Chapter Text
The downtown central avenue is abuzz with the night scene crowd.
Kakashi Hatake must have circled the block three times looking for a decent place to park close to the club. The Village @ 611 was a pretty popular performance venue, offering patrons a restaurant/bar space, and was specifically requested by Gai for his birthday get-together this evening. Kakashi will be damned if he has to walk more than a block from his parking spot. “Fuck!” he lets out, slamming on his breaks as a pedestrian darts out in the middle of the crowded street to cross. “Idiot,” he grunts. Kakashi makes another round before heading back to the restaurant, hoping that enough time has passed for a patron to leave and give him their empty spot.
Finally, finally, he catches sight of an empty spot just a half-block north of the place, parallel to the main street. He grabs his wallet, tucking it into the inside pocket of his black suit jacket, and steps out of the sleek black car. Locking up behind him, he uses the meter-app on his phone to pay for the rest of the evening. No way is he taking any chances having to look for another spot.
Checking his watch, he notices he is now forty minutes past the meet-up time. Great. Kakashi checks his hair one last time in the reflective passenger-side window, brushes a few stubborn strands down over his left-eye patch, and starts to make his way through the crowd of people and into the building.
The Village @ 611 is a tall, black building standing on its own in the middle of Central Avenue, in the heart of the downtown community. It’s black tinted windows all have just one vintage-style lightbulb hanging in each center. On the side of the building, facing the parking lot, is a large wall-mural of a peacock flying out of two, brown-skinned hands, feathers flying in beautiful blues and greys with hints of gold.
There is a line of people waiting to get inside wrapping around the building under the mural. Kakashi is vaguely impressed by the crowd, not really expecting such a high number for a late September evening. Kakashi notices most of them are dressed in business casual and above, with the occasional high fashion streetwear.
He walks past the crowd of people and straight up to the front doors, where he greets the security guard. He hands out his identification, and the guard checks it over with the UV flashlight. “Welcome to the Village, Mr. Hatake, your party is waiting inside. Please see the hostess stand for your table.” Kakashi gives the man a nod and heads inside the building.
Inside is much the same as out. The front door opens to a wide, dark lobby, the ceiling lined with more vintage bulbs, giving the room a soft, glowy feel. He walks down the hallway where the hostess stand is. “Good evening, and welcome to the Village. How may I help you?” a low, sultry voice calls out to him. The hostess is a tall, lithe, androgynous figure with long, blonde hair plaited down their back. They are wearing a tight black blazer on top of a black pencil-skirt. They are wearing nothing under the blazer, leaving their chest bare to the elements, nipplies peirced with silver rings free for all to see.
“Party for Maito,” he tells them. The hostess nods, taps something on their tablet, and opens the black curtains behind the stand.
“Please follow me."
They walk down an even longer hallway, the vintage lights from before still present but much more frequent, giving patrons the sense they are walking down a tunnel. When they reach the end, the hallway ends to the main room, where circular booths line the walls. There are mostly four-toppers in the middle of the room, with two-person tables on the edges of those. There are clear pathways allowing for guests and staff easy access around the main floor.
Kakashi glances around, noticing there are four other points of exit, not counting whatever is behind the stage. The stage itself is not too big, but sizable, with a long runway along the middle of the room. There are tables surrounding that as well, along with a sound booth at the end. It’s an open floor plan, which he usually doesn't go for, the cost of the loud murmuring of voices and music drifting down from the speakers usually too high for him. Tonight is all about Gai, though, so he trudges through to their table.
The hostess leads him through the tables to the back-center of the club where his group is well past their first drinks.
“Hey! There he is! Only forty-five minutes, man, what was the record again?” Genma Shiranui shouts at him, holding his pint of beer up in the air.
“Nope, the earliest he’s shown up was like...20 minutes late? Right, Rin?” Raido Namiashi laughs, walking over to the other side of the booth to give Kakashi room in the booth. Rin slides in after him, wrapping her arms around his waist and giving him a peck on the cheek.
