A/N I have been dying to post this chapter since I wrote it, it is definitely one of my favorite.

Chapter 10

The Flying Raijin

The sound of men laughing together filled the house, bringing a smile to Sakura's lips from where she stood over crackling oil in the kitchen. Ume and Kizashi were joining them for dinner and her father had brought a few bottles of saké. Currently, he was entertaining his hosts with rice wine and a story about one of the local magistrates. Sakura was unsure of the story's authenticity, but Kizashi had apparently always been quite the story teller.

Ume, who positively adored Kakashi-kun, was helping them with the meal. She had been unsurprised to discover how much he liked learning new things, even if it had nothing to do with improving his shinobi skills. Earlier that afternoon, he had eagerly led Sakura around the market, choosing vegetables, shrimp and squid for the tempura, making sure to get extra eggplant. He also seemed to enjoy her grandmother's doting attention, his mask unable to hide the proud grin as she praised his knife work.

"Perfect, Kakashi-kun. I had no idea that skill with a kunai translated so well to the kitchen. Now, the eggplant has a lot of water in it, so in order to make sure it fries properly, you should slice half of each piece several times again like a fan, see?"

He nodded and set to work on his stack of eggplant, not distracted by Ume's affectionate ruffle of his hair. Chuckling to herself, Sakura carefully dropped the squash blossoms she'd just dredged in batter into the oil, counting the seconds in her head and scooping them out and dropping them with the others.

"Those look good." Kakashi came up beside her, leaning in close to pluck one of the fried flowers up from the paper towel.

"Wait! They're—" He hissed, almost dropping the thing, catching it in his other hand. "Hot…"

"Of course they are." He ducked so that his face was hidden beside her head, quickly tugging his mask down and popping it in his mouth. Humming as he crunched, his eyes met hers, swimming with a warm mirth that set girlish butterflies loose in her stomach. "Perfect."

It was a fool's errand attempting to hide her blush. She could only hope he assumed it was brought on by the heat of the frying oil, not her body reacting to him. "Um… Good, good."

He glanced around her to observe Kakashi-kun's growing pile of sliced eggplant, his entire body far too close to hers. His hand grazed the small of her back and she had to physically bite back a gasp. Your grandmother is watching. You're married, remember? Get a hold of yourself, Sakura! It's not like he grabbed your ass!

She almost wished he had.

"Here, Ayame. Do these next." He handed her two slices of eggplant.

Blinking away images of him groping her through her skirt, she focused on the vegetables two inches from her face. "Tch. Greedy. Go and wait until we're done."

His head tipped to the side, his shaggy hair falling across his face. Gods, he has to be aware of how damn charming that is. "Please? They're not both for me, one's for the kid."

On her other side, the kid tore his eyes away from his cutting board. "I can wait, Me-chan." His childish voice was laced with condescension, causing Kakashi to snort and mutter something about 'kiss asses,' earning himself a swat.

"You leave him alone, Karasu-san." Ume brandished her towel at him, amusement dancing all over her face despite the chastising words. "Kakashi-kun is a perfectly sweet young man with lovely manners." Sakura started to laugh, but her grandmother laid a hand on her shoulder. "Fry the eggplant for your husband, dear."

She scoffed, but the older woman only shrugged. "They're so terribly easy to please, why make things unnecessarily difficult?" A wicked smirk lit her brown eyes and she covered Kakashi-kun's ears.

"Hey—"

"A good husband only really needs two things to feel appreciated and the kitchen is a bit crowded for love making at the moment, dear."

Her eyes nearly bulged from her head. "Obasan!"

Beside her, Kakashi was choking on the second fried flower he'd pilfered.

Ume's voice was a light, sing-song as she went back to preparing the sauces. "Fry the eggplant, dear."

Letting out an embarrassed sigh and utterly incapable of looking at him, Sakura held out her hand in his general direction. He placed them in her palm without another word, the tips of his fingers brushing her skin as he did so. She quickly did as she had been told. Dropping the sizzling eggplant tempura on the paper towel for him to eat at his leisure, she focused perhaps a little too hard on the bits of squid that were next.

"Thank you, Ayame." His calloused fingers brushed the hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear so she could see his eyes closed in a smile before he claimed his prize and left them to it.

She wanted to melt into a puddle on the floor, both from embarrassment and the intense sweetness of his soft touch.

