"Where are we going Kakashi?" Mei asked with a mischievous grin. Her eyes were closed and Kakashi was leading her by the hand up a trail. His other hand held a basket.
"Oh, you'll see," Kakashi said, steering Mei around a rock in the path.
"No I won't," Mei laughed, "unless you let me open my eyes."
"Just wait a bit and you can," Kakashi promised cheerfully as they exited the forest.
Mei felt her sandal hit rock instead of the dirt they'd been hiking on before. "Can I open them yet?"
"Not quite," Kakashi said smiling. He'd been planning this for weeks. It was his turn to host the date and Mei found some reason or other to come to the Leaf on business.
Suddenly Kakashi stopped and set the basket down. He put his hands on Mei's shoulders and moved her so she was facing just so. She could feel a strong breeze ruffling her dress and playing in her hair. Then he said, "okay, you can open them."
Mei's eyes opened and then quickly blinked to adjust to the bright light. They were on top of Hokage Mountain and could see the entire village and beyond. It was a sunny spring day and the sky was blue and cloudless.
Mei smiled and turned to him, "it's beautiful Kakashi." Kakashi smiled in return and they both looked out on the village, enjoying the view and steady breeze.
Kakashi tentatively put one of his arms around her waist. Mei smiled and leaned into the contact as way of encouragement.
They'd been working on Kakashi's aversion to physical contact. This was brought to Mei's attention when she'd reached for Kakashi's hand one evening after a day in the Mist. Not only did he recoil from her brushing fingers but he'd quickly moved away from her. He continued to walk with her down the road but there was a full meter between them for the rest of the night.
Mei had fretted over this for several days before bringing it up to Hinata who in turn mentioned it to Naruto.
"Oh it's not you Mei, don't worry," Naruto said grinning. "If you could see the look on his face when he talks about you…"
"Then why?"
Naruto shrugged. "Sensei has never been one for physical contact." Naruto suddenly laughed and said, "when we were younger, we'd try to hug him sometimes. He just didn't know what to do with that. He'd immediately peel us off if not avoid it altogether. The closest I came to getting a hug from him was if he had to carry me because I physically couldn't walk." Naruto seemed lost in thought for a moment. Then he said, "it wasn't because he didn't care. He showed his affection in other ways, like trying to get me to eat my vegetables or something like that."
Mei nodded thoughtfully.
"But don't worry, sensei is crazy about you! Just give him a chance okay?"
Mei was surprised by his tone and looked up at him. Naruto was scrutinizing her. Her eyes widened with shock at the intentness of his gaze. She knew Kakashi was protective of his students, she hadn't thought about them being protective of him in return.
As if reading her thoughts, Naruto said, "when we were younger, we thought of sensei as this unstoppable force. Even when he got hurt, it never seemed serious, not really. He'd go to the hospital and then he'd get better, the same as always. Then during Pain's invasion..." Naruto trailed off. "I couldn't feel his chakra. I couldn't believe he was gone."
Mei pushed down her own swelling emotions, not wanting to interrupt him.
"That's kind of when I realized how much he did for us. He put his life on the line for us, every time. We just didn't realize the risks he took because it was sensei, he couldn't die." Naruto laughed. "I kind of got sidetracked but what I'm trying to say is: Kakashi-sensei means a lot to us." Naruto's blue eyes gazed with force into hers. She understood the look for what it was: a plea, a warning, but also hope.
Mei looked up at Kakashi. His face was getting a little pink where his mask and the tops of his cheeks met. Mei wondered if she should maneuver herself away from his arm so that he'd be more comfortable. No need to push him too hard, this was already more than she had expected. That was when a voice cried out behind them, "hey sensei, hey Mei!"
Kakashi stiffened and Mei withdrew from him immediately. They turned to see Naruto, Hinata, Boruto, and Himawari. Naruto had a bundle in his hand that looked suspiciously like lunch for the Uzumaki family.
"Naruto," Hinata said, trying to get her husband's attention, "maybe we should go somewhere else?"
"The top of Hokage Mountain is my special spot sensei," Naruto said pointing at him accusingly, doubling this as a response to Hinata.
Kakashi was flustered. "Your face isn't even up here yet!" He was embarrassed by how ridiculous of an excuse that was. There was no ownership of the mountain even though they were standing on Kakashi's crown in particular. "Besides I-" Kakashi stopped himself and looked past Tsunade's face to Minato's. He sighed, thinking of the times he'd spent sitting there alone. The memories derailed what he was going to say and the silence stretched out. Mei was looking at Kakashi, willing him to look at her but he was lost in his own thoughts.
As the silence went on, Himawari tugged on her mother's pant leg. "Mommy can we eat now?"
Hinata nodded but she was still looking at Kakashi and Mei uncertainly as she took the bundle from Naruto and began to unpack.
"Don't worry Mei," Naruto said misjudging her concern. "I'm sure what Hinata made is ten times better than whatever Kakashi-sensei put together."
"Naruto," Hinata chided as Kakashi broke out of his revere. "That's very impolite."
"I mean," Naruto said withdrawing some food from the basket, "the food looks like us but we can share." He produced a rice cake that was in the shape of a face topped with spiky yellow hair and another with dark hair that flared out at the sides. Each cake had two whisker marks on each cheek; they were clearly Boruto and Himawari.
Kakashi mentally face-palmed.
