They drop by Konan, Yahiko and Nagato's fund raising festival like promised.
They were in babysitting detail today, with a whole fucking entourage of kids. Thank fuck they managed to also recruit Itachi and Shisui to help them or Obito was gonna jump out of a window or something. The two Uchiha teenagers were doing alright in taming Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura, leaving Obito and Kakashi only with the supervision and paying for stuff roles, which in turn left a lot of time for Obito to enjoy their date. Whatever Kakashi called this, Obito didn't care and was gonna call it a date, no matter if they were surrounded by two angst emo boys and three little demons.
Thankfully the senseis from the dojo didn't need help to arrange things for the festival, but Kakashi was on call in case there were too many kids and they required any assistance. This left more Kakashi for Obito to enjoy too. They ate takoyaki and watched the kids trying their hands on the game stands around.
"This reminds me of our first date." Kakashi murmured in a timid low voice, if Obito wasn't paying attention to him 24/7 he might have missed it.
"First date?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"The festival in Shibuya? We ate Takoyaki there too." Kakashi looked a bit embarrassed for having to explain or for even starting the subject but Obito wasn't gonna let him drop it that easy.
"Oh pretty face, we're counting retroactively now?" He teased his boyfriend who only gave him his signature eye roll.
"Idiot."
"Don't you think our first date then should be that time with fried chicken in my place?" Obito smiled at his pretty, petty boyfriend and that mellowed him a bit.
"Do you think so?"
"Oi, Kakashi really came with boss!"
Obito turned his gaze up to see Kisame walking around with two kids with white hair, and he had to wonder if they were albino like Kakashi.
"Hey Kisame, what's up?" Obito greeted him with a tap on the back.
"Fine, fine, hey Kakashi."
"Yo." Kakashi waved at the bouncer with two fingers. "Are these your nephews?"
"Oh yeah, guys, these are Mangetsu, he's 10, and Suigetsu the little one, he's 8."
"Oi, I'm not little!"
"Reminds me of someone, I wonder who." Kakashi muttered to Obito and he chuckled, because he also remembered of Naruto's brattiness.
"What about you guys? Do you have five children now?"
"Nah, they're my cousins."
"And my borrowed nephews and niece." Kakashi complemented for him.
"I thought you were already adopting, now that you're in a serious relationship."
"We still have a few steps before that Kisame-chan."
"Hey, you brats, go play with the kids over there, c'mon!" Kisame swatted his nephews away in the direction of Naruto and company. "Oh yeah, and what is that next step, Kakashi? More dogs?"
"Oi, there's nothing wrong with four legged children, ok?" Kakashi got defensive at Kisame's teasing and Obito thought it was cute.
"We should at least start living together first, right Kakashi?" Obito teased Kakashi too, because that was his favorite hobby, but the white-haired man turned to look at him with a strange look on his face.
"Living… together…" He echoed dumbly, only making Kisame laugh harder.
"I see I don't need to worry about you two. You're both morons, but you'll get things right. Eventually."
"Fuck off Kisame! I'm a moron but I'm your boss!"
"Yeah, yeah, of course, I'll see if my real boss, Nagato, needs any help. He gets stressed during the events, you know, too many people talking to him."
"Nagato's too introvert for his own good sometimes." Kakashi agreed easily.
"Alright, could you keep an eye on the kids for me? Just leave them at the martial arts stand and they'll be fine."
"No worries, we'll take care of them Kisame." Kakashi confirmed but Obito groaned.
"Lazy ass!" He shouted at Kisame's back while the bouncer left them alone.
"Shit, they move too fast." Kakashi said with his eyes trained on the five kids and two teenagers.
"Jesus fuck imagine actually having seven kids. I'd die before forty." Obito complained.
"It's only busy going out, just like with the dogs, but at home I bet it's not too hard."
"Kakashi, my love, you know I like your dogs, but you really shouldn't keep comparing them to human children."
"Why not?" Kakashi forgot the kids an turned an annoyed look at Obito.
"You know there are some differences, right? Please tell me you know that."
Obito then heard a boasting resounding laughter that he'd know anywhere interrupting them. He turned in the direction of the sound and sure enough there was Jiraya sitting in one of the tables with some sake on his hand.
"Oi, Jiraya!" Obito shouted and waved at him.
"Oh, hey! It's Obito! How's…" Jiraya stopped talking when they got closer, and he was staring at Kakashi with his mouth hanging open, completely shocked. "Sakumo? I mean… you're Sakumo's kid."
"Wait you know Kakashi?" Obito turned to look at his boyfriend and he seemed a bit tense at the situation, as he usually was, when talking about his father. He thought they never met in person, only that Kakashi has heard of Jiraya in the cop circles.
"Wow… last time I saw you, you were just a boy, how many years has it been?" Jiraya was still looking at him dazed.
"Maybe twenty years, Jiraya-san." Kakashi answered with a polite smile, but it was one of those that didn't reach his eyes, Obito could tell right away.
"It's like seeing a ghost… holy- my god." Jiraya's eyes watered a bit and Obito was shocked at that, not much could make the man crack like this. "You're the splitting image of him."