Instead, she fried squid. And shrimp and asparagus, and shitake, and lotus root, and so much eggplant. All the while trying not to think about her grandmother's advice.

Kakashi was fairly positive he wouldn't ever be able to watch Sakura in the kitchen the same way ever again. He'd never had sex in a kitchen before. There had been one time half-way up a tree after a particularly bad ANBU mission, but never any place so domestic as a kitchen. That implied a relationship, which he had also never really had.

His eyes drifted to the countertops. How tall are they in relation to my hips?

Fuck.

He mentally scolded himself for the things he was imagining.

He was so distracted by thoughts he definitely should not be having, he didn't even notice that she had been putting food on his dish for him. His chopstick tapped on the empty porcelain in front of him and he blinked down at it in confusion.

"Oh, here." She shoved a bite in her own mouth before reaching for a bit of lotus root to drop on his dish. Her voice was pitched so no one else would hear. "Are you alright?"

"Just… lost in my thoughts. I'm sorry, Ayame. I'll feed myself." He rearranged his face into the top half of a grateful smile, and tried to pay attention to what was going on around him.

Damn, I guess it has been a while.

"—people are nervous, civilians are scared. It's probably why they were so eager to take it out on you. This will be the third war in sixty years. Are there even enough shinobi in the land of Fire to fight a war on three fronts?"

Sakumo sighed and sipped on his saké. "Hardly. They will have to start drafting civilian soldiers again and…" He glanced over at his son sitting between Ume and Sakura. "It's going to be another brutal, drawn out fight."

It absolutely would be.

Kizashi frowned down at his empty cup. "Just a bunch of powerful old shinobi that have swapped their hitai-ate and kunai for high stakes shōgi."

"If we're fortunate, Hiruzen will be able to negotiate with the Tsuchikage. They're the greatest threat, but I fear there are forces at work that would prefer a decade of bloodshed."

Kakashi wondered what exactly Sakumo meant by that. He knew it was probably true, but he'd already lived through this war and the tumultuous two decades after. What did his father know? "The council?"

Sakumo pursed his lips, met his eyes briefly and tucked his hands in the sleeves of his yukata. "I'm not in any position to make accusations. It's just… a feeling I have."

Kakashi watched his father as they ate, the conversation meandering back to less upsetting topics. Maybe they should tell Sakumo the truth. If he knew what he did about this war and his suspicions about Danzō's interference in peace talks, maybe things could be changed. Then again, it might blow up in their faces. Sakumo was right: he really wasn't in a position to go around making accusations. Kakashi was unsure as to the Hokage's true motives, and Danzō was a dangerous enemy to have.

Sakumo sat up suddenly, a piece of fried asparagus frozen on its way to his mouth. "Ah… it seems we'll have more company for dinner." He smiled appreciatively at Sakura and her aunt. "It's a good thing you prepared so much food. Pup, run and greet our guest, please."

He immediately got up from the table and ran as instructed.

Kakashi looked around the room, the obvious occurring to him. "There is a sensory barrier around the house?"

Sakumo nodded. "The whole property. Some ancestors skilled in Kekkai Ninjutsu set it up when our clan settled here. Most of the major clan properties have something similar."

Damn. If he had known that he might have made use of the place. Not lived in it, never that. But it would have been useful. "What's the range?"

Sakumo swallowed a bite, washing it down with a sip of saké. "About fifty miles around the village. I used to leave one of my ninken when I'd go on missions after Kakashi was born. Still, it's useful for security."

The kid came back into the room, chatting excitedly to their guest about his recent successes with his ninken. Their blonde guest.

Kakashi stared at his old sensei as he beamed down at the kid. They approached the table and he bowed politely as Sakumo introduced him to everyone. A small, warm hand covered his under the table and he flipped it around to lace their fingers.

"Namikaze Minato." Sakumo gestured to each of them around the table. "My cousin from Kumo, Hatake Karasu, and his lovely wife, Ayame. This is her cousin, Haruno Kizashi and his mother, Ume. Your timing is excellent, kid. Sit, have something to eat."

Minato smiled gratefully and sat beside Sakumo. "Thank you, Sakumo-san."

"You've been out of the village for some time, it's good to see you, kid. How is Jiraiya?"

Having apparently arrived with an empty stomach, Minato answered between hasty bites. "Jiraiya-sensei is well. Up to his usual. Working on his next book."

