Also, this is meant to be written in a childlike voice. It's not because I am a bad writer, but imagine a 9-year old Naruto telling a story. This is supposed to sound like that.
--
I like Christmastime.
Everything's happy at Christmas, and I love that feeling. Happy. It's just recently that I discovered it, and I love it.
Happiness is family; I just found that one out too.
So since Christmas means family, and family is happiness, then Christmas is really happy. And it's great because it comes every, single year. Which means that I get to be extra-happy at least once a year. And happy is good.
That's what Iruka's always telling me, anyways. Happy is good. That must be why he's always trying to keep me happy. Dad's nice like that.
This year Christmas was going to be really good. A lot had changed since last year's Christmas. And this year, Sasuke was going to stay with us.
Sasuke's home life wasn't too great. His brother was a jerk, and his parents were long gone. Like my old parents. But since I have new ones, I wanted to share them with him, so that he could remember how great it was to have them.
So afterschool, on the day before Christmas Eve (we don't get long breaks for holidays at my school...), I went down to room 305 where Kakashi teaches his English classes in the eighth grade part of the school. I felt real big since I was allowed in that hallway even though I was only in fourth grade. I went there every day afterschool, but today was the first time somebody came with me. I was excited; nobody had ever spent the night at my house before, and Sasuke was my best friend now. I really wanted him to see how great it was.
Kakashi was sitting at his desk, as he usually was. He looked at us as we entered the room, and he smiled. Kakashi doesn't smile very often. Dad says he saves his smiles for people he really cares about. I guess Kakashi must really care about me then. Me, and Dad, because I don't think Kakashi ever doesn't smile when Dad's around.
My Dad's a real special guy.
Kakashi stood up. He's real tall, taller than Dad even. And when he walks over and looks down at me n' Sasuke, I can see he eyes. He has awesome eyes. One's red, and the other is blue. Sasuke looked surprised. I smiled. I knew he'd be jealous as soon as he saw how cool my parents were.
I felt a hand ruffle my hair; I hate that. I pout, because I know that neither Dad or Kakashi can be mean when I do that. Unless I did something real bad. Then Dad gets really loud and the vein on his forehead twitches. Kakashi just gets real quiet.
But Kakashi wasn't mad then, 'cause he smiled again and put on his coat. I followed him out of the room and out of the school to the parking lot. Sasuke stayed quiet. He's like that.
When we got outside, it was really cold out. There wasn't any snow yet; that made me mad. Didn't they know it was close to Christmas? There was supposed to be snow by now!
Kakashi led us to his car. He has this really sweet car; it's like, super shiny black, and really big, with a cool radio with like a million stations. Dad's always saying we don't really need the car, but I think Kakashi likes it too much to get rid of it. One time I accidentally hit it with my baseball. Kakashi got real quiet that time. It was scary.
Sasuke was still quiet for the car ride home. But I'm used to that because he doesn't talk much. Even Kakashi talks more than him.
We got home really fast. Kakashi led us inside our big apartment building that he parked in front of. Sasuke looked a little surprised that it was such a big building; there was a lot of apartments in it. Ours was 2-C, and Dad finally trusted me enough to give me a key. He said I was getting old enough. I was real proud, and I wear the key around my neck on a chain. Just in case.
I tug on Kakashi's jacket once we get to the door.
"Can I open the door?"
He grinned, and his eyes curved up like they do.
"It's already open."
And he pushed the door open and stepped inside. I frowned.
"Aw... C'mon Kakashi! Can't you just re-lock it!? I wanna unlock it! I'm-"
He hushed me and put his hand up to make sure we got the message: "Be quiet."
I shut up, because when Kakashi tells you to do something, you do it. That's just how it is. I stepped carefully inside after Kakashi, wondering why he wanted me quiet. Kakashi always had a reason for doing stuff. Peeking around his side, I saw our kitchen table, and I saw my Dad sitting there.
Except he was leaning his head on the tabletop, not just sitting there. Kakashi was stepping quietly over to where he sat.
Uh oh.
I realized something I'd forgotten to tell Sasuke.
I looked at him, terrified.
Would he think it was gross? 'Cause Dad told me once that people sometimes thought that since I had two Dad's instead of a Mom and a Dad, that was gross. I really hoped Sasuke didn't think so.
But he was still quiet, and didn't seem like he cared at all. Good old Sasuke. Always silent.
Kakashi put his arms around Iruka from behind and talked to him quietly. It was weird; Kakashi could be a really harsh person sometimes. He was strict, and when he got mad, beside going real quiet, he liked to punch the walls and stuff. But when he was around Dad, he wasn't ever angry. He was gentle, like Dad was a baby or something that he didn't want to hurt.
"Ruka-chan... I'm home."
