#sleepy iruka
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Someone plz stop me oh my god (i’m very proud of sleepy iruka Lookie how sweet and precious he is)
My idea for this is mad loose.. I just wanted to draw iruka with his hair down and the rest just happened
#kakairu#hatake kakashi/umino iruka#kakashi/iruka#hatake kakashi#kakashi naruto#kakashi#umino iruka#iruka naruto#naruto fanart#naruto shippuden#naruto#naruto ship#kakashi fanart#kakashi x iruka#Hatake kakashi x umino iruka#sleepy iruka#iruka sensei#procreate#digital art#lord help me
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👀
Can i request a sleepy one?
A sleepy au request. Hmmm. Well i don’t have a character to associate you with so random it is!
Pokemon au
Iruka can often be found sleeping in a pile of eevee’s. No matter where he is in the gym or how many eevee’s were with him when he passed out, they will swarm him.
Kakashi likes to joke that it’s for the warmth he radiates in his sleep
Gai commends him on having such loyal and sweet pokemon
Yamato has 500 pictures and at least one of them is hing somewhere in his gym (much to Iruka’s horror and protest)
Mafia Au
Yamato doesn’t sleep alone. After leaving Danzo’s gang he just can’t. It feels like he’s too vulnerable. That someone might attack him at any moment
If Kakashi and Gai are no where around (or someone else he trusts deeply) he just won’t sleep. Man has gone five days without a proper sleep due to having no one around that he trusts, and he would do it again without hesitation.
It’s better than leaving himself vulnerable.
But then when Kakashi (or someone else he trusts) are back he will collapse into their lap and sleep for eight hours like that if they allow him to.
#Pokemon au#Mafia Au#such stange opposites to have in one post XD#sorry if this isn’t exactly what you were thinking i was aiming for sleepy cuties#Yamato#Umino Iruka
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"Hmm...."
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So This Is Love
pairing: naruto x fem!reader
word count: 2k
summary: he’s more than a war hero, your personal sunshine
warnings: none
Lazy fingers trail over warm skin. Early morning light pours into the bedroom, dancing with the sheer curtains that billow in the breeze. You forgot to shut the window last night, but summer was sneaking up early this year. A soft smile touches your lips as you trace over familiar scars. Naruto sleeps next to you, sheets pooled at his waist and snores slipping from his mouth. The sunlight warms his skin, making him glow. He looks ethereal, your very own god. Pressing a soft kiss to his shoulder his own lips twitch at the feeling.
Your eyes meet sleepy ones when he catches your hand. Lips parting when he brings it up to his mouth, placing light kisses to each of your fingertips. Your teeth dig into your bottom lip, fingers tingling. His smile is blinding as he stares at you. Blonde hair, a golden halo around his head and blue eyes you’d surely drown in if you stare too long.
There aren’t many days like these. Where you get him only to yourself. The war may be over, but his dreams are just on the horizon. Naruto turned out to be a very important man and you couldn’t be more proud. Smiling at him you tilt your chin up, eyes meeting his as you gently place your lips against his. You can’t help the head sigh that escapes you when his hand weaves into your hair.
“Good morning.”
“Mhm.”
Naruto laughs when you pull away from him. He loves how easy it is to get you all flustered. Some days treating it like a game, trying to beat his personal best. You roll your eyes, ignoring his grabby hands and make your way to the kitchen. It doesn’t take him long to follow after you.
It’s something about the way he watches you. His eyes devour you from where he sits at the dining table, elbow on the table, chin in hand. He grins at you, his whole aura almost as blinding as the sun peaking out from between the drapes as you bring him a cup of tea. He takes the cup from you, calloused fingers lingering on your own. Eyes trailing as the cup lifts to his lips, and down his throat. Licking your lips at the bob of his adams apple.
“Honey, you’re staring.”
Your eyes meet his. “So?”
A yelp escapes you when hands wrap around your thighs and lift you to the table. You glare at him when your ass collides with the mug, almost tipping it over. Naruto only smirks, leaning in to capture your lips with his. Your stomach clenches, the taste of him and your favorite tea almost drowning you. The feeling of his thumbs rubbing soothing circles into your inner thighs, the only thing keeping you afloat. Tipping your head back when his lips leave yours, leaving a burning trail down your neck. The pace is slow, lazy, matching the tone of your morning. Naruto’s thumbs keep rubbing into your skin even as his hands rise higher, finding themselves underneath his shirt you had picked up from the floor earlier.
“You’ve got studying to do, Naru.”
He grumbles against your shoulder. Iruka makes sure to come by every so often while Naruto is on missions. That way you can help keep him updated on how he’s doing with his work. He has to do the work, if he wants to be hokage. He won’t let Kakashi keep the title forever.
“I don’t want to.”
You can’t help but snort at his pouting. “I know, but I can help, yeah?”
You keep your eyes trained on the sketchbook in your lap, attempting not to be conspicuous when you look up to study him every now and then. The idea makes you snort. As if your staring has ever bothered him. You stared so hard when you first met him that you hadn’t heard a thing he said to you for about three minutes. It was the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to you, but hey, he thought you were the cutest thing.
Once he figured out you truly weren’t an idiot. It all worked out.
When he looks up at you now and catches you lost in thought as you admire him, his lips tilt up into a teasing grin. You wink at him before looking back down at the book. You’ve drawn him a hundred times before. This one is probably your favorite. Him at home, content with you. Holding the piece back a bit, you study your favorite parts. The gentle way his lashes rest against his cheeks. The slope of his nose. He looks peaceful. Godlike.
“What are you drawing over there, honey?”
You don’t have to look up from the sketchbook to know that his smirk has turned more haughty than before, and when he leans forward a little, you lean back at the same time to keep your sketchbook out of his reach.
He knows you draw him. He’s seen a few of them. He’s seen almost all of your artwork. In fact, he has one of your drawings tattooed on him. He got it while on your honeymoon. You thought he was crazy but he thinks he was being romantic. Whatever. But this one, it feels different. More personal. It’s not him being vulnerable on the page, but you as well.
“Just the garden,” you lie, with a little shrug, looking back out the window for added effect, scrunching your eyes slightly as if to examine it in depth.
“The garden,” he repeats. He doesn’t believe you. Not like he has to. He knows without a doubt you’re lying. “That why you keep looking at me?”
“Maybe I just missed you, ever think of that?” You counter, but it comes out in a harsh whisper, like you're trying not to cry. Closing the sketchbook quickly, you nearly jam your finger in between the pages. His gaze burns over you, taking you in from your averted gaze, hands clenching your sketchbook, your rigged posture, back pressed so hard against the chair, as if purposely trying to keep a distance from him.
“Honey, I’m right here.”
You huff. As if you don’t already know this. As if you haven’t had your eyes on him since you crashed into him in the living room when he walked in last night, arms around his neck and legs around his waist. He’d been gone for almost a month. It’s why you couldn’t sleep last night — because he’s home. He’s here and all you want is him close. You want him with you. You want him living inside you where he can’t ever escape; where the thought of losing him is only a nightmare. Your eyes have gone misty, something you can’t hide when you glance up at him when you feel a finger lazily drag up your arm. You raise your brows trying to feign innocence as you place the sketchbook on the other side of you. He could easily reach it if he wanted to, you’d have no chance at keeping it from him, but it seems that he can sense the anxiety radiating off of you. Naruto’s smirk falls into something softer, gentler. Something you’ve only seen a handful of times — something that he saves just for you.
“Dance with me.”
You hesitate for a small second. “What?”
His eyes brighten as he pulls himself up into a sitting position. He grabs your phone that’s sitting on the coffee table and raises the volume. Suddenly, it’s two years ago, the beginning of June and you’re standing in the middle of a crowd — all of your loved ones there to celebrate the two of you. The song tugs on your heartstrings more than it ever has before. Naruto’s eyes slightly crinkle with his smile.
“Dance with me.” he says softly as he extends his hand out for you to take.
Without much effort you're in his arms, swaying to the song that played during your first dance as a married couple. You can’t seem to stop the tears that fall from your eyes. You aren’t sad, but this feels like a lot. He’s got you wrapped up in him. One arm wrapped around your waist holding you to him, while the other is cradling your head, fingers weaved through your hair. Your head rests on his shoulder, hands tight around his waist, both of you lost in each other, in the magic of the radiant sun, the silence of the early afternoon.
“Do you regret marrying me?” Naruto whispers in your ear.
“No.”
“You’d choose this life again?”
“I’d choose you every time no matter what it meant. I can deal with this, Naru, as long as I get you back every time. Every time.”
His eyes rest heavy on you, and your pulse starts to race when the soft light in his eyes slightly darkens into something else. His gaze lingers on your lips long enough for you to tilt your chin up, bringing your mouth closer to his, and when his lips realign to that familiar smirk you know, like always, he’s more aware of the effect he has on you than he should be. Maybe you should be embarrassed by that, but it makes things easy. You never have to ask, he just knows. Like how you’re standing here with the electric hum of excited energy flooding your veins already, desperately waiting to feel his mouth on yours. He lowers his head slowly, eyeing you with a playful gleam telling you that he’s teasing you — that he knows his slow pace is driving you crazy. But it doesn’t last long, the moment you run your tongue along your bottom lip, his playful attitude breaks, and his lips collide with yours. You pull him closer as his hand slips down to grab at your thigh. Without much thought you jump, wrapping your legs around him as he carries you back to your bedroom.
With Naruto, kisses are more than just feeling his lips against yours. It’s his calloused fingers slowly brushing the inside of your thighs, in a slow teasing motion, that drives you crazy until you're grinding against him. Desperate for him to touch you, really touch you. It’s the taste of his spearmint tongue brushing against your own, sending white-hot jolts of pleasure straight down to your core. It’s the smell of him — intoxicating, mouthwatering, enough to make you weak at the knees. But more than anything, it’s the sound of him — of the deep exhales when your fingers dip into the band of his pajama pants to tease him, the throaty groan when you grind your hips down into his, the position of you resting over him on your bed one of power, one he gives only you. It’s the surprised laugh that echoes from him whenever you nibble on his bottom lip or pull away to catch your breath.
Your seconds away from doing that when he breaks away from the kiss, grinning up at you like he knows you weren’t breathing. He probably does. The man knows you like the back of his hand from the moment you met. Naruto only shakes his head, a soft laugh pouring out of him, his thumb running along your cheekbone. He’s looking up at you like you hung the stars and the moon. But that can’t be right, can it? Not when he’s magic, a myth. Something you can’t really phantom. A god in your bed, carved marble under your fingertips. He is the earth and you, it’s lone moon, never far and always following closely behind.
There’s more studying to be done. Another mission that’ll take him away for who knows how long. But in a world of peace, for now, you’re willing to share him. Willing to be placed to the side so he can conquer his dreams. Willing to do anything and everything to help him.
His finger taps your nose, causing you to scrunch it. He grins down at you before bumping his nose against yours. “You’re everything.” He says it so softly, as if mirroring your thoughts. Assuring you in a way that baffles you always. How does he know? But that’s the magic of him, you think.
This is love, on a Sunday morning.
