Overtwisted

A dog-masked ANBU dragged himself into Konoha, exhaustion weighing down his limbs, but he forged on. To him, rest meant the return of his blood-drenched nightmares and he would do anything to avoid that.

He stuck to the shadows, making his way to the Hokage Tower. All he wanted to do at that moment was to report in, then take off to the orphanage to watch over the last bit of light he still had in his life. The little blond boy was a reminder of his many mistakes but also his last tether to sanity, a fragile thread holding him together.

So lost he was in his own mind, that he did not notice the tension in the village.

It wasn’t until he was standing in front of the Hokage that the ANBU noticed but he paid it no mind, focusing on delivering his report.

“May I be excused, Hokage-sama?” he asked when he was done, itching to leave.

The Sandaime sighed, a strange sort of grief on his aged features. “Please remove your mask, Kakashi-kun,” the old man requested softly. “There is something I need to tell you.”

The ANBU frowned but did as requested, hooking the mask on his belt. “Hokage-sama? Is something wrong?”

“It depends on who you ask that,” Hiruzen muttered, a dark undertone in his voice. He straightened, wanting to look the teen in the eye as he spoke. “As you know, I check on the different facilities in the village every month. After the Kyuubi festival, I went to visit the orphanage.”

Kakashi understood; it was a clever way to disguise the fact that the Sarutobi was more interested in checking on a certain child rather the orphanage itself.

"It went as usual, up until I asked to see Naruto-kun.”

Now Kakashi felt a lump in his throat, fear beginning to choke him. He knew that the conversation was going to head downhill.

“They told me they had thrown him out.”

Silence.

“What?!” Kakashi burst out, fury filling him at the cruelty inflicted upon an innocent child, his sensei’s son.

Hiruzen rapidly continued before the teen could run off to get his revenge, which would definitely result in tons of murdered civilians, “Rest assured that the ones involved in that unfair decision were punished appropriately. I sent out search parties to look for the child immediately.”

“Please tell me you found him, Hokage-sama,” Kakashi pleaded, voice cracking in his despair. He couldn’t lose his last hope, no matter what. “Please tell me that Naruto’s safe.”

“I’m sorry, Kakashi-kun,” Hiruzen’s voice had a mix of guilt, sorrow and anger. “I’m afraid that Naruto-kun is missing. He isn’t anywhere to be found in the village.”

Kakashi broke.

Six weeks, five days, eight hours.

That was approximately how long Naruto had been missing.

Five weeks, three days, thirteen hours.

That was approximately how long Kakashi had been searching for him. Every team that had been sent out in a bid to find the missing Jinchuuriki had returned with empty hands. There hadn’t even been sightings of the boy anywhere.

It was like Naruto had simply vanished.

But Kakashi didn’t stop, even after many others had lost hope in finding the boy. He needed to find Naruto, no matter what it took. Days, weeks, months…nothing mattered when it came to his goal.

His nightmares became crueler, now featuring a little boy with lifeless blue eyes.

Kakashi didn’t sleep anymore.

He was still sent out on missions, the advisors unwilling to give up one of their best shinobi, even if it was for the sake of their Jinchuuriki.

But he didn’t care; he took it as an opportunity to search for Naruto.

Time was wearing him down though, limbs weakened from the lack of proper sustenance and sufficient rest. His chakra reserves were always bordering on empty and he returned from missions soaked in his own blood.

His heart was empty.

He knew he was losing himself; every second that passed brought him one step closer to death. Even if he didn’t stop searching for Naruto, despair was beginning to overwhelm him.

He knew…one day he wouldn’t come back.

“Kakashi! Wait!”

Gai’s voice echoed down the street but Kakashi didn’t stop, dragging himself to the gates. He had another mission, plus his quest to find his sensei’s son.

“Please, Kakashi! You need to rest!”

Despite his exhaustion, the Hatake swiftly side-stepped the hand that shot out to grab his arm. No one would be able to deter him from his path, not until Naruto was safe and sound.

He heard Gai keeping pace with him, still begging him to stop and rest for a while.

But how could he?

How could he sleep when the ghosts of his past haunted him?

How could he sleep when Naruto was likely to be somewhere, completely terrified with no one to help him?!

With one last shrug, Kakashi shook off the Jounin and ran out the gates, leaving Gai to stand there with a worried and dejected expression on his face.

There would be no stopping Hatake Kakashi from combing every inch of the earth until Uzumaki Naruto was safe.

