#Hatake Sakumo [The White Fang]

[cool-thymus]

An AU where chaotic baby Obito befriends Sakumo and saves the Hatake clan from depression 😇 Inspired by @maireyart and our silly prompt game (speech bubbles under the cut)

[atoasttotheendoftheworld]

TW: Secondary Character Death (OC)

Will it bear him bad omen if she holds him till her last breath? Should she give him to his father's arms? Or are Sakumo's hands trembling too much to hold a life that is still so fragile? The scent of blood wraps her in the cold wind blows across her now frozen skin. There's a reek of sulphur and ash all around. More than before. And Sakumo winces in heavy breaths. It should hurt to be held so tightly, yet her body feels nothing anymore. Except the end, getting closer and closer. Someone screams. Someone cries. Everything buzzes, voices blur in a haze of gibberish. Is it Sakumo's voice that screams furiously? Is it White Fang's the suffering howl? Is it hers the child that is crying out amid the turmoil of a tragic night? Why can she no longer see anything? Has eternal darkness descended upon her? Has the cloak of the grim reaper fallen on her? Is it time to leave, forever?

« Sa...sak...»

« Wha- Rouna! » is Sakumo's certainly this shout, the sole one capable of towering above the deafening darkness within, it scares her though as it echoes in the nothingness, « ROUNA! »

« Ka...kashi...I... »

In nothingness air is dense with breaths that don't turn carbon dioxide dispersing into the night. Oxygen suffocates her throat, clots of blood and air choking her. Words cut off from her. They slide silent into tears, furrowing the crimson in her face into mute love that she no longer has voice, will never have, to utter. The scent of snowy hair grazing her lips is the last sense life grants her. A clemency of fate. And in the illusion of a life that would have been she sees him, Kakashi grow. Standing tall and proud. Calling her mother, in the warmth of a smile. And in her last heartbeat she feels it, for a last time, the warm of the tiny weeping body, the bundle of soiled sheets, her son's cry of farewell echoing in the reverberation of her last pulse is the gentlest and cruelest grace that life has bestowed upon her. And a farewell dies in her lips.

[darkclouud9]

it's been a while since I've drawn mr White Fang, I changed his hair <3

just some random sketches, pretend I'm good at art or whatever <3

[dark-konohagakure2]

Sakumo Hatake getting rejected from his crush but he doesn't take no for an answer

tw: noncon, stalking, yandere, breeding, age difference, power imbalance, domestication, semi-public sex

All characters depicted are 18+

Sakumo Hatake has had some especially bad luck as of late. His wife had died very recently, leaving him to raise their two year old son alone, his missions have been getting more stressful too, but luckily the White Fang has found a silver lining to all of this; a cute civilian girl that has caught his eye.

She's a cute little thing, much younger than him and his late wife, but still old enough. Sakumo has made a habit out of watching her from afar around the village, for her own safety of course, and he's reached the conclusion that she's perfect for him, she's young, innocent, kind, just the perfect wife and mother for his needs.

Being a revered shinobi among the people of the Hidden Leaf Village, Sakumo feels rather confident in his ability to woo her, so he'll ask her out directly, letting it slip that he's been watching her for quite some time without her knowing. She is very unnerved by the revelation from the man old enough to be her father, so she understandably rejects him, and Sakumo doesn't like that one bit.

He tries to convince her that being with an acclaimed ninja like himself would be good for her, but no dice. Never being one to let things go easily, Sakumo decides that now he has no choice left but to take matters into his own hands.

"Don't move... This will feel good for both of us. Maybe you'll finally stop being shy and realize your feelings for me after I fill you up..."

He'll clamp a gloved hand over her mouth in the alleyway, telling her to be quiet lest someone hear them. He's one of the most respected ninja in the village, so nobody would believe her if she claimed he assaulted her, if anyone saw what was happening, they'd assume she was just being a needy slut for the White Fang.

Sakumo isn't too rough with his delicate little housewife to be, buy he's certainly forceful, bullying his cock inside of her until it's hitting her perfectly fertile womb with every thrust, the sensation making her whine and whimper into his hand as he claims what's rightfully his.

His thrusts will speed up slightly when he imagines knocking her up, making her round with his second child and giving Kakashi a sibling, the mere thought triggers the wolfish primal instinct to breed deep within him, and she is the perfect receptacle for these dark urges of his.

He'll be sure to fill her up thoroughly before he's done with her, gently pulling out of her while informing her of some great news; she's the newest member of his family and clan, whether she likes it or not.

"Atta girl, that wasn't so bad was it? You're just perfect for me, and I know you'll be the perfect mother that my little son needs..."

Sakumo is finally content now, he has a much cuter and much younger wife to replace his dearly departed one, Kakashi has a much needed mother figure, and the Hatake clan is about to gain a new member in just nine short months.

[justsomeoneunordinary]

Found your post about Hatake clan relations to agriculture, and you are right about almost everything, except: wolves in Japan are associated with crops!

Here's from Japanese wolf wiki:

"In the Shinto belief, the ōkami ("wolf") is regarded as a messenger of the kami spirits and also offers protection against crop raiders such as the wild boar and deer. Wild animals were associated with the mountain spirit Yama-no-kami. The mountains of Japan, seen as a dangerous, deadly place, were highly associated with the wolf, which was believed to be their protector and guardian."

Hatake clan being a wolf clan is very plausible, it's just would mean a different thing than most people seem to believe.

Wolves are associated with crops and mountains.

There's also yokai okuri ōkami, that protects travellers through mountains unless they accidentally trip; if you trip it will kill you. Apparently it has another name - okuri inu.

"The okuri inu has a special relationship with another yokai, the yosuzume. This eerie bird’s nocturnal song is often a warning that an okuri inu is following you. If one hears the yosuzume’s “chi, chi, chi” song, it is a sign to take extra care to watch one’s footing so that the okuri inu doesn’t have dinner that night." (from yokai dot com/okuriinu/ )

I will admit that I am too lazy to look that information up. But I don't mind that wolves are tied to agriculture and could therefore be tied to the Hatake - my beef with the "Hatake have wolf summons and wolf characteristics" fanon comes from the fact that it's a cheap copy of the already existing Inuzuka clan. The Inuzuka are right there, we don't need Inuzuka 2.0 but make it more feral because wolves are cooler.

It doesn't even make sense, Kakashi's summons are dogs - and not even big mean wolfdogs like Tsume's but cute little pet doggos - and that "heacanon" only serves to make Kakashi and Tobirama (because he gets headcanoned as Hatake 90% of the time solely because of his hair color (which is funny because everyone describes it as white in their fics even tho it's fucking grey like Kakashi's or Kabuto's!!! (and speaking of Kabuto, isn't it funny that he never gets headcanoned for a Hatake even tho he looks more similar to Kakashi than Tobirama does? I wonder why that is. (I don't. I know exactly why that is.)))) extremely OOC.