#naruto uzumaki x reader#Naruto uzumaki x you#naruto x reader#naruto x you#naruto smut#naruto fanfiction#naruto one shot
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iruka: Kakashi, it’s time to wake up.
kakashi, sleepy: five more minutes.
iruka, climbing into bed with him: fine, five more minutes…
#naruto#naruto incorrect quotes#naruto shippuden incorrect quotes#anime#kakashi#kakashi x iruka#iruka sensei#kakairu
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[KKIR] The smell of another
(Posted on AO3)
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Some things, Iruka doesn't notice straight away. Truly, between the bafflement and the awe that is dating Konoha's Rokudaime, man of a great many legends and mysteries, he's a bit too starry-eyed to process additional information. He's also, frankly, waiting for the other shoe to drop, likely in the form of a laconic dumping.
The shoe doesn't drop. The relationship holds. It's shaken, a bit, when Kakashi reveals his face with a moment of gravitas that rings a thousand alarm bells in Iruka's mind over an imminent break up. Which he admits out loud, a bit hysterical with relief.
On that day, he sees the sheepish tilt of Kakashi's lips--his bare lips!--give way to a cold, toothless sneer. Then the whole thing is masked up again.
''If you believe it so fragile, I don’t think we’re on the same page regarding this relationship,'' Kakashi says, going on the offensive as he so often does when upset by an unfair assessment of his character.
Luckily for Iruka, because it sets him right back on track.
''Oh grow up, Kakashi, you don't have a monopoly on insecurity. Now show me again, so I can be smug about it when people speculate.''
Things go smoother after that and Iruka’s now blessed with the bare sight of those sharp, high cheekbones and thin lips on a regular basis.
Anyway, Iruka had way too much going on in their early relationship to notice the subtler details.
''What are you thinking about?" Kakashi asks, dipping his head on his way to the kitchen to briefly trail his nose over Iruka's nape.
It tickles a shudder out of Iruka. The flash of Kakashi's smug grin as he turns away says that hasn't gone unnoticed.
''How much of a pissbaby you can be,'' Iruka replies, still half a mind on his spreadsheet of the Academy's budget for the next semester.
The following bark of laughter is muffled by the fridge, but only barely. ''What now?"
"Oh, Iruka ,'' Iruka starts with great sarcasm, ''if you haven't picked names for the four hundred fifty nine ninken we’re gonna adopt or started to look into houses for us to move in, you must not be serious about me.''
''Oh, grow-up,'' Kakashi says good-naturedly, plopping beside him at the kotatsu. One steaming mug he sets on the table, the other he keeps in his cupped hands lowered on his lap. The smell of masala chai is quick to carry over.
''Thanks,'' Iruka says, sipping from the one that was left for him.
''Hm-hm.''
The solid heat of Kakashi's body sinks bit by bit into him, with something sleepy and languid to his posture. His nose finds its way to the hollow between Iruka's neck and shoulder.
With a huff, Iruka switches his drink to his other hand so he can ease his left arm in an inviting arch that Kakashi is quick to lean into. The nose, though, stays put.
''I still can't believe you're a cuddler,'' Iruka snickers gently, broad hand drawing swipes over Kakashi's flank.
''You'd best believe it,'' Kakashi mumbles with suspiciously accurate inflections. He rubs his face against Iruka, who briefly presses back with his lower jaw before resuming his accounting.
Tries not to get distracted by the intermittent nuzzling.
''Are you smelling me?" he ultimately asks, feeling amused in that fond way that makes his chest ache.
''Yes.''
''All right, then.''
''Do you mind?"
''Just don't tickle me, I've got to concentrate. I need to be convincing so the Hokage approves my new budget.''
Burrowing even deeper, Kakashi nudges past the neck of Iruka's shirt to where the collarbone emerges from the generous muscle padding of his shoulder, right at the base of his throat.
''I'm sure you'll do fine," he murmurs with some humor.
And then he settles, dozing off to the warmth of Iruka’s scent.
It’s one of the quirks Iruka notices, now, and that he cherishes.
He tucks Kakashi's drink away before it spills from hands gone lax--though not without stealing some, just for the sake of wincing at the unsweetened taste of it--and hugs him closer, poring over dreadfully boring numbers to the soft snuffling of his companion.
And if he sometimes pauses just long enough to breathe from the spiky hair within reach, well, Kakashi doesn't have a leg to stand on on such matters.
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High School AU
13 Going on 30 by tmo (T, 26K)
He just wanted to have a rad party with his best friend and the cool kids but everything went so wrong that he somehow ended up as a thirty year old man. Wow, great start to being thirteen.
Not How I Imagined Starting Senior Year by tmo (E, 89K)
New neighbours bring lots of changes and Kakashi finds the first few months of his senior year a mess of fear, confusion and a little bit of affection for the boy next door.
to speak what's true by noodletastic (M, 51K)
Iruka had spent far too much time in the last week thinking about Hatake Kakashi. He couldn't stop thinking about their embarrassing encounter, or about his sleepy eyes, or about the way his voice had seemed to caress each syllable of Iruka’s name in a wordlessly frustrating way, or the familiar honorific Kakashi had tacked on when it had been just the two of them-
Iruka had spent far too little time feeling guilty for the hours he spent day dreaming over a boy who was absolutely not his boyfriend.
After School Special by windfallswest (E, 2K)
This is going to be a problem.
Perfect Storm by aoiandplayer3 (E, 38K)
Stuck together because of a storm, two teachers fall for each other. Kind of fluffy.
The Greatest Thing You'll Ever Learn by quartzapple (E, 164K)
Iruka is a 20-something with a plan: get a good job, get married, get a house, have kids. What he didn't expect is for the plan to be ruined by an enigmatic new colleague who Iruka just can't seem to forget.
I Kissed a Boy (And I Liked It) by My_private_tsukuyomi (T, 15K)
Kakashi Hatake was sixteen and never been kissed, a fact that, according to some of his friends, was a travesty. However, girls just never appealed to him, and he didn't know why. He finds out when an everyday act suddenly causes his entire world to tilt on its axis.
The culprit? A tube of cherry chapstick.
Hot for Teacher by My_private_tsukuyomi (E, 5K)
Iruka Umino is a young teacher with a problem. Kakashi Hatake, his former student turned first-year college student education major, is that problem.
Icha Icha by demonofabove (M, 2K)
Student council member Kakashi catches Iruka & his friends reading adult content on the school grounds.
Will he reprimand them, or will his love for Icha-Icha be enough to let them get away with it?
The Approved List by Kaoruhana (G, 2K)
When a burly bearded man came to pick up Naruto after the kendo team’s practice meeting, Kakashi simply eyed him, police uniform and all, and asked for identification.
The bearded man blinked, and straightened, reluctantly following him in. “I’m his uncle.”
“Uncle or not, I need ID.”
The police officer startled at the action, but Kakashi was ignoring him, pulling out his cellphone to dial a familiar number.
“Kakashi-sensei,” the voice on the other end stated, picking up after only two rings “what is it? Has Naruto gotten in trouble again?”
Kakashi hummed and then answered the question. “A burly man impersonating a cop who is not on the approved list came to pick up Naruto. He won’t take no for an answer and may take Naruto by force.”
Or, in which Kakashi takes the Approved Pick Up List very seriously.
Something Magical by mandapandabug (T, 10K)
Iruka and Kakashi hadn’t meant to fall in love at first sight back in their teen years, but Kakashi had made the decision that they were not meant to be and had disappeared. Iruka tried to harden his heart. He tried to hate Kakashi instead of love him, but it wasn’t easy. When Iruka ends up as Kakashi's roommate at the academy as professors, will old feelings of love or hate rekindle? Will misunderstandings and a huge lack of communication prevent them from something magical?
Something Worth Fighting For by Demonofabove (M, 5K)
Iruka gets into a fight at school, and when Kakashi saves the day, he finally gets a chance to talk to the boy he's had his eye on.
Three Strikes by Dilly_Oh (T, 1K)
Kakashi is ready to pitch the perfect game.
But then the cute boy with the ponytail has to ruin everything.
All I see is You by mytsukkishine (G, 7K)
Kakashi had lived in Tokyo throughout his 17 years of being alive and this sudden move with his father at Miyagi was quite a shock to him. At first, he struggled, a typical thing for a new boy in town, however, as weeks passed by he was slowly getting used to his same old routine with new sets of friends.
That was until his head was hit by a volleyball. It got more interesting after that.
(haikyuu inspired yey)
The Start of Something New by demonofabove (NR, 9K)
Kakashi is a senior at Konoha High, and barely talks to anyone.
Then he meets the new kid, Iruka, and he starts speaking with his heart.
Be Mean by tmo (T, 7K)
It all started with a dodgeball to the face.
If You're Not First, Then You're Last by houkouonchi (G, 1K)
Iruka escapes to his favorite practice nook to play a little guitar and blow off some steam after his spot as the number one pianist has been usurped.
Your Song? No, It's Our Song by bottomsupkids (G, 1K)
Based on a Tumblr prompt.
"WHAT?! I'm not working with you on the project! You're the Laziest/Loudest/Clown in the class!" SchoolAU
Hey Cutie by megyal (G, 777)
Written for the month of KakaIru, day 5!! This is the prompt:
Tumblr Prompt (x):
me: I'm queen of hell I'm the baddest bitch look at my eyebrows
friends: shhhh u are the world's tiniest puff pastry
me: I WILL FIGHT
friends: stop before u leak strawberry filling
Sugar Rush by emmykay (T, 5K)
Iruka is an average trombone player in an average high school band, with a massive crush on above-average Kakashi. Like he's got a chance.
School Days by pastles (T, 10K)
High-school AU, Iruka is the boss of the local school gang (nothing malicious, just cool kids that skip classes, act mighty and clash with other gangs, but do not really bother ordinary pupils and only exasperate the teachers. Kakashi is a book-worm, a dweeb, with excellent marks but little else going for him in his high-school years… and a huge, silent and hopeless crush on Iruka. Which, of course, turns to be not so hopeless after all.
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de-aged Iruka 2
Or Teen Iruka has a crush and might suffer from a heart attack while Kakashi counts the days until he can get his husband back.
“Papashi, do the stick trick!”
Kakashi turned toward his daughter and frowned slightly when he realized she was eating her usual breakfast with no biscuit sticks in sight.
“What stick trick?”
Ah.
Iruka had shooed his future husband out of the kitchen when Kakashi had tried to do the dishes, telling him to go and get ready for work or he would be late, again. It was kinda funny to see the usual teacher glare on the fifteen-year-old's face.
It was less funny to see him drying the dishes with a matcha biscuit stick dangling from his mouth.
“Not today, Baby,” Kakashi said to Ren.
The girl deflated, looking sad, as her twin brother looked up from his rice, sleepy and confused. Ren was opening her mouth to most certainly ask ‘why’ but Iruka was faster:
“Why can’t you?”
Because Kakashi didn’t want to push a teenage Iruka’s boundaries, that was why. It was bad enough Iruka had taken it upon himself to take care of the kids - and Kakashi, on some level - until they figured out how to get him back to his own time and how to bring back his older self.
Iruka probably caught some of that despite his silence and mask because he straightened, looked Kakashi dead in the eyes, and ordered:
“Do it.”
Kakashi sighed internally. Yet he joined Iruka next to the kitchen island.
“Pick one,” he said simply.
Iruka did, also Kakashi could tell he was getting nervous. He had said what he said to make Ren happy, but he had truly no idea what he had gotten himself into.
“Do what you did earlier.”
Iruka blinked at him, having no idea what he had done -
“Let it hang from your mouth,” Kakashi added.
Kakashi could pinpoint exactly the moment the proverbial light bulb went on in Iruka’s brain as he blushed.
