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Mirai hadn’t ever had a positive relationship with her hair. If anything, it was adversarial.
The way she saw it, her hair was a thick, disorderly mass of awkward knots, especially when she had to go without watching it for a while on long missions. She hadn’t been able to easily get a comb through her locks since the age of ten. Sometimes, she’d have to enlist the help of Kurenai or the even less gentle Temari. It defied any style. No jutsu or tool could compel Mirai’s mane to neatness, even with how short she kept it. She had no idea how her mother managed a longer haircut when she was the one who Mirai had gotten this hair from.
So, it had come as quite a surprise when Tatsumi suddenly said how much she loved Mirai’s hair. “Beautiful!” she’d called it, without any warning or buildup.
The civilian girl looked completely transfixed while she admired Mirai’s short hair. It was surprising because – in Mirai’s opinion –Tatsumi’s own hair looked much more impressive, falling out of her messy makeshift updo post-bath in shimmery waves of strawberry blond. The shimmered in the light and swayed invitingly with Tatsumi’s every movement.
Mirai choked on the coffee milk she had been drinking when Tatsumi made that comment. “O-Oh. Um… Thanks?” Mirai said, offering a confused half-smile.
Tatsumi mirrored Mirai’s awkward grin with a sweet smile of her own. It was cute, even cuter with the way her messy hair was still half-up and half-down. Mirai would be transfixed by it herself, but it was a little hard to focus on Tatsumi’s reactions when Mirai could hear Kakashi and Guy loudly laughing from across the room.
“Well, Mirai, I guess your ‘unruly’ hair isn’t so bad after all, huh?” Kakashi teased, having overheard the compliment. Before his outburst, Mirai had assumed that Kakashi had fallen asleep. He was lying languidly in Guy’s lap while Guy carded his fingers through Kakashi’s equally unruly hair. Kakashi was facing away from Mirai, but there was a noticeable smirk in his voice. “Tatsumi said it’s beautiful.”
Guy just kept running his hands through Kakashi’s hair without comment. His smile was very visible, though.
They had all just gotten out of the hot springs and were lazing around in the lounge together, basking in the lingering warmth from their noisy private bath on the men’s side. Their bottles were already empty, regular milk for Kakashi and strawberry milk for Guy.
Being curled up together like that was a sappy, intimate thing to do so openly in front of Mirai, let alone Tatsumi. It didn’t seem like there was a single force in this world that could pry Kakashi and Guy out of each other’s arms when they got like this. And yet, they still found the energy to poke fun at Mirai.
Kakashi’s legs and arms were tucked close to his chest. He let out a long breath as he settled more comfortably into Guy’s lap, letting the warmth of Guy’s body lull him into a state of ease and comfort. Once again, it seemed like Kakashi was about to suddenly doze off, and Guy seemed like he was close behind.
Guy continued combing through Kakashi’s silver locks with his fingers, massaging his scalp and playing with his hair ever so delicately. Mirai couldn't help but notice the fond look that crossed Guy’s face when he saw Kakashi’s eyelids slowly dropping as he fell asleep, curling in closer to Guy. They looked even more peaceful than usual.
Mirai frequently had to remind herself that Kakashi and Guy were seasoned, world-renowned veterans of multiple wars. She tried to remember all the legendary feats and stories she’d heard about Kakashi and Guy from Lee or Tenten or Naruto, and she tried to convince herself they hadn’t just been lying for the sake of making their old teachers look a little more impressive.
The legends didn’t match this image of unabashed domesticity at all, but that was all she’d seen of them for this entire “mission”. Mirai huffed out a frustrated sigh, mourning all the amazing feats and bragging rights she’d expected to get from having an escort mission with the sixth Hokage. In her genin days, she had escorted bunnies who were more violent than this.
“…You know, Mirai,” Guy said, stopping his fingers for a moment. “I’ve always thought Kurenai’s hair was gorgeous, and yours is just like hers! You should have confidence in it! She’s always been very popular! Your mother has given you a very strong, amazing body and a beautiful life to live in this world! –That said, I understood Kakashi’s complex about his hair in his younger days. That was truly unruly!” To demonstrate a fraction of the wild hair of Kakashi’s younger days, Guy rubbed Kakashi’s hair, mussing it up. It stood up on its ends from static. “You should have seen him back then! It used to be so fluffy that it made him look twice as tall as he was! …Now that I think about it, he might have styled it like that on purpose just to look a little more imposing! He was a pretty tiny kid!” Guy joked.
