Chapter 2- Old Memories
Hinata giggled softly, hand covering her mouth, as she watched Naruto comically exclaim his distress at the lack of ramen she had in her kitchen. She shook her head softly in fond exasperation as he looked at her sadly.
"Naruto- I'm a Hyuuga. My father doesn't exactly eat instant ramen, you know. More like 3 courses for every meal." At this Naruto shook his head, distraught.
"That's terrible!" He exclaimed dramatically. He grabbed her hand, causing Hinata to blush furiously, despite how many times he had done so before. "Don't worry, Hinata! I'll make sure that when we live together you'll have plenty of ramen to eat!"
"T-That's, u-uh, t-th-thank you Naruto!" She spluttered out, "I-I can't wait!" She still hadn't gotten used to the fact that Naruto was now her fiancé, and it still felt like a dream every time he held her hand or kissed her or- her face grew ever redder as she thought of those night's they'd had together- and she quickly pushed the images away.
Naruto laughed happily and continued to hold onto her hand. "Lucky for you- I have some ramen with me!" Hinata sighed in exasperation, but the smile on her face was unmistakable.
"O-of course you do, Naruto. I'm not even surprised." He gave her a whiskered grin and kissed her red cheek, before releasing his hand to take out several packets of instant ramen he had shoved into his orange and black jumpsuit's pockets.
"I guess you know me too well! So- how about I make this ramen for you and we eat it outside? It's too stuffy in here, and it'll be nice to eat alone, right?"
"Y-Yeah! U-uh, that'd be really nice, Naruto." She replied, smiling at her fiancé happily. He returned it, before starting to begin the process of making the ramen. If she could even call it that, she thought, but it's the closest Naruto could get, and that's just one more thing she loved about him.
After a few minutes, he turned to her, brandishing two steaming cups of ramen, offering one to her. She took it gratefully, smiling gratefully at him.
"Shall we go outside, then?" He grinned, holding out his hand, which she look and let herself be led by him out into the cool outside air.
She leant her head on his shoulder after she had finished, smiling softly, taking in this moment and enjoying it as best she could.
Several minutes later, however, they were interrupted by hushed whispers and giggles coming from somewhere near to them. Hinata exchanged a look with Naruto, knowing it was most likely some Hyuuga academy students returning later than the others had, who had decided to hang back before entering.
"Haru! You did that?!" A shocked female voice, slightly muffled by the trees surrounding them sounded, with a male one adding,
"That sounds extremely risky. Didn't you get into trouble?" Which was followed by a laid-back,
"Nah, in fact, all he did was laugh and praised me for my imagination!"
"No way!" Two awe-stuck voices sounded in reply.
Hinata chuckled softly, before whispering to Naruto, "Should we surprise them? They should be back at the compound now, anyway." He chuckled, and nodded, ready to burst through the trees.
She touched his arm, "Don't be too crazy, you'll scare them," She told him, grinning, to which he pulled a comically offended face, before kissing her forehead, causing her checks to brighten yet again, then grabbing her hand.
"Let's do it together," He said, before doing so, ambushing the trio by stepping through the trees.
Hinata immediately recognised the Hyuuga by his lavender eyes and brown hair, a branch clan member she vaguely remembered being called Hiroto.
She also faintly recognised the girl, who was definitely not a Hyuuga, by her red hair, birthmark and pointed teeth, which all pointed to the civilian girl who had found out to be of clan decent.
The last child, however, was one she didn't recognise at all, yet his face seemed to remind her of someone…
"Hi," She waved, causing all three children to look at her and Naruto with wide eyes. It was the Hyuuga who acted first, bowing shakily, before straightening up, avoiding eye contact,
"H-Hyuuga Hinata-sama! I-I'm sorry for being late and um," He glanced at the other two wide-eyed children, "…My friends."
Hinata frowned, the formal greeting bothering her. "It's fine, Hiroto-san, you are allowed to play with friends if you please," She said, noticing his shocked expression when she said his name.
