Prompt #7
You could feel how heavy your body was becoming with the new, unforgiving weight of motherhood fatigue. Your humble home with the sixth Hokage had finally fallen silent as you held your small baby girl. The small bundle of blankets and limbs whimpered in her sleep as her little fists clung to her mother. Looking down, you marveled at her just once more before finally parting and placing her down in her crib carefully.
You brushed the top of her soft scalp with the tips of your fingers, gentle enough to soften her small protests of leaving the warmth of your breast. She opened her eyes, but only for a moment as you watched her little limbs jolt while she fell back into a slumber. Reaching down, you caressed her cheek with the back of your fingers, dumbfounded that this small, soft innocent baby was a part of you and him. Her little silver hairs sprang up from her cowlick each day, bringing a smile to your husband’s tired face.
Carefully, you backed away from her chestnut crib, making sure everything was secure with another triple check of your pride and joy sleeping soundly. You left the door open as you tipped toed down the dark hallway.
This was the first night that you would be sleeping in your bed and not on the floor of your newborn’s nursery. You couldn’t help but worry for her after the continuous bout of complications after she had arrived prematurely. Highlighting on the transient tachypnea diagnosed directly after birth, your anxiety had done nothing but skyrocket despite the doctors well wishes that she would recover within a few days. Although it be common, nothing could have prepared you for the temporary fast and difficult breathing rates of this creation you had just made.
Because of this diagnosis and her small size, Kakashi had been hesitant to hold her. You didn’t really blame him, for you yourself had found yourself stricken with anxiety to hold her once the nurse had handed her over.
“She’s so small,” he had observed quietly as you held her, his fingers gently brushing over her soft silver curls. His hand held her head, the palm of his hand just a little bigger than the crown it held.
“Would you like to hold her?” you had asked. He had looked up at you, his eyes suddenly pleading that you not be offended with his answer.
“I’m sorry,” he had looked down at their small bundle, “I’m just -”
“Afraid,” you had finished, your voice forgiving.
He looked up at you, your eyes intertwining with his for a brief moment. He was ashamed to be afraid to hold his only daughter. And yet, you looked down at her, so fragile and yet, you knew she’d be tough. His lips touched his daughters head, planting a soft kiss as her limbs jerked around.
Reminiscing, you carefully crawled yourself into bed, the warm heat of your husband’s body a welcome change from the frigid temperatures of this season in Konoha that couldn’t help but penetrate your home’s insulation. You wrapped the blanket around your body, your ears aching as you listened hard for the sounds of your baby.
Looking over, you adjusted yourself to stare at your husbands resting face. His shoulders rose and fell softly, the crimson ANBU tattoo just peeking above the sheets. He hadn’t even stirred as you crept into bed, exhaustion taking over him also over the past few days of parenthood. You smiled at him and studied his face, despite your heavy lids protest.
His long nose dug into the pillow as he slept, his sharp eyebrows at a point as even in his dreams, he seemed stressed. You looked up at his hair, soft silver locks laying placid over his forehead, the strands much shorter than when you had met him. The dark lines under his eyes had only grown darker over the past few days, with the responsibilities of you, the baby and all of Konoha on his shoulders. Frequently, despite his protests, you had forced him to sleep in his own bed so that he may be well rested for the following day. As you watched him now, you could tell that his troubles even haunted his dreams.
You reached over under the sheets, his soft skin reminiscent of his own daughters with the exception of a few littered scars that peppered his body. You brushed over his ribs, feeling them peek out under his toned body. Despite having no time to train anymore, his body still remained solid under his clothing. Quietly, he stirred next to you, groaning as his single eye fluttered open, an old habit that he hadn’t quite kicked. Silently, the other charcoal eye followed and he stared back at you through the darkness as you caressed his side.
“Everything okay?” his husky, tired voice echoed in your ears. “Is she sleeping?”
You nodded quietly, a nervous smile creeping across your lips. He closed his eyes, taking your hand from under the sheets and sliding it up to his lips.
“She’ll be okay, get some sleep” he whispered hoarsely.
Carefully, he pressed them against the tips of your fingers, his tired motions giving it more significance. You smiled softly, watching him as he held your hand. His eyebrows relaxed, his facial features unwinding at your touch.
“I love you,” you breathed quietly.
“I love you more,” he murmured.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
You didn’t remember falling asleep. And you felt as if your body had just shut down at the first moment of comfort and ease, allowing yourself a few hours of glorious, uninterrupted sleep. Your body had done nothing but stood on call recently, waiting to hear a tiny noise from the nursery.
When you finally stirred in bed, the sun had already risen and your mind quickly jolted awake. You sat up, your heart pounding as you mind pieced together your surroundings. Looking over, you noticed your husband had already left, pulling the covers up neatly on his side.
You scolded him for not waking you as you threw the covers off yourself and quickly made your way down the hallway, your mind racing to the worse case scenario.
But suddenly, you paused at the doorway of the nursery for a moment as you heard an unfamiliar sound from behind the door. Carefully, you peeked in and looked in and found your silver-haired husbands back facing you, his white robe cascading down his tall figure. Rodukaime.
You heard his hushed voice, a soft coo coming from his lips as you realized what he was doing. Your heart burst. Carefully, he rocked his daughter, the gentle happy whimpers coming from the infant in his arms.
“What a beautiful little thing you are,” you heard him whisper, his profile showing the expression of a doting father as he gazed down at her.
You leaned against the frame of the door, watching this scene unfold in front of you as he gently bounced his daughter in his arms. He lifted a finger, watching her as she tried to grasp it. The look in his eyes showed how he marveled in such a simple thing.
“You’re going to grow up and be one of the best kunoichis in Konoha one day. I’ll teach you how to throw a shuriken and you’ll beat all the boys in your class. And I’ll show you how to summon Pakkun and - yeah - that’s right. You’re excited, aren’t you?”
The baby jolted at his words, a playful giggle coming from her lips as she stared up at her beaming father. You hadn’t seen such an elated grin grace his features in so long.
“I don’t know what I would’ve done if I had lost you too,” he whispered to her, his voice strained with emotion. He paused, planting a soft kiss on her forehead.
“Daddy loves you.”