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Lately, Hatake Kakashi found himself lucky not to wake up alone anymore. Rin did call it; she had called it for a long time, yet Kakashi did not want to hear anything. A very dark spot inside of Kakashi’s soul would keep refusing anything good to enter his life, but the warmth of the person next to him was too big, was too strong that the spot of his soul was very quiet when he was around.
The sheets ruffled and Kakashi looked into the tired eyes of Uchiha Obito, his boyfriend. And even though they had been in and out of dating for months and now together for a few more months, it still felt incredible to Kakashi to share some of the space of his life with him.
Of course, he still needed some time on his own, yes and Obito did have enough on his hands as well. From all the stupid declarations Obito had made as they were children, Kakashi had quietly urged him on and now, he was actually taking up missions and lessons to step towards the position of Hokage. Kakashi felt warm to think that Obitos dreams could actually come true in this world.
And all of the above was good - but the dark spot of his soul was not the only thing that tainted Kakashi. Even though he let Obito close, even though there was happiness and warmth with him, sometimes the loneliness won and Kakashi felt like drowning.
The face of his father would haunt his dreams - the question of why he hadn’t been enough.
Not enough for him to stay alive.
Not enough for him to believe in a future.
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That morning they had also received a note for a mission, that was supposed to start in four days. Obito had given the mission assignment a long look. Followed by many hmmm’s .
Hmmm usually meant, please ask me what I think.
Kakashi sipped on his coffee and did not inquire.
“Ask me what I think,” Obito eventually said, causing Kakashi to sigh.
“What are you thinking?”
“Good that you ask!” he put the mission assignment back down on the table. “I think we should take the kids with us.”
Kakashi furrowed his eyebrows. “I don’t know if they are ready.”
“Their teamwork has gotten much better. Besides, we’re with them and the mission isn’t really that big,” Obito said, Kakashi was still sceptical but willing to humour him.
He was their teacher, yes, but Obito had taken a liking to them and at this point, they were kind of co-teaching.
Which was fine.
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On the way to the trainings field, they ended up running into Sasuke and Naruto already. Sasuke had his arms crossed in front of his chest and looked the other way, Naruto was arguing about something.
Kakashi hoped it wasn’t anything that would drag on through the entire day.
The children didn’t really register them until Obito stepped up to them. If they would have just made a little step to the side, Kakashi was sure the two would have just passed them by.
As far as Kakashi could tell, the argument was something something about Itachi and what he had told Naruto. Something something about him liking him better than Sasuke. Which Sasuke denied, of course, Nii-san would say that to any stray fox so that they would stop crying. Because Itachi was kind like that.
“Hey, where did you leave Sakura?” Obito asked them, letting their attention drift away from their argument. And Naruto whined. “Ohh, Sakura-chan, we told her to get her, ahhhh. We went the wrong way, that’s all your fault, Sasuke!”
“No, it’s not! I didn’t tell her anything! And you could have said something when we walked the wrong way!”
“Let’s just get her together,” Obito said with a smile, honestly amused by them.
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They saw Sakura already standing outside the door. Her parents were talking to her, she nodded dutifully.
Though she turned to look down the street as Naruto called out to her - loud and warm letting her and everyone in a 20-meter radius hear him.
Obito almost teared up at the volume of Naruto’s voice and the fist in his hair. Maybe he shouldn’t have offered to carry Naruto on his shoulders.
Yet his heart did melt at the eyes of children - they were almost as bad as the soulful and wrinkly eyes of the elderly. Once he was caught in their eyes (like a Dojutsu!) Obito moved on his own and would do anything to make their day better.
Even if it meant missing out on all of his own important things.
Some things never changed.
Anyway, Sakura did notice Naruto (how could she not?) and bid her goodbyes to her parents. A soft smile was on her features as she jogged over to them - her cheeks warm.
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They had trained a few hours into the day, mostly Kakashi and Obito made sure that the groundwork was good enough for a possible mission.
They had also made the mistake of telling them about the mission. Well, Obito had made the mistake of telling them about the mission and now Naruto wanted to prove his worth - prove that he was the best candidate for any mission!
“With my Kage Bunshin, everyone’s just gonna cry their eyes out!” Naruto declared, cackling like a maniac - his features seemingly becoming the one of a fox. Impressive, for a human-faced child, Kakashi noted in his mind.
More impressive was the Kage Bunshin however. Kakashi had heard from Iruka that Naruto had been able to pull it off. And not by two or three but at least forty.
“You can’t do that, that’s too hard. You could barely create normal clones,” Sasuke did point out facts, though the sound of his voice was still the same as before when they had been fighting. Naruto scoffed, huffing out.
“Yes of course I can! I did before!”
“I don’t believe it until I see it, you moron!” Sasuke stuck out his tongue, and Naruto gasped.
Sakura was beside Obito and watched the whole ordeal. Though she raised her voice, believing in her teammates. “Well, you can just show us then, Naruto. If you’re so sure you can do it.”
“Yeah, I can! Of course, I can! Look!”
And with that, Naruto already formed the hand signs. Even the correct ones, Kakashi found himself a little surprised.
