Chapter Text
Iruka found comfort in small routines. The brief moments to himself in the morning, before 30 ninjas-to-be threw his day into chaos with far more precision than they threw kunai. The fleeting calm before bed, after he'd spent hours yelling at jounin with even worse handwriting than his students.
He measured peace in cups of tea and well-worn habits. The slow stretch and burn of his muscles as he ran through his daily exercises. Pulling his hair up and putting his uniform on piece by piece in the morning, physical and mental armor for the day. The methodical unwinding of the wrappings around his calves and thigh at night. Showering at the end of the day like he could wash any residual stress down the drain with water and scent-neutralizing soap. Herb tea in the evening as he graded papers and read. Green tea in the morning, strong enough to cover the bitter aftertaste of the suppressant he took with it.
People would use words like boring or reliable to describe him more often than not. Average, predictable, unremarkable. His temper the only thing of note.
If his reputation was mundane, that was fine. The quiet everyday was nice. But no matter how carefully cultivated his rituals were, disarray always had a way of worming itself into his life in one form or another. Sometimes it was knee-height and crying, other times it was chicken scratch covered in blood and mud. His favorite moments of bedlam though, those frequently came dressed in orange. Or, more recently, they had a tendency to slouch.
Iruka popped a pill into his mouth and swallowed, grimacing as the aftertaste hit him then knocking back the rest of his tea to wash it away. Almost a decade later, he still wasn't used to the taste. He rinsed his teacup and set it on the rack to dry.
Shouldering his messenger bag full of now-graded homework, he opened his apartment door and stepped outside. Time to see what chaos the world threw at him today.
~*~*~
Most shinobi counted their victories in number of successful missions, number of battles won. Iruka counted his in other ways. Light bulb moments when a difficult lesson finally clicked, students excelling in areas where they once struggled, former students finding their own ninja way, the light of another generation's Will of Fire. These were the things that made him love being a teacher, his rewards, and his joy.
However, none of that changed the fact that children could be, in Iruka's experience, vicious little shits. They could find weaknesses and exploit them at speeds most jounin could only hope to replicate in battle.
It was mid-June, still early enough in their first year that his students hadn't realized yet how well sound echoed down the hall towards the teachers' room. The word omega, hurled like a curse, was far too easy to hear as he walked towards his classroom.
Iruka resisted the urge to sigh. This. Again. It happened like clockwork with every new class.
Suzume caught his eye and grimaced as she walked past him to her own classroom. Have fun with that, her expression clearly said.
He paused and leaned against the wall next to the door of his classroom, waiting to hear exactly how much of a lecture he was going to have to give this time.
"Take it back!"
Iruka could easily identify the voice, soft but fierce. Kishou was small for his age, delicate even, with an airy beauty that made him seem almost otherworldly even at seven years old. If Iruka were to ask ten shinobi which student in his class was most likely to present as an omega, at least half of them would point to Kishou without even giving it a second thought. The few that didn't would hopefully know that they hadn't been given enough information to answer the question. There was also a high probability that they had graduated from the Academy during Iruka's tenure.
"It's true! You're too weak to be anything else."
Amikoe, Iruka thought. She was frequently the ringleader of any trouble happening in the class. And where she goes...
Iruka wasn't surprised to hear the next two voices that chimed in.
"You should just quit now," Tose said, always following just a step behind Amikoe.
"Yeah, you won't make it past genin," Seji added, not wanting to be left out of their game.
"If he even makes it that far," Amikoe cut in and her two co-conspirators laughed.
"I'm going to be a jounin, you'll see," Kishou fired back.
Amikoe snorted at the idea. "You'll always be just a worthless, weak omega."
Kishou didn't have an immediate come back for that, but Iruka felt chakra building inside the classroom. It was unstable, as expected from a first year student, but there was clear intent behind it. That was Iruka's cue. He jumped in between the students before they even realized he was in the classroom, effectively stopping their fight before it could even start.
An immediate oh shit, we're in trouble hush fell over the classroom. Iruka might not freely admit the extent to which he savored that particular variety of silence, but he didn't try to hide his enjoyment much either.
"Sit down. Now."