“Ugh, don’t pull me in as an enabler!” Rin comments, giving Kakashi a sideways look, cheeks slightly flushed under her make-up. She takes a sip out of her martini glass. She looks nice under this soft light, the purple stickers on her cheeks along with the glitter of her eyeshadow giving her an almost fae-like appeal. She is wearing a soft, satin blouse tucked into high-waisted black jeans. Kakashi puts his right hand on her left thigh, giving her a gentle squeeze like he knows she likes.
“What lively vigor, Kakashi, so hip and cool to arrive fashionably late! To celebrate, I urge you to share with me in the Village’s birthday flight-- oh, look! My favorite! So beautiful, so eye-catching!” Kakashi turns his attention away from his friends at the table to the stage, where a drag queen is talking on the mic. A band is also taking their places on stage, and the lights are starting to dim even more, the stage lights turning on and focusing on the runway. Kakashi tunes it all out, instead flicking up two fingers to the nearest server to place his drink order.
Kakashi takes advantage of the distraction to get a better look at everyone. Gai is at the middle of the circular booth, an arm draped over Anko Mitarashi, who is sporting a black, mesh-t-shirt with a black, lace bralette underneath. She is shouting right along Gai, both of them well past the buzz and on their way to being more than just “tipsy.” To Anko’s left, Genma and Raido sit beside each other, both sporting dark, crisp button-downs. Genma is wearing black suspenders over his shirt, where Raido is supporting small, triangle-shaped silver collar clips, connected with three silver chains. Kakashi himself is sitting to Gai’s immediate left, with Rin on his Kakashi’s right. The server comes back with his two Old Fashions, one of which Kakashi downs in just two gulps.
The patrons of the Village are all focused on the stage, where a drag performer is dancing and lip syncing to a heavy, fast, dance number. There are people of all genders and races, which is a nice change from his usual “surrounded by upper-class white men” environment when he goes out to meet clients, another reason why he likes to work from home. The warm burn of his whisky is making his way through his system, and Kakashi lets himself relax into the cushion of the booth, content to sit back and watch his friends have fun, doing his best to push aside his nervousness of being in such a crowded area.
Rin is moving her body to the rhythm of the music next to him slightly, drinking her own martini and picking at the appetizers at the table. Her hair is pulled up into a tight bun, with some fly-aways sticking out at the nape of her neck. He catches a glint of her engagement ring on her finger, and Kakashi ashamedly feels a bit sick at the sight of it. He has come a long way since his degenerate days full of petty theft and missed opportunities. His time in the military may not have been the best, but at least he got Rin out of it. He’s worked hard to be able to afford such a piece of jewelry. He should be proud. His eye under his patch gives a short pulse of pain which he tries his best to ignore. It’s a small price to pay for even having one in there in the first place, thanks to Rin. The engagement ring doesn't even cover what he owes her.
Rin had been the medic assigned to him after he was injured. She performed the surgery on his eye, and because of her quick action and thinking, he has some vision where he could have had none. A flash of Obito Uchiha’s smiling face flashes in his mind, and Kakashi inwardly flinches, taking another deep sip of his drink.
The music shifts, turns into something much quieter and ambient. The drag queen working as the emcee comes back out on stage. “Alright ladies and ladies, you have seen him before, you have begged us for more, and you know he will.... deliver . Now I know we got some special people out here, and this one is here for you beautiful birthday babies! Everyone, please enjoy, our very own, single --shout out to my fine young men out there in the crowd-- live singer, performing only here at the Village, Vida Coco !” The server comes around to hand out new drinks to their table, which they all accept gratefully. Kakashi sips his third drink as his attention is caught by the stage.
The lights dim to almost completely nothing, the small lights at the tables and along the pathways the only source of light. Slowly, the music begins as a soft blue stage light centers on the stage, where a single figure poses facing away from the crowd, one leg perched on the stool next to him. Kakashi notes his masculine frame under the shimmering fabric of their velour jumpsuit, the wide pants cutting off low in the back, showing his dark, brown skin glittering in the light.