"I-I, um, t-thank you," He managed, before the atmosphere was broken by Naruto's far more enthusiastic,
"Hi!" Which seemed to break the silver-haired boy from his stupor, saying loudly, pointing at both of them,
"You're Hinata Hyuuga and Naruto Uzumaki!" before grinning widely, showing off sharpened teeth, causing Hinata momentary confusion, wondering if that meant he was a clan kid, before Naruto responded with a cheery wave and a,
"Yup! Ya heard about me, 'cause I'm the awesomest, right?" before Hinata shook her head, laughing.
The girl was looking up at Hinata and Naruto with stars in her eyes, gasping.
"You two are the heroes of the Shinobi War!" She said, "Oh my kami, I can't believe you're right here!"
Naruto's chest seemed to puff up, his grin widening, causing Hinata to respond to her.
"Don't boost his ego, it's big enough already," Causing Naruto to gasp, then shrug, still grinning, which he never seemed to stop doing.
"My Otou-san says he likes Hinata-san, but Naruto-san is too annoying and likes ramen too much. I think that Hinata-san is very pretty, and Naruto-san is a bit too enthusiastic."
As Hinata laughed, blushing at the praise slightly, Naruto folded his arms and grumbled, before asking, "Who's your Otou-san, then?"
At this the Hyuuga and the girl looked over to the boy who had a mischievous glint in his eyes that Hinata wasn't sure she liked, with wide-eyes, almost questioning.
Before she could properly ponder what that could mean, the boy replied, with an answer Hinata had definitely not been expecting.
"Kakashi Hatake."
Naruto's eyes bugged from his face, mouth open wide, and he looked like he was about to deny that he could possibly be Kakashi's son, but thought better of it after noticing the similar features. This didn't stop him, however, from letting out an enormous,
"What?!"
That Hinata was sure the whole of Konoha must have heard, so she sighed, and braced herself for what was going to be a long explanation from Kakashi-san.
Well, what she would make sure was a long explanation from Kakashi-san.
Kakashi was enjoying his last day of freedom, knowing his secret would not remain so for much longer, and, boy was he right, when he heard a distant, "What?!" which could only belong to Naruto.
He sighed, and looked at the masses of paperwork on his desk. There was no way he could focus on these now, and it turned out he wouldn't have to, as several minutes later there was suddenly an orange blur and there stood Naruto, Hinata, his son, and two other children in his office, a variation of expressions on their faces.
"Sensei! Explain!" Naruto demanded, a pout on his lips, his arms crossed, glancing from Kakashi to Haru in disbelief. Kakashi chuckled.
"I'm not your sensei anymore, Naruto."
"Just tell me!" He whined, so Kakashi, of course, decided to ignore him further, instead focusing on him son.
"Hiya, Haru," He greeted with a wave, knowing his son was enjoying this as much as he was. Haru grinned and walked to Kakashi's side.
"Yo, otou-san," He greeted with a wave, ignoring the more recent of Naruto's incredulous noises.
"Kakashi! You have a son?" He demanded. Kakashi noticed that Hinata seemed to be quietly demanding the same question from him.
"Yup. Meet Haruchiki Hatake."
"Why are you being so casual?! Look at how old he is! Why didn't you tell us?!"
"A-Ano, Kakashi-san, I agree with Naruto. Why have you kept this a secret?"
"Yeah, um. I didn't want him being put into danger during the shinobi wars. After they finished, I guess I just didn't know how to tell you. But- hey. I'm telling you now, right?" He answered, grinning under his mask at the end.
"…I understand. But still! These kids knew before I, your best student, did!"
Kakashi chuckled, and quickly examined the children he was speaking of. He had paid them little attention, but now he was curious as to who his little Haru had decided to make his friends.
They both seemed startled at their sudden mention. One was a Hyuuga, a Branch member. That was fine by him, as long as he wasn't like a younger Neji had been.
The other was a red-haired girl with unique clan markings. Ah. The anomaly. He remembered the fuss that had happened when she had been discovered. He didn't know her personality yet, but keeping an eye on her through Haru didn't seem like a bad plan.
And, hey, if Haru was happy, even better.
"…Wait…" Naruto muttered, "If you have a son, who's the mother?!"
Kakashi sighed. He had bought this upon himself, he supposed. But he couldn't feel anything but pity for himself as he recounted the tale of Yuri, or Lily, after all, he had only been protecting his son, right?