The clump of students that had gathered at the front of the classroom to watch the brewing fight scattered, darting to their assigned seats. Most of them stared at him with wide eyes, expressions ranging from guilty to nervous to upset. Kishou was looking at him with poorly covered anger and accusations. It was enough to tell Iruka that this wasn't the first time he had been made fun of for his potential nature and he didn't expect Iruka to do anything about it.
"I was under the impression that you are all 6 or 7 years old. Is that correct?"
The classroom was quiet enough Iruka could have heard an ANBU move.
"Is that correct?" he repeated.
"Yes, sensei," they replied.
"And do any of you know for sure what your nature will be?"
"No, sensei." Most of them weren't looking him in the eyes anymore.
"Then why do you think you know what anyone else's will be?"
"But, sensei-" Amikoe started.
Iruka cut her off. "And even when you do know someone's nature, what exactly does that tell you about them?"
Another silence fell as he let them think that over.
"Their nature," a boy towards the back of the class answered quietly after a moment.
"That's correct. All you know about them is whether they are an alpha, beta, or omega. It tells you nothing about them as a ninja. There have been multiple cases of jounin being defeated by genin. Some of you probably don't believe me. How could someone so much lower than a jounin defeat them? Sometimes it's luck, sometimes it's skill or tenacity, but almost every time it's also because the jounin thought there was no way they could lose to a mere genin. Assuming someone is weak just because of their rank, their gender, or their nature, assuming anything about them, is one of the worst mistakes you can make as a shinobi."
He paused, looking around the room as he let that sink in.
"Would you think of me differently if you thought I was an alpha or an omega?"
That caused some of their foreheads to crease in thought.
"But you aren't," a girl replied.
"But if I were, would you stop doing your homework? Would you stop listening in class?"
Multiple of his students shook their heads, some of them hard enough it looked like it hurt.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because you'd still be Iruka-sensei," another boy chimed in.
Iruka nodded at that. He was pretty sure what the boy really wanted to say was "Because you'd still be too scary to mess with."
Amikoe was looking thoughtful while Kishou regarded Iruka with something like curiosity. Iruka knew that this one lecture wasn't enough to completely wipe out any nature-based stereotypes they might have, but it was a seed, one that he would continue to grow over the next few years. Knowing that was all he could do for now, he moved on to the lessons he had planned for the day.
~*~*~
As the last of Iruka's students trickled out of the classroom that afternoon, he finished straightening the room and then graded some papers at his desk. He could tell Kishou was hanging back, waiting until they were alone, but he let the boy approach him when he was ready.
He stood awkwardly at the side of Iruka's desk, tugging at the straps of his bag and waiting for Iruka to acknowledge him. Iruka looked up from his grading.
"Can I help you with something, Kishou-kun?"
The boy hesitated for a moment. Iruka could see the way he pulled himself together, steeling himself to speak.
"Do you mean it? What you said this morning?"
"Of course I do. I wouldn't have said it if I didn't."
Kishou still looked troubled though. Iruka set down the pen he had been marking with and leaned towards him.
"Look," Iruka said. "You're still very young and you don't know what you'll be yet. You might be anything. But no matter what your nature ends up being, you are still you and you can still do anything you want."
The boy looked hopefully for a moment, but then his face fell. Really quietly he said, "But my mother is an alpha and I think she won't love me if I am an omega." There was a slight waver in his voice and he looked close to tears.
Iruka could feel for him. He'd never found out what his parents would have thought of his nature, but when he had expressed his doubts, the Third had made it more than clear to him that they would have loved him no matter what.
Iruka put a hand on Kishou's shoulder and said, "Listen to me, I taught your older sisters, so I've known your mother for years and I know she loves you and will continue to love you no matter what. It doesn't matter if you end up being an alpha, beta, or omega, she will still love you. The only thing that she wants is for you to be happy and safe."
"Really?" he asked, looking hopeful.
"Really," Iruka said, "and if you don't believe me, just ask her tonight and she will tell you the exact same thing."
Iruka blinked in surprise as Kishou threw his arms around his neck and hugged him quickly then ran out of the classroom, yelling, "Bye, Iruka-sensei! Thank you!" on his way out the door.
Iruka couldn't help but smile after him.
~*~*~
He was halfway home when Kakashi fell into step beside him.
"Shouldn't you be off on some mission somewhere?" Iruka said by way of greeting.