Sakumo huffed. "Another tale of a 'Gutsy Ninja?'"

Minato chuckled, his ears red. "Oh no. He's—" His eyes flickered across the table to the women and child present before focusing on the food in front of him with a cough. "Well, he's spent quite a bit of time between missions in bath houses and um… writing." Sakumo snorted, clearly familiar with the absent man's proclivities. "I wasn't too upset to be recalled. It's good to be home."

"Jiraiya? One of the famous Sannin was your Jōnin sensei? Well, we truly are dining with the best Konoha has to offer, mother." Kizashi shook his head, impressed, and poured the younger shinobi a drink.

Minato accepted it politely and turned to toss it back. "Thank you, Haruno-san. I hope to live up to expectations."

He would, and then some.

"Unfortunately you'll have more than ample opportunity to make a name for yourself. Legends are born from war, and it seems another is inevitable." Sakumo accepted his own refill. "Is that why Hiruzen ordered you home?"

Messy blonde hair shook with a nod. "Yes." He locked eyes with Kakashi, curious, only a little suspicious. He clearly trusted Sakumo's judgment even if Kakashi knew he was predisposed to be wary of anyone from the land of Lightning. "You said you were from Kumo? What are you doing in Konoha?" He frowned slightly and looked at the White Fang. Is he an enemy?

Well, he didn't really have room to lie. Ume was glancing between him and Sakura with a hint of anxiety in her eyes. He knew that, despite Sakura's reassurance, Ume still worried about her 'niece's' safety. A shinobi from an enemy nation certainly wasn't a safe choice for a husband. Unfortunately, that was where his family was from so it was what they'd gone with.

"I left Kumo after the last war, nearly all of our family was wiped out there as well. I'm here with my wife." He nodded at Kizashi. "Her family is from Konoha. Finding Sakumo here was a surprise." Not entirely a lie. "I'm retired. Well, from shinobi work, anyway."

Kizashi laughed, waving a finger at him. "I knew it. Well, you're getting pretty good at using a table saw now, cousin."

Sakumo clapped a hand on his shoulder and answered Minato's unspoken question. "I'd be dead if not for my cousin and his wife. They're living with Kakashi and me, and we're both better for having so much family in our lives again."

When Ume relaxed from the tension Minato's questions had brought up, Kakashi relaxed too. Her marriage advice aside, he knew how much Sakura valued this chance to know her grandmother. It was similar to how he felt about his father, after all.

"Well, that's good." He paused long enough to inspect the tray of tempura thoughtfully before choosing another bite. "I wonder if you would have time for a spar? I finally think I figured out the jutsu I've been working on, and I'd like to test it in combat. I'm almost too familiar with Jiraiya-sensei to feel like it's a real test."

"Of course. Though, if it's an unknown opponent you want, my cousin could give you an excellent fight. He is at least my equal and hasn't had nearly as much saké."

Minato looked over at him, interested. So did Kizashi, though the pink haired man's expression was decidedly more smug. He had assumed as much. "Really? Equal to the White Fang?"

Feeling his ears pink beneath his overly shaggy hair, Kakashi tried to demure. "Well…"

"When he fights dad, they usually end in a draw, Minato-niisan. Can they do it now?" He looked eagerly up at his father before remembering himself. He blushed and turned to Ume. "You don't mind, do you Ume-san?"

She smiled indulgently. "Of course not, as long as it's alright if we stay to watch. It's not every day one gets to witness a match between such high-level shinobi."

Everyone turned to Kakashi, apparently waiting for his answer. Fighting Minato was different from a fight with Sakumo. His father's style had been largely unknown to him, but he was intimately familiar with how his former sensei fought. At this point, Minato was a Jōnin, had mastered his rasengan, was one of the best in the world at fūinjutsu, and was well on his way to surpassing the Second in skill with the Flying Raijin. That was probably the jutsu he wanted to test. Even at only sixteen, Kakashi wasn't confident he could beat him. Without his Sharingan, keeping up with the speed of the Raijin would be impossible.

"I guess I could spar."

"Hey, come here." Sakura stood on the edge of the engawa with one of her hair ties in hand, gesturing for him to step closer and turn. He shook the hair that hung in front of his eyes and obliged, letting his eyes flutter closed and humming softly as her fingers raked through his hair. It felt nice. When she was done, he reached up to feel his hair smoothed back into a small top knot, jerking around to see her covering her mouth and laughing softly.

