A/N – I'm sorry it's taken so long! Exams, the hell – but thank God they're over now. I'm not sure if you'll be disappointed or not with this chapter, I can always change it if so. I think I got the name of Kakashi's book right, but if not then oh well lol. I shall do more soon hopefully!
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"Brilliant Sasuke…well done" Kakashi praised the raven haired boy in the lounge area, positively beaming with pride.
Sasuke was biting his lip with nervous concentration, as his fingers dug into Kakashi's strong arms, clinging with the fear that if Kakashi should move away he'd crash to the ground.
It had been a weekend since Kakashi had brought Sasuke back, and over the past few days he'd managed to get Sasuke practicing at every good opportunity to stand upright. He wouldn't make the boy begin to walk until he at least mastered enough balance and confidence to actually stand first, and have the trust in Kakashi to help him do it.
It had been a long and frustrating time just to get the boy this far. Sasuke would get bored quickly or distracted easily, and would start to whine and kick up a fuss if Kakashi made him carry on practicing.
Kakashi had taken the time over the weekend to observe Sasuke's behavior and habits more.
The boy would sleep a lot in the day, and at night he continued to wake up in a hysterical panic, taking hours to calm down and ending up in Kakashi's bed cuddled up to the warm adult. Generally his mood was that of a curious toddler; oblivious to any dangers, easily distracted and pleased, with the occasional mood swings.
More things were going missing as well; Like some ofKakashi's shirts, and more spoons. Sasuke had tried to take the TV remote to his little nest in the bedroom that morning, and was not happy at all when Kakashi took the interesting gadget off him. He remained in a mood until bath time.
Kakashi found those times both stressful and amusing; more water seemed to end up on the walls and floor than there would remain in the bath at the end. Sasuke seemed to love the water, splashing around and seemingly making it his mission to get Kakashi as wet as he was.
Kakashi was also beginning to notice some copycat behavior that children do of their parents. He was having difficulty now with washing Sasuke and drying him, because the boy would try doing the same to Kakashi at the same time. It's pretty hard to wash someone's hair when they're shoving bubbles in your face, he discovered. It was easier when Sasuke was unconscious the first time, and a few times the adult selfishly considered knocking the boy out again when it came to bath times.
Sasuke frowned as his body trembled; he began to squirm in Kakashi's hold and whined.
Kakashi sighed and gently lowered Sasuke to sit on the floor again, "Okay, that's enough for today. You've done really well Sasuke, excellent progress" he ruffled the boy's hair fondly.
Sasuke made a small noise as if agreeing, and took a moment to rub his face against the man's knee, before he crawled away towards the bedroom for one of his regular naps.
Kakashi followed after him, and closed the bedroom door behind them.
Sasuke stopped near the edge of the bed instead of heading straight to his den, and grabbed onto the sheets as he pulled himself up onto the adult's bed instead.
Kakashi blinked and moved forward, helping the boy so he wouldn't hurt himself. Usually the boy always fell asleep in his own makeshift bed. "Sasuke?" he quietly asked.
The dark haired boy twisted around to lean forward and hug the man, purring momentarily. Kakashi accepted the awkward hug before making the boy lie down. "Thanks" he said, taking the hug as Sasuke's little way of saying thank you.
He pulled the covers up over the boy before he lay across the other side of the bed next to the dark haired youngster, leaning against the headboard. He smiled as the boy shuffled closer and nuzzledinto his side, andthe boy wasrubbing the edge of the quilt between his thumb and fingers. The adult reached over to the bedside table where he picked up the latest Icha Icha Paradise book, idly flipping to the page he last got up to and read until the boy fell asleep nuzzled up against him contently.
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The sound of the phone ringing later caused Kakashi to sit up alert and tear his gaze and concentration away from his book. "Damn". With a small glance to the boy lying beside him, he got up from the bed, placing the book down on the space where he had just been lying. "I'll be right back" he muttered, though he thought the boy was still asleep anyway, and left the bedroom to answer the phone that was ringing down the hallway.
He stretched, causing joints to crack, just before he picked up the phone. "Hello… Ah Naruto"-
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Sasuke stirred and cracked open his eyes, slowly moving his head away from the wet patch on the pillow caused by the drool from his mouth. A small purr rumbled from his chest as he lazily sat up, turning to face the adult – to find he wasn't there, but the object he was holding earlier was now lying in his place.
