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It rarely got this severe.
The first time Hatake Kakashi had willingly shown his face to someone was when he was eleven years old, after a particularly bad episode where he had tried a mutilation of sorts and showed up at Kushina’s door, distress practically pouring out of his eyes.
She wasn’t a medical nin, but she was the only one he fully trusted to see him in such a vulnerable state. After being ushered inside he peeled off his blood soaked mask to reveal the damage he had done. Kushina offered a sorrowful look before grabbing the first aid kit from the bathroom.
She never pressed him for answers.
Never insisted he go to the hospital instead.
She just sat, holding his hand, trying to provide comfort as she did what little she could to prevent scarring, and he admired her for that. He could confide in her, he decided, if the need ever arises. If it ever got any worse than today.
Kakashi hated his face, he wasn’t even sure when it had evolved from uncomfort to hate, but it was the one thing in life he was sure of.
Now, years later, joking and heartfelt energy was cut off by a slap ringing through the living room. Under the windowsill full to the brim with countless different plants, Kakashi was frantically trying to cover up. His open eye shot and brimmed with panic. Why was this happening? Why at a time like this?
His mask felt too light, too see-through.
Nothing was working to cover him, pulling up the neck of his shirt as a double mask, covering his face with his hands, hands tearing into his hair as he curled into himself on the verge of a breakdown; and all Yamato could do was watch, startled back on his haunches.
“...Kakashi-” He paused, words wouldn’t help in this scenario. Looking up and away from the mess of a man on the floor, he saw Pakkun quietly padding off the couch and across the room toward Kakashi. Before he knew it Yamato had been pushed away by all the dogs and essentially sent as far from his partner as the room allowed, he was aware of what was going on and seceded to the dogs.
His entire face was hidden from creeping eyes, it felt secure and there was dog fur brushing against his eyelid. Kakashi let out a faint, shaky sigh and brought a hand up to his face, pushing the fur aside enough for his eye to take in the situation.
He could feel himself still engulfed in a panic and flipped onto his back, allowing Bisuke to hop onto his chest and lay on it.
After years of being by his side even the dogs had learnt to not stare at their owner during an episode, their advanced intellect having them perceived as human and paranoia inducing when they occurred.
The wind drifted through the window rustling the plants, working its way around every presence in the room. It wrapped around the circle of dogs and feathered over Kakashi’s face as he stared up at the dark ceiling.
“Maa, Tenzō, you don’t need to ask every time,” Kakashi sighed as he closed his book. “I really don’t care if you want to kiss me on a whim.” Standing above the Copy Nin was the infamous mokuton user, arms folded and donning a concerned expression.
“I do need to ask senpai, I talk to Gai you know, he doesn’t just live in our house for fun.”
It really wasn’t a big deal, except that it was. Kakashi mourned the rest of his day off as he sensed an upcoming lecture from his kohai, shouldn’t he be the one lecturing?
“Consent is key to any lasting relationship! Just because you say I don’t need to ask doesn’t mean I won’t. What if one day,” A crease had formed on Yamato’s forehead. “You’re in a really bad mood and I just swooped in? Oh, just being a loving partner then BAM! You react negatively and use your Raikiri on me!?”
As the man paced and drawled on about the potential dangers of a non consenting kiss, little clovers started to sprout along the grass and up the bench Kakashi was seated on, which he couldn't help but snicker at. Stress sprouting was quite honestly the cutest part of mokuton and it never failed to distract Kakashi from what his partner was saying.
“Kashi are you- you stopped listening, this is serious!”
“Tenzō c’mon relax a little, I think I know me better than you do.”
Yamato pointed at the mask. “You wouldn’t wear that in the house if that were the case.” With that the conversation iced over; Kakashi leaving in a swirl of leaves.
It was bothersome the way people kept checking in with him. Kakashi wandered the streets in a less than ideal mood, kicking at loose stones as he stared anywhere that wasn’t the direction he was walking. Sure, he had trauma; and yeah, he had a few mental problems floating around, but it wasn’t like he didn’t take care of himself or know when to stop something he didn’t want.
With an especially hard kick the stone that had been passed around for some time shot off toward a side alley and it wasn’t as if the man was going to chase after it at his big age. A sigh and he was gone again. This time, appearing at Kushina’s door which opened before he could even knock.
