There was a knock at the door of the Hatake residence. Rai poked her head out of the room where she just put the youngest down for a nap.
"Who could that be?" She muttered as she quickly descended the steps and walked to the door. She opened it to see Iruka standing there, "Iruka?" with a dejected and dirty Aizen next to him. She looked down to her son to see dirt and blood stains. "Aizen! What happened?" She exclaimed as she crouched down to examine him closer. Aizen turned his head to avoid her gaze, stubbornly.
"He got into a fight at school," Iruka told Rai. Rai's brown eyes widened and her jaw went slack as she looked at Iruka. She could not believe her silver haired boy would pick a fight. She thought he was raised better. She looked back at her son; she saw him tense, fists clenched and posture going rigid.
Rai let out a sigh, dropping her head. She stood up and ushered her boy inside. "Go clean yourself up," She muttered. "Your father is not going to be happy about this." She watched her boy walk in, slightly flinch at her comment, and head up the stairs to change. She sighed and crossed her arms. Turning to Iruka, she said, "Thank you. Come on in."
"Thank you," Iruka said and walked in, taking off his shoes at the threshold. Rai closed the door behind him. They headed into the kitchen dining room combo.
"Have a seat and you can explain to me what happened." Rai motioned to the wooden table with chairs around it as she passed and pulled out a kettle from one of the cupboards to fill with water.
"That's also another reason I came here. I wanted to talk to you about what happened." Iruka explained as he pulled out a chair and sat down. He ran a hand over his face quickly. After Rai set the kettle on the stove, she sat down near Iruka to listen to the story.
"So, what happened?" Rai asked as she leaned on the table and placed her head in her right hand, looking at him on her left.
"From what it sounded like," Iruka began, crossing his arms. "Some of the kids were picking on him." Iruka paused. He was recounting the day's events as they unfolded.
Rai knitted her eyebrows together in confusion, "Aizen wouldn't start a fight over being picked on. He's smarter than that." Rai shook her head quickly. "There has to be more."
"That's what I believe," Iruka agreed. "I know Aizen and I know he wouldn't do that." Iruka paused to think, "From what I suspect, this must have been going on for a while." Rai stood up and grabbed the whistling kettle and poured it into two cups with tea bags. She handed one to Iruka and brought over a small jar of sugar. "Thank you," Iruka thanked her for the tea. "I don't believe this was the first time he was bullied, but I do not tolerate violence against peers." Iruka mentioned before taking a sip of his tea. Rai nodded in agreement. Rai heard the soft creak of the wooden stairs, she assumed Aizen sat on the steps just out of their line of sight, listening in on their conversation. "Something has to be done."
Suddenly the door opened and a voice called, "Tadaima!" It was Kakashi coming home from work. Kakashi took off his shoes and noticed Iruka at the table. "Nani? Iruka? What are you doing here?" He asked as he came over and greeted Rai with a kiss on the head, after taking off his Hokage robe and hanging it up.
"Welcome home," She muttered as he kissed her. He took off his hitai-ate and placed it next to her on the table.
"It's Aizen," Iruka sighed.
"Hnn?" Kakashi asked as he poured himself some hot water and placing a tea bag in it. "What happened?" He turned around and leaned against the counter.
"He got into a fight at school," Rai muttered quietly. Kakashi glanced to where Aizen was on the steps before he walked to the chair next to Rai and sat down.
"A fight, huh?" Kakashi questioned. He pulled his mask down so it caught on his chin. He closed his eyes and sighed after he draped his right arm over the back of the wooden chair. "What happened," his question was more of a demand then a question.
"I was telling Rai that he was getting bullied for a while by a group of kids," Iruka explained. "I told him, 'As the Hokage's son, you shouldn't be acting like this'."
"As anyone's son, he shouldn't be acting like that," Rai retorted. She took another sip of tea. "He knows better." Rai muttered.
"You knew better at his age, yet you were still getting into fights with others," Kakashi mentioned to Rai.
"But I was getting shurikens and kunai thrown at me," Rai responded. "I had to defend myself." She took another small mouthful of tea. Kakashi sighed.
"How badly was he hurt?" Kakashi asked after a slight pause.
"He had some scrapes and bruises, which healed by the time we got here," Iruka explained.
"What about the other boy?" Kakashi inquired.
"Bloody lip and possibly a bruise on his cheek, but nothing major," Iruka said.
"Good," Kakashi sighed.
"That's not good, Kakashi!" Rai whispered harshly, "It shouldn't have even happened!"
"At least it wasn't worse," Kakashi said as he brought the cup up to his lips, "You know he could have done much worse." He muttered before taking a sip. They sat there in silence. Kakashi finally brought up a point, "Do you think it's because he's my son that kids are picking on him? Trying to test him to see if he's like me?" Kakashi looked to Iruka out of the corner of his eye, head still slightly lowered.
Iruka shook his head, "I do not know. All I know is what I saw and what little I was told." Iruka explained. "Aizen refused to talk to anyone after the incident."
There was a pause before Kakashi asked warily, "Who started it?"
"He did not throw the first punch," Iruka stated confidently. Rai and Kakashi both let out a silent sigh as their shoulders relaxed at the statement. Iruka took the last sip of his tea. "I just wanted to let you know," Iruka stood up. "Thank you for the tea, I will see myself out. It was great seeing you, Rai." Iruka smiled to her and nodded. "Kakashi," Iruka smiled and nodded before he put on his shoes and left.
Rai turned and looked at her partner. "What should we do?" She asked in a whisper.
"We talk to him and find out what happened." Kakashi said, taking the last sip of tea from his cup. Kakashi stood up, purposely scrapping the chair along the floor to let Aizen know he should scamper up the steps and get into his room because they were coming to talk to him. Rai immediately shot up and grabbed all three cups.
"I got it," She muttered, taking the cup from Kakashi's hand. She walked to the sink and turned on the water to begin washing the cups. Kakashi could tell, just by body posture and lack of communication, from being around her since she was born, that Rai was in a bad mood.
Rai could feel her husband's dark grey eyes watching her, analyzing her. It made her uncomfortable, but at the same time, made her want to talk. "I don't know what to do with him, Kakashi." She muttered as she put one of the cups on the drying rack next to the sink. She felt arms wrap around her middle and a firm warm body press up against her back. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and laid his chin on her right shoulder.
"He's like his mother," Kakashi told her.
"Is that good or bad?" Rai snapped softly. She wasn't happy because she didn't know what to do and had a million things running through her head of what could be done, but none seemed right. She felt his arms tighten around her, pulling her closer to him.
He turned his head so he could whisper into her ear, lips just caressing the side of her face, "I married her." Good thing Rai had just set down the last cup in the rack or she would have dropped it. She froze for a second before a bashful smile crept across her face. Kakashi kissed her temple. He laid his head back on her right shoulder, pressing his head against hers. Rai took her hands and placed them over his that kept her in his embrace. "Let me talk to him." He whispered. She nodded slightly.