“I'm done hating myself for feeling.
I'm done cryin' myself awake.
I've gotta leave and start the healing.
But when you move like that, I just want to stay .”
The figure begins to sing as two others slowly strut their way toward the center, wearing similar jumpsuits. Where the singer has a bare back, the others have sleeveless turtlenecks covering their torsos. They are all wearing matching stiletto heels.
Gai is practically vibrating in excitement, tears spring from his eyes. “Kakashi, such beauty, such grace! Oh, Anko, my love, how magnificent! What a wonderful birthday evening!” Kakashi tears his attention away from the show to give Gai a smile and to give a once over the group, who all seem just as entranced by the performance.
Kakashi is definitely feeling the alcohol burn low through his veins and in his stomach. Rin runs her hand up and down his arm, giving him a sultry smile and a wink, before turning her attention back to the performance, Kakashi following after.
“Baby, how do you sleep when you lie to me?
All that shame and all that danger...
I'm hopin' that my love will keep you up tonight.
Baby, how do you sleep when you lie to me?
All that fear and all that pressure...
I'm hopin' that my love will keep you up tonight.”
As the song reaches a new verse, the singer jolts out of his pose and begins to dance, all three performers in sync with the other. Kakashi notes that the two dancers have their hair pulled up into tight buns, where the main singer’s hair is pulled into a tight ponytail, his long, dark hair cascading down and flowing around with every movement. The front of his jumpsuit just barely covers their torso, two triangles of fabric pulled to a tie behind his neck. Kakashi, and the rest of the audience, all have a clear view of what are clearly top-surgery scars on his chest.
The voice is...beautiful. Kakashi feels something ring at the back of his mind, his stomach deepening with something other than just alcohol. There is...a familiarity to the person singing on stage, like a memory from long ago. Kakashi feels compelled to let his eye follow every smooth, abrupt movement in the performance, the blue lights of the stage light hiding and accentuating every line of his body at the same time.
The music starts to pick up with the dancers in the speed and variety of their synced movements. The lights pick up as well, switching from the blue light to a strong, yellow spot light as the singer moves forward and away from the dancers in a languid motion, the other two figures trailing behind him, fingers and arms outstretched to reach him.
When the singer jolts his head up, right into the light, the world stands still.
Everything around Kakashi seems to have been dropped into water, moving in slow motion and muffled except for the voice and face of the singer. Because right there, in that light, without a doubt, on that singer’s face, is a single scar running along his cheeks and the bridge of his nose.
Oh, god. He starts to feel the panic bubbling up inside him. He clenches the glass of his whisky, throwing the rest back in one large gulp, the burn a welcome reminder of the present moment. The dancers are making their way down the runway and walking around the tables, where some patrons are placing bills in the cinched fabric of their waste bands and the edges of their tops. The singer makes his way to their table, their center position being an obvious straight shot from the end of the runway.
He comes right up to them, not breaking a stride in his dancing or in his singing. He winks at Gai, blowing him a kiss, and makes eye contact with Kakashi, whose eye is wide and heart is beating a mile a minute, sweat breaking out at the nape of his neck. Iruka, because there is no doubt now, that is Iruka Umino-- abruptly turns away after a brief pause in his step, and makes his way back on stage, where he and the other dancers finish the song.
Kakashi feels the burn of his gaze the entire way.
As they finish their song, the crowd is dancing along, a few of them standing where they are by their tables, some even throwing bills at the stage and runway.
Kakashi barely notices it at all, the alcohol from the evening coupled with seeing Iruka Umino for the first time in eight years giving everything a fuzzy, blurry, is this even real? feeling. He tries his best to keep his facade calm and enjoy the ride of his light buzz. Rin must have noticed something, though, because she gives him a questioning look when no one else is looking. He softly excused himself to the restroom, sliding past Rin as she stands to let him out of the booth.
