Kakashi fingered the small box in his pocket for the hundredth time. He was going to do this. He was…
“Kakashi? Did you need something?”
Going to chicken out. Again.
“I just…” want to ask you to marry me “wanted to see how my precious chuunin was doing today.”
Damn it! Why did his mouth keep saying things he wasn’t telling it to?
Iruka blinked up at him, obviously confused. “I’m doing fine, ‘Kashi, why wouldn’t I be? It’s only Tuesday.”
Right, Tuesday. Tuesdays aren’t romantic. He couldn’t ask Iruka on a Tuesday.
“Well, you never know what those monsters you call children might do to you. You’re too soft hearted, sensei.”
Iruka smiled at him, and Kakashi’s grip on the box in his pocket tightened. “That’s not what they say.”
“Yes, well, they don’t really have anyone to compare you to. You forgot your lunch again. I brought you…” the most beautiful ring I could find and it still isn’t good enough “some ramen I made this morning.”
Iruka’s eyes lit up. “’Kashi-koi, you’re a saint! Have I told you I love you?”
Yes, and I never never want you to stop. “Not today.”
“Then count that as time one for the day.”
Kakashi smiled, finally removing his hand from his pocket- empty. He put the bag containing his homemade miso ramen on Iruka’s desk and gave the chuunin a cloth-covered kiss on the top of the head. “Behave yourself. I’ll see you when you get back.”
Kakashi was almost to the door when Iruka called for him. He turned around, doing his best to look innocent. “Yes, sensei?”
Iruka smiled, blushing a bit as he held up two fingers. “Nice shoes.”
It was a stupid thing that they did, they only they understood. Kakashi could not make the words ‘I love you’ come out of his mouth. He’d never heard them said before. Never had to say them. So, Iruka had decided another way Kakashi could say it, if he wanted to, because nice shoes had nearly the same mouth movements as I love you.
Such a stupid thing.
Kakashi pulled down his mask to reveal his lips, so Iruka could see them. “Nice shoes, Itooshii.”
Kakashi pulled his mask back up and exited the classroom, leaving Iruka smiling happily behind him. The ring still sat heavily in Kakashi’s pocket. Maybe it was time to get some help with this…
Anko was not at the top of the list of people Kakashi wanted to ask advice from. That would have been his sensei, Rin, or Asuma. In that order. Unfortunately, short of using some forbidden jutsus, talking to the dead and having them talk back is a fairly difficult task.
After those three, it would have been Kurenai, but even he wasn’t that insensitive. The Kunoichi was obviously still grieving, and rubbing his own happy relationship in her face just felt wrong.
He though, briefly, about asking Yamato, but his former ANBU teammate would have made fun of him about being so deeply in love. Even more than he already did. Which was a lot.
Getting relationship advice from Guy was just wrong, as was asking his students. In the end, asking Anko- who knew Iruka better than anybody save himself- was his only choice.
Which was how he found himself at the dango stand, using his one eye to try and glare the death-on-a-stick in front of him out of existence.
Anko sighed as she put her half-eaten treat down. “Did you come here to talk to me, or to have staring contests with inanimate objects?”
Kakashi transferred his glare to her. How was he going to explain his predicament? It wasn’t something he had trouble with every day. Just every day lately.
“Did you and ‘Ruka-kun have a fight again? Of course you did. I’ve told you time and again, Kakashi, that yes he will get angry every time you suggest a threesome. ‘Ru may be kinky, but he’s also horribly possessive…”
“I want to ask him to marry me.”
Anko froze, her mouth hanging open. They stared in silence at each other for several minutes before she managed to compose herself enough to snap her mouth shut.
“You wanna’ run that by me again?”
“I want to ask him to marry me.”
“That’s…what I thought you said.” Anko blinked at him a few times, and Kakashi shifted uncomfortably. Finally, she sighed and scratched her head. “You’re really serious, aren’t you?”
Kakashi nodded, removing the ring from his pocket. Anko snatched it immediately, and opened the box. She ran her fingers over the engraving, smiling slightly though Kakashi pretended not to see for both their sakes, before snapping it shut again and handing it back. “At least you weren’t stupid enough to put a jewel in it.”
