Kakashi made his way up the wooden steps to the second floor of his house, followed by Rai. Kakashi walked into the Aizen's room, while Rai stopped in the doorway, leaning on the frame and crossing her arms.
When Kakashi entered, he saw his eldest sitting on the edge of his bed, hands clasped and looking down at the floor, with his legs dangling over the side. Aizen took a quick glance at the floor where his father was standing as recognition for him entering the room. Kakashi took in his son's state as he stood in front of him and looked down on the silver haired boy.
After several uncomfortable seconds for Aizen, waiting for his father to scold him, he heard his father sigh, "Aizen." Kakashi closed his eyes and dropped his head in disappointment. Aizen winced at his father's tone. "What happened?" He asked him, slightly demanding but softly. Aizen averted his eyes to a different section on the floor, away from in front of him. "Aizen," Kakashi said a little more sternly after his son tried to avoid his interrogation. Aizen bit his lower lip and winced at his name. Kakashi waited patiently, hands in his pants pockets staring at his son, monitoring him for any indication that he may speak. After a minute of watching his son fidget uncomfortably, he sighed. Kakashi took his hands out of his pockets and crouched down in front of his son, so Aizen had no choice but to have his father's face within his sight. Kakashi rested his elbows on his thighs as he balanced himself on the balls of his feet. "Aizen, what happened?" He asked again softly. "You can tell me." Aizen narrowed his eyes, starting to break under pressure. He closed his eyes and pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs. He finally spoke, only to mutter into his knees. It was mumbled and garbled. Kakashi perked up when he heard his son's voice. "What?" Kakashi asked once his son went silent.
"I got in a fight," Aizen mumbled a little louder, looking to a different spot on the floor over his knees. Kakashi waited for Aizen to continue.
"What happened?" Kakashi softly pushed again.
"I told you, I got into a fight," Aizen responded, tightening his arms around his legs.
"What caused the fight?" Kakashi clarified. "You know better than to get into a fight over-" Aizen suddenly shouted out, interrupting his father.
"I was getting bullied and got into a fight, okay!?" Aizen snapped.
"Aizen," Rai barked in a growl. Aizen's tense form relaxed a little after his mom reprimanded him. Kakashi glanced at Rai, who was still leaning on the door frame, listening in on their conversation. His quick glance was enough to reassure his wife that everything was going to be alright. Rai let out a silent breath through her nose and relaxed her shoulders slightly. Kakashi looked back to Aizen.
"Aizen, why didn't you tell us you were being bullied?" Kakashi questioned as he stood up and moved to sit next to his son, on his bed.
"It didn't bother me," Aizen told his father with a shrug.
"What were they doing?" Kakashi asked, leaning his elbows on his knees.
"Calling me names, making fun of me," Aizen listed nonchalantly with a shrug, as if it was no big deal. Kakashi and Rai stole a quick glance at one another before looking back to their son.
"What type of names?" Kakashi probed a little deeper.
"Dummy, stupid, things like that," Aizen shrugged again. He was saying this as if it was no big deal. After several seconds of silence, Aizen tightened his grip slightly around his legs and arms. "Then, they started to call me other things, like demon and monster." Aizen's voice grew slightly softer. Rai's eyes widened slightly upon hearing this, and then narrowed as she fisted her long sleeves on her biceps. She gritted her teeth.
How dare anyone call her son a monster! How dare they!
Kakashi's eyes narrowed in sudden anger at the words that came out of Aizen's mouth.
"They also threw things at me," Aizen looked up a little. "Paper, pencils, erasers, scrolls." Aizen listed. His eyes dropped and he fell silent.
"But that isn't what caused the fight, was it?" Kakashi questioned, seeing that his son didn't continue. Aizen fisted his sleeves. He slowly shook his head.
"They continued to tease me," Aizen told them quietly. "Then, they said something that made me snap." Aizen tightened his fists and gritted his teeth. "They called mom a monster and I lost it." Kakashi's eyes widened slightly before narrowing in anger. He turned and leaned on his knees, folding his hands in front of his mouth.
Kakashi didn't know what to say, right now he was trying to calm his anger and clear his mind. He couldn't stand to hear this, people talking bad about his family, let alone his wife and child. He placed his head in his hands and dragged them down his face. He let a breath out through his nose before he turned to look back at his son, sitting on his left.
"He told me that his father said 'mom is a monster and a demon'," Aizen continued. "And that if my mom is a monster, then I am a monster. Cause monsters give birth to monsters."
Rai couldn't stand hearing this anymore and turned to lean her back along the wall outside Aizen's door in the hall. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing to calm herself. This didn't go unnoticed by Kakashi.
"He didn't like that I turned away from him," Aizen continued. Kakashi looked to his son after he watched Rai disappear from the doorway. "He yelled at me and grabbed my shoulder. He forced me to face him. I told him to buzz off." Aizen paused for a second. "He then threw a punch at me, after that, it's kind of a blur."
Kakashi sat next to his son, thinking carefully of what he could say. "You know both your mother and I do not condone violence against teammates or comrades. You're in trouble for that, but not in as much trouble as you would be if you started it." Kakashi explained to his small look alike. Aizen just nodded. "Your mother and I will discuss your punishment later." Kakashi paused for several seconds. "You did good, trying to walk away from the situation. But why didn't you get any help?"
