For My Son
A/N: This fic is my submission to the Kakashiweek2018, "Birthday" prompt.
I do not own these characters; I had a wonderful time exploring them.
Sakumo shut the bathroom door behind him and locked himself in. Despite the sturdy wood of his makeshift barrier, the chaos and screams that lay beyond it continued to filter through. He closed his eyes and drew a shaky breath, grateful that the noise had at least been muffled. He approached the mirror hanging above the bathroom sink and addressed his reflection.
"Why did I say I would do this? I don't know if I can do this."
Sighing, he tugged on the edge of the mirror to access the shelves of medicine hidden behind it. He selected a bottle of aspirin and shook out two tablets. Closing the medicine cabinet door again, he took another glance at his pale, sweaty face and turned the tap for cold water.
He swallowed the tablets, and after splashing some water on his face for good measure, he readdressed his reflection.
"You are the White Fang. Think of your son. You can do this."
"Sakumo! Sakumo, are you in here?"
Sakumo was never so happy to hear the voice of his friend Dai as it rose above the din in his home. When he entered the kitchen again, he found Maito waiting there for him. "Dai! I'm so glad you could make it. Is Gai with the others? Maybe he can convince them to gather outside, instead."
"I'm sure he'll try," Dai chuckled at the White Fang's bristling mane. "Where should I leave our present for Kakashi?"
"That's so thoughtful of you Dai, thank you. They're stacked in the living room, for now."
As Dai exited the kitchen from one doorway, there came a knock at another. "Come in!" Sakumo shouted, mentally adding to the headcount within the Hatake residence. The arrival of the Maito family should have completed the number of expected guests, and he immediately worried that he hadn't prepared enough food for everyone.
"Hey Sakumo," Jiraiya greeted his friend as he warily entered the Hatake home. "We were returning from a mission and could hear the noise from this place a mile away-is everything alright?" Sakumo looked up in time to see the other two sannin enter through the back door into his kitchen.
"It's Kakashi's birthday, and since it fell on a Saturday, I thought I'd have a party for him."
"Good luck!" The Slug Princess cackled as she turned on her heel to exit again, but she stopped at the panicked voice of Dai as he came charging back into the kitchen.
"Sakumo! The kids found your shuriken stash. I yelled when I saw them, and they dropped the weapons and scattered. It looks like at least one of them is bleeding, though. Where do you keep your band-aids?"
Before Sakumo could muster an answer, Tsunade sighed. "I'm on it."
Relieved that unexpected backup had arrived, Sakumo turned his attention to the remaining, and most distressing matter at hand.
"What is that?" Orochimaru asked from over the White Fang's shoulder.
"It's the cake," the Birthday Boy's father lamented. "Kakashi wanted a blood red hound holding a kunai in its mouth. But-"
"It looks like a pink bunny wearing a bow tie."
"Yes I know, thank you Orochimaru," Sakumo deflated. "The food coloring didn't dye the frosting like I thought it would, and I guess I'm better at throwing kunai than I am at icing them."
Dai clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder. "That bakery in the Uchiha district always has cakes available on Saturdays, and they'll personalize it on the spot. I can pick one up and be back here in no time."
"Do you mean 'Muffins by Mangekyous'? Thanks, Dai, you're a lifesaver. A half-sheet marble would be perfect. If they could write 'Happy Birthday Kakashi' and add some dogs and shuriken or whatever, that would be great."
With a blinding smile and a reassuring thumbs-up, Maito Sr. accepted his mission and snuck out the back door.
"Dad? Hey Dad!" At the sound of Kakashi's voice, all three of the elite shinobi angled themselves around Sakumo's too-cute cake, blocking the youth's view of it. "Oh, hi Uncle Jiraiya, Orochimaru-sensei."
"Happy birthday kid!" Jiraiya's voice boomed.
"Thank you," the men assumed Kakashi was smiling behind the mask he wore. "Dad, where did you hide the sake?"
"WHAT?" Sakumo was never prepared when his son asked awkward questions in front of his comrades.
"I'm looking for Aunt Tsunade; I need her help."
As if the word 'sake' had conjured her, Tsunade suddenly appeared in the hallway behind Kakashi. "Do you need me right now, or can I wait to hear his answer?"
"We were practicing tree walking, but Asuma fell and broke his arm."
Tsunade turned on her heel to go back the way she came. "I'm on it."