Neither of them is some kind of growling, feral fighter who claws and bites their way through a battle. Neither is in any way or form extremely overprotective over what they consider theirs because of "pack reasons" (and neither is Sakumo for that matter, Mr "I'll kill myself even tho I am the last family my 5yo son has left"). And neither needs some kind of fangs to bite someone, if this is what people want to write, as Madara has already proven that a strong shinobi can bite a piece of flesh out with perfectly normal teeth.

All three characters are extremely powerful and badass in their own right without adding powers to them that are completely out of character. A headcanon builds up to something canon has already established and the "Hatake are like Inuzuka but with wolves" fanon is so far off that it would be laughable if it wasn't so annoying.

And I don't think tying the Hatake to agriculture is the only right way either. It's merely a suggestion, one that I find makes sense given the little bit we have, and if people want to build up on that and add how they tend to have wolf summons for protection (Kakashi's are still cute doggos tho), then that's fine and hey, at least it makes sense. My beef is just 100% that I think it's extremely cheap to make the Hatake a copy of the Inuzuka because they find wolves cooler than dogs and that's on that.

[sea-owl]

I have a new sasusaku au idea.

So say after the third shinobi war, Leaf and Sand made a peace agreement via arranged marriage. The sand would provide a relative of the Kazakage's family to be a bride for one of the head families of Konoha's clans.

The Uchiha clan was chosen to receive the bride. It wasn't decided yet if she would wed Itachi or Sasuke but she would be for one of them.

As for the bride herself, there was a debate to send the Kazakage's daughter Temari, but then Suna's council remembered that Karura had a sister who had a daughter.

Sakura knew her whole life that she would eventually be sent to Konoha as a peace bride. Her childhood was kinda lonely because of it. Suna's council started her ninja training young because they knew the Uchiah's were a ninja clan by trade and that they value strength. They gave her to Lady Chiyo to train. Sakura never really took to puppetry, not like Kankuro, but she did excell under Lady Chiyo's posion teachings and beginner medical training.

When Sakura wasn't with Lady Chiyo, she was with her cousins. She was closest to Gaara since both of them were being raised to be used in service to the village (Gaara as a weapon and Sakura as a peace offering) which left them both pretty isolated as children. This isolation also left Sakura a little oblivious to the village's fear of her favorite cousin. All she knew was that Gaara was a sweet boy who just needed some extra training to control his powers. Yes, she did know that Gaara had Shukaku in him and sometimes he lost control of his powers, but like most kids, she doesn't fully understand what that means.

Sakura and Gaara's relationship took a hit when their uncle, Yashamaru, tried to kill Gaara and then proceeded to blow himself up. Gone was the sweet boy who wanted to love and be loved. Gaara was now colder, and while Sakura still cared greatly for her cousin, it felt like he only tolerated her now. She was still one of his closest relationships, along with his siblings.

When Sakura was twelve, she was given two items. The first was a chain with a ring on it. The ring was silver with a red jewel. Purple chakra swirled in the jewel. The second item was a headband with Konoha's symbol on it.

It was time for her to go to the Leaf Village.

On Konoha's side after the Uchiha massacre the council looked for ways to keep Sasuke in line. They remembered the deal with Suna and made the arrangements to officially betrothed Sasuke and Sakura. Not that they told him.

The deal was that once Sasuke graduated from the Academy, they would bring Sakura to the village and assign her to his genin team. Kakashi about damn near had heart failure when his third student was escorted in with two Sand anbu behind her. Gai had to console him later.

Sakura looked around curiously at everything as she followed Kakashi to meet her other teammates. There was a lot more color in Konoha than Suna, especially the color green. Her teacher was curious, too. He introduced himself as Kakashi Hatake. Hmm, the only Hatake Sakura knew about was the White Fang Sakumo, and Lady Chiyo wanted him dead. She wonders if Kakashi is related.

Sakura is behind Kakashi when he opens the door to a classroom and an erasure falls on his head. A loud laugh was heard from the inside. Was that her betrothed or her other teammate?

"That's what you get for being late!" The voice shouted.

We're they late? Sakura winced. That was probably her fault. Kakashi did have to get her from the Hokage's tower.

Kakashi only humed as he stepped into the room, Sakura following behind. Two boys turned their stares from their sensei to her. She scanned them, one was a blonde with whisker like marks on his face, the other had black hair and eyes. While she couldn't verify via the Uchiah symbol, Sakura had to guess the dark eyed boy was her betrothed Sasuke. She was told the Uchiah's typically had darker features.

Kakashi humed again. "My first impress of you three, I hate all of you."

Well damn, that's not good. Sakura needs allies if she's gonna survive here and make sure to maintain the peace agreement. Having her sensei hate her right off the bat doesn't bode well for her.

They're led up to the roof where Kakashi has them introduce themselves, not that he offered up much info.

The blonde boy started. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I like ramen, especially the ramen at Ichiraku! But I hate having to wait the three minutes for it to cook. And my dream is to be the greatest Hokage!"

Well, he was energetic. But this did confirm Sakura's suspicions.

Sasuke spoke next. "My name is Sasuke Uchiah. I dislike a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anyone. I don't have a dream because I will make it a reality. I will restore my clan and kill a certain someone."

Oh, well, there's some familiarity of home with her betrothed. At least she'll have some knowledge on how to approach her betrothed thanks to Gaara.

The boys turned towards her and Kakashi tilted his head. We'll go on.

Sakura blushed. Oh, right. "I'm Sakura Haruno. What I like, I mean, um-" Damn her accent slipped, and after her tutors worked so hard to make sure it was perfect. "I like studying. . ." Can't say posions, won't look good since she's suppsed to be a peace offering. ". . .medical plants and the effect they have on the body. My dislikes are um. . ." What was safe to say? She didn't get a chance to study her teammates before, and there wasn't much info her anbu escorts gave her either.

Kakashi seemed to take pity on her. "And your dream for the future?"

That was easy. "To maintain the peace and alliance between Konoha and Suna."

"How come we've never seen you before?" Naruto asked her.

The boys looked at her confused. Sakura looked at Sasuke confused. Why was he confused? He's the other half to making this peace agreement work.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Sakura is from another village, but she has been put on this team as part of an alliance agreement. Now for tomorrow we'll have our first mission."

Sakura tensed as Kakashi explained that of the graduates only nine ever make it to genin and the rest are sent back to the academy. What does that mean for her? Would she be sent back to Suna? That can't happen, not if they want to peace agreement to work out, she can't fail this!

