After Obito had been gone, Kakashi turned to check the time. It was around eight in the evening. Closing the window carefully, he walked to a drawer at his desk, pulled out some scrolls and tried to study, but he could barely understand a thing. Convincing himself he was just too tired, he abandoned the scrolls and lied on his bed, staring at the ceiling. The truth was he wasn't tired at all, his thoughts just wandered elsewhere.
Even though he had been treating this entire situation as 'normal', just today he did start thinking of the actual abnormality in their lives. He just realized how, unconsciously, he and Rin slowly departed from their other comrades and older acquaintances. Their world revolved around work, training and team, as in Obito, Rin and Kakashi, no one else. When had they last gone out with the others? Sure, he had never been the especially talkative and friendly one, but not even the amiable Rin…? Did they even see their sensei for anything more than getting missions in the last… six months? How was little Naruto doing? Who was taking care of him now? And how was Kushina's Genin team going? Actually, were they still Genin? Who even were these children, actually?
The next day, when he met Rin, he was about to discuss with her about all these things, but his teammate seemed with her head in the clouds. She wasn't attentive. She made him repeat a lot of things, and then said she still didn't understand what he was trying to say. So, after that attempt of starting the conversation from further, he said simply, "I think we should visit Minato and Kushina. We haven't seen them or Naruto in a long while."
He'd talk about the 'comrades' part some other time. Something wasn't right about Rin today. But he didn't try to find out what was going on with her any further. Understanding girls was not his strongest point.
Rin agreed, but kept on looking around, like expecting for something or someone to pop up from a moment to another. Kakashi gave it a moment of thinking, before questioning, "Are you looking after Obito?"
She became steady and turned to him with a suspicious look, as if she expected him to know something rather important. However, Kakashi was not looking at her, but forth. If he had seen it in her, he may have guessed anything, but he didn't. He just added, thinking from his own point of view, "There's little chance he'd risk coming to the Hokage's house. But we can see him another time. Maybe later. He always knows when it is the proper moment to appear, somehow. I must say, his way of being since the 'death' is completely different, even though he's the same…," he was speaking up. Lately, Kakashi took up this habit of speaking his thoughts loud and truly around Rin and Obito, something rather intriguing when you compare it to the old Kakashi, who'd had never even shared with them at least the basic things, like 'I'm cold', 'I'm tired', 'I'm hurt'. But not even this was longer something of a wonder for Rin or Obito. They totally got used to it.
They got to the Hokage's house and knocked at the door, feeling awkward, appearing at their door after not being in contact for such a long while. As it was just a little past noon, surely the Hokage was not yet home, but Kushina might have been.
The door opened and Kushina appeared in front of them, looking like being all in a hurry. "Oh," she exclaimed, surely surprised by the view, "it's you, guys. How are you doing?" she invited them in, and then started picking things she needed from here and there. She seemed to be late for something.
"We're sorry for coming by in such a moment, Kushina. We only meant to see how you're doing, but it seems to me you probably have to be somewhere," Rin excused the two of them, realizing it was not the best of moments for them to be there.
"Oh, I'm sure I won't be able to go anywhere, dattebayo!" she said with distress. "You see, I was supposed to meet my team, but someone just came by to say the babysitter can't be here. So I'd have to take Naruto with me… But Naruto is so…," and then, as if following Kushina's idea, Naruto started to cry, mumbling something about wanting his 'unai.
"Is he asking for a kunai?" Kakashi asked, perplexed.
"You see, Minato made the mistake to present him the wonderful thing called 'kunai' a few days ago," Kushina explained, rolling her eyes, "And now he keeps asking for it." She sighed, leaving everything she was carrying down to go and pick up Naruto from his baby kitchen chair.
"Kushina," Rin felt pity for the woman, "we can stay with Naruto for a while if you want to," she said with a little smile. Kakashi turned with a worried look to her. He remembered well how bad the last time they took care of the little boy had been. As for him, he had run from there with the first occasion… But Kushina seemed to really need the help. And there had passed some time. Maybe now that he grew up some, it wouldn't be that bad, he tried to convince himself, seeing Rin glaring at him.