The Copy-nin shrugged, not entirely sure whether to be insulted by that or not. “I wanted something he would like.”
“You could give him a rock to give him, and he’d treasure it.” Anko rolled her eyes, taking a thoughtful bite of her dango. “Honestly, I don’t know what he sees in you.”
Kakashi didn’t either, but he decided against saying that.
“So, what do you need my help for? He’s going to say yes.”
“I know that,” Kakashi said, even though he really didn’t. This was asking Iruka to give up any chance he had of ever escaping him. It was really an awfully selfish thing to do. “I wanted to ask you when you thought would be…the best time…or place…or day…for me to ask.”
Anko had an expression on her face that said she clearly could not believe what she was hearing. “For a genius, you really are pretty stupid.”
“As dumb as a rock,” Kakashi agreed with a wave of his hand. At least when it came to these sorts of things. Relationships and where theirs was supposed to go from here was usually Iruka’s thing.
“You know Iruka isn’t usually in to that gooey romantic junk.”
“He likes it when I’m sweet,” Kakashi pouted, folding his arms over his chest.
A lesser Kunoichi would have laughed, but not Anko. She simply snorted. “Okay, you win that one. Iruka can and does melt when you do something sweet, and tells me about it- repeatedly- for days.”
“I want this to be one of those things. Only better.”
“So you came to me for advice?”
“You’re his friend.”
“You’re his best friend.”
“I’m too close to the situation to make a good judgment.”
“And what makes you think I’m not? I’ve never made a secret of the fact that I don’t think you’re good enough for Iruka, Kakashi. How do you know I won’t try and sabotage this for you?”
Kakashi frowned, seriously pondering this. “Because…you care about Iruka too much. He’s your best friend, and you know he loves me even if you don’t understand why. You want him to be happy.”
Anko glared at him and growled. “I swear, if you hurt him…”
“I know, Anko. We’ve been through this. Several times.”
Anko’s scowl deepened, but she did look down at the table. “Where was your first date?”
Hadn’t Kakashi already concluded at the beginning of all of this that that was a difficult question? The first time they’d done anything together had been in Genma’s apartment on the coffee table. The couch had been taken, and Iruka had just looked so…molestable. It hadn’t even been a word before, but it was when Iruka got buzzed like that. Apparently, Iruka thought so too as Kakashi hadn’t actually been the one to initiate that kiss.
If she meant a date in the technical sense, then he supposed that would have been when he asked Iruka to join him for a picnic on the eastern wall to watch the sunrise. At the time, he hadn’t known why he’d done it. He’d just wanted the company after a night watch.
He shrugged at Anko again. “The sunrise picnic. I’m sure Iruka told you.”
The girl nodded, seemingly satisfied with that answer. Kakashi couldn’t help but feel relieved.
“I think you should ask him on that wall, at sunrise. You know how obsessive-compulsive he is. He’d be a complete sucker for symmetry.”
Kakashi contemplated this for a while. Actually, the idea of proposing on Genma’s coffee table made a lot better story but…somehow the story didn’t seem worth the romantic sacrifice.
But if it was symmetry that Iruka would like, Kakashi had a better idea. He grinned under his mask, knowing that Anko would read it easily. “Thanks for your help, Anko-chan. I think I have the perfect idea now.”
“I don’t trust that look.”
“You shouldn’t.”
“Kakashi, I swear…”
“I won’t hurt him. I promise. That’s why I’m doing this, you know.”
“To protect him or to protect you?”
“Both.”
Anko’s eyes narrowed, but she said nothing.
“Promise you won’t tell him?”
The purple haired woman snorted. “Even I’m not that low, Kakashi. If you want to surprise Iruka, you go right ahead. I just hope he finally wises up and dumps you on your ass.”
Kakashi really couldn’t say he shared that sentiment. In fact, he’d had a couple of rather terrible dreams about that exact situation the last two weeks. “And my blessing upon any relationship you should ever have too, Anko.”
Anko stuck her tounge out at him.
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Chapter notes: Um...eventually I plan on posting my long fic 'All The Broken Pieces' here that explains how it's possible, but I'm a strong follower of Iruka being one of Orochimaru's students. That's why he and Anko are such good friends here...