Sakura went to speak with Sasuke after they were dismissed. She knows they officially just met but they did need to talk about their engagement. Kakashi pulled them both back.

Kakashi pulled a silver ring on a chain out of his pocket. Sakura knew that ring. It was the matching ring to the one she wore around her neck, except it had her chakra in it instead of Sasuke's. Why would Kakashi have it?

Kakashi handed the chain to Sasuke. "Did your parents ever tell you about your engagement?"

Sasuke's face fell into a scowl. "What?"

Sakura began to grow mortified.

"The alliance agreement between Konoha and Suna was sealed with an arranged marriage between the Uchiha clan and a relative of Suna's leader, the Kazekage," Kakashi explained. "Sakura is the Kazakage's niece, and per the agreement, you two will be living together from this point on."

Sasuke turned his glare on to Sakura. Sakura was thankful she gotten used to Gaara's glares.

[akamikazae]

Pirates of the Caribbean au! for Oc-tober b/c Kami and Kashi give major Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner vibes 🏴‍☠️

-Son of notorious pirate and good man Sakumo ‘the white fang’ Hatake! All Kakashi has left to remember him is a gold medallion that he’s “lost” along with everything and everyone. He is intelligent, loyal, fearless and kind. He redefines the rules to find what’s truly important, and he will stop at nothing to protect the people he loves.

-Daughter of Lord Orochimaru who would rather play pirate than be shackled to her fathers expectations, and those befitting her status. Follows her gut and her heart and gives up her privilege and status to do what she believes is right. She’s sharp, independent, manipulative and just as callous as the men around her. She will do whatever is necessary to keep herself and her loved ones safe.

Oc-tober prompt 11: ‘In a different story world or setting’

Prompts by @icannotreadcursive

[frankencanon]

You know how Kishimoto revealed that Kakashi was originally going to speak like a Samurai, ending sentences with the verbal tic "de gozaru" much like Naruto does with "dattebayo" and Deidara with "un"?

Right, well I had an idea:

What if it was a Hatake thing that Kakashi had picked up from his father, a remnant of when the Hatake were a Samurai Clan?

And what if, as one of only two living Hatake, the verbal tic was strongly associated with Hatake Sakumo, the White Fang, in particular? At least amongst Konoha nin.

And what if Kakashi intentionally made an effort to drop it in the wake of his father's suicide in order to further distance himself from him? Much like the headcanon about Kakashi refusing to ever let people see him without his mask to hide how much he looks like Sakumo.

More fun ideas:

1.

What if it slips out when he's drunk? Can you imagine? Most people's speech gets more casual or coarse when drunk, but Kakashi? No, Kakashi gets alarmingly formal. It freaks people out and confuses the hell out of them at the same time.

(No, but seriously, imagine it: you and your coworkers go out for drinks, and one of them—the really lazy, laid-back one who is always way too inappropriately casual, borderline insubordinate—slowly starts slipping into Ye Olde English, saying things like "thou art" and "aye" and ending verbs in -eth.)

2.

After Kannabi Bridge (after Obito knocks some sense into Kakashi, and after Kakashi stops trying so hard to be so different from his father) he tries to pick it back up again, but it's been so long that it's annoyingly difficult and winds up taking a long, long time for Kakashi to be able to use it casually again without having to think about it beforehand.

3.

Kakashi spent so long repeatedly forcing himself to say it again in an effort to pick it back up that when he's disguised as Sukea it just sort of...slips out. Whoops? Accidental face reveal? Let's just hope there weren't too many people around to hear him say it, since everyone knows there's only one person in all of Konoha who ends their sentences with -de gozaru.

[ginkuki]

lady ...so mysterious

omg i was mistaken i did in fact have a non gaalee centric wip on the list. this is my sequel-prequel to Blood Sky Morning - my sirens gaaleesbians fic. it's the kakagais discussing lee going overboard but takes place after the original fic! it is named 'lady' because, idk i just think lady kakashi is fit 😌 i like women.

thank u v much for asking teehee

a snippet down yonder!

According to rumour, Kakashi was born wrapped up in the eye of a storm. Her mother, The White Fang, had given birth in the lull, then had gone right out and ordered her women to sail back into it. With Kakashi held snugly against her breast, they had torn through gale and rain.

As it is, Kakashi has no memories of the Hatake Sakumo that birthed her. She knows of her mother as nothing more than a legend. An old wive’s tale. A scatter of bones on the seafloor.

“Come back to bed, my darling.” Gai’s voice is sleep-low when she wraps an arm around Kakashi’s waist, swaddled in their sheets and facedown in her pillow. Outside the ship, the crash of water is more of a lullaby than anything else could be, though the sweet press of Gai’s lips to her shoulder is damn close.

“In a second.” Kakashi scrubs her hand over her cheek, where her scar itches with the cold breeze sneaking through cracks in the wood. “Sorry to wake you.”

Gai has always been so very strong. Stronger now when she sees the very set of Kakashi’s jaw and takes the initiative to sit up, drag her into her lap, to cradle her, rock her gently and sweetly. “You’re thinking about her, aren’t you?”

“And who is her?”

“The girl. The one you lost last week.”

Ah. The girl. The girl so naive, who had leapt from The Skirmisher before Kakashi even knew she had snuck onto it. She had swum towards certain death and Kakashi was powerless to stop it. The raw wounds on her wrists from rope-chafe still sting in the ocean spray. Gai wasn’t to know that Kakashi hadn’t been struggling to maroon herself, but to save another from the same fate, and Kakashi can’t dare feel anger for that.

Gai only did what she did best. She wore her mantel of saviour well - even if, this time, she saved the wrong one.

“Do you harbour regrets over not letting me free?” Kakashi asks, biting back an ocean’s worth of her own.

Gai’s thumb stills over Kakashi’s shoulder, the meandering stroke that brings goose pimples to flesh and a crab’s-leg-tickle of satisfaction deep within her soul. If she is offended, she only presses a full-lipped kiss to Kakashi’s jaw and says, “Never. In another life, I may have freed you and saved her, but you may have taken her fate. You may have joined your mother in the murky depths and our beloved ship would need to find a new Captain. What’s done is done, my love.”

“I would’ve deserved it.” Kakashi sighs, nose pressed into the hollow between Gai’s collarbones. Her own breath washes back over her, hot and salted. “The losses I’ve been responsible for are… immense. You should never have forgiven me for Lee.”

The breath Gai sucks in is deep, whooshing past Kakashi’s ear with all the force of a storm, the batter of wind against their hatches. With her voice wrung to near-death, she bends down to ensure that these words are for Kakashi only. “I never held you responsible. You forgave me - can’t you allow yourself the same kindness?”

