this fic will contain character death.
please enjoy.
Discalimer:i dont own Naruto
He had always been there, from the very first day of his life, to see the bright smile that melted his war torn heart, the crystal blue eyes, so familiar, yet so foreign...
He had watched over him at night, fought for his safety, and nearly died a few times. He didn't care, only if he were safe, nothing more.
But he never came close, he just watched from the shadows how the boy grew up, how he was shunned and bullied. Well, at least he hit back whenever that happened.
He fought, even if he knew deep down that he couldn't win.
A three year old against academy students, ones that were graduating.
But he still fought.
And he was always there to carry the unconscious form of a young beaten blonde child home. Sometimes,when things went too far, he would interfere.
Luckily, it never got to that. The boy, even if he wriggled free of the protection, he still kept safe, a few bruises from children didn't really count, the boy was looking for such fights, always.
They gave him attention, the attention that he seeked for so long. The parents of the children didn't let them play with him. The fights were the only alternative he found.
And he enjoyed it.
Part of him understood that it was probably the only training he would get. After all, he was the orphaned demon child, he didn't have anyone to teach him.
He never approached him. He just watched from the shadows. He watched the boy sleep. When he had nightmares, he would soothingly runhis fingers through his hair, it always calmed the boy down.
But he should have known that he would be caught.
The boy was their son after all.
Big blue eyes stared at him in a mixture of confusion and fear, silently demanding an answer.
He was still in ANBU then.
"I? I am Inu..." he had said.
After that, his visits became more frequent. So frequent that the boy called him in his own, special way.
They only talked.
Sometimes, he would take him out to ramen.
He was the first one to introduce him to it. After all, his father had adored ramen more then anything...except perhaps his mother.
After that day, he didn't return. The boy didn't need the ANBU protection any longer, and the hokage had loaded him with missions.
Kami knew how much he missed the gaki.
After a few years, he heard of the boy again. He was in the academy. He had spoken to the sensei, a young chuunin Umino Iruka. After that, his little family grew with one more person.
Kakashi saw them eating ramen together.
He wasn't one to be jealous, but the sadness that pierced like a sword into his heart proved otherwise. So he left.
But even being the captain of ANBU, he still found time to check up on the boy, usually at night.
It calmed him down, knowing that a little part of his family was still alive.
But he never talked to the boy again.
Until he graduated and became part of team 7.
He knew the boy didn't even recognize him. He had always had the dog mask on. But part of him always hoped...
His team was so much like old team 7, team Minato...
He was afraid, afraid to lose them again.
He nearly broke down when Uchiha Sasuke deflected.
But Uzumaki Naruto was alive.
Alive.
Alive.
ALIVE!
He breathed freely.
The boy left with Jiraya. He felt like a failure of a sensei then.
He took mission after mission, to avoid the thoughts of him and his team.
His team.
His family. Now, he could say that. A family.
When the boy returned, he looked so much like his father, he had a hard time controlling his emotions.
He finally became the sensei to the boy he should have been three years ago.
They bonded much stronger. He had seen a lot, lived through a war, but never in his life did he want to see his students fight. Not again.
And they fought. Till death. And he couldn't do anything about it.
The declaration of the 4th shinobi war was an eye opener for him. He knew before that, when the kid was just a small baby, not a day old that he held in his arms, he knew he would protect him at any cost, but he dunerstood the deepness of the statement during the announcement.
He would willingly give his life if it meant to save him, to protect him.
And die he did. In the arms of his student, the one he came to view as a brother, family, a son...
He was crying. For him, telling, no yelling at him not to die...
And he was smiling. A genuine smile spread across his masked lips. He never did show his three students what was under the mask. The days when they were still team 7, team Kakashi were the best.
The pink haired woman of 16 years old was crying, desperatly trying to heal his fatal wound. The stoic Uchiha...they convinced him in the end. He was just staring into space. No one knew what was exactly crossing his mind.
And the blonde. He was just watching, horror struck how the color drained from the face of his sensei, silent tears going down his whiskered cheeks.
The last thing he heard before being engulfed by darkness was 'Kakashi sensei, you are my father figure, you can't leave me now, you were always there, Inu nii chan, onegai, dont leave me now...we need you, i need you!'
He had smiled. So he always knew...
He died with his heart, soul and mind in peace. Now, he could rejoin Obito, Rin, Minato sensei and his father.
"Sensei?"
"Hmmm?"
"What are you looking at?"
"This is the memorial stone, the names you see here are the heros of Konoha, the ones who died in battle, and the name..."
"Hatake Kakashi?"
"He died during the 4th great shinobi war near the Kannabi bridge."
A round palm of a three year old child touched the name.
"Otou-chan, i will make you proud! I promise that"
"Come on Obito, lets go, or else your mother will be after my blood."
The taller figure hosted the child up on his neck. The boy was hanging on the long blonde locks for support, smiling the innocent smile only a child his age can have.
"But you are the hokage!" pouted the boy.
The man laughed.
"Come Obito-kun, lets get some ramen!"
"Hai!"
The figures of a blonde haired man with a silver haired child on his back was seen leaving training ground 7.
Their laughter and childish bickering echoed though the wind
Arigatou, Inu- nii san, for everything...
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