Naruto called for the Jutsu and in a wave of smoke he created —
Yeah.
What… did he create?
Well, the chakra had definitely split but –
“What are you supposed to be? You don’t look like me!” Naruto cried out, actually offended as he pointed at the ground.
“Hmmm,” Obito made, squatted down and gave the thing a look.
“Looks like something Bakashi would cook.”
“More like you, I know what I’m doing.”
Why did Kakashi instantly feel the need to one-up him? This was ridiculous. As was the lump of chakra on the ground.
He sighed.
Okay.
“Okay, Naruto. If you can really show this Jutsu in the next few days, you three can come,” Kakashi decided.
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The next day, Kakashi and Obito had set the training for the afternoon, after a meetup with the Hokage. On their way back, they would pass the Uchiha compound and decide to pick up Sasuke.
Obito decided to pick up Sasuke, and Kakashi found himself trailing along a lot.
They reached the clan head's home and outside was Itachi, who was putting up some kind of dark red decoration. He turned to look at them as he noticed them drawing closer, and gave them a solemn smile.
“Ah, you’re here for Sasuke?” he asked and Kakashi nodded.
Itachi bid them inside for a moment, Sasuke would surely come soon.
They stepped into the home and there were more decorations, all over the place and not been put up yet. Also boxes with some kind of masks that Kakashi could not recognize.
He reached into one of the boxes, pulled out a mask and turned it in his hand.
“What’s all of this?” he asked.
As no one answered, his gaze wandered to the two Uchiha who looked similarly … shocked?
“You don’t know?” Obito asks, voice honestly baffled. How could Kakashi not know? How long have they known one another? How long have they been together at this point?
Did he like ever listen?
“No, I don’t,” Kakashi answered and Obito turned to look at Itachi. Their conversation was carried through their eyes, and Kakashi could guess how it went.
Then Itachi huffed, and turned to look back at Kakashi.
“Well … to keep it simple, we’re preparing for a festival and those masks are to remind us of our gods,” Itachi started to explain, “Every Uchiha is kind of tied to one.”
“Ah,” Kakashi said, gave the mask another look and put it back down.
“Like, Sasuke for example. He’s tied together with the god of protection,” Itachi continued.
(And war, he did not dare to say.)
“What about you?” Kakashi looked at Obito, whose chest swelled with pride.
“Omoikane! The god of wisdom!”
“Yeah, right,” Kakashi huffed, Obito almost cried out. Before he could let the defeat get the better of him, Sasuke came around the corner and was ready to leave.
____________________________
For training, Obito had taken over with Sasuke. He needed to train the skills of his Sharingan. He also had yet to activate his third tomoe. Though all of them hoped it would take a bit longer. Until then, they would hone Sasuke's skills and his chakra concentration.
Sakura was the best of the bunch, her chakra control was better than that of some Chunin-level shinobi already. They had done some taijutsu before, now Kakashi had settled down to read and Sakura was sitting beside him.
It would have been perfectly peaceful, if not for Naruto directly in front of them, calling out Kage Bunshin after Kage Bunshin.
At least, Kakashi needed to give him that, those weren’t just lumps of chakra anymore.
They almost looked like a person. Though maybe more like a mishappened snake that had tried to grow arms.
Next to Naruto calling out for the Jutsu, he also complained about it, because he had pulled it off before! How was he messing this up now?
Kakashi faintly wondered if there was something going on for him that held him back, but whatever it would be, Naruto would have to get through it on his own.
(Kakashi always had to as well.)
____________________________
It was the last day before the mission would start. Kakashi, Obito, Sakura and Sasuke waited at their designated spot to train until Naruto would show up. Except that he didn't.
Altogether they had reached his flat, Kakashi knocked on the door and waited.
No answer.
He tried again and there was still nothing.
And the door was locked as well.
There was nothing left for them to do but to attempt on breaking and entering if they not only wanted to make sure Naruto was okay, but also drag his butt to training.
With horror, Kakashi realised that Sakura knew how to break open a door.
Obito cheered her on, which made her laugh happily.
Sasuke and Kakashi equally wondered where she had learned that.
At least they could enter.
Inside they did find Naruto, who was still asleep. Sasuke and Sakura took over to wake him.
In the meantime, Obito and Kakashi were left at the front door and walked into the kitchen next to the hallway.
Around them, old cups of ramen. And a lot of those. As well as dirty dishes that were stacked in the sink, spoiled milk on the table, more dishes on the same table and some on the ground. Also, some of Naruto’s casual clothes were scattered all around as well.
Obito gave Kakashi a look.
Kakashi looked away, so Obito switched the side and gave him another look.
Kakashi sighed, defeated and locked eyes with Obito.
They were his teachers, not his parents.
“I think he could use a hand, you know. Someone to look after him. He’s just a kid,” Obito said but Kakashi waved him off for now.
He muttered something under his breath before he followed Kakashi into Naruto's bed and living room. He was just zipping up his bright orange jacket.
“I never had so many people over!” he declared, somewhere between pride and pure joy.
Obito gave Kakashi another look.
“Sakura, Sasuke, can you wait outside for a moment?”
