CHAPTER 19: Beautiful

A/N: Hello everyone~ So this chapter will bring you one of our main side couples. Presenting to you all:Kakairu! 🥳...Anyways since this chapter is mainly about them, it's going to be a long one! Brace yourselves!

Hatake Kakashi shows up late for almost everything, be it for classes, school events, or even his own birthday party. He is always among the last people to arrive, for unknown reasons. If someone asked, he would explain it as follows:

"I just got lost on the path of life."

"I saw a black cat on the short path, so I had to take the long one."

"I was abducted by aliens."

One could publish a book on his baseless and varied excuses.

However, today, by some miracle, he had come early.

He stood in front of the gate, staring at it with his 'Icha Icha Paradise' closed in his hands.

'It's embarrassing... My reputation will go down the drain if I go in now.'

He did not want to go inside any earlier than his usual timing, but today was an exception. He had to prepare for the upcoming exams next week.

'Ah, screw it!'

He decided to go in and was casually walking down the aisle while reading the publicly inappropriate book when he saw a tuft of black hair from the corner of his eye. He immediately knew who it was.

'Sasuke...? He comes to the school this early, huh? It's been a while since we've talked.'

He thought as his feet absentmindedly carried him to the raven. Sasuke was Kakashi's most outstanding student, and not only was Kakashi his sensei but also a guardian.

They had shared a bond stronger than that of a sensei and a student. Sasuke would never admit it, but to him, Kakashi was like a true father figure who knew what went on in his life, including his house.

"Yo! Sasuke!"

Kakashi cheerfully called out to the raven-haired male with a small smile hidden under his unusual mask. He placed a hand on his shoulder and turned him around.

His smile faltered as his eyes grew wide with shock upon seeing his secretly favorite student looking completely broken and exhausted.

His dark orbs had lost their luster, with huge, dark eye bags under them. His cheekbones were looking sharp in an unhealthy way. The faint color from his already pale skin had disappeared, making him look almost lifeless.

The empty expression he wore on his face spoke volumes to one of the only two people on Earth who knew what went on inside the Uchiha's residence.

"Kakashi... ugh!"

Before Sasuke could finish greeting his mentor, the raven fainted.

"Sasuke!"

Kakashi yelled before he caught the raven in his hands just before he hit the ground. Kakashi noticed that he was sweating all over. It was only when he fell unconscious that he finally showed something other than a stoic expression as he subconsciously knitted his eyebrows due to the pain he was in.

'Shit!'

He pocketed his book, picked up the boy, and hurriedly carried him on his back to his car. He laid the raven down in the backseat and drove away as fast as he could to the only place he knew Sasuke would want to be treated at: Iruka's.

He halted in front of the alley and carried Sasuke bridal style in his arms to the doctor. He banged on the door with his foot until it was answered by the doctor whose plans of lazing around for the day were about to be ruined.

"Tsk, what is it- SASUKE!"

Iruka was taken aback at the sight of the passed-out raven in Kakashi's hands. He looked up at Kakashi with questioning eyes, but the silver-haired man could only express his fear and anger through his expressions. Words had refused to leave his mouth as he silently pleaded with Iruka to help Sasuke.

"O- Ok! Hurry up! Bring him in."

Kakashi simply nodded and followed the doctor to his room. He gently laid the ravenette down on the bed in the O.T. (operation theater) that Iruka had built just beside his office. He took quiet, deep breaths to compensate for his lungs, which had been strained from all the running, as he observed the unconscious boy in front of him. He patted his head softly.

'I wish you would ask for help sometimes, brat...'

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door clicking open. He turned around and saw his one and only crush walk in, dressed in scrubs with gloves on.

"Do you want to stay and have a look or go out and wait?"

Iruka asked as Kakashi's friend and not a doctor. He wouldn't have allowed anybody else to stay there while he worked on his patient. However, he knew how Kakashi thought of Sasuke as his own son. He was also the second person who knew of Sasuke's situation.

"I'll stay."

He said with a determined voice. Iruka nodded in reply and asked him to stand a little away from them. Kakashi leaned against the wall of the room with his arms folded. Iruka took a deep breath before pulling up Sasuke's clothes. The state of his torso shocked both adults to their core.

Sasuke's upper body was skillfully wrapped in bandages, yet blood had still managed to seep through them. Iruka quickly cut them open, only to be met with an even more painful sight.

There, on Sasuke's exposed torso, lay evidence of Fugaku's horrendous acts of abuse and domestic violence.