"I know…" Kakashi said with more than a tinge of sadness in his voice.
"Wow, your hair, your eyes… and the mask, why…?"
"I have a bad cold today, Jiraya-san. You wouldn't want me spreading the new pandemic around, right?" Kakashi's hand darted to his mask making sure it was correctly covering his face.
"Sorry, of course, I'm just shocked, that's all. Minato-kun and Tsunade told me you were in the force, but they never told me how much you look like Sakumo."
"My father always joked the Hatake genes are too strong." Obito watched the exchange in silence. He knew Kakashi didn't like talking about his father to strangers, but he was making an effort to grow used to talking about Sakumo to his close people. He seemed to be doing alright in the conversation, but at the smallest sign of discomfort he was ready to change topics.
"When did you go to the Academy? It looks like I quit the force before you enrolled." Jiraya asked still looking a bit dazed with Kakashi's appearance. Maybe Sakumo had been a very good friend for them.
"Yes, Obito tells me you left when I was around 23 or 24, I was still in the academy."
"That sounds a bit older than usual."
"I spent four years in the military."
"Oh, it makes sense. And how did you meet Obito? Was it Minato-kun?"
"Yeah, uncle Minato introduced us." Obito chimed in hoping to change to safer topics. He didn't want Jiraya asking about Kakashi's time in ANBU, or he'd get a bit depressed at that. He also didn't want Kakashi telling anything about their mission with Orochimaru, or Jiraya would surely get depressed too because of his former colleague. "Jiraya, Kakashi is my boyfriend, the one I told you about, who likes erotica?"
"You're kidding me! You're dating Sakumo's kid? What's this? The gay community in Tokyo is this small?!" Jiraya slapped his knee laughing hard. Obito knew he was gonna get laughed at, specially with Jiraya calling him a fucking coward the last time they met.
"Shut up Jiraya." Obito sighed.
"The world sure turns around. C'mon sit down kids, I want talk to you then."
Obito checked the kids, and they were all with Inoichi and Choza from the dojo, already making friends with Ino, Choji and Shikamaru too, he guessed they could spare sometime. He grabbed a chair and sat down as Kakashi did the same.
"Kakashi, Jiraya is the cop that helped us create the case against, well, I'm not legally allowed to say it, but you-know-who, he helped us cut a deal with the prosecutors office, he's the one that took Nagato, Yahiko and Konan off the streets and… drum roll please?" He teased, looking at Jiraya who was drumming his fingers on the table with a knowing smile.
"Shit, there's more?" Kakashi asked after the already long resumé.
"He's also the author of Icha-Icha Paradise."
Obito could tell by the way the mask moved that Kakashi's jaw was hanging open and was like that for some long seconds. If it wasn't for the mask, a fly would have landed inside his mouth.
"Shut up." Kakashi's monotone voice made Jiraya crack up.
"I'm dead serious."
"Obito, if you're joking with me, I'm going to break up with you, then kill you, then burn your body, then-"
"My pen name is Ero Sanin, but yes Kakashi-kun, I wrote Icha-Icha." Jiraya helpfully informed after he got his laughter under control by drinking some more sake.
"Oh my fucking god holy fucking hell Jesus fuck fucking fuck shit crap goddamn fuck." That was the most Obito ever heard Kakashi cursing and after that there were only high pitched squeals while he bounced on his chair.
"Ero Sanin-sensei, could you please give me an autograph?" A cheap worn-out paperback copy of a pink Icha-Icha edition materialized in Kakashi's hand out of thin air, just like it always did when he felt bored.
"It would be an honor. To think that you are a fan."
"Oh Jiraya, he's obsessed, trust me." Obito snorted.
"Who wouldn't be obsessed with the greatest series of romantic erotica of all time?"
"Please, Kakashi, that's pushing it a bit. Here it is." Jiraya laughed giving him back his book.
"Thank you so much Ero Sanin-sensei, I'll frame this." Kakashi said in all seriousness.
"Please don't, I'll write as many autographs as you want me to. It's the least I could do for Sakumo's kid. And call me Jiraya."
"But Jiraya-san!"
"I bet your father wouldn't approve of your tastes, uh kid? He always said I could become a serious author if I wanted."
"As if Icha-Icha is not serious!" Kakashi scoffed and Obito wanted to punch the both of them. "I started reading romantic books when I was fifteen, and my father already judged me for it. I didn't find Icha-Icha until much later."
"Yeah, I only published it after leaving the police, though I've been making rough drafts for years. Sometimes I'd ask for Sakumo's opinions, since he was so well read, but he'd always criticize my choice of subject."
"Obito is the same. Trying to make me read the classics or some shit." Kakashi rested his chin on his hand and rolled his eyes on his boyfriend's antics.
"Oi! It's your fault you have trash taste!"
"This is so nostalgic! Sakumo also called it trashy taste, you two would've hit it off." Jiraya laughed while serving sake for the both of them.
