this?” Iruka asked these questions to Kakashi’s absolutely normal, unmoving face. There was a cute beauty mark resting near his lips, and the scar went further down his cheek. Naruto would be so disappointed Kakashi wasn’t hiding something more dramatic.
Iruka gently cupped the underside of Kakashi’s jaw, surprised to feel some scarring under his calloused finger prints. How many people had actually gotten close enough to killing Kakashi? Too many, if Iruka was to analyze the scars he was feeling trail down the side of Kakashi’s neck.
Focus, Umino. It’s just a kiss to save his life.
Iruka finally brushed the hair off of his forehead, the action feeling like a comfort to his growing anxiety. He took a deep breath, before leaning down to press his lips against Kakashi’s.
There was a jolt of electricity, similar to the feeling of a student testing their lightning chakra against Iruka in a light spar. Kakashi’s lips were soft and full, although unmoving against his. Iruka began to count to five as he pressed further into the kiss. Surely, five seconds was long enough?
Three had been enough.
A firm, wide hand threaded into the base of his ponytail. Iruka expected to be yanked off, since he could hardly retaliate with the shock of this actually working in his system. Instead, Kakashi just tugged the hairtie out of Iruka’s hair, before rethreading his fingers into the loose strand to hold Iruka in place.
Kissing Kakashi when he could actually kiss back was a sinful treat.
Iruka held his weight over Kakashi carefully, not wanting to crush the man despite the feeling of dizziness in his limbs. Kakashi sighed against his mouth, gently licking across Iruka’s lips in a slow, delicate slide. Breathing was now no longer mandatory as Iruka lost himself the sensation.
Kakashi did eventually pull Iruka back, blinking up with his blurry eyes. The sharingan didn’t even look that frightening from here, with how glazed over and slow the gentle swirl of the deadly bloodline limit was.
“Mah, Sensei. It’s a shame you never kissed me sooner.” Kakashi’s voice was raspy, hoarse from its unwilling silence for the last few days.
“When would I have done that?”
“Between all our flirting. It’s okay, I forgive you.”
Iruka huffed, a flush finding his cheeks easily. He pulled away from Kakashi and ignored the whined protests, “We don’t flirt. What the hell were you thinking, putting me as the solution to your curse? Which makes no sense, by the way.”
Kakashi shifted, playful and wide smile becoming more serious and solemn. The fog on his expression was beginning to dissipate, “You love everyone, sensei. If anyone could love me, I assumed it would be you.”
Iruka choked on a breath, “I don’t love everyone. And no offense Kakashi-san, I don’t know if I love you romantically. It’s not something… I never thought about it.”
Kakashi’s smile returned, only this one was softer, a little sweeter, “The curse doesn’t care if you are already in love. My parents weren’t. My mom was actually trying to do CPR for the strange man that collapsed onto her picnic basket. Just if the people are compatible, and the potential for true, pure love is there.”
Iruka’s blush only got worse. What was all this romantic nonsense? The plot sounded straight from one of the bad romance novels Kakashi liked to read so much, “And you knew that was me? Because I ‘love everyone’?”
Kakashi reached out so he could grad Iruka’s hand in his. The grip was gentle. His thumb traced across Iruka’s knuckle as he made direct eye contact. “I am not easy to love. And I do not love others easily. But I think we could love each other if we ever tried. That’s why I chose you.”
Iruka watched Kakashi pull away, his physical and metaphorical mask going back in place. He seemed so frgid now, miles away from Iruka like he always seemed, “That’s all, sensei. Thank you for your help. Hopefully things won’t be weird between us from now on.”
“Ramen.”
“Pardon?”
“You owe me ramen for this. A lot of it.”
Iruka stood up from the bed, before turning so he could loom over Kakashi. He needed the extra feeling of power, and courage.
“How much is a lot?” The shy softness was back. Iruka liked that look.
“Maybe my whole life, not sure. I’ll buy the ingredients, and I’ll see you at my house tonight. Alone.”
There was hope, and maybe the curse the was right about something. Iruka could feel the charged potential.
“I’ll have to make another request then,” Kakashi’s eyes twinkled as they crinkled with his smile.
“It’s funny you think you are in a position to make requests.”
“I’m greedy and a selfish narcissist, remember?” His laugh was like music, “I just want to confirm that I will get the chance to kiss you first tonight instead.”
Iruka shrugged his shoulders, before turning towards the door to hide his giddy smile, “We’ll see.”