Karma, the voice in the back of his head said smugly.
Kakashi sighed again.
"Hiya! You're Hatake Kakashi, right?"
Kakashi turned around in irritation, and came face to face with a young re-haired girl, who was beaming at up at him with sparkling eyes.
"What's it to you?" He said in frustration, leaning against the tree behind him, arms folded. Why were his classmates so intent on talking to him? He had no interest in interacting with academy brats who only talked to him because of his father. He couldn't stand fangirls or, kami-forgive, fanboys.
"I'm Komatsu Yuri! Please be my friend!" She said, bouncing on her feet. Kakashi sighed internally.
"No." He answered bluntly, looking away from her in annoyance, expecting her to cry or just go away like the others had.
"Too bad! I'm gonna be your friend!" She replied stubbornly, her pouting face making its way once again into his field of view.
"Here! Have some of my bento!" And all of a sudden an onigiri was being shoved into his hands. His eyes narrowed.
"No." He said again. Why couldn't she just get the message? He expected her pout to return, yet all he saw was a glint in her eye, which confused him slightly.
"Eat it." She said in a different tone of voice from before, pushing his onigiri filled hand back to his body.
"Now. Please." Kakashi narrowed his eyes.
"No. Go away."
Her bright green eyes suddenly narrowed back, and she snarled, pushing him back into the tree.
"I have given you some of my bento, I've been polite, I've asked to be your friend, so you will eat the onigiri and you will. Be. My. Friend. Got it?"
Each word was accompanied by another shove, and the snarl on her face grew wider with every word. When she finished she stood back and her face completely changed back to how it had been earlier, and wide, childlike smile and happy eyes.
"…Uh," Was all he managed in bewilderment. Well, this girl seemed different from the others, at least. He would play along for a while, until she grew bored with him. Plus, that onigiri looked nice.
"Fine. But don't expect me to act like any of those other crybabys in our year. I don't like you, and if you get bored, don't expect me to care."
He then ate the onigiri, pulling down the mask he wore, before pulling it back up to chew. He didn't always wear his mask, but he liked to, since it made him feel more connected to his father.
"Great! I won't get bored, by the way. I never get bored."
"'Kashi! I'm bored!" Yuri wined, pulling at his arm. Kakashi sighed.
"Then you shouldn't have come here. You shouldn't be here, anyway. You're not part of my team, and you don't need to be here when I meet them."
Minato laughed, patting his arm, causing Kakashi to twitch in annoyance, before suggesting, "Let her wait until they get here. How about you train while you're waiting?"
At this Yuri perked up. "Yeah! 'Kashi, I need to practise for the chunin exams! I wanna pass this time, and you're already one, so you can help me!" She grinned cheekily.
"…Fine." He relented. He couldn't argue with both his sensei's and his best friend's dual smiling faces.
"I want to practise my new justsu, so help me with that, first." She requested, dragging him to stand next to her.
"It's the Dragon Flame Bomb. It's really hard to get right."
"Show me."
She did, standing back, going through the hand signs, shouting, "Katon: Karyu Endan!" Before taking in a lung full of air, and blowing out. There was a short flicker of a flame, and then nothing but a sullen Yuri.
"Show me the handsigns."
She went through them slowly, and at one of them Kakashi stopped her.
"This one's good, but you just need to extend the first fingers slightly, Here, like this," He showed her the movement slowly.
She copied it, and he nodded. "Good. The rest are fine, but you need to draw all your chakra to the same place, and imagine it how you want the fire. Watch me."
He flickered through the hand signs at lightning speed, spoke the jutsu, and when he breathed out, a long line of blue and white fire came along with it.
"See? Try again."
Yuri nodded in excitement, eager to try again. However, when she breathed out, the flame was only slightly bigger than her last one.
"Argh! I can't get it right!"
"Don't worry. You'll get it soon, you just need to practise your chakra control. It's well within your ability. Try again."
She tried a few times more, but only managed to get the flame a few centimetres longer. She looked close to tears after the twelfth try.
"Yuri, don't worry about it. You can use other jutsus. It's fine."
She smiled at him gratefully.
"Thanks, 'Kashi. You're a great friend." She whispered, before hugging him, tightly, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"I just hope you get a good genin team. Also, I lied. I don't have a day off, so I should probably go now." She grinned into his ear.