“Kakashi-sensei?” Naruto peered up at the man, obviously having just woken up.
“Yo.” Kakashi offered a wave to his student.
“Mom said I have to send you home if you come by randomly.” The door began to close with a yawn.
“Hahh? Naruto, don't shut the door on your poor sensei.” He held up a finger and smiled, “What if I was coming by to take you training?”
A tired grumble sounded from the boy as he continued shutting the door. “Sensei, it’s my day off, go home.”
Shut down by a teenager; not his proudest moment.
This was stupid. If he went home he would have to apologize to Tenzō, which he did not want to do seeing as he was still upset. If he continued wandering the village he would get swept up in helping out with mundane tasks. There was nowhere for the man to go that didn’t end in talking to people. Kakashi continued to think as he went back to walking, he could easily get out of helping people if he noticed them first.
So that he did, avoiding the main street like the plague and taking to roofs if it seemed like someone was coming near to ask him anything.
An hour or so had passed and he finally stopped moving around, choosing to sit on the edge of one of the roofs and look over the village. How long had he actually been out since choosing the wander? The day was ebbing away and he could feel the nature of the energy in the village shifting. The fog had left his mind and shit, he had really been cold over the mask comment. “Maybe I should just go back.”
“Yeah, your guy is pretty worked up about upsetting you.” Kakashi hung his head as the space around him warped and Obito popped out of Kamui. “How’s your head Bakashi?”
“It’s fine.” At the moment.
Obito pulled the other man down to lay on the roof and propped himself up on an elbow, just to squint as he tried to read him. The wind rustled the fabric of their clothes and carried a sweet scent, something akin to either blossoms or floral desserts.
Kakashi glanced over and squinted back, not trying to decipher anything, just mimicking.
Seconds passed, then minutes, and finally Obito huffed and flopped onto Kakashi’s chest. The man was just too difficult to read with only one eye exposed.
The Uchiha took to poking at his cheek and attempting to pull at it. “You’re actually stupid y’know.”
“Thanks, I can always come to you for advice.” A light chuckle escaped Kakashi’s throat.
“You didn’t even come to me, I warped to you.”
An eye-roll, “No shit, I wasn't being serious Ahobito”
Obito grumbled and pulled at the edge of the others mask. “Whatever, this thing is the cause of your problem.”
“I’m well aware of that!” The reply has been said countless times before in nearly the exact same conversation. “I don’t need everyone telling me that all the time,” Kakashi slipped his hand over Obito’s and made it cup his face. “I just want to live without a constant reminder that I’m covering something I don't like. I want it to be treated like it isn't there.” Eyes closed and slowly exhaling Kakashi sat up slightly, taking in the silence that followed.
Obito didn’t fight with him on the topic, he never did. Instead he just let the breeze wash over them and let Kakashi enjoy his moment of nonexistence, he rarely got the chance for them anymore.
The sun was beginning its descent behind the trees and the wind picked up a colder channel to feed from, still carrying that sweet scent. People below filtered out of earshot bringing about a change to the atmosphere, it didn’t feel like Kakashi was even in Konoha anymore. He just drifted across the sea of time, letting the chirrups from crickets carry him through and the low sound of a distant water source bubbling easing his mind once more. A slow, soothing heat spread across his body and he knew without opening his eye that Obito had moved their positioning to maximize the efficiency of his space heater-like ability.
He wished time would just stop and keep him in this moment, comfort engulfed him and he settled deeper into the empty space. Hours could pass that would feel like minutes, minutes could pass that felt like hours, wanting nothing and being nothing, existing yet not. That was what these moments gave him.
A whisper into the back of his neck brought Kakashi back to look at the other man. “What was that?” He knew, he just enjoyed teasing.
“You’re so annoying.” But it wasn’t harsh, it came out as laughter that made its way through the fabric covering Kakashi’s neck, warming him even more. Then quietly, “Can I get a kiss…” Voice trailing as if asking was anything to be embarrassed by.
Kakashi hummed and turned to face Obito completely while pulling down his mask. “I suppose, you’ve been good after all.”