Blades clashed, the rough movements creating sparks that temporarily lit up the night. Kakashi disengaged, tanto in one hand as he pulled out a kunai to throw at the nukenin in front of him. The other man dodged, a sneer on his face but the ANBU didn’t care. The explosion tag went off a second later, blowing off the nukenin’s head.

Spitting out blood, the fluid staining his cloth mask -his ANBU mask had broken long ago-, Kakashi whirled around, blocking an incoming katana with his arm. The blade sliced through his battered armguard, almost taking his hand off. As it was, there was still a deep gouge that leaked blood. One more to add to the other bleeding injuries on his body.

‘Ten more,’ Kakashi thought, gritting his teeth as a wave of pain brought him down on one knee. His mission was to take out a group of nukenin on the borders of Hi no Kuni. Intelligence had said that there were about thirty-five to forty in the group, all ranging from Chuunin to Jounin.

Normally, such a mission would have been assigned to an entire team of ANBU. But Kakashi had demanded it for himself, seeing that it would take him to a part of the country that he hadn’t searched yet. It would have even been easy, if he had been at full strength.

But he wasn’t.

Kakashi knew his chakra reserves were almost empty and he was losing blood too fast.

And there were ten hostiles left.

Forcing his left eye open, Kakashi used his Sharingan to cast a genjutsu on two of the nukenin on his left, leaping forward to cut their throats once the technique took hold.

Eight left.

“You bastard!” one of the men yelled, charging at the ANBU with his sword raised. Kakashi managed to deflect it, but at the cost of his tanto. He cursed as the blade shattered but not one to waste his resources, used the jagged end and stabbed the man’s heart.

His last kunai took down one nukenin and another fell to a Chidori. But that was all Kakashi could manage.

Black edged his vision as he collapsed, exhaustion and blood loss finally taking their toll on him. Panting as blood streamed into his eyes, Kakashi stared up at the starry sky one last time before he let his eyes flutter closed, aware that it was the end for him.

‘I’m sorry, Naruto. I failed you as well.’

The five remaining nukenin would definitely make his death painful but what would it matter, compared to the bleeding and gaping wounds in his heart?

Kakashi laid on the surprisingly soft forest floor, waiting for death to take him in its cold clutches.

But it never came.

The sounds of battle echoed around him, surprising him faintly. He was certain that no back-ups would have been sent and it was unlikely that a Konoha team had been nearby. So who were the nukenin fighting?

Bursts of heat told Kakashi that there were Katon jutsu being thrown around, belonging to whoever had intervened since none of the nukenin had shown an affinity for Katon, instead using Suiton and Doton.

The battle was over almost embarrassingly fast, the unpleasant smell of burnt flesh permeating the air, along with the scent of blood.

‘At least my mission is complete,’ Kakashi mused distantly, a strangely familiar voice echoing in his ears as he let the darkness take him.

“I take my eyes off you for one minute and you try to kill yourself? Oi, Bakashi!”

Soft.

He was lying on something soft.

What?

Training kicked in immediately and Kakashi forced his muscles to relax, not that he could do much. He hurt all over, like he had been stabbed with kunai and then had had acid poured into the wounds.

Well, pain was a good thing. He was still alive.

He feigned sleep, assessing the situation as much as he could. There were no restraints or anything of the sort, just a soft woolen blanket covering his body. Sensing no one around, Kakashi risked opening his eyes. Or just an eye, since there was a bandage covering his Sharingan.

A wooden ceiling greeted him and Kakashi squinted a little at the light bombarding his senses. It was sunlight, so there was probably a window behind him.

Good, an escape route if necessary.

The next step was to assess his physical state; he was still extremely weak and there were bandages covering his torso and arms. If he were to lift the blanket, he was sure that his legs would be wrapped too.

Confusion was the strongest emotion Kakashi felt at that moment. He was not in Konoha; he would have woken in the hospital if that had been the case. So whoever his mysterious rescuer was, had taken him to their abode.

Kakashi wanted to look around but his body didn’t want to cooperate, so he settled for turning his head only.

And was instantly met with the sight of the boy he had been searching for.

“N-Naru..to…?”

The blond’s head snapped up at the call of his name and brilliant blue eyes met a wide grey one. “Yay! You woke up!” Naruto cheered, dropping his crayons in favor of running up to the bedridden teen. “You know me, like Nee-san said!”