"See ya, 'Kashi, bye, Minato-sensei!" She yelled, waving at a bemused Minato and an exasperated Kakashi.
"Thanks for the help!"
Kakashi watched her go, before turning at the sound of genin voices, no doubt the teammates he was condemned to spend his time with.
He scowled. He only hoped they weren't as insufferable as he expected them to be.
"They're insufferable!" He complained to her, clenching his fist.
Yuri smiled knowingly.
"You've told me this many times, 'Kashi. Anyway, Rin-chan's not that bad, right? And Uchiha-sanis just enthusiastic."
"Rin is just another fangirl, and Obito is a terrible ninja, with a complete disregard for the ninja code and the most obvious crush on Rin."
"Like you know anything about crushes," Yuri teased, taking a bite of her Omurice.
"Even a blind man could tell. He blushes if she even looks in her direction. I don't understand how anyone can act or feel like that for another person," He complained.
For some reason, she blushed at his words. "Well, you know, it's, um, not that bad."
He suspiciously watched as she avoided looking in his eyes. Suddenly, it hit him.
"You have a crush on someone." He declared.
"What! N-No! No, I don't! Why would I- I, have a crush…?" she faded into mumbling.
"I don't know why. I don't care, either. As long as you're not as obnoxious about it as Obito is, I don't even care who it's on.
"I-okay. Okay. Thanks, Kakashi. You really are a good friend."
He felt his heart almost skip a beat at her thankful gaze, much to his surprise and confusion.
"…Yeah."
She grinned again, changing the atmosphere between them almost instantly.
"One day, you'll be glad to have him as a teammate."
"No way." He disagreed. No way.
"You will. You'll regret being mean to him."
He seriously doubted that.
"I wish I'd been kinder to him!" He practically sobbed into her arms. "I-I, he was the true hero. The true ninja! He died just because I was too selfish to help him!"
"That's not true!" She told him sharply, taking him into her arms. "You may have been dedicated to the ninja code, but that's the only way you knew! It wasn't your fault that that's how you coped with your father's death! Please, 'Kashi, it's not your fault!"
"I-I could have saved him! He was the right one all along, and now he's gone!"
"Kakashi! Please! It's not your fault! It's happened, and it's sad, and yes you didn't make the best decisions, but you went back to help, you tried, and that's all anyone can ask you to do!"
"Yuri. Yuri, I just can't help seeing it happen! I hate that it happened, and what if it were you? I wish I had just helped him to start off with?"
"Kakashi, please stop! I hate seeing you hurt!"
"Who cares? I thought I would prove myself better than my father, but I've done worse. He was the one right, all along."
"Kakashi, I care."
He looked up at her through tears, only to see her crying too. She sobbed, then grabbed his shoulders.
"Kakashi, I love you. I love you! I hate seeing like this! I hate it! And I love you!"
Kakashi could only gape.
"W-What? Since when?"
"Since forever! Kami, 'Kashi, I've loved you since we were genin!"
"I-I," the pain of Obito's death was still sharp in his mind, but the pain of seeing Yuri cry was slowly creeping up beside it.
"Don't cry. Please. I never wanted Obito to die, and I don't want you to cry! I- everything's just, why was I so stupid!"
Yuri shook her head, hands shaking as they made their way to his mask, which was where the hesitated, looking into his eyes, his old one, and a shining red sharingan.
"You are anything but stupid! Please!" her voice cracked, and her eyes looking up at him, almost for permission. His hands met hers and they slowly pulled down his mask.
They locked gazes, and Yuri's shaking fingers began to caress his previously hidden features in awe.
"C-Can I…?" She asked hesitantly. He didn't answer, only pressed his lips against hers.
He sat on her bed, holding back his tears. Why did everyone he cared about all leave him? She had been his friend since before he was even a genin.
She had been there throughout his life, when he needed her the most. And now she was gone. No word, no signs of any reason why. She had just disappeared.
Rin, Obito, and her. That night replayed in his mind over and over. Was it his fault? Why? Why?
His fists clenched. It was so quiet. He missed her. She had always been there, her grin, her red hair, her teasing tone, and her lips.
