Today was like any other. He woke up at the dawn of butt crack. Checked in with the Godaime. Ate something, sort of. Visited his old team at the shrine. For quite a few hours. Then, he met with his current team.
On the bridge, as usual. His cute little genin didn't have that common air of annoyance at his tardiness. In fact, they looked to be damn well blissful. This concerned him. His concern grew when he noticed both Sai and Sasuke were in on it, as well.
"Did you eat, Kaka-sensei?" Sakura spoke first with a painfully innocent grin on her face.
"A few protein bars." Was his terse reply as he was trying to get a feel of the situation he was in.
"Let us take you out to eat." She offered and he had to look at his watch. Just a bit past one. His eye scanned the faces of his male genin. They were allowing Sakura to take the lead.
He thought of reasons for such a treat. It wasn't his birthday. It wasn't any of their birthdays, though Sakura's was around the corner. It wasn't their anniversary. Naruto made them celebrate it every month. It would probably be best to ask, he decided.
"What's the occasion?" He said coolly, his lone eye landing on the only female of the group.
She grabbed his hand, which slightly surprised him. They had only been together about half a year. They weren't all that close as of yet. The sentiment nearly threw him for a loop. "No reason, Kaka-sensei."
She attempted to pull him along but he wouldn't budge. Naruto grabbed his other hand while Sasuke and Sai pushed him from behind. Kakashi was baffled, to say the least.
They ended up at a restaurant called Ichimaru's. He knew it all too well. He came here often with his former team. Rin loved the way they prepared the vegetables. Obito loved the meat. He, himself, had dubbed them the best eggplant chefs in the village. Minato simply loved a happy team.
He froze just before they could enter the premises. Somewhere, through his myriad of emotions, he sensed Gai. This had to have been his doing.
He pulled himself from his genin. Couldn't bring himself to step back into this place after everything that happened. He took a few steps back.
"Why not just go to Ichiraku's? I'm certain it is more within your price range." He proposed doing well to keep the pain out of his voice.
Naruto laughed, "No worries, Kaka-sensei, Teme's, paying for most of it so the rest of us won't go broke!" He was overly excited as usual. But not eating ramen means he was being incredibly thoughtful.
"I, for one, am quite tired of ramen." Sai commented with a barely concealed look of disgust.
Sasuke only looked vaguely annoyed at him trying to deny their act of kindness.
Finally, he looked to his cherry blossom. The heart of the whole operation, it seemed. Her smile was pitying and kind and full of so much love he didn't know she had the capacity to hold. Those viridian orbs showed gentleness and omniscient knowledge of his life. He felt exposed. Felt vulnerable.
Her smile widened and brightened, chasing his darkness away. She offered her hand. "I hear this place has the best eggplant dishes."
He felt heat well up behind his eyes but wouldn't let a single tear fall. He didn't know that the boys had already gone inside until Sakura entangled their fingers and steered him indoors.
Nothing had changed inside Ichimaru's. Though, the booth they always sat it had a giant 7 painted elegantly in gold on the table. Turns out the table was dedicated to he and his former squad. Kakashi was grateful for that. However, he was more grateful for the team he had now. He knew they would continue to surprise him and become the best Konoha has to offer.
He ruffled Sakura's hair and sat down next to Sasuke. She sat between Naruto and Sai. The food was pre-ordered and Naruto challenged everyone to an eating contest. Only Sasuke and Sai obliged. Then they fought over who won. Sakura put an end to that by clobbering and scolding them.
Kakashi chuckled, they would probably never be allowed back in again. He hoped they could at least keep the table.
He sat in a tree reading the ever entertaining Icha Icha. Gai was below him waiting for him to speak. To which the taijutsu user wouldn't wait very long.
"How much did you tell her?" He asked not taking his head away from his book.
"Nothing too personal", he replied pointedly. "She doesn't know the how's and when's or what's but she knows enough."
"Why?"
"She wanted to know. She stopped me before I could go into detail."
Kakashi thought about that. She got to know stuff about him but wasn't willing to cross any lines. She also hadn't told the boys.
Kakashi released a breath of content. He shut his book and stood. "Thank you, Gai." Then he was gone before Gai's brain could catch up to him.
Kakashi now stood on a roof overlooking the the training grounds his genin were occupying. One day he would tell them everything. That day was obviously not today. For now, he would spend time with them as a team. No, more than that, a family.