Obito rolled his eyes at the comment and leaned in to connect their lips, this had to have been their sappiest kiss yet. Kakashi smiled into it and reached up to caress the other man's face, deepening the kiss slightly. Lips against lips, short break offs to catch the tiniest of breaths before going back in, heat being passed back and forth, filling their senses.
Someone's tongue entered the fray neither sure whose it was, just following; and pushing and pulling to lay back against the concrete. Hands wandered and gripped at hair, fabric, slipped under shirts and rested on waists. A growl of want sounded and they broke off, staring at each other, half-lidded and panting, blush dusting their cheeks. Kakashi stole one last peck before pulling back completely, staring down at the man who could drive him into doing anything with just a kiss, maybe even with just a sound.
“You look gorgeous.” He leaned back on his hands and offered a soft smile, one that was only shared in moments like these.
Obito scoffed and continued to catch his breath, he looked more like a mussed up mess in his opinion. He breathed out a “You’re the gorgeous one” and sat up, now face to face with Kakashi. “Insanely gorgeous, how did I land you.”
Another smile, a hand running through dark hair. “I think idiots are my type honestly.”
“Haha, funny Bakashi.” Obito pressed one more kiss to the side of Kakashi’s mouth and pulled up his mask for him, an unconscious habit after all these years. “You’re just as idiotic to fall for idiots.”
“Maa, who knows, I know you’re falling for the other idiots though.”
“I am not. I only like you.”
“Oh?” Kakashi raised an eyebrow and crinkles appeared around his eye, “My dear Obito likes me? This is news we can’t just ignore!”
“Fuck off! I actually hate you and hope you get run down by a horse and die.”
Their foreheads met and Kakashi brought his voice down to an amused whisper. “If you hated me you wouldn’t have listened to Tenzō’s kissing consent speech”
Obito scowled and averted eye contact. “Your cat says that all the time it wasn’t a conscious choice.” This was followed by laughter that deepened the scowl and invited the blush back. “You’re so annoying! I’m going home.” He moved to get up before remembering why he came here and ceased the movement. “I mean- we are going home.”
Before any protest could sound from Kakashi they were warped into Kamui and out into the dimly lit kitchen where Yamato was sulking on the floor, vines growing out of the gaps in the floorboards and sprawling out around him. The sound had him look up and grimace at the visual displayed before him of Kakashi straddling Obito, both their clothes slightly disheveled.
“You two have no decorum.”
“Or you have no taste for homoerotic behaviour Yama-Aho.” Yamato sighed, not wanting to continue with this conversation and got up.
Just to be pulled right back down to face level with the other two men. “I brought you your boyfriend by the way so you can stop moping, no need for thanks.” Obito grinned and stood, causing Kakashi to roll off him and onto the floor, a look with even less decorum than before.
“I wasn’t going to thank you anyways!”
The response was waved off as Obito set off in search of Bull, who he had claimed as his dog despite not being a dog person.
Heads turned to face each other and Kakashi sat up, fiddling with his shirt to get it to sit right again. “Sorry for… poofing off and all that earlier…”
“No, it’s fine I was pushing my ideals again.”
A beat of silence.
“Tenzō, I… appreciate that you care about me- about us , it’s just-” He broke off and scooted closer to the mokuton user. “I’ve never been comfortable with my face, you know that already, but I don’t think I've explained it to you in detail before.” More scooting as he reached to take hold of Yamato's hand. This was going to take a lot out of him.
“I don’t know when it started but there’s always been a discomfort stemming from seeing myself in the mirror like it's not actually me reflecting back, like something is off. Sometimes just a feeling and it's an easy fix like covering up for a few minutes, others… well once I tried cutting my face off let’s just say that.” He didn’t want to see Yamato’s reaction to that.
This was going to be his fifth time doing this talk and hopefully his last. He took a deep breath and continued, “I wear this mask for my sake, for when my hand brushes my face and doesn’t need to feel any features, for when I’m having a worse day and can't stand seeing any kind of reflection of myself. I wear it so that when other people see what's behind it their expression goes from suspicion to awe, so that when I take it off there's no argument in my mind that I look wrong because it’s been so long I'm convinced it’s my face I'm seeing.”
Yamato was rubbing circles in his hand as he spoke, trying to keep him from getting overly worked up.