"Maa, sensei, I wouldn't want to leave you alone for too long now, would I? Who knows what you'd get up to."
Iruka grinned at that. "Justify it all you want, but I know the real reason."
"And what might that be?"
"Obviously because you are getting too old for missions."
Kakashi sputtered. "Who are you calling old?"
Iruka eyed Kakashi's hair then his mask. "You can tell me the truth. The real reason you keep most your face covered is to hide the wrinkles, isn't it?"
Kakashi snorted. "Sensei, do you believe me to be the kind of man who would hide the mementos earned from his journey down the road of life?"
"You were hanging out with Gai all day, weren't you?" Iruka asked with a chuckle.
"He decided today's challenge was writing poetry." Kakashi gave him a traumatized look.
"You cannot tell me that unless you intend to show me what you wrote."
Kakashi started to dig in his vest pockets. "I brought it in case you were interested. Gai declared it a Hip and Moving Display of Youthful Passion. It's called "Shall I compare thee to an Icha Icha page.""
Iruka put his hands up in front of him in surrender, "I'm good. Thanks."
"Well, if you change your mind, I'll read it to you, sensei." Kakashi winked at him and Iruka felt himself blush at the idea of Kakashi reading him something that was probably very graphic. Not for the first time, he was thankful that his suppressed scent was like a beta's and didn't give away any emotions.
He found himself trying to remember when he had started to be able to tell the difference between Kakashi's winks and regular blinking. It had to have been months ago already. He'd gotten used to Kakashi's expressions the same way he'd gotten used to Kakashi's scent, though he'd never been able to figure out how to read the latter.
Iruka knew high level alphas learned to control their scents for undercover missions, using chakra to manipulate their pheromone levels to make themselves smell like betas or to keep their emotions from leaking into their scents. He'd read the theory behind it but it required precise wielding of chakra and took ridiculous amounts of time and effort to learn and maintain. It wasn't something most of them kept up once they were back inside the safety of the village, and without that control, it was far too easy to pick up any heightened emotions that were coming off of them.
Kakashi's scent was a mystery though. He kept control of it even in the village. It was still a clear alpha scent, but that was the only thing it gave away. It was the olfactory equivalent of looking at a blank page.
They made their way through the streets, bantering back and forth until they arrived at Ramen Ichiraku. Iruka cocked an eyebrow at Kakashi. It was supposed to be his turn to pick where they ate, but somehow they had ended up here.
Kakashi just shrugged. "It sounded good."
Iruka wanted to call bullshit on that, but he'd wait until after they had eaten. He could always pick something he knew Kakashi liked more next time to make it up to him.
They slid onto two empty stools at the counter and placed their orders. He sighed in happiness as the steaming bowl of ramen was put in front of him. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Kakashi watching him and he smiled a little sheepishly. There was no point in pretending he didn't enjoy this the most. Kakashi gave him one of his famous eye-smiles in return, another thing that ranked high on Iruka's list of favorites.
Moments like these made him wish he could stop time and live in them forever, or failing that, record them like Kakashi could.
Iruka tucked into his food, telling himself that good friends and good food always made people feel that way.
~*~*~
Kakashi hadn't planned for things to end up like this, it had just happened. He'd heard a bit of news about Naruto and caught Iruka after work to pass it on. It'd been awkward at first, neither of them knowing much about the other except what they'd heard from the gossip mill and Naruto. But one time had turned to two, which had turned to a dozen, and soon Kakashi found himself seeking out Iruka even when he didn't have anything new about Naruto to share.
Falling into step with Iruka after he had finished his day at the Academy or his shift at the Mission Desk had started to feel second nature to Kakashi. Eating dinner by himself had started to feel lonely.
Kakashi had always been more likely to take to the roofs when he wanted to get from one end of town to the other, but he found wandering the streets with Iruka gave him an entirely different perspective. Very few people would call out to Kakashi, but some days it seemed like Iruka knew the whole village.
Iruka was warm. People seemed drawn to him. They wanted to be close to him. It was something Kakashi could understand. Most of the time he didn't mind, but lately when he felt someone's eyes lingering on Iruka for too long, his hackles started to rise. Especially when it was an alpha who was showing interest.