Kakashi rolled over onto his back so he could aim a glare at Guy, head still pillowed in Guy’s carefully spread thighs. “You didn’t have to mention that,” he grumbled sardonically. Kakashi reached up, grabbed a fistful of Guy’s silky hair, and playfully tugged hard at it. Guy’s reaction was halfway between a wince and a giggle, bending down so his face was closer to Kakashi’s. It looked more like he bent forward himself than like Kakashi seriously dragged him down. “Sorry that not all of us can be born with perfect Might genes like you.”
Guy shook with a loud, smug laughter. “No need to apologize, Kakashi, you’re forgiven!”
“You’re insulting your former Hokage,” Kakashi huffed, giving up on that angle. “Is this insubordination? Do I need to discipline this act of treason?”
It almost sounded like it would turn into a real fight, from the tone of Kakashi’s voice. Mirai was torn between standing back and watching them finally act like shinobi, or stepping in to protect both her charges from each other.
Guy diffused the apparent threat by softening his smile and his voice when he said, “No, because you’re just a retired old man now. We both are.”
“Hmph. Not as old as you.”
“Besides, I’d have to be beneath you to be subordinate, wouldn’t I?”
From the way Kakashi’s mask shifted, it seemed like he mouthed something silently in response to that. Mirai couldn’t make out a single word.
Guy gently cupped Kakashi’s cheeks, stopping his complaints in an instant. “For what it’s worth,” Guy took one of his hands and ran it through Kakashi’s hair again. Kakashi leaned into Guy’s touch, like it was the warmest, most natural thing in the world. “I love your hair. I always have. It’s cute. And I was honored anytime you let me tackle the challenge of taming a beast as fearsome as a Hatake’s haircut.”
Kakashi made a face and rolled his eyes, tugging lightly at Guy’s hair again. Kakashi turned his attention back at Mirai, and she noticed a light shade of pink right above his mask.
“Mirai, I used to hate the hair that I got from my old man, too. It’s not like Guy was the only factor in me getting over all the complicated feelings I had about my dad, but he helped. Seeing how much Guy loved playing with my messy hair and learning to trust him to do it… it made me appreciate what I had a little bit more.” Kakashi loosened his grip and brushed a tuft of hair behind Guy’s ear. He watched the silky strands fall out of place rebelliously, sticking to the sides of Guy’s flushed cheeks, mingling with Kakashi’s circling thumb. “Guy’s pretty good at that. I could lend him to you to help you out, too, but…”
Kakashi slipped his hands back into Guy’s soft hair, trailed his fingers down to the hair at Guy’s nape. Guy noticeably tensed when Kakashi’s cold fingertips finally touched the skin at the back of his neck, brushing against a bruise Mirai hadn’t noticed when Guy had been wearing the scarf. She hoped he hadn’t fallen while he was getting in the hot springs. “Guy’s busy right now. And he is on vacation. So, I shouldn’t send him off on a separate mission right this second.”
Guy’s expression softened. “Am I really yours to lend to people however you wish?”
“Yes, because you do the same to me. After a lifetime of being dragged along with your whims, you should let me drag you around just a little bit.” Kakashi arched up to meet Guy, and Mirai looked away awkwardly. “But I do have an idea,” she heard Kakashi continue after a brief pause.
“One of your ideas?” Mirai grimaced, an expression which she quickly schooled into an awkward grin to be a little more respectful. “No, that’s alright! I’m, ah, not really asking for any ideas from you, Kakashi-sensei…”
“Aw, I’m hurt.” Kakashi pouted sarcastically. “Don’t be like that. Consider it a favor for Kurenai, then. I can’t have you insulting my old friend’s hair.”
Guy shook with laughter. “Kakashi has a good point there! If you insult your hair, you’re insulting Kurenai’s hair! And I can’t idly sit by if someone insults one of my closest companions like that! Believe or not, I’ve probably spent even more time with Kurenai than I have with Kakashi! If Kakashi has a good idea to restore the honor of Kurenai’s beautiful curly hair, then I’d like to hear it!”
“I’m really not insulting my mom. I’d never—you know how scary she can be.” Guy and Kakashi shared a knowing expression in agreement with that. Tatsumi tilted her head curiously. “Anyway, Mom tends to her hair differently than I do, so hers isn’t as messy…” Mirai tried, but she’d already admitted earlier that she inherited her hair and most of her physical appearance straight from her mom, so it was a tepid argument.
“Just keep an open mind.” Kakashi shook his head to jostle his own hair showily. “Look, Mirai. It helped me like my hair a lot better once I let Guy play around with it for a bit, even back when he sucked at it.”
“—Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?!” Guy grabbed a fist full of gray hair, giving it a firm tug in retaliation.
Kakashi flinched, and Mirai heard a low rumble held in the back of his throat before he regained his composure. Guy quickly released his grip on Kakashi’s hair.
