You should’ve known the conversation would come to this when Anko and Kurenai invited you out this morning. Why? Because the conversation ALWAYS came around to relationships when the three of you went out.
“NO WAY! So you’re telling me- STRAIGHT UP-” You smiled at Anko’s slightly drunken ramblings, shaking your head as you continued to sip on your drink. “You’d rather go out with Asuma than Kakashi?? EVERYONE wants to go out with Kakashi!” Kurenai sputtered, waving her hands around before sighing in defeat.
“I don’t have anything against Kakashi…obviously he’s very handsome-” “Obviously” She glared at you before continuing. “But Asuma is just…he’s Asuma..” Anko looked at you and playfully rolled her eyes- even if Kurenai had yet to admit her crush on the man the two of you had known about it for awhile.
“Yeah yeah yeah, I knew you’d pick him…that brings us to our next question…Y/n.” You raised a brow, hands loosely wrapped around your glass as you waited for her to ask her question. “Genma or…” You watched as she shifted her attention around the bar, humming in thought before she snapped and a devilish grin broke out across her face. “Ibiki.”
Kurenai scrunched her brows in confusion at the strange comparison, about to comment on Anko’s random pairing- “Oh, that’s no choice- Ibiki 100%.” You cringed when Anko spit out her drink- you rushed to shove napkins her way while Kurenai patted her on the back.
“Y-you didn’t even- you’re serious? Like- no jokes?” You nodded, “Absolutely! I mean, don’t get me wrong- Genma is a very attractive man but…ibiki is just…kinda perfect.”
Ignoring their pointed stares you picked up your drink and took another slightly longer sip, hiding your flustered expression behind a loose smile.
“Well don’t stop there- explain yourself!” You shrugged, “Well…he’s tall, and smart, and like- he looks intimidating but he’s thoughtful and considerate- he’s definitely my type…” They watched as a small smile broke out and a mischievous glint passed across your gaze. “And he’s ridiculously fun to tease so…” You may have continued rambling on about your obvious attraction to the man had it not been for the arm being haphazardly slung around your shoulders.
“Who’s fun to tease?” You rolled your eyes as you pushed the senbon away from your face. “I swear one of these days you’re gonna poke my eye out.” Genma chuckled as he broke away from you to lean against the high top table. Without him blocking your view you were now able to see the group that had been sitting a few tables over. For how long had they been there? Well since your back was to them you had no clue, but you hoped it wasn’t long.
“When did you losers get here anyway.” Genma smirked at Anko’s question, eyes shifting over to you for a moment before sighing as he shifted back onto his heels. “Some of us got here sooner than others, but we’ve been here for a bit.” You narrowed your eyes at the jonin.
You and Genma had been friends for a long time so you knew when he was about to say something that would no doubt give you the urge to smack him. “I mean…long enough to hear you and Kurenai gush about-” He put his hands up in surrender when the two of you began to pelt him with balled up napkins and stir straws- his chorus of ‘sorry’s being drowned by Anko’s obnoxious laughter. Raidou eventually came to his rescue to let him know the rest of the gang had shown up.
It wasn’t until Asuma sauntered up to the table that you realized Genma wasn’t joking when he had said ‘the gang’s all here’. But that didn’t necessarily mean he would be here…after all, a crowded bar on a Friday night wasn’t exactly his scene.
Of course, you wouldn’t mind if the object of your affections happened to grace this bar with his presence…but you knew it wasn’t likely. Being one of torture and interrogations interrogators yourself you knew how busy he could get; it was a miracle you were free tonight, and you weren’t the captain- “Well, would you look at who decided to finally show up.”
Asuma’s teasing remark shifted your attention over to the door, and with it the view of Kakashi, Gai and Ibiki making their way into the establishment. Your eyes met across the room and your lips lifted into a smile as his eyes slightly widened before he sent a small nod in your direction and took a seat at the table the guys had been sitting at.
You were brought back to reality by the ever so lovely ringing the microphone made as it was turned on and tested. Oh right, every Friday a live band played for the bar.
You all watched as Genma found someone to dance with- because of course he did.
With blushes on their faces and a friendly shove from Anko, Kurenai and Asuma joined the growing crowd on the dance floor.
“Namiashi! You’re with me!” You barely heard Raidou mutter a ‘what’- before he was dragged by Anko onto the dancefloor.
Your laughter died down when she winked and nodded her head over to the other table- a ‘go get him!’ thrown your way before she and Raidou entered the mass of people leaving you alone.
You sighed, contemplating all of your life choices that brought you to this very moment. You wondered if this is what you deserved after sending Kotetsu on a wild goose chase last week (it’s not your fault he’s a tad bit gullible) or tripping Genma during the chunin exams all those years ago.
