Minato has just put a bite of rice in his mouth when a knocking resounds from the apartment's front door. He chances a glance at Kakashi. His student stares back at him over his untouched breakfast with raised brows. Minato sighs. Figures he can't foist off answering the door on him.
Getting up, he goes to open the door. When Minato does, he blinks with surprise. He doesn't recognize the tall brunet on the other side.
"Hello?" he says.
The man, a fellow shinobi, smiles and gives him a polite bow. "I am here to escort you to a training field for the day," he says.
"…Not Naruto?" asks Minato after a beat, barely concealing his disappointment as he does. Minato needs to be careful. No one is supposed to know he (or Kakashi) knows Naruto is Minato's son. Acting put-out because Naruto isn't going to be their sole guide in the future will clue in everyone he has gleaned far more than he should.
The shinobi's eyes soften ever so slightly. "In the afternoon he will bring you back here," he tells Minato.
"Oh," he replies. He smiles. That's good news. It means he will get to spend a little more time with him than just dinner. "Well," he says, stepping back and looking over at the table where Kakashi studies them. "We're—" he glances at Kakashi's dishes and gives a minute shake of his head. They are empty. "—I am still eating. Would you care to join us?"
He hesitates. "Sure," he replies as he steps into the apartment.
As the man takes a seat in one of the two empty chairs at the table, Kakashi pushes himself up from his kneeling position to meet the shinobi's sitting height. "What's your name?" he demands.
"Yamato," answers the shinobi without so much as a second of hesitation.
Kakashi scoffs. "No it's not," he argues as he falls back in his seat and crosses his arms.
Minato hisses, "Kakashi!"
Undeterred, Kakashi narrows his eyes at Yamato and demands, "Is that your real face?"
"It is," Yamato replies with an air of amusement building around him.
The boy tilts his head. "I know you in the future, don't I?"
Minato goes to the boy and clamps a hand over his masked-mouth. "Kakashi, stop it," he chides. As the boy tries to pry his fingers off, Minato apologizes to his fellow shinobi. "I'm sorry about him, Yamato." He yelps as he feels the boy's teeth pinch the flesh of his palm. Letting go of Kakashi, he grumbles, "He can be… Challenging."
"I'm aware," says Yamato, with a derisive snort.
Kakashi bounces forward at Yamato's reply and slaps his hands on the tabletop. "I do know you!"
The man gives a small nod. "You do."
Minato pulls Kakashi back to sit properly in his seat. The boy grumbles, but, thankfully, doesn't fight him again. "I'm very grateful you will be taking us to the training field today, Yamato, but…" he trails off.
The other shinobi gives him an expectant stare. "Yes, Namikaze?"
He wrinkles his nose at the formality from someone who is for all intents and purposes an equal right now. "Minato is fine, thank you," he tells Yamato. Once the man dips his chin in acquiesce, Minato asks, "To keep timelines intact shouldn't people who are not so familiar to Kakashi be the ones helping us?"
The man gives him an apologetic look. "Unfortunately, those who can be trusted with assisting and protecting you are all people you and Kakashi will someday know," he explains. Yamato then smirks at Kakashi. "Lady Tsunade believes it won't be as impactful as you might first believe. Yes, we will meet, but you do not know how or when. Nor what relationship we may someday have. As long as those things are kept private all should work out."
Minato absorbs Yamato's words. "Ah, I see…" he murmurs. He glances down at Kakashi who is pouting. He doesn't think the boy understands that for all of Yamato's talk of "we" he isn't referencing himself, Minato, and Kakashi, but Kakashi and Yamato alone.
It's not as painful as Minato expected. Probably because it shows his student still has some naivety about him. That's a big relief for Minato. Even though he's a kid, Kakashi hasn't been spared the horrors of the battlefields and, sometimes, he despairs over how little innocence the boy has compared to his contemporaries.
He moves away and towards the kitchen. "Here, let me get a cup for you to have tea with us," he says.