“Don’t pull my hair like that in public. You’re going to get me in trouble,” Kakashi whispered, quiet enough that Tatsumi probably couldn’t hear. He wrapped his arm around Guy’s neck, pulled him close, and added something after that that not even Mirai’s well-trained ears could pick up. When Guy drew back up, his entire face was beat red.
Mirai wanted to tease him back about how his ears were burning now, but she held back the immature urge.
Kakashi went back to playing with the hair on the back of Guy’s neck, continuing his earlier conversation with Mirai without missing a beat. “Like I said, Guy’s preoccupied right now. But you’ll probably feel a little better if you let Tatsumi play with your hair instead. You’ll learn how much you like your hair, and it’ll help you unwind a bit more, too. Sometimes, all you need is a second opinion.”
Tatsumi had finally gotten all her hair out of the messy bun she tied it up in for the hot spring. She had just finished brushing her hair back out and tying the singular, small braid in the side when she heard her name mentioned. With a giddy, quiet gasp, Tatsumi asked, “Me?”
“Geez. Could you cut it out? Don’t pick on Tatsumi!” Mirai folded her arms, looking down at her two mission charges. “I’m not going to make Tatsumi do my hair. We can’t just boss her around. I may be here on a mission, but Tatsumi just wanted to travel around! Tatsumi is my guest.”
“—No, it’s okay, I don’t mind!” Tatsumi’s bright eyes glimmered. In a slightly bragging tone, she added, “Mom and I did each other’s hair all the time. I’m pretty good at it.”
Cooking, hairstyling… Tatsumi excelled at a lot of Mirai’s blind spots. “You really don’t have to.”
“But I really would like to!” Tatsumi insisted. “And you’re doing so much for me. It’d be nice to return the favor a bit!”
“Asuma and Kurenai liked to play with each other’s hair, too,” Kakashi added airily, and the last bit of reluctance Mirai had melted away.
“…I guess if you really want to, I won’t stop you,” Mirai said. She could practically feel Kakashi’s smug grin, so she shot him a glare. He acted innocent and got back to hiding his face against Guy’s thigh while they snuggled closer. Guy laughed again, still flushed red.
“I really can?” Tatsumi asked.
Mirai twirled a strand of her short hair around her finger. “My hair’s not as straight as yours, Tatsumi. And I don’t take great care of it. Aunt Temari has to get pretty rough with it sometimes.”
“Well, I’ll be gentle!” Tatsumi just smiled, legs kicking over the edge of the couch cushions and waved Mirai over. Mirai sat down next to her, leaning against Tatsumi’s small body.
The feeling of the bristles running though her hair felt pleasant. When her fingers found Mirai’s hair, she thought she might melt. Tatsumi brushed her hair a few times experimentally, then stopped. “Is this okay?”
Mirai nodded, so Tatsumi continued, slowly brushing Mirai’s hair, careful to not tangle it up. It was a slow process.
She carefully tugged the brush through and used her other hand to ensure she didn’t pull too hard. It was amazing how soft and gentle a civilian’s hands were. Her hands, so gentle with the brush, trailing slow and sure, felt so different from Kurenai’s or Temari’s.
She couldn’t imagine Guy’s hand feeling like this in Kakashi’s hair. She couldn’t imagine her father’s hands feeling like this in her mother’s hair.
Tatsumi maneuvered the brush through her hair, swiping her short bangs back with the rest. It gradually became softer and untangled. It still flicked and turned outwards wildly at every opportunity, and Tatsumi giggled each time it did. “I think your hair is nicer than mine. It’s got such great texture,” Tatsumi praised. “Will you let me wash it next time we get in the hot springs? You can help me wash mine, too. We can use the same shampoo!”
Mirai glanced at Tatsumi’s hair, half as long as Tatsumi was tall. “I… can try?” she offered doubtfully. “Just… don’t get mad if I manage to get your hair all tangled up somehow.”
“Well, then… It’s something we can help each other with, like we helped each other cook the potatoes. We make a pretty good team when we put our heads together, you know.”
Once Mirai eased into the feeling, Tatsumi brushing her hair felt good. Mirai shivered a little in the wake of each stroke of the brush. Mirai gradually relaxed, head bowed low and pliant, while Tatsumi hummed and slowly worked her way through Mirai’s hair.
After she was done, Tatsumi weaved a single plait in the front. “There!” Tatsumi twisted the hair elastic into place. She pointed to the braid in her own hair and added, “We match!”
Mirai fiddled with the small braid inquisitively. “…I like it,” Mirai said, chuckling a little awkwardly, but she meant it.
“Really? I’m glad!” Tatsumi let out a sigh of relief. “Your hair really is so beautiful, Mirai!”
This time, Mirai really did just ignore the gawking chuckles coming from Kakashi and Guy. They’d go back to being too absorbed in each other to pay Mirai any attention soon enough.