Chapter 32
Life was peaceful, the village couldn't be better, he and Kakashi were more in love than ever and their little Kanae brightened their days.
It had been eight beautiful months since their little Kanae came into their lives.
The four-month-old girl who came into their lives was now one year old and Keigo just wanted time to slow down.
Keigo had taken the day off to spend some quality time with his family and as he snuggled deeper into Kakashi's side he enjoyed the quiet of the morning.
"DADAAAA"
Keigo sighed and waited a moment hoping his daughter would give him some more time to rot in bed.
"BABAAAA"
Now it was Kakashi's turn to groan in despair.
Kanae, they had discovered, was an early riser. Keigo would never have thought that a baby would ever wake up so early unless forced to, after all the only babies he had ever known were Naruto and Shikamaru.
"It's your turn to feed the beast"
"It is not" Keigo turned to Kakashi offended.
Kakashi looked at him making him reconsider his life choices.
"No, yes, now that I think about it, it is my turn"
Keigo rolled out of bed and didn’t even consider putting on a shirt before heading over to his screaming daughter.
They had put Kanae’s crib in Naruto’s room and it was there that Keigo found her clinging to the bars of the crib, unsteady on her chubby little legs.
As soon as she saw him, her complaints disappeared and she gave him one of those big smiles that always made him melt.
A small hand reached up to him, grasping at the air, trying to be picked up.
"Did my princess sleep well?" Keigo cooed as he ran a hand over her little head, trying to fix the long red locks that were sticking out in every direction.
"Dada, want yum-yum"
"Yes dada prepare breakfast now" Keigo replied calmly as he approached the kitchen.
When he got there he set Kanae down on the floor where she immediately began crawling around. Keigo knew that sooner or later she would start walking and their apartment would no longer be enough. It was almost too small now that Naruto was gone and when he returned he would want his room back and Kanae would need her's.
He had prepared his baby's bottle automatically and came back to reality when two arms wrapped around his waist and a face buried itself in his neck.
"What's bugging your mind?" Kakashi asked in a voice still hoarse from sleep.
"I think it's time for me to go back and check out my old house, for our family"
The yellow house was the same as the day they left.
Keigo was eleven years old and he never had the courage to go back there again.
The garden was neglected, the grass grew tall and wildflowers sprouted everywhere.
The small stone path was half covered but still quite recognizable and Keigo walked along it to reach the door.
The dark wood showed no signs of aging and the handle, having darkened slightly, remained the same.
How many times before had he run along that same path and then darted into the house?
Dust rose from the air Keigo let in when he opened the door.
A musty smell stung his nose as he took his first steps inside. A blanket of gray covered the floors and the remaining furniture. The marks from the photos they had removed when they moved in were still there, staining the walls.
Keigo opened all the windows to ventilate and let in light to better see the condition of the house. Now that it was all lit up, Keigo noticed that under the most recent layer of dust were footprints leading down the hallway and up the stairs.
Had anyone been here before?
He followed the trail to what used to be his parents' room, the sliding door was ajar and the sunlight was already illuminating the room.
It was Keigo's first time setting foot upstairs.
He slid the door open slowly, the footprints were old so he doubted that anyone was home, but he paid attention anyway, after all it was known that this had been the Fourth's house.
Keigo didn't know what he would do if someone desecrated his old home.
It was all as he remembered, the bed on the floor and the Uzumaki clan marine prints hanging on the walls.
The footprints stopped in front of a cabinet that, if Keigo's memory served, he had never seen before. In front of it, it was as if there was a clean circle in the dust, as if someone had sat in front of it or something.
He stepped forward carefully, curious but cautious.
It was a low cabinet, barely reaching his waist, made of dark wood with doors that divided it in half.
Keigo knelt down right where the dust thinned and reached for the two small brass handles.
With a small movement, he opened them. The air completely left his lungs.
The smiling photo of his mother stared back at him from a frame that was flanked by two small incense sticks and an offering dish.
It was an altar. And Keigo suddenly knew whose footprints they were.
He could vividly imagine his father kneeling in his place for who knows how long, looking at the photo of his greatest love.
Keigo had never known that all of that existed, he didn't even know that his father had ever had the courage to return to that house, he certainly had never had it before that day.
But Keigo knew that the loss of his mother had left an indelible mark on his father, she was everything to him.
A few days later Keigo finished cleaning all the rooms of the house, even the master bedroom, and when he left for the last time before the final move, another photo had appeared on the altar next to the one already there.
Because Minato wouldn't want to abandon Kushina even in death.
The old room that Keigo had once shared with Kakashi and then Naruto had become Naruto's new room while Minato's old office had become Kanae's new room.
Keigo and Kakashi in the master bedroom.
The first night home was strange, both men felt like they were walking on shells, ghosts of memories haunting the rooms.
The kitchen where Kushina used to cook with that orange apron where Kakashi now did the same but with that ugly pink apron.
The photos of the Uzumaki-Namikaze were now mixed with the Hatake ones.
The toys of a different baby were scattered around the rooms.
To get away for a bit, they decided to spend some time in the backyard before putting Kanae to bed.
And then they were dancing in the garden, in each other's arms. Kanae was babbling on the dock, stretching out her little arms toward them, watching them with her beautiful, wide eyes.
Keigo could see the ghost of a different scene, another child watching his parents dance in the same garden, only fourteen years ago.
As they started they stopped, they didn't know what had made them start but what had stopped them did.
Kanae who had crawled down the two steps, now tried to stand up on her unsteady little legs.
When she stood up, she wobbled a little to one side before steadying herself and looking up at them with a smile. Keigo fell to his knees holding out his arms towards her, he heard a twin thud so Kakashi must have imitated him.
She raised her little leg and took a first uncertain step before gaining confidence and taking the rest of the steps towards them.
They welcomed her into their arms, covering her face with kisses as she giggled.
And even though the house was still haunted by memories of the dead, the three of them had brought life back into it.