The man's gaze flickers to him before returning to Kakashi. "Thank you," returns Yamato.
As he steps into the next room, Minato rolls his eyes when Kakashi inquires, "What's your real name?"
Their fellow shinobi chuckles. "Yamato is as real as any others I have," he tells Minato's student.
"Hmph," grumbles Kakashi, and Minato can just picture the boy sinking into his chair until his back is parallel with the seat.
Minato comes back out with a small white ceramic cup and frowns at the glower he sees on Kakashi's face. "Stop making that face, would you?" he chides as he places the cup down on the table in front of the brunet. "Yamato is being kind enough to take us to a training field. Which I remind you was your request yesterday," he tells Kakashi while pouring tea into Yamato's cup.
Deliberately, Kakashi intensifies his look before curling up on his side in the chair and turning his back to them. Rebelling against Minato while heeding him at the same time. He rolls his eyes. What a contrary brat.
Minato sits back down and grunts, "Ergh." Yamato watches them both with fascination, periodically sipping his tea. Minato picks up his chopsticks to finish his breakfast, but before he starts to eat, he orders Kakashi, "Go get our stuff together if you're done."
The boy unfurls and sends him yet another annoyed scowl. "Fine!" he spits before leaving the room to get their packs from the bedroom.
"I'm really sorry about him again," says Minato to Yamato.
The man waves a hand. "It is quite all right," he assures. "I was warned, you could say," he comments with a private sort of smile on his face.
He blinks. "Oh," he murmurs. Minato looks over his shoulder and then finishes his rice. "I know I'm not supposed to know stuff about the future but," he starts, leaning closer to Yamato.
"Yes?" the other man prompts.
Minato worries at the inside of his lip. "Does he get better?" he whispers.
Yamato's expression twists with conflict. "He grows up," he says finally.
"…I'm not sure how to interpret that," mutters Minato after a beat, confused about how he should feel.
The brunet looks away. "However you like," he answers.
He sighs. "Right."
"I have everything," says Kakashi, appearing in the doorway between the bedroom and living area.
He offers the boy a thumbs up. "Great job," he praises.
Kakashi snorts.
Yamato clears his throat. "I am done if you are, Minato?"
"Yeah, I'm good," he says. He gets up and gathers the dishes. "Lemme just—" he murmurs before dashing off to dump them in the sink. "Okay!" he tells them, bright and determined when he returns to the living area to find Yamato and Kakashi waiting by the door. "We can go," he declares.
-O-
When they reach a training field on the outskirts of the village (which is beginning to look far less familiar the more he walks the streets), Yamato moves to step aside and leave him and Kakashi to it. However, before he can, Minato smiles at his fellow shinobi. "Train with us Yamato!" he says.
The brunet's expression turns unsure. "I don't believe that would be advisable," he remarks.
"No?" says Minato, crossing his arms and tilting his head. "Not even a taijutsu match?" he suggests.
Yamato's face grows contemplative. Finally, he nods. "If it's just taijutsu," he agrees.
Minato can't help but beam. "Great!"
Kakashi tugs on Yamato's vest which appears to actually startle the man as he steps back in response. Thankfully, Kakashi doesn't appear slighted by his reaction (in fact, Minato is pretty sure he sees the little boy's shoulders square out with pride). "D'you have kekkei genkai?" the boy asks.
Minato shakes his head in despair. Kakashi seems intent on ignoring the fact they are supposed to be learning as little as possible about the future. Why, he doesn't understand. But Minato often finds his young student to be frustratingly mystifying.
"Not exactly," hedges Yamato, an uneasy frown on his face.
Kakashi's eyes narrow. "You can do something powerful though?" he demands.
Minato steps in. "Stop, Kakashi," he scolds, pulling the boy away by the collar of his shirt. "You're making Yamato uncomfortable."
