#hima i hope u know i was OVERJOYED to have this prompt

[keepyourpantsongohan]

Voice of the Garden

The atmosphere felt like one of those ninja refuges you heard about in stories. (Konoha Hiden, Ch. 7) | Discord Spring Exchange for @ohayohimawari | AO3 | 

                                  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Tenzō is a very welcome eclipse, Kakashi decides, without opening his eyes.

The sunlight behind his eyelids isn’t totally gone, but he knows if he were to peer out at the world, he would find one tall, smiling man blocking out the sun's rays, smelling of honey, butter and wheat. 

“You made something,” Kakashi accuses blithely, opening one eye. “We said no work today.”

“We did,” Tenzō agrees, sitting down. Kakashi’s gaze follows him as he sets aside a covered tray. “But you set up a picnic, so I thought we were even.”

Kakashi shakes his head, poking Tenzō in the knee. “I laid all of this out yesterday.”

“That’s cheating,” says Tenzō, laughing. 

“Wasn’t your favourite phrase, ‘You can never be too cautious?’ Maybe I’ve finally taken your advice and prepared ahead of time.”

“It’s ‘knock on a stone bridge before crossing it,’” Tenzō corrects. 

“So, the same thing, but for old men.” Kakashi teases, eyes falling shut again. 

He feels Tenzō’s fingers touch his face, running gently from underneath his brow bone to the top of his cheek. Kakashi doesn’t have to look at him to know he’s pressing against the light lines in his skin. “I don’t see any young men around here.”

“That’s not nice,” Kakashi says, feigning offence in his voice. The ruse doesn’t quite reach his face. 

“You started it,” Tenzō points out without remorse. Still, the press of his lips to Kakashi’s temple is a pleasing balm. “Don’t you want to see what I made?” 

“Bread,” Kakashi observes, but he looks anyways. He takes the opportunity to stretch out on his side, joints popping in a way that does make him feel a little like an old man. “You smell like a bakery,” he adds.

For the first time that day, Kakashi takes a lingering glance at Tenzō. By his appearance, the bread only finished baking a short while ago. His sleeves are pushed up to the elbow, the neck of his shirt is tugged backward where an apron would be tied, and while there is no flour on his hands, there is the smallest hint of it clinging to a few strands of his hair. 

Besides that, Kakashi’s face isn’t alone in starting to show lines. Tenzō’s face has one or two creases on it himself. It amuses Kakashi to think they will be a matching set, making each other’s faces wrinkle more and more with each smile. He isn’t disappointed to see his partner doing just that. 

Tenzō chuckles. “I suppose it was a fool’s errand to try to surprise you.”

“I am surprised,” Kakashi concedes, tapping his fingers on Tenzō’s thigh. “I didn’t know the oven worked. I’ve been using katon to grill our fish.” 

The other man takes this admission in good humour. “I thought it had a strange aftertaste,” Tenzō quips. “The first thing they teach you about mokuton is not to eat food made with your own chakra.”

“When I asked you if you could fix the bed, you said the first thing they teach about mokuton is that you shouldn’t sleep on structures made of your own chakra,” Kakashi says, making a face at him. 

“You’re mistaken,” says Tenzō, lips twitching. “That’s the second thing.”

Clucking his tongue, Kakashi asks, “How do you keep track of all of these rules?”

“I keep a list.” Tenzō answers. His focus turns to the basket Kakashi has laid out at the head of their blanket. “May I?”

Kakashi gestures for him to go ahead. He hadn’t been joking when he said he had prepared in advance. The lid is flipped open, revealing a welcoming array of fruit, savoury pastries, pickled vegetables and whatever else he was able to gather. The attentiveness of the task doesn’t go unnoticed. 

“Some of this looks more elaborate than a usual picnic,” Tenzō remarks, nodding at a glass bottle, glinting gold. 

The bottle is tugged out of the spot where it has been nestled. Although Kakashi’s had it with him for some time now, it feels heavier in his hand today. The amber elixir is liquid gold in the sunlight. Tenzō’s eyes follow its twinkle curiously.

“Honey wine,” Kakashi tells him, passing it over. 

Tenzō’s expression shifts, examining the bottle carefully. “When did you find this? It’s rare, these days.” 

“When we passed through Sora-ku last month,” Kakashi says. 

Tenzō raises his eyebrows. “The Senju clan used to make this in the old days, you know. For special occasions.”

“I see you’ve been talking to Kurenai too.” Kakashi says. A slight warmth floods his face, and he changes tack. “It’s a beekeeper who makes it now. I met them in a bamboo grove.”

A bamboo grove filled with a genjutsu fog, he doesn’t add. Kakashi’s own surprise being kept is a thing of chance; both that he been fortunate enough to have known his own mind, and that the beekeeper seemed to have an affinity for Konoha shinobi. 

"I didn’t think there was much by way of people in that place,” admits the other man. “Other than the ones who stay with Sasuke’s cat friends. And I’m not sure that family isn’t half cat themselves. Was this beekeeper a shinobi?”

“Yes. I didn’t press, but it seemed clear to me that they had left their village.” 

A thoughtful nod follows this revelation, followed by a slowly spreading smile. “Leaving shinobi life to tend to bees,” Tenzō muses. “Now, there’s a thought.” 

“Thinking of a career change?” Kakashi asks, nudging his leg against Tenzō’s. 

There’s a brief scuffle between their lower limbs, with them tangled up in both each other and the blanket. It is only by luck that none of their food topples over. With Kakashi far closer to him than before, Tenzō replies, “As Rokudaime Hokage, wouldn’t it constitute treason for me to tell you about plans to abandon Konoha?”