Dad started to wake up. You can tell 'cause he always made really grouchy noises when he woke up. But instead of being mad, he just leaned back and kissed Kakashi on the lips.
I looked back to Sasuke, really worried now. I'd seen this happen a million times, in fact, every day after school, but Sasuke...
Sasuke just sat there, quiet. He's awfully mature for a nine-year-old.
Dad was all the way awake now. He stood up and smiled at me and Sasuke. Kakashi went into the room and opened up the fridge.
I grinned back at Dad and ran at him, giving him a big hug around his waist. He's great to hug. He says hugs are good for you, just like eating your vegetables. Even Kakashi likes getting hugs from Dad.
"How was your day, Naruto?"
"Grrr-eat!" I said, imitating one of my favorite TV commercials, the one with the tiger and the cereal.
He laughed again. He has a really warm, happy laugh that kind of comes right from deep inside him, and when you hugged him and he laughed, you could feel the rumbling in your own chest. It was cool.
When he let go, he put a hand on my head and ruffled my hair as Kakashi had done. One time I asked them why they did that even though I hated it, and they both told me it was their job as parents to annoy me at least a little bit. Which I thought was stupid, but I let it go anyways.
I stepped back and looked up at his face. I saw dark circles on his face, which were normal for him, but he was also real white, which wasn't. He looked like a raccoon with no color in his face.
"Dad, you're awfully white..."
"Am I?" He didn't sound like he really cared.
Kakashi must have, though, 'cause he came back over to Dad and looked at him and felt his forehead.
He asked Dad, "Did you take your meds yet?"
"Not the 4 o'clock ones yet. But I took them all today, yeah."
"Any headaches? Sneezing? Cough? Trouble breathing? What about an upset stomach? You don't feel feverish, do you? You're forehead was a little warm, but sometimes I have a hard time telling..."
"I'm fine, 'Kashi, I promise."
Kakashi looked really worried. I looked over to Sasuke to see if he was weirded out yet, but he was still the same as before.
Dad smiled at Kakashi, hugged him, and then went into the kitchen area to where he kept his heart.
That was what he called all the pills he took all day. Dad explained to me a long time ago that he has a problem where he gets sicker than other people more often and he has to take his heart pills to stay healthy. Kakashi told me that they weren't pills for his heart, but that heart stood for something else. I forgot what it stood for, though.
But whenever Dad got a cold, he had to go into the hospital instead of just taking some cough syrup and eating soup and sleeping. And Kakashi was always making sure he felt okay.
And I'm not kidding when I say we washed our hands twenty times a day.
I took Sasuke into the bathroom and told him to wash his hands good. He didn't even ask why, just did it. After that, I asked him, "Wanna see my room?" and he said "Yeah" so I took him back into my room.
I love my room. Dad let me choose the color and everything! It's bright orange, my favorite color, and I have black and orange sheets on my bed. My room's small, but my stuff fits and I like it just the same. I'm on my second bed now because I broke the first one jumping on it. Kakashi got real quiet again that time. I don't jump on the bed anymore.
I showed Sasuke my set of ninja action figures Kakashi got me for my birthday last year. I loved them so much that I had played with them until the paint started to come off in some places. They were so cool!
We fought over who was going to be the ninja with the black hood for about an hour and then Dad came in and told us that dinner was here.
I jumped up and down when I saw the big pizza box sitting on the kitchen table with a smaller box of...
I looked at Kakashi and asked him what was in the smaller box. He grinned and ruffled my hair AGAIN.
"Stop it!" I yelled and ran to Dad's side.
"Chicken wings," Dad answered. I jumped up and down some more. Sasuke didn't jump around like I did, but when we sat down to eat he ate even more than I did.
Having pizza for dinner was exciting. Kakashi said he was too tired to cook, but I think he was just being lazy. But for once Dad didn't care that he was being lazy.
I figured it must be because of Christmas.
After dinner, Dad went to take a shower. Kakashi called me and Sasuke into the living room where the tree was set up in the corner. It was gold and red and really pretty.
"You guys want to see what I got for Iruka?" Kakashi asked us.
"Yeah!" I said. It had to be good. Kakashi always bought Dad good stuff. Like chocolate. That was REALLY good.
Kakashi took out a tiny little box. It was black and fuzzy. I thought it was weird that it was fuzzy, but I didn't say that 'cause Kakashi looked really happy about it.
He grinned and popped open the box for us to see what was inside.
It was a ring.
It was gold and not very fancy, but it was really shiny.
I looked at Kakashi, confused.
"It looks like the ring in the Lord of the Rings. Why are you trying to make my Dad go evil?"
He laughed at me and even Sasuke smiled. I still didn't get it.
