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Sunlight filtered through the curtains of Kakashi's bedroom windows, the mid day sun warming the air slightly as Kakashi was slowly pulled from sleep. Blinking his eyes open, he sat up, holding tight to his blanket around his shoulders. He glanced around his room, a little bit confused. Why hadn't his father come to wake him up? It wasn't like him to sleep late, and it was even less like Sakumo to not come check on him when he wasn't up at his usual time.
Shaking his head, he got out of bed, taking time to get dressed for the day, pulling his mask on over his head as he left his room. He padded down the halls, checking rooms for signs of his father, but having no real luck. Worry started to eat at him, his stomach twisting as he unintentionally picked up his pace. When he still had no real sign of anyone else being in the house when he reached the kitchen, he froze.
Where was his father? Why was he gone? Had he taken another mission and forgotten to tell Kakashi? A million questions swirled around in his head as he fought back the panic that had been slowly building up in his chest. He carefully made his way over to the table and sat down in one of the chairs, keeping his breath steady. He had to slow down, and think this over properly.
He didn't have any missions himself, so he hadn't missed anything of his own by sleeping in late. He could write any worries over missing his own commitments off, as they were unfounded. His breathing got a little bit easier, a little more genuinely calm. Good.
Perhaps his father had just gone over to a friend's house for breakfast, and got carried away. That would make sense. He had been working hard to get out of the depression he had fallen into after one particular mission, so perhaps he had simply gone out for a walk, or to train himself. Another good reason to not be home. Carefully, he ran through potential scenarios that actually made sense for why his father wasn't home. After a few minutes, his breathing had eased considerably, and he got up, steadying himself with the table just in case.
Deciding that he should probably pick up the slack on what training he had missed in the morning, he went about making himself something to eat for breakfast – or was it lunch now? He wasn't sure.
However, just as he opened the fridge, he heard the front door open as well, and closed it, running out into the hall and to the front door.
Kakashi slammed into Sakumo, winding the older shinobi as he clung tight with a hug. Sakumo laughed lightly, patting Kakashi on the head before returning the hug with a little bit less force.
“Where were you?” Kakashi pressed, glaring up and folding his arms in front of him when he finally let go. His foot tapped the ground impatiently as Sakumo stared at him, eyebrows raised and eyes wide.
Sakumo glanced behind him momentarily before stepping out of the way, revealing Might Dai and his son, Gai, in the doorway. Gai had been bouncing on the balls of his feet, trying to see past Sakumo into the house, and his bouncing only increased when he caught sight of Kakashi.
“Oh,” Kakashi said, posture loosening a bit.
“I was out getting groceries, and ran into Dai at the supermarket. We ended up talking for a while, and I didn't even realize the time. I'm sorry if I worried you, Kakashi,” Sakumo said, crouching down to Kakashi's eye level.
Kakashi looked away, expression neutral once more. “'S fine. Anyways, why did they come back with you?” he asked, glancing over at Gai and Dai.
Gai seemed to begin vibrating when Kakashi acknowledged that he was there, bouncing faster and looking around as if to see if there was any way past Sakumo into the house.
“We came back because it's been a while since our last challenge and I figured it's time for another!” Gai shouted excitedly, causing Sakumo to wince slightly at the very loud noise that was rather close to his ears.
“I also thought they may want to come over and have dinner with us,” Sakumo said, ruffling Kakashi's hair as he stood back up and let the other two go past him. “Sorry about that, I should have moved earlier. Not very host like of me to leave you two standing in the doorway.”
“Oh, don't worry about it. You had to make sure that your little one here was alright! There's no need to apologize,” Dai laughed, clapping Sakumo on the shoulder reassuringly. “Now, I think we should make some lunch while these two do some training!”
Without waiting, Gai grabbed Kakashi's hand and began to try tugging him through the house out back to the garden, with little success. Kakashi walked along at his own pace as Gai tugged at his arm to try and get him to go faster. This wasn't entirely out of the ordinary for the two of them, but Kakashi was rather glad that this was happening in the afternoon rather than at some ridiculous time in the morning. He didn't enjoy being bombarded with Gai's hyper enthusiasm when he was still half asleep.