Kakashi was frozen; here was the little boy he had sought for weeks, looking happier than Kakashi had ever seen him in Konoha. Was it possible that whoever had taken him had done it with good intentions? And who was this ‘Nee-san’?

But all of that was inconsequential in the face of verifying that what he was seeing wasn’t a dream. Kakashi struggled to lift himself, propping his torso up on an elbow as he stretched one shaking hand towards the toddler.

Naruto happily grabbed the hand with both of his tiny ones, walking closer to the bed before climbing up on it. “Nice to meet you, Kashi-nii!” he said, wrapping his arms around the teen in a hug.

“You know me?” Kakashi croaked, unconsciously returning the hug with one arm. That wasn’t possible; he had never initiated contact with the boy.

Not even once.

Naruto shouldn’t even know his name.

“Yeah! Daddy told me!” Naruto drew back, face still set in a beaming smile. “You were his…stu…student!”

What?

Before Kakashi could even begin to process that statement, Naruto gasped and wriggled out of his grip. He jumped off the bed, running out the room, shouting, “Daddy! Daddy!”

The teen stared blankly in the direction that the toddler had gone, slumped against the wall. He had only ever been one person’s student and that person was dead.

But it was well-known that Kakashi was the Yellow Flash’s student and there was still the possibility that someone was deceiving the toddler. With that thought in mind, Kakashi steeled himself for whoever was going to walk in through that door.

All of his determination didn’t matter when he saw the man, the newcomer’s face set in a worried frown.

“Kakashi, you shouldn’t be up yet!” Minato fretted, hurrying over to the teen. However, he didn’t force the teen to lie back down, aware of his stubbornness. He instead checked the bandages, in case he had opened any of his numerous injuries. Hikari was a decent medic but there was only so much she could do at her current level.

To his surprise, Minato met no resistance as he looked over his former student.

Kakashi was too stunned to react or protest when very familiar hands gently took hold of his shoulders, simply letting the blond man do whatever he wanted. It wasn’t until a hand ruffled his hair that he snapped out of his shock, flinching violently.

“W-Who are you?! Sensei died years ago!”

Minato reared back when the Hatake snarled, slightly hurt at the aggression before understanding washed over him. He settled on his haunches, a few feet away from the boy in order to give him some space. “He did,” Minato agreed quietly, blue eyes sad as he looked at the counterpart of his former student. “I’m not the Minato you knew.”

“Wha-?”

“Sensei, is Kakashi really awake? Naruto was yelling about it.”

The Namikaze had to resist the urge to smack himself when he saw the Hatake’s expression shutter and become blank. He was beginning to regret facing Kakashi first; the poor teen was going to break down at the rate he was going.

Obito strode into the room and stood behind Minato, arms crossed as he glared down at the bedridden counterpart of his teammate. He did not like having to carry the bloody -literally bloody­­- suicidal idiot’s body around in a panic.

“Is this your way of interrogating me?” Kakashi spoke in a monotone, fists clenched in the blanket as he refused to meet either of the men’s gazes.

“What are you talking about?”

“Obito and Minato-sensei are dead,” came the dull reply. “Just drop the Henge or Genjutsu or whatever, and get on with the program.”

The Uchiha raised an eyebrow at the statement but it wasn’t entirely unexpected. They hadn’t expected the Hatake to simply accept them as they were. But it was also glaringly obvious that neither he nor Minato knew how to proceed.

A sharp clap startled all three men and they looked to the source; a girl with long crimson hair was standing at the door, Naruto peeking out from behind her worriedly.

“Alright,” Hikari said, voice stern and even. “Dad, Obito, out. I’ll handle this.”

Minato and Obito exchanged glances, the Namikaze nodding in resignation as he left the room, picking up Naruto on the way. Obito hesitated for a second but agreed, squeezing Kakashi’s shoulder once before leaving the room with a whispered, “Glad to see you alive, idiot.”

Hikari didn’t close the door, not wanting to make the Hatake feel trapped. She sat down in the spot Minato had vacated, offering Kakashi a smile. “My name is Namikaze Hikari. You can call me Hikari.”

Her name was a point of pride for her; she had once gone by Uzumaki and though she actually looked the part now, having her father’s name made her feel warm. Hikari loved her mother but she knew her father better than she did Kushina and she felt honored to carry the Namikaze name.

Nevertheless, that wasn’t the point and the blank expression Kakashi gave her was expected. No doubt he was thinking that she was trying to fool him.