“Never.” Kakashi brushes her lips over Gai’s collar, thoughts reforming into hard-edged silver. She thinks of Neji, innards splayed by talons sharper than any cutlass; of her own blindness; of the scar she’d left in Gai’s daughter’s leg. She wraps these thoughts around her skin and lets them dig in tight enough to bleed.

[scarecrow-in-a-hatake]

How would things go if your father was the fourth Hokage instead of Minato?

Honestly, I learned more about my father once he was in the ground than when he was alive. We didn't have all that much time together. You may want to turn this question to @retiredsenju, instead.

Politically, though, you have to understand that Minato-sensei's rise to the position wasn't exactly guaranteed. It was more so that the late Sandaime felt he had to give up the hat, after his unpopular actions concerning what many considered to be a premature end to the Third War on our part. Sunk cost of our shinobi's lives and the terms of the treaty that we could have pushed more on... well. It made sense to step down and place one of our war heroes in the spotlight instead, be it the Yellow Flash, Fugaku of the Wicked-Eye, or one of his own students. There were, admittedly, merits to all three of the choices.

Personal history aside, the White Fang may not have been a very popular nominee. Unlike the Sannin but similar to my own sensei, Hatake Sakumo was less a powerhouse and more a very competent shinobi with a few very specific tricks up his sleeves that he relied on heavily, and a good head for on-field leadership. He would have been... forty? Forty-one? To Sandaime-sama's mid-fifties and Minato-sensei's early twenties, though, which is past the age that most shinobi retire from the field. I don't know how he would have fared in office during peacetime, but who knows. He was born during peacetime two years before the First War broke out, and much of his youth was spent in the twenty-year interim between the First and Second Wars. Maybe he would have handled the change better than Minato-sensei's and my generation did when the world finally got around to peace again.

[dark-elf-writes]

Building from the previous Naruto training ask, red light Sasuke trains with Kakashi but unlike Sakura and Naruto who become better versions of their teachers Sasuke does not become the second coming of the copy ninja. No he becomes the second coming of the white fang. Sasuke who has learnt how valuable those around him are and what its like to lose them being trained by Kakashi “your friends before the mission” Hatake. Kakashi telling Sasuke stories of his father and how he died and Sasuke who lost everyone to a mission (because with Orochimaru’s return and Danzo’s arrest came the truth) Sasuke would admire the man who prioritized his comrades. Slowly Sasuke grows, his hair gets longer and put up into a ponytail, he becomes stronger and skilled with a blade until Kakashi gifts him his fathers blade. A white tanto famed for leaving behind a white slash. Sasuke getting the same summoning contact (wolves) that Sakumo had. Suddenly every nation that once feared the white fang sees him again, this time with black hair and red eyes but with the same amount skill, power and genius behind that white slashing sword and he’s only getting stronger. Sasuke Uchiha, the White Fang Reborn, the man who will protect his comrades no matter what, the man who will confront his past, confront his brother and save him from the darkness he plunged himself into.

Sasuke becoming an avenger of a different sort.

Sasuke baring his teeth at the injustice of what was done to him and his brother, to so many kids like them, and deciding enough was enough.

Sasuke who uses his influence as the technical Uchiha head (a clan in more than name with the confirmation that the only other surviving member of the main line was not a traitor.) to make the world around them change for the better.

Sasuke who turns first to the red light district and the forgotten Uchiha who had helped ease so many of his own hurts when he was young. Who had made him feel less alone. Who had taught him that he could choose his family.

He names them Uchiha in truth, names them his heir while he’s at it, because if something should happen to him in his crusade at least there will be someone who knows, someone brought up in the District that raised him to carry on his dream.

He bares his teeth at the world, with Sakura at one shoulder and Naruto at the other, and together the three of them drag everyone around them into something better.

[depressedhatakekakashi]

A Scarecrow's Secret

Words: 1,779

Musician AU: Scarecrow

For my AU-Tober and @kakagaievents Kakagai Halloween event using the prompt 'Scarecrow'<3

The life of a musician was full of parties.

That was one of the first things Gai had learned when he went on the road with his band. No matter how many shows they were doing or how late those shows went, there would be a party afterward.

Today’s party just happened to fall on Halloween, making it a double event. A party to celebrate the band’s latest concert, and a Halloween party. Everyone was expected to show up in costume, and Gai was determined to make sure that everyone did.

“What are you going to be?” He draped an arm around Kakashi’s shoulders and grinned when the security guard leveled him with a rather unimpressed look. “Don’t tell me you didn’t think of a costume.”

“I have many costumes,” Kakashi insisted. “I just thought going as ‘your boyfriend’ was enough to terrify everyone in the room.”

Gai rolled his eyes. “How is that even the least bit terrifying?”

“You tell a room full of fan girls dreaming of getting into bed with you that you have a boyfriend, and the room will combust into tears.”

Opening his mouth, Gai frowned when he realized he had nothing to combat that with. 

“But,” Kakashi continued without hesitation. “If you think that would be a little too traumatizing for your fans, I could show up as Genma.”

“And that’s terrifying because?”

“Have you looked at him? He’s so-” Slapping a hand over his boyfriend's mouth, Gai sighed. He knew exactly what Kakashi was about to say and it wasn’t something that he wanted to hear. Especially since Genma could walk in on them at any moment.

They weren’t exactly in a private hotel room, after all. 

“Please tell me you have something else to dress up as.” Kakashi’s eyes darted down to the hand covering his mouth and with a semi-exhausted sigh Gai removed it. “And please, don’t say Ebisu.”

“I’m trying to terrify people, not traumatize them.”

“That’s…why are you so rude?”

“It’s not rude if I’m telling the truth,” Kakashi argued, laughing when Gai gave him a light smack across the shoulder. “Alright, sorry. A costume. Well�� what are you being?”

Upon hearing the question a smile broke out across Gai’s face. “I was going to go as my favorite musician, the white fang,” he declared proudly. “Not particularly terrifying, but I thought it would be cool,” He’d expected Kakashi to agree with his fantastic choice of costumes, but instead was greeted with a pained cringe. “What?”

“Nothing,” Kakashi cleared his throat, but Gai didn’t believe him for a second. “Just an…interesting choice.”

“He’s one of the most amazing singers!” throwing himself back on the couch, Gai chuckled when Kakashi looked down at him with a rather unimpressed look. “Name one better singer. I dare you.”

“You.”

“I…” heat rushed into Gai’s cheeks so fast that he felt his head starting to spin. “what!?” 

