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It was currently Sunday. The third Sunday of June, to be precise. Today is when children, teens, and adults celebrate Father’s Day with their families and spend time with them. It was Uzumaki Naruto’s twelfth year without a father to celebrate Father’s Day with. Sure, Iruka-sensei was somewhat like a father to him, but Naruto figured he fit better as a motherly figure than a fatherly figure, not that Naruto would really know the difference between how mothers and fathers act anyway.
The sunshine haired tween let out a little sigh as he gently shut his tired eyes. Kakashi-sensei’s training was brutal, and Naruto’s muscles still remind him of it. He thought of Uchiha Sasuke and the fact that he didn’t have parents either, but Naruto still felt like he couldn’t relate to Sasuke. He guesses, they’re both orphans, but Sasuke was only orphaned a few years ago in the Uchiha massacre while Naruto- he didn’t dare finish that thought.
He slowly peeled his cerulean blue eyes open as he scanned Konohagakure from the rooftop of the tall Hokage tower. Hokage-jiji was going to celebrate with Asuma-sensei over a drink later.
‘I guess you’re never too old to celebrate these things,’ Naruto mused with a silent chuckle as he leaped from roof to roof, his mind wandering but not comprehending. He made it to Training Ground Three before Sakura-chan and Sasuke and waited for the rest of his team to arrive like planned.
Naruto sat on the top branch of one of the trees, his bored eyes looking around the village as he thought about Konohamaru. He wondered what the boy was doing since it’d been a while since they last met. His eyes roamed the various shops and stores in the village, the Yamanaka Flower Shop, the Kibas’ veterinary clinic, the market food stalls, and, Naruto squinted. A craft’s store.
‘Huh, must be new’. Glancing up at the cloudy skies, Naruto figured he still had at least an hour or two to spare before heading towards the new shop. The shop was small and had a wooden banner adorned above the entrance. Konoha Crafts Store, it read. The interior was a glaring contrast to the exterior, and Naruto had to do a double-take. The store was filled to the brim with colors, all blending together to create a blinding bright mosaic of streamers, glitter, and paper. Naruto tentatively walked around the shop, he still didn’t know what on the name of ramen compelled him to come here.
“Ah, boy” came a weathered voice from the register. A lady in her sixties stood behind the counter wearing an apron stained with paint as she motioned Naruto over with a wave of her hand.
“Are you here to make something for your father? I’ll give you a discount since it’s Father’s Day today” she gazed at him before returning to count the stack of Ryo’s on the countertop.
“Uh, I was just looking around… and it’s not like I have anyone to give it to anyways” he mumbled the last bit, head drooped down to his shoulders as he stared at the linoleum floor. The woman heard and turned towards him again.
“Boy, even though you might not have a biological father, surely there must be someone else who fits into that category, yes?” she questioned with a knowing glint in her hooded eyes. Naruto flinched and his gaze stayed on the floor.
“I- uh, no… not really” he whispered in a rare display of vulnerability. He really wondered why he came here.
“A father is someone who cares for you. He makes sure you’re okay and is always there when you need him, yes?”
Naruto felt a kick at his jaw, the force almost dislocated his bones as the metallic smell filled his mouth. He spat out a mouthful of blood as he glared back at his attacker. There was a headband that he didn’t recognize, he should've paid more attention in class when Iruka-sensei was talking. Naruto had joined Team Seven two months ago, and the experience from D-rank missions is not helping his situation right now. The shinobi was at least a chunin, that much Naruto can tell.
‘This is bad. Bad, bad, bad,’ he thought with a weary gaze at the shinobi before him. His legs were mangled and his right wrist was shattered. Naruto twitched the fingers in his bruised left hand.
‘They still work, I need a shuriken’. Just as Naruto was about to crawl his fingers into his weapons pouch, the ninja stepped viciously on his arm. Naruto bit his lip in order to keep from crying out. The taste of copper came back tenfold.
Crack. Crunch.
Naruto heard someone scream from a distance. Screaming? Why was there someone screaming? And why did his throat feel raw? Naruto belatedly realized that he was screaming. What he was screaming, he had no clue because he was busy focusing on the little black spots that danced around in his blurry vision. Naruto suddenly felt free. The weight on his hand and throat were lifted, and he could breathe again. He felt his lungs suck in an ocean’s worth of precious oxygen before coughing desperately in a poor attempt to soothe his burning throat.
“-uto. Naruto. Can you… e- Naruto?” a panicked voice came from above him. Huh? Surely he wasn’t dead yet. He clearly cracked open a swollen eye to reveal a jounin vest and gravity-defying silver hair. Ah, it was Kakashi-sensei. What was Kakashi-sensei doing in heaven? He didn’t get to finish that thought as he felt a warmth spread from his chest. It was tingly and made him feel giddy, despite that state that he was now in. As Kakashi carried him in his arms, Naruto felt the tension leave his battered body and a sense of safety engulf him. That’s right. Kakashi-sensei will save him, after all, he never failed to do so before. He felt the pull of unconsciously nab at him before dragging him under.
“He listens and helps you out, gives advice when you seek it, and when you’re around him you feel safe and protected.”
“Kakashi-sensei?” Naruto sheepishly asked with his hands twisting behind his back. He received a hum in reply. His sensei was still nose deep into his Icha-Icha book, Naruto would’ve made a face at it if he weren’t so nervous. Sensing his student’s abnormal silence, Kakashi looked up and cocked a brow at him.