“I know you have a lot of questions,” Hikari said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “Go ahead and ask. You can uncover your Sharingan to check my words if you want; you’re healed enough to use it.”

“Isn’t the interrogator supposed to ask the questions?” Kakashi retorted suspiciously, nevertheless reaching up to tug the bandage over his eye loose.

A single deep breath. “Were you the ones who took Naruto from Konoha?”

“Yep.”

“Why?”

“One, Naruto is family,” the redhead replied easily, ticking it off on her fingers. She looked unfairly amused at his choice of questions. “Two, do you really trust the villagers to take care of him? I mean, we found him in the Red Light District, of all places.”

That utterly deadpan statement sucked all the air out from Kakashi’s lungs, leaving him still as a stone. He didn’t detect a single lie and if he had been in their place, he would have kidnapped Naruto too.

Not that he believed what she was saying yet.

But still…

“Alright,” the Hatake forced himself to breathe, fists clenching and unclenching as he tried to word his next question. “Those two…are they really Minato-sensei and Obito?”

Hikari stared at him with sharp eyes, eerily similar to the Yondaime Hokage’s own eyes. She seemed to be looking for something in his expression and despite his best attempt to keep himself neutral, her smile a few seconds later told him that she had found what she had wanted.

“Yes and no,” was the solemn reply. Hiding the truth from Kakashi, of all people, had never been on the table, not if they wanted to help him. “Dad, Obito and I are real, but from a different world.”

Kakashi wanted to scoff at that ridiculous answer and demand the facts, but the Sharingan told him that she was telling the truth. None of the usual signs of deceit were present on her features or in her body language.

“That’s…not possible.”

Hikari simply shrugged. “Perhaps not under normal circumstances,” she agreed. Despite all the brainstorming sessions Minato, Obito and she had done, none of them were able to accurately tell how and why they had landed in a new dimension, even if they had deduced various possibilities. “We didn’t ask to come here, nor did we believe it was possible ourselves. But after everything we’ve been through, this is actually the best outcome for us.”

“What do you mean?”

The next thirty minutes were spent filling in Kakashi, from the truth behind her existence till the war against Kaguya. By the end of it, the teen was blank-faced once again, not quite able to process it all yet.

“Take your time,” Hikari said sympathetically, patting his knee in a gesture of comfort. Rising to her feet, she gave one last glance over him, satisfied on seeing that none of his wounds had reopened. “Someone will come by with food later. Rest until then, okay?”

“How is he doing?”

Minato perked up the instant his daughter stepped out of the room they had put Kakashi in, expression questioning but tinged with guilt. They had known right from the start that the Hatake would not have reacted well to Naruto’s disappearance but they hadn’t wanted to risk revealing themselves to anyone else just yet.

That didn’t mean none of them hadn’t kept an eye on the last member of their family. All three of them, Minato, Obito and Hikari, had taken turns to shadow Kakashi, waiting for a chance to approach him, waiting for him to calm down enough to listen to them.

Big mistake.

It had been a stroke of pure luck that Obito had noticed that Kakashi had left Konoha immediately after his previous mission. The Uchiha had followed his tracks, happening upon him just seconds before he had been killed at the hands of the nukenin. After finishing off the nukenin, Obito had grabbed Kakashi and instantly teleported them into their temporary house using Kamui, startling Minato and Hikari.

For one heart-stopping moment, the pair had frozen, too stunned by the amount of blood coating the ANBU and soaking into Obito’s clothes. Then they had sprung into action, thankful that Naruto had been down for a nap and didn’t have to see the traumatizing sight.

It had been touch-and-go for almost an hour, Hikari taxing her Yin-Yang Release to heal as much as she could. Kakashi’s blood levels had dropped to dangerous levels, his chakra reserves drained and body extremely malnourished. Inexperienced as she was, Hikari had been barely able to stabilize him.

As if able to tell what Minato was thinking, the redhead shook her head with a small smile. “He’s healing,” she reported, dropping into the chair next to her father with a tired sigh. Hikari leant her head on the man’s shoulder, almost melting when he ran a hand through her hair. “Physically, Kakashi will be fine, but mentally? I have no clue.”

“I see…,” Minato paused, raising his head to glance in the direction of Kakashi’s room. “Did he believe you? About who we are.”

“Pretty sure he did. Whether he accepts it or not is a different matter.”

