AN: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and thank you to LaRire for betaing this. Now for a few questions to be answered:

anb1388: while the wolves are the Hatake clan's summons Kakashi's dogs are his personal summons and the second point is is that the wolves summoning contract had gotten lost so Kakashi didn't even know about them.

xxdarkxxalicexx: about pairings... I'm not really sure yet, maybe I'm gonna pair Harry/Akiyo with Hanabi.

maeday: yes your Christmas present is ready ^-^. Here you go, enjoy the chapter. Also this counts for everyone.


Chapter 9

Akiyo followed the people who brought him to their village, Konohagakure, or the Village Hidden in the Leaves. They introduced themselves as Tenten, Neji, Lee and Gai. Akiyo had been surprised when Gai had jumped so suddenly at him, rambling about him being this Kakashi person.

When he had told them his name, they seemed to be surprised at his family name. Noticing this made him feel more at ease; it seemed they were familiar with someone bearing the name of Hatake. If so, he might be a little bit closer at finding his dad.

The one named Gai knocked on the door to the office of their leader, or so they had told him. They entered as a woman's voice told them to from the other side of the door. As Akiyo followed the team of four inside, he took a look at the room and its inhabitants.

There seemed to be already someone present in front of the leader of the village. To Akiyo's surprise, the leader of this village was a woman. The woman seemed to be around her twenties, had blond hair, and some kind of jewel imbedded in her forehead. She was seated behind the desk. Next to the blond haired woman was another, who had short black hair and was holding a pig.

Though the other two were obviously important, the person who brought the most attention to himself was the silvery-white haired man standing in front of the desk. He obviously had had a conversation with the blond haired woman before they came in.

Akiyo stared at the man, observing him more closely. The man's left eye was covered up with his headband. Not much else of his facial features could be seen as his mouth and nose were covered by a worn blue mask. The man's single visible eye, though, was focused on him, staring just as intensely back.

'Those eyes, it can't be?' Kakashi thought as he stared in the deep emerald eyes of the child Gai and his team had brought with them.

Those eyes reminded him of her. How long had it been since he had last thought about her?

"Can anyone tell me who this kid is, and why he looks remarkably like a child version of Kakashi here?" the blond haired woman asked at last, making Akiyo break eye contact with the white haired man.

"Aa, we found him near the border. He told us his name is Hatake Akiyo." Tenten answered.

'Don't tell me… is he really?' Kakashi blinked at Tenten's answer.

He was speechless. Could this child really be his son? Had she really birthed a son? Before he could say anything the blond haired woman already spoke.

"Hatake? You found him near the border, you say? What was he doing there all by himself?" the blond haired woman asked.

"He wasn't exactly by himself…he had at least eight wolf summons with him." Neji stated.

"You say he can use the summoning jutsu?" the white haired man asked in surprise, before Neji could continue.

"Hai, there was no doubt. One of the wolves confirmed it." Neji said.

"That answers one of my questions, but you still haven't told us why he was there." The blond haired woman asked.

"He said he was looking for his father." Tenten answered.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU EVER TELL ME YOU HAD A GIRLFRIEND, KAKASHI?" Came the shout of Gai as he ran up to the white haired man he just called Kakashi.

'What? If even Gai sees the likeliness, then there is no doubt. He really is…..' Kakashi thought.

Right now, the elder Hatake looked like a trapped deer. Sweat was trailing down his face, and a slight blush just visible from beneath his mask. Akiyo just looked on, confused. A cough from the blond haired woman brought their attention back to her.

"I don't care if Kakashi had a secret girlfriend or not, but we do need to confirm the boy's identity. A blood test should be able to verify if the boy is really Kakashi's son. In the meantime, Kakashi, I want you to watch over the boy. That'll be your next mission." The blond haired woman said in a serious and firm voice.

"H-hai," Kakashi replied, although he still seemed a little unsure and nervous.

'A son. How am I even supposed to take care of a child?' He thought in turmoil.

"Good. Shizune I put you in charge of the blood test. Make sure that it's done quickly." The blond haired woman commanded.

"Hai." The black haired woman with the pig, called Shizune, replied. She then put the pig down and walked to the door, motioning to Kakashi to follow. Kakashi walked up to Akiyo and took the boy's hand into his own before following Shizune out of the door. Akiyo looked up with surprise, but Kakashi wasn't looking down at him. Instead his gaze was fixed in front of him.

Akiyo had a feeling that a blood test wasn't really needed. That he had already found his father, if he took in the reactions of this man before him. Though he guessed it was necessary for those who ran this village to want confirmation; they were just making sure he wasn't an enemy.

Their walk ended at what seemed to be the village's hospital. Shizune instructed to a pair of medics of what had been tasked to her, and soon he had a needle plugged into his arm, drawing some of his blood. He rubbed the spot afterwards.

"We'll try to get the results as soon as possible, but it might take a day or two." One of the medics told them after they were done getting the blood.

Kakashi just nodded without saying anything. Akiyo hopped off the bed he had been seated on and walked towards Kakashi. He reached for Kakashi's hand, but before he could put his own hand into the man's, Kakashi already had it in a gentle grip. Akiyo looked up again, but Kakashi still wasn't meeting his gaze.

The elder Hatake was still deep in thought. A son? What was he supposed to do? Not that he wasn't happy to have a son, but this was quite sudden. In a daze he let the boy to his apartment, not even noticing the onlookers.