“I- uh… what’s the best way to apologize to someone after a fight?” Naruto spoke in hurried sentences, his whiskered cheeks tinting a light pink. Kakashi hummed as he recalled Naruto and Sasuke’s fight the day before. It wasn’t serious per se, but it did leave both boys with scratches all over-or at least, it left Naruto with scratches all over. He glanced towards his blonde student, whose face was the epitome of embarrassment as he wrung his hands over and over again. Kakashi withheld a chuckle as he pondered thoughtfully.
“I guess, the best way would be to just say sorry and then take them out to do something fun afterward”. Naruto positively beamed a smile brighter than the sun when he looked at his sensei.
“Thanks, Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto yelled over his shoulder as he dashed off to find the brooding dark-haired boy and drag him off to Ichiraku’s. Kakashi let out a fond sigh before turning back to continue his reading book.
“That is what a father is, boy. Surely, you have someone in mind?” Naruto paused and scanned around the shop before his gaze landed back on the smiling woman, her crow’s feet framing her closed eyes.
“Yeah, I do. Thanks, baa-chan” he grinned before swiping a few pieces of colorful paper, a stack of crayons, and a bottle of glitter and heading to work on the first card he’s ever made.
Naruto glanced at the clock of the crafts store.
15:21
‘Oh no! I’m going to be late!’ Naruto fished some Ryo out of his froggy pouch and left them on the counter before dashing away to the Jounin Standby Station. He peeked inside and spotted Kurenai-sensei sitting on one of the green couches scattered across the room.
“Kurenai-sensei!” he called for her attention and handed her a little box. Kurenai stared at it with puzzled ruby eyes.
“Please give this to Kakashi-sensei when he gets back later. Oh, and don’t peek!” he cheekily added before running for Training Ground Three. Kurenai looked confused but shrugged anyway. The kid had his reasons after all.
“Alright, good work today everybody.” Kakashi’s famous eye smile was directed towards his students splayed out on the grass before he saluted and found himself back at the Jounin Standby Station. He glanced at the clock.
18:56
Kakashi plopped himself on a plush couch and rested an arm over his eyes. He sensed Kurenai’s presence and lifted his arm to look at her questioning. “Naruto dropped this off earlier today. He says it’s for you” she simply stated before walking away towards the Hokage tower. Kakashi furrowed his brows as he stared at the plain baby blue box in his hands. What could be so important for Naruto to- oh. Kakashi looked dumbly at the glitter card in the box. The card was made from orange paper and had a handful of blue glittered tacked onto the cover. He opened the card and felt his eyes sting. The interior of the card housed a crayon drawing of two barely identifiable stick figures. One was taller and was drawn in black. There were lines sticking vertically from the head and a mask and headband on the face- oh. Kakashi looked at it closer before realizing.
'That’s me’. His green jounin vest was present on the figure as well as his trademark eye smile. The other shorter figure was drawn in blue with a mop of yellow squiggles on its head. It wore an orange and blue jumpsuit- which was merely visible if it weren’t for the bright orange glitter scattered all over it. The stick figure had a grin drawn on it and Kakashi realized that this figure resembled Naruto. He glanced down to the bottom of the drawings. Happy Father’s Day Kakashi-sensei!, it read. Kakashi was trying with all his might to stop the tears from flowing. He looked over to the back of the card. There was a lengthy scrawl in what seems to be Naruto’s best handwriting there, Kakashi thought back to the chicken scratch that Naruto had often used when signing forms and looked back at this semi-legible writing. Kakashi was definitely not tearing up, again.
Dear, Kakashi-sensei,
Happy Father’s Day! Okay, I know this might be weird, but the lady at the shop said that a father was caring, gave advice, and made you feel safe, and since you fit into all of those categories… You get what I mean right? Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, you’re kinda like my dad ‘ttebayo! I appreciate you being there for me all the time!
I love you!
Your most favorite student,
Uzumaki Naruto
Kakashi was beyond the point of trying to convince himself that he was not crying. The handful of jounins situated in the room stared with wide eyes at the copy-nin bawling his eyes- or, well, eye in this case, and clutching a piece of glitter paper to his chest as if it were a fragile newborn. They heard him mutter something about ‘ramen’ and ‘fathers’ before leaping out the window. They sweatdropped before pretending as if they didn’t just see the world-famous shinobi ugly cry on the couch in the corner of the room. -- Naruto thought over his card as he relaxed on his bed, pyjamas, and nightcap already on. He hoped his sensei liked it, he thought and turned his head to stare out the window- which was open and next to it stood the very person he was just thinking about. Withholding a yelp, he quickly shut the window and stared at his sensei like a fish out of water, his mouth opening and closing without any sound coming out. Before he could speak, Kakashi had already engulfed him in a tight hug before releasing the oxygen-deprived boy seconds later.
“I received your card, Naruto.” Timid blue eyes stared up at soft charcoal ones.
“Thank you,” Kakashi whispered with a soft ruffle to Naruto’s soft blond spikes, his nightcap now lay forgotten on the floor. Naruto couldn’t describe what he felt. Giddy? No, that wasn't it. Ecstatic? Not quite. Loved? He halted for a second. No, even though this feeling is there too it’s not it. He faced Kakashi’s jounin vest as he subtly nudged his sensei’s large warm hand to continue patting it, which he did with pleasure.
‘Ah,’ Naruto finally realized. ‘This is what they call fatherly love, isn’t it. Affection? Or maybe home?’ to Naruto, they all fit the category spot on. “I’ve got to go on a mission now, Naruto. I’ll see you when I get back, yeah?” Kakashi whispered into the night as he withdrew his hand, earning a whine from Naruto before he exited out from the windows and to the village gates. Naruto thinks he could get used to this.