I haven't published in awhile...school and life get in the way. Hopefully someone finds enjoyment in this little tidbit.


Kakashi closed the door quietly behind him, soundlessly removing his shoes. His mission bag hit the floor with a quiet thud. He padded into the living room, knowing that despite the late hour, this was where he would find his wife. This was where she always waited for him when she knew his return was imminent, and tonight was no different. Eventually, if he had not come in, she would have made her way to their bed alone, and repeated the routine until he finally walked back through the door.

As sure as the sun rising, he found her just sitting up. She must have fallen asleep waiting. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she began to smile. His heart warmed at the sight of her, and despite his misgivings, his lips creased into a happy smile. Sakura was already on her feet and a muted squeal of excitement burst forth as she flew into his arms, wrapping her own around his back. "Welcome home!"

"Sakura," he said, nuzzling into her hair. She was so small in his arms. Her cherry blossom shampoo wafted into his sensitive nose, and she smelled like home. For just a moment, he could forget and be happy. "Sakumo is asleep I take it?"

Sakura released him and looked up, lifting up on her toes to give him a chaste peck on the lips through his mask. "I finally got him down two hours ago, but he fought me. He knew Daddy would be home tonight."

Hearing Sakura call him that filled his heart to bursting, a feeling he never would be used to and wondered at every time. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting."

Sakura laughed quietly and pulled him to the couch. "I'll admit, I was getting worried. I knew you were back thanks to Shizune, but your mission briefs usually don't this long. What happened?"

Crap. He tensed, and she read into his discomfort. He scratched the back of his head and looked down at their coffee table. She could see the sudden tightness in his shoulders, the way his head turned, and his eyes downcast. He was avoiding something.

"Nothing happened, with the mission. Things went quiet smoothly," he said. "It wasn't that…"


"No."

Naruto's head came up, and his bright eyes bored into Kakashi's. Kakashi willed his gaze to remain steely, steady. He told himself to restrain himself, and not lose the little bit of composure he had maintained.

"What?"

"I said, no," Kakashi drawled, putting emphasis on his last word. "I don't like it."

Naruto gritted his teeth, and Kakashi could see in his face that his former pupil, his commander, his friend, had put a lot of thought into his proposal. He could see that his simple refusal would not cut it. "Kakashi," Naruto said, "You know I wouldn't do this if I didn't have to."

"There are plenty of other mission-ready jonin." Kakashi said it matter-of-factly, refusing to allow any inflection into the argument.

"That's the problem, sensei. There aren't." Naruto was tired, clearly. He had dark circles under his eyes, and he rubbed at his temples. Kakashi could see the strain mark its territory on his face. "Our capable jonin are all out on missions, but I'm at the point where the best I can do for extremely critical missions is cobble together a team of chunin, with a single jonin available to lead. I've even had to pull some people off ANBU to run non-ANBU missions."

"She's not going to agree, and anyway she hasn't been training at her usual level. She needs time to recover from giving birth."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Sakumo is 9 months old, Kakashi. Sakura has already been doing long shifts at the hospital. Besides, you know she won't say no."

"It's not the same. She's not ready."

"I'm not talking about sending her out tomorrow!" Naruto was already getting frustrated. He'd never had the patience for argument, and he wasn't used to hearing the word 'No' anymore, even from his teacher and squad leader. "I'm not considering this lightly. She's the best out there, and anyway, you know that she's been itching to get back to active duty."

Kakashi was tired. All he wanted was to go home, shower, and sleep in his own bed next to his wife. "Missions are not generally delegated to mothers of babies, even if they are jonin. There is a reason for that. How would you feel if you were in my shoes, and you had to watch Hinata leave on a mission, leave you and Boruto?"

He regretted saying it immediately, as he saw the truth on his friend's face. The lines of worry and sleeplessness increased, and a shadow of remorse crept over his features. "She left yesterday. You should know me better, Kakashi. I would never ask something of you and Sakura, of anyone, that I was not willing to do myself."

"If you and Sasuke were with her it would be different. Three Sannin-level jonin wouldn't worry me." Kakashi heaved a sigh. "Please, don't do this."

"I wish I didn't have to. I need to talk to her tomorrow, can you have her come in? 10 AM?" Naruto steepled his fingers in front of his face, a thing he had seen his predecessor do many times, when their positions had been reversed. "I promise, she'll be safe."

Kakashi turned away from Naruto, feeling defeated. He placed his hand on the door, and before he stepped out, simply said, "No, you can't promise anything."


Kakashi sighed again and reached his hand out to Sakura. She leaned into his palm, smiling, but with worry lingering below the surface. "Naruto wants you to go back onto the active list."

Her eyes didn't leave his. "So soon? I thought I wouldn't until Sakumo had started school."

"Ma. He said there aren't enough jonin to fill the ranks. He said he has a plan figured out for managing it, but he didn't decide to grace me with what it was." Kakashi leaned back and pulled Sakura onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her. She didn't protest, but instead she burrowed deeper into his chest. "I told him you would say no. He called my bluff."

"You know I can't say to Naruto. If it were just Naruto, sure, but if he's asking as Hokage…well, if I'm needed then so be it, I guess." Sakura's voice resonated through his chest. Kakashi felt heavy, warm. He was tired from his mission, tired from worry, and defeated. All he wanted was to sleep away his worries.

"Let's go to bed, we don't have to talk about this tonight," Kakashi said, rubbing Sakura's arm. He felt her nod into his chest, and she stood, pulling him with her down their little hallway. The first door was ever so slightly ajar, allowing a thin strip of light from the hallway to bathe the edge of a crib where he knew their sleeping son was laying. He pushed the door open, slipping into the room quietly to gaze on the silver tuft of messy hair, resisting the urge to run a finger down the single streak of pink behind his son's ear.