Iruka seemed fairly oblivious to most of the interest that was shown his way, but there was no way he couldn't have noticed some of the more blatant looks he received. No way to miss the scent of an alpha wanting to stake a claim. But he dismissed them all, with a polite, disinterested nod at the best of times or flatly ignoring them at the worst.
By the time Kakashi realized he liked Iruka as more than just a friend, it was clear to him that Iruka wasn't interested in alphas. At all. Sure Iruka was friends with multiple, but any alpha that showed any amount of intention beyond friendship was immediately set in their place. He'd seen Iruka's nose wrinkle at the scent of obvious alpha interest enough times that he made sure to control his own scent as tightly as he would on an undercover mission any time they were together. No trace of attraction, no hint of possessiveness to be found.
That didn't stop him from flirting though. He enjoyed Iruka's blushes too much and he told himself it wouldn't hurt anything as long as Iruka didn't think he was serious.
As much as he wished things were different, Kakashi couldn't blame Iruka for not wanting to date alphas. It was well known most of them came with a host of issues and Iruka didn't seem like the type who would put up with overly controlling or aggressive behavior. He wouldn't be the first or last beta to swear off dating alphas all together.
Kakashi might not have a chance with him, but at least he knew every other alpha was right there with him. It wasn't much, but it was enough to keep him from growling whenever he saw another alpha checking Iruka out.
Still, he found himself doing things for Iruka that he wouldn't be able to explain away with friendship alone if he were ever confronted about them. Actions and gestures that were born out of instincts telling him to provide for and protect. Even if all he could do were little things like eating at Iruka's favorite restaurant on Kakashi's night to choose instead of something he'd rather eat. The sigh Iruka let out at the sight of the ramen was more than enough to make up for it. The sound went straight through Kakashi, stroking down his spine, a reward for making Iruka happy.
They were almost finished with dinner when one of the noren curtains was thrown back and a woman rushed inside. Kakashi, Iruka, Teuchi, Ayame, and the other two customers all turned to look at her. Kakashi recognized her as a jounin alpha but didn't know more about her than that. Her gaze jumped from one person to another until it landed on Iruka.
"Iruka-sensei!" she called, taking the few steps it took to close the distance between them. Kakashi couldn't even begin to work out what her scent meant beyond the fact that she was agitated.
Iruka stood to greet her. "Sadachi-san-" he started to say, but was cut off as she grabbed him by the shoulders, pulling him towards her.
Kakashi leapt to his feet then blinked as he realized that she wasn't attacking Iruka, she was pulling him into a rather crushing hug. He casually set his chopsticks down, hoping no one had noticed how he'd automatically flipped them into the reverse grip he favored for kunai. He was glad he had managed to keep himself from actually pulling one of the blades from his pouch.
"Thank you," she said, voice sincere, as she pulled away. "I didn't know how to talk to him about it."
Iruka nodded and smiled. "Whatever you say will be fine. You love your son and that's the most important thing," he assured her.
Kakashi's visible eye was darting back and forth between them.
She left after thanking Iruka again and they sat back down to finish their meal. The other two customers went back to eating as well.
"What was that about?" Kakashi asked after a beat, far too curious not to say anything.
Iruka sighed. "Some of my students were picking on a boy who seems like he might end up being an omega."
Kakashi felt himself bristle. "Should I go talk to them?"
He wanted to ask Should I go scare the shit out of them until they don't do that again? but he didn't.
Iruka surprised him by chuckling like he knew exactly what Kakashi was thinking. "I already did. Also, having an alpha try to scare them into thinking omegas are strong is probably not the best way to go about things."
"I could cover myself in omega pheromones first," Kakashi suggested.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see Iruka trying to imagine that and starting to snicker.
"You're imagining me in heat right now, admit it," he said, enjoying the bright red shade Iruka turned at the comment and wishing that beta scents gave off emotion too. Iruka's scent was nice, probably the nicest beta scent he'd ever smelled, but Kakashi always found himself wondering how it would change in moments like these if it could.
"Anyway," Iruka said, trying to get the conversation back on track, "we'll keep that as our plan B. If my lessons don't work, you can have at them."
Kakashi wasn't letting him off that easy though, not when there were still traces of a blush on his cheeks. "With or without the pheromones?"
Iruka shook his head, his tone was exasperated but he was fighting a smile. "I will leave that decision up to you."