“There’s also that singer, what’s her name,” snapping his fingers and squinting his eyes, Kakashi frowned. then, as if a bolt of lightning had suddenly struck him, his eyes widened.“Oh! The Silent Storm! Minamoto Yua!”

“She’s his wife,” Gai informed his boyfriend with a proud smile. “They got married long before either of us were born. I think they even had a kid,” thinking about it, he couldn’t help but laugh. “A kid with two of the best singers in the entire world. I wonder what their voice sounds like.”

“Must be something,” he could swear he heard Kakashi snort, but when he looked at his boyfriend again he was just standing there staring at him with those tender black eyes that he loved losing himself in whenever he could. “Anyways,” waving his hand, he dismissed the conversation as if it had no value. “You’re going to be the white fang, so how about I dress up as a scarecrow?”

“A scarecrow?” tilting his head, Gai frowned. “What does a scarecrow have to do with the white fang?”

“Well, his name is Hatake Sakumo,” Kakashi explained. “Hatake means field, Sakumo means crop. So if I dress up as a scarecrow it’ll be a whole theme,” Gai stared at his boyfriend as if he’d just grown a second head. “what?”

“Kakashi…” Taking a deep breath, he released it through his mouth. “How do you know the meaning of the white fangs' names?”

For the first time since they’d met, Gai saw an expression on his boyfriend's face that he never thought was physically possible for him to show.

Shame.

“I did my research?” 

“Kakashi…”

“I…may know him,” his boyfriend explained while refusing to make eye contact with him. “On a personal level.”

Suddenly a lot of things began to make sense. Kakashi’s aversion to any conversation around the White Fang, his similar silver hairstyle and sharp black eyes, and even the way he sometimes looked like the spitting image of the White Fang.

Slapping both hands over his face, Gai groaned. “How can I be so stupid?”

“You’re not stupid,” spreading his fingers, he glared at his boyfriend from the small spaces he’d created between them. “You’re not! In fact, you’re the first one to realize.”

“Really?”

“Well, second,” Kakashi admitted with a slight cringe. “Technically Yamato figured it out first, but he actually got to see us in the same room together so it was a lot easier for him.”

Dragging his hands down over his face, he allowed everything to sink in. Not only was he dating the most handsome security guard he’d ever had the pleasure of meeting, but he was dating the son of the White Fang. The one musician he’d looked up to since childhood, and the person he wanted to be just like. When he’d first begun his musical career he’d sung the White Fangs songs in dingy pubs and bars. 

He’d always wanted to be just like his hero, and somehow in his attempts to emulate the man he looked up to he’d ended up falling in love with his son.

“I really am hopeless,” he sighed, recalling all of the times Genma and Ebisu had teased him about his hero worship. “I’ve known you for, what, two years now?”

“Three,” Kakashi corrected him, earning himself the best ‘unimpressed glare’ that Gai could muster up at the moment. “Right, sorry. Continue.”

“I should have noticed. I mean, how could I not notice? You’re the spitting image of him! And your personality,” well that wasn’t actually anything like the White fangs. The white fang was cheerful and open. Kakashi was more closed off and aloof.  The one personality trait they did share was that they both seemed to be incredibly dorky, but while the White Fang was unafraid of showing his dorky side to the public, Kakashi reserved him for private moments.

Only special people, such as Yamato and Gai, were allowed to see Kakashi in his dorkiest moments. 

“This is a lot to take in,” he whispered while mulling over this newfound information. 

All sorts of different thoughts began swirling around in his head. Surprise, fascination, and panic.

A deep, gut-wrenching panic that quickly overwhelmed all of the other emotions.

Had he fallen for Kakashi because of how similar he was to his father?

Was his love for Kakashi a result of his hero worship spilling over into his interactions with his boyfriend?

Did Kakashi think any of this was true?

“Kakashi, I-“

“You’re bad with faces,” Kakashi answered before he could even begin to form some sort of apology for his mistakes. In response, Gai simply sat there staring at him as though he’d just dropped a giant bomb of information on him. “It took you three months to remember who Yamato was, and that was after seeing him constantly for two weeks during the start of your last tour.” 

“I-“

“And let’s not forget Kisame. The bass guitarist of the new band ‘The Akatsuki’. Every time he sees you he’s ready for a face-off on the stage, but to this day you can’t remember who he is.”

“Kisame…” searching his memory banks, Gai frowned when he couldn’t find a face to match the name. “You said he was a bass guitarist?”

“He literally paints his skin blue and has a make-up artist give him shark gills whenever he goes out in public,” Kakashi sighed. “Anyways, my point is that you’re bad with faces. Beating yourself up for not recognizing my father’s features in me is ridiculous. You’re more likely to remember him by his jacket than you are to recall what his face looks like.” 

“So…”

Flopping down on the couch beside him, Kakashi wrapped an arm around Gai’s shoulder and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.

The type of hug that was more likely to come from Gai, and which anyone who looked at Kakashi in his oversized uniform would assume he wasn’t capable of giving.

Gai’s bones would disagree with those assessments.

“So, stop beating yourself up over it,” Kakashi insisted. “And start thinking about another costume, because I can tell you right now if you go with your chosen look you will be sleeping alone on Halloween.” 

Resting his head against Kakashi’s shoulder, he huffed. “But I've already put in so much work. I even got all of the patches for my leather jacket.”

“Mmmhmm, alright. Let me ask you a question then. What would you think if I showed up to the party looking like your old man?”

The image hit Gai like a ton of bricks.

There was nothing wrong with how his papa looked. He had the signature bowl cut that Gai had inherited from him, great taste in clothing, and a big bushy mustache that anyone would be jealous of.

As a father, he was the perfect specimen, but the idea of kissing someone who looked just like him made Gai’s skin crawl.

“Alright, I get it,” he sighed, silently wondering if there were any last-minute costumes he could pick up that would even come close to being as good as the one he’d spent the last two months working on. 

“Thank you,” leaning in, Kakashi kissed his forehead. “So it’s decided. I’ll be a scarecrow and you’ll find a new costume.”

“Something good,” Gai muttered under his breath. “Something-“ a smile stretched across his face when an idea came to mind.

“Gai…” Meeting his boyfriend's gaze, he snickered when he saw Kakashi eyeing him with a cautious look. “I’m going to regret asking you to change costumes, aren't I?”

Lifting his right hand, he pinched his thumb and forefinger together so that there was only a sliver of space left between them. “A bit, maybe.”

[retiredsenju]

Could you tell us a little about the White Fang, Godaime-sama? I wanted to write my history paper on him, but the library doesn't have anything and Haru-sensei said I'm not allowed to go bother Rokudaime-sama again :(

Sure thing, kid! Have a seat, this might be long...