"How...? How was he even able to come to school? It should be extremely painful to even stand in such a condition..."

Iruka murmured loud enough for Kakashi to hear. Kakashi, now standing straight, observed his bleeding son.

Iruka examined his scars when he noticed odd bruises on the sides of his lean figure. His eyes furrowed as he desperately wished for his assumption to be wrong.

"I am assuming that he was electrocuted to a certain extent,"

he informed the silver-haired man before beginning to clean his cuts.

"Fugaku took it too far this time..."

Kakashi mumbled. His voice was soft, but it was seething with rage.

'How can one do this to their own child?! I can't watch this...'

Iruka took his time in tending to the young male's wounds on his entire body, as some even required a few stitches. Kakashi had already left the room, saying he needed to use the washroom.

'He's a softie inside... pfft.'

Iruka thought as he had finally succeeded in patching Sasuke up after an hour of hard work. He stretched his limbs a little before shifting Sasuke to the ward room and putting him on an IV.

"How's he?"

Kakashi asked as he saw Iruka come out of the ward after leaving Sasuke to rest there.

"Don't worry, he's alright."

Iruka spoke with a tired voice as he took his seat in his office, with Kakashi sitting across from him. They both relaxed in their chairs before Kakashi struck up a conversation.

"Thank you, and sorry for disturbing you on your day off."

"Wha- No! It's completely OK. In fact, I am glad you brought him here in time."

Iruka said as he explained Sasuke's condition in detail.

"There were a few that needed sutures, so I am assuming that he had already lost a good amount of blood before you brought him here. That's probably why he looked almost anemic. In any case, he wouldn't need a blood transfusion since he had tended to his wounds timely."

Iruka paused and drank some water from the glass on his table before continuing,

"However, the electric shock he was exposed to has put his body in a much more critical condition, so he will have to rest up for the next few days."

Kakashi nodded in understanding, but they both knew that as long as Uchiha Fugaku is alive, Sasuke could never take such long 'unnecessary' breaks.

Upon realizing this, Kakashi breathed out a sigh, trying to control his emotions.

'I'm going to kill that bastard one day.'

He thought as he clenched his fist.

On seeing his only friend, whom he had liked since the first day he had met him, under distress, Iruka wanted to do something to make him feel better.

"Hey, umm, do you remember the first day we met?" Iruka asked.

Kakashi was confused at first. He questioned Iruka's motives internally but decided to go along with it.

"Yeah... I remember."

He replied absentmindedly.

"I remember it too because you are the only one who hasn't judged my skills based on this hideous scar on my face. Heh..."

Iruka spoke while caressing the huge scar that sat above his nose with his index finger. He had originally wanted to lift the mood, but he had somehow managed to make it worse for them, or so he thought.

'Shit! I should change the topic. What should I-'

Iruka was distracted from his thoughts when Kakashi bent forward to come closer to Iruka.

'I wanna kiss him...'

He thought as he carefully observed Iruka's scar, secretly admiring his face from up close. Iruka's heart picked up speed as he stared at Kakashi's single eye tracing along his scar, making him feel both insecure and flustered.

'Why is he doing that? Don't look at it. Don't look at me...'

He thought as he was scared that Kakashi would find his scar ugly. He had learned to be confident about his scarred face in front of everyone. He had never paid heed to what people thought of his face; however, this was the first time he was so nervous about someone else's opinion.

After Kakashi finished evaluating his mark, he leaned back in his chair as Iruka waited for him to say something.

'There's no way he'd like such an ugly face. What was I expecting...'

Iruka was almost waiting for Kakashi to insult his looks like everybody else always did, but then...

"You're beautiful."

Kakashi spoke, shattering every bit of worry Iruka had. His eyes widened as he looked into Kakashi's only visible eye, trying to find even an ounce of a lie if it was there. Iruka, however, could see nothing in it except for sincerity and admiration.

"Y-You think so?"

"Yeah. Why? Has nobody told this to you before?"

Kakashi questioned innocently.

"No..."

Iruka's voice trailed off as his eyes began glistening with fresh tears. It was the first time a person had called him beautiful. His cheeks began to grow redder as he let the compliment sink in, making Kakashi smile under his mask.

'He's beautiful.'

He thought before continuing the conversation with his favorite doctor.

"Yare yare. *sigh* They must've been blind if they didn't see it or too shy if they did and never told you."

He shrugged, making Iruka feel warm inside. Iruka looked away from the man in front of him. He was having a hard time facing so many compliments at once. It was a first for him, after all.

"Actually, I have really looked up to you because of this scar you have."

