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Few things could get past the infamous ANBU that guarded the Hokage’s office. Assassination attempts were nothing for these skilled shinobi. However, there was one thing they feared greatly. Well, one person, that is. Ever since Kakashi Hatake became Hokage, no one was willing to stand in the way of his husband, Iruka. It was well known amongst the ANBU ranks that if you saw the angry chunin, the best thing was to get out of his way. The Hokage deserved whatever tongue lashing was coming.
This is why no one warned the Hokage that his husband was approaching his office with a scowl on his face. Kakashi was balancing their four-year-old son on his knee when Iruka stormed into his office. “Dada!” Kona giggled happily at the sight of his other father.
The angry look on his face faded for a moment as he crossed the room and scooped the boy up. “Oh, how is my favorite little one doing? Are you have fun with daddy?” Their little boy nodded enthusiastically. “I am so happy to hear that. I heard that Uncle Shikamaru wanted to take you down to the shop for a treat.” They would often take him to the small store near the tower after Kakashi left the office for the day.
Kona may have been delighted with his surprise, but Kakashi looked panicked. There was only one reason he would send their son away; Kakashi was a dead man walking. He tried to beg Shikamaru to stay with a pleading stare, but too soon, his assistant was fleeing the room with Kona in tow. Iruka turned to him and smiled sweetly. Oh, Kami. “Ru, I can-”
“Don’t,” Iruka told him flatly. He carefully pushed aside the reports that had accumulated on his desk until he found his inbox. “Why is your inbox full of Kona’s drawings?”
“Well, you see-”
“These reports have been sitting here since yesterday, Kakashi. Have you processed any of them at all?” Kakashi opened his mouth to try to respond again, but Iruka pinned him with a glare. “And what’s this I hear about you stopping council meetings to play with Kona?”
The Hokage reached up and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “It’s not actually to play with him. He likes showing off his drawings, and I didn’t want him to think I was ignoring him.”
Iruka rubbed the bridge of his nose, sighing heavily. “You said you could handle having Kona here with you at work, so I didn’t have to manage pre-genins AND a toddler.”
“I can! It’s not my fault; he’s so cute. And look at this!” He held up a drawing of what looked to be Pakkun, his paw in Kona’s hand. “Pakkun is going to die when he sees this! Are you telling me I am supposed to ignore our son’s amazing work and talk about boring stuff like the budget?”
“Yes! You are the Hokage. It’s your job to talk about the budget. I can’t even with you right now, Kakashi. When Shikamaru gets back, I am taking Kona back to class with me to finish out the day.”
“Ru, please. I promise I will catch up on my work. I already told him he could spend the rest of the day with me.” Kakashi reached out and grabbed his husband’s hand. “I promise I will focus more on work and let Shikamaru watch over him.”
Iruka looked down at him, clearly suspicious. “Fine, but if I come back here after work and this pile is still here, you are sleeping on the couch.” He leaned down and kissed Kakashi on the cheek. “Behave, or else.” With a wave, his husband headed out.
A few minutes later, Shikamaru returned with Kona. His face was covered with some sticky substance, but he looked utterly pleased. “So, how did things go with Iruka-sensei?”
Kakashi took the boy from his arms, leaning in close. “Do you know that I know seven ways to kill a man with just my thumb? Out of everyone in this office, I never expected you to turn on me.”
The Nara heir just laughed nervously, slinking away to the paperwork he’d been working on that day. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Hokage-sama. I should get this paperwork done before the next meeting. We have so much to talk about pertaining, uh,” he looked down at the documents, “water canals. Yep, need to figure out this and finish my report.”
The Hokage was not convinced but went back to work as he didn’t want a second talking to from his husband. It was hard not to let Kona distract him, but the boy seemed content to spend the rest of the day drawing to his heart's content. Kakashi snuck a few glances in here and there, telling him how excellent his work was. His back started to cramp towards the end of the day. He'd spent much of it hunched over doing paperwork. Maybe Iruka had been correct about how much he’d let his work slide.
He would never finish at this rate, and Iruka would be coming to grab Kona in about an hour. If he were going to make a dent in the work, he needed to get serious about it. He cracked his fingers, hangs flashing through the signs to summon two clones. His son stared up, wide-eyed at the clones. “Three daddies,” he whispered in awe. No matter how many times he saw this jutsu, he still loved having so many dads to play with him.
Unfortunately, today the clones couldn’t play tag as they usually did. Instead, the three of them tore through the reports in record time. Kakashi was on his last report when he felt a familiar chakra signature approach. He had been expecting him this time and hastily dismissed his clones just as Iruka entered his office. He could tell his husband was mildly surprised by his progress but chose not to comment.
