Asuma wiped the sweat from his brow and stood back looking up at the shelf. He had one more bow to take down and then the room would be cleared and Kurenai could starts painting to make this into the baby's room. He reached up and grabbed onto the handle of the box, lowering it down in a cloud of dust that surrounded him. He looked at the green box and slowly lifted the lid, smiling when the contents were revealed. It was a box of pictures, the one resting ontop being of himself, Kurenai, Gai and kakashi when they were maybe 17 years old. He smiled and laughed a bit as he set the picture back inside of the box and picked it up.
Kurenai stood at the sink, fingers working quickly as she cleaned the dishes. Asuma set the large box on the table; catching kurenai's attention and making her turn around. "What is that, and why did you just set it on my nice clean kitchen table?" her voice was teasing and amused making asuma smile as he lifted the green lid. "Look at this" he held out the picture of the four of them together and kurenai's smile widened. She took it, running her finger across the faces as she smiled and remember all the good times they had when they were younger. "You know who we should show these to?" Kurenai smiled and turned to face asuma whose eyes glittered with mischief. "The kids?" asuma nodded and kissed Kurenai on the cheek as he headed for the door. "you tell kakashi, I'll go find Gai…tell them to meet us with their students at the academy" Kurenai laughed and watched asuma go before carefully placing the photo back into the box and turning to grab her shoes. This would be fun.
Kakashi stood with his arms crossed at the gates of the academy. His eyes scanned the road for sakura and naruto, and saw them coming soon after. He smiled beneath the mask and straightened up to watch them. Naruto was smiling as he listened to sakura talk, only speaking when he yelled and waved to kakashi. "Come on…you're the last one here!" the three went into the academy to find the others already seated and their senseis at the head of the class room. Naruto joined shikamaru and choji while sakura seated herself beside ino.
Everyone was quiet waiting to be told why they were here. "This…this is a box of pictures." Asuma tapped the dusty green box as he spoke, and smiled as kakashi took over. "Pictures of us four when we were younger…is that something you're interested in seeing?" that pulled a response from the 11 teenagers and kurenia laughed as she motioned for them to all come to the front of the room. Once they were all seated in a circle Kurenai opened the lid on the box and pulled out the first picture, turning it to herself before the others. She laughed and covered her mouth before turning it for the kids to see.
Kakashi was embarrassed right away. The picture was of him when he was 17, in only his mask and a pair of blue swimming trunks. He was laid out in the sand letting Asuma write Loser on his chest in sunscreen. The kids all laughed and kakashi rubbed his eyes with amusement "why don't we tell them the stories behind them, huh kakashi?" Asuma smiled and kakashi nodded as he laughed a bit. "ok ok…we'd went to the beach and me and Asuma had this…bet." Asuma laughed and had to cover his mouth as kakashi explained. "and well…the bet was who could get…Kurenai to kiss them first…clearly I lost" the kids broke out into giggles and kakashi sighed. "so he wrote loser on my chest in sunscreen and it burned there. So much fun" Kurenai patted kakashi's shoulder and kiba spoke up. "lets see the next one!"
Kurenai complied and pulled the next random picture from the box this time smiling sweetly and turning it around. The picture was of Gai, Kakashi and Asuma. They were standing smiling, patting Asuma on the back and laughing. Asuma spoke as he looked at the picture fondly. "that's the day I was promoted jounin" he held the picture and nodded a bit with a smile before setting it down while Kurenai picked the next one. She held it out and laughter ensued as her cheeks turned a bit red. It was of her when she was maybe 7 in a tutu waving a wand at Asuma who sat in the dirt rolling around laughing. "It was my birthday…I could do whatever I wanted, ok?"
She laughed and dropped the picture while she went for the next. "Oh this is a good one" she turned it and Gai smiled. It was he and kakashi when they were 12 or 13, tripping forward towards a ribbon that said 'finish' across it. Gai was just a bit ahead, and kakashi was left laughing. "This was one of the first contests I ever won against him" he smiled and took the picture to hold onto it as Kurenai picked another. She smiled a bit and turned the picture around, making sure everyone could see it.
Two teens stood, both facing away from one another while a blonde man laughed in the background watching them. Kakashi's eyes lit up and he smiled at seeing him and obito from so long ago. Naruto laughed and eyed the picture as he glanced towards kakashi "is that my father in the background" kakashi nodded and took the picture, placing it in Naruto's hand. "They're more of him in there somewhere" naruto nodded just as Asuma and Kurenai laughed and showed the next photo.
It was one of Gai and Asuma, the green spandex clad boy hugging the annoyed looking Asuma and smiling at the camera, kakashi and Yamato were off to the side both boys with their arms crossed and laughing. "I don't know exactly what this one is from…but Gai hugged me often just to annoy me" the kids laughed and Gai patted Asuma's shoulder with a smile. "oh Naruto this one is perfect!"