"This is a good ring, Naruto. I'm giving this to him because I want to stay with him and live here forever with you two. I'm giving it to him because he's special to me and I love him."
"Why does that make him stay with you? You already live here with us."
"This makes it... official."
"But why does it have to be official?"
"Because it does, Dobe." Sasuke said his first words of the day. I looked at him and shrugged. I guess if Kakashi was so sure Dad would like it, then it was good.
--
After me and Sasuke went to bed, we stayed up and talked for a long time. Neither of us was tired.
"So, your Dad has AIDS?"
I blinked. Aids? What was that?
"Huh?"
"AIDS. It's a disease, Dobe."
"What? No way! My Dad doesn't have that! He just gets sick a lot!"
I knew that. My Dad was just sick a lot. Just sick. He didn't have a disease. A disease was like cancer, where you died if you had it.
"The disease makes you get sick a lot. My parents had it. It killed them."
I stared at Sasuke's shadow in the dark. I had stopped talking. I think I stopped breathing. My chest hurt suddenly and I wanted to cry.
"What?... No, that's not right... My dad can't die! He doesn't have your stupid disease, okay! He's fine! He just gets sick! He's...he's not gonna die!"
I was so mad at Sasuke for even saying those things. I wanted to punch him and make him stop. But he kept talking.
"I think he does have it. 'Specially since my dad used to say it was really common for gay guys to have it."
"What's that even mean?! My dad isn't... gay, or whatever! And he doesn't have AIDS!"
I knew I was yelling, but I was too mad to stop. Did he even know what he was saying?
"You're dad is gay, Naruto. I didn't say it was bad, I just said he wa-"
"NO! Shut up!"
The door slammed open and I saw a Kakashi-shaped shadow duck into the room. He flicked the light on. He looked really mad. And he was quiet.
Finally, he whispered at us.
"Be quiet, for God's sake! Your Dad's sleeping, and you're going to wake him up. What the hell are you fighting about at..." He looked at my alarm clock on my nightstand, "Two o'clock in the morning!"
I started yelling again.
"Sasuke was saying stuff about Dad, like that he has some kind of disease and that he's gay, whatever that means! And-"
Kakashi was looking at me weird. It freaked me out. Sometimes that red eye of his is really creepy. When he talked his voice was scratchy and tired sounding.
"Naruto, can I explain a few things to you?"
He didn't wait for me to answer. He just sat down on the bed next to me and put his arm around me. I leaned on his chest 'cause I suddenly felt really really tired. I sniffed and tried to wipe a stupid tear off my face. I couldn't start crying in front of Sasuke. That would just make things worse.
Kakashi was big and warm and comfy, and I started to calm down, I think. Sometimes I forgot that he was my dad too, since I didn't call him that, but he was. He was okay at it, too, even though he wasn't my dad like Dad was.
He started talking again. I sat waiting for him to tell Sasuke to stop lying to me. But that's not what he said.
"Naruto, there's a name for when a family has two dads instead of a mom and a dad. The two dads are said to be "gay"; that's what it's called. It's not a bad thing, even though a lot of people will tell you it is. But it's most definitely not. And it doesn't matter what it's called, anyways. All that counts is that your Dad and I love you, and we love each other, alright?"
I nodded, but he still hadn't answered the other part.
"But, does Dad have a... a disease? AIDS, or whatever? Sasuke said his parents died from it an'... an' Kakashi, I don't want Dad to die..."
I couldn't stop those stupid tears that time. I think I really started crying, but I don't know because as soon as I finished talking Kakashi put another arm around me and pulled me into a hug against his chest. His voice was even scratchier now.
"You're Dad, Naruto... You're Dad is very... very sick... I won't lie to you..."
I hugged Kakashi back because, for the first time ever, I heard his voice start to sound shaky like he was crying too. I didn't hear Sasuke say anything. I half-wondered what he was thinking. Kakashi squeezed me a little tighter, almost too tight, but I didn't move. I think he really needed a hug.
"You're Dad has something called AIDS, like Sasuke said, okay? It's...it's really serious. It can make him very sick sometimes... and he might get so sick sometime that he... he'll go to sleep, Naruto... and he won't... he won't wake up..."
Kakashi's voice broke and he stopped talking for a minute. I felt more water run down my face but I ignored it now. I figured if Kakashi was allowed to then I could. He continued.
"He's got medicine, though... He's got that and he's got us. That's why we have to take care of him, Naruto, okay? We have to watch out for him and we have to watch out for each other... Maybe someday, the doctors will have something to make him better forever, but for now, he's got his HAART meds and he's got us, and that's enough, okay? So... when the time comes, when he gets very sick... we can worry about him... but for now, Naruto, we just have to keep on living, okay? He wouldn't want you to worry after him. And I know he doesn't plan on leaving us for a long, long time, Naruto. So don't worry, alright?"