But then you looked over to his table- only to realize he was already looking at you. You stifle a smile, knowing full well he hadn’t meant to be caught. You’d had an inkling suspicion for awhile the torture & interrogation captain held a little more than friendly feelings for you, but self-doubt and general insecurities squashed those thoughts from leading you to make any actual moves.
I mean- yes, all things considered you did flirt quite a bit with the captain, more than any sensible person would anyhow. But it never crossed the border past ‘friendly’ banter and light-hearted teasing. And had you not been 3 drinks in and caught in a staring battle with said man you might’ve left it alone and continued to sit by yourself for the rest of the night.
But this night wasn’t like the others, tonight was different. Tonight had you slipping out of your chair, dodging patrons and taking the seat next to him at their table, leaning in just a little closer so you could hear each other over the noise.
“Fancy seeing you here.”
Your smile was the same mischievous smile you always gave him. It was the same smile that told him you were up to something. And maybe the dim light was making you see things but you swore you saw the gentlest of smiles on his face before he greeted you and took a sip of his drink.
Most people were deterred by his short answers, misinterpreting them as disinterest, but you understood he was simply a man of few words. Or rather, you had more than grown accustomed to understanding him, short answers and all.
“I didn’t think you’d willingly come to one of these outings…it doesn’t seem like your preferred environment.” He huffed, more so out of amusement than annoyance before leaning down a little more so you could hear his smooth voice, “I didn’t, not that Gai has ever been one to take ‘no’ as an acceptable answer.” You chuckled, realizing the looks of disdain on his and Kakashi’s faces when they entered were likely only partly due to the noise level of the bar and probably had more to do with Gai than anything else.
“That’s true, he’s always had a knack for dragging people into things- oh my gosh look-” He felt his breath hitch when you gently grabbed hold of his bicep, directing his attention to the dance floor before covering your smile with your other hand. “Did Gai really manage to get Kakashi on the dance floor?”
He reluctantly shifted his gaze away from you and towards your fellow jonin- watching as Kurenai and Asuma danced together, poor Raidou struggled to keep up with Anko, and sure enough- Kakashi bobbed along uninterested as Gai put those muscles to work on the dance floor.
You felt the heat rise to your face when he chuckled, he was already ridiculously attractive but hearing him laugh? Being inches away and- oops you forgot to let go of his arm- “Not quite,” You had let go of his arm, but the space between you hardly grew as he nodded over to the bar on the opposite side of the room.
“I wonder how long it’ll take Gai to realize he’s a shadow clone.” You really had to focus on holding back your laughter after Kakashi- the real one- sent you a lazy wave from his place at the bar.
Feeling just a tad bit deflated from losing your excuse to be close to him, you propped your elbow on the table and rested your head on your hand. You’ve waited for this moment- the moment when you could take a chance and ‘make your move’ but now that the moment was here- you were blanking. How did you go about asking him out? Is that really what you wanted to do? You wanted to start a conversation but with what?!
“I can’t say I blame him.” You raised a brow at his comment- a little shocked that he was the one starting conversation. That’s not to say he’s never started a conversation before, but on most occasions you were the one asking him questions. “Oh?” He nodded. You took a short moment to study his face. He was…nervous.
“I sat down for a reason- the sooner I dropped off Gai’s radar the better.”
You made a sound of understanding, “Ah, that’s what I tried to do with Anko this morning..not that it worked.” He laughed, and you felt your chest swell with adoration. Ibiki Morino was already ridiculously attractive- his intimidating persona and presence just about did you in as it was. But when he laughed? It was game over.
“I thought you liked dancing?” Your eyes widened at his statement. Briefly the conversation you two had a few months ago flashed through your mind- the one where you happened to mention your fond memories of dancing as a child, and how you wished you had the time and energy to do it more often.
You blinked before a smile broke out, “I do…but Anko’s not exactly who I had in mind for a dance partner.” The whole time you spoke you maintained eye contact with the man, your gentle but honest gaze let him know exactly who you wanted to dance with.
“I’m…not much of a dancer.” Your smile softened as you watched the faintest blush begin to appear on his face. You hummed, nails tapping the table as you looked around the crowded bar. “I said I liked dancing, I never said I was good at it.” You paused your sentence to stand from the seat you had slipped into only a few minutes before. “Besides…I didn’t ask you because I wanted to dance..”
His eyes searched your body for deceit- critical gaze analyzing and deciphering your every movement to try and decide if this was real, if the girl he had hopelessly fallen for all those years ago was really here- asking him to dance.
“I asked because I wanted to dance with you.”
And before the rational part of his brain or the skeptical side of his heart could protest he stood, gently grabbed your outstretched hand and followed you to the dance floor.