"Yes, Kushina, we can totally make this for you," Kakashi agreed in the end.
"Oh," Kushina smiled widely, "that would be so wonderful, guys. I'm so tired anyways of hearing Fugaku about how his son's sensei keeps being late," she finished with annoyance.
"Fugaku's son? Is that Itachi in your team?"
"I have three Uchihas, yes," Kushina laughed, bringing Naruto and letting him in Rin's arms. "Itachi, Shisui and Ayume."
"Strange for them to put only Uchihas in a team, huh?" Kakashi asked, curious.
"I know. I can only say things are getting strange lately," she raised her arms, picking her things back up and kissing Naruto goodbye. "I won't last long, I promise," and he was out the door.
The very next moment, just realizing what they got themselves into, Kakashi shot Rin a look.
"Well, weren't you saying that we haven't seen Naruto in a long while."
"Yeah, but… it would have better wiser to see him with Kushina and Minato both here!" Kakashi replied.
"Well, basically, he's both Kushina and Minato. We have all we need in here," Rin patted the little child gently on the back.
"Excuse me. I meant, Kushina and Minato both here, taking care of him for us!" he pointed at Naruto.
"Oh, come on, how bad can it be?" Rin said.
"In times of doubts, we can run through Minato sensei's seals for help. He must have something for holding down beasts. And I'm sure Rin has some sleeping powder in her supplies," a voice came from the kitchen.
Rin (holding Naruto) and Kakashi got there and found Obito sitting relaxed on a chair.
"When did you get here?" Rin asked him with a smile.
"Just now," he replied, taking off his mask, revealing a same genuine smile.
"Obito!" Kakashi exclaimed, "We're so happy to see you. Now, here, take care of this child!" he took Naruto from Rin's arms and handed him to Obito, who was too struck at first to act anyhow and just held the child, looking at him like at some curious creature he could not understand.
Naruto, too, looked with curiosity for some moments, before squealing, " 'ito!"
"Congratulations, here comes your official nickname, Ito," Kakashi laughed. Obito shout him a look and the baby boy, observing the second young man, squealed once more, "Kashi!"
"No, no, no," Obito protested, "It's Bakakashi. His name is Bakakashi!" The young child listened really carefully to Obito's correction, looking really sure that he was totally mistaken until then and that he was ready to learn the real name, so he actually tried repeating, "Aka…," but he couldn't really remember it. So Obito repeated one more time, "No, it goes like this: Baka…"
"Baka…," the child repeated.
"And Kashi."
But Naruto seemed to find there being too much of an effort to say the whole name. He guessed there couldn't be much of a difference whether he used the entire name or not.
"Baka," he said happily.
"What? No!" Kakashi protested. "No, no, no! It was Kashi. Kashi!"
But the boy stuck to the fact that the previous name must had been wrong, so he kept it his own, "Baka!" he shouted at Kakashi.
"No, it's…," and then he turned to Obito, "This is only your fault!"
"What? No. He could have chosen Kashi, but, no, it was the child's choice," he raised his arms in defense, laughing, taking them off of Naruto.
The boy, seeing that as the best opportunity, took the lovely colored mask on the table and ran away.
"Kami, he runs now," Kakashi said, too surprised, just like the others, to act in the very first place, as the young boy ran around the corner. "Does a kid run like that at two?"
"Run? I swear he flew from here and to the door," Obito said in the same manner.
"Err," Rin was the first to get back to reality, "We're losing the Hokage's child!" and she ran after the boy, with the other two soon following her.
"He's gone," Rin was saying as soon as they reached her, looking around. "Where has he gone?"
"Well, we must split. Surely he didn't go out the house. Rin, take this floor. Obito, the attic. I'll take the second floor. We're all here in fifteen minutes, ok?" The other two nodded.
