Chapter Text
The first time awareness came to Kakashi, there was something cold on his forehead, something cold and wet and it was sending shivers throughout his body and he hated it.
Faintly, he could feel himself trying to get his eyes to open. Faintly, he could feel his fingers twitching. Faintly, he could feel how fast his heart was starting to beat.
Faintly. Faintly. Faintly. Faintly.
Everything was faint. And everything was muffled.
Then everything went clear when the cold was removed from his forehead and replaced with something warm, something warm and callous and smelled of herbal tea, the type his otōsan used to make on rainy days.
He leaned into the warmth.
“Sleep, pup.”
And sleep he did.
The second time the awareness came, he could move, move just enough to get his eyes to open, yet they attempted to close again, forcing him to have a short, six-second fight with them to keep them open.
Stubborn things.
When his eyes finally gave up their fight, he tried to examine his surroundings the best he could with his blurry, teary sight.
All he could manage to make out was there were no windows, no doors, and the roof was curving upwards into a—triangle? He thinks it’s a triangle.
He also thinks he might be wrong.
His gaze shifted when one of the walls was pulled open and someone stepped in, the opening gave him a shaky glimpse of bright blue, then it was gone.
“You’re awake.” A statement.
Despite the fight he gave to keep his eyes open, he closed them, causing a throbbing pain to immediately form behind them.
“You can go back to sleep. I’ll be here the next time you wake up. Promise.” Warmth pressed against his forehead.
Rapidly, his awareness faded until he was left to fall into a numbing void.
The third time awareness came, there was someone hovering over him, wiping down his face and neck with wet cloth.
Something his otōsan did whenever Kakashi came down with a fever that forced him to remain in bed, too tired to get up and take even the shortest of baths.
He leaned into the touch when it came to the side of his face, the only action that alerted the person he was awake.
There was a short pause, so short that he wouldn’t have noticed if the wet hadn’t lingered for a second longer than necessary.
“—Hungry?” He hadn’t even realized the person was talking until the cloth was pulled away, letting a cool breeze wash over him, slowly drying the wet left behind.
“Hm..?” The only thing that he could get himself to let out, even if his mouth didn’t open.
“Are you hungry? I’ve made porridge, it should be light enough for you to digest.”
Now that he was paying attention, he could hear the way the person was practically whispering, the way they kept their tone even and withheld, the underlying tones of trust and cautious mixing together, and the way they said their S’s like how you would sound out the TH in ‘though’.
Their voice was pleasant on the ears.
He liked it.
Oh, maybe he should reply. If he can.
“Mmh..?” Best he’s got, take it or leave it.
There was a good moment before the warm, callous, herbal-tea-smelling touch from earlier was pressing against his shoulders and he was being pulled up, he could feel his body start to fall backward until the touch wrapped around his shoulders and he was being pulled against something far warmer.
He leaned into the warmth.
“Do you feel like opening your eyes? Or not today?”
Eyes..
He can do that.
It took a moment before Kakashi even attempted to try and will his body to get his eyes to open. His vision was blurry yet clearier compared to early, probably, he doesn’t know.
“There you go. Here.” A wooden bowl filled with pale yellow porridge was carefully placed onto his lap. “Let’s try to get some work back into those arms. I know sleeping for so long will weaken your muscles, and spoon-feeding you will just worsen it.”
His pinky twitched at their words just as he forced one of his hands to move and wrap around the handle of the spoon like it was the first time he’s held one.
This was going to take a long time.
Kakashi was left to think once the person left to go do something. Think and ponder and wander.
His eyes fluttered closed and he curled up under the blanket the person had draped over him once he finished eating, whispering that they’ll be back before he fell asleep, which he can’t bring himself to doubt after they kept their earlier promise.
Kakashi’s mind felt weird, or, well, more specifically, his subconsciousness. It was like someone had poked holes into it with a needle, letting all of his memories spill out like water in a bag.
He felt whole in some parts, empty in others.
He could remember specific things—his name (first, not last), his otōsan (only the faint memories, not the name), his favorite food, and what he wanted to name his dog if his otōsan ever bought him one—but everything else was gone.
And he couldn’t decide if that was a good or bad thing, but the way his throat tightened and eyes stung when he started to dive too far made it all so clear it was most likely a good thing.
When he attempted to swim back up into the safe area of his subconsciousness, the tightening loosened just enough to form itself into a lump that made it hard to swallow.
His eyes started to burn, forcing the sting to leave in forms of warm wetness.
By the time the person made it back, Kakashi had half-cried himself to sleep, some of the wet had already started to dry while the others continued to fall.
He sniffled when the blanket was pulled further up and the warmth started to wipe away the wet.
“You’ll be okay. Just go back to bed.”
”Otōsan’s here. You’ll be okay. Just go back to bed.”
He wants his otō.
The next few times he’s awake, he eats the porridge the person makes for him, cries for the otōsan he knows he will never see again (even if he doesn’t know why), and falls back asleep.
Today’s different.
His vision is clear and he can move without some sort of his body aching or throbbing.
The person has snowy-sliver hair. They also have a burn that covers the entire left side of their face. They were also a man.
“I’ve notified the Head and elders of your recovery progress, they wish to see you today.”
He doesn’t feel like talking, not because he was nervous, but because he was hungry.
Where’s his porridge?
“You can eat on the way.” There were no questions on if Kakashi felt like walking, he doubts he could, or maybe he can but his mind doesn’t want to register that.
He was handed his usual wooden bowl and spoon before arms slipped under his knees and back, he was lifted off the bed and almost cradled to the person’s chest.
“You don’t have to talk, I believe. The questions will most likely require a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but if they don’t, then keep your answers short if you want to make the interaction end quicker.”
The moment they exited, Kakashi realized they’d been in a tent, or something similar to a tent. He couldn’t tell what it was made from, but cloth and cotton were definitely not options so he discarded them, throwing them off to the side.
Silence consumed the two as Kakashi took in his surroundings, they were in some sort of valley, a valley filled with flowers, flowers with scents that had his chest loosening and mind clearing from any thoughts that were straying too far from normal for his liking.
Tents similar to the one they just exited covered the clear areas (areas that had no flowers), each varying in length and width. The unused spots were filled with wooden racks with things such as clothes and fish drying on them, children playing a variety of games with each other, women sitting in circles, whispering to each other, and a bunch of other stuff that Kakashi would’ve noticed if he hadn’t lost interest so quickly.
The only thing that he found a bit interesting was how everyone he saw had sliver hair, all in different shades, but no doubt in the slivery-grey zone.
“We’re here.” The person’s voice had startled him, having forgotten about them a little when he started observing while slowly eating his porridge, trying to savor the sweet, nutty flavor.
Did he mention this person made the best porridge?
“You’ll be okay, the elders have a soft spot for children as small as you.”
What does that mean?
His gaze shifted to the inside of the tent they were entering, a tent far bigger than what should be necessary.
There were five people sitting in a half circle around the barely alive fire in the center, only one sat fully relaxed, a small cup cradled in their hands.
Kakashi is carefully and slowly placed in front, the his person immediately moving towards the entrance the moment their arms were free, standing in front of the flap to prevent anyone from entering (or leaving).
The relaxed one smiles, takes a sip of what was in their his cup, and says five words that start the beginning of Kakashi’s new life.
“Welcome to the Hatake Campsite.”