“It’s there so I can hide from all seeing eyes that I know are watching me, I can forget it’s there and have people treat it as just another part of me. So I can take comfort in who I choose to not wear it around, I’m bound to have moments where no matter what I’m not me and everyone is a danger to me, or where I’m the danger. Asking me for a kiss yeah, fine, whatever. You need constant consent because that’s how you work but, God, Tenzō . You ask if it’s alright to touch it and it makes me feel so vulnerable and fake. I hate myself for it. You’re trying to make me comfortable but it does the opposite; I love you, you do so much for me but this is the one thing you can’t help with.” As he continued his voice broke on random words, tears built up, a sob formed itself in his throat, sticking there just waiting for the opportunity to break out.
“I’ve worked it into myself that I need to be pretty, I want to tear my hair out, I want to rip off my skin and ram myself into a wall because that could stop me from thinking. All my thoughts encircle this mask and my life is driven by it! I want to be normal! I don’t want to have the urge to bash my skull in with a brick! I want to look at myself consecutively and not want to vomit, and to recognize it as me looking back!” The sob choked itself out and wracked his entire body, letting loose the tears that had been waiting to spill out, allowing his fist to beat against Yamato’s shoulder just once. All Yamato could do was get a sympathetic look and plaster it on his face, he could understand wanting to be normal, but everything else was alien to him.
“I don’t want to act like this anymore when I share how I feel, I don’t want to be a grown man sobbing on the floor of his kitchen as he tries to get his point across… Tenzō. I don’t believe it when you or Obito or Iruka or Gai or anyone else calls me beautiful, handsome, pretty, all those words mean nothing to me. But I know they mean something to you so I never shoot the comments down, maybe one day I’ll be able to accept them as true, but I just- I’m just so fucking tired of everything.”
“It doesn’t make sense to me how so many people live and don’t experience life the same way I do.” His free hand had worked its way up to gripping the longer part of his hair, tangling itself in it. “I want to leave. I never chose this life, the world just won’t let me go…” The words trailed off giving reign to the bursting emotions.
Yamato frowned, he wasn’t good with soothing words. He just reached out and attempted to untangle his partner's hair, eventually succeeding and taking that hand in his own, he pulled Kakashi into a hug, guiding his head to rest on his chest. The ambience of muffled crying and carding of hands through hair mixed in with the early evening sounds. The kitchen lights were buzzing, one of the dogs was scratching at themself somewhere in the house; shushing sounds joined in as Yamato pressed kisses into the top of Kakashi’s head, attempting his best to be a relaxing presence. It took awhile before the crying stopped and slow breathing took its place in the mix.
Something was whispered and earned a reply of a shaky nod, then Yamato was getting up, taking care to keep Kakashi comfortable, and left the kitchen. An inaudible conversation vibrated through the halls, followed by softened footsteps. A kettle was put on and Kakashi’s hand was taken, guiding him to bed. After all the crying he was in a daze and couldn’t care less about staying in his day clothes, but whoever had brought him to bed wouldn’t have that and got him changed into more comfortable clothing and into bed.
A while later, Yamato came into the room, carrying the tea he had prepared and sat next to Kakashi, offering it to him.
He took it and sipped as the others in the room had a hushed conversation, not that he couldn't hear them. He was choosing not to. As he drank his tea the world crept back into focus, Obito was laying next to him spinning a rubber band on one finger as if it were a hula hoop, Yamato leaning against the door frame, no doubt having returned from assuring Gai the ‘situation was handled’ and ‘there was no need for him to come check.’
Kakashi sighed as he looked away and slid down, being wary of not spilling the tea, everyone cared too much about him. He was just a burden on their nights.
Akino turned his head to nose at Kakashi’s face attempting to lower his cortisol levels and activate the oxytocin release. His fur ruffling as a hand came up to scratch at his chin. The ninken hated these moments, and hated when all they could do was act like regular dogs, but what help could words be when their target wouldn’t accept them?
Kakashi was trying to keep in his sobs this time, the last time was a slip up, a stupid mistake, he didn’t want anyone to see him cry. He wasn’t meant to cry in front of others; he was a goddamn former ANBU.