They parted, each searching in their area. Back, fifteen minutes later, they all had their hands empty.
"No trace of him?"
"No."
"But where could he be?"
Just then, the sound of the child travelled to them, "O'ange mak. O'ange mak. Na-u-to 'ikes o'ange!" They all turned their heads towards the source of the sound. It came through the window.
"Surely he didn't go out the house," Obito repeated Kakashi's words ironically.
"You mean you would have expected to find him up in a tree?" Kakashi shouted back at him, looking out the window.
"Wow, he knows the colors at such a young age!" Rin was genuinely impressed, walking the tree up to take the boy.
"Err, you need to sort out our priorities," Kakashi told her. Thankfully, the boy did not run anymore, but the three adolescents were already tired anyways.
"Baka!" Naruto squealed in Kakashi's direction, as he and Rin were preparing to leave.
"Naruto, that's not nice! Where did you even learn that word?" Kushina scolded him. Naruto looked around, not understanding what he'd done wrong.
"O'ange mak ees 'ito!" the little boy spoke then cheerfully, catching his little feet in his petite, fat hands. Rin whitened. Kakashi remained cool, but, for one second only, his eyes glimmered in shock.
"What did you say, Naruto-kun?" Kushina bowed down to her lovely boy, looking at him with expectancy.
Orange mask is Obito! He said 'Orange mask is Obito'! a voice was shouting with awareness inside Rin's head. Kami, don't let Kushina realize what Naruto said. Please, please, please…
"O'ange mak ees 'ito!" the little boy said with even more enthusiasm, waving his fatty fist in the air, giggling just adorably.
"Minato!" Kushina called out, completely forgetting about Rin and Kakashi's presence.
"Whah?" Minato asked, the sound coming out kind of muffled, as if his mouth was stuffed with something.
"Naruto is trying to say something! Come here!" Kushina demanded, not taking her eyes off of her dear boy.
At the sound of that, a flash passed towards Rin and Kakashi, and to the child and Kushina, revealing a half undressed Minato, with his toothbrush hanging at a corner of his mouth, white foam falling down his chin from both his mouth's sides. That, plus the look of childish-like amazement on his face, made the serious, respectable Hokage look as if he were rabid, or possessed – something around that. "What'cha tryin' 'o sa', Na-u-to?" he was asking, kneeling in front of his little boy.
" 'Tousan!" the boy shouted cheerfully at the sight of him. Well, at least someone recognized the Hokage...
"Let alone 'tousan, Naru-chan. Tell us what you said before," Kushina inquired, really enthusiastic and impatient.
"O'ange mak ees 'ito!" Naruto repeated. He seemed to become annoyed from having to repeat, already. The little kid looked like realizing his parents did not understand him, and started to get really frustrated.
"I don't understand," Kushina sighed, turning to Minato, "Do you understand?"
"Who cares what he says. Just look at how cute he is, trying so hard," Minato was saying in a high-pitched voice. Kushina palmed her forehead, while the other two were hardly keeping their seriousness in the back. They found it adequate to get out of that family scene, but there's never a truly polite way to step back out of something like this.
"Rin, Kakashi, do you have any idea what this blabbering could be connected to?" Kushina turned to the two of them, who were slowly trying to make their way out through the window.
"No," Rin replied with a cautious look.
"Not at all," Kakashi added, looking really preoccupied by the position of his kunai in his supplies.
"Alright," Kushina said, not too convinced. "Then we'll see you soon, I guess," she added, sensing their attempt to get away.
"Of course. Bye, Kushina," Rin waved her hand, as they jumped out the window.
"The door was…," Kushina was saying, but she waved her hand, leaving that as it was. Sometimes, she really couldn't understand Minato's students…
A/N: This was the idea of one of my readers, RumpelsliltskinTheBeast: "lol... You need a cute chapter with baby Naruto lol Let Naruto stealing Obito's mask that would be funny"
Indeed, I found it a funny idea myself, so here it is.