The morning sun came swiftly through the window of Kakashi and Anko’s room. A new day started up and Kakashi wasn’t exactly prepared for it. He groaned and shoves his face into the pillow. He reached over to the side to feel for his wife and his head shot up when he realized that she wasn’t still in bed with him.
Sighing, he sat up, letting the blanket pool around his waist. He stretched and once he heard those satisfying pops, Kakashi got out of bed and headed to the kitchen to see if anyone was still around the house.
It was eerily quiet and he knew that he was left alone. Usually, this never bothered him, his wife and kids would always yell out a bye before they left anywhere. ‘Well, it happened when the kids were younger’, he thought to himself. Kakashi knew his children weren’t kids anymore. In fact, they were adults and had their lives and teams to lead.
Kakashi walked to the table and glanced down at the newspaper and noticed what the day was. Frowning, he picked it up and read the contents of a particular article.
‘Introducing a new holiday that’ll surely make a family closer! Konoha welcomes everyone to celebrate “Parent and Child Day”! Gear up for a day of festivity and fun!’
“This must have been the new idea Naruto had in store for everyone…” Kakashi mutters to himself and suddenly felt a pang of jealousy. His kids aren’t young anymore. They wouldn’t want to hang out with him or Anko for the day. Setting the paper down, he hears the door open and peeks out of the kitchen to see Anko coming in with a few bags of groceries.
He smiled at the sight of his wife and headed over to help her with the bags. “Need a helping hand?” Kakashi asked and managed to swipe a few bags right from under her and turned around to head back to where he came from.
“I may be older, Kakashi, but I’m not completely over the hill yet. I still have some spunk left in me,” Anko retorts and walked to the kitchen as well. “I’m surprised you’re awake already. I wanted to let you sleep in. I mean… it technically is a holiday now, as Naruto put it.”
Kakashi couldn’t help but snort slightly. “Every day’s a holiday when you’re retired, Anko. You should join me sometime.” He smiled when she rolled her eyes.
“And be stuck with you here? I’d rather not,” she replied playfully and gave him a hip check with her plump hip and thighs. “I like where I’m at. I actually like teaching the upcoming generation and helping when needed in Interrogation. Maybe /you/ should come out of retirement and teach at the academy with me. We could tag team the little maggots.”
“I wouldn’t hear the end of it if “Rokudaime-sama” came over to teach. I’ll just keep watch of home and help Naruto when I’m needed.”
Anko frowned. “Which hasn’t been nearly as much as you would have liked to hope. Seems like Shikamaru has been a great advisor to him. You and Tsunade-sama are definitely able to enjoy your retirement, mm?”
He rubbed the back of his neck and nodded solemnly. “Yeah, of course. Ah… any plans for today? It is a holiday. Aren’t classes cancelled?”
“Which is why I’m home already,” Anko said and starts to put groceries away. “And to answer your question, I don’t think I’m doing much-- Enoki, Sakumo, and Obito haven’t told me much of anything. I have no idea if they’re planning something for us.”
Kakashi’s brows knit together. “Well… I suppose I’ll get ready and walk about the village. Maybe I’ll run into them. … Do you think they’ll even want to do something with me? I mean, they aren’t little anymore.”
“Kakashi, sweetie… I don’t know. Our kids are adults now, yes. But they’re still our kids. Don’t sell them short. Just go out and about and maybe you’ll be surprised,” Anko replied and pointed towards the hall. “Now, go get ready and mingle.”
He chuckled to himself, nodded to Anko, and headed to the their room to shower and change. Once dressed, he looked at himself in the mirror and put his headband on. Old habits die hard, he supposed and added the last thing, which was his flak jacket. With a nod, he went back to the kitchen, gave Anko a kiss on the cheek and left to see who was around that would give this old dog the time of day.
xXx
The streets were bustling with fathers and their children already. Some mothers were with them as well. But it mainly seemed to be fathers with extremely young children. This started to make Kakashi slightly more jealous. Why didn’t he think of this as a holiday when he was Hokage and his kids were much younger? Pocketing his hands, he tried to go about his business when he saw a close friend in a wheelchair.
With eyes lit up, he walked over to Gai and noticed his daughter with him. “Ah… morning, Gai. Nai. What are you two up to?”
Nai beamed at her father’s rival. “Morning, Oji-san! Well, today is parent-child day, right? So, I’m here hanging out with my dad! Where else would I be?” She added on and grinned cheekily.
“I don’t know… maybe with Enoki? You two have been inseparable since you were both younger…”
“Haha! Much like we were, right, Kakashi?” Gai beamed just as much as Nai did. Like father, like daughter he supposed.
“Well, seeing as you’re both busy, I won’t take up much more of your time. If you see any of my kids, let them know their father is looking for them.” Kakashi waved and left to see who else is alone like him.
Nai glances down to her dad and her brow rose. "Papa? Is he going to be okay? He seemed... not well."
Gai just gave his daughter a thumbs up. "Never fear, Nai, my beloved child. Kakashi will be okay. Now, let's go meet your mother for some dango and tea."
xXx
And much to his dismay, no one else is alone. Iruka actually had a moment, thanks to the holiday, to spend time with Azarashi. Kurenai was with Mirai. Even Naruto was with his four kids away from his office. And like hell was he going to try and talk to Amefuri. Kakashi knew the man still didn’t like him, so why go after him?
Everyone else had their kids to spend time with… except for Kakashi.
It was now mid afternoon when he decided to go spend some time alone by the river that ran through the village. Sitting by the edge, he took of his sandals, stuck his feet into the cool water, and released a sigh. He knew it would be better off if he didn’t stress out about this. However… He felt like his kids were purposefully avoiding him today of all days. With pursed lips, he pulled out a familiar orange book and read until it was time to head home.
Kakashi had finished about half a page when he was interrupted.
“Dad! We finally found you!”
He turned his head and see his precious three kids walking down the little hill. Kakashi pocketed his book quickly and stood up, not even bothering with his sandals at that very moment. “You three were looking for me?”
“Well, duh!” Obito chimed in. “We wanted to let you sleep in because you’ve been so busy recently. We also wanted to plan something amazing today, but when we got home, mom said you left! What the hell, man?”
Sakumo elbowed his younger twin in the side and looked at his father. “Come on, old man. There’s still time for us to do stuff today.”
Kakashi’s brow rose. “You aren’t going to be embarrassed to do something with your old man? I mean… you three aren’t kids anymore.”
“Dad, come on. We’re your kids. That doesn’t change just because we got older,” Sakumo replies and pockets his hands.
“Are you sure?”
This time, Enoki speaks up. “Dad, what kind of children would we be if we didn’t spend any time with you on today of all days? Now, come on! Mom’s waiting for us at Yakiniku-Q!”
Kakashi couldn’t help but smile under his mask. “But wait… we didn’t get to do any of the festivities.”
Obito grabbed Kakashi’s arm and started to pull him up the hill. “Dad, come on. We don’t have to do that! As long as we spend time together, right?”
He chuckled and nodded. But, he stopped and pulled his arm away from his youngest son.
“Dad?” the three said in unison.
“I need to grab my sandals first--” Kakashi replied and slipped them on and finally made his way up with the hill with his children in tow.
Okay, maybe he didn’t have to be met with a fancy breakfast, or spend time with a young child at the festival… What he really wanted, and glad he got, was just spending time with his family, no matter how old they got.