This had been a good day. A good fucking day! Thinking of how royally he had fucked it over with one outburst worsened how he already felt, tears stung, filling his sinuses with an uncomfortable pressure, arresting his breathing because just one breath could be the thing that made the dam burst. A building uncomfort getting worse with each passing second as he refrained from hitting himself, it wasn’t going to help, but it was.
It was going to help. It would release the pressure, let every thought drain out of him, let him breathe again. It would break the dam. It would send him into a blubbering, shaking mess. He would get even more upset for feeding into the urge, for breaking the facade that he was a normal person with a normal handle on his emotions; as if that hadn’t already been broken.
Bisuke whined from his spot on the man's chest, pawing once in an attempt to convince him everything was okay without getting it across with speech.
Kakashi choked back an escaping sob, he needed to man up. He wanted Yamato, he needed Obito, he needed Kushina to hold his hand, he needed Iruka to bring him the thickest blankets in the house, he wanted Gai on standby to get everyone out so he could just let it out without being a bother. He wanted to voice his needs and wants, he just couldn’t . His pride or anxiety or whatever kept him from being seen as a burden, as something fragile that needed to be handled with care.
He wanted someone to be brave for him and just take him away from his thoughts. He wanted to express he needed someone to save him from himself, he doesn’t want to be alone. He needed someone to just grab his face and stare into his eyes, no matter how uncomfortable he might be. He needed to be seen.
A low growl sounded from the dogs, drawing Kakashi away from his thoughts; his eye not catching anything approaching.
Still holding back his cries, he sat up, arm wrapping around Bisuke to ensure he didn’t fall and to keep himself grounded. Yamato was across the room, he hadn't moved since this whole thing had started so he couldn't be the source of the dogs unamusement. A blink later and he was gone. Eliciting another growl from all except Bull, who had curled up behind Kakashi, as a back support.
As if the gods had heard his thoughts a hand appeared, encased in the familiar sound of space warping then he was gone as well, taking Bull and Bisuke into Kamui with him.
There were no mirrors here, the surfaces didn’t reflect, it was enshrouded in darkness, and Kakashi found himself seated on a pillar lush with blankets and dim lit lamps. It took him a second to notice Yamato across from him, having what looked like a silent yet very animated argument with Obito.
The sight of all of it together overwhelmed him, and before he knew it Kakashi Hatake was crying silent tears.
Not even one choked out sob, complete silence as he took everything in, tears streaming down his face, clinging to his mask and making it in turn cling to his face.
In an instant both men were at his side, seeming to have noticed the tears at the same time.
“Jesus! You scared the shit out of our little cat Bakashi.” Obito gripped Kakashi’s shoulder, eyes darting around looking him over. When did ‘your’ become ‘our’? He had obviously also been scared.
Yamato, as if to juxtapose Obitos frantics, had his hands hovering, unsure if he was allowed to touch him after what had just ensued.
Kakashi winced internally. Don’t- don’t wear that face.
Despite having not audibly cried, at Kakashi’s attempt to speak all that came out was a strained cracking voice. He let himself punch his leg, Bisuke lept away to sit with Bull.
With an air of hesitance, Yamato wiped away his tears with a sweep of his thumb, drawing Kakashi’s attention to his face again. It was full of uncertainty, his eyes taking in every detail, scanning the tear stained and fabric covered face before him. “...Hey.”
Nope, Kakashi very much did not want to do this anymore.
“I don’t blame you, you know that right?”
Of course he knew. No one could just let him feel guilty.
Gaining confidence Yamato fully pressed his hands against Kakashi’s face, wiping at the continuously falling tears. “Let me kiss you.”
Stupid idiotic kissing consent.
He didn’t wait for an answer this time though, and thumbed down the mask just enough to expose Kakashi’s top lip. Softly planting a kiss against it, then another, and another, before pulling the mask down the rest of the way and continuing his barrage of kisses.
Kakashi stole a glance at Obito who just offered a weak smile and leant down to rest his forehead against the man's shoulder, letting out a sigh of relief that was just barely audible and seeped into the shirt material.
“Te-” Cut off, “Tenz-” How many times is this man going to kiss him? As the next one connected Kakashi grabbed Yamato’s face to cease his movements and pulled back. “Tenzō! I get it already.” God his voice was spent.
“I’m sorry for pushing you to a breaking point for the second time!” Oh, poor Cat.