“You don’t have to -”
Iruka shook his head and put one of the sticks in his mouth. He was bright red but looked determined.
Kakashi sighed internally again before taking off his mask - he had been ready to leave the compound - and bending to get at eye level with Iruka. He paused, giving another chance to Iruka, to back down. However, Iruka didn’t budge, and soon Kakashi found himself biting on the other end of the biscuit, as far away of the other’s lips as he could manage.
Ren and Jun cheered in the background. The ‘trick’ was usually more entertaining as Kakashi pounced on an unsuspecting Iruka and stole a kiss in the process but at this point, the kids were probably just happy to see their parents being somewhat normal with one another.
Kakashi’s lips twitched into an amused smile as Iruka - whose heart was beating way too fast from what he could hear - turned away from him without another word.
#kakairu#kakashi x iruka#kakairu fanfiction#de aged iruka#to be clear kakashi is and has been avoiding any kind of familiarity with iruka#keeping boundaries in place between them#didn't stop iruka from getting a crush on his husband lol
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Kakairu please!! o/
the ninja dads <3 enjoy!
Static and Snuggles
Kakashi's hair tends to generate a lot of static. Being naturally fluffy and attached to an avid lightning user, this is somewhat to be expected. Kakashi is also, as one could potentially expect, a fan of cuddles. Not the gentle, romantic kind, no. The dog-piling, upside down laying, stomach nuzzling aggressive kind that leaves no room for divided attention.
Iruka has come to accept this. He knows that when he sits at the low coffee table to do some grading, it's only a matter of time before there's a head in his lap and hands sneaking into questionable spaces.
He has also learned that Kakashi turns into a sleepy puddle near instantly once he starts playing with his hair. This is incredibly convenient if Iruka wants to get any work done. It's also incredibly endearing, but he certainly won't tell his lover that, lest he catch on.
Adversely, Kakashi will absolutely refuse to tell Iruka why he loves laying in his lap so much. While the chuunin strokes his hair with one hand and grades essays with the other, his loose hair will slowly rise from his shoulders in a staticy halo. The effect is somewhere between cute and hilarious, especially because Iruka never seems to notice.
Kakashi will rub his head more thoroughly into Iruka's fingers, enjoying the little zaps the contact makes against his scalp and watching as the electricity travels all the way up to his love's hair. He smiles and closes his eyes, feeling tingly with happiness all over.
:)
#kakairu#kkir#fic writing#ask box#it came out like a lil ficlet LOL#e-floetry#thanks kage <3 smooches
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The Things He Kept Hidden
Ships: NONE DO NOT TAG AS SHIP OR I’LL EAT YOU.
Warnings: (I promise this is fluff) Slight Angst. spoilers about Naruto and Iruka’s backstories in the first paragraph so be careful when scrolling!
Prompt: Naruto Uzumaki has definitely had his fair share of dissenting words. When visiting his favorite student one day, Iruka discovers what the boy does with the affirmative ones…
(This is pretty shitty bc I’m sleepy but I wanted to write rlly badly tonight)
Tags: General taglist! @littlebbyleesfw, @0s0me0n30, @justanunknown. Plus @lonely-occultist bc Naruto buddy and @cupcake-spice13 bc your day was bad
Among the upper ranked shinobi in the hidden leaf village, all of them knew of the jinchuuriki boy. They all were aware of how he was sealed with the chakra of the nine-tailed fox spirit, during the siege of the Hidden Leaf. They all were aware of the awful beast inside of the boy, and ensured that they made the kid’s life a living hell because of it. All of them, except Iruka.
Iruka Umino: son of two great shinobi warriors, whom were killed by the very spirit sealed within the young boy. As years went by, he began to feel bad for the blonde boy. The chunin didn’t know what drew him to Naruto, but he viewed the boy as a son and had such a strong urge to keep him safe and protected.
So, the two became inseparable. While the rest of the village shot insult after insult after him, Naruto was always met with a distracting conversation, or a bowl of ramen.
When the blonde boy entered the shinobi academy, their relationship deepened. By now, Naruto viewed Iruka as his father/older brother, and everything that he said mattered most to the shinobi-in-training.
As much as he tried, Iruka-Sensei couldn’t always be Naruto’s superhero. The young boy was exposed to threats of violence and malicious words on the daily. He never understood why the village hated him so much… were his pranks really that unbearable?
The whispers crawled up his back and into his ears, settling into their proper places. For years he didn’t understand, but at age thirteen, he finally did.
—
“Little fox bastard.”
The blonde shinobi-in-training turned around at the sudden hurled insult, “What?”
“Get out of here, demon child. We don’t want monsters like you in our village.” The voice belonged to an older man, waving his cane in the boy’s general direction.
“I’m not a monster! I’m going to be a shinobi and be the next Hokage!” Naruto shot back in rebuttal, hands shaking slightly.
“If you aren’t a monster, why do you have one within you? You’re a liability and will inevitably kill us all! We don’t want you here!”
Naruto’s eyes widened as he gasped. He didn’t want to hurt anyone, not ever.
Sighing dejectedly, he left the market without a word. Naruto arrived to his small apartment and sat on his bed, head in his hands. His mind ran wild as he began to weep gently.
‘Is that really what they all think of me?’
‘Maybe I am a monster’
‘I’ve never made any friends in the academy’
‘Academy….’ ‘Academy….’ ‘Academy….’
As if he had a sudden epiphany upon thinking about the word, the boy jumped to his feet and ran to his closet.
Reaching up on his tippy-toes, Naruto grabbed a large cookie tin and retrieved it off of the closet shelf. He sat criss-crossed in the center of the room and pulled the lid off.
As he picked up one of the contents of the container, his stress instantly melted away…
—
Iruka’s had been feeling off all day. He had a sneaking suspicion that something was being plotted against one of his students. Perhaps it could be one of his students preparing to pull a prank, but he never felt more uneasiness than he had that day. He tapped his correcting pen anxiously against his desk, wondering what could possibly be wrong.
When school was out for the day, he noticed his little blonde student go off his normal way. When he turned to leave, the uneasiness got much stronger.
That was it. That was the problem! Something was going to happen to Naruto of all people. Something bad would happen to the student, to his student moreover.
So, he did what any rational chunin would do, and spied on his student. From that point on, he realized that he truly couldn’t do much to protect the young shinobi-in-training anymore.
He could always…? No, that shouldn’t be an option, it’s too much for the poor boy. Iruka opted to visit Ichiraku’s and get the boy his favorite dinner.
When Iruka arrived at Naruto’s with dinner in hand, he heard gentle giggles through the boy’s front door.
“Naruto? It’s Iruka-Sensei.” He said with a gentle rapping on the door.”
“AGH!- Oh! Hi Iruka-Sensei!” A sharp metal scraping sound was heard atop of Naruto’s startled speech, “Come on in!”
The older male obliged and opened the door with a smile. “I brought you ramen. I figured we could have dinner here together?”
“Hmmm… what’s the occasion, Sensei?” The blonde pondered, “AM I FINALLY GETTING A HEADBAND?!” He asked with excitement.
“Ehhh… not exactly.” Iruka replied sheepishly. Truthfully, he couldn’t tell Naruto the true reasoning behind his actions, so he would have to make up an excuse. “I wanted to tell you how well you’ve been doing at the academy lately.”
A noticeable pause occurred in the boy’s brain as it processed the rare praise. While it flowed easily from Iruka’s lips, it rarely settled into Naruto’s ears. “I um- oh… thanks, Sensei!” He chirped as he brought the food to the microwave to warm it up.
Iruka’s curiosity overtook him, and he craved to understand why Naruto had reacted the way he did to the praise. When the boy had his back turned, the chunin slowly grabbed the poorly-hidden cookie tin from under Naruto’s bed.
He opened the lid gently, being careful not to make any noise. When the contents were exposed, Iruka wasn’t sure what emotion he felt the most, but he sure as hell felt all of them.
The chunin felt loved by the little boy, angry at the village for treating the boy so horribly, sad that he had to resort to this just to be reassured, happy that he was chosen for the boy’s comfort.
Inside of the cookie tin were ripped up pieces of paper. Written on all of those papers? All of the praises Iruka had ever written on the boy’s assignments.
Hundreds of tiny “great work!”s and “fantastic job!”s and “Very good! So proud!”s were folded up and placed inside of this tin.
Iruka hastily closed the lid and stuffed the tin inside his vest. “Ready to eat?”
“You bet, Sensei!”
Conversation after conversation, smile after smile, the chunin felt blessed to be able to connect with the young boy so easily. He’d never admire it, but Iruka always found himself growing even fonder of Naruto’s pranks and antics.
It was almost like… having a son around…
—
When Naruto arrived at the academy the next morning, he was confused to see that Iruka was not there yet. Instead, he was stuck with stupid pervy Sensei, Ebisu.
“Hey, Pervy-Sensei! Where’s Iruka-Sensei?!” The blonde boy yelled in anger.
“He wasn’t feeling well today, so Lord Third had me come in as his repl-“
Before the other chunin could finish his sentence, Naruto ran past him and out the door. Ignoring Ebisu’s shouts, the little blonde boy ran and ran. He wouldn’t be caught dead sitting in class when his Sensei was sick! He had to take care of him!
When Naruto arrived at Iruka’s apartment, he knocked hastily on the door. “Iruka-Sensei! Open up! Pervy-Sensei told me you were sick!” He turned the doorknob urgently, wanting nothing more than to help his Sensei. To his surprise, the door was unlocked.
Stepping cautiously into the apartment, his eye caught something along the floor… a small piece of paper. Written in loopy letters, with bright red ink, were the words “good job!”
Naruto looked up to see a trail of the little papers all across the chunin’s floor. Oh man, Iruka-Sensei had caught him! He was in for it now… The blonde shinobi-in-training traveled across the floor and picked up every little piece of paper.
When he finally reached the living room, Naruto was surprised to see Iruka standing before him with a smile on his face. “I figured you’d come here.”
“Iruka-Sensei?!” The boy yelled, “What’s this about? Where did you get these papers? Why do you have them here of all places? How did you know ab-“
“Naruto.”
The blonde boy stopped his rant to focus on his Sensei.
“As much as you love those papers…” Iruka began, picking up a small stack of papers from his table, “I think you may like these ones more.”
With huge bouts of confusion, Naruto looked at the writing on the paper, then at his Sensei. Iruka’s smile was still wide and bright, and the chunin looked as if he was fighting tears.
“I don’t… I don’t get it.” The shinobi-in-training said as he bit the inside of his cheek.
“These…” the brown-haired shinobi said softly, “are adoption papers.”
Tiny cerulean eyes widened.
“How would you feel… if I became your real dad?”
Without any words in his reply, Naruto jumped into his new father’s arms, sending them both falling backwards onto the couch.
—————♡︎✞♡︎✞♡︎✞♡︎✞♡︎✞♡︎✞♡︎✞♡︎✞♡︎✞♡︎—————
#naruto#naruto Fanfiction#naruto fluff#naruto Uzumaki#Uzumaki naruto#iruka#iruka umino#umino iruka#naruto anime#anime fic#anime imagine#naruto imagines#anime fluff#fluff#naruto and iruka#dad!iruka#son!naruto#naruto spoilers#angst#naruto angst
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sleepy thoughts rn but people tend to overlook iruka so much because he’s incredibly ordinary and in a world filled with characters who have enhanced ability, iruka is clearly mediocre and average at best and yet people better not be forgetting that my man CONSISTENTLY was voted top 10 each time they had a pole bc iruka is THE HEART of the story. specially because he is naruto’s HEART. every condition that the shinobi world rejected, he embodied so openly and thoroughly: he is compassionate, he is caring, he’s not without flaws as we see him angry and easily snapping at people even @ jōnins above his level, and yet there is care and an inherent kindness driving the act. he was never malicious, and while many in their world would consider it a huge flaw: iruka wore his heart on his sleeve, consistently. proudly.
