Work Text:
He rubs his eyes to fend off sleep. But knowing it's useless, Kakashi puts the Icha-Icha paradise on the nightstand and pulls up the sheets to completely cover himself up.
Suddenly, the door bell chimes.
What?
He peeks out from beneath the covers and looks at the clock on the nightstand.
1:36 a.m. It displayed brightly.
"Ah, can't I get a night's proper sleep?" He mumbled to himself and moves to the main door groggily. It wasn't a rare occurrence for Naruto to summon him at odd times of night to take help for the things he believes he cannot handle singularly. As much as he feels happy to know that he's still important to his students and his village, the predicament of running across half the village in the middle of the night is not exactly fun.
Although, as he opens the door, he is shocked.
"Sasuke?" He asks, uncertain.
"Hn." The younger man replies.
From looking at his pale flushed cheeks, Kakashi deduces that the boy must have been drunk. He wonders he is drunk enough to believe that this is his home. Though, he steps aside to let Sasuke enter the house and closes the door behind him.
"Are you sure that you didn't come here by mistake. I hope you know, I'm not Sakura. I'm Kakashi, you're former teacher."
Sasuke turns to give him a fierce glare.
"…Um, okay. So, you do know." He chuckled.
In the next few minutes, Sasuke sheds his coat, removing his jacket, he rolls up the sleeves of his grey coloured shirt makes himself comfortable on the couch.
"Why are you here, Sasuke?" Kakashi asks as he brings a glass of cold water for him, which is gulped down by the Uchiha instantly.
Sasuke turns his head around and mumbles something in a volume that doesn't allow Kakashi to decipher the message.
"Sasuke?"
"I need help." The younger man looks at him in exasperation.
"What happened?" Kakashi asks.
"Well…Sakura, sort of, kicked me out of the house?" His voice is low, and he is definitely embarrassed.
Kakashi blinks, one, twice and thrice and manages to utter out, "Huh?"
Sasuke scowls at him. "I said Sakura threw me out of the house!"
As finally Kakashi's mind grasps the Sasuke words, he blurts out, "Now, what did you do?"
And Sasuke wonders why everyone thinks that it's always his fault. But the way Sakura had been angry at him, maybe it was.
Sasuke hides his face in shame. "I might have something wrong to Sarada. She got very upset and Sakura raged at me for making our daughter cry."
"Of course, she did. Sakura is Sarada's Mama Bear, you know?" Kakashi nods to himself, after all, it was not a very hidden fact that Sakura has always been super protective of her only child. Even from her own husband and the father of that child.
"I didn't even mean to hurt Sarada!" Sasuke yells out as if he is a child who has been accused of eating the last cookie in the jar.
"So, let me get this straight. You said something stupid to your daughter and your wife kicked you out of the house? And now you're here because you have nowhere to stay and you need some parenting advice?"
"…Yes." it takes a while for Sasuke to respond.
As soon as he does, Kakashi bursts out laughing and Sasuke looks at him with an expression that says you-piece-of-shit-why-the-hell-are-you-laughing-at-my-misery. Finally Kakashi somehow manages to refrain himself from laughing but still looks amused.
"You are aware of the fact that I'm still a bachelor, unmarried and…childless? Right?"
"Of course, I do!" Sasuke growls.
Kakashi knew he was having too much fun at the expense of his student but this was simply hilarious! But a part of Kakashi feels warmth, seeing a child who cared about nothing but revenge growing up into this man who was so dedicated to his family and village was a pleasure. If there was anything that personified 'happiness' then Kakashi wanted his students to have it. Because they deserved it. All of them.
Sasuke, though oblivious to his teacher's thought processes, continues like a petulant, arrogant kid, "But that never stopped you from annoying us or bossing us around."
If Kakashi would have been someone else, then the meaning behind those words would have went uncovered. But since this was him, he roughly translated Sasuke's words into this:
'But that never stopped you from loving us and looking after us.'
Sasuke's turn of head makes him sure that this was the hidden meaning. Kakashi sighs.
"What did you do? What did you tell your child?"
Sasuke takes a deep breath and says, "She wanted to go out training at so late in night and I told her not to."
…
"Sarada? Where are you going?" Sasuke calls out to his daughter after noticing her wearing all of her battle gear.
"Hm?" She gives him a side glance, "Night training?" She asks him as if it is the most obvious thing in the world.
He narrows his eyes, "Do you know what time it is?"
She now fully rotates towards him and looks at him skeptically. "Yes. What's wrong, Papa?"
He exhales. "No, you're not going."
Now Sarada glares at him, "Care to explain, why?"
Sasuke pauses to think, "Will Boruto be there? Or Orochimaru's boy even?"
"No. They're not coming." She tries to hide her exasperation, "and his name is Mitsuki."
"Then you're not going out anywhere now. You can go tomorrow." Sasuke declares.
Now, he can definitely feel her anger flaring but he defiantly stands his ground.
