I Like You (Kakashi Hatake x Iruka Umino)

Chapter One

Iruka Umino hadn't known what he'd been getting himself into when he had tumbled into Kakashi Hatake's bed at twenty years old.

It had been the first day of summer when he'd gone there for the first time- There being a lake a couple of hours away from his house. He'd never been before, but he'd heard the rumors. Some said it was haunted. Others said it was cursed. A few even said it was magical. It wasn't owned by anyone in particular, just one of those areas in The Leaf Village that went unclaimed. It was free for public use, but despite that, no one went- except for one person, who Iruka was expecting to see there as well.

The lake was surrounded by an array of trees and bushes, the smell of pine fragrant and prominent as Iruka walked down the dirt road that trailed to the infamous lake. When he got there, albeit with some pine needles in his hair and leaf remnants on his hands from making his way through all of the verdure, he let out a sigh of relief and walked down to the large body of water.

He wasn't dressed to swim- no, he was only in his usual attire, minus his Chunin vest. Going there was pointless and he knew it, but he stood there anyways and stared at the sky above him. What wasn't covered by all of the greenery that made the land and loch seem so secluded was pitch dark, the only thing from it that was shining any light on the brunette's sunkissed face being the rays of moonlight that peeked through the leaves of the trees. Closer to him, bright yellow lights from the fireflies flickered all around him as he stood on the mud that led to the lake, his feet digging into the wet material as a small wave of water came up to meet the toes of his shoes before retreating back into the loch. The liquid was cold and oddly blue- not the dirty brown that so many lakes were, and not the pure clear of an untouched river. Just blue.

Something about it seemed unnatural in his opinion. It was too perfect, too serene. There wasn't a piece of trash anywhere to be seen, no glass to cut his feet, no annoying birds to chirp their songs and ruin the moment of silence. It was just him, the fireflies, and the water- or so he thought.

Speaking of the lake being supposedly unnatural...

"Iruka-Sensei."

The masked man was standing a couple of yards away on the dirt road that led to the beginning of the lake, his arms crossed.

Kakashi Hatake. He was the only person who ever went there, according to all of the rumors he'd heard, so it wasn't surprising to hear his voice. Iruka had known that seeing Kakashi there would be a possibility- No, somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that he had only gone because Kakashi would be there. Kakashi was always there, apparently, and he was...

A mystery, to say the least.

Iruka wouldn't be surprised if the rumors about the lake being haunted by a ghost were because of Kakashi's mere presence there. After all, most of the village was intimidated by him. He didn't like other people, at least two of his friends had died gruesome deaths while under his watchful eye, his mentor had died shortly after, and he had been in the Anbu for years before finally being discharged for a reason that no one really knew. Supposedly, he'd get his own group of Genin to train in the next few years, which many people saw as a scary concept and an irresponsible move on the Third Hokage's part. Kakashi was strong, dangerous, and many people thought he was suspicious. Not a single soul aside from Iruka wanted to be around Friend-Killer Kakashi, and it wasn't out of character for the silver-haired man to use that fear to his advantage to scare people out of an area that he wanted to himself.
As always, Kakashi liked his solitude, and he liked his space. He had been in his own little bubble for as long as he could remember.

But, Iruka wanted to pop that bubble.

"Kakashi," Iruka finally said something back, turning around to face the older man.