Soldier On || Part 2 ||-•-Yamato-🍃-Kakashi-• ||

Chapter 8: 1 Day to the Wedding: Passive Aggressive

"Oh, and I was thinking..."

Kakashi reached for his tea as Iruka finally stopped pacing from side to side in front of his desk. It had been at least fifteen minutes of him rambling about the wedding, how much Naruto meant to him, how significant and life changing this was to him.

He put the cup down after a sip, hoping that Iruka had just got tired of fidgeting as much as he was tired of listening to it all.

"Which is why I came to see you, actually," Iruka planted his hands on the desk and leaned over. "The reason why the tables haven't been moved to the cherry blossom field yet. Is because we don't have enough hands to help? I can round up the older kids from the academy, I'm sure they can move the furniture from the hall in a few hours. And everything can be ready for the rehearsal at 4pm."

Move tables? Kakashi blinked a couple of times, his eyes prickly from his lack of sleep. Was he that tired that Iruka-sensei stopped making sense to him?

"Hold on. You want to move the tables from the hall? That's impossible, those are bolted," Kakashi said, trying to keep those eyes open. "Besides, most of it is set already."

The expression in Iruka's face was a mix exaltation and urgency, and now, also despair. His lips parted in shock. "But Hokage-sama—"

"Drop the Hokage-sama already."

Iruka's face took a light shade of red. "Um... I'm sorry, Kakashi-san, but we've agreed to this days ago! The cherry blossoms are blooming earlier this year, it's meant to be."

Kakashi furrowed his brows. "I don't recall."

"The day before yesterday?" Iruka persisted, leaning further towards Kakashi. "We had a scheduled meeting and everything. I didn't think you would agree, to be honest, but you did. You said it was a great idea."

Two days ago? Right. That was when Tenzō returned to Konoha and they saw each other for the first time in months. They kissed, got aroused, Tenzō escaped with a boner out the window. So that was it? Kakashi did recall agreeing to something that made Iruka-sensei leave his office with a huge smile in his face, he simply forgot what he had agreed to.

Instead of going back in his words and sounding like he was going senile, Kakashi simply nodded. "Well, it was raining yesterday. Are you sure the cherry blossoms are still there?" Hopefully, they wouldn't be and this conversation could end now.

"I saw them this morning. It was only a drizzle. Today is sunny and warm, the ground will be dry in no time."

"I suppose this needs to be done quickly then," Kakashi said and grabbed his tea, only to put it down again as it was empty. "There are other deliveries arriving this afternoon."

"The stage will be delivered straight there, I've arranged that already. But we do need the tables and chairs for the rehearsal." Iruka nodded, clearly talking more to himself than to Kakashi "I'll make sure everything is done," he said with a deep breath, "everything will be just fine."

"Stressed?"

"You can tell?"

Anyone could tell. Iruka-sensei didn't hide his feelings very well, he was the type to wear his heart on his sleeves. In the past, Kakashi disliked that about him, it got in the way of his job, he doted on his students who were meant to become soldiers and got unreasonably attached. Even for a teacher, it seemed too much at the time, but he understood Iruka better now, and even wished he could be a little like that sometimes. So, Kakashi simply nodded and looked down at the sheets of paper on his desk — preparation notes, charts, to-do list.

"I guess there is no helping it. Naruto is family to me, like a little brother but I never thought he saw me as anything other than a teacher," Iruka said and Kakashi didn't have to look to know the other was smiling. "You're in a similar position, Kakashi-san, but maybe you can deal with stress a lot better."