Akiyo noticed surprised looks on the people's faces as they passed by, but it seemed Kakashi was ignoring them and continued to walk to wherever their destination was. Their walk ended as they came to an apartment complex.

Kakashi grabbed some keys out of one of his pockets and opened the door of an apartment, which was obviously his. He then let Akiyo inside and closed the door behind him. Once inside, he let go of Akiyo's hand and plopped down on the couch in the living room with a sigh.

"So – what happened between you and mom?" Akiyo asked carefully.

Kakashi looked up surprised, obviously not expecting that question.

'He could tell?' He thought, surprised, looking up at the boy…no. His son.

"I can tell from your reactions you don't need confirmation." Akiyo clarified.

Yes, he didn't need confirmation. Akiyo's eyes had told him enough. Not only his eyes, no, all of his features told him the truth of his parentage. Like he looked a lot like his own father, Akiyo was a sparkling image of him, but with the eyes of his mother. It made him sad thinking of her, but knowing he had a son brought a sudden happiness to him.

Kakashi sighed again and looked down, sadness shown in his visible eye. He then looked back up at him and Akiyo was surprised that a sudden spark shone in that single eye.

"Aa, I guess you have the right to know." Kakashi then said, motioning for him to come closer.

Akiyo obeyed and walked up to him. Kakashi pulled him on his lap and closed his eye, probably to start to recall the past.

"It all started with a mission. I was asked to take down some rogue ninja that had infiltrated the Land of Fire tasked to take down the Daimyo. I intercepted them, chasing after them as they tried to escape from the country. They came as far as the Hidden Grass village. It was there we clashed for a final time.

"I eventually won the battle, but it hadn't been an easy one and I had been hurt badly. I'm not sure exactly what happened next. I had passed out because of my injuries. Next time I woke up, it was to the face of the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Shiny red hair, ablaze like fire and eyes that looked like pure jewels, the purest of emeralds I've ever seen." Kakashi stated.

From the way Kakashi spoke of her, Akiyo could tell he had loved her greatly. He turned his attention back to the story as he continued to listen on.

"Seeing that I was awake, she told me I had been out for over a day. She then introduced herself as Ohayashi Akiha." Kakashi then said.

Akiyo looked on surprised, although he had already known from his reactions that Kakashi was his father, but hearing the name of his mother coming from Kakashi's lips confirmed it even further.

"I see you know your mother's name. What happened to her?" Kakashi asked out of curiosity.

"According to her diary, she had been sick and died when I was only one year old." Akiyo answered.

"I see, so you never knew her. Then with who did you grow up with?" Kakashi asked, a quizzical expression in his eye.

"You were telling me what happened between you and mom. Don't change the subject." Akiyo pouted.

"Alright, alright, but you better tell me afterwards." Kakashi said as he ruffled Akiyo's hair while smiling down at him.

Akiyo nodded and sat to attention again, waiting for Kakashi to continue.

"It took me some time to recover, a week or so. In that time I got to know Akiha a little bit better. After my recovery, I had to go back home to report in; however, after that, every time I had a mission close to the Hidden Grass village I went to visit her. This went on for about a year, but then one day I went to the Hidden Grass village intending to ask her to marry me." Kakashi told, then fell into silence.

"Then what happened?" Akiyo asked curiously, noticing the sadness displayed on Kakashi's face.

"She wasn't there. I asked around, but they told me she left, and they didn't know when she would be back. She hadn't gone on a mission though. I returned a few times, but every time she still wasn't there. I gave up after a year, though I still kept in check to hear news about her. It never came. This is the first time in years she was brought to the front of my mind." Kakashi answered.

The silence fell again. Kakashi seemed lost in thought once more.

"I never would have thought she became pregnant from just that one time." Kakashi said as he looked down at Akiyo. "To tell you the truth, I'm not really sure what to do."

Akiyo threw himself around Kakashi's neck, hugging him. Tears started to stream down his cheeks as he couldn't hold them down any longer. He just wanted to be held, to be loved by his father.

Kakashi was surprised by Akiyo's sudden action, but understood him without him saying anything. The boy wanted him to just be there for him. He wanted to be loved and Kakashi had a sudden suspicion that his son never had known a human's affection.

Kakashi returned the hug and stroke the child's hair to try and comfort him. He didn't know how long they sat like that, but when the crying had stopped he was surprised to see that Akiyo had fallen asleep.

'He must have been exhausted from traveling.' Kakashi thought as he smiled down at the boy.

He stood up from the couch, cradling Akiyo in his arms while making sure that he wouldn't wake up. He then walked to his bedroom and laid Akiyo down on his bed. After taking off his shoes, he pulled the covers over him.

He then went to the kitchen to get a quick bite since he hadn't eaten dinner yet. Akiyo hadn't either, for that matter, but he didn't really want to wake up his son.

After eating something, he went back to his bedroom, watched Akiyo sleep for a while, before he decided to lay out a futon next to his bed to sleep in. While the boy was obviously his son he still wasn't quite used to the idea. He was still sorting out his emotions. It was not every day you suddenly become a father. Normally fathers met their children as newborns. It was not like that they'll just walk into your life.

He wasn't quite tired enough to just go to sleep so he decided to just watch over the boy for now and try to sort out the mess inside his head. He dressed for the night and laid down on his futon.


AN: I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas present. Please give me some presents in return by giving lots of reviews ^-^