Author's Notes: Thanks for all the reviews, favorites and follows! It really makes me glad :D Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING!
Chapter 10
Mirai screws her eyes shut, holding on to Kakashi like her life depends on it. She hopes he won't die, but if he did, then Mirai feels entirely responsible for his death. Mama had warned her. Mama had specifically told her just some time ago that calling Masky that particular name would make him die. And Mirai has just slipped up, made an unforgivable mistake.
So she tries to hold Masky, not Papa, down to Earth. He can't go join Daddy yet. He still has to be there as Mirai grows up. He still has to stay here and ruffle Mirai's hair because Daddy isn't able to, and to Mirai, Masky is the next best thing. He has to stay alive because Mirai needs him to. And isn't that enough?
She doesn't notice when her eyes start watering nor when those salty tears fall down both of her cheeks, leaving watery trails behind.
"Mirai…? What's wrong? A-Are you crying?" Kakashi asks worriedly. He felt like he's missing something. Maybe he shouldn't have frozen up like he has when Mirai called him 'Papa'. Perhaps he shouldn't have tensed the way he has when she hugged him. Whether I want to be someone's role model or not… it seems I've been forced into the job… and maybe it's a little more than just being a 'role model'.
Kakashi sighs, gently patting Mirai's head, "Why are you crying?" Mirai is thankful Masky hasn't disappeared yet, but she knows better than to think that he won't. Kakashi picks Mirai up and rubs her back soothingly. He hasn't had much experience with kids. His own experience as a kid is limited at best, but it is most likely completely nonexistent.
The other occupants of the room watch the exchange in confusion. Just what overcame cute, little Mirai all of a sudden that made her crumble into a crying mess?
"Mama… said…" Mirai forces out in between sobs. The rest is either a childish ramble that no one understands or a series of sounds that should have been words but are too mixed with Mirai's cries to be comprehensible. Kurenai struggles to remember anything she said that would have such an effect on her daughter. Her attempt at recalling anything is a bit difficult when all her thoughts are on her daughter and her brain is trying to come up with ideas to make the little Sarutobi stop crying.
Mirai is usually such a bright and happy child. To have her suddenly crying over nothing is unfathomable, "This is unplanned," Ino says as she watches the scene unfold, "But it works in our favor!" She tells her partner in crime cheerfully. Shikamaru nods in agreement.
"We didn't even have to do anything. Mirai already hates Kakashi-sensei, enough to cry over nothing when he's around. Problem solved," Shikamaru drawls out. It was such a drag, but… mission complete.
It is then that Kurenai remembers what she said about Kakashi and 'Papa'. She isn't sure that is what caused the problem, but, right now, her mind could come up with no other explanation, "Mirai…" she starts, rubbing Mirai's back soothingly and trying futilely to have her let go of Kakashi, "If this is about what I said earlier, then you don't have to worry. I was just joking," She says as she looks over Kakashi's shoulder to peer into Mirai's eyes.
Mirai looks up from Masky's shoulder, disbelievingly staring into Mama's eyes, "You… said…"
"Yes, I know that I said so, but it isn't true. Masky's still here, isn't he?" She asks in a whisper, her warm breath tickling Kakashi's ear. Kakashi involuntarily shudders, but he tries to keep it hidden, as much as possible anyways with Kurenai's hands on his shoulders as she tries to talk her daughter out of crying.
Hinata watches the family scene with stars dancing in her eyes. Shino has his hands in his pockets. Kiba and Akamaru share an amused look. Choji eats another handful of chips. Anko… The look on Anko's face tells everyone that she's up to no good. Well, well… looks like I found you a new husband, Kurenai-chan!
Kakashi confusedly watches as Mirai nods, wipes her face with the back of her hand and smiles brightly. Talk about a swift mood change… Kids never seized to make him uncomfortable with that particular skill they all seem to possess. It used to amaze him, how quickly a child can move from being angry to happy to sad all in the matter of minutes and the presence of the correct incentives. Now, it only irks him slightly and makes him a bit uneasy because he usually couldn't predict what mood a kid will be having next and, as a natural genius, not knowing what to expect bothers him.