That was understandable.

Kakashi wasn’t like Naruto; the latter was essentially a blank slate and didn’t know any of them, which made it easy for him to adjust. But that was not the case for the former. Kakashi had known his Minato and Obito for years; even if they were dimensional counterparts, it still wasn’t the same.

“I think he will, if only for Naruto,” Obito spoke, entering the room with two bowls of steaming soup in his hands. He thrust one in Hikari’s face, rolling his eyes when the girl squawked in indignation. “Eat, brat; you used up a lot of energy healing Kakashi.”

“You know that I have a ton of stamina, right?” Hikari reluctantly accepted the food, still sending the Uchiha an impressive glare. “I did way more during the war.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. You still missed lunch, so eat before I pour it down your throat myself.”

“Fine!” the redhead cried out in exasperation, making Minato laugh at her. “Sheesh, Obito, you’re such a mother-hen.”

The Uchiha scoffed at the comment, taking the other bowl and disappearing into Kakashi’s room. The blond Namikaze watched him go, a worried light in his eyes. “Is it fine for them to face each other?”

Hikari hummed, swallowing a spoonful of soup. “I think so. Obito knows what buttons to push and Kakashi would respond to Obito better than either of us right now.”

Obito watched the counterpart of his friend, expression blank with no hint of emotion. Kakashi was staring at the wall in front of him, eyes unseeing. He was clearly lost in his own head.

Deciding not to let him wallow for any longer, the Uchiha strode forth and sat on the bed, crossing one leg over the other. “Here,” he said brusquely, holding out the bowl of soup.

Kakashi slowly turned his head to face the other teen. After a few seconds of staring, his gaze dropped to the bowl of soup. It had taken some time to process what the girl, Hikari, had told him but he knew that she wasn’t lying. He could trust that they wouldn’t poison him; he took the bowl, dipping his head in silent thanks before taking small sips of the liquid.

While he was eating, Kakashi snuck furtive glances at the seemingly nonchalant Uchiha next to him. Obito, -even if he was from a different world, he was still Obito- had scars covering the right side of his face, matching the injuries he would have gotten during his last mission. Hikari had told him how Obito had survived, so Kakashi didn’t continue down that line of thought.

The Uchiha, although he was supposed to be thirty-three, looked eighteen, barely older than Kakashi himself. Kakashi had tons of questions but there were only two main ones.

How did this world’s Obito die?

Would the Obito in front of his eyes be friends with Kakashi?

“Stop thinking,” the object of his thoughts spoke up suddenly, scowling at the Hatake rather fiercely. “I can almost hear it.”

“…sorry.”

“You’re just as much as an idiot as your counterpart was,” Obito continued speaking, holding eye contact with the silver-haired teen. “I’ll tell you what I told him: I’m not mad at you.”

“But Rin-”

“She made her own choice,” Obito interrupted the Hatake’s protest, glaring when it seemed like that the latter was about to speak. “True, I was angry once but that’s in the past. As I am now, I’ve accepted that and moved on.”

Kakashi didn’t question the last statement. Part of Hikari’s briefing had included what Obito had done in his rage-induced state and what he had later done to make up for it. Well aware of his own coping mechanisms, he thought it was amazing that Obito was even functioning.

Choosing to dwell on something else, Kakashi asked quietly, “It was you who saved me, right?”

“Yeah, and I do not want to do that again, so don’t you dare attempt another suicidal stunt. I will burn you to ash myself, if that’s what you want.”

Really, Obito didn’t want to go through that experience ever again; even once had been one time too much. The memory of blood soaking into his clothes as he felt Kakashi’s heartbeat slow down was eerily similar to what had happened in another war torn world. It was a miracle that Obito hadn’t had a meltdown and instead had managed to keep it together long enough to get help.

“You shouldn’t have to concern yourself with me. I’m not your Kakashi.”

“If you were in my place, would you abandon me?”

The silence was telling.

“Thought so,” Obito concluded, raising an eyebrow at the Hatake. “We already have a ‘Naruto’ but we still saved the blond midget. Why shouldn’t we do the same for you?”

“I…”

Obito sighed and stood up, taking the empty bowl from where it had been lying forgotten on the bed. “Look, we’re not going to make you do anything you don’t want to. If you want to forget all of this, go ahead. Just make your own choice.”