#he said: i will challenge the toxic masculinity sooo hard#like sorry im just up thinking abt iruka being the only one advocating for the kids against the chūnin exam#which is clearly looked down upon in their worldview but……. HE WAS RIGHT!#he was riiiiiighhhhhht#iruka was sooooo YEARS AND GENERATIONS AHEAD in child development and care for their world#he is at front and centre ALWAYS advocating for children safety like i get SHIVERS#and u may think hes just a simple ‘goody two shoes’ but i digress!#iruka was never completely *vital* (loosely used here) in many of the important plots#but he was still consistently summoned and/or we see the studio or manga utilising him#in association with the hokage. HOKAGE. and yes thats partly bc of naruto#which rlly brings home the point that hes the HEART (apart of many) of the kid#like i could go on and on about the flaws and amazingness of iruka my sensei 🫶 but i shall stop#i just love him a lot. im sooo happy he existed#and his main characteristic of being consistently caring having resonated with many is just 💛#so revealing to us @ our nature like we know dont we that deep down all we needed was someone to care abt us#the way iruka does aaaaaahhhh#gen: out of character.
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Kakashi’s Story- Chapter Four (because i am WEAK)
Margo choosing to fight because sue doesn’t want to leave Nanara is so sweet! Also a pot fir armor is just *chefs kiss* beautiful. Love these villagers.
Kakashi… KAKASHI WHY ARE YOU PUTTING YOUR HEADBAND OVER YOUR LEFT EYE!?
‘The release of the chakra to create a wall that huge would come with some serious shaking and a loud roar’ love that Kakashi’s skills keep getting highlighted in such interesting fun ways.
‘This was incredible chakra control’ i’m going to need every person who doubts Kakashi’s chakra control to write a 500 word apology letter right now 😂😂😂
‘A ninja with hair that was silver like a wolf’s shining in the moonlight and a gaze sleepy like a goat’ i just - these comparisons do not much up but i love it so damn much
‘Who’s winning’ said by the biggest shit of the world, taunting his enemy in his own little way before knocking them out
‘Nah, there’s no way it’s just one person. It’s gotta be a combo technique’ oh boy how wrong you are XD i just… i love that it’s clear Kakashi’s skill is so above average that people expect him to be multiple shinobi.
I love that Kakashi, a trained assassine, is just knocking his opponents out. The growth in his character arc is delicious.
I also love that we get some sweet Kakashi and Iruka content.
‘Distracted bu the memory of Iruka’s proud face’ i say this with all of my Kakagai loving heart… SIMP
My beautiful man did a screw up and now he has to fight properly, all because he was distracted thinking about Iruka XD
‘He looked sort of sleepy’ the fact that this is the first thing people thing of when they see Kakashi is so hilarious. Nothing else, just sleepy looking.
Hatake Kakashi, Sixth Hokage, kicking all of the ass with *drumroll* a pot lid
‘It had to be an amazing pot lid that used chakra. That had to be it’ legit grasping at straws because it makes no sense that one man is kicking all of this ass XD
Kakashi lost his pot lid and put his enemy into a genjutsu in mere seconds!? KING
‘Their average ability was on a special jonin level’ not only can he kick ass, but he can determine his enemies skill level so quickly And determine just how hard this fight will be, which is… not hard at all.
‘To Kakashi they were a group of small time punks’ you cocky shit i love you
I love that they keep convincing themselves that there is more than one attacker. They simply cannot fathom the fact that they’re getting wrecked by one man XD
Two! A pot lid and a pot have now been used as weapon’s and destroyed XD
‘His opponent was a monster on an entirely different level’ ya, a Hokage’s level XD
Kakashi catching a Shuriken, chucking it back and then knocking out an opponent he caught in a trap. He’s so friggen quick.
‘The intruder was faster than wind’ the comparisons in Kakashi’s skill are delightful. I am loving every single second of this
I enjoy seeing them get cocking thinking they finally have the upper hand and will take the intruder down, only to have Kakashi kick their asses.
Genjutsu for the win again!
Kakashi wore his headband over his left eye… to make it easier to realize who he is??? The lil shit!
‘He had once been a Konoha shinobi. Until the sixth Hokage had dismissed him.’ Grudge! We have a shinobi with a grudge! *drinks this up greedily*
‘He would expect nothing less from Kakashi than the nerve to make the first love when surrounded by 12 people’ hatake Kakashi, world renowed lil shit and cocking f*** XD
‘Shin Hakubi, hm?’ Kakashi see’s and recognizes the dude immediately. He is the complete opposite to gai in this way (gai never remember faces while kakashi commits them to memory)
‘This was the greatest fortune of his life, going one-on-one with the Hokage when he’s used up his chakra’ do they just… forget he’s highly skilled in Taijutsu too? He goes toe to toe with gai, a taijutsu master, and they just… forget this?
KAKASHI USED GENJUTSU TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE HE STILL HAD THE SHARINGAN!? He didn’t even know who he was facing but he knew without a doubt he could use his title as ‘Kakashi of the Sharingan’ to scare the absolute shit out of his opponents.
‘But he saw my Raijin shuriken and hit them. There’s no way he could pull off a trick like that without the sharingan’ think again b***
‘After learning that he had repeatedly robbed civilians on missions, Kakashi had dismissed him’ good. No thieving trash allowed
Kakashi got the beat the crap out of the POS who hurt that little girl! Go baby!!!
This chapter was so good! There’s the action, the stealth, the intelligence. I love Kakashi so much because i got invested into this universe for the Shinobi and he’s an actual representation of a talebted well rounded shinobi
I love seeing him in his zone. Being a stealthy little shit but also cocky af because he knows he has this. He knows he won’t lose. It’s brilliant!
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🔴TEAM ITACHI🔴
Artist: @chaotic-crafts, Writer: @Crimsonleaf
Title: Dreaming Together
Word count: 22166
Rating: Explicit
Warning: Graphic Depictions of Violence
Tags: Hatake Kakashi, Umino Iruka, Tsunade (Naruto), Other Naruto Character(s), Canon-Typical Violence, Dreams and Nightmares, Character Death In Dream, but he's fine - just wakes up, held against will, Torture, Intense pain, drinking (recreational), detailed description of injury, Off-screen stabbing, Blood and Injury, Iruka must babysit Kakashi, Getting to Know Each Other, Sleepy Cuddles, First Kiss, Explicit Sexual Content, Hand Jobs
Summary: Iruka has been plagued by nightmares, unable to get a good night's rest.
When Kakashi shows up in his apartment severely wounded and chakra depleted, Tsunade orders Iruka to keep an eye on him as he heals.
Figuring out they share their nightmares if they keep a distance from each other, Iruka learns a few new things about Kakashi, their relationship taking on a new direction.
Created for the KakaIru Reverse Bang 2022.
🔴Read this Kakairu Reverse Bang Collaboration on Ao3!🔴
#kakairu#Kakairu Reverse Bang 2022#Team Itachi#hatake kakashi#Umino Iruka#chaotic-crafts#crimsonleaf
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There's Happiness Here, Chapter Three
Fandom: Naruto
Rating: Not Rated
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/OFM, Hatake Kakashi & Umino Iruka, Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
WC: ~8935
Warnings: Choose Not to Warn (Because I don’t know yet what I will need to warn for)
Additional Tags: One Night Stands, Accidental Pregnancy, Identity Issues, Miscommunication, Panic Attacks, Unrequited Crush, Co-Parenting, Hatake Kakashi is Not Okay, but he’s doing his best, Cheating, Minor Character Death, Endgame KakaIru, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Hatake Kakashi-centric, One-Sided Relationship
A/N: I'm Alive!
It only took mentally checking out of my job and deciding that work is the ideal place to write to get me to finish this chapter lol
I didn't achieve everything I wanted to cover in this chapter, but it was already getting so long so I decided to stop and save it for the next one. Hopefully Chapter Four won't take (checks when I last updated) seven months to finish.
Read on The Archive
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~
Kakashi paces around the nursery, bouncing his son gently in his arms and patting his back. Ren grizzles tiredly, but Kakashi shushes him and tries some more to get the little boy to settle. He glances at the clock; just about one o’clock in the morning. Kakashi’s no stranger to sleep deprivation, but there’s something different about this kind of situation, of knowing that there’s every chance that Ren could sleep for only ten or twenty minutes before waking up again.
That’s what the books say, at least. It hasn’t happened yet. Actually, Ren has been very good about sleeping between two and three hours at a time, which is what the doctor said was right on target for a three-week-old infant.
Ren finally closes his eyes and gives one last sleepy whimper, and then Kakashi feels his body go lax in his arms. He doesn’t stop pacing for another five minutes or so, before going over to the crib and gently laying the baby down. He stays leaning against the crib rail for a few moments longer, watching his son sleep in the deep hours of the night.
Getting to experience this little miracle is worth the sleeplessness. He only wishes Minato, Rin, Obito, or even his father could be here with him.
~
“Kakashi-kun?”
“Yes?”
“Ren needs his diapers washed. I’ll fold and put them away, but could you…?”
Kakashi nods. “Does he have any clean ones left? Is it an emergency?”
Shizukana hums. “I think he’s down to four clean ones.”
He goes and gets started right away. If Ren does one thing well at nearly two months old, it’s soil his diapers. They go through clean ones so quickly, Kakashi has almost considered purchasing more for the changing table. Shizukana tells him not to, though, that he won’t need as many changes as he gets older and so the extra diapers will be a waste.
Regardless, he is pre-washing shit off of the dirty diapers in the bathroom when he hears Ren wake up crying in the nursery. He nearly drops what he’s doing and goes to his son when he hears Shizukana coming up the stairs, saying, “I’ve got him!”
He relaxes and goes back to the pile of diapers.
~
Shizukana told him to go and take some time out of the house, and so Kakashi is sitting on a tree branch in the park waiting for the three hours that she asked for to pass so he can go home and play with Ren again. He’s finally getting to the point where he can interact with toys and books, albeit slowly, and Kakashi finds himself delighted by each new discovery his son makes.
He’s been staring at the same page in his book for almost half an hour when Iruka happens to wander by and slump down onto the bench just below his branch. What a happy coincidence—
Except, Iruka doesn’t look particularly happy at all.
“Yo, Sensei,” Kakashi says, hopping down to stand in front of Iruka. Somehow, he manages to startle Iruka, making him jump just the tiniest bit before sighing.
“Kakashi-san, I didn’t see you,” he says. “I’m sorry. Are you having some baby-free time?”
Kakashi chuckles and shrugs. “At the demands of my co-parent, yes. She said I was hovering, that she wanted some time with just her and Ren.”
Iruka cracks a smile. “Somehow, I can see you being the hovering type.”
“I will take that as a compliment,” Kakashi grins. He watches as Iruka’s smile slowly fades and he becomes more thoughtful, staring at the ground between them. “Is something troubling you, Iruka?”
“Oh! No, nothing you need to concern yourself with!” Iruka waves his hands frantically. “I’m just thinking, and it’s a bit heavy, but really, I’ll figure it out.”