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"-got him to stand at least, so hopefully in a day or two he can begin those first steps"-
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The boy continued to purr as a line of dribble passed his open mouth. He tilted his head thoughtfully as he slowly reached out to the book and flipped it over, letting out a small sound as it did so. He leant forward some more as he cautiously took a hold of the middle page and pulled the object up.
SSHHRIT – the page tore and the rest of the book hit the bed. Dark onyx eyes widened as the boy looked at the paper screwed up in his hand.
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"- why don't you come around later, Sasuke loves it when you come around…. Yeah I would appreciate you distracting him for a while, but I enjoy your company as well"-
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Sasuke had slid off the bed and onto the floor; with the book in one hand as with the other he stuffed the ripped page under a pillow, part of his den. A smile allowed itself to spread across the boy's face as he took a hold of another page, ripping it out and squealing with delight at the sound it made. A drop of drool splattered onto the next page as he busily stuffed the ripped paper into the den with the other piece.
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"I best go, I don't like leaving him alone for too long….. Yes I will… bye Naruto…yes, see you later" Kakashi finally put the phone down with a happy sigh and headed back towards the bedroom. Judging by the happy sounds coming from there, he figured Sasuke was awake, so he intended to let the boy know that his friend would be coming around later.
"Sasuke" Kakashi gently called as he pushed open the bedroom door and walked in, "I was just on the"- he stopped mid-sentence with his mouth hung slightly agape, while he took in the scene.
Sasuke was quite happily ripping the pages out of his new book, smiling as bits of the paper fluttered to the floor, and some screwed up pages poked out from between the cushions in Sasuke's corner. Sticky drool clung to the boys lip and chin, and Kakashi just knew that some was all over the book.
"SASUKE!" Kakashi yelled.
The boy spasmed and dropped the book, surprised at the new tone Kakashi had suddenly adopted. He'd never heard Kakashi's voice at that volume before and panic reflected in his eyes as the smile disappeared.
"You DON'T rip up things! Especially things that aren't yours! Bad boy!" Kakashi stormed over.
Sasuke grabbed the book again and held it to his chest with a tight grip, as his lips quivered into a frown.
Bad?
Kakashi crouched down in front of the boy and forced what was left of the book out of the boys grip, tossing it up onto the bed.
Sasuke didn't like or understand this; first Kakashi had taken the gadget off him that morning, and now the adult had taken the book off him – but now the adult was being loud and his face didn't look that friendly or caring anymore.
Sasuke let out a frustrated and confused wail, as stinging watery warmth burnt at his eyes. Why wasn't the adult being nice? He seemed to surprise himself as well as Kakashi when he lashed out and smacked the man's face.
Kakashi was momentarily frozen with shock. The boy who he had considered reduced to an innocent childlike state had actually just hit him.
The boy moved his hand as if to hit him again – but quickly Kakashi took a hold of the thin wrist to prevent him from doing so. Sasuke moved his other hand, only to get his other wrist held onto as well. With a small growl the boy bared his teeth dived forward slightly while turning his head as if to bite at the man's arm.
Kakashi's eyes widened – amazed at the sudden hostility the boy seemed to possess.
It took a moment to realize that he'd reacted; it was only after the sound of him smacking the boy back that he realized what he'd done.
A sudden high pitch wail was emitted as the dark haired boy pulled away until his back hit the edge of the bed. He drew his knees up and folded his arms on top of them, as he continued to cry childishly and buried his face into his arms, sobbing.
"I didn't like it either" Kakashi said, then felt something inside of him twist as he looked down at various scattered pages of his book before looking back at the boy. "Sasuke" he slowly put a hand on the boy's shoulder.
The boy flinched and turned away from the touch as he sobbed louder.
Kakashi swallowed. "Sasuke…I can't, I can't allow that kind of behavior" he said slowly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout or smack you… but you can't…" he trailed off. Sasuke was crawling off into his den, burying himself under the quilt and the cushions as he continued to bawl. "Sasuke" he called, but he didn't think the boy wanted him anywhere near him right now.
He glanced sadly back at the damaged book as Sasuke's distress was stillheard. The boy clearly didn't understand.
He couldn't help but feel he made a big mistake.