He makes his way out of the main room and down the hallway with the “restroom” sign above it’s entrance in a neon blue light. He relieves himself, and as he stands washing his hands, he catches sight of his reflection. His black suit is only slightly wrinkled, the black button down underneath it smooth against his figure. He runs fingers through his hair, combing into place, making sure his part sits right over his soft leather eye-patch. He checks his watch, noting only two minutes have passed since he left their table. He makes his way back out into the hallway, and notices the other side curving away from the main room.
Taking a deep breath, he makes his way down the hallway, wishing for luck. As he turns the corner, he sees some of the performers at the other end of the hall, one in particular holding the emergency exit open to smoke a cigarette. The hall at this end is lined with what he assumes are dressing rooms. They all seem to turn their heads at the same time, giving him varying looks of distrust, sultry glances, and smiles. One in particular steps out in front of him, stopping his path down the hall. The man is obviously a bodyguard, short but stocky. Kakashi notes that he’s wearing a holster underneath his suit jacket.
“It’s okay, let him through,” Iruka calls out from his position by the exit. The bodyguard stares him down a moment, before turning away to let Kakashi pass. He nods his head and walks down, trying his best to ignore everyone around him, eyes on Iruka only. It isn’t that hard.
Iruka grabs his box of cigarettes and lighter from a side table, pulls on a light zip-up jacket, and heads outside, tilting his head at Kakashi to follow. He does.
Outside, the night is cool with a slight, soft breeze. The exit opens up to the back of the building, away from the man street crowds, though they are well within hearing distance. Iruka offers Kakashi a cigarette, which he takes. Putting the cigarette between his lips, Kakashi holds out his hand for the lighter, but Iruka beats him to it, standing close and lighting it himself, one hand cupped around the flame to keep the wind away. His eyes are dark, lined with kohl, gold specks glittering around his eyelid and cheek bones. His earrings dangle in a line straight down his neck. The red cherry of his cigarette burns brightly against the golden ring pierced in Iruka’s septum.
God, he’s more beautiful than he remembered.
“You got some nerve,” Iruka says to him, voice low. He takes a step back and releases a puff of smoke in the air, head angled away and up. Kakashi doesn’t think he will ever be equipped for this version of Iruka--older, more sure in his own skin, a cold hardness around his eyes that he hadn’t had before. He’d always just been so carefree, before, even despite the hardships of his childhood riddled with forced displacements from foster home to foster home after the death of his parents.
Kakashi releases his own cloud of smoke, head slightly bent down before looking back up at Iruka. He feels himself fall into his usual slack posture. “You were great out there,” he says.
Iruka lets out a laugh, harsh and cold. He takes another drag of his cigarette, finishing it off and shoving the butt into the sand pit beside the exit door. He lights another one, the red light making his face glow in the night. “Thanks,” he says. “You look great, too.” He gives him a smile, but Kakashi knows it’s fake. While they hadn’t seen each other in eight years, Kakashi still remembers how Iruka’s real smiles always show his right dimple. He doesn’t see it now. Kakashi doesn’t blame Iruka for treating him as good as a stranger.
“So, what do you want?” Iruka asks him. He hasn’t looked away. Kakashi feels his gaze burning into him, rooting his body right to that spot. It was something Kakashi had always admired about Iruka, how he always looked him straight in the face, no matter what.
Kakashi himself isn’t as cool. He feels like a teenager again, all awkward movements and words stuck in the lump of his throat. He lifts his free hand to the back of his head, rubbing it in a nervous gesture. “Ma, can’t I catch up with an old friend?”
“Tch,” Iruka lets out, annoyed. He straightens up from where he had been leaning against the building wall, taking a deep drag. The smoke billows around him. “Is that what you’d call us?”
“Yes,” Kakashi tells him. God, he’s so damn beautiful. “I know...I know I wasn’t the best when we..when I left. There’s no excuse for my behavior back then. Trust me, I’ve been doing nothing but making up for my mistakes in the last eight years.” Kakashi takes another deep drag of his cigarette, holding it in for a moment before releasing it. “Just..was hoping to make amends, is all. If you’d have me.”