Kakashi hums. “If your thoughts are heavy, it’s best to let someone else help with them. If you feel like talking, I’ll listen.” He sits beside Iruka and stretches his arm out along the back of the bench, and if that happens to put his hand within reach of Iruka’s nape, well… that certainly wasn’t his intention. He sits there and waits until Iruka decides whether or not to say anything.
And eventually, he lets it all out.
Gods, has it really been that long? Is Naruto already eight years old, that Iruka would have him in his Academy class? Minato and Kushina have really been gone for eight years.
And Iruka doesn’t want to teach the jinchūriki. He’s having a hard time separating the boy from the Fox. He’s trying, he’s trying so hard, to look at his student and see anything other than the creature that killed his parents, among so many others…
“I don’t think I can do it,” Iruka sighs. “Maybe I’m not cut out to be a teacher after all. Mizuki was right—”
“I think, of everyone in this Village, if anyone can reach Naruto, it’s you.” Kakashi sighs, wishing things were different, that Yondaime hadn’t died, that Kushina hadn’t lost control of the Kyūbi, that Sandaime hadn’t put a taboo on speaking about the circumstances of Naruto’s birth. “Actually, if anyone’s to reach Naruto, I really, truly hope that it’s you.”
“What—Why?!”
“Because you’re kind. And, gods, does he need that kindness, after the hate the Village has raised him with.”
Iruka turns to face him, slack-jawed and incredulous, and Kakashi gives him a soft smile in return.
“You would be good for each other, I think.” Kakashi feels a wave of melancholy as he continues, “if he’s anything like his parents, I think you could truly help him in so many ways. And don’t think I don’t notice that you need someone to dote upon.”
Iruka scoffs, but it turns into a laugh. “‘Dote’? Really? I have Mizuki, y’know—”
Kakashi shrugs. “And yet, my point stands.”
They sit together quietly for a little while, until Iruka sighs and stands up. “Thanks, Kakashi. I… I still don’t feel particularly ready to teach him, or to be around him, but I will do my best to try.”
“By even trying, you’re already doing better than the majority of the Village,” Kakashi murmurs. “I need to get home. My three hours away are almost up.”
~
Ren’s favorite place to fall asleep is on Shizukana’s chest, specifically when she’s rocking him in the nursery with the curtains closed. After the first feed of the day, some tummy time—as Shizukana calls it—and a chance to stop and slowly move through a board book so that Ren can truly take in and look at the pictures, she and Ren tend to rock and rock and rock. One of Kakashi’s favorite places is the doorway of the nursery, just to watch her and Ren rocking. He leans on the doorframe and smiles as she sings to him, some kind of lullaby that he doesn’t recognize.
Then again, Sakumo wasn’t the type to sing to Kakashi, nor was Kakashi the type to sit still and let himself be lulled in such a way.
She smiles back at him from across the room and pauses in her song. She wouldn’t do that if Ren weren’t already asleep. Kakashi watches her shuffle him in her arms so that her hand is free to sign, “Need rest. Can you take a watch?”
Kakashi nods and signs back, “Want me to take him?”
Shizukana shakes her head, and stands up, moving to lay Ren down in the crib. He continues to watch them both while she strokes his face a little bit to get him to settle back down, and then moves aside so that she can leave the room and close the door behind her. Kakashi stops it from fully closing, so that he can better hear when Ren wakes up.
She whispers, “He’s been up since three-thirty this morning.”
Kakashi winces. Infants shouldn’t be awake for more than six hours, let alone closer to ten. “I’m sorry,” he matches her volume. “I’ll wake you for dinner?”
“Yes, please. Thank you, Kakashi-kun,” she says, and leans up on her toes to kiss his cheek.
He lets her, doesn’t flinch away. It doesn’t bother him like it would have a few months ago.
~
The summer ends and Kakashi has to return to active duty. He spends his last night off-duty holding and rocking Ren as much as possible; Shizukana smiles at them from the door whenever she passes by, and doesn’t once stop him from doting on his son or ask him to let her hold him instead. Kakashi passes him off only a couple times throughout the day, either to eat or use the restroom, but other than that he spends the whole day with Ren, memorizing his weight and his giggle. He reads story after story, plays with each and every rattle and twisting toy they have.
It’s not enough.
Four months is not enough time to have with his son.
The summons come early the next morning, before dawn, and Kakashi is pleased that the operative taps lightly on the window of the nursery, where he is standing over his son’s crib watching him sleep. He waves the operative inside, and they carefully lift the window and creep in to stand beside him. Weasel slowly takes off his mask and smiles down at Ren.
Kakashi whispers, “Do you like children, Itachi-kun?”
Itachi nods. “I remember when my brother was this small, taichou. I hope, someday, I can also have a son as sweet as yours.”
He preens inwardly, and then steps back from the crib. “You have orders?”
“Yes,” Itachi puts his mask back on, and Weasel continues. “A Meet and Greet with Ishigakure. We’re to meet atop the Hokage Tower at 0600 for further instruction.”
Kakashi hums his understanding. “Let me gear up and let Shizukana know I’ll be gone. Do we have a time estimate?”
“No, taichou.”
Ah, well. Kakashi waves Weasel away, back out the window, and goes to put on his ANBU armor. He peeks in on Shizukana, sleeping peacefully in her own room, and decides to instead leave her a note on her nightstand.
And before he leaves, he leans over the side of the crib and pulls down his mask, giving Ren a quick kiss on his little forehead. “Be good for your mother, please,” he whispers, and then he steps out through the window and runs to the Tower to meet his team.
~
For the first time since entering ANBU, Kakashi proceeds through the mission with a healthy measure of caution. Of course he looks out for his subordinate, but this time he also doesn’t take any unnecessary risks himself.
Anytime he thinks about doing something remotely reckless, he remembers his son waiting for him at home, and it quells the urge immediately.
The mission is completed, and he and Weasel head home.
He enters back into mission rotation, retains a team he hand-selects who all work well together. When he’s in the Village, he trains with his team on twelve-hour shifts, and the rest of the time he spends at home watching Ren grow.
When he’s in the field, Hound takes charge of the team and commands them with a firm hand. After three months back in rotation, not one single person from Team Hound has suffered a major injury. Minor scrapes and bruises are healed easily with standard-issue balms and chakra-infused bandages, and only once did Owl get hurt badly enough to warrant a night’s rest on the trail home, but she was fine by morning with Otter’s medical expertise.
Kakashi reminds his team, every time they go out into the field, to remain vigilant; that just because they’ve had a good streak, doesn’t mean their luck won’t spontaneously run out. They all understand how serious he is about this, and the only one who will even slightly joke about being reckless is Otter.
Cat is very quick to nudge Otter with his elbow to have them be quiet, to save their jokes for the trail.
~
The first flurries of winter have dusted the ground outside when Kakashi comes home from another mission. He slides in through his own bedroom window, removes his armor and locks away his weaponry, and then grabs a towel to go and shower off the grime of travel. Normally he would do this at the ANBU barracks, but today he’s just sweaty, as his mission had been simple reconnaissance and he hadn’t battled anyone at all.
He barely makes it to the bathroom, though, before hearing Shizukana call out to him from the nursery. “Kakashi-kun? Are you home?”
He sighs. “Yes, I’m going to shower and then I’ll check in with Ren.”
She squeals, and the door flings open. She lights up when she sees him, and his stomach drops to notice it; but she goes on and says, “Come here first, please! It’s important, I promise, and you don’t wanna miss it!”
Kakashi follows her back into the nursery, feeling like she might be overreacting—
Ren is sitting on the floor beside the crib, kicking at a small pile of toys around him and blowing bubbles. He looks up when Shizukana and Kakashi enter the room and smiles like the sun is out, then turns around and grabs onto the crib, pulls himself up onto his feet, and then tries to take an independent step towards them both.
Shizukana cries and coos, “Oh! His first steps! I just wanted to show you that he was beginning to cruise!”
Kakashi watches his son take one step, then two, and then fall forward flat on his face. Neither he nor Shizukana are close enough to catch him, nor do they react in time to stop it from happening. Ren lifts his little head and wails, and Shizukana immediately goes to pick him up and comfort him, rubbing his nose and face and making shushing noises to try and calm him down. Kakashi, instead, remains still.
His son just walked. At… eight months? It feels too early. His son was born only eight months ago. Surely he’s still too little to be walking, yet!
“Kakashi-kun!”
“Yes?”
Shizukana sighs. “He took a hard fall. I have to take him to the hospital to get checked over. Could you hold him for a minute while I get changed?”
Kakashi takes his son, and then says, “No need.” He steps over to the window, opens it, and makes Otter’s call whistle. He steps back a bit, just in time for Otter to flicker into place at their windowsill. Shizukana gasps, startled, but Kakashi gives her little attention and motions for Otter to come inside.
“Aww,” Otter says, slipping through the window. “Is this little Ren? He’s got a pair of lungs on him, huh?”
“He took a tumble and landed on his face. Could you give him a once-over, please?”
Otter nods. “Sure, sure. Babies aren’t my thing, usually, but anything for this little one.” Otter hovers a glowing green palm over Ren’s face and throat, using their other hand to lift up their mask so that Ren can see their face. They grin down at the baby, and ask Kakashi, “How’d he fall?”
“He was trying to walk and tripped.”
“Oh? Walking doesn’t usually start until eleven months. I thought the Hatake baby was about eight or nine…?”
“Eight. And yes, that’s what I thought as well.”
“Well, he is certainly Hatake,” Otter chuckles. Ren’s cries die down until he is only barely sniffling, and then Otter says, “There you go, Ren-kun! All better! You did so well!”
“Any breaks?”
“Nah, just a little bump on his nose,” Otter says, poking Ren on the very tip of his nose and making the little boy giggle through his drying tears. “It likely just startled him more than anything. Although, seriously, with babies you can never be too careful. If he had fallen backwards, definitely call any medic on duty, not just me, okay? That can get real serious real quick. But this time, his little tiny hands likely slowed his fall just enough that he didn’t get injured,” Otter finishes, reaching for and lightly grabbing Ren’s hands and waving them in time as they spoke. Ren giggles some more.
Otter steps back with a smile. “I gotta get back on my patrol. See ya, taichou.”
Kakashi nods. “Thank you, Otter.”
They replace the mask over their face and slide back out into the Village.
Shizukana, at the door, seems to finally unclench. “What the fuck was that?!”
Kakashi blinks at her and asks, “What was what?”
“That—you—you can’t just—!” She groans and stomps across the room and takes Ren from his arms, fussing over him and curling herself around him. “Does that ANBU even know how to treat children? Does she—”
“They,” Kakashi instantly corrects her.
“—have any experience with children?! How can we trust her diagnosis and—”
“Their.”
Shizukana scowls. “Stop interrupting me!”
“Stop misgendering them,” Kakashi says firmly. “Otter—Awaki Rakko is their name—is a medic on my team. They’re one of the most accomplished medics of our generation, and yes, they do have experience with children, as they have three much younger siblings. You have knowingly trusted them with my life for months now, I should think that we can trust them with Ren’s face in a moment such as this.”
Shizukana’s scowl deepens. “You can’t make those kinds of decisions unilaterally without discussing them with me first,” she says lowly. “This is my son, and I—”
“He is our son,” Kakashi corrects her again, “and I have just as much say in his healthcare as you do. I trust Otter inexplicably, and I should hope that you could extend that trust to me if not to them.”
