Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.


Tag, you're it!

By Amaryllis Namikaze


Chapter 12


It started with a question.

"Daddy, why do you wear a mask?"

Kakashi stopped eating, his fork full of pancakes halfway to his mouth. Slowly, he observed his now almost four-year-old daughter. Her big blue eyes were smart as always, waiting for his answer. The Jounin noticed that she had started to question a lot lately.

'Must be the infamous 'why phase', or whatever they call it,' he wondered to himself. Momo's happy face smiled at him while he searched for something to say.

"I guess it has just ever been this way," Kakashi shrugged. Really, he had been wearing this black mask for such a long time now; it was just a second nature.

"But, Daddy, I've been living with you for almost one year and two months, and I never ever saw your face," Kori tilted her blond head to the side, blinking in confusion.

Kakashi balanced his head back and forth, wondering about it too, "I suppose so."

"You're not comfortable enough with me." It wasn't a question.

"That's not true. I wouldn't have adopted you if I wasn't," the Jounin argued. Kori shook her head stubbornly.

"Adopting I and feeling comfortable with me ate two different things."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes slightly. 'Goodness, now I know how Minato-sensei felt when I was being annoyingly right,' he sighed mentally.

"When did you start wearing a mask, Daddy?" She asked, feeling curious. Kakashi analyzed her; she wasn't angry, which was good.

"A long time ago."

"When?"

"I was seven."

"Why did you start?"

This made Kakashi stop. Why had he? Years ago, Minato-sensei had asked the same thing and, being the annoying brat he was, he just shrugged off saying that he didn't want to be seen as a child because of his appearance. But was this the truth? Kakashi wasn't sure.

He looked seriously to his adopted daughter.

"There is a thing that I need you to understand, Kori-chan." He pleaded and she nodded obediently. "I didn't have the best childhood in the world. My Mother died when I was two and my Father wasn't really close to me, always doing missions and having quite the reputation. I graduated in the Academy when I was five, thinking that this would catch the attention of my Father, but he was away in a duty, and I felt really disappointed. I was a little silly back then. I was given a mentor, because of my early age. One day, when I came back from a training session, I found my Father dead in his room. He had committed suicide."

Kori's blue eyes widened and she clutched Momo tighter as she always did when she felt afraid or anguished.

"Why did he do that? Didn't he think about you?" Kakashi closed his eye. Her innocence and child-like honesty were strangely a blessing and a curse. Sometimes, it had made him thought over a subject and opens his eyes; however, at times like this, it hurt so damn much. She didn't know that this hurt, of course, and Kakashi couldn't – and wouldn't – reprimand her. As intelligent as she was, Kori was still a toddler. His baby.

"He had failed a mission – a mission that he couldn't fail. It affected negatively all Konoha and people started blaming him for their suffering, their poorness, their pain. He became a scapegoat."

"Like me," Kori exampled.

Kakashi kneeled in front of her, holding her much tinier hands in his. His grayish-black eye was sad, "Yes, kind of like you. He couldn't bear it, and killed himself. After news had spread all over Konoha… shame flood from me."

"Shouldn't you have been sad?" Again her child-like honesty hurt. Kakashi nodded with his eye closed.

"Yes, I should have, but I was just a stupid brat. The shame became unbearable and I started using a mask, so people couldn't associate me with my dead Father."

Kori stayed painfully quiet for two minutes. Kakashi was kneeling in front of her, waiting for her reaction, when she suddenly sweetly if not a little sadly.

"You shouldn't be ashamed. You're an incredible Daddy, because you make laugh when I want cry, you make me smile when I'm hurt, you hug me when I'm lonely, you give me bathes and tuck me in at night, you scare away the mean villagers and kiss my forehead afterwards and promise to protect me, you always smile at me even when you aren't feeling happy yourself but want me to be. You're the best Daddy in the whole world – and I think you shouldn't be ashamed of yourself anymore."

Kakashi hadn't felt this constriction in his chest for a long time. The last time he cried was when his sensei died and he was alone. He hadn't cried for almost four years. And all that was need for this to happen was a wonderful tiny blonde saying some words to him. Damn, he couldn't cry in front of her.

Kori smiled, as if knowing his internal fight. She caressed his cheek kindly, showing a grin with the two teeth in the front missing – it was adorable.

"I love you, Daddy. Before you came to my life, I'd usually sit at a corner in the orphanage and watch kids playing and adults smiling to them. I'd be always alone, thinking why I couldn't be as happy as them. People told me that I was a monster, a demon; that I didn't reserved smiles, hugs and kisses as a normal person – because I wasn't one. My only precious person was Sandaime-jiji. Someday, I decided to walk outside of the orphanage – who knows, I had thought, maybe people outside would be good to me. I ended in the hospital, and when I finally woke up, you were there. And you are here until now. I'm not lonely anymore. I don't feel… like the monster they say I am. Am I one? Am I a demon? Because you make me feel like a worthy person, like I should have friends, like I should smile, like I should receive kisses and hugs. You're ashamed of yourself, but I'm proud of you. You're my most precious person, Daddy. I love you with all my heart. Please, don't feel like I felt before you came to my life."

Kakashi's only visible eye widened. He had never heard Kori talking so much at the same time. It was the first time that she told she loved him. A tear escaped and soon more came – weirdly, strangely, thankfully, he felt good for crying in front of her. She was his family, his daughter, his baby. His.

Lifting her up, he sat Kori on his hip, hugging her closer and closer, never being tight enough. Carefully, he slipped down his mask, observing how her eyes warmed at the sight of his full face, and kissed her forehead with bare lips for the first time.

"I love you too, my Kori-chiisai," he said kissing her again and again.

She smiled sweetly as always. Momo sat on her chair, his smiling face witnessing the family moment that would change both Kakashi and Kori forever.

"But, you know, Daddy, this mask has some style," she murmured against his neck, still smiling.


So, what did you think people? Isn't Kori a cute little thing? And she finally spoke a long sentence. But don't get your hopes high, she's still a shy one around strangers.

And one more thing: there's a poll in my profile that needs to be voted. It's about if I should skip to Kori's Genin days, or if I should continue writing about her childhood a little more. Be warned, though, that if you vote yes there will be some more chapters about Kori's childhood, after all, I can't just skip and left it incomplete.

Don't forget to vote, people!

Bye and until next time!

Amy Namikaze.