Kakashi doesn't know what to think. He doesn't even know what they're talking about. He lets it happen, however. At least it made Mirai stop crying…
"It's okay?" Mirai asks, nervously looking at Mama then Masky then back at Mama again. If Masky says it's okay… then Mirai will have a Papa like everyone else. She has always seen other kids with their fathers, eating ice-cream and laughing. If Masky says it's okay… then Mirai will have a chance to do things with her own Papa like everyone else. She has always watched other kids with their fathers, and maybe, just maybe, felt a bit jealous. Sure, she has Mama, but having a Papa is different. She almost is a hundred percent certain of that.
If Masky says it's okay now… then Mirai won't feel so different when she's around other kids, won't feel like she's weird or strange, the odd one out, all the time.
Kakashi doesn't know what to do. He doesn't even know what Mirai is asking about. But he's afraid that if he answers Mirai's question with the wrong answer, then Mirai will start crying again. So Kakashi does what he thinks is the correct thing to do. He eye-smiles at the little girl, "Of course, it's okay," He doesn't even know what he's reassuring Mirai of, but as Mirai's whole face lights up like a beacon in the middle of an eternal sea of darkness, Kakashi thinks that it's fine. Smiling is a lot better than crying anyways.
"Thanks, Papa!" Mirai says again, making sure to keep her smile big and genuine instead of crying this time around. Kakashi puts Mirai down and ruffles her hair. Mirai laughs because it's okay and Mirai has a Papa now, and everything is so new and cool. She feels like she's about to burst and her heart feels lighter somehow. Mirai has never felt like this before, but she doesn't mind because the feeling is great and she loves this feeling and she hopes she'll feel this way all the time.
"…I don't know about you, Shika… but that doesn't look like hate to me…" Ino mumbles, watching the scene unfold unhappily.
"What a drag…"
"Continue with my plans?" Shikamaru gives her an annoyed look. No need to sound so smug. Your first plan did nothing but strengthen their bond even further. Shikamaru wants to voice his thoughts out loud, but he doesn't since he knows that doing so would invoke Ino's wrath. Then, he would have to apologize to make her stop screeching, and everything will spiral from worse to worst in just a handful of seconds. All in all, the whole scenario would be troublesome, something Shikamaru always tries to avoid. Therefore, the Nara nods instead.
Just as Ino starts to say something, her mouth still twisted into a smug smirk, Kakashi ruins the moment all by himself, "I have to go now…" He says as he ruffles Mirai's hair. Mirai looks at him in disappointment, hoping that he wasn't being nice earlier just to make her stop crying (but she always wanted a Papa who wouldn't like it when she cries), and he really doesn't think it's okay and that he doesn't want to be Mirai's Papa.
"I have a lot of work to do," He continues in explanation when Mirai's expression falls. Mirai looks at him in consideration. She knows that work is important. She also knows that Papa, not Masky, is the Hokage, which is the most important job in the world. Thus, she thinks she can forgive Papa for leaving now.
"But you didn't even have cake yet…" Kurenai points out. Kakashi looks at her with a sheepish look on what is visible of his face. Kurenai turns off the lights and lights up the candles she had placed on the new cake. The guests sing for Mirai, who feels really special with all eyes on her. She proudly puffs up her chest.
"Make a wish, Mirai!" Kiba-nii says. Mirai thinks for a moment before she nods to herself and blows out the candles.
"What did you wish for?" Hina-nee asks curiously, but Mirai shakes her head. She heard about how wishes don't come true if they're told, and she really wants her wish to become reality.
"Not telling," Mirai says with a sense of finality and a determined nod. She ignores everyone's amused looks. Everyone enjoys their slice of the cake, and Choji goes for seconds, thirds and continues until everyone else, Choji included, loses count of how many slices he had.
"You shouldn't eat so much, Choji, or you're going to become fa-…" Shikamaru cuts off his sentence when Choji's eyes light up suddenly, "Never mind… There's nothing wrong with eating," Choji nods in satisfaction.
"Thanks for the cake," Kakashi says as he heads for the door with Kurenai and Mirai walking with him.