They complied and Kakashi leaned against the doorframe, as Obito knelt down to Naruto.
Naruto drew a little into himself, though his eyes stayed focused and determined - he looked like he was expecting to get scolded now.
“What about we do something crazy, Naruto?” Obito inquired and the kid warmed back up a little. “Something crazy?” he asked suspiciously.
“Once you get that Jutsu down, you - 20 more of you - and me are gonna wreck this place clean and after that - we’re throwing a little party with Kakashi-sensei, Sakura and Sasuke.”
Naruto’s eyes turned from suspicious to excited - he has never had a party and started to bounce a little. “Can we get Ramen?”
“Eh - yeah, sure!” Obito huffed and got back up to his feet. Naruto bounced twice more before determination hit him and he zoomed passed his teachers to then race his teammates to the trainings field.
Kakashi sighed softly, almost warmly. “Party, huh?” he asked and Obito gestured around with his hands. “Something to get him started you know? I think we should keep an eye out for him. Not only him, all three, we are kinda like a family.”
Kakashi failed to give a coherent answer, somehow this had caught him off guard.
Never had he even dared to draw that comparison.
Obito noticed his hesitation and came over to where he was standing. “Look, we’re both not big on family. I mean - yeah, the clan, but I mean blood relation - I mean - direct, you know what I mean. I just had my grandparents and they didn’t really get super ancient and you only had Maito Dai occasionally.”
“Rarely,” Kakashi sighed, maybe he should have let them reach out to him more. But back then, things had been a lot different and Kakashi had been in the midst of grief. Not to mention, he had been just a child and didn’t know how to ask for help. And frankly, he hadn’t known what he had needed anyway.
Maybe Naruto wasn’t so different from that.
From them.
“What I mean is, family doesn’t need to mean just … you know, father, mother, brother, aunt or grandpa. Family can also just be that one stupid teacher and the cool teacher.”
Kakashi huffed warmly. “Who’s the cool teacher?”
“Me, of course.”
“Alright,” he softly pushed Obito a few steps away and stepped out of the flat. He overheard Obito's playful complaints, his mind working around what he had told him before.
____________________________
The training was better than the day before, though Kakashi’s mind was running miles and miles as he watched them all together.
At this point, even Sasuke and Obito had stopped their individual training and were shouting tips for concentration left and right at Naruto. Sakura was arguing that shouting would only distract Naruto more and the Shadow Clones he made were - maybe much better than yesterday - but they were still not fully baked.
____________________________
At night, Kakashi didn’t find much sleep. He had woken up after a nightmare about spoiled milk and sentient dirty dishes, he needed a break and proceeded to stare at his ceiling.
Obito’s words came back to his mind, again and again.
Family did not need to mean blood relation, was what he had basically said in between his mumbling.
Maybe Kakashi had spent so much time grieving his and never experiencing it, that he had closed his eyes away from everything else.
Next to him, Obito was quietly sleeping and Kakashi wondered if this was it as well. If he considered Obito to be part of himself?
Maybe, possibly. He loved Obito, wasn’t that enough emotion to have him be part of him?
Thinking of that, Kakashi drifted in and out of sleep.
____________________________
One moment Kakashi had been dreaming of a mission in Iwagakure, and then he was suddenly on a boat - that kept shaking more violently every second. Not to mention that the boat could suddenly talk and called his name.
Why did the boat sound like Naruto?
He woke up, shooting into an upright decision as he tried to catch his breath.
“Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto hit his hands on the fabric of his sheets. What was Naruto doing here?
Kakashi looked around for a moment - there was not only Naruto but also Sakura and Sasuke - next to them was also Obito.
Who smiled apologetically and then pointed secretively towards Sakura. He mouthed the words ‘break in’.
They needed to talk to her about this.
Next to him, Naruto started to bounce up and down again, causing Kakashi to bounce alongside the moving mattress.
“Just show him already!” Sasuke urged on from across the room. “You worked on it all night,” he added way softer than he usually spoke. Sakura nodded alongside. “Yeah, come on Naruto!”
Naruto gave them a proud look and after another shout, and a few hand signs, there were two more Narutos sitting inside Kakashi’s bed. And those were … a big amount of Naruto right after waking up.
“You really -”
“You did it!” Obito exclaimed a lot louder than Kakashi and Naruto seemingly exploded, his voice growing high-pitched as he rambled on about his training last night and how he finally pulled it off again and how he had been able to do it all the time too. (Sakura quietly called bullshit, and Sasuke nodded in agreement.)
Obito came over, Naruto grabbed his arm, jumped a little and continued.
“We can do the party now, right?” he asked and Kakashi’s heart warmed.
“Yeah, but first we’ve got a mission to complete, kid,” Kakashi answered him now and Naruto looked over, his eyes started to sparkle. Right, the mission! His excitement could not be contained.
Kakashi watched Obito shove the kids over to the table as he got out of bed. And as he started to gather new clothes for the day, Obito had laid out a bit of breakfast for them - especially since Naruto probably needed it.
He smiled under his mask. It really was never too late to gain a family.
No matter how chaotic it might be.