Gai threw open the door to the garden and training area, finally letting go of Kakashi's hand and bounding ahead of him. Kakashi glanced down at his socked feet and sat down on the porch for a moment, tugging his socks off so as to not dirty them. He still was trying to dig up the energy in him to train with another person; he hadn't planned on it, and between the earlier panic and the sleeping in, he wasn't sure just how long he could train today.
The day was warm, and as Kakashi sat on the porch, stretching and doing some basic warm ups, he felt the overwhelming urge to lay in the grass and just go back to sleep. One day off of training wouldn't hurt...
Just as he thought that, Gai let out a shout from further into the garden, pulling his thoughts back to the moment. Getting up, he carefully wandered over to where he saw Gai standing around the pond.
“You didn't tell me you had turtles!” he gasped, eyes twinkling as he watched a couple turtles swim around, and climb on the rocks.
“I didn't know. I don't spend much time around the pond. I think they come by during nesting season,” Kakashi said, crouching down to get a closer look at them.
Gai dropped down to sit next to him, tugging off his shoes and gently dipping his feet in the water. Kakashi watched him out of the corner of his eye, not used to him being so... relaxed, especially not after being so loud a moment before.
“Training can wait, I guess...” he muttered, sitting cross legged on the grass next to Gai, dipping his fingers in the water.
“We have to enjoy our youth! That's what my papa says, at least! And if we're always training, we don't get a chance to actually enjoy it!” Gai said, excited yet quieter than before still.
“You're not shouting,” Kakashi said, eyeing him over suspiciously.
Gai looked over at him, a confused look turning into a wide smile after a moment. “I don't want to scare the turtles away! Papa says if I'm too loud, then it can scare them away! We got to watch them hatch last year, and I almost made them hide, and then they wouldn't have made it to the water!”
Kakashi hummed, turning his attention back to the pond and turtles in front of them. With the conversation over, Gai fell silent as well, swinging his feet back and forth, swirling the water gently. The two sat there for a while, neither speaking, attention fixated on the pond life. It wasn't long, however, before two voices called from the house.
“Boys, lunch is ready! Are you two- oh!” Sakumo called, pausing as he got to the doorway. Sakumo tilted his head as he watched Kakashi wave him off, laying on his stomach in front of the koi pond, unused to the sight. “Are you two done training for the day?” he asked, walking closer to see what they were doing.
Gai shook his head, looking up at him. “No! We decided that instead of training, today we would take time to enjoy our youth!” he said, flashing Sakumo a big, toothy grin.
Sakumo smiled back, looking over at Kakashi, who was letting one of the fish nibble at his fingers with a curious look in his eyes. “Well then, how about we all have lunch outside today? If that's the plan you two have, then it would be a shame to waste this beautiful day inside when the meal could just as easily be brought out,” he said, crouching down and taking a closer look at the fish.
“Sounds fine,” Kakashi said, glancing up at his father for just a moment before going back to focusing his entire attention on the fish.
Sakumo chuckled to himself, pushing to his feet with a soft grunt and padding back inside to go let Dai know what the plans were now.
Dai turned around when the door to the kitchen opened up, a bright smile plastered on his face as he spun, holding a perfectly packed bento box. Realizing that it was just Sakumo, his eyebrows pinched slightly, and he opened his mouth to ask where the boys were, only to be cut off.
“Gai said that the two were 'taking time to enjoy their youth' so I suggested that we all eat lunch outside, so they didn't waste the nice day inside,” he said, shaking his head lightly with a smile. “Those boys are certainly something else, that's for sure.”
Dai's grin returned, just a little bit softer this time. “I'm glad those two are taking the day off. They both train almost too hard, though I can't say it's not paying off for Gai. My boy is getting stronger and stronger each day, and not just physically,” he said, turning around and putting the lid on the bento box. “He's learning how to manage his emotions better, while still feeling them fully. It's wonderful, that he's not closing himself off even as he becomes a true shinobi.”
Sakumo nodded. “He's been helping Kakashi come out of his shell more as well; teaching him how to respect his limits and when to push past them. They're like day and night those two.”
“Compliment each other well, wouldn't you say?”
“Very much so. Let's hurry up and bring them their lunch before they start wondering where I went,” Sakumo said, picking up two of the other bento boxes that Dai had prepared for himself and Kakashi.
