"Chouji's having a big sleepover party this weekend! Can I go?!" Naruto bounced happily into the living room as soon as he heard Minato enter the house. Minato's lipe parted in surprise for a brief moment as he looked at Kakashi.
"He asked me on the way home from school," the copy nin said, shrugging and taking a sip from the ever-present mug of tea in his hands. "I told him he would have to talk to you. The entire class was gossiping about it though, so I'm sure it's real."
"Of course it's real, Kakashi-baka!" Naruto sighed, exasperated.
"Don't call Kakashi an idiot, Naruto," Minato admonished. "But yes, I suppose you can go. I'll come up with something to give the Akimichis."
"Thanks, Dad! We're all gonna walk to their compound after school on Friday!" Naruto jumped excitedly and hugged his father tightly before dashing back up to his room to presumably get his homework.
Kakashi finished his tea and rinsed the mug out before turning back to Minato, who had removed his Hokage robes and made his way to the stool by the counter.
"So, are you going to make any plans for a Naruto-free weekend?" He asked, a little hesitantly.
"Hmm," Minato pretended to contemplate his answer. "I had considered a raging party with booze and strippers, but I think that may impact my image as a respectable Hokage."
Kakashi chuckled a little at that, leaning his elbows on the counter slightly so that his hands hung loosely between his chest and the countertop.
"Were you respectable to begin with?" He teased warmly, eye sparkling.
"I do believe that's up for debate," Minato murmured, bright blue eyes entranced by that one inky black orb.
Without either one realizing it, their faces were merely inches apart. Minato's eyes flickered, breaking their bubble ever so slightly, to glance at Kakashi's unmasked lips, unsure when the mask came down. But, it was long enough for him to remember where they were and who they both were. This was he student, albeit an ex-student now ANBU captain, but still, he'd watched the kid grow up. And Minato himself was old, not tragically so, but he had a 5 year old son and an entire village watching every move he made.
Minato stood hastily from the stool and moved further into the kitchen, under the pretense of searching out something to eat.
"What about you, Kakashi? Any friends you want to hang out with, rather than an old man and his kid?" Minato didn't dare glance back to see the look on Kakashi's face or let Kakashi see the grimace of pain on his own face as he realized Kakashi probably had better people to spend his free time with.
"You're not old, Sensei," Kakashi muttered, feeling as though he had been rejected by an unasked question. His face, if Minato had turned around, would have seemed almost desolate, before the mask was quickly yanked back up over his nose. "As to friends, not really. I'm sure they'll all have their own plans."
Not entirely a lie, not that he was the type of person to ask his acquaintances to hang out anyway… Besides, he'd already promised Tenzo they would train together on Saturday and Gai had a tendency to show up and occupy large spans of time as well. What Kakashi really wanted though, was a nice Naruto-free (interruption-free) evening to eat a romantic dinner with his best friend, then perhaps fall asleep watching a movie together.
"And anyway," Kakashi continued, as Minato finally turned back to look at him. "I wanted to make some different sushi combinations, which do not include solely shrimp, cucumber, and white rice."
Minato chuckled at that, taking rice noodles out of the cabinet that they could have for dinner that night.
"Well, if you don't feel like cooking and you really don't have any plans, perhaps we could go out for sushi? There's that new restaurant by the civilian market that I've been wanting to try," Minato hesitated slightly; he wanted to make sure Kakashi wasn't uncomfortable about this. The last time they'd eaten dinner at a restaurant alone together had been before the Kyuubi attack. "My treat, part of a long overdue thank you for all the help you've given me and Naruto."
"That would be nice," Kakashi murmured, staring lost in thought at the pot of water he'd just set on the stove to boil. But, Minato didn't catch his response as Naruto flung himself into the kitchen.
"Hey, hey! Who knows why shuriken can't be your only weapon?" He asked, waving his homework in the air before jumping up to the counter, his confusion clearly written in his wrinkled eyebrows.
"I'm sure Iruka-sensei explained this in his lecture, Naruto-kun," Minato chuckled. "Why do you think just having shuriken isn't enough?"
"I don't know! Because you'd need lots and lots of them to kill someone?" He grumbled, upset that he wasn't just going to get the clear-cut answer.
"Well, why do you need lots of shuriken to kill someone, but only one kunai could do it?" Kakashi asked him, pouring a mixture of spices into the pot of water.
Naruto frowned at his paper, rereading the question and thinking, trying to decipher if the answer was hidden in between the lines.
"Well, shuriken are lighter than kunai, so they can't go as deep, right?" He wondered, glancing up at his father.
"That's one reason," Minato nodded, taking out a cutting board and some vegetables to put into the soup Kakashi was working on.
"Oh! Iruka-sensei said something about how shuriken are used to disable your attacker or get them away from their weapons, but kunai are used to attack. So, I guess you can't only have shuriken because then you wouldn't ever be able to kill any enemies?" Naruto concluded, glancing up at his helpers.
"Hmm, maybe. What do you think, Kashi?" Minato asked.
"I suppose that does make sense. If you were out on a mission, you would need more than merely something to distract enemy ninja," he responded carefully. He didn't need to confuse Naruto any more by saying that some nin can kill with shuriken or that adding chakra nature manipulation can actually make shuriken the most convenient, deadliest weapon in your arsenal... The kid had years to learn those things.
"Alright!" Naruto scribbled his answer down on his paper. "I'm done with my homework! Can I pack for Chouji's sleepover?"
"Put everything in a pile on your bed, I'll come in to check and put it in your bag when you're done," Minato said, planting a kiss on his son's forehead so as not to dirty his hands while handling their food.
"So, a sushi dinner, then maybe some shogi tomorrow night?" Kakashi asked, wanting to confirm their plans.
"Sure, that sounds good," Minato grinned, excited at the prospect of spending an entire night alone with his best friend. "I'll stop by the market a get a decent bottle of sake we can share, too."
"Really?" Kakashi nearly dropped the spoon into the pot of soup.
"Sure, you can't play a good game of shogi without sake," he replied, a bit confused as to why Kakashi seemed so shocked he'd offered to get alcohol involved.
"We used to make do just fine without it."
"Ah, but you always won. We just have to get you drunk, then I'll have a fighting chance!"
"I'm not getting drunk so you can have your way with me, Sensei," Kakashi pouted outwardly, but on the inside his stomach was filled with butterflies, that sounded like far too much fun.
Minato was spared the necessity of a response as Naruto appeared back in the kitchen.
"Time for dinner?!" He asked excitedly, grabbed the three bowls Minato had set on the counter and bringing them out to the table.
"Yup," Kakashi said. "Let's eat!"
Minato couldn't help but notice the way the steam from the soup had tinged Kakashi's cheeks a bright pink. Ugh, their plans for tomorrow night might actually have been a terrible idea.
