"I've heard stories about you, my entire life." Kashin said to Kakashi as they stood together on the mountain side looking down on the Kumogakure. The boy crouched down and pulled his book out of his pocket, sticking a tooth pick in his mouth. "Even in Kumo, you're a legend. They say you know over a thousand jutsu. Is that true?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I wouldn't go that far."

"And you were the best ANBU that the leaf ever created? And you taught the seventh hokage and Sasuke Uchiha?" Kashin continued talking though his eyes appeared to be buried in the book pages.

"Well the last part's true. But they turned out alright anyway." Kakashi sat down himself and pulled out his own book. "What are you reading?"

Kashin turned the spine of his book. "Primed to Kill. It's about a ninja who kills his entire village and then wanders the land searching for his soul. Pure trash!"

Kashin's eyes grew big with excitement. Kakashi thought that might be the most emotion that he had seen out of the boy since he had been around him for the last week. "What about you?"

Kakashi turned the spine of his book. "Just some smuttie trash."

"The best smute is Make out tactics." Kashin said, his eyes getting even bigger.

"Does your mother know you read smute?" Kakashi gave Kashin a side ways glance.

The boy looked at Kakashi over the top of his book, fear entering his eyes. "You aren't going to tell her are you?"

"Not as long as you promise to stick to reading only." Kakashi said, turning the page of his own book. A half grin formed under his mask.

Kashin blew out a slow breath of relief. Then he grumbled. "There's no danger of that. I'm never around any girls, who are my own age, anyway. They're always way too old, and they're always pulling at my cheeks and calling me cute."

He ran his hand through his wild silver hair. "Older women are nothing but a problem."

Kakashi huffed. "Keep thinking that."

Then he placed his book down on the ground, turning the conversation serious again. "Your mother told me that your father was killed on a mission that you were on together."

Kashin shifted the toothpick in his mouth. His eyes did not move from the page of his book. Finally, he said, "I was on a different squad. But I should have stayed on his team… Then he might not be dead."

"Do you think you could've saved him and his team by yourself?"

Kashin looked at Kakashi. "I was the best shinobi out there. His squad had an uneven amount of weaker ninja. I should've been on that team."

"You think very highly of yourself." Kakashi replied nonchalantly.

"What the hell do you know, old man?!" Kashin snapped, shutting his book and moving to stand up.

Kakashi did not move. He said, "I know enough to know that whether a team fails or succeeds to complete a mission… or if someone is killed or saved, is never one person's doing –that's why it's called a team. Each member of the team is equally responsible for its success."

Kashin turned to walk away and then he stopped mid step. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Can I stop you?" Kakashi asked, sarcastically.

"No one ever says so out loud… but I've known since I was little that Atsui was not my real father." Kashin continued, ignoring Kakashi.

He turned back to watch Kakashi's reaction. The copy ninja gave him none. Kakashi just asked, "Oh is that so?"

"The kids use to tease me all the time. They called me a bastard and said my real father was a storm demon. That's why I was so naturally gifted with ninjutsu… because I wasn't human." Kashin moved next to Kakashi again and sat down. "I've never had very many friends when I was little –that's why my mom started giving me books."

Kashin looked down at the book in his hand. "Then when I got older, every one said I looked just like the white fang of the leaf and his son, the copy ninja. So I thought maybe…"

Kashin paused again, but he still got no reaction from Kakashi. "No one ever says it to my face, but every one thinks that I inherited my gifts from you."

Kakashi turned a page in his book. He asked, "Are you asking if I'm your father?"

Kashin looked down at his hands again. When he looked back up, Kakashi was staring at him intently. He nodded his head, yes.

"Your mother said you didn't want to know." Kakashi said, kindly.

Kashin shrugged. He slipped his hand's in his pockets and hunched over. "I want to know."

"Well. I was with your mother around the time that you were conceived." Kakashi confirmed. "And being that you look just like my father and nothing like your father, I'd say the answer is likely yes."

"Did you know about me?" Kashin asked, shyly.

Kakashi put his book down. He considered the question. "Not at first. But when I saw you at the chunin exam, I had a pretty good idea that you were my son."

"Why didn't you come for me then?" Kashin asked.

Kakashi sighed. "Because you already had a father and a family. What did I have to offer you? I'm a bachelor who reads smute in his free time."

Kashin nodded, firmly. "Atsui was a good father. He knew I was not his son, but he never treated me like I was any less his blood than Atsuki."

"How did you know my mother?" Kashin asked next. "She won't talk about any of this with me."

"We were friends for a long time after she saved my life when we were kids. Then we fought together in the fourth war." Kakashi said. "She managed to survive one of the biggest massacres of the war and I was the one who found her."

"Did you love her?"

Kakashi paused for another moment. Finally he said, "Yes. Yes, I did. I still do."

"She's been sad since my father's death two years ago –but now she's happy again… since you've been here." Kashin commented. "Are you planning on staying?"

"For as long as you let me." Kakashi replied.

Then Kashin gave a half smile. "I knew you were my biological father a long time ago. That's why I taught myself the chidori. Of course, I don't have a sharingan, so I had to modify it. I use it with my katana, ya know."

Kakashi gave his son another side eyed glance. "I'd love to see that."

"Maybe I'll show you one day."