-
Iruka let Kona keep joining him at work as long he made sure work didn’t fall through the cracks. He was working harder than ever to keep on top of everything. If it meant summoning a clone or two along the way, then he’d do it. He sometimes stepped away during the day with Kona and enjoyed teaching him to throw toy shuriken and kunai. He wouldn’t trade this time for anything.
Everything was going so well until he fell asleep during a council meeting. The constant drain from the clones got to him as he had let himself get a bit too behind that day. He might have overdone it and summoned one too many. The disapproving looks from the council members told him his small slip had not gone unnoticed. No doubt, news of his quick nap would make it back to Iruka.
Sure enough, when he met Iruka that evening , Anko was there to whisk Kona away for a night out with his favorite auntie. His son’s loyalty was bought with the promise of homemade dango. He waved goodbye, leaving his father to his fate. Kakashi swallowed heavily and trailed after Iruka. He had the decency to save his lecture until they made it home. It wouldn’t do to have the Hokage dressed down in public.
Iruka was quiet as they entered their house, which was not a good sign. His husband was expressive and loud when upset. He only got quiet like this when he was disappointed. Heart sinking, he trailed after him, his metaphorical tail between his legs. They sat on the couch together, the awkward silence growing until the chunin finally broke. “Why, Kashi? Shikamaru told me you summoned four clones today. I know you have more chakra reserve since you lost the Sharingan, but three has always been your normal limit.”
Kakashi couldn’t even be mad at his assistant for telling Iruka about that because, in hindsight, it had been foolish of him. He could manage four clones at once now, but it was a significant strain on him. “I still had so much paperwork to do, and I didn’t want to fall further behind.”
“I don’t understand. You said you were handling your paperwork just fine. Why did you lie to me?” The pain in his voice broke Kakashi’s heart. He’d never meant to lie about it, but things had spiraled a bit out of control.
He frowned, staring down at his lap. Why had he let things get so far out of hand? “I didn’t want you to think I couldn’t handle work and Kona.”
Iruka reached over and grabbed his hand. “Kashi, it’s okay if having Kona there is too much. You have the most important job in the village and watching a toddler is a full-time job by itself. I think we both need to realize that he needs someone to watch after him during the day. Maybe Ebisu-san is willing to take him on and start training him.”
“No!” Kakashi surprised them both with his visceral response to Iruka’s suggestion. “I mean Ebisu-san is fine. I don’t want him training yet. Playing ninja is one thing, but formal training can wait.” He looked away for a moment, not wanting his husband to see the tears in his eyes. “I want him to have a real childhood. When I was his age, people had already dubbed me a protege, and my father was already pushing me to be the best. He meant well, but I don’t want that for Kona.”
His husband gently gripped his chin, turning his face back toward him. “I love you so much, Kashi. We aren’t your father. We aren’t going to make the same mistakes with him. We’re going to make all new ones, I promise.” That made Kakashi smile through the tears. “You should have just told me what was going on. I thought you were worried about his safety or wanted extra time for training. I never suspected this was why you started taking him with you.”
He let Iruka brush away his tears, but he still felt so open and raw. “I mean, I do worry about his safety, but I trust my ANBU to keep him safe. It’s just everything he draws something he’s so happy, and I want to stop everything to share in his joy. I keep every one of those drawings to remind me things are different for him. He doesn't have to carry the burden we did. He has more chosen family that I could ever hope for and a family that loves him. We both lost much growing up that I want more for him. I would move mountains if he asked me to.”
“You have no idea how much I love you right now.” Iruka moved forward, resting his head against Kakashi’s. “For a genius, you are an idiot sometimes.”
“I know.”
They shared a laugh, and any ill feelings were soothed away with soft touches and gentle kisses. That night, after they tucked Kona in, Kakashi noticed Iruka slip away. He did that sometimes to visit his parents at the memorial stone. He didn’t worry about him leaving. His ANBU guards would watch over him, and he wanted to give him some space after such an emotionally charged day.
The next morning he was up before Iruka, so he wandered through the house half-awake to make some tea. The door to his office was partially open, which was unusual. He pushed it open, eyes widening in shock. One full wall was decorated with Kona’s drawings, with a picture of the three of them in the center. His heart swelled as he took in his husband’s handy work.
Familiar arms wrapped around his waist as Iruka pressed against his back. “I hope you don’t mind, but I took some artistic license decorating your offices.”
“Offices?” The only response from Iruka was laughter. No doubt he’d find a similar wall in the tower when he went in later. “I think you should do all of our interior decorating from now on.” He put his hands over Iruka’s arms and took a moment to enjoy the life they had built together. Maybe this isn’t the path he saw for himself once, but he wouldn’t change it for the world.