Ren sucks on his thumb, leaning on Shizukana’s shoulder. Kakashi waits for the tension to ease, secure in his stance that he did the right thing for Ren.
She eventually sighs. “She—Sorry, they just startled me, I think. And… I’m sorry, Kakashi-kun, but I grew up very sheltered. Rakko-chan is a friend of yours?”
He frowns. “In a sense, yes. Rakko is a trusted ally. Any of the ANBU are, but particularly those on my own squad have a loyalty to me, personally. I’ve worked with Rakko for a couple of years now, and I would trust them not only with my own life—which I have, on multiple occasions—but with yours and Ren’s lives as well.”
“Then… okay. I’ll… I’ll try to do better by th-them. For you, Kakashi-kun.”
Kakashi nods. As long as she can try, for Ren’s sake, he’ll accept it. He ruffles Ren’s hair as he passes them to go and finally take his shower.
~
Kakashi stops counting the months as part of the year, but as pieces of Ren’s life that have passed. Ren is nine months old, and that means it’s almost March. He’s so small, and yet he manages to get into everything that isn’t locked away or put up high. Kakashi consults with Shikaku on what to do to stop Ren from getting at something that could hurt him, but the older man just chuckles.
“Kakashi, if a baby wants to get something, only their height and physicality will stop them. You can’t reason with a baby. Save that sort of thing for when he’s two or three and can understand the concept of no.”
He spends a weekend with Shizukana Ren-proofing their house, particularly the living room, nursery, and kitchen, where Ren spends the majority of his time. He’s fairly certain it’s not perfect, but he gets down on his hands and knees and crawls around at Ren’s height to see what else they could do to prevent their son from getting into trouble once he decides to try walking again.
Shizukana is happy with their work, and makes a nice dinner for them to share. They trade off turns feeding Ren, back and forth until more rice is in his stomach than is in his hair. Kakashi offers to clean up from dinner if Shizukana would like to give Ren a bath and get him ready for bed.
“Thank you, Kakashi-kun,” she smiles. “Would you like to join us for a story in a little while?”
He hesitates. Listening to a children’s story sounds awful, to be honest, but if it gives him more time with Ren… “That sounds fine. I’ll be upstairs in fifteen minutes.”
“Perfect!” She gathers the sticky, rice-covered baby, and leans up to kiss Kakashi on the cheek. He lets her, again, but doesn’t let her linger like she clearly wants to.
He makes quick work of the kitchen and dishes, sweeps and mops the floor underneath Ren’s chair, all the while listening to Ren’s sweet laughter echoing from the bathroom just above him. Gods, he loves this boy with everything he is, but he just… he can’t find that same affection for Shizukana.
He’s not stupid. He knows that she’s infatuated with him, that their living together fulfills a fantasy in her mind. At some point he needs to sit down with her and reiterate that they are co-parents and roommates, nothing more. And this talk needs to happen sooner rather than later, before she forces his hand in such a way that ends up with her hurt. He likes having her here; the company is, strangely, nice, and it’s much easier to protect both his son and his son’s mother when they live in the same house as Kakashi.
He turns the water off and puts the last dish on the rack to dry, and is heading upstairs just as Shizukana is calling down to him that they’re ready for storytime.
Kakashi turns into the nursery and grins as Ren crawls over to him and uses his trousers to pull himself up to standing. He uses one hand to hold on and with the other makes a grabbing motion upwards and a giggle-grunt-cry. Kakashi leans down and picks Ren up, sighing as his son snuggles into his neck and coos at him. He sits down on the floor in front of Shizukana’s rocking chair, and places Ren on his lap so they can both listen to the story.
Ren is very good at sitting still for stories, especially when he lets Ren hold onto one of his fingers and chew on another. He’s starting to cut teeth, which is good for his development but must be hell on Shizukana’s attempts to continue to breastfeed him. How long does a baby need breastmilk, anyway? He’s already eating solids and drinking watered down juice with meals.
Shizukana makes odd sounds that have Ren giggling, moves the book around from side to side and up and down to have him follow it, all the while reading the book upside-down and backwards so that Ren can see the pictures the whole time. Kakashi does his best to follow her lead and also interact with him in the same way, leaning him to each side and bouncing him in his lap in time to the rhythm of the words. Ren seems to enjoy his efforts, and Shizukana grins at him from above the book.
“The end! Okay Little Man, time for bed!”
Ren flops around and giggles as he tries to “hide” under Kakashi’s arm. He and Shizukana play peek-a-boo around Kakashi’s limb for a minute or so until she scoops him up out of Kakashi’s lap and nuzzles him. Kakashi stands up and waits for her to place Ren in his crib, and then he leans over and runs his fingers through his son’s hair.
“Good night, Ren,” he says softly.
Ren babbles back at him. There are no discernable words yet, but it can’t be long, now… right?
~
Kakashi blinks at his assignment for the day, and looks up at Hawk for clarification. “What is this about?”
Hawk shrugs. “The jinchūriki has a new adult he’s latched onto, and Umino doesn’t seem to mind. Hell, from what I’ve seen, he’s encouraging it.”
“And we don’t trust Umino to keep himself safe?”
“Umino’s a chūnin,” he scoffs. “And not even an active duty one at that. Heard he was too soft for missions.”
Kakashi frowns. Iruka has his faults, but Sandaime has since entrusted a class of students to him, and the Village’s children are its prized possession. Sure, the Academy is staffed with chūnin, but they’re all very skilled chūnin; a few in particular he’s run missions with as ANBU alternates. The chūnin of the Academy are those who could test for tokujō or jōnin, but refuse to do so; either because they enjoy teaching or because Sandaime knows that if they were to rank up the Village would place them in the field, away from where they are most useful.
He leaves his gear and mask in his locker and heads out in his jōnin uniform. There’s every chance that Iruka already knows that he has a revolving guard, but if Kakashi has to spend the next twelve hours around him, he’d rather Iruka be fully aware of it. He makes his way across the Village quickly, landing silently on Iruka’s balcony at precisely 0630 for the hand-off. Kakashi nods and waves to Cobra up in the trees overlooking the building, and then walks around to the front door and knocks.
Through the door, he hears some grumbling and stumbling, and a very faint, “Naruto, stop leaving your stuff in the hall!” He can’t help the grin that comes with the understanding behind that statement, and is still smiling faintly when Iruka opens the door.
“Oh, Kakashi-san,” he says, startled. “It’s a bit early for a visit.”
Kakashi’s smile falters. “Is your heat not working?”
“Huh?” Iruka fiddles with the sleeves on his shirt. “Oh, no, it’s fine. I haven’t changed yet, actually, and I just like to sleep warmly. Is there something I can help you with?”
Kakashi shrugs. “I’m actually your guard for today.”
Iruka sighs. “Ah.” He steps aside to let Kakashi in, and more quietly continues, “the other ANBU are really good at what they do, truly, I just—”
“You’ve been vigilant,” Kakashi says. “It’s perfectly fine. We don’t tend to hide inside the Village, so that the citizens know what we look like and can tell the difference between an enemy and friendly ANBU.” Iruka’s apartment is cozy, lived-in and slightly chaotic in a way that suggests a child lives here.
“Right. Um, do you need anything from me today, or just…?”
“You can go about your normal routine,” Kakashi says. “I just felt odd tailing a friend for twelve hours without at least telling you that I’ll be doing so. If you’d rather I leave you alone, I can absolutely do that instead—”
“Oh, it’s fine! Whatever works best for you!” Iruka grins. “Ah, make yourself comfortable, I need to finish getting ready. And getting Naruto ready,” he adds as an afterthought, walking down the hallway to the bedrooms. He gives the second bedroom door a knock as he passes it, and then disappears into the main bedroom.
Kakashi takes the chance to look around a bit more. There’s a bookshelf of old scrolls and texts along one wall, and beside it another bookshelf of casual reading books and fiction novels, some of which he recognizes. He takes one of the scrolls off of the shelf and tries to unroll it, but it’s sealed tight and keyed to a specific chakra flow. Curious, he thinks, as he sets it back in its place.
The casual books are of a wider variety, ranging from simplistic children’s stories at the bottom of the shelf, to a small collection of non-fiction cooking and gardening books around waist-height, and at the very top Kakashi finds two pristine adult novels—Icha Icha Innocence, and the other of a similar genre, but from a different author. Kakashi flicks through Icha Icha Innocence, but the spine is stiff and the pages are still thick and stick together a bit. Iruka has never read it, which is fine because he really should read the other two in the series first.
“Iruka-sensei says those books aren’t for company.”
He turns and blinks hard. Gods, but Naruto looks so much like Minato, and yet he has that sweetness to his face that Kushina always had. The boy stands at the cusp of the hallway and the living room, scowling with his hands on his hips; in this way, he almost looks like Iruka, trying to be stern. Kakashi has to remind himself not to laugh.
The book goes back up on the shelf. “Certainly not for children,” Kakashi agrees.
“Who’re you?” Naruto asks.
“A friend of your sensei’s.”
“Why are you here so early?”
“Visiting with a friend and making plans for the day.”
He narrows his eyes. “Why do you smell like dog?”
Kakashi chuckles. “You can smell me from across the room? I’m impressed.”
Naruto opens his mouth to ask something else, but from down the hall Iruka calls, “Naruto, stop bothering Kakashi and go make yourself breakfast.” He grumbles a bit, but trudges off to the kitchen anyway. Iruka emerges from his bedroom, and Kakashi catches a glimpse of another figure rummaging around in the room before the door closes behind him.
Ah, yes; the boyfriend. Tanaka Mizuki. There are some… interesting theories, within the daily guard reports, regarding Iruka’s long-term boyfriend. Kakashi’s in no position to speculate, today, though.
Iruka grins as he passes, still tying up his hair as he walks to the kitchen. “Would you like breakfast as well, Kakashi-san?”
“No, thank you. I have to remain alert in case of emergency,” he explains quietly, so as not to disturb Naruto. Although, with the gusto and decibel that Naruto eats, it’s unlikely he would hear anything unless it’s shouted directly into his ears. He stands guard by the window while Iruka grabs himself something to eat, and stiffens when he hears footsteps coming down the hallway from the bedroom—
And then he remembers to relax, that he’s to respond to threats from outside the home, threats that could ultimately harm Naruto. Unless Mizuki makes a move against the jinchūriki, or Iruka makes a formal report, he’s well within his rights to do whatever he’d like behind closed doors.
Mizuki stops in the doorway of the kitchen and gives Kakashi a nasty look—curled lip, narrowed eyes, twitched hands and stiffened shoulders. He makes his way over to Iruka and wraps his arms around his waist from behind. Kakashi picks up the whisper Mizuki hisses into Iruka’s ear with a little bit of chakra flow to enhance his own hearing; “What the fuck is Hatake doing here?”
Iruka answers back softly, “Naruto needs a guard. Please don’t do anything rash.”
“I’ll do what I like,” Mizuki murmurs, and nips Iruka’s ear. Kakashi groans inwardly and turns aside, turning his gaze back to Naruto.
Iruka weaves his way out of Mizuki’s arms and asks Naruto, “Are you ready to go?”
Naruto nods and runs off down the hall, and comes back quickly with a small backpack on his shoulders. “Ready!”
