Teuchi was an old man, by shinobi standards, something that his body liked to remind him a lot of when he went about his day. The aches and pains of old age were never pleasant, and some days were better than others. His wrists ached, his knees always popped whenever he got up too fast, and Kami forbid he actually stay up late or drink like he used to, because his body reminded him that those things were for young men, not people in their forties.
And yet, here he was, sipping his first drink still as Kakashi was on his sixth, the young man looking like he wasn't sure what to do with himself. In truth, Teuchi would have been the same himself in his twenties.
But time has a way of rubbing against your pride and insecurities. The things you fear and regret in your twenties are very different from the things you fear and regret in your forties.
"I failed her, Teuchi. I failed her, my sensei, and her daughter. I should've been here, not out there." Kakashi said quietly, his voice flat.
Teuchi said nothing, merely nursing his first drink as he sat there quietly. A young man like Kakashi had a lot of people who told him what to do, what to think, how to act.
Teuchi had long since learned that sometimes what people needed most was someone just willing to sit and listen. To feel heard, regardless of how right or wrong their thoughts were.
"She looked so thin, so tired." Kakashi whispered, his eye glazed over. "She looked closer to 10, not 14. Her bedroom was something I'd expect from an ANBU member, not a child. The same single outfit bought multiple times. No toys. A single picture of her and the Third buried under a floorboard in a corner under the desk to avoid getting found or damaged in case of a search... or a bomb. No books."
Kakashi took a long raspy breath, and downed the rest of his sixth cup, waving at the bartender for another.
The bartender nodded silently. The "After-work Bar" was strictly for Jonin and higher for a reason.
"She could barely read. I dropped off 'The Tale of the Gutsy Ninja', since I wasn't sure if she just wasn't interested in reading. I found her not even an hour later, struggling to sound out the words, trying to understand them."
Kakashi barely bat his eye as a seventh cup of alcohol was placed in his hand as he took another swig.
"I was so close to going rogue that day, Teuchi. I was so close to just losing it, slaughtering them all, and dying trying to make up for what they did to her. But, she smiled. She thanked me. She didn't see me, but she said thank you to the empty room because "my grandfather always said to thank Kami for the blessings, great and small"."
Kakashi looked at Teuchi, tears falling silently from his single regular eye. His voice rough and raspy as he continued.
"I told the Third Hokage. Everything I saw. That statement alone reminded me that, no, I wasn't the only one who would be horrified, infuriated, by how his daughter was treated."
Kakashi wiped his face of his tears, returning to his drink, whispering with a dark satisfaction.
"We got most of them back for what they did. It was, I wouldn't say fun, but..." Kakashi struggled to find a word to say.
"It was justice done." Teuchi said lowly, sipping from his cup.
"Kakashi, I left the service. I retired to take care of my daughter after my wife died at the tail end of the Third Shinobi War. Kushina was a second daughter to me. Do you have any idea how hard it was to not put on my Ninja gear when I saw how scared and hungry my grand daughter looked?" Teuchi asked quietly.
"No, but I can imagine it was quite difficult." Kakashi responded roughly.
"Quite. There is a reason why the Third Hokage never called me back into service when Minato and Kushina died: I am too old. War is a young man's battlefield."
Teuchi sighed. "Kakashi, what would you do if Minato was here?"
Kakashi immediately responded. "Punch him in the face for abandoning Naruko to this shitty village."
Teuchi laughed dryly for a moment. "And then?"
"Hug him and tell him I missed him." Kakashi's voice was even quieter with that response.
"We all fuck up, Kakashi. All of us. The older you get, the more you realize it's not the fuck ups that matter; it's how you get back up and do better next time that matters more. Stop living in the past: it's the present that needs you more." Teuchi said simply, finishing his drink.
"Easier said than done, Teuchi. But, I'll try. For Naruko." Teuchi nodded with approval.
"Good. Now I need to get home. My body will hate me for this tomorrow. And, do give my regards to Might Guy and Anko when you see them."
Kakashi nodded. "Will do."
Teuchi nodded to him back as he left the bar.
It's a shame he couldn't tell Kakashi he never actually retired, but the less that knew the better.
After all, not many knew that old Teuchi from the ramen stand had once been the S-ranked Teuchi Senju, the Butcher.
Man, those were the days. Everyone overlooks that I have the chakra reserves of a civilian, yet the strength and precision equal to my grandfather Tobirama Senju. I wonder how many ever realized that I'm wearing chakra suppressors. Not that Danzo would squeal: he knows better after what I did to his limbs and to his 'ambush'..
Really, did he think he could just jump me with fifteen Root shinobi and himself? Fool. And to think I left him alive at the Third's request. Looks like he still has that limp though. Those limbs and nerves just don't heal like they used to, eh Danzo?
Twenty years later, still got it.