"Definitely with, then. You don't know any omegas who'd help me out, do you?"
Iruka shot him a look and Kakashi did his best to look innocent. They both knew the easiest way to get covered in another person's scent.
Iruka looked away and picked up his glass of water.
"You know, it might be good to have some beta scent in the mix as well. For the sake of equality. I could count on you for that, right, sensei?"
Iruka choked on his water, quickly setting the glass down again. And there, the blush was back in full force.
Kakashi beamed at him. Going to Iruka's favorite restaurant had definitely been the right choice for the night.
~*~*~
Iruka stretched as he stood then started to straighten up the Mission Desk, shift finished for the night.
Shizune peeked her head into the room and called out to him. "Iruka-sensei, Tsunade-sama would like to see you when you are finished."
"Okay, I'll be there in a few minutes," he replied, grabbing an armful of reports to file.
When he arrived at Tsunade's office, she was looking at a scroll rolled open on her desk. She glanced up as he walked in.
"You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama?"
"Iruka-sensei, there are two families of Konoha civilians currently living in Iron Country that have requested their children be evaluated to see if they should be brought back to Konoha for training at the Academy or not. The children range in age from 3 to 7 and the oldest two are showing signs of chakra capabilities. As you're frequently involved in admissions at the Academy, I'd like you to go and evaluate them. You'd be away from Konoha for roughly eight days. Are you willing to accept this mission?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama. Would it be possible to leave after the start of summer vacation at the Academy?"
"That's fine," she said, tossing him a C-rank mission scroll. "Prepare to leave August 1st, we will arrange a meeting date with the families. You'll be assigned an escort for the mission, though we don't foresee any trouble."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," he replied, bowing and then leaving the office.
On his way out of the building, he scanned the scroll. It was a standard evaluation mission. He would be escorted by three chuunin to and from Iron Country, where he'd meet the families and test the children for advanced chakra abilities. An eight day mission, but six of those days would be traveling to and from the meeting point.
Tucking the scroll into one of his vest pockets, he started to head towards his apartment. It didn't take long before the familiar presence of Kakashi dropped down from a nearby roof and fell into step with him.
"You're a little late tonight, sensei, how very unIruka-y of you."
Iruka waved one of his hands vaguely in the air. "Maa, the road of life takes many unplanned turns."
Kakashi snorted at that. "Sensei, I think I might be rubbing off on you."
"I'll have to be more careful then. We wouldn't want that now, would we?"
"I don't know, sensei, rubbing off on you could be a very good thing."
There was a leer in his voice and Iruka felt his face heat at the double meaning and hoped it was dark enough Kakashi wouldn't notice. He probably did though. There wasn't much Kakashi missed.
"Actually," Iruka said, steering the conversation to safer ground, "Tsunade-sama called me into her office."
"Mission?"
"Yeah, going to Iron Country for about a week to evaluate some potential students."
"Who's your escort?"
Iruka shrugged. "I don't think they've been assigned yet. Not leaving for another three weeks."
"Hmm..." Kakashi said, stopping in the middle of the road.
Iruka stopped to look back at him.
"Okay, Iruka-sensei, see you later!" Kakashi gave him a wave before leaping up onto the nearest roof and bounding away.
Iruka stared after him for a moment then shook his head and continued walking back to his apartment. He'd realized long ago that most days it was just better not to try to make sense of Kakashi.
~*~*~
Tsunade felt Kakashi's approach before her ANBU guards did, signaling for them to stand down right before he popped through the window of her office.
"Brat, what have I told you about coming into my office unannounced?"
"Ah. What was that again?" he said, trying rather unconvincingly to look innocent. Next time she'd forget to tell the ANBU to stand down just to see what happened.
"What do you want?"
"I hear there is an escort mission to Iron Country available."
She scoffed. "I'm not wasting you on a C-rank mission that will take you out of the village for at least eight days."
"But if you send me, you wouldn't have to send anyone else. You'd actually be saving manpower this way."
He eye-smiled at her but she just stared back at him blankly. That look didn't work on her. The challenge just seemed to make him eye-smile harder and they stayed that way for a moment until she broke the silence.
"Is there any particular reason you want to go on this mission?" she asked, suspicion clear.
"I've heard Iron Country is very pleasant during summer."