-pours herself some sake-

Let's get started with the basics: the legendary White Fang, as you already know, was Hatake Sakumo, head of the dwindling Hatake clan and father of the Rokudaime Hokage. Few people associate both names to the same person these days, mostly due to how his life ended, and I honestly hope this is due to their own shame in regards to how the village treated him back then, but hell, his story deserves to be told, even if it hurts some people's egos.

He was seen as a genius shinobi, mastering many techniques and chakra natures, and completing missions with an efficiency that made many mission scrolls mention him specifically as the requested team leader. That never got to his head, though, and he was one of the kindest men I've ever met. Jiraiya and I were not much past teenagers when the Second War started, and even after we (and Orochimaru) were labeled the Legendary Sannin, we still looked up to him -- and I'm pretty sure Jiraiya was the one who started all the talk about him being more powerful than the three of us; there's truth to the rumour, though, I'm pretty sure he could have taken the three of us at the same time if he wanted to. Jiraiya and I pestered him to go out for drinks with us, and I think we seemed to him like an annoying fanclub... I can't deny it, the man was as skilled as he was good looking!

-laughs a little and pours down some more sake-

Still, he took the three shinobi restrictions very seriously, and always insisted on coming home early to his wife. I suppose that's also why he was so compassionate towards his comrades, he valued family and friends, and wanted to make sure they always came back to their loved ones. That was actually the secret to his mission efficiency, his team formations relied heavily on teamwork, and making the best use possible of each ninja's particular skills and how well they fit into the team dynamics. It's also why he got so famous during the war, not only was he a tactical genius, he also had the respect of anyone fighting under him, and his presence alone was enough to boost morale -- they felt safe with him leading them, and made defeat seem impossible.

He was such a compassionate man, really, in some ways he reminds me a bit of Naruto... maybe he was born in the wrong generation, or maybe he was the precursor of what Konoha culture would become like, who knows... But I think he'd be happy to see such peaceful times, and to meet the brat his son trained, and the beliefs under which he was trained too... I damn well know how harsh those times were, I had to fight tooth and nail to defend the idea of medic nins, and people at the time did not appreciate medical jutsu at all.

-another dose of sake-

I think he would be proud of his son too, of course, but maybe a bit shocked he became Hokage -- not that he didn't trust his potential as a ninja, but Kakashi wasn't much of a team player back then, and such an impatient brat too! I remember him telling us stories about how he tried to get him to understand not everyone picked up skills as quickly as he did, and worked so hard to teach him patience with others, but he would always lecture his own father when he got home late from a mission!

-more laughter-

Yes, he was a good man... When his last mission failed because he prioritised getting his comrades home safe, the village turned his back on him, and I'm sure it took its toll on him, they built him up just to tear him down... I guess it's part of the danger of becoming a high-profile ninja, people put you on a pedestal... I remember the scrutiny when I became Hokage, and I can only imagine what it would be like to have your own people turn on you... You know, I think I will propose a revision to the history books to include more about him next time I'm on a council meeting... Kakashi probably hasn't done so because he didn't want to make it look like he wanted to self-aggrandize through his father, but there's no such fear coming from me... might as well make those council meetings useful for something.

[its-f4nf4n-again]

Lamentations

Minato Namikaze has some regrets.

AO3 Link Here Word Count:  1815 Rated T for canon typical violence and canonical character death

.

“I was too late.  I’m sorry.”

It’s dark.  Almost too dark for Minato Namikaze to make out the outline of the stone he stands before in the Konoha Cemetery.

Or, rather, just beyond the cemetery’s perimeter; though it’s so close you wouldn’t know that unless you’d specifically come to pay your respects to the man the marker was meant for.

Sakumo Hatake, the disgraced White Fang of Konoha, was not permitted a true burial with his comrades.  Deserters are not granted the honor and in the Hidden Leaf Village, suicide is still considered a dereliction of duty.

Minato isn’t certain anymore that he agrees with the precedent, but it’s too late now for him to voice his dissent—Sakumo has long been dead, cremated, and buried.  The man who could have razed the Village in an instant if he wanted—could have brought the Legendary Sannin to their collective knees—is no more. Has not been for some time.

“I tried.”

Minato remembers how stoic Kakashi had been during his father’s memorial.  He remembers telling him so afterward only to be met with the cool, detached shinobi the boy had become in the wake of his immense loss.  Minato decided that day he would try to help, he would see to it that Kakashi understood there was more to being a shinobi than creating an emotionless husk whose sole purpose was to function as a tool for the Hokage to wield against Konoha’s enemies.

“I tried.”

Minato doesn’t know why he’s here, exactly, explaining himself to a dead man’s grave marker.

There are weeds all around the stone; a sure sign Kakashi has not been to see his father in some time.  It makes Minato’s chest feel hollow as he kneels and plucks the errant plants from the ground, pinching the stalks firmly between his fingers and wrenching them from the ground by the roots.  There’s something cathartic about it, the way the dirt sprays over his pants and the space around the marker slowly clears.

Kakashi will still be in the hospital where Minato left him, under the guise of a fractured wrist.  It’s mostly for observation, though—Minato had not liked the wane look on his face as they returned to Konoha, the faraway expression in his eyes as he stared at his hand, curling the fingers into a claw and then loosening them again.  Sometimes the hand twitched and Minato caught the swift, faint scent of ozone as if Kakashi’s lightning nature were springing to life; whether as a defense mechanism or an attack instinct, he remains unsure.

A wry laugh ripples from Minato’s chest, bursting from his throat in a self-effacing toll.

He is the Yellow Flash—the fastest shinobi in existence; known for his faster-than-light maneuvers through a battlefield.

And still, he’d been too late when it really mattered.  Too late to save Rin, too late to spare Kakashi.

Kakashi is a genius, that much had always been obvious. His prowess in ninjutsu was unparalleled, even before Rin transplanted Obito’s Sharingan into his empty eye socket.

Now, the boy is all but unstoppable.  Quick as any Uchiha had ever been, his talent lauded by everyone—Minato included.

But perhaps he of all people should have realized such swiftness could also be a curse.

When Minato found Kakashi, he was kneeling on the ground before Rin’s eviscerated corpse, tears pouring in a steady stream from his left eye while the other remained blank and unreadable, the same as it had been the day of his father’s funeral service.  His fingers trembled, wrist twitching occasionally.  Minato could still seen the faint silvery marks left from the Chidori—the pale scars that were slowly growing in number across his forearm as he used the technique more often.

The blood and viscera on his palm—pieces of his teammate buried beneath his fingernails—made Minato want to vomit.  Not because he had never seen equally gruesome things in battle before, but because it was Kakashi’s hand.  Rin’s blood.