Kakashi spoke as he chuckled sheepishly, like Naruto. This statement managed to distract Iruka from his flustered state.

"How so?"

The brown-haired doctor asked curiously.

"So, when I first saw you, the thing I immediately noticed about you was that scar. But I didn't think of it as bad or ugly; instead, I was fascinated. You looked so confident with it, and you never even tried to hide it. You have always looked beautiful and mature to me. I have looked up to you because... well, you see, I have a scar of my own, and I was never able to gain the confidence of accepting it as a part of me."

Kakashi confessed. He was super nervous about the curious and empathetic gaze he received from his crush. He was waiting for Iruka to ask him to show his scar, but the brunette never did.

"It's okay. I wasn't always so confident about walking around with my face looking like this. I understand how you feel, and it's okay to not accept what you don't want to. But I'm sure you have a handsome face hidden under that thing."

Iruka comforted Kakashi without realizing that he had basically admitted that he found the silver-haired male handsome. It was Kakashi's turn to widen his eyes, or eye, at Iruka's words.

'I guess I can trust him with this...'

He thought before he anxiously began uncovering his face to show it to the doctor.

"This is what I hide every time I wear a mask..."

He truthfully told Iruka while pointing to a huge scar sitting over the left side of his face. It began from the forehead and ran over his left eye, ending near his chin.

"Wow... you're beautiful..."

Iruka spoke, feeling dazed by the man's looks.

'Why does he hide it? He's perfect no matter what... Although I wouldn't mind being the only one to get a look at this face.'

He thought as he blushed with full energy. He quickly shifted his gaze to the gray wall of the room beside him, suddenly finding it interesting to look at.

Kakashi chuckled upon seeing his crush's face become so red.

"See, I have a huge scar just like you. I got it when I was young. I was fighting some senior bullies when one of them just slashed at me with a pocket knife."

"Oh... it must've hurt pretty bad."

"Yes, I still remember it. Anyways, how did you get yours?"

"Well, believe it or not, it's a birthmark *chuckles* Maybe that's why they named me Iruka."

"Wow..."

Kakashi laughed at his reasoning. Iruka means a dolphin, and Kakashi couldn't help but agree that the mark did resemble a dolphin in a way, though he had never expected it to be a birthmark.

Kakashi had already phoned the school and informed them that he wouldn't be coming to school. He had initially planned to wait for Sasuke to wake up, but now he also had a man he wanted to impress.

They talked as they got to know each other, both enjoying the time they were together. It wasn't until an hour or two later when Kakashi finally asked the question he had been desperately waiting for.

"Hey, so, would you mind going somewhere with me?"

"Where exactly?"

Iruka asked, sensing both Kakashi's and his own nervousness. He knew the moment the silver-haired man had questioned him that he wanted to go, but he also wanted to take things slowly.

"Anywhere you want to go."

Kakashi replied with a genuine smile gracing his revealed face.

"Let's get dinner together after I am done with today."

Iruka suggested with a small smile of his own.

'Yes! Finally!'

The two adults thought simultaneously, as if they were teenagers who were asking each other out.

MEANWHILE AT KONOHA HIGH ~

Naruto had been asked to cover Kakashi's lesson in Sasuke's class. He had been all excited to see the young raven and deemed Kakashi's absence as a blessing. However, his happiness soon faded when he was taking attendance.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

He called out but received no answer. He looked up from the register and scanned the room for his currently favorite raven, but he could not spot him anywhere.

After taking attendance, he sat in the teacher's chair, leaving the students to complete their work or do whatever they wished.

'All that excitement for nothing... He didn't even text me that he wasn't coming. No, I should ask someone before assuming.'

He thought as he sighed before calling Kiba over to him. Kiba knew that Naruto wanted to ask him something as a friend and not his sensei.

"Have you seen Sasuke?"

"Why do you always ask me? Am I the only one who is supposed to see that prick whenever he goes missing?"

Kiba whispered so that the others wouldn't catch him talking to their sensei in a casual way.

"Just answer me, dude."

"Well, I don't know. But he has never skipped his classes."

"Hn, okay."

Kiba was skeptic about the entire situation but he bowed to Naruto and eventually returned to his seat, leaving Naruto alone with his thoughts.

'Where are you, Sasuke?'

A/N: So this is where it ends.Kakashi and Iruka have such a pure bond 🥹 Do tell me if you want me to finish their story in this book itself or want another short book of their own!In any case, I hope you all liked it!!See you all in the next chapter!Author sound out ~ ✌🏻