"Iron Country is never pleasant any time of year."
Kakashi shrugged. "Sometimes it's just important to follow the many unplanned turns that the road of life takes."
She sighed. "Fine, but I'm only paying you for one position on a C-rank mission, not for covering all three of them."
"Yes, ma'am," he said, giving her a little salute before disappearing in a whirl of leaves.
"Brat," she muttered again under her breath and looked over at Shizune who just shrugged at her. I don't know either, the movement seemed to say, but Tsunade had at least a little bit of an idea why Kakashi might be volunteering.
~*~*~
Iruka was in the middle of cooking dinner when there was a knock on his door. He grabbed a towel to wipe off his hands and went to open the door, not particularly surprised to see Kakashi waiting outside.
"Hi!" Kakashi said, cheerfully, "Guess who your escort is going to be?"
Iruka looked at him skeptically. "If you are about to say-"
"Me!" Kakashi declared with flourish.
Iruka just shook his head. "Get in here."
He went back to cooking, grabbing a few extra vegetables to cut up while Kakashi toed off his sandals then pulled off his gloves and washed his hands.
"It's only a C-rank mission, Kakashi," Iruka said.
"You don't think I can handle it?" Kakashi pretended to wilt as he grabbed one of Iruka's kitchen knives and joined him in cutting up the vegetables.
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm worried about," Iruka teased back.
"Hey, I'll have you know that I've done hundreds of C and D-rank missions."
"And A and B-rank ones?"
"Also hundreds!" Kakashi beamed at him.
"More hundreds?"
"Maa, more is such a subjective term. How does one even quantify something like that?"
"Usually by numbers, but I'll take that as a yes. How did you even get Tsunade-sama to agree to it?" Iruka asked as they finished cutting the vegetables.
Kakashi just shrugged and grabbed one of Iruka's pans, handing it over to him.
Iruka eyed him as he took the pan and put the vegetables in it. "Fine, keep your secrets. But if you die of boredom on the mission, it's not my fault."
"I have full faith that you will save me whenever boredom seems like it's about to overwhelm me," Kakashi said with a solemness that somehow managed to verge on obscene.
Iruka just shook his head again. Sometimes he really had no idea what to do with Kakashi. He could feel Kakashi's eye on him as he cooked the vegetables.
"You know, you really are wasting your time," Iruka said after a minute, and out of the corner of his eye he could see Kakashi freeze for a moment, like he was mid-battle, waiting to decide which way to attack.
"I mean about the mission," Iruka clarified. "There are a lot of better things you could be doing with your time."
Kakashi seemed to relax at that. He shrugged and for a brief moment Iruka caught a glimpse behind one of Kakashi many walls. "Honestly, it'll be a nice change of pace."
Iruka could believe that and was going to let the subject drop.
"Plus, if I'm guarding you, it means I have a good reason to stare at your... back. For eight days straight," Kakashi added, eye dropping to slightly lower than Iruka's back.
Iruka felt his face heat. It was one of the things Kakashi teased him about from time to time. How fabulous his ass was. Iruka knew Kakashi just liked his reactions when he said stuff like that, but it was still hard to remind himself of that every time he felt Kakashi's eye on him. Kakashi was a flirt, he told himself repeatedly, just look at what he always read. He didn't mean it. No alpha could flirt like that and keep their scent neutral if they really meant it, it just wasn't in their nature.
Iruka was saved from responding when the rice cooker beeped and Kakashi moved automatically to grab two bowls and fill them with rice while Iruka finished the stir-fry and loaded up two plates as well.
They sat down at Iruka's kotatsu and exchanged dishes, falling into a comfortable silence as they ate.
After dinner they did the dishes together as they made plans for the mission, crosschecking who would bring what supplies to make sure they didn't carry anything unnecessary with them. By the time they had finished with the dishes, the mission was planned as well and Kakashi excused himself for the night.
As he was getting ready for bed, Iruka wondered if he should be worried about how comfortable he felt around Kakashi now. He had always tried to keep most alphas at arm's length, always worried about them figuring him out. Kakashi had somehow managed to worm his way through Iruka's defenses. It was dangerous, Iruka thought, letting him get so close. But a small part of him always tried to argue back. With Kakashi, maybe it'd be okay.
~*~*~