A/N: Short fic written in post-exam euphoria. First fic for the Naruto section. Comments are appreciated.
Sunrise
They make their way up the hill in the strange, half-dark before dawn. It's treacherously steep and even Kakashi occasionally stumbles over rocks and roots. Their sensei is always there to catch them before they fall, however, so while most teams would have suffered at least one broken bone and several fractures, they manage to get to the top with only a couple of bruises between the four of them.
When they finally reach the top, the sky is already beginning to lighten and the sun is starting to creep into the sky. Rin doubles over, panting, Obito collapses on the ground; even Kakashi has to sit down for a moment. Their sensei, on the other hand, is fine. He sits on the ground next to his four students, humming a tune to himself and smiling cheerfully at his three students of them as if this is some sort of ritual he does every morning.
"So why'd we have to get up here so early, sensei?" demands Obito when he finally gets his breath back. Before his sensei has a chance to reply, however, Kakashi interjects.
"Ninja don't complain about missions," Kakashi says scathingly. "And besides, it's not as if you got there so early, anyway."
"Hey, hey, it's not my fault! A baby bird fell out of a tree and I had to help it–"
"That's enough, Kakashi, Obito." Their sensei cuts into the argument, holding up his hands for silence. "Actually, Kakashi, we don't have any missions today, so I thought I'd give you all a special lesson instead, not one usually taught to genin." Their sensei clears his throat, holding up one finger for effect. "Anyway, today's lesson is this: ordinary things are beautiful."
The jounin looks at his students expectantly, no doubt expecting answering looks of admiration and wonder at his imparted wisdom. Instead he receives a confused expression, a blank stare, and a sceptical look. Konoha's Yellow Flash sighs and hangs his head exasperatedly.
Kakashi speaks at last, his tone dubious. "Sensei," he begins carefully, "if this means what I think it does, then I have to say this." He pauses for a moment. "I have to disagree with you, because Obito sure isn't beautiful."
"Why you –"
Obito growls and lunges for his team-mate. Kakashi dodges the blow easily and kicks out contemptuously with his foot. In a flash, their jounin sensei disappears and reappears at Obito's side, stopping Kakashi's foot mid-kick.
"That's more than enough, Kakashi," he says, frowning, and refuses to release Kakashi's leg until both parties have muttered apologies. Satisfied, he sits back down on the dirt. "If you don't get it, then look," he says, and points to the horizon.
Kakashi looks, but he doesn't see anything special. It's a sunrise, and he's seen plenty of them in his life. He glances quickly at Rin and Obito, but they're strangely enraptured and Sensei is nodding as if he approves. Kakashi begins to feel annoyed at himself. Rin has always been good at this touchy-feely stuff, but this time even the Cry-baby ninja has got it faster than he has.
So he looks harder and he starts to notice things about the sunrise that he'd never noticed before. Like how the clouds can be stained faint red but not look like blood. Like how the light washes over Konoha below like waves at the beach. Like how his sensei's hair glints gold in the dawn light and how it's so quiet he can hear the wind singing through the leaves.
Then suddenly a bird cheeps and the rest of flock joins in, their voices combining in a deafening cacophony. Kakashi winces and claps his hands over his ears, and somehow he senses that dawn has passed into morning. Sensei stands up and dusts off his uniform, grinning widely.
"You understand now, don't you?"
The three of them nod mutedly. Their sensei looks at their dazed faces, then glances at the sky. "The ramen shop should be opening soon," he says. "I'll treat you all to ramen, 'kay?"
That finally breaks the spell. As they head back down the hill, Rin protests that ramen is definitely not classified as a healthy start to the day, and that at the rate he's eating ramen, he will die of artificial flavouring overdose before he turns thirty. Obito is carrying out his daily declaration that one day he will surpass Kakashi, Sensei is laughing and in that rare, perfect moment, Kakashi is smiling under his mask and thinking that yes, ordinary things are beautiful, in more ways than one.
end