Yamato's face changes again and he reaches out to them, hand brushing over Minato's hold on Kakashi. "He's fine," he assures him. "It's not the worst interrogation I have received."
Reluctantly, Minato lets go of his student. "If you're sure…"
"I am," says the brunet. Then he crouches to Kakashi's height. "Yes, I can do very powerful things. However, I know you are old enough to understand I cannot show you," he tells the boy with a face that is creepily shadowed. "We cannot risk the timeline."
Minato resists stepping away and Kakashi pouts. "Fine," he sniffs. He side-eyes their fellow shinobi. "I can spar with you too, right?"
He smirks. "Yes," he agrees. "But you won't win."
Kakashi shrugs a shoulder. "Yeah," he says with a grudging acceptance. He crosses his arms. "What are you, a jonin like Minato?"
"Yes," answers Yamato before he stands back up.
"Good," declares Kakashi. "Don't go easy, I'm going to be a chūnin soon!"
Yamato's face softens ever so slightly. "That's impressive," he murmurs. He points towards his and Kakashi's packs. "Now, please go sit over there while your teacher and I spar."
Kakashi stomps one of his feet. "He gets to go first?"
"It is for your benefit," Yamato tells him. "You will have better odds when fighting me if you have a chance to observe me first and formulate a strategy."
Kakashi grumbles, "I guess."
Yamato nods at him. "Go on," he insists and Kakashi stalks off to sit down with their things. He then shifts his attention to Minato, feet pivoting into a ready stance. "Are you ready Minato?" he questions.
Minato, lighting-fast, moves into a fighting position. "Let's go," he agrees.
-O-
Minato narrowly misses a round-house kick to the face from Kakashi when a new presence enters the training field. "Whooh!" they, Naruto, hollers. "Good kick, Kakashi-Sen– Kakashi!" he praises as Kakashi lands in a crouch on the ground and Minato turns to look for Naruto.
He smiles when he sees his future-son standing beside Yamato. "Hey, Naruto," he says.
The blond grins. "How ya doin', Minato?" he asks.
"Not too bad," he answers. He gestures down to Kakashi. "Today has been productive — as you can tell," he remarks.
He nods "Yeah, sure looks like it," he agrees. He turns slightly towards Yamato. "You're good to go if you want, Yamato," he says.
The man exhales and his shoulders loosen. "Thank you, I think I will," he says. As he turns, he casts a reproving look over them all. "I trust you won't stray from the path back to the apartment?"
"No!" calls Minato, while Naruto shudders away from Yamato and Kakashi, grumbles at his hip. Once the man is gone, Minato turns to face his student fully. He's staring up at Minato with his usual intensity, hands slightly raised like he expects them to continue their training. He shakes his head. "Let's be done for the day," he says.
Kakashi positions his feet and, instinctually, Minato does the same. "One more time," he begs.
Minato tries to refuse. "Kakashi, no—" he begins only to be cut off abruptly by the boy launching himself at him. Minato dodges the first punch at his face with ease and grits his teeth. Damnit, why did he end up with the most stubborn student ever?
As he internally laments, Minato nearly misses that a kick is coming at him from the back of his head as he fights hand-to-hand with Kakashi. When he realizes it's coming, Minato reacts without much thought and grabs the foot of the real-Kakashi from behind him as he takes out the clone before him with a jab of a kunai-knife.
Once the clone is gone, he throws Kakashi to the ground in front of him. The boy lands in an odd heap, one knee catching beneath the weight of the rest of his body. Kakashi's eyes blow wide as he wheezes out a hiss of pain.
"Damnit," curses Minato, immediately falling to his knees next to his student. He uses gentle hands to pull Kakashi out of his sprawl and sits the kid down on his butt. Minato then promptly begins an inspection of his knee.
"Is he okay?" asks Naruto at Minato's shoulder.
Minato eyes his student who looks away as he manipulates his knee to check for how bad the damage is. Minato doesn't think it's seriously injured, but time will tell. "Yeah," he answers only to correct himself and tell Naruto, "I think so, anyway." He eyes the boy. "Right?"