Iruka narrows his eyes at him, contemplating his genuinity for a few moments. He finishes his cigarette, smushing the butt into the sand pit again. “Give me your phone,” he says, holding out his hand. Kakashi reaches into his suit pocket and hands his cell over to Iruka’s outstretched palm. He types quickly, and even takes a picture of himself to set as his contact photo.
“There,” he says after a moment, handing the phone back. The emergency exit door opens then, one of the other performers shouting back inside. Soon, a whole crowd of colorful people steps out, laughing and drunk, flashes of glitter and colored fabrics glistening in the street lamps.
“Iruka! You coming tonight or what?”
“Ooh, look at that fine piece of ass!”
“I can show you a better time, honey!”
Iruka laughs and waves them off, “I’ll be there soon, you all go on ahead,” he tells the group.
“Alright, but you’re getting your own Uber then, bitch!”
Kakashi watches them bustle down the alleyway and turn down the main street, noting some of the patrons of the restaurant are making their way down the road as well. Kakashi takes a look at his watch and notes that forty-five minutes have passed. He’s lost track of time.
He turns back to Iruka, who is already staring at him, eyes dark, mouth open just enough to reveal the pink of his tongue as smoke drifts out his nostrils. Kakashi feels a deep warmth in his gut, his tongue heavy in his mouth. He can’t remember the last time he felt this warm, his toes curling with itin his shoes.
Kakashi catches Iruka’s eyes glancing at his lips and back, his body slowly moving to rest on one leg, waste popped up, arms slowly uncrossing from his chest as he takes in and release a deep breath. Kakashi feels himself straighten up in response, pulse quickening in his neck. The heat from his gut is traveling out, spreading to his limbs. Iruka places a hand on his suit blazer, his fingers trailing up from the button, up the collar to stop right at his neck. Kakashi can smell the cigarettes and alcohol on his breath this close, the scent of a sweet perfume on his skin.
“I forgot I missed you,” Iruka whispers, his eyes half-lidded, his hair trailing down the side of his neck. He looks like he doesn’t really see Kakashi, looks like he’s a thousand miles away. This close, he smells the scent of roses on Iruka’s sin. Kakashi feels his breath shakily leave his lips, his entire body pounding in agreement. I missed you. I am so sorry. I didn’t mean it. I miss you. I miss you. I miss you. Please.
Eight years later, and Iruka can still send his body aflame.
“Iruka,” he breathes out. God, does he want. He’d spent the last years running away from this, from anything like this. Straight into the military, stupid to follow his own father’s footsteps, guns firing and bombs blasting in front of him, taking his partner and his eye, in a relationship that really isn’t real, leading him to- to- his lips are so close, Kakashi could just lean forward, just for a taste, a memory--
“I found him! Hey, Kakashi-- where the hell have you been?!” a voice yells down the alleyway from the main street.
Kakashi jolts out of the warm haze of Iruka, taking a quick step back to put some distance between them. Iruka’s hand falls to his side, not before clenching the fabric of Kakashi’s suit jacket once before letting go.
Kakashi turns to the end of the alleyway where Genma stands still, eyes on the scene before him. Raido tumbles out right after him, wrapping his arms around Genma’s waist. Genma turns around and drags Raido along with him, turning away from the alley and back to the street in the direction of the parking lot.
Kakashi turns back to Iruka, who has his arms crossed tightly against his chest, his shoulders tense and lifted. “I have to go,” Kakashi tells him, regretfully. “I’ll text you. I meant what I said.” Kakashi puts his hands on Iruka’s shoulders, letting them trail down the length of his arms, slowly.
Iruka relaxes and gives him a small smile. “Okay,” he says. “Alright.” And this time, this time when Iruka smiles at him, it’s soft, and sweet, and slow, and his dimple on his right cheek peeks through.