Sakumo turned to the Toad Sage beside him. "Jiraiya, do you think you could handle leading the kids in some party games while I put lunch together? There are too many injuries when they're unsupervised."
"Anything for you, friend." Jiraiya bent down to address the Birthday Boy, "would you kids prefer to play spin-the-bottle or seven minutes in heaven?"
"Right. You can help me with lunch, instead." Sakumo cut in. "Orochimaru, you're up. There's a bag of balloons in the living room, by the presents. Do you think you could manage to make some animals out them for the kids?"
Orochimaru stared at the White Fang, incredulous. Eventually, he realized the man wasn't joking and allowed himself to be led outside by Kakashi.
The White Fang lifted the pink bunny cake and hid it inside the refrigerator before gathering the items he needed to assemble lunch for the party guests.
"Ok, you remember where the knives are, right Jiraiya? Grab a couple so we can put some different kinds of sandwiches together. Some of these kids have food allergies, and of course, their parents would wait until they were dropped off to tell me about them."
"What kind of allergies?" The Toad Sage was starting to learn that parenting was more dangerous than most of the missions he'd been on.
"Well, at least one kid has a peanut allergy, and there's a couple that has to have 'gluten free' lunches. Actually, I'm not quite sure what I should do for them."
"We could just roll up some cheese inside the lunch meat and stick it with a toothpick. Kids love eating anything on a toothpick." Jiraiya laughed but checked himself when he saw the lingering distress on his friend's face. "Sakumo, what's wrong?"
"I just can't help but think that if Kakashi's mother were here, this party wouldn't be such a mess. The cake would be perfect; kids wouldn't be bleeding and breaking their arms…"
"Hey- hey hey now, slow down." Jiraiya turned towards Sakumo and placed one big hand on each of his friend's shoulders. "You're projecting too much perfection for any one person to accomplish. Even her, Sakumo. And you know what? You're doing great. Really, really, great. Kakashi is an amazing kid. You know everyone calls him a prodigy, right? He's healthy, he's strong, and he thinks the world of you."
"Jiraiya's right, you know." Tsunade strolled in and placed a hand on Sakumo's back. "Your son is going to grow up to be an amazing shinobi. Odds are, even stronger than you. You tackle parenthood by yourself every day, and you handle it better than I ever could." Tsunade laughed under her breath. "What can I do to help with lunch? And I'll stick around for when the kids start choking on toothpicks," she winked.
"Is Orochimaru alright by himself out there?" Sakumo asked before gratefully delegating tasks to his friends.
"He's fine," Tsunade laughed. "You know, he really can't stand the squeaking noise that balloons make. So, he's just filling them with air and telling the kids that they're snakes." Sakumo and Jiraiya joined her in laughing when she added," and the kids are having a ball with it."
Dai returned through the back door just as the last serving tray of lunch had been taken outside. "I think they did a great job on the cake, come here and take a look at it." He set a box down on the counter Sakumo had just finished wiping off and lifted the lid.
The White Fang smiled at the words "Happy Birthday Kakashi" written in his son's favorite shade of blue. He was thrilled to see that red dogs and black kunai also decorated the cake. "This is perfect, Dai. Thank you so much."
Only five kids had choked on toothpicks, and Tsunade had been on hand to avert any crisis. Only two of the presents were identical, and both had been wrapped with receipts. Orochimaru and Jiraiya had taken over kitchen duty when it was time for Kakashi to open his gifts, and Dai took the photos so Sakumo could enjoy watching his son. When it came time for the cake, the White Fang's heart was filled at the sound of so many voices singing in honor of Kakashi's Birthday.
Several hours later, the two remaining members of the Hatake clan had their home to themselves again. Sakumo was considering taking a nap when Kakashi asked "may I have another piece of cake, Dad? I'll bring one for you too if you want."
"Well, it is your birthday, so, yes you may. I think I will have one, too," he smiled at his son.
Kakashi returned with two pieces of the pink bunny monstrosity that the White Fang had completely forgotten about. "Kakashi, I'm sorry I messed up your cake. I hope you didn't mind the other one at your party."
His son tugged down the mask that hid the smile Sakumo hoped had been there all day. "Are you kidding? This is great Dad! It's just what I asked for, and you made it for me." The considerate little genius shoved a forkful into his mouth after these words.
Sakumo set his plate down and scooped his son up into his lap. Wrapping his arms around the boy, he nuzzled the little head of silver hair that was so like his own. "Happy Birthday Kakashi, I love you."
The End