He missed her.
Of course, he missed Rin, too. He missed Obito. He regretted Obito more than he regreted anything else in his life.
But why did she have to disappear? They could have had so much more. He missed her.
So he did nothing to stop his tears.
And then there were warm arms wrapping him in a warm hug and then a voice that couldn't be because he hadn't heard it in so long.
"Yuri?"
"It's Lily now."
"His mother was Komatsu Yuri." He said plainly, gesturing for his son to sit next to him.
Hinata had not heard of that name before, and neither had Naruto, judging by his expression.
"Who?" He asked, quieter this time.
"She was a ninja alongside me, and my friend since childhood. She-She's no longer with us. She died a long time ago."
"I'm sorry," Hinata said, bowing her head respectfully. She couldn't begin to think how bad it must have been for him. If she was in his place, well, she wasn't sure she could take it if Naruto died.
"Me too." Naruto said, in a rare moment of maturity. He grabbed her hand, probably thinking along the same thought track as herself.
"It's okay. It was a long time ago." His voice was sad.
"…What was she like?" Hinata asked softly.
Kakashi was silent for a moment, and the tension in the room grew vastly, before he answered her question.
"She was beautiful. She was stubborn, though, but she was intelligent and she always knew what to say to me to make me feel better."
"…She sounds amazing," Hinata smiled, seeing Naruto nod in agreement.
"Thank you. Both." He nodded.
"Anyway. This is my son, Haru. Haru, these are my old students, Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata."
Haru nodded. "Hiya!" he smiled.
He suddenly seemed to remember something, and glanced at the two children who were awkwardly standing in the corner of the room.
"Oh! Otou-san! These are my new friends! Kaneko Nozomi and Hyuuga Hiroto! I met them today, and Aki is friends with them too."
"U-Um, hi?" The Hyuuga said, waving, but shaking slightly.
"Y-yeah. Hello." The Kaneko girl added.
Kakashi smiled through his mask. "Hello, you two. I'm sure my little Haru chose well."
"I'm not little!" Haru grumbled angrily, causing Hinata to laugh and Naruto to chuckle.
"Well, I'm glad we're all acquaintanced-"
"My eternal rival! What is this I hear about a son?"
Suddenly there was a flash of green and a white-toothed grin, and Might Gai was standing in the Hokage's office, accompanied by an eager Rock Lee.
"Have you been keeping something a secret from me for such a long time?!" He grinned, causing everyone in the room to look on in horror.
"Hi, brats, I guess you all found out, huh?"
"Anko-nee-chan!" Came the exited call of Haru.
"What's up?" She grinned.
Kakashi groaned. He guessed had brought this on himself.
Karma the voice said again.
I AM A HORROR! I am so sorry! I know I have no excuse, and you all can come at me with the pitchforks, because I deserve them! I know how horrid it can be to wait so long to have a fanfic updated. I am So. Sorry. I promise next time it will not be as long. I am a horror! But here! Please take this! Like I said, I am very sorry. I had writers block and I had laziness and a dash of the good ol' procrastination.I have had exams and options and stressful nights but I have also had time watching Buzzfeed at 3am in the morning so I have no excuse! I am so sorry! I am trash.
Anyway, this chapter has a lot of backstory, just because I wanted to explore Lily and Kakashi's relationship more. I know some of you don't like her for her James/Kakashi stuff, and I can understand, but overall she wasn't that bad, she just fell in love with two people, which many people do. I don't exuse cheating, but Lily did have her reasons.
Also, to Reithandina, Ayame does have a connection with the name Lily, but it means more of a flower in general, and means 'iris' literally. Yuri, however, is the direct translation for the name 'Lily'. I appreciate you reviewing, but I'm just letting you know! I'm really happy you took time to read my story.
About Hinata's sister in Chapter 2, I have been trying to change her name, but for some reason FF is not letting me edit it atm. It will be corrected as soon as I can correct it. Thank you to those who pointed it out!
Also, thank you to everyone who is still reading this, and to everyone who followed, favorited and reviewed. I'm so grateful you've taken time to read it. Hopefully the next chapter will be up sooner than the last! Once again, I'm sorry! :C
~Yuri Out~