“Is that really-” He cleared his throat, “really what you think? That… you caused this?” Save him.
Yamato slowly nodded. “I kept pestering you and it overwhelmed you.”
Obito snorted from his position, then coughed to try and cover it.
“My poor little kohai, it really wasn’t you. My week just caught up to me…” He thought back to the slap and ducked his head “I should've vocalized when I started to feel bad, I hit you.”
Obito cut in again. “Hard, there was a mark and everything.” The two turned slowly at that, if looks could kill Obito would be the dead horse that continued to get beat.
Shaking off the unwanted adlib, Kakashi shifted closer to Yamato, looking directly in his eyes, trying to communicate his sincerity and feelings from that moment.
It was hard to not blame himself, to let the reasoning just be that his brain doesn't function as typical, anything was able to set him off and he was allowed to blame others for it, this wasn't an outside source though. It one hundred- one thousand percent was his own mind’s doing and that was that.
The dogs pressed against his back, the dried tears on his face, the void of silence Kamui offered. Disappearing into it was the easy part, staying and putting his trust into the people who loved him, now that was the hard part. All he had to do was try.
Try and believe in the countless whispers and exclamations of how strong and capable he was; Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Ninja, Kakashi of the Sharingan. How dashing and approachable he seemed, how lovely he looked. Another episode would happen, then another, and another, and countless others! They wouldn’t just stop and he hated it, but he had people to help him get out of his own head, he’s always had them. This one had completely wiped away the sentiments his partners showered him with on the daily, how silly was that.
A kiss to his forehead and shoulder brought out a sigh he had been holding back and he melted into the physical contact.
“No. I am not kissing him !”
“You chose dare.”
“Senpai, he doesn’t have to if he doesn't want to.” A sigh of an incoming consent talk, followed by the unusual, “It would make him the loser though.”
All heads whipped to face Yamato, the energy in the room morphing through different emotions at lightspeed.
“What the fuck did you do to him Ahobito? This is not the cautious man I know!”
A fan whirred in the corner of the room, summer had brought with it the decision of who had to groom all the ninken for the season. They were unsure of when rock paper scissors changed to truth or dare as a means of determining who took up the task. There were ground rules of course. They weren’t allowed to use the dogs, disrupt the village, or do anything illegal. Everything else was fair game, there were exceptions made where they could pass it off onto their students, though that had a limit.
“ Me !? Why are you blaming me for this?” Obito’s voice was dripping with offence, as if he would ever want to kiss the mokuton user.
Kakashi answered back with a wave, readjusting how he was seated to be cross legged. He was maskless today at the multiple chidings from Gai insisting it had to be washed, and no, he couldn’t wear the spare one because it was dirty too. In fact, no one was sporting their usual look. Iruka had let his hair down, earning teasing comments from Obito when it stayed bunched together after taking out the tie. Yamato and Obito had both been forced out of mission gear because it was all they ever seemed to wear even on days off, and Gai had a headband on and was sporting a regular t-shirt. All in all they looked like regular people for once.
“Tenzō wouldn't just accept his fate of being kissed by an ugly guy like you that easily” Eyes landed on Yamato, “He’s usually way more resistant, even if it was a dare.”
Iruka nodded in agreement next to Kakashi. “It is odd Yamato is a willing party.”
Obito just sat there, brain trying to understand why everyone was ganging up on him, what the hell could he even have done that would make it his fault?
He shot up and pointed at his accusers, “You’re all doing this on purpose! You want me to lose so you planned this all along, trying to make me leave out of frustration!” Obito was not one to lose to an ambush.
Sitting back down he turned his attention back to Yamato, who in turn was just as confused about the situation. “Come here, Cat.”
The name elicited a groan from Yamato and snickers from the three other men. Still, he slid over.
“I wish you’d call me by a proper name like everyone else.”
Obito shrugged, “Tough.” And planted his hands on either side of the man's face, pulling him in and pressing an aggressive kiss against his lips before withdrawing and casting a glare across the circle. “Are you happy now? Did that satiate your little fantasy?” All that sounded were sighs of defeat and the game continued.