"Okay! Come later, Papa!" Mirai is overjoyed when Papa nods without even flinching at the use of his new name. She waves at Papa as he exits through the door and smiles at the rest of her guests when she goes back to the others. Hina-nee has that look on her face, the one that says she thinks something is very adorable and cute. Kiba-nii and Aka-kun both seem to be smiling, even if Mirai has to strain her eyes to see the smile on the dog's face. She's not sure what Shino-nii is thinking; she doesn't know what he's thinking most of the time anyways.
But Anko-nee… she looks downright scary. Mirai pointedly looks away from Anko-nee's face and glances at Ino-nee and Shika-nii who both look troubled. She settles for looking at her Mama who is practically glowing. Mirai gives her Mama a grin to rival the one on her face as she hugs her Mama.
Kurenai picks her daughter up, "I have a Papa!" Mirai whispers in her Mama's ear proudly. Kurenai nods at daughter's cheerful declaration. Mirai is glad that today is her birthday because she feels like she just received the best gift ever. People always said that one's birthday is the best day in anyone's life. Thus, Mirai is ecstatic that the day Masky became Papa is the same day as the best day in her life, but even Mirai, for all her two years of age, knows that the day she started having a Papa would be dubbed as 'The Best Day Ever', regardless of whether it was her birthday or not.
Mirai doesn't say it, but she thinks that Daddy was the one to give her the best gift ever this year. She loves Enma, she really does… but she loves Papa more. She has a feeling that she would have never met Masky before he became Papa if it weren't for Daddy. So she thanks Daddy from the bottom of her heart.
"What a drag..." Shikamaru mutters under his breath. Mirai looks like she just had the best birthday ever, which is really the opposite of everything Shikamaru and Ino were hoping for.
"But I had many more plans…" He hears Ino say in a broken voice. Maybe we need a third person in on this for it to work… Shikamaru thinks to himself. He glances at Choji and motions for him to follow as the others start chattering away. Ino notices her teammates' departure and follows them to the hallway while the rest of the guests head back to the living room.
"Choji, we need your help," Ino say, quickly catching on to Shikamaru's plan. That's what made Ino such a valuable teammate and comrade after all. Choji looks at his teammates with a mixture of disappointment and something else Shikamaru couldn't quite put his finger on.
Author's Notes: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review! I just wanted to let you know that this story won't be too long now… it probably won't be longer than fifteen chapters as a whole, so a maximum of five chapters to go! ;)
A Response to the Reviews on Chapter 9:
kakakure: Shikamaru and Ino are just really worried about Asuma being replaced. Team Kurenai wouldn't have such problems; on the contrary, actually, I think they would be overjoyed to know their teacher has found someone new… just a thought, though. Thanks for the review! I was actually trying to finish this story before school, but that's not going to happen, unfortunately, since school starts on Tuesday T_T
Prescripto13: I'm glad you find them hilarious as that is what I was aiming for XD Thanks for reviewing, and it's nice to know you're reading this story as well! Hope you like it till now :D
alucard77: Thanks :D I'm not really good at romance scenes, so I have you can bear with me XD I'll try my best though. Some chapters will have the romance element in them, I just hope it works out :D
fluffpenguin: Actually what you suggested was really tempting… but I didn't want to be that cruel to little Mirai XD Hope my version is acceptable though! :D I'm trying to keep Ino and Shikamaru as in character as possible. It's easier with Ino, but Shikamaru is a bit of a problem because in the anime, we don't get to see anything besides the lazy genius he is. I'm trying, though XD
okami amaterasu: Thanks for your kindness as usual! I hope you liked this mostly Mirai-centric chapter :D I haven't played it actually, and I can't because I don't have a Wii, sadly… and I checked if there is an Xbox version, but there isn't :(
Ephemeral Solitude: Thanks for the review! I do some of the errors on purpose (like putting 'and' three times in a row) because I feel like the sentence sounds better that way XD And there are bound to be a lot of other errors, though I hope they don't make the story less enjoyable! As for Shikamaru, I pictured him as extremely loyal to Asuma. Ino, however, tends to overreact sometimes. That point has not been raised yet, but it will be, and that will be the turning point of the story :D I'm really trying to keep the story as light as possible, and you're right, Ino and Shikamaru really do play this role XD Thanks for your review and I hope you enjoyed this chapter :D
Guest: Thanks! Your review made me smile :D I hope you liked this moment between them and didn't feel it was needlessly long and bad XD
Until next time!