How Kakashi had not been sick himself remains a mystery.  He was obviously far stronger than his own sensei.  Than his father had been or would be now if he were alive to see his son in such a position.

Minato remembers the way Kakashi changed after Obito’s death—the small difference in the way he treated others around him, as if the lessons of teamwork were finally beginning to permeate the hardened outer shell of a boy who had lost too much too quickly.

Because he is still just a boy and Minato—hardly a man himself—does not know how to provide him what he needs. He left Kakashi in a hospital bed because it was better than sending him home, but there must be other, better options.

Minato thinks he could be Kakashi’s friend; a confidante, even.  But he cannot be a father and it seems he might not be a fitting sensei either.  Could not be a comrade to be counted on.

“Pathetic,” Minato whispers as he pulls the last of the weeds from the ground.  He clenches them in his fist, dirt smearing over his fingers and turning his fingernails black—almost as dark as Kakashi’s had been when he found him kneeling beside Rin’s body.

Minato doesn’t know what to do with the wilting plants, so he holds them lamely, a ragged bouquet.

Fitting, he thinks, for where he stands now, begging forgiveness from a man long dead—a man who would no sooner know what to do were he still alive than Minato.

He wonders sometimes if the White Fang is better off having died by his own hand.  It’s a morbid thought, certainly, and one Minato would never voice aloud, not even to Kushina.

But the alternatives that existed to him… to waste away to nothing, disgraced and discarded.  To wither like an overripe tomato on the vine or the weeds in his hand, their leaves already drooping as they waste away.

Perhaps going out on his own terms was Sakumo’s shinobi way—the only way he thought he could carve out his own ending, refuse to bow beneath the weight of his imposed shortcomings and taint his son’s future with them.

But Kakashi is already called Friend-Killer, Minato heard the whispers on his way through the hospital as he left him sleeping fitfully against a hard mattress.

What will he do, now?  Now that his teammates are all gone, what should Minato do with the Copy Cat Ninja?

Minato hears the whispers, sees the writing on the wall of his future.  He knows that as soon as the greater conflict has ended, the Third Hokage will step down.  Minato knows in his bones he will be named the Fourth if he is still breathing.

And that means he will not have time to watch over Kakashi as he should.  The ANBU might provide a way for Minato to keep a closer eye on him.  Perhaps even have him assigned to his personal guard one day.  Because while Minato wishes nothing more than to keep Kakashi safe and sane in the wake of what has happened, the reality is that it’s impossible for him to be everywhere at once—no matter how fast he moves.

Minato can still feel the hot tears of Rin’s mother against his neck where she clung to him as he delivered the news—can still feel the seething rage radiating from her father as he demanded answers Minato could not give him, screamed to know who was responsible.

Minato blamed Kirigakure, but he also knows it is only a matter of time before the Noharas hear the less than nuanced story from someone with loose lips and an errant tongue.

What then?

While Rin’s father stood no chance against Kakashi were he to make any attempt on the boy’s life, that did not mean he would not try.  Did not mean he would not become violent if he were to confront Kakashi in the throes of his grief.

Did not mean Kakashi might not be forced to defend himself, might end up with more blood on his hands and beneath his fingernails.

No, Minato thinks, there is no way that will happen.  Not if he can help it.  If he assigns Kakashi to the ANBU as soon as he’s made Hokage, he will be too busy away from the village to worry about confrontations at home.  He will be able to build a new reputation for himself within the black ops, one that will eventually wash away the stain of Rin’s blood.

Of Obito’s.

He will learn to be a leader, to be trusted by his comrades again.  He will have a new team.

It is not a perfect solution—far from it—even now, Minato feels the bile rising in his throat again as he imagines what Kakashi will look like behind the cold porcelain mask of the ANBU.  He seethes at the idea of handing him a tanto to use instead of his own hand sheathed in lightning.

But it is the best he can do—the best he knows how to do.  There is no one else to help bear the burden of Kakashi’s rage.  Of his grief.  No one else to lead him into a future where he can decide for himself who he will be—who he will love and protect, and how.

So Minato Namikaze will make difficult decisions and some of them will be wrong.  He knows they will be.  Already it is clear that allowing Kakashi to be dispatched to retrieve Rin was a horrible mistake—a tragic error in judgment that lost him two children instead of one.

Because there is no way to mistake Kakashi for a child any longer.  Whatever remnant of innocence that may have yet lingered in him died with Rin, ebbed away with her blood as it soaked into the ground, as he mechanically scrubbed it from the delicate webbing between his fingers.

The last bit of Kakashi Hatake’s childhood fluttered and dwindled with the final furious beats of her heart in his hand.

Minato bows to Sakumo’s stone.  He doesn’t say anything—any words he tries to conjure turn to dirt on his tongue.

Sakumo deserves better than Minato to look after Kakashi—Kakashi deserves better.

He deserves his father.  His friends.

But the Yellow Flash is all he has.  And Minato knows no more how to be a human first and a tool second than Kakashi does.  He resolves to try, and it’s all he can do.

Of course, he will fail there too, eventually.  But for now, he carries the hope in his heart that he can right past wrongs by building a better future for his last remaining student—that Kakashi will find in him the mentor he needs now more than ever.

[justsomeoneunordinary]

today seems to be chat day for me, so while i'm at it already...

what's up with the hatake and the whole wolf contact, nomadic, wild clan? i don't wanna say a hc is wrong bc it's a hc.... but this is possibly the wrongest hc i've ever seen

everything abt hatake we know is hinted toward farming. kakashi = scarecrow, sakumo = crops, hatake = field, and their clan symbol resembles a rice field. what about that screams nomads??? wolves???

i assume it must be bc sakumo is known as the white fang, but otherwise... that's it. like, sorry but it just doesn't fit

first of all, the inuzuka clan already exists, and it's kind of cheap to make the hatake clan a copy paste version of them, but bigger and more feral bc "wolves are cooler than dogs"

it's perfectly fine to think that the inuzuka are not feral enough, i actually agree; they could be wilder imo. but the foundations are already there - fandom could simply expand on them. tsume's dog is practically a mean wolfdog already, you could just take what's already there and mold it to your tastes

secondly, this whole "pack" hc in which the hatake see family above all elese and form their own packs could not fit kakashi less if you tried. the man lost his team and shrugged it off. when they came back, he had no issues adding sai or giving them over to tenzou. he loves his team, but he is not possessive over them and has never been. that's not expansion of what could've been anymore, that's outright out of character

thirdly, kishi didn't leave us with absolutely nothing abt the hatake. their names are already hints. it's hinting at agriculture. you could come up with so much worldbuilding with this, how the hatake mostly only used ninjutsu for farming, how sakumo and kakashi broke those traditions and became both top shinobi konoha's of their time. not to mention who kakashi's mother might've been...

i'm obviously not saying ppl shouldn't enjoy their hcs, i am only saying that it's crazy the most popular fanon abt the hatake became the one that directly opposes the only bit we were given canonically

fanon somehow jumped from farmer to nomads and wolves of all things, all the while the inuzuka already exists, and most ppl don't even seem to realize it...