"...Okay, Kakashi... I won't worry too much. But I will worry a little, alright?"
He laughed a little and he wasn't crying anymore, so I made myself stop. I squeezed his waist one more time and then let go of him and settled back in bed. He stood up and said goodnight before he walked to the doorway. Before he turned off the lights, I looked down at Sasuke, who was pretending to be asleep, and I could see a few wet marks on his cheeks. I lay back and tried to go to sleep.
--
The next morning I woke up and saw Sasuke sitting up on his pile of blankets on the floor by my bed, already awake, 'cause he's Sasuke and he's like that.
I sat up and started talking, but he stopped me.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... make you mad last night, Naruto. I was being dumb..."
"It's okay, Sasuke! Come on!"
I jumped out of bed and headed for my bedroom door at lightning speed. It was Christmas, after all.
I went into Dad and Kakashi's room and jumped up onto their bed, landing on their legs and yelling. Why weren't they up yet? It was Christmas!
"Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up... IT'S CHRISTMAS!"
I felt movement under the blankets and heard groans coming from my Dad's direction. He was always grumpy in the morning, after all.
"Naruto... Are you aware of what time it is?"
Kakashi was sitting up and holding the alarm clock in his hand.
"Uh, no..."
"It is 5 in the morning. People SLEEP at 5 in the morning."
"But... it's Christmas!"
"GET OUT!"
I scrambled out of the room and raced into the living room, flopping on the couch and staring at the glowing Christmas tree. I wanted to open my presents so much...
My Dad sure was scary when he was tired.
--
When Kakashi and Dad were FINALLY seated on the couch in the living room, it was almost 6. I couldn't believe we'd had to wait so long!
Dad was sitting with a mug of coffee and looked really tired and had more circles under his eyes. Kakashi had his arm around him and looked a little bit less tired. He nodded at us and said "Go ahead, then..."
I jumped up and dove on a present, a medium sized box that turned out to hold MORE ninja action figures! I said a quick thank you to Kakashi for them and then unwrapped another.
Sasuke was sitting there like he didn't know what to do. I handed him a present with his name on it. He took it, but didn't rip off the paper.
"Open it, Sasuke!"
"What?"
"That one's for you, open it!"
He did. And for the first time ever, EVER, I saw a grin on Sasuke's face as he held his new ninja action figures.
--
Pretty soon we were down to the last present.
Kakashi was wearing he new dark blue striped scarf and a sweater that matched it when he went to go pick up the gigantic box and hand it to Dad before sitting up on the couch arm to watch. Dad looked like he was scared to know what Kakashi had put in the gigantic box.
Me and Sasuke were still sitting on the floor watching as Dad started to carefully unwrap the box. I wondered what was in it, and I also wondered where the ring Kakashi had gotten was. Definitely not in the giant box.
Dad finished unwrapping and found a cardboard box under the paper. He opened it and took out... another wrapped box.
Oh! It suddenly came to me where the ring was.
That was such a Kakashi thing to do. I smiled.
Dad held the tiny, wrapped box in his hand and when I looked at Kakashi, he looked like he was going to fall of the couch, he was shaking so much. His face was red. I grinned.
Dad started to unwrap the box, and just like that Kakashi promptly lost his balance and fell with a thump. I laughed out loud.
Dad went to help him up and Kakashi took his hand. His face was redder than the ornaments on the tree. I rolled around on the floor giggling.
Finally, Dad got around to pulling all the paper off the box. He held the black fuzzy box for a minute, a weird look on his face. Kakashi was staring right at him, this time sitting on the couch instead of the arm.
My Dad opened the box.
He grinned when he looked inside. His face turned red like Kakashi's.
"Merry Christmas, 'Ruka," Kakashi said quietly.
Dad pulled the ring out of the box and slipped it onto his finger, looking at it with the happiest grin I'd ever seen on his face. He turned to Kakashi and put his arms around him and hugged him tight for a minute. I heard him say "I love you," to him, and I heard Kakashi say it back. After they let go of each other, Dad called me over to him and I went, hugging him tight too.
"I love you Dad."
"'Love you, too, Naruto." He let go of me, smiling, and called Sasuke. "You too, Sasuke."
I was surprised how tight Sasuke hugged Dad, and how big a smile he had on his face afterwards. I'd never seen him smile like that before today.
It was right then, there by the shining Christmas tree, with my Dad and Kakashi and Sasuke and all of us smiling that I decided that not only was Christmas the best holiday ever, but that I had the best family I could ever ask for.
And so I sat down and pulled out my new ninja figures and started playing. Sasuke joined me, and now we didn't have to fight over the black-hooded ninja anymore. We both had one.
I couldn't have been happier.
--
THE END