The game was cut short due to the intruding presence of Team 7, all of whom felt Kakashi and Yamato just had to watch Sai and Sasuke do the same mundane tasks to see if Sai resembled him on a level higher than just appearance. Which ended up saving everyone from the never ending dares when Obito couldn’t finish his next one because of it.
“Yamato-taichou you aren’t watching !” Naruto pulled at the hem of his shirt as he pointed. They were sitting in a clearing for these tasks and Yamato couldn’t help but cast his attention to the crater in the center of it. “You need to mark their normal jumping height from the ground, otherwise Sasuke will just lie.” The comment earned a string of obscenities from Sasuke, urging Naruto to retaliate by tossing pebbles at him for each word.
Yamato’s face fell at the thought of having to restrain the two soon, none of his day’s off could be peaceful. His thoughts carried as he tried working out if the wood prison would actually be better than pulling them apart, but were stopped by Kakashi’s hand landing on his shoulder.
Fingers softly rubbed as a sign of reassurance and his attention turned back to the now resolved antics.
The tasks steadily stacked up. From jumping to how they bookmarked, to the amount of brushstrokes they made while brushing their teeth. Yamato did not understand the fascination with comparing the two boys and his multiple attempts to call it wraps were stopped by a breath against his neck, a sigh, quick kisses to his temple. He couldn’t deny Kakashi his amusement even when he had offered the terrible idea of seeing how long they could go before causing a fight amongst themselves.
He turned, “You’re making me do more work.”
Kakashi hummed and draped an arm over his shoulder. “Not for a while, look, they're all sitting in silence!” And while he was correct that was only the case because any one word could set off a chain reaction. “You should be glad, now you have all this time with me instead of the dogs.”
“I wasn’t going to spend time with them anyways.”
Kakashi chuckled and pressed his face into Yamato’s shoulder. “That’s what you think, my next dare for you was going to be embarrassing.”
The breeze picked up, carrying the sound of Naruto’s cry as his pile of plucked out grass blew away.
“I could have picked truth.”
“Mn, you were banned from truths for two rounds, remember?”
A thought passed through Yamato’s mind, making him look down at the man mumbling into his shoulder. “Surely you don’t mean…” He could feel the grin form through the disposable mask Kakashi had hastily put on earlier.
“Oh, but I do.”
A patch of red daisies burst to life at their feet, causing Kakashi to laugh and fall back into them as the patch spread, another great perk to mokuton, Yamato was insanely easy to read if you pushed the right button.
With a glance over at the kids to assure they weren't looking, which they weren’t. Sasuke had decided to take advantage of the silence and take a nap, making Sakura push Sai to also take one; Yamato leaned over Kakashi.
“You are actually an asshole.” It came out as a half hiss, holding more fluster than malice.
Kakashi shrugged and held his gaze. “Nothing about me says otherwise.”
Both of his eyes were visible to the world today and Yamato had to duck his head to escape them, they held invisible galaxies in them that could make a fleeting look feel like eternity in the best way possible.
“Of course I wouldn’t actually make you do that,” And he was back to those eyes. “I wouldn’t share that side of you with anyone …Maybe Obito actually-” The last part is hardly a whisper, cut off by Yamato removing the mask and deeply kissing the man whose hair contrasted sharply with the surrounding daisies. He should just shut up sometimes.
Internally, Kakashi chuckled at the new found forwardness his partner presented and pushed himself into an upright position, chasing the kiss as it drew back with the movement. Part of him wanted to mock the other man while another swooned at how genuine the moment was and prayed for it to continue.
A rustle from across the field however, made Yamato withdraw, the smallest hint of annoyance spread throughout his face as he did before it was gone and he was facing where the sound had come from, mask already firmly back on Kakashi’s face.
The series of events flustered Kakashi enough that his eyes were practically spinning. He sat back and watched as Naruto came running up to the pair, clearly bored with the nap pile the other three had going on. Yamato spent the next few minutes convincing Naruto that yes, he was tired and should take a nap and that the two of them would make sure to tell him whether Sai and Sasuke slept the same amount of time or not. After about five unsure sounds, the boy conceded and instantly yawned before trailing back to the group and collapsing.
“Maybe I should also go join them… Keep the time Tenzō, read a book or something.” Kakashi chuckled and moved to get up before Yamato was right back on him, producing more little flowers around them.