"…Yes," mutters Kakashi as he tugs his leg away from Minato's prodding fingers.
He sighs. "This is why I said no!" Minato complains as he gets to his feet.
Slowly, Kakashi does the same. Minato doesn't bother to offer help (not yet, anyway, Kakashi is going to need to be carried back to the apartment). "Needed to do better," he grumbles.
"You could have," scolds Minato with crossed arms. "Tomorrow!"
The boy copies his crossed arms and turns his face away. "Hmph."
Naruto clears his throat from behind them. "So, uh, you guys need to pack up anything…?"
Swiftly, he scoops Kakashi off his feet and holds him under his arm. Thankfully, Kakashi doesn't struggle so much as twist a bit to be situated more comfortably. "Let me get our bag, but otherwise, we're fine," he tells Naruto who is staring at the way he holds his student. Minato adjusts Kakashi so he's staring the kid in the eyes. "Kakashi, I'm going to give you to Naruto."
The boy's eyes narrow into a glare. "I don't need to be carried!" he whines.
Minato rolls his eyes. "Fine, whatever," he tells the kid as he lowers him to the ground (when all he would really like to do is just drop him. If he did, though, he's sure he'll get scolded.) "If you collapse on the way back don't be mad at me if you break your face smashing into the ground."
Kakashi's glare turns into a sulky pout. "You suck," he complains.
Naruto gasps.
Minato, though, only snorts. "Yep. So you've said before," he says. He then walks away from Kakashi and Naruto to get his and his student's things. While picking them up, he takes his time and makes sure to breathe. He's annoyed but doesn't want it to affect the rest of their evening. The lecture can wait for a different time when Minato isn't trying to get to know his future-son. "We're ready," declares Minato with a smile after putting on the bag.
"Okay," says Naruto, returning his grin. He waves an arm for them to follow as he turns. "Let's go!"
-O-
Somehow, Kakashi makes it back to their temporary apartment without help. Minato is actually a little impressed. Even so, as soon as they are inside, he forces his student to sit down. "Rest while Naruto and I put together dinner," he tells the kid.
Kakashi looks up at him with disgruntlement but listens. Minato knows that's probably not a good sign. His student never listens to him, but he can't bring himself to care at the moment. With one last glare, he leaves Kakashi for the kitchen.
Naruto is already there, rummaging around in their cupboards. "Oh hey!" he exclaims. "There's eggplant," Naruto comments as he brings out the vegetable for Minato to see."It's great someone got this for you guys."
Minato blinks. He enjoys eggplant and thinks it's nice someone thought to give them a little more than staples to eat. However, he doesn't understand Naruto's enthusiasm. Does his future-son really like the vegetable? "Is it?"
Naruto frowns at Minato in confusion. "Yeah?" he says, sounding uncertain. "Is it not Kakashi's favorite?"
Minato bites the inside of his cheek. Ah. Someone added it to their groceries for Kakashi. Part of Minato thinks he should have been able to guess that. "He… likes eggplant?" he asks.
Naruto's expression changes again. "Ah," he replies with a sympathetic smile. "When he's older he does at least?"
"Oh," murmurs Minato as he goes to stand with him at the counter. Naruto seems to know a lot about Minato's student. Briefly, he recalls the way he stammered over Kakashi's name earlier. Now that he's giving it more thought, Minato is sure he almost called the boy "Kakashi-Sensei".
He hopes Kakashi treats his son better than him.
"What does he like right now?" questions Naruto.
Minato looks away. "I'm not sure," he stammers.
Naruto furrows his brows. "Huh?"
He sighs. There isn't a way around admitting to his failures as a teacher. "Learning anything about Kakashi is pulling teeth," he says while feeling the heat of shame flood across his cheeks.
Naruto nods. "Yeah…" he says, voice faraway. "He keeps to himself," agrees his future-son.