Conversation flowed easily between them. No more sad topics, every time Kakashi's father was mentioned he seemed actually happier with learning about Sakumo from another person, than sad with grief. Both him and Obito kept checking on the kids, glancing to the improvised tatami installed on the sidewalk, where they were all rolling around trying to land some moves. Eventually people started dropping by the table and leaving, Kisame, Konan and Nagato dropped by. It seemed like Yahiko was too busy and would catch up after the festival. They were interrupted a few times by cute grannies from around the neighborhood, exclaiming "Obito-kun!" and "who's this handsome man you brought with you today?" and Kakashi smiled at them making them melt on spot. To be fair, Obito often melts with Kakashi's smiles too, so he wasn't upset with the grannies. The sun was setting as they got through carafes of sake, more portions of takoyaki and nostalgic topics.
"C'mon everybody, we need to get back home!"
"Noooooo!" Was the collective cry of their hoard of children. Really when did they become the official babysitters of the entire fucking festival? Now even Ino, Shikamaru and Choji were walking with him and Kakashi.
"Jesus Christ, we need to get everybody back."
"I feel like one of those yellow american school buses, you know?"
They started going around the festival disposing of some of the kids under their care. They waved Jiraya goodbye to go to Inoichi and Choza to leave the Ino-Shika-Cho trio with them, about which Sakura and Ino complained and cried nonstop. After that they left Mangetsu and Suigetsu with Kisame who was talking to Nagato, and the little one told Sasuke that they should meet to play again, he needed to introduce him to his friends Karin and Jugo, they had a lot of stuff to do together. At the subway station they parted with Shisui who took Itachi and Sasuke home to aunt Miko. Lastly, they dropped Naruto and Sakura off at uncle Minato and Kushina-nee's home, who of course invited them in for dinner, to which they politely declined, both men already tired from a whole day of social interactions.
They took the train back to Kakashi's place at the very last, and Obito sighed feeling relieved of being home. They were lounging on the couch and the floor, Kakashi's dogs all plopped around them while they checked their phones and petted the kids.
"Sorry I forgot to mention Jiraya was gonna be around, I didn't know that-" Obito started a bit out of the blue, but he wanted to apologize for not giving Kakashi a heads up about Jiraya.
"It's ok, I know it's hard talking about this stuff even when you don't have a non-disclosure agreement, imagine with the threat of going back to prison hovering over your head." Kakashi smiled easily at him.
"So, was he close to your old man?" Obito asked tentatively, but Kakashi seemed ok with the topic.
"Yes, my father was friends with Tsunade-san, Jiraya-san and even Orochimaru before he decided to turn evil or whatever he is today. But I guess my father's death impacted them more than I had imagined."
"Oh… it makes sense…" Obito nodded, the next question he had was a bit trickier. "I… you know, I kinda was ok with not asking but… is that… related to the… you know, the mask? Somehow?"
Kakashi remained in silence for long moments, so long Obito thought his recently acquired boyfriend was already mad at him and on the brink of a breakup. Why did he ask about the stupid mask? He's been with Kakashi for almost six months, and he never asked, he was resigned with the mystery, why-
"I… After my father died… I look a lot like him… I… sorry I never told this to anyone before." Obito saw a multitude of feelings cross Kakashi's bare face, as the man brought one of his hands to cover it instinctively, probably feeling exposed, and Obito felt bad for putting him on the spotlight like this.
"You don't need to, really. I don't mind if you keep wearing a mask for the rest of your life and never tell me." Obito said trying to convey his certainty to Kakashi.
"Idiot."
"I mean it though." Obito smiled warmly, trying to make Kakashi feel at ease. His expression didn't lightened up, but his voice seemed a bit more firm when he started talking again after a while.
"I want to tell you, it's just… hard. Not even Tenzo and Yugao know. I really look like him and I was… feeling guilty after he killed himself, I couldn't stand myself… I didn't like looking at mirrors, I covered or smashed all mirrors at home, I… but then I'd still see myself in reflections outside my house, or… people would say I looked like him and I couldn't take it, only the mask helped me carry on living with some level of normality. Sorry."
"You apologize for a lot of stupid shit, did I ever tell you that?" Obito try to wave the tension away, it worked partially.
"Yes." Kakashi chuckled with a sad smile.
"You could have told me it was just to make you look cool, you know? I would have accepted it."
"Idiot." Kakashi repeated and this time there was that classic Kakashi eye roll that Obito loved so much.
"That's why… thanks. For trusting me. I know it's hard talking."
"It's hard." Kakashi echoed and nodded.
"I love you. I'll try to be someone you can trust. I'll try to be better. For you." Obito felt like an idiot spilling this nonsense, but it was true. He wanted Kakashi to be able to let go with him, just like he did for Obito.
"Shut up. If you get any better, you're going to leave me." Kakashi smiled, and there was a bit of anxiety in his voice, that Obito thought it was cute. Was he a bad person? Of course he didn't want his boyfriend to feel anxious, but he still looked cute like that.
"Oh no Mr. Handsome Cop, you're stuck with me forever! I'm a curse!" Obito jumped on top of Kakashi on the couch and planted a kiss square on his lips, to which Kakashi smiled openly, making his heart flutter.