Back in the garden, Kakashi and Gai were still by the pond. Gai had tugged the legs of his jumpsuit up, and was standing in the water, watching the turtles swim around his shins. Kakashi had flipped over, laying on his back now, watching Gai practically vibrating with excitement.
Hearing the door to the garden open up once more, he half sat up, watching as Sakumo and Dai carried four bento boxes and a blanket out into the yard, laying it on the ground nearby. He pushed himself into a proper sitting position, reaching up as the edge of the blanket came near his head and catching it. He lay it flat on the ground in front of him, and turned to look at Gai once more.
Gai was looking between the blanket and the turtles with a torn expression, far too in his element to want to leave, but far too hungry to be fully convinced of staying. Dai glanced down, noticing the turtles that were hanging around him with a huge smile. He gave Gai a big thumbs up before waving him over to the rest of the group.
Reluctantly, Gai slowly started walking towards the edge of the pond, being extremely careful to not startle the turtles. As he stepped out of the water, the turtles hung around at the edge for a moment before seeming to realize that the mysterious person among them had left and swimming away.
“Did you see that!?” Gai said, bounding over to his dad, looking between him and the pond. “They like me!”
“They do! You did wonderfully, not scaring them off! You must have been very careful to be calm and quiet around them!” Dai said, setting the bento down and picking his son up, spinning him around once before setting him back down. “Now, you must be hungry, so eat up!”
Gai plopped himself down on the picnic blanket, pulling his pant legs down again as he sat down, and happily took the bento box that Sakumo offered him.
With the four of them sitting down for a warm, spring afternoon lunch, nothing seemed like it could be wrong. Kakashi pulled his mask down, still rather shy over showing his face, but comfortable enough to not mind it particularly.
It was nice, he figured, not having to worry about training, or missions, or... being a ninja for once. He was happy, and felt that he could just be a kid, for once. So, he did. He ate his lunch, then accepted the ridiculous challenges that Gai proposed, with absolutely no guilt. They climbed trees, played in the pond, and chased each other around the garden and house, laughing all the while.
By the time Gai and Dai went home, Kakashi was exhausted, and the sun was setting. The two had stayed for dinner as well, the boys doing their best to help their dads cook, but mostly just getting in the way.
“Did you have fun today?” Sakumo asked Kakashi as he helped him get ready for bed, despite his protests.
“Mhm,” Kakashi hummed, nodding with a subdued yawn. “Breaks are... important, I guess.”
“They are. You have to take care of yourself before you can try and take care of your team, your family, or your friends. If you don't take care of yourself first, then you won't have the energy to take care of others,” Sakumo explained, helping Kakashi pull on his pyjama shirt after he missed the arm holes for a fourth time.
“Is that why you took that time off work, a while back?” Kakashi asked, climbing into bed once he had his pyjamas on.
“Well, sort of. Papa was... very, very sad for a while. It's why Dai was helping out around the house back then more often than now. I couldn't take missions for a while, not only because I needed to take care of me, but because people didn't trust me for quite some time,” he explained, tucking Kakashi into his blankets, “Things are better, now, but some people don't like me, even after all this time. I can understand why they don't, though, and they are allowed to. I know I did my best, and that's what matters. I couldn't give up, because I've got you to take care of.”
Kakashi was quiet for a long moment. “Did you want to give up?” he asked, voice soft.
Sakumo looked at his son for a long moment, knowing what was on his mind. “I did. But, it was because of the people I still have that I didn't. You did your best, Kakashi, and no one blames you for what happened. I'm here any time you need me, alright? I'll always be here for you. I understand that it hurts to lose a friend, but you can't give up, and if you ever feel like you want to, you can come to me, alright?”
“Alright,” Kakashi answered, snuggling into his blankets. “... I like Gai. He's a good friend. I almost forgot that I'm sad, today.”
Pressing a kiss to Kakashi's forehead, Sakumo smiled. “He's a friend that's going to be by your side for a long time, I think. Having friends that help us forget that we're sad, even if we're sad about losing another friend, is a gift. Protect that gift, alright? But don't be afraid to admit that sometimes that gift will be the one protecting you.”
Kakashi nodded once more, a yawn escaping him as he rolled over in bed. Sakumo pet his hair for a moment longer before getting up and turning the light off, letting Kakashi drift off to sleep, warm, comfort able, and content.