“Maybe,” Kakashi agrees. “What kind of crime would it be if I decided to leave?”

“Dereliction of duty,” Tenzō decides. He says it with all the seriousness he can muster. “ANBU would follow in a matter of hours.”

Kakashi grins. He’d like to see any of the current ANBU recruits try to catch them. “We’d have to find somewhere very remote to live. One of Kiri’s islands?”

“That would make it hard for Gai to visit,” Tenzō points out, catching on to Kakashi’s game. “What about Kumo? It’s more than a stone’s throw from Konoha, but still attached to the mainland.” 

Cheerfully, Kakashi says, “I’m sure Killer Bee would let us stay with him until we found our footing,” At Tenzō’s look of alarm, he beams even wider. 

“Bees,” says Tenzō suddenly. “I wouldn’t be able to keep bees in Kumo. The climate is too hot for that. We’d have to go to Iwa.” 

It is far too easy for Kakashi to imagine Tenzō in a full body suit, with bees swirling around him. As it is, the ones in Konoha seem inordinately fond of him. “From what I could tell, Iwagakure is where the beekeeper came from in the first place. So maybe they’re looking for a new one.”

“And what would you do?”

Kakashi lets himself ponder on it. A jest comes to mind first, but he holds himself back. For several strange and delightful seconds, he imagines himself truly having found a life outside Konoha, with welcome company and without expectation. 

“Obito once asked me if I was planning to be a chef,” Kakashi says, an unexpected sincerity rising up. He reaches for Tenzō’s hand, finding distraction in the lines of his palm. “I could try that. We could grow some vegetables in our garden.”

Tenzō lets himself be explored. “I have always liked your cooking,” he replies gently. His tone turns playful. “How would we keep the people of Iwa from recognizing you? You’ve got quite the reputation.”

“I’ll wear a hat.”

A free hand reaches up to play with Kakashi’s hair. “Don’t you already have one of those?” Tenzō asks. “The public still knows you when you wear it.”

Kakashi hums, contemplating. “I’ll get a bigger hat.” 

The logic passes whatever metric Tenzō has decided to use, and he murmurs an agreement. His hand stays splayed at the base of Kakashi’s neck, “What if I don’t recognize you without the hair?”

Winking, Kakashi says, “I’ll take it off when I get home.”

It seems as though Tenzō has something to say to that, but any banter is cut short by a growl of his stomach. He sighs. “That’s enough roleplay for now. I think it’s time to eat.”

“That’s a shame,” Kakashi says, fingers at Tenzo’s waist. “The missing nin thing is kind of working for me.”

Tenzō doesn’t blush about these kind of things anymore, but he still laughs, his head ducking a little closer to the grass. “It’s things like this that make me worry I will one day have to testify against you.”

“They can’t do that, if you’re married,” Kakashi says lightly. 

“Is that what marriage would mean to you?” Tenzō teases, rolling onto his back. “Legal immunity?”

Kakashi plays at indignation. “You think so little of me. I would also be in it for the couple’s discounts.”

“My mistake,” Tenzō replies. He reaches for one of the apples Kakashi set in their picnic basket, rolling it between his hands instead of eating it. “Of course, it would be for legal and budgeting reasons. I should know better than to underestimate you after so many years.”

“You should really think better of your future spouse, Tenzō,” Kakashi says. The admonition has far too much sentimentality in it to land. “We might as well give the honey wine to Kurenai, if things are so rocky before the wedding.”

“So you do know what it’s for,” his companion notes. A pinkness spreads over his cheeks. “I wondered.”

“It’s important to become familiar with your village’s traditions.” Kakashi says, his throat much dryer than before.

“I thought we were going to be missing nin?” Despite his words, Tenzō’s heart is plain on his face. 

In response, Kakashi’s heart is even louder in his ears. He steadies it by leaning his head on Tenzō’s shoulder. “We can decide that after the wedding,” he compromises. 

“If you keep bringing up weddings, one day I’ll have to marry you,” Tenzō warns, humoured; heartfelt; happy. He feels the shoulder where his head rests shift, but it is only for Tenzō’s cheek to press against his hair.

“I’m free tomorrow,” Kakashi offers. 

“The licensing offices won’t be open for two more days,” is the reply. It is almost automatic; it takes a few seconds for Tenzō to catch up to their conversation, and when he does, he stills. The apple falls from his grasp. 

Kakashi takes the opportunity to say, “I could make next week work.” 

For a moment, they separate to look at each other. And then they both laugh, and keep laughing, until Tenzō does the sensible thing and finds a way to silence them both. 

Tenzō’s kiss knocks Kakashi into the ground in its enthusiasm. Kakashi’s answering movements are no more coordinated. He barely manages to take down his mask before his lips are covered again. Kakashi is no stranger to kissing Tenzō, but there is a novelty in this, kissing for this reason, intoxicated by their own contentment. 

They are grasping and grinning like they are somewhere far more private than a clearing with a sparse covering of trees. This time, they definitely knock something over, but they are much too busy to figure out what it is. 

The one thing that does have Kakashi reluctantly pulling away is when he senses a spike in his companion’s chakra, and feels the earth beneath him shift, grass and soil alike moving beneath his back. 

When Kakashi opens his eyes, he sees their clearing is not so empty anymore. Their new company is a field full of sunflowers, and the surprised look on Tenzō’s face tells him it hadn’t been intentional.��

“I’m going to take that as a maybe,” Kakashi tells him, warm and pleased.