"Naruto, Hinata," a voice called from the nearby woods. Upon seeing the crowd it continued, "what are you all doing up here?" It was Sakura who had spoken. Sasuke frowned at her side. Sarada trotted next to them, holding the other side of a handle attached to the basket Sasuke was carrying.
Kakashi massaged his temples. His carefully planned outing was slowly falling apart. Backup plans were already assembling themselves in his mind. "That's alright Naruto, we'll just go somewhere else." He took a step as if to leave but Mei grasped his arm.
"Nonsense, the more the merrier," Mei said smiling. Kakashi looked skeptically at their disturbed picnicking spot. Boruto was drawing swirls in the dirt with a stick. Hinata and Naruto were unpacking their bundle while Himawari bounced impatiently. Sarada was putting blades of grass she'd just picked into Boruto's hair which he either was ignoring or unaware of. Sasuke grasped her hand when she went to pick more grass. It wasn't exactly what Kakashi had intended for his and Mei's date.
Mei raised her eyebrows with a look in her eyes that said, relax. Kakashi slowly sat down where he stood. When he didn't move after this, Mei took a peak into the basket still clutched stiffly in his hand. She reached in and withdrew a blanket. She offered it to prompt him and he realized that he was sitting on bare ground. He quickly stood to spread the blanket for her and sat once more, a little less stiffly than before.
Mei sat down next to him and whispered, "Kakashi, this will be fun, you'll see. Nothing is spoiled so don't dwell on it."
Kakashi gave her a look like she was insane but she just smiled in response. He softened under her cheer and began to unpack their lunch.
Hinata spread a blanket of her own, the remainder of the unpacked bundle, making it flush with Mei's and Kakashi's. Sasuke did the same with his and Sakura's blanket.
As it turned out, Kakashi had made soup. "Big surprise," Naruto muttered to Sasuke. A second later a pebble connected with the side of Naruto's head. Kakashi examined his fingernails innocently. Mei attempted to hide a smile behind her spoon.
They all shared their food, although Sasuke refused to eat anything that looked like a face. After the third blade of grass had fallen into his soup, Boruto began to accusingly chase Sarada around between the rocky spikes that made up Kakashi's mountain hair. Himawari chased after them with a shrill giggle.
Kakashi watched them contentedly and was surprised to find Mei's hand in his. He looked over at her and she smiled. He was eye-smiling back when a little cry issued from where the children were playing.
Himawari came running around the corner. "Daddy Daddy Boruto fell down!"
Naruto jumped up, followed quickly by Sasuke. As they rushed to the edge of Kakashi's hair they realized that their fears were unfounded. Boruto had fallen down on the ground, not off of the cliff as they'd presumed. The young boy clutched a bleeding knee, his eyes wet with tears. Sarada was sitting with him. Naruto knelt next to his son, "are you alright?"
Boruto sniffed but nodded. Sakura joined them a moment later and smiled. "Here," she held her hand out over the knee, healing it instantly.
Boruto wiped his tears away and smiled, "thanks Aunt Sakura!" Sarada helped him up and they continued to play.
"You didn't need to do that," Sasuke said in an undertone to his wife.
Sakura scoffed, "no need to spoil their day. Besides, it wasn't a big deal."
"It will become a big deal if he thinks he can just get healed for every scrape. He's going to be a ninja someday and can't expect things to be easy."
"Lighten up Sasuke," Naruto said. "Sakura was just being nice. Besides, Boruto knows things aren't always that easy."
"Does he?" Sasuke queried, "sometimes I wonder."
"What are you trying to say?" Naruto said scowling. "That I'm a bad father? You're certainly one to talk."
"Stop it, both of you," Sakura protested.
"And you always defending him," Naruto said. "At least I was here for most of their lives."
"Naruto that is enough!" Sakura threw a punch out to her side, hitting the rock they were standing by.
As the boulder hair-spike crumbled Kakashi involuntarily put a hand to his real hair. Mei chuckled and said, "is it safe for them to be getting all worked up like this?" She knew perfectly well the power Kakashi's students possessed.
The threes' voices grew louder and more violent. The younger children had ceased playing to watch their parents fight.
Kakashi shook his head, "no, it's alright. Actually, when they fight I at least know that everyone is fine. When they're not fighting either the world is coming to an end or one of them is hurt." After a moment Kakashi revised his statement, "actually I've seen them argue during the end of the world too." The former Hokage stood up. "Just the same though, I'd better go make sure they don't destroy my face. I don't think I can sit through another round of modeling." I'm going to kill them for this.
As Kakashi walked over to his students the fight escalated. A clone had poofed into existence and things were sounding chirpy. Kakashi stopped behind them, hands on hips. The clone quickly dispelled and the sound of birds faded away. The three turned to their sensei, looking as guilty as green genin.
Mei tried to hear what he was saying to them but the wind whipped the words away. Judging by Naruto's guilty pout, Sakura's red cheeks, and Sasuke's scowl, she could guess Kakashi was giving them a lecture. The action over, the children had retreated when they caught sight of Kakashi's glower. Mei shook her head at their antics.
Hinata alone remained next to Mei on the blankets. She'd retracted her Byakugan after realizing that Boruto was alright and sat placidly watching the fight with mild amusement.
Mei turned to smile at her and asked, "are they always like this?"
Hinata nodded once in assent, her smirk brimming into a full smile as she watched Team Seven bicker. Then she leaned over and whispered, "welcome to the family."