Mizuki spins Iruka around and kisses him, and Kakashi herds Naruto out of the room and shoos him to the genkan to put his sandals on. He stays just outside the kitchen so he can still respond to any emergencies, but his stomach turns to hear Mizuki and Iruka making out less than three meters away. It’s awful, but it’s part of the job. Maybe something will attack and Kakashi can get Iruka and Naruto out and leave Mizuki to it.
They eventually leave, and Kakashi walks beside Iruka as Naruto runs ahead through the streets happily. He says nothing else to Iruka the whole way to the Academy, but cannot help his smile whenever Iruka calls out, “Naruto, too far,” or, “Naruto, back here please.” It’s how he imagines Minato would have spoken to the boy, and he’s glad that Iruka managed to open his heart in this way.
~
Kakashi can’t help but notice how well Ren cruises around his nursery, walking on steady, firm feet and strong legs. And yet, his son refuses to try to walk on his own again.
He’ll cry and reach for his parents, begging to be carried everywhere. Shizukana coddles him, of course; Kakashi is certain she doesn’t notice that Ren is perfectly able to walk, he just seems to not want to. Not that Kakashi himself is complaining, either.
Anything to give him an excuse to cuddle his son is a good thing. He might find himself concerned with Ren’s development if this persists, but the way that Ren gives him sloppy kisses on his cheek and neck after he picks him up can’t be a bad thing for now.
~
Kakashi is asleep in the nursery, his arm hanging over the side of Ren’s crib and his hand laying atop his son’s tiny back. He’s been drooling on his arm for some time, his mask pooled around his throat with his face turned away from the window. It’s certainly not a comfortable position to sleep in, but better than not sleeping at all due to a screaming, crying baby.
He snaps to instant alertness at the warming of his ANBU tattoo on his arm. A quick glance out the window shows shadows leaping across the rooftops in the barest light of early morning; hell, most people would still consider this nighttime. All of them are heading towards the same place—the Uchiha Compound.
Kakashi’s not allowed there. The Uchiha were gracious enough to let him keep Obito’s eye, but refused further contact or training in its usage.
The tattoo begins to burn, and the Village’s chakra alarms trigger. Konoha is locked down.
Kakashi scoops up Ren as carefully as he can, swaddling him as he walks down the hall to Shizukana’s room. She’s awake now and mostly alert, woken by the chakra alarms. “Kakashi—”
He places Ren into her arms. “Downstairs, now.”
“What’s going on?”
“I have to go, and you need to stay,” Kakashi says as he makes hand-seals and summons his pack. The dogs appear alert and ready for orders, immediately reading Kakashi’s emotional state and how agitated his chakra is. He sends Urushi and Guruko upstairs to gather his gear, Akino and Shiba to go ahead and report in for him, and Uhei and Bull outside to patrol the fenceline.
“Pakkun, Bisuke, you two will stay with Shizukana and keep her and Ren safe,” Kakashi says, lifting up a trapdoor in the kitchen. Bisuke hops down first and sniffs around, and Kakashi looks at her expectantly.
She shakes her head. “When did you have that installed?”
“Not important right now,” he says. “Please, something attacked a clan tonight. I have to go. Go down there, stay hidden and stay safe, until I come back or I send someone to collect you.”
“I could just go to my parent’s!”
“Shizukana,” Kakashi snaps. “This is not a time to argue. Ren is a clan child. A clan was attacked. I will explain anything you wish to ask of me, later. But please, for now, I need you to simply do as I say and protect our child.”
She hangs her head and noses at Ren’s hair. The baby is still sleeping. “How.. will I know it is you? Or someone you’ve sent?”
Kakashi thinks, and then whispers in her ear, barely speaking at all, “The password is Whirlpool.”
Shizukana nods, kisses his cheek, and then carefully hops down into the hole, using chakra to cushion her landing so that Ren wouldn’t wake. Pakkun nods to him, and then follows her down. Kakashi waits until they have a lamp turned on, and then closes the trapdoor and covers it with the mats. Turning around, Urushi and Guruko stand at attention in the doorway to the kitchen with all of his ANBU gear, and he’s quick to change and equip himself properly, rote and habit pushing him through where his hands want to stop and shake.
He doesn’t want to leave Ren.
Ren is as well-protected as he can be.
And yet, he doesn’t want to leave Ren.
But he has a duty to the Village.
“Ready, Boss?” Guruko asks.
Kakashi hesitates once more. “Urushi, stay behind and guard the house with Bull and Uhei. Guruko, with me.”
Then, he bolts off into the dawn to learn what happened to the Uchiha.
~
The Village remains quiet and on lockdown for almost a month following the Massacre, with only select teams being allowed to leave and come back. Kakashi’s squad is on Bunk, as Itachi was part of his squad, and so his whole squad is under investigation while each member is individually vetted and cleared for duty. Kakashi volunteers to undergo Yamanaka interference first, as the squad Captain, and ends up bedridden for the following day and a half to recover from the interrogation.
Inoichi is good at what he does, but he’s certainly not gentle.
It’s while he’s resting and recovering, and stuck at home for the month, that Shizukana decides to put Ren on more and more solids and to supplement with formula and milk instead of breastfeeding. Kakashi asks her once, and she blushes and says, “Well, I know that breastfeeding is supposed to help you… y’know, lose the baby weight, but I need to be able to start getting back into fighting shape! And I can’t do that with, um,” she grabs her chest and shrugs, giggling lightly.
Kakashi then blushes lightly, nods, and leaves her to it. Ren is close to a year old now, and it’s almost time that he’s weaned anyway.
~
The Hokage calls for him one day, and he sighs and contemplates getting geared up in ANBU armor before going if only so he doesn’t have to come home before leaving again. In the end, though, he simply leaves in his regular jōnin uniform, because he wants the excuse to return home and see Ren again before going out.
Sandaime is on the roof of the Tower when he gets there, smoking his pipe and looking out over the Village. “Come, beside me, Kakashi.”
Kakashi comes to stand almost beside him, although he does maintain a respectful distance and a step behind. But Sandaime waves him forward, “Closer, closer. This talk is nothing bad, I assure you.”
He clamps down on his chakra, ready to spike in his anxiety, and steps forward to stand beside Sandaime.
“I’ve been Hokage for a long time now, Kakashi. And I’ve seen many things, heard many different pleas from friends and family members of my ninja. Yet, what I was asked today is something different from much of what I’ve experienced.”
Kakashi stands still, waiting for the old man to go on, because he knows he will, eventually. Indeed, he needed to only stop for a puff of his pipe before he continues, “My son, Asuma, and two of his friends, Gai and Kurenai, came before me today, on your behalf. They have pleaded with me to remove you from ANBU.”
Silently, Kakashi berates his friends for getting involved. What could they say to Sandaime to convince him that Kakashi himself couldn’t—?
“They say that, if Itachi couldn’t make it in ANBU for a year without breaking, what’s to stop you from breaking soon, too? Gai reminded me that you’ve been a part of ANBU for almost ten years now. Is that correct?”
“Yes, Sandaime.”
“A decade of experience within the Ops, that cannot just be thrown away,” he says. Another pause to smoke. “I have reconvened with the other Elders on my council. They also agree that removing you from your post would be a detriment to our Village.”
“I understand.”
“And yet, there is an Uchiha boy who lives. The jinchūriki will need guidance and control. And you are our only active shinobi who still has the sharingan.”
“I… no longer understand,” Kakashi says slowly.
“Naruto and Sasuke are eight years old now. In four years, they will likely be genin.” Sandaime turns to look at him. “In four years, the council has agreed that you will take the two of them, plus whichever third student will fit best on their team, and become their jōnin sensei. Until then, you will continue to serve in ANBU. The last year before you leave the Ops, you will take teaching classes to learn to be an effective teacher.”
Kakashi’s mouth goes dry. A… teacher? Him?
Four Years?!
“This is your new mission. Do you accept it, as part of your duty to Konohagakure?”
Ren will be five years old. How much will he miss by then? But then… Ren will only be five years old. He’ll have so much more time—as a jōnin sensei, he can stay in the Village for much longer, training his team. Teaching them. He will be home with Ren to watch him grow up. It… it’s what he’d initially wanted.
But not for Four Years.
“I accept. Thank you, Sandaime.”
~
Step-Push, Step-Push, the wind glides past his ears and stings, bright and cold, against his open eye. He can hear Cat, Owl, and Otter in formation behind him, following his steps to minimize footprints. They may not be able to trick the best chakra sensors out there, but they can at least keep mundane methods of tracking from working so well.
They’re so far north, there’s still snow on the branches in early May.
And gods, it’s May. Kakashi has mere weeks to finish this mission and return home or else he’ll miss his son’s first birthday. He wasn’t stupid enough to promise Shizukana that he’d be back for it, but he wants to see his son spit all over his cake, make a mess of himself trying to eat it, run around with a silly hat on or maybe a sweet onesie that declares him the birthday boy.
He stops. His squad stops in the trees behind him. Cat comes to his right side.
“Our mark is in that village,” Kakashi murmurs. “Orders are to take him alive. Scroll-seal as needed, he’ll live through transit.”
Cat nods and signs back to Owl and Otter, and then leads Owl off to one side of the village while Kakashi and Otter go the other way. They both maintain their distance from the building where their mark supposedly frequents, where Owl and Cat went to, and keep watch from there.
Of course, no watch with Otter is complete without a horribly invasive question. They nudge him lightly and ask, “Did she get the shot like she said she would?”
Kakashi feels his face flush under his mask. “She takes a pill every morning. I checked the package, and it is signed and legitimate.”
Otter tsks. “Shots are better, especially if she plans on going back on active duty.”
“I’m not sure if she does,” Kakashi muses. Owl swoops into the top-most window, and Cat follows. “At least not until he’s older.”
“That’s fair, I guess. Personally, I like the shot. But I also don’t want kids,” they say much quieter, barely a whisper. “Not that I’ll have to worry about it, but… shit happens.”
Kakashi tilts his head aside a little at Otter, hoping for a further explanation, but they’re not forthcoming on any more details. And he won’t push. They’ll tell him if they feel ready. They both go back to studying the village’s rooftops, waiting for Owl’s and Cat’s silhouettes to grace the skyline. It’s an anxious few minutes, made worse by Otter nearly vibrating in place beside him, but he recognizes Cat’s spiky hair pop up, followed by Owl’s flowing ponytail, and they both begin to flicker over to the rendezvous point. Kakashi taps Otter’s elbow to signal that they’re leaving, too, and they all clear out of this cold village.
Cat confirms that they got the mark. Otter fusses over whether either of them need healing, which both Cat and Owl deny.
“Owl took a kunai to the shoulder, but her armor blocked most of the blow,” Cat explains. “We’re fine, and should get going. It took us nearly a week to get up here, and if we’re lucky, a week to get back.”
Owl nods. “This way, Hound won’t miss his little boy’s birthday!”
Kakashi winces. “Not here, and not too loud outside the Village.” He continues, signing, Secret.
Owl signs back an apology, and the squad takes to the trees once more. Kakashi lets Cat take the lead for now, and instead follows up at the rear until they leave the snow and cold.
~
Kakashi enters the house through his bedroom window, as is his routine. He will do whatever it takes to avoid having Ren ever seeing him in his ANBU gear, for the rest of his time in the Ops. That sort of fear is not something he ever wants to see on his own son’s face, and certainly not directed at himself. After he’s showered and changed and feels human again, he slinks out into the house and down the stairs where he can hear Shizukana and her parents chatting in the living room.
