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Out of all the people to be expected coming to Kakashi’s door with flowers on his birthday, Sasuke Uchiha wasn’t one of them.
Sasuke just never seemed to be one of those people to offer gifts like some people he knew. Just a bit ago, Naruto had run up to Kakashi with the usual birthday wishes and treated him to ramen, claiming he had a coupon to pay for the meal. And just before that, Gai had challenged Kakashi to another grueling race to “test how fast he’d be at his new age.”
But Sasuke didn’t seem like the type of person to give gifts, birthday or not. Yet here he was.
Though, he didn’t seem to be like how Kakashi had imagined it, surprisingly.
“Oh, Sasuke!” Kakashi exclaimed in surprise as he opened the door of his apartment, revealing the raven-haired genin with a large bouquet of flowers cradled carefully in his arms.
“What’s all this?”
His pupil, to Kakashi’s surprise, didn’t seem to be embarrassed by the ordeal at all. The jonin had imagined Sasuke to be red in the face at the prospect of showing even a little bit of care for somebody, but the Uchiha just had his usual indifferent expression plastered on his face.
Sasuke handed the bouquet over to his sensei.
“Hn. Sakura asked me to give this to you today.” he answered bluntly.
“Huh.”
Kakashi took the bouquet and inspected it. The flowers were bright orange carnations wrapped in shiny, white paper and tied with a pink ribbon, complete with a small note:
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From: Sakura
I saw these flowers at the Yamanka shop and thought you’d like them! Have a happy birthday!
To: Kakashi-sensei
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The note was written in cursive and refined handwriting. It was very cute, to say the least.
The funny thing was, Sakura had also come up to Kakashi earlier that day, and happily gave him a huge bouquet of calla lilies and a box of chocolates, wishing him a happy birthday as well.
Which meant that these carnations could not have been from her....
The jonin chuckled knowingly and looked back to Sasuke. “I see. Well, tell Sakura I said thank you!” he said, then ruffled Sasuke’s black hair affectionately, which earned an annoyed grunt from the boy. Kakashi could’ve sworn there was a tiny blush on the raven’s face. It only made him chuckle more.
“Hn. I’m leaving.” Sasuke remarked quickly, getting away from his sensei’s hold. With that he, turned around the corner and walked away.
What a sweet little boy, that one... Kakashi thought, smiling.
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The sky was clear and warm. Kakashi stood at Konoha’s entrance, patiently waiting for a certain person to arrive. It was nice to get some quiet after all the birthday wishes he’d been getting today. Being the hokage increased his fame, and while it had its benefits, it also meant having every person he walked by wishing him a happy birthday. As much as he appreciated it, they were getting a little too overwhelming.
The man sighed and looked up at the clouds with his hands in his pockets. After nearly two years of being away from the village, Kakashi had gotten a message from Sasuke that he’d be returning. Of course, he was glad that this happened. It had been far too long since he saw his former student, (and to be honest, Kakashi was curious to see if Sasuke looked any different).
At the moment, Sakura and Naruto weren’t in the village, rather they were off doing their own missions for a few days, so Kakashi thought it would be nice that he’d welcome him.
After 30 minutes of waiting, Kakashi finally saw a figure in the distance walking towards him.
The figure was clad in black with a little bit of... orange?
Since when was Sasuke fond of wearing that color...? Kakashi thought. Perhaps his taste also changed while he was away.
Eventually, Sasuke reached him. Kakashi smiled.
“Welcome back!” he greeted cheerily, approaching the Uchiha.
Sasuke nodded in reply. The raven sure did change his appearance, specifically how his hair grew down to his right side to cover his rinnegan eye. Part of Kakashi wanted to laugh at how fitting it looked.
But the other thing Kakashi noticed was a bouquet of flowers cradled gently in the ninja’s arm.
“Here.”
Sasuke handed the bouquet to his former sensei.
Surprised, Kakashi took the flowers and gazed at them. They were bright orange carnations, and just here and there littered some pink petunias as well. Tied with a white ribbon, there was hand-written note attached to the stems:
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Happy birthday, Kakashi-sensei.
-Sasuke
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Remembering the familiarity of this gift from long ago, Kakashi laughed and gave an amused grin.
“So, these are from Sakura as well, hm?”
This time, Sasuke looked embarrassed, cheeks tinting pink.
“No... it’s my gift to you.” he admitted, looking down.
Kakashi chuckled once more, decided to tease him a little bit.
“Well, this bouquet is even prettier than the first one!” he pointed out.
Sasuke instantly perked up and frowned. “Wait... you knew I gave you the first bouquet?”
“You don’t seem to be denying it.”
Sasuke turned even redder at that, realizing that his plan for his old gift had been figured out. Why did I even try to fool him? the Uchiha thought.
“Well, I am Kakashi Hatake, one of Konoha’s strongest ninja! You shouldn’t have underestimated your sensei, Sasuke!” he laughed, reaching out a hand to gratefully ruffle the raven’s hair.
Kakashi expected another annoyed pout this time, but to his surprise (and slight joy), Sasuke allowed it with a rare, genuine smile, maybe even a tiny giggle.
“I’m 18 now, Kakashi-sensei.” Sasuke remarked, trying to escape Kakashi’s grip. The other man just shrugged and smiled. “Maa, you’re still a sweet young man to me.”
As the two shinobi walked back to Konoha, Kakashi beamed. “Thank you for coming, Sasuke.”
Appalled, Sasuke paused for a second, then smirked. “You’re getting sentimental.”
“Hmm, maybe I am.”
Kakashi didn’t mind though. He was blessed to have grown long enough to reunite with his precious boy once more.
The End.