On a whim, he reached up to tug on a lock of her pink hair. Soft.

She caught his hand in hers, her thumb brushing across his knuckles. "Don't get hurt."

He tipped his head to the right and let a smile light his face, doing his best to ignore the color that bloomed across her cheeks. "I shall endeavor to stay in one piece."

She chuckled and gave him a little shove on his shoulder. He turned into it, spinning on the ball of his foot to follow Minato out to the field. Hands in his pockets, he glanced down at the teenage version of his mentor. "So, what's this new jutsu you want to work on?"

He smiled up at him. "It's a kind of summoning jutsu."

Ah, definitely the Flying Raijin then.

"Do I need to hold back for you?"

The smile turned just the slightest bit sinister. Kakashi almost felt giddy. "You're really equal to the White Fang?"

"Hmm." He looked back at the man in question before offering Minato a closed eye smile. "I suppose that's a fair assessment."

"Well then, I think I'll be okay."

So much well earned confidence.

"Hm."

Facing one another in the middle of the field, Kakashi inhaled deeply through his nose and prepared himself. This was going to require him to push to the absolute limits of his speed and that still probably wouldn't be enough. Even with the chakra drain, the Sharingan would have been useful to keep track of him. Oh well.

How long did he have to pretend to be surprised or unaware of how the jutsu worked? One jump? Two? Would it matter?

"Ready?"

Kakashi flipped his kunai up in the air. As it arched, he answered. "Yep." The instant he wrapped his fingers around the handle, he flickered out of reach.

They met ten meters away, the clanging of steel ringing in his ears.

For the next few minutes, they attacked one another hand to kunai. Minato's taijutsu was the mold that had shaped Kakashi's firm foundations into the outstanding skill that had kept him alive through ANBU, against Akatsuki, and countless life or death battles over the last two decades. And it showed. Fighting Minato felt like fighting Obito, a practiced, choreographed routine despite being half a lifetime apart. Or, in the case of this Minato, never having even met.

"Your taijutsu is excellent."

Kakashi brushed off the complement and flipped over his head and around to aim a kick that he knew would be dodged. "I had an excellent teacher."

"Huh."

With neither of them being able to land a blow, Kakashi readied himself when he noticed Minato's eyes tighten just the slightest. He was going to go for it.

Sure enough, he threw his trident kunai at Kakashi's head. It was easily dodged but it was never meant to hit. Minato vanished and reappeared behind him in less than the blink of an eye. He knew where he would be, he was supposed to miss, to be surprised.

His body rotated and blocked the attack before he had time to process what he was doing.

Minato's eyes widened as they pressed together, blades locked. "How did you know where I'd be?"

He let out a tense breath and twitched a tight shrug. "Lucky guess."

The blonde smirked. "It won't happen again."

Kakashi-kun practically leapt to his feet when Minato vanished and reappeared in rapid succession around Kakashi. "How is he doing that? Is he flickering? But it's so fast I can't even follow him."

"He's mastered the Second's Flying Raijin!" Sakumo exclaimed, looking immensely impressed. "See, Kakashi, how he's using a trio of kunai? He is going to be absolutely devastating on the battlefield."

It was amazing to see. Sakura had seen the reanimated Fourth Hokage use the technique during the war. To think that he had mastered such a powerful jutsu that only one other shinobi had ever been able to use at sixteen was impressive. And she remembered learning about how exactly the Yellow Flash had earned his nickname. 'Devastating' was perhaps rarely used so accurately.

"Karasu-san seems to be keeping up decently." Her grandmother likely had little frame of reference for what she was seeing, but she was right. While he was one of the fastest shinobi she knew of—discounting those with god-like powers—Kakashi was at least a full second slower than Minato. But somehow, this didn't seem to stop him avoiding more than glancing blows. It seemed obvious to her, at least, that he had faced his sensei and his impressive jutsu many times before. Now as a mature shinobi with almost two decades more experience than this version of Minato, he looked positively unbothered.

"Hm…you're right, Ume-san." Sakumo was watching the pair flickering around the field with a thoughtful, almost disbelieving frown. It made Sakura's stomach flip uncomfortably. Surely the truth would be too crazy for him to ever consider. "If I didn't know better, I'd say he had faced this jutsu before." Shit. He huffed a laugh and shook his head. "But that's impossible, of course."