He’s still not exactly on great terms with Kame Kousuke and his wife, Nao. But they visit at least once a week, he knows, and Ren adores them. He has to develop some sort of relationship with them eventually. They are, afterall, his child’s only grandparents.
“Oh! Kakashi-kun! You’re home early,” Shizukana gasps with a smile, standing up and leaving the kotatsu to come to the doorway and greet him. “I thought your mission was—”
“S-rank, Shizu-san,” Kakashi reminds her. “The details of which are still not to be discussed around those without the proper clearance. Yes, even a timeline.” He bows respectfully to both Kousuke and Nao, and greets them individually. They only give him a frown and a nod of acknowledgement back, but it’s more than he was honestly expecting.
“Sorry, Kakashi-kun,” Shizukana says. “But really, it’s just my parents. They would never—”
He holds up his hand. “You have no idea the kinds of things people will say when under torture, and I pray to each of the gods that Ren’s grandparents never have to find out their own limits. There is nothing else to discuss, S-rank details are confidential for a reason and I’m sure O-jiisan can appreciate that.”
He glances over to the two parents, and sees, for the first time, the barest hint of a smile in Kousuke’s eyes, even if it doesn’t show on his mouth. Shizukana, however, crosses her arms and huffs. Kakashi sighs and pulls her in for a hug to placate her.
“Where’s Ren?”
“Oh,” she smiles, leaning into his side and pulling him around the kotatsu. “Come here, right there, that’s it.”
Around the other side, playing with blocks at Nao’s side, Ren was just hidden by his grandmother’s profile. Shizukana gets their son’s attention. She turns him around and points to Kakashi, and Ren’s face lights up in a bright grin.
And then he stands.
And he walks. Confidently, strong legs and arms up for balance, feet tap-tap-tapping on the mats as he giggles across the length of the room. Kakashi feels like this moment goes on forever before he crouches down in time to pick up his son and swing him into the air, spinning and cooing.
“What a big, strong boy! Look at you go, how long has he been walking like that?” Kakashi exclaims.
Shizukana giggles. “He’s been practicing for about a month, but I think he wanted to wait until he was sure of himself before he really tried again. He walked over to greet my parents this morning when they came over, and so I was really hoping that he’d do it again for you.”
“A month?” Kakashi asks, his happiness scattering a bit. He’s only been on this mission for two weeks. And before that, his Squad was still on lockdown. How did he miss this?
Nao nods. “You have a strong son there, Hatake. Yearlings don’t tend to walk so confidently, not in my experience.”
“He has another trick up his tiny sleeve that he’s been working on,” Shizukana says excitedly. She holds out her arms and Kakashi passes Ren over to her. They sit back down at the kotatsu, and Shizukana holds up a piece of fruit for Ren to take. “Ren, what is it?”
“Foo!!”
Kousuke chuckles, “He’ll need to work on his diction, but he certainly has the spirit.”
Kakashi looks on in wonder. “Talking, too? What other words does he know?”
Shizukana grins so wide and takes Ren’s hand. “Ren, who’s that?” she asks, pointing across the table.
Ren looks up from his fruit, smiles at Nao, and says, “Baa!”
All four adults coo and sigh. Shizukana points to Kousuke next and asks, “Who’s that?”
“Jii!”
Kousuke chuckles. “That’s Jii-chan to you, mister.”
Shizukana then turns Ren around and Ren’s smile grows ever bigger. He’s caught onto the game and leans forward to plant a sloppy kiss on her cheek, and says, “Mama!”
“That’s right, sweetie! So smart, Ren!”
Kakashi can’t help but feel left out, but he doesn’t want to push it. If Ren doesn’t have a word for him yet, it’s his own fault for not being here. But Ren turns to Kakashi, crawls across Shizukana’s lap and into his own, and bounces on his thighs while giggling for a moment and then puts his tiny palm on Kakashi’s cheek.
“Kaka!”
His heart drops. He’s away so much that his son knows him only by his name.
The joyous mood in the room sours, to the point where Kakashi himself can feel it. He keeps playing with Ren while Kousuke and Nao make their excuses to leave and Shizukana sees them to the door. He can hear them whispering harshly to each other, and if he would bother to enhance his hearing with a bit of chakra he could probably make out what’s being said. But they wouldn’t be whispering if they wanted Kakashi to hear them, and so he’ll give them their privacy.
Shizukana eventually comes back into the living room and sits down beside him, and he lets her take Ren and put him back with his toys for a while.
“I’m sorry,” she says. “I didn’t realize that he had picked up on my calling you Kakashi all the time.”
He sighs. “I’m sorry I’m not home more often to correct the situation.”
Her face crumples and she crosses her arms like she’s about to say something that’s going to make Kakashi feel worse about this situation, and he doesn’t need that right now, not after coming off a mission.
“I need you to try and curb this quickly, before Ren calls me that in public. Please.”
“If you could just get a village-bound—”
“Shizukana,” Kakashi stops her, “I told you already. I have four years, and then I will be mostly homebound. Until then, the Hokage will not let me leave ANBU. Stop asking me to abandon my duty to our Village.” He sighs and continues, “Regardless, we both know that it will mean more coming from you than from me. You’re his mother, and he’ll take his cues from you. Please, I need your help with this.”
Still pouting, she turns her face away from him. He can see her shoulders draw up to her ears, one of her tells that she’s upset. He tried to soften the snap with a compliment on her role as Ren’s mother, because she is a fantastic parent to their son, but she has to drop this issue about him getting a different assignment. Four years.
He tries a different approach. “Please,” he asks quietly. “Imagine if he’d called you Shizu instead of Mama.”
She stiffens and turns halfway back to look at him through her bangs. “That does sound awful,” she whispers.
He nods. “If it had happened, I would have called you mama, for him, every day for the rest of our lives if that’s what it took for him to change his language. Please, can you give me the same grace?”
She leans up against his shoulder, and Kakashi wraps his arms around her. Another one of her tells—this one, however, is a sort of apology. “There’s no guarantee,” she says. “Oftentimes, when a baby decides a word means something, getting them to change it is like moving a mountain.”
Kakashi sighs against her temple and says, “That you’ll try and give it your best attempt is all I ask.”
Ren sees his parents snuggling together beside the kotatsu and toddles over to them, falling into Shizukana’s lap and snuggling, too. Kakashi gathers them both in his arms and sighs, because if having Ren means having Shizukana, then he can admit it’s not a terrible package. He certainly wouldn’t have been able to do this parenting thing on his own. Ren would have been taken as a ward of the Village, and Kakashi would have been lucky to see him once a month.
This arrangement comes with its own challenges, of course. Shizukana is infatuated with him and he still doesn’t get to see Ren as often as he’d like. And then, of course, there’s the hopeless crush he’s nursing on a certain sensei…
But here, with Ren giggling in Shizukana’s arms, getting raspberries blown on his cheeks, and Shizukana’s own warm weight against his side… he could be happy here anyway.
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Tips appreciated 💛
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@xhatake & a scene from beginning to figure it out.
if iruka should be embarrassed, he's too tired to notice.
his apartment has been emptied of its usual noise and energy with naruto's absence and the loneliness has settled deep in his bones. weeks and months of worry about the young nin, about his safety and his very life, have worn iruka down to this - something exhausted, languishing, afraid. tension makes its home permanently in his body, in the cut of his jaw, along his shoulders, and taken out on the scrapes on the backs of his hands ( he's wrecked them, so utterly, from that constant agitated picking ). it's all too much, he's just too tired, so when he finds himself alone with kakashi, a near-constant companion iruka hadn't expected to find in him ( and certainly had never expected to trust so deeply ), that exhaustion pushes him over the edge. because he's tired of this, too, whatever uncertain game they're playing where they orbit each other like a pair of twin stars, refusing to collide. iruka can't wait it out any longer, and sure, perhaps it sounds desperate, him all-but begging kakashi to come inside and hold him, just hold him for a moment. but his strange companion obliges, and here they are now. iruka collapsed against his chest, kakashi's hands in his hair, and sleep within his grasp for the first time in what feels like weeks.
too worn to put up a facade and too comfortable to send the man away, iruka lies against him. eyes sting from tears ( he has cried. a lot. perhaps he will be mortified after all when the morning comes and he sees this night with a clear head. but for now he just doesn't have the energy to care ) and from pure exhaustion. kakashi, who iruka notes vaguely, hazily, has stayed without him asking, is warm, inviting. there is something deeply safe about him, laying in his arms, listening to the steady ( though sometimes a tad quick ) sound of his heartbeat. and its as if all iruka had needed was to be heard, to be allowed to let out that fear and agitation that has plagued him since the horrific phrase jinchuriki hunters had first been uttered to him, the way his body shuts down, almost systematically, so soon after.
he's incoherent, has likely been for quite some time, as heaving sobs shook his body and he clung to kakashi like a lifeline. but iruka, calmed now, tries to speak anyway, even as his mind shouts its protests at any delay of that sweet, on-coming rest ( finally ). "kakashi," his name is mumbled and no more than a whisper. iruka's eyes are nearly closed as he looks upwards, strains to see his face ( the parts of it that aren't concealed, at least. iruka has come undone before him and kakashi remains masked ). "thank you for being here." and he has more to say, will have much more come morning, but this is all his body will allow. thoroughly worn, pushed to its limit.
eyes flicker shut and iruka is drifting, lost to sleep in a matter of moments. the first glorious rest he's had in ages. perhaps iruka will be embarrassed, for this breakdown, for his sleepy need in the aftermath, in the light of the morning. but, if he's lucky, if things are easy, kakashi will be gone by then and he'll rebuild in his too quiet apartment once again.
#xhatake#this scene was so vivid in my mind when we spoke abt it the other day i had to flesh out some of the details on iruka's end.#this was very good for my soul to write i love the tenderness#(iruka)
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9 people you would like to know better
Tagged by @audaciousanonj! Thank you!
Three Ships
Kakashi x Iruka (my primary ship that I keep coming back to in spite of the years - Naruto), Ibiki x Iruka (current obsession, I don't know my brain just *pinged* okay?! - Naruto), and... uh... the last of my former ships that aren't currently an active center of interest, so Harry/Kim (Disco Elysium) I suppose
First ship
Other than crushes on random fictional characters, I *think* it was Misty/Ash (Pokemon). Pretty sure, yeah. Followed shortly after by Heero/Duo (Gundam Wing). But I think Pokemon came first?
Last song I listened to
youtube
because alleged friends on discord were being entirely unsupportive of my Ibiki x Iruka epiphany and I sent this to them to express the extent of their failure to live up to the social contract of our friendship
Last movie I watched:
Asterix & Obelix : Mission Cleopatra. This movie is a fucking masterpiece.
Last series:
Just started watching Gen V. I'm a bit over the over explicitness and shock value but eh it does the job as background noise.
Currently reading:
Uh, not much actually. I'm not even reading much fic, unless it's actively recommended to me. Ironically I am writing way more than I usually do, though I keep bouncing from one shiny idea to another and not finishing anything.
Last consumed:
White chocolate/pistachio stick of ice cream.
Currently craving:
Nothing, really, it's 1PM but I'm still too sleepy to feel an emotion as intense as "craving". Patiently waiting to fully wake up. I'm off work for two weeks and without the constraints of a job to keep me on track my sleep schedule melts into a puddle.
Tagging people
@dirt-nerd @cheeseanonioncrisps @nencheese @louisa-bonnet @glaspen1 @chierei @my-private-tsukuyomi @bow-an-art @gertrude-hatake
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