The words were stuck in his throat and Kakashi swallowed harshly, staring at the other’s back. He catalogued all the changes he could see between the awkward Obito in his memories and the self-assured man in his sight. It wasn’t hard to see them as different people, but there was still a longing in his heart.

Left alone to his own thoughts, Kakashi could finally admit it.

He believed Hikari.

He believed that Minato-sensei and Obito were alive, in the next room. Even if they were not the same people he had known, they were still important to him.

How could he go back now, knowing that a version of his most precious people were out there?

Hours after Obito’s little conversation with Kakashi, Minato poked his head inside the room. The teen was lying down, back to the door in an unexpected show of trust. Smiling softly, the man walked closer and perched on the edge of the bed.

“I know you’re awake, Kakashi,” he said quietly. Kakashi shifted, turning to lay on his back to lock gazes with familiar blue eyes. “How are you feeling? Do you need me to get Hikari?”

Kakashi shook his head, still staring at Minato intently.

“You look exactly the same,” he whispered after a while, in response to the Namikaze’s patient and questioning smile. “You act the same way too.”

Minato scratched his cheek lightly, not quite sure how to reply to that. “From what little I know, we had pretty much the same experiences? So I don’t think I’ll be any different. But you-”

“-don’t have to see you as the same person,” Kakashi finished, looking downcast. “Your daughter said that.”

“Ah. I suppose she’s the biggest difference though?”

“Hmm. It’s easier to look at her; she resembles Kushina-nee a little but she’s still unknown to me.”

There was silence, the silver-haired teen not protesting when Minato hesitantly ran a hand through his hair. Instead, Kakashi leaned into the touch; it wasn’t something he would have allowed before, but it had been so long since he had had any positive physical contact and he craved it.

“Can I stay?” Kakashi blurted out before he could stop himself. He winced, sneaking a glance at the man next to him. The blond’s expression spoke of shock, mouth parted slightly and eyes wide. “I just…” he rushed to explain, sitting up even though his muscles twinged in pain, “There’s nothing left in Konoha for me anymore.”

Minato blinked, parsing that statement. “What about your friends?”

Gai, Asuma, Kurenai, Genma, Raido, Tenzo and even Anko were friends of a sort but Kakashi, for all that he cared about them, wouldn’t regret leaving them behind.

“They’ll be fine.”

Minutes ticked by, Kakashi shrinking back when the man -Minato-sensei- didn’t reply. He was about to take his words back when an arm snaked around his back, tucking him against the older man’s side.

“Of course you can stay,” Minato said cheerfully, squeezing the Hatake’s arm lightly in a gesture of comfort. There had been no question of abandoning the last member of their family, ever.

It had just been surprising for Kakashi to outright ask for it before they could offer.

“We were actually going to ask you that,” he explained. “It’s not like we’re leaving Konoha forever. We’ll pop in once in a while to check on the village; Hiraishin and Kamui are very useful for that purpose. Once Naruto’s grown up a little, we’ll head back. So you’ll see your friends again.”

Oh.

Oh.

That was nice.

“…okay.”

This time, Minato pulled Kakashi into a proper hug, not saying a word when he felt something damp against his shoulder. “Honestly, I wanted to take you with us when we came for Naruto,” he said, absently patting the teen on the back. “But you weren’t there and when we found you afterwards…”

Both of them winced at the reminder of Kakashi’s state during the past few weeks.

Kakashi knew he had gone overboard, not taking of himself at all and throwing himself into extremely dangerous missions. He had had no concern for himself, only focused on finding even a tiny clue on Naruto’s whereabouts. “I probably wouldn’t have believed you before.”

“Nevertheless, we should never have waited so long,” Minato said firmly, refusing to think about what could have happened if Obito had not felt something off. “I’m sorry, Kakashi.”

There was no reply to that but Minato didn’t need one, the slight tightening of the boy’s arms around his torse answer enough.

The pair sat like that for what felt like ages, one seeking comfort and the other offering it freely. Only when a delicious smell wafted in through the open door, did they stir. Minato stood up, stretching his arms over his head before extending a hand to the teen.

“Think you can join us at the table this time?”

Kakashi considered the question, taking note of his aching limbs and the stiffness, but no true pain. He nodded, letting Minato pull him onto his feet. For a moment, he swayed to the side and almost fell on the floor. Only the blond’s quick actions prevented that.

“Come on, you can lean on me,” Minato suggested, when he noticed that Kakashi hadn’t paled or lost consciousness and was probably only unsteady on his feet.