"He got him!"

So focused on Sakumo, she'd missed it. By the time she found them on the far corner of the field, Minato's blonde hair was vanishing from where he had been trapped underground. "What happened?"

Kakashi-kun's hands were fisted at his side as he tracked their movements. "He must have figured it out. He waited for Minato-niisan to appear at one of his kunai and buried him the moment he did. But that won't hold him if he can just appear somewhere else."

"How do you even counter an opponent that can move that fast?" Kizashi was leaning forward, elbows on his knees, clearly not able to keep up with the blinding fast movement.

"Well, you'll certainly have to be able to think on your feet. A genius." Sakumo brushed his hand along his chin.

As they watched, a familiar mist rolled in from the creek running along the property, covering the field in a thick fog. Zabuza. Kakashi had copied the jutsu.

"What's he doing? How will blinding himself help? And that's a water release… didn't he use earth before?" Kizashi leaned around Sakumo to give her a questioning look.

Kakashi-kun answered for her. "He's a Hatake, he doesn't need his eyes to see. And he can use all five chakra releases. Look!"

Minato had summoned a wind to blow the mist away, but Kakashi was nowhere to be seen. He flashed to the center of the field and crouched, ready, scanning the field for any sign of his opponent. When nothing happened for several long, agonizing seconds, he began flashing around to several different spots, careful not to linger. Sakura almost scoffed, she was familiar with this trick. Minato must not employ sensory techniques.

Purple lightning erupted from the ground, just as he materialized at one of his marked spots. It caught him off guard long enough to hit, sending him flying across the field. He vanished mid-flight, reappearing in a heap at one of his marks.

"He did it! He used his new lightning jutsu! That looked so awesome!"

Sakumo scoffed, reaching up to ruffle his son's hair.

"Oh, I do hope he's alright." Ume had gasped and reached for Sakura in surprise when Kakashi had burst from the ground. Sakura patted her hand reassuringly.

"Karasu won't have really hurt him, Obasan. See…"

Kakashi was dusting himself off and flickering across to help the younger man up and onto his feet. It looked like they exchanged a few words before heading back. Though, the blonde did look like he was limping slightly.

"Don't worry, Ume-san. Me-chan can fix pretty much anything."

"She can?" Her grandmother looked at her askance. "You have medical skill?"

"Ah." She tucked her hair behind her ears and gave her grandmother an apologetic frown. "Yes. I suppose I'm quite skilled with healing ninjutsu."

"Medical ninjutsu requires good chakra control. Must run in the family." Kizashi sighed, accepting another pour of saké from Sakumo. "I bet your children will be very talented. If you raise them to be shinobi, that is."

Kakashi-kun wrinkled his nose. "Why wouldn't they?"

Does everyone expect us to have babies right away?

"Not everyone wants this life for their children, Pup. But it isn't your business, so don't badger them about it." Sakumo gently boxed his son's ear to punctuate his point.

Ume chuckled lightly. "Shinobi or not, I'm sure they'll be fine looking." She pressed her lips together to hold in another laugh at Sakura's mortified blush. "Is the bottom half of his face not as pleasing as the top?"

Pressing one hand to her burning cheek, Sakura rolled her eyes and stood, grabbing Kakashi-kun's hand and dragging him off to meet Kakashi and Minato. "Honestly, Obasan, you're as bad as Yōko tonight."

Out of hearing, Kakashi-kun tugged on her. "If you have a baby, you'll stay here with us, right?"

Seriously?

"Kakashi-kun, Karasu and I are not planning to have a baby any time soon."

"Dad explained about babies and the definitely not taijutsu naked stuff." For fucks— "It sounded like sometimes you just get a baby, even if youre not 'planning' to."

What kind of sex talk—

"I just want to know if you would stay. I think it would be cool to have a baby around. As long as you don't make me change any diapers."

She stopped walking, making him jerk to a stop beside her, hopefully far enough away that Kakashi wouldn't be able to hear. "Kakashi-kun, you promised you wouldn't be nosy, remember?"

"Oh, yeah." He looked up at her, abashed. "I'm sorry, Me-chan. Your aunt brought it up. It just made me think about it."

Sighing, she bent over so her face was level with his. "Kakashi-kun, we have no plans to ever leave you, alright? And if, gods forbid, something ever happens to your dad, we will be here for you so you won't have to be alone. If we ever have kids, they'll be Hatakes, like you. They should grow up here, with family, shouldn't they?"