Minato wants to ask more, but refrains. He's not sure Naruto should tell him about his Kakashi-Sensei. It might mess with the future in front of him right now. Instead, he picks up the eggplant and asks, "Do you know how he likes it prepared at least?"
Naruto gapes at him before stuttering, "Oh, uh, grilled!"
He smiles at his fellow blond. "Then that's what we will do," he declares. "Thanks, Naruto.
"You're welcome Dad!" exclaims Naruto, beaming.
-O-
"Eggplant?" says Kakashi when Minato places the plate of grilled vegetable on the table.
He smiles at the boy while Naruto chuckles behind him. "Yep," Minato says. "A little birdie told me you like it grilled."
Kakashi stares at Naruto as the blond puts a bowl of miso soup and then rice in front of him. "Hm," he mutters before shifting in his seat. Minato and Naruto sit down too and start to eat. As they do, Minato watches out of the corner of his eyes as Kakashi leans over the table to serve himself some of the eggplant. The boy's shape tenses and he frowns.
"Is your knee bothering you a lot still?" he asks.
Eggplant between his chopsticks, Kakashi lowers himself back to his seat. "No," he answers quickly, easily.
Minato frowns and starts to wonder how to coax the truth out of his student without upsetting him in the process. However, before he can come up with a plan of action, Naruto barrels in with a sing-songy, "Liar, liar pants on fire."
Kakashi pins the other blond with a disgusted glare. "Nursery rhymes are for babies," he declares.
Naruto laughs. "You just don't like being called out, Kakashi," he teases.
The boy's disgusted glare grows assessing. "You sure do smile and joke a lot," he remarks. "Are you an idiot?"
Minato jumps to his feet. "Nope," he declares. "You are not going to talk to Naruto like that." Grabbing his student under the armpits, he lifts him from his seat and sets him on the floor. "You can eat alone in the bedroom," he tells the boy who stares up at Minato in pure disbelief.
Minato prods him with a finger. "Go," he commands.
The shock fades and is replaced by attitude. "Whatever," he grumbles before trudging off. Minato gathers Kakashi's food and follows. Once in the bedroom, he slides the door closed behind him and goes to Kakashi who has seated himself in a corner of it, knees drawn up to his chest. He sighs at the sight.
"I'll come get you when we're done," he promises. "In the meantime, do think about how you talk to people," he tells his students.
Kakashi refuses to look at Minato as he puts his dishes down by his feet. Minato hesitates to leave. He doesn't really want to leave Kakashi all alone, but he does need to learn acting like a jerk to others won't be tolerated by him. "I know this is all very frustrating," he murmurs. "But you can't take your feelings out on other people."
Kakashi still doesn't react.
Minato frowns. "This type of unbefitting behavior is why I am hesitant to let you take the Chūnin Exam," he explains and Kakashi finally looks up at him through his bangs. Minato runs a hand through his hair. "You act like this with teammates and… Well, most won't be willing to go out of their way to help you if you're in trouble."
Kakashi lowers his eyes again. Minato turns away, but before he opens the bedroom door, he asks, "Please eat, Kakashi. It's important for your health." With that, he returns to the table where Naruto waits.
The other blond's expression is leery as Minato sits down. He offers him a smile. "Sorry about that," he tells his future-son.
Naruto nods. "You know, I don't mind if he—"
"—I do," cuts in Minato. "I get that being insulted by a six-year-old probably is more laughable than upsetting for you, but that's not the case with everyone. He needs to know he can't act like that," he explains.
"Ah," says Naruto. "I guess that makes sense…" he pokes at his rice. "I have a teammate who's a medic-nin," he says, looking up from his dinner. "I could ask her to stop by tomorrow morning to look at Kakashi's knee, you know?"
Minato smiles. "That would be great, thank you, Naruto," he tells him.
The other blonde beams. "You're welcome!"
Thanks so much for reading and please let me know your thoughts!