[poppyseedspshelpmesleep]

Finally something new!!! Lol. Chapter Four will be going up on AO3 shortly.

< Prev

The Chosen One

Chapter Four | Where is Kakashi?

“What do you mean, you can’t find him?!?”

Minato ducked his head, trying not to wilt at his girlfriend’s scolding. A tiny part of him still grew warm at the thought of Kushina being his girlfriend now but not the time, he grimaced.

“I’d thought it would be a good exercise, Kakashi got to practice his stealth while Obito and Rin worked on tracking by trying to find him, but, well…”

Kushina froze, expression blank and hair deceptively still. Minato could feel a shiver run down his spine.

“The Hatake excel at tracking, Minato. If you told Kakashi to hide. He.Will. HIDE!” Kushina’s voice grew as she spoke, and Minato winced.

“I- really didn’t think he’d hide so well, not so quickly. I didn’t even get a chance to see where he went.”

“You’re the one telling Sakumo-sensei his son is missing.”

“Wait-”

*////*

“How can a seven year old be so fast??”

“I mean," Rin huffed "he is a chuunin.”

Obito sniffed, but didn’t complain further. When Minato-sensei had first given them this assignment, he’d thought it’d be fun. It was basically hide-n-seek! And when they found Kakashi, the boy’s amazement at their tracking skills might even be enough to convince him to join them for Dango!

Except they never found Kakashi. Morning came and went, and they were well into the afternoon now. He and Rin had given up on finding their teammate around lunchtime, and Minato-sensei had told them he’d get Kakashi almost three hours ago. And still, nothing.

“Still, it is concerning that Minato-sensei hasn't found him yet.” Rin sighed, obviously worried.

Obito frowned, looking up at the sky. The sun would be going down in a few hours since it was winter, and looking for Kakashi in the night wouldn’t work with a new moon.

“He probably fell asleep somewhere or already went back to his house.” The Uchiha scuffed at the ground, crossing his arms behind his head.

Rin didn’t look at him as she said, “Maybe we should ask for help from the police force, or a Hyuuga.”

Obito dropped his arms, spinning to look at her. “No way! Minato-sensei’s got this! I’m sure!”

“I don’t know Obito, what if something happened to Kakashi? He might be a chuunin, but sensei’s a jounin, what if something happened to him?”

The concern is Rin’s voice was clear, and Obito’s shoulders dropped. “One more hour. Let’s give him one more hour before asking for help from the police force.”

Rin smiled, “Let’s keep looking, too! Maybe Kurenei or Anko have seen him?”

Obito shook his head. “If any of the others have seen him, it’s probably Gai.”

“Let’s go then!”

////

“Sensei!”

“Minato-sensei!”

The blonde turned around just as they reached him, and Obito let himself hope that maybe their teammate had been found and everything was fine.

But Minato only stared at them before sighing, “I don’t suppose you’ve found Kakashi either?”

Rin groaned. “That’s what we were going to ask you!”

Obito felt like laying in a heap on the floor. “We went around asking the other teams but they saw nothing!”

“And when we tried looking for Gai we couldn’t find him either.”

“So we went and told the police force-”

Minato paled. “Wait, what- You told, why-” a deep breath, “Kids, I appreciate it, but there’s no cause for concern yet.”

“But sensei! We ran into Inuzuka Tsume and she couldn’t find a trace of him!”

“Yea!” Obito nodded. “So the police force is looking for any trace to make sure he wasn’t kidnapped or something.”

Minato only shook his head at the ground, murmuring what sounded like ‘falsities’? Then looked up at them and said, “Kushina’s talking to Sakumo-san right now, I’m sure this is just another trait of Kakashi’s, and his father will be able to find him.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. Little Kakashi has his ways of avoiding even the White Fang when he wants to.” The trio turned at the sign of Orochimaru’s voice, and Minato visibly brightened.

“Could you help us find him?”

“No.” And the sannin walked away. Minato let out a small whine and hung his head, a gloomy aura surrounding him. “I’m doomed,” Obito heard him say, and he winced in sympathy.

*////*

Meanwhile…

“I did it! Rival, I have climbed up and down the monument 10 Times Before the sun sets and- oh.”

Gai fell silent as he took in his friend’s prone form, noting the steady rise and fall of his chest. Kakashi fell asleep.

He huffed, then sat where he was, facing the village.

“The view from up here really is nice, rival.”

Kakashi didn’t answer. When Gai turned to look at him, he noted the clouds had parted, and the sun’s rays were giving Kakashi a rather cozy-looking glow. The rock must be warm, Gai thought, and put his hand down to check. Not scalding, and stone may not be the softest surface, but he could see how his friend would decide this was a good enough place for a nap.

Gai smiled, looking out to the village again. It seemed like there was a lot of foot traffic all of a sudden, maybe everyone had decided to enjoy the afternoon outside?

It certainly was nice for a winter day, even if he still thought Spring was better. Certainly, the view from atop the hokage monument would be all the better once color bloomed back to life all around them!

Gai couldn’t wait for the day!

*////*

Sakumo felt like pulling all his hair out.

“I’m terribly sorry for this, sir. We have a team of ours along with some volunteers continuing the search into the night but so far we’ve found no trace.”

“I just want to ask why no one thought to tell me about this earlier?”

Minato’s shoulders hid his ears and Kushina sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck.

“I got distracted looking for him myself, ya know?”

“We both know you were with Mikoto.”

“I was with Mikoto.” Kushina hung her head.

Sakumo shook his head and turned to the police officer. “Thank you officer, but I can take it from here. Please call everyone off. My son is fine.”

“With all due respect, Hatake-san, the fact that we haven’t found trace of your son is very concerning and we are required to continue investigating for the good of the village.”

“I understand that, but Kakashi is right behind you so I really don’t think you need to keep looking for him.”

“Wha-”

“Daaaad,” Kakashi whined, stomping his foot. “I was going to avoid Minato-sensei! Now that they’ve found me I lost the game!”

“Game? Game??” Minato crouched on the floor. “Kakashi, I gave you an exercise that was supposed to end before lunch.”

“Oh.”

Child and teenager stared at each other. Then, “So I won?”