He visibly relaxed, his shoulders sagging. She pretended not to notice the shine in his eyes. "Yeah, that would probably be best."

She smiled and pinched his cheek. "Let's not worry about that anymore, alright?"

"Okay, Me-chan."

Kakashi was probably just as surprised as Minato. He had fully expected to be too slow with the lightning, for his opponent to flash away in the knick of time. It was a good thing he'd used so little power or he would have seriously injured him.

Climbing out of his hole, he flickered across the field to crouch in front of Minato. He was laying on his back, rubbing at his hip and frowning, his eyes squeezed shut. For one heart-stopping moment, he was transported back—forward?—in time to the night his mentor, his teacher, his older brother in everything but blood, had died. He had seen him, lifeless, blood dripping from his cold, parted lips, and the little left of his heart had shattered.

There was a lump in his throat and his eyes stung.

It won't happen this time. I'll protect you, Nii-san.

Blue eyes snapped open, glaring up at him just a little petulantly. "What was that?"

"Ah…" He scratched his cheek with an index finger. "I guess I had a new jutsu to test out too. I kind of thought you'd dodge it."

Minato blew hair from his eyes. "It was fast. You're fast. I'll need to get faster."

Kakashi crinkled his eyes in a smile. "My timing was lucky. I'm sure you will make the Nidaime proud, Namikaze-san."

He frowned up at him and sighed. "I thought you might have recognized the jutsu. You figured it out a lot faster than I would have expected. How do you know about it?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I read a lot?"

"Hm."

He cocked his head to the side, looking down at him. "You're not too badly hurt, are you?"

Minato winced as he sat up. "I'll live." He accepted Kakashi's hand, letting him pull him to his feet.

"Let my wife have a look at you, anyways."

He smirked. "So she does know Princess Tsunade? I wondered about the similar seal mark."

Kakashi just shrugged again, shoving his hands in his pockets as they started towards the house. Bits and pieces of conversations drifted on the evening breeze, only noticed thanks to his keen hearing.

"I trust Sakumo. But… he's had a shit year. Maybe he would be eager to have 'family' again. Maybe he might be easy to take advantage of." He was frowning at him again, the faint suspicion from earlier now blatant mistrust. "Maybe you're a spy for Kumo."

"He wasn't exaggerating earlier." Kakashi squinted up at the painted sky. "The first time we came by to introduce ourselves, we found him bleeding out on the floor, a blade in his gut. My wife was able to save him, but if we'd been any later…"

"No, he wouldn't do that to Kakashi—"

He dropped his head to the side to stare down at him. "You know what it's been like for him. What few friends he had were all on conspicuously long term missions away from the village. He could hardly buy food without being spat at, and the shame and loneliness were crushing him. It doesn't excuse what he tried to do, but you can't honestly say you're surprised?"

Minato hung his head. "I guess I just… I always looked up to him. I thought he was stronger than all the gossiping and bullshit. I figured people would move on eventually."

"Well, they didn't. His first mission back, his own teammates tried to kill him." The younger man gasped, clearly not wanting to believe his fellow Konoha shinobi were capable of such treachery. "Ayame had to put him back together… again. It took the Hokage coming out and publicly stating that he was not to blame for the war—that we can all see coming—and apologizing for letting things get so bad to change anything."

"I… wish I had been here."

He stopped walking and Kakashi swiveled around to see him bowing.

"I'm sorry I suspected you, Hatake-san. Kumo and Konoha have been enemies for years and to us, loyalty to our nation is ingrained in us practically from birth. I guess it is possible to not feel the same. I do care very much for Kakashi-kun and I think very highly of Sakumo. I was worried, especially after the year they've had. I am so thankful I didn't come home to another orphan. Please forgive me."

Rubbing the back of his neck, Kakashi sighed. Minato may think it a default in his character, but he was right. Kakashi had come to realize that he no longer desired to cling to the 'will of fire' with unquestioning loyalty, or to Konoha, for that matter. For the first time in his life, he had family, and their well-being was more important to him than shinobi law. But he couldn't fault him for his suspicions. "It's okay, I understand. I'd probably be suspicious of me too."

He stood, nodding, and opened his mouth but the kid slid to a stop in front of them and whatever he'd wanted to say was forgotten.

