A taint of hope and sorrow
“Kakashi,” there was a long pause..,
“Kushina and I gave it a lot of thought and were wondering if..”
There’s that hesitance again. Kakashi thought
..you would like to be a part of our family?”
– They were now back to Lord Hokage’s office, 6 months prior.
Lord fourth ordered his most important subordinate to his office for a serious discussion.
The growing grey-haired boy peeked through the door, making his way inside.
Minato sat straightened in his chair facing the boy.
He seems tense.. Kakashi thought to himself
His hands were placed in front of his face on his desk with his fingers intertwined.
“You called? Sir?”
He truly is the son of White Fang alright. He is a literal carbon copy, his former teacher thought to himself.
“Yes. It’s very important, for a matter of fact..
Kakashi.. I was wondering if..”
Minato paused,
“You would be alright with being Kushina’s body guard? You see, she is pregnant.. and there is nobody else I would rather have for this job. The trust I have in you is incomparable.”
He looked into the young jonin’s eyes with pure anticipation.
It goes without saying that Hatake Kakashi is truly the brightest ninja of his age. He is unmatched in terms of brute strength, intelligence, and intuition. He had been a prodigy ever since he could remember. This child prodigy, however, had suffered like no other. Suffering is not to be compared, but he had all the reasons to abandon his duties.
From the murder of his father by his own village, his home, to the death of his precious friend who sacrificed himself for Kakashi’s survival. During his dying moments, he left Kakashi by entrusting him with his Sharingan, the invaluable visual prowess which he had just obtained. Shortly after, the girl who claimed to love Kakashi with her whole chest commit suicide by the very hand of him to obtain her own peace.
And now he would coexist with guilt forever until death says otherwise. His father was known for his astonishable skills as a ninja as well. But what would later cost him his life, was prioritising saving his comrades and their lives over the sake of the mission assigned to the team. The village ridiculed him about it until he was found dead by his own son in their home due to suicide.
The pain and life long burdens the Hatakes suffer are truly only buried by the pure ignorance of humanity.
It was a miracle this child was still persevering. He suffered in silence, and would never forgive himself for the past, not in a million years, even though none of what happened was hisown fault. ..Why me…? Why am I still alive? Repeated inside of his head. Again. And again.
He began thinking it was actually him, his very existence, causing pain to the people around him. So, he distanced himself from everybody around him.. that was still left of course, including his classmates and his very own mentor.
Kakashi then joined the Anbu Black Ops, an organisation of elite shinobis and covert operatives, and intentionally took on especially dangerous missions because he so desperately sought out looking in the very eyes of death.
He had hoped that on one of these missions, he would finally be killed and relieved of this brutal pain.
This was all because this child was so full of love. He couldn’t bear any more suffering of the people precious to him. He wanted others to experience happiness by sacrificing his own, the happiness he thought he could never have because he doesn’t deserve any.
It was because he was so unworthy. So useless. So completely and utterly selfish. But it was because he had gone through so much at such a little age, he was so full of love. Humanity had never witnessed such a pure soul.
Hatake Kakashi was love itself.
He had always cared about other people and prioritised their lives above his own. Even when he was reluctant to admit it.
Before Obito and Rin, he was traumatised into following the rules no matter what because of what happened to his father, Sakumo. Obito and Rin, however, contrasted that belief heavily.
Life itself is always more important than any mission. Friends and comrades above the mission was the most important rule to him now.
Hatake Kakashi is a flower that keeps flourishing.
Minato thought that having Kakashi as Kushina’s body guard would mean he could keep this child so precious to him under his wing. This way, past events wouldn’t repeat themselves. You are my one and only student still present in this world. We only have each other, don’t we? I need to keep you close to me.
There was a brief silence between the Hokage and Anbu captain.
“It is an honour you think of me so highly Hokage sama. I would gladly protect your wife and child.”
Minato let out a sigh of relief and slouched back in his chair. His face painted a gentle but sincere smile,
“Thank you, Kakashi.”
Kakashi bowed and turned on his heel, making his way out of the office.
“Kakashi,” Minato called
The boy stopped in his tracks and turned to face the Hokage.
“..?”
“You don’t have to call me Hokage sama, you know.”
And it would be nice if you could also smile once in a while too..
“....
Yes….,
sensei.”
And then the White Fang’s legacy was on the other side of the door.