Aizen responded almost immediately. "Iruka-sensei is the only one who listens to me. All the other sensei won't listen to me."
"What about your friends?" Kakashi asked his son. "What about Mirai and Souji?"
"They tried to stop them and get the attention of the other sensei," Aizen explained to his father. "Mirai ran to get Iruka-sensei, by the time he got there, it was over and Takimaru was on the ground." Aizen placed his chin on his knees. "I remember Iruka-sensei grabbing my shoulder after Takimaru tried to punch me." Kakashi let out a sigh through his nose and closed his eyes, turning to face forward. "Why did they have to be so mean?" Aizen asked his father. Kakashi opened his eyes, still facing forward. "Why did he call momma such a mean name?" Aizen tightened his fists. "I don't understand, dad."
"Sometimes, people are just mean." Kakashi explained as he sat back.
"But they didn't need to call mom a monster!" Aizen stressed to his father. Kakashi sighed. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees again, looking at his son.
"I understand why you wanted to protect your mother," He turned and looked at his son next to him. Kakashi knew very well how badly his son wanted to protect his beloved mother. All he could remind himself was that this was a kid saying these things and the brat was lucky he wasn't present. Kakashi closed his eyes and let out a breath, letting out his anger. "I want to protect your mother, too. However, we have to realize, that not all battles are battles that we can fight. We cannot change people's opinions about others, no matter how hard we try. And some battles have to be fought alone. This is one of those battles where we are stuck on the sidelines and, unfortunately, cannot do anything, even though we desperately want to." Kakashi paused for a minute, letting his advice sink into his son. "Aizen," Kakashi stated to him. "You may not know this, but your mother is very strong," He paused slightly, "and brave." He looked up at the ceiling. "She has been through a lot in her life, made many sacrifices to be here, and has had to deal with many tragedies." Kakashi had a small smile spread across his face as he recalled fond memories of himself with Rai. "Someone calling her names doesn't bother her as much as you believe." He was speaking for himself more than Rai. Kakashi knew that every once in a while, name calling would strike a nerve with her and she would go off on a tangent. "She's stronger than what you give her credit for." Kakashi smiled at his son. "She didn't make ANBU for nothing." Aizen finally turned and looked into his father's dark grey eyes for the first time. "So, I want you to promise me something." Aizen blinked, waiting for his father to finish. "When someone starts to bother you, tell Iruka-sensei immediately. Don't let name calling get to you." Kakashi paused, "They're just trying to bring you down because they don't feel confident about themselves. So, stick with your friends and the ones that make you the happiest, okay?" Kakashi closed his eyes and smiled at his son.
"Hai," Aizen stated with a firm nod to his father.
"That's my boy," Kakashi praised as he reached out and placed his hand on Aizen's head, much like he would do with Rai. Aizen closed his eyes and smiled. Kakashi opened his eyes and could see Rai in his son's smiling face at the small affectionate gesture. "Now, I want you to think about what you did wrong," Kakashi told his son as he stood up. "For now, you are grounded and you are to stay in your room until dinner. By then, your mother and I will have decided what your punishment is." Kakashi ordered his son before he began to leave the room. Kakashi grabbed the door knob as he walked out the doorway and closed it behind him. He stopped just outside the door and turned to look at his wife who was still leaning against the wall outside their son's room.
Rai stood there, leaning against the wall for support, her arms crossed and head hung with her long brown hair shielding her face from the sides. Kakashi didn't need to see her face to know that she was crying. He reached out with his left hand and placed it on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. He rubbed her shoulders as she stood up from the wall and turned to face him, head still down, and walked into his embrace. He rubbed her back, soothingly as he wrapped his other arm around her waist. She began to silently sob into his chest as he tucked her head under his and rested his cheek on her crown.
He knew what was going through her mind. He knew she was blaming herself for Aizen's actions and what happened to her son. She was beating herself up on the inside for being a 'horrible parent'.
"You did everything you could," Kakashi muttered softly to her. "You couldn't prevent this from happening. We knew it was going to happen one of these days, we just didn't know when." Kakashi explained in a soft tone. He started to rock her gently. "You're a wonderful mother and wife. I am blessed to have such a wonderful family. You don't know how lucky I am." Kakashi kissed her head. "I'm so proud of you, Rai." He praised his wife as he felt her sobs slowly cease. "I love you," he said before kissing her head again. He pulled back and kissed her forehead before placing his against hers.
Rai, shyly ducked her head, so her husband didn't see her face as she was crying. She buried her head in the crook of his neck. How long they stood there, they didn't know, but were interrupted by the babbling of their youngest. Both adults turned to look at the room where the sounds were coming from.
"Why don't you go check on her and I'll start to get dinner ready," Kakashi told her.
"Hmm," Rai hummed to her husband before she leaned her head back on his shoulder.
Kakashi chuckled slightly at Rai's cute attempts to avoid leaving his arms, "Come on." He said and shifted, causing Rai to lean back and straighten her stance. He gave her bottom a firm but gentle swat to motion to her to get a move on. Rai made a little yelp at the impact and jumped slightly.
"Kashi!" She scolded playfully. All Kakashi could do was grin as he quickly turned and made his way down the steps to avoid his wife's wrath.