"Your new lightning looked awesome, Karasu-san. Can you modulate the power? It doesn't look like Minato-niisan is hurt that bad, but getting blasted by lightning seems like it should cause more damage." He tapped a finger against his masked chin as he looked the blonde over.

Minato scoffed, reaching out to ruffle the kid's hair, affecting a hurt tone. "Gee, Hatake-san, you really stole my thunder. Wasn't my new jutsu cool too, kid?"

He rolled his eyes. "Of course it was. No one else has been able to use the Flying Raijin since the Nidaime. You were moving so fast we could barely tell what was happening. Dad said Karasu-san must be a genius too to figure out how to counter it so fast."

He said something back to the kid, but Kakashi wasn't listening. Sakura was in his space, a faint flush of color on her cheeks as she healed a cut on his arm he hadn't even noticed. Her familiar scent filled his nose and he felt his whole body relax. She was so close, he could feel the warmth of her through his clothes and he was startled to find he badly wanted to hold her against himself. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and bury his nose in her soft pink hair.

Instead, he reminded himself that he should not do any of those things, should not want to, and cleared his throat. She looked up at him, the golden light of the setting sun flattering her beautifully, and smiled. "Kakashi-kun is right, the purple lightning does look pretty impressive. Is he injured at all?"

He nodded. "A little. Better make sure I didn't hurt one of the Sannin's precious students too badly."

She laughed softly and did as he suggested.

Shuffling into their room later, Kakashi struggled to tug his hair free from Sakura's tie. Frustrated, he bent over and grabbed one of her hands to do it for him. "If I do this I'm going to snap your thing." She huffed, amused despite how tired she was. "I think I've let it go long enough. Will you help me cut it?"

He could hear the pout in her voice. "No! You should keep growing it out. Just start tying it back like Sakumo. It's only so tangled because of your spar." She finished and he stood, his unimpressed frown eliciting a huff of laughter. "I like his long hair, especially when it's loose." She reached up and ran her hands through his hair, dislodging a few tangles, a silly, sleepy smirk on her face. "Very sexy."

He felt his whole face screw up in disgusted confusion. She thought his father was… She noticed his expression and stepped back, laughing so hard she snorted unflatteringly. Picking his jaw up off the floor, he blinked and smoothed his face. "You're not allowed to think about him like that."

That was the wrong thing to say as it only made her laugh harder. "Says who?"

He pursed his lips. The thing he'd been ignoring for weeks that tickled beneath his ribs twisted. He kept ignoring it. This was the cherry guy all over again, only worse because he didn't have the excuse of his being a civilian that wasn't good enough for her. He needed to make sure he didn't say anything mean this time. Why did it matter if she had the hots for Sakumo? Just because it made him feel… jealous. Is that what I'm feeling?

No.

Still. They had to keep up the ruse. For safety. For their self imposed mission. Especially now that Minato knew about them. He had been suspicious, Jiraiya would probably be worse. Clearing his throat he tried to sound bored. "We decided we're sticking with our story for at least a few years. You can't be ogling my dad."

Her fine pink eyebrows climbed half way up her forehead and she scoffed. "Who said anything about 'ogling?' And why not? Just because I do everything a real wife would do for you doesn't mean I really am one. I can look."

He opened his mouth before he could think. "Not everything."

Her jaw clicked shut and a bright blush raced across her cheeks. For several long seconds as they stared at one another, he feared for his life. His mouth was running away from him. It was a sure sign he'd gotten too comfortable with her. She blinked slowly, and smiled—just a small, slight teasing twist of the lips that promised danger. "You're right: not everything. Fortunately I have a very active imagination. You know, Sakumo meditates outside before bed when he's home. His hair is always loose… and usually so is the top half of his yukata. He is quite well built. It's truly indecent."

Kakashi couldn't think of a response. He couldn't think of anything except… was she suggesting what he thought she was suggesting? Did she… was she saying she… About… Sakumo?! Surely she was just teasing him… right? His father!

She might have said something else but he didn't hear it. Suddenly the lights were off and she was tucking herself into their futon. After several minutes in which he stood frozen, staring at the wall as several very confused, very inappropriate thoughts cycled through his head, a pillow thumped him in the gut.

"Go to sleep, Kakashi."

Jarred from his spiraling thoughts, he had the presence of mind to have the last word as he lay down beside her. "Yes, dear."