"What has my training has got to do with them? My dream is to become Hokage! And for that I have to become strong, not them. I won't be given the position because my team mates are powerful. I can only reach my goal if I'm strong enough to deserve it. I have to train harder." She tries to force her point.
Sasuke pinches the bridge of his nose and asserts, "Sarada, you can go in the morning."
"Training in morning isn't going to improve my skills observation. Training in night is a lot different than training in day. And battles are not always supposed to happen in daylight, you know?" She is now actually livid.
"Sarada…" He is now exasperated.
"Alright, I will listen to you if you give a reason worthy enough." The challenge in her voice is evident.
"Fine, why don't you realise that you're just a child!" He raises the volume of his words to justify himself.
"Child…?" She looks at him shocked. But then yells out, "I'm not a child anymore! I'm sixteen! So stop treating me like one! Just because you weren't there in the beginning doesn't mean that barging into our lives now and dictating everything in accordance to your own desires is fair! Mom, would never do this!"
"Yes, because I'm not your mother, Sarada! And do I need to remind you? The result of that latest mission of yours?"
She flinched back. The last mission was disastrous for the new team 7. They were ambushed by a group of rogue ninjas and had barely made back alive due to the intervention of a backup squad sent by Naruto.
"So, this means, you don't trust me, do you?" Her bangs hide her eyes but she is visibly shaking.
"No, I don't." He's too blunt. "You're weak." He's too cruel.
"Stop, you don't have to say anymore." She leaves for her room, her head hanging down, unable to bear the thought of her own father not trusting her and her abilities. She understands that she's weak buy that's why she wants to train. To become strong. Her father trusts Boruto and Mitsuki more than her? It's painful.
Sasuke stands there like a rock, wondering if he went too far. But he loves her and wants to do everything in his power to keep her safe. Although when he turns around, he comes face to face with a furious Sakura.
…
"Wasn't that a bit hypocritical?" Kakashi's voice has a contemplative edge.
"Hypocritical?" Sasuke raises his brows at his teacher's words.
"Yes, you always show how proud you are of her and how much faith you have on her, especially in the exams that include all the hidden villages, where there is cutthroat competition and very strong opponents. Where did that confidence vanish when she asked for a little training session at night? And you really went as far as pointing out at the mishaps for her latest mission. Isn't it hypocrisy? You show to the world how much faith you have in your kid but then forbid her from something as trivial as training?"
As if the sudden realisation dawned on Sasuke, his eyes went wide.
"I didn't mean it." He said in a barely audible volume, "I was just worried about her. I mean, the more powerful and famous she's getting, the harder it is to protect her. I never wanted her to be targeted for her Uchiha lineage but the Shinobi world won't have it any other way. You already know about the recent ambush, don't you? Then how do I protect her?"
Kakashi let out a soft sigh and said, "Sasuke…the best way to protect her is to let her get stronger. She has her own dreams and ambitions. Don't let your overprotectiveness come in her way of dreams. And I definitely understand how you feel."
At Sasuke's perplexed gaze Kakashi smiled sadly.
"What do you think I felt when I let you fight enemies that were capable of destroying the world. It wasn't easy. I knew it was life threatening for you and your team mates but still…I didn't stop you. Because it was necessary."
'It was the same for me.' was left unsaid.
…
The next day Sasuke trudges to home along with an amused Kakashi.
"You know, I think I shouldn't take your advice."
"Hm? Why is that?"
"Last time you told me to give her some cute pet name and she didn't like it."
"Oh… she's a child of next generation, Sasuke. And maybe old books won't work on her. But this time I haven't consulted any book. So I think you'll be fine."
"Hn."
…
When they reach the Uchiha home, Sakura is standing at the front gate. Kakashi steps back, letting Sasuke know that he's on his own now.
There are not many words exchanged between the husband and wife but whatever little interactions they had, Kakashi knew it was important. Sasuke enters the house and Sakura turns to him, giving the father and daughter some privacy.
"I should have known that he'd come to you." Sakura says with a smile on her face.
Kakashi laughs, "You should have seen him. He was sulking that you and Sarada-chan were mad at him."
Sakura giggles, "I sort of expected that."
But then Kakashi softly tells her, "He's trying hard, you know."
"Yes, I do. Better than anyone else." Even though her lips are curved into a smile, her emerald eyes are clouded with something similar to melancholy. And as always it does not escape Kakashi's notice.
A few minutes later, a brightly smiling Sarada pokes her head out of the house, followed by her Papa.
"Mama! Papa's going to cook for us tonight!" Her twinkling smile and shining eyes made Kakashi adore her more. As soon as he notices him, she calls out, "Uncle Kakashi! Please join us!" Her hopeful eyes almost make him accept the invitation but something forces his gaze to flick towards the older Uchiha.
Kakashi receives a curt and inviting nod from his former student which said something like this.
"You're welcomed here. Always."