She held out the photo to the blond teen who took it happily. His father stood with a very young kakashi smiling at the camera with amusement as the small boy struggled to get out of minato's grasp. Kakashi chuckled and explained. "I had just gotten chunin and minato just had to have a picture of me. He told me that someday I would appreciate it" naruto laughed and held onto the picture waiting for Kurenai to get another.
The red eyed woman smiled fondly at the next one, her eyes darting to Shikamaru as she turned it around. It was a picture of a teenaged Asuma holding onto a baby boy wrapped in a blanket smiling brightly. "That's you Shika…Asuma was the first one other than your parents to hold you" asuma laughed and shikamaru took the picture to study it. He couldn't help the smile that crossed his face. "Do you have any baby pictures of you four?" Asuma nodded to Ino and took the box to dig through a bit.
He smiled after a few minutes and laid out four pictures on the ground for everyone to see.
Asuma was laid out on a blanket, his dark hair and eyes bright as Hiruzen lay beside him with his hand on his son's chest. The group 'awww'ed' and looked to the next picture of Kurenai. She had a small bow in her dark hair that was the same red as her eye. She wore a pink dress and was sitting up clapping her hands. Beside that was the picture of Gai, dressed in, of course, green pajamas. His black hair was short and he had a small turtle trinket clasped in his fingers. Last was the photo of a baby kakashi. He was in the arms of a young man, with a white pony tail and two small streaks of red beneath his eyes. He was smiling holding onto the crazy haired baby whose black eyes shined in the light of the day. "Who is that with you Kakashi Sensei?" kakashi laughed and turned towards Sakura. "Jiraiya sensei…looks much younger there doesn't he?" sakura nodded and Kurenai picked out the next photo.
She turned it around before really looking at it and the group was quiet staring at the touching photo. Kakashi stood by his father, both arms wrapped around the man's waist, and his face buried in his side. Kakashi's hand slowly reached out and grabbed the photo. He remembered it like it was yesterday. "Minato took this…I didn't know he had until after but…he took this right before" He stopped and just stared at the fading image. His father's hands were on his back, his lips whispering to an 8 year old kakashi that everything was going to be alright.
Kakashi didn't realize until the wetness dropped onto his hand that he had let a tear escape. He quickly wiped it away on the back of his hand and cleared his throat. "You know I just remembered, I was supposed to meet Aoba" he stood, dusted off his pants and tucked the photo in his vest pocket. He forced an eye crinkle smile and was gone, just like that.
All eyes were on Asuma Gai and Kurenai after that. Each student wanted to know exactly what just happened. Naruto was the first to voice it. "What just happened? Who was that in the picture with him?" Asuma bowed his head and Kurenai looked away, leaving Gai as the only one to give an answer. "The man in the picture was Sakumo…kakashi's father. That picture was taken just days before…before Sakumo took his own life." The room was left in a drawn out silence. No one knew what to say. Finally hinata looked up, her silver eyes ringed with red. "Is he going to be ok?" asuma put the lid back on the green box and pushed himself up to his feet. A long moment passed before Asuma finally gave a small saddened smile and a shrug. "I don't know…I don't know if he was ever alright"
With that he waved a dismissive hand and turned his back on the group of teenagers. "You're all dismissed" slowly, one-by-one they stood and exited the room, naruto lingered a bit longer. "Kurenai Sensei?" she turned to the blond boy and gave a small nod. "Do you…do you know where kakashi Sensei might have gone?" the woman shrugged and gave naruto a half hearted smile before turning back to Asuma and Gai. Naruto nodded and left, leaving the three in silence.
As soon as the teen was outside he took in a deep breath and pulled the picture of kakashi and his father out of his jacket. He smiled at seeing just how much he had looked like the Great Fourth Hokage, but it quickly melted into a frown. Naruto had never met his father, and it brought him a certain degree of pain to know he was gone. Kakashi's father had been alive, he didn't have any idea what that kind of pain was like. How does one have something one day, and have to accept its gone the next?
Naruto put the picture away and sighed. The tears kakashi cried meant something, where as the tears of a child who was injured mean nothing. The pain the man felt, the pain most of the chunin and jounin felt, was true pain. And naruto couldn't understand it, and he hoped he wouldn't have to for a long time.
After another moment Naruto's feet began to move forward. The true meaning of being a shinobi was to be accepting of others and loyal to your own, to be strong but not without weakness, and to thrive with what little you received. Naruto had to smile at that, Kakashi was, and forever would be, the true definition of a Shinobi.