When they made their way out of the room, they saw that Obito was already at the table, entertaining Naruto. Or, Naruto was happily chattering away at him and he was humming in acknowledgement once in a while.

Hikari was the one who noticed them first, greeting with a warm smile as she emerged from the kitchen with a stack of plates in her hands. “Hey, Dad, Kakashi-nii. Take a seat; food’s almost ready.”

Kakashi’s expression turned stunned at the honorific she had attached to his name. Minato and Obito both snorted in amusement, the former settling the Hatake in a chair before he fell over. Naruto noticed his father and perked up, running around the table to clamber up onto the man’s lap.

“Daddy!”

“Hey, Naruto; did you have a good time with Obito?”

“Yeah! He showed cool jutsu!”

“Is that so?” Minato smiled, unable to resist that beaming face. He would never regret claiming the toddler as his own, aware that if their positions had been reversed and his daughter had been the one displaced, he would have wanted his counterpart to take care of her. “Obito-nii is amazing, isn’t he?”

“Yes!”

That was when Naruto noticed Kakashi and brightened even further, almost throwing himself at the startled teen. Only Minato’s arms around him stopped him from doing so.

“Kashi-nii!”

Minato chuckled, keeping a tight grip on the hyperactive three-year-old. “I’m sure you’re happy to see him but he’s a little hurt, so you have to be gentle, okay?”

“’Kay…”

Now a little more subdued and no longer trying to jump off, Naruto wriggled in his father’s grasp until he was facing the Hatake and held out a hand, which Kakashi automatically took. “Kashi-nii owie?”

Kakashi swallowed, staring into the innocent eyes of the child. He would never understand how the villagers had directed all their hatred at him. “..it’s better. Your sister is very good at healing.”

“Hikari-nee is super amazing!”

“Oh?” the redhead emerged from the kitchen at that exact moment, a wide grin stretching her mouth. “I think Naruto is amazing too; did you show Kashi-nii your drawing?”

“Uh oh. Daddy, down!”

Naruto shot off into one of the rooms as soon as Minato set him on the floor, causing him to cast an inquisitive look in his daughter’s direction. Hikari’s smile widened but she didn’t elaborate, setting the food on the table. She brushed a hand over Kakashi’s shoulder as she passed him, sending some healing chakra into him.

The teen almost went boneless with relief, the lingering ache vanishing instantly. Kakashi sent her a grateful look which Hikari winked at, a finger pressed to her lips, promising her silence -that she wouldn’t tell Minato and Obito that Kakashi had actually been experiencing some pain.

Not willing to meet anyone’s eyes just yet, Kakashi stared down at the table, only to rear back in shock once again. There was a spread of all his favorite dishes, even the ones that he indulged in occasionally as comfort food. Tears pricked at his eyes and he rapidly blinked them back, not wanting to have a meltdown.

After so long with little to no kind gestures, or ones that he would accept, a simple thing such as someone making his favorite food was enough to floor him.

Thankfully, Kakashi was provided with a distraction in the form of Naruto, who ran towards him while waving a sheet of paper in the air.

“Here!”

Naruto thrust the paper at Kakashi, who took it in order to not upset the boy. A closer glance at the paper had his eyes widening, the Sharingan burning the image into his memory.

It was a childish drawing of five figures, each one distinguishable by their height and hair color. The two blonds were clearly Minato and Naruto himself, the redhead was Hikari and the black-haired figure was Obito.

What Kakashi didn’t expect was the inclusion of himself.

For portrayed in the drawing clearly, with a mess of silver hair and a black mask covering most of the figure’s face, was Naruto’s rendition of Kakashi.

When Kakashi didn’t move for a while, Minato peered over the teen’s shoulder at the drawing, chuckling in amusement and fondness when he realized what he was looking at. Judging by Hikari’s grin and Obito’s smirk, those two had known about it right from the start.

“Kashi-nii not like it?”

Naruto’s expression slowly transitioned to worry when Kakashi didn’t reply for a long time and was about to tear up when a hand gently ruffled his hair. The Hatake looked at the boy with gratitude and growing happiness, wondering what he had done to deserve it.

“Thank you, Naruto,” Kakashi spoke softly, holding the drawing as though it was something extremely precious. “I love it.”

Looking around and seeing only smiles, he leant back in his chair, finally allowing the burden he had carried for years to fall from his shoulders.

For the first time in years, he was truly happy.