12th Day of Christmas
Theme: Time off or Not

Christmas Eve. Iruka bit back the pity-laced sigh that was building at the base of his throat and stretched his arms out across the desk, resting his chin on them. The mission room was deserted, his fellow co-workers having been sent home several hours ago.

Usually, the mission room was open all day, every day. Missions were ongoing, and returning shinobi more often than not had critical information that needed to be reported. The job of the mission desk was to assess that information and determine whether it was crucial enough to wake the hokage. In order to make that assessment, someone had to be there.

Tonight was a particularly odd situation. Though unplanned, almost all of the shinobi corps was home for Christmas save for one.

That one was supposed to return tonight, but Iruka had worked the mission desk long enough to know that Kakashi was anything but punctual.

Okay, so he had volunteered for this, but all of the other shinobi had families to get home to, and he wasn't about to stand in the way of that even if it meant sitting in an empty room until all hours of the morning.

Kakashi rolled in casually at dawn, confirming Iruka's worst suspicions. He came around the mission desk and collapsed into the unoccupied chair at Iruka's right, pulling out a crumpled scroll and smoothing it out on the table.

A mission report. A blank mission report. Iruka chucked a pen at Kakashi before he even started looking for one and settled back for what was sure to be a long wait.

For close to ten minutes, the mission room remained blissfully silent save for the light scratch of pen on parchment, then Kakashi shot a sideways glance at him and raised an eyebrow. "You seem upset, Iruka-sensei."

"Upset?" Iruks snorted in derision. "What would make you think I'm upset, Kakashi-sensei? It's not like I've been here all night waiting for the last person to report back in so that I can close up the mission desk and head home. It's not like I could have spent last night being an awkward third wheel." The words left such a bitter taste in his mouth that he had to pause for a moment. Any number of his friends would be more than happy to open their homes to him, but they all had someone else to spend the holidays with as well. It was why he'd volunteered for this assignment in the first place. Better to give someone a chance to spend time with his loved ones than to take that opportunity away. "You know what the worst part is? The worst part is that I shouldn't be complaining because it's not like I have anything better to be doing.

"You're not the only one who's alone, sensei."

Iruka snapped his mouth shut, instantly regretting the diatribe. Of course he should have remembered Kakashi's situation - so like his and yet so very different - but, in all honesty, he'd just assumed that Kakashi didn't care. He hadn't seen Kakashi express any emotions like a normal person might, so why would he expect this case to be any different?

Lost in his thoughts and staring at the table in embarrassment, Iruka barely noticed when the scratching of the pen faded away. Only the oppressive feel of silence around him made him lift his head and take the full brunt of Kakashi's thoughtful stare.

"The dogs and I always make Christmas dinner. It's usually horribly unsuccessful, but I haven't killed us yet." Kakashi paused to consider something. "We did wind up eating take out on the roof because of the smoke last year, but that only happened once."

Not exactly the scathing response he'd been expecting. "Are...are you inviting me over for Christmas dinner?" The comment had seemed almost informatory, but he couldn't be sure.

"No one likes to be alone." Kakashi held out the finished mission report, relinquishing it when Iruka took the other end.

No, no one did like to be alone. "Okay." With the mission scroll tucked safely into one of the drawers under the desk, Iruka stood, smoothed his vest down and collected his belongings before remembering Kakashi's warning about the food. "But I'm cooking."

He hadn't killed anyone yet, Iruka's mind helpfully repeated the earlier reassurance. He didn't really feel like starting out the next year dead.

OOOOOOOOO

That's, quite literally, all she wrote! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!