Beneath him, Kushina squeaks a small, breathless sound as his fingers patter down her ribs to her hips. Minato who is already plenty hot turns searing. Swooping in close, he noses Kushina's jaw before capturing her lips in a kiss as his fingers drift inward.

Kushina gasps into their kiss and Minato throbs with excitement. Soon, Kushina will make one of those pleased grunts he so does love. All Minato needs to do is—

A shout sounds from outside his room. Minato sits up and stares at down at Kushina, undressed, sweaty, and wide-eyed beneath him. Already he feels his adrenaline redirecting from the thrill of being with Kushina to fear for his student. Kakashi is rarely one to make noise after a nightmare.

He twists his head around to look at his shut door. He wants to run to the boy but what if he doesn't want him? Kakashi hates to be weak in front of Minato. Kushina sighs and Minato is made to look back at her when she slaps his stomach with a palm.

"Go check on the kid," she tells him. She smiles. "I'll be here."

Minato swallows. "Thank you," he says. He dives in for a quick, chaste kiss. Then Minato rises and pulls on his boxers. For a second he debates a shirt or perhaps some pants. Quickly, though, he dismisses the idea. Kakashi is unlikely to care. He's walked into the washroom more than one morning to start his day's ablutions while Minato was performing his own in a pair of boxers.

Leaving his bedroom, he makes the short walk to Kakashi's. He knocks on the door once. "Kakashi?" he calls. "I'm coming in."

Opening the door, he steps in to find Kakashi sitting up in his bed, Pakkun squashed to his chest. The boy's eyes are large as he stares at Minato. Padding over, he crouches beside the two and smiles. "Hey, there," he whispers.

"Teach," Pakkun rumbles.

Minato hesitates but ends up laying a hand on Kakashi's shoulder. "It was a bad one, wasn't it?" he murmurs.

Kakashi, maskless, can't hide the way his nose wrinkles. "You smell," he mumbles.

He can't help but blush at the words. "Ah," he mumbles. "Sorry. I was, um, doing some before-bed exercise…"

The boy scoffs. "You smell like your girlfriend's perfume," he chides. "If you were having sex you can just go back to that. I don't need you."

Minato yanks his hand back and yelps, "Kakashi!"

"What?" he demands. "I'm not wrong, am I?"

Miserably, he replies, "You don't have to bring it up. It's rude."

Kakashi rolls his eyes. "Whatever," he mutters as he lays back down, Pakkun tucked beneath his chin. "I'm fine. You can go."

Minato, who is mortified, wants to scatter just like Kakashi suggests. Manfully, he resists the urge. Instead, he sighs and runs a hand through the boy's bangs. "You're not gonna shake me off that easy," he teases.

Kakashi watches him leerily.

Minato lets the silence cocoon them for a moment; instead focusing on the soothing sensation of Kakashi's hair between his fingers. It's thick and soft. Kushina's hair too is thick. However, her hair is also fine and slippery.

"Really, I'm okay," murmurs Kakashi, breaking the quiet. "I've got Pakkun."

He smiles at his student. "I'm glad," he confesses. "It makes me feel better knowing you're not alone in here. You're usually much quieter. Even if I miss a nightmare, Pakkun and your other ninken won't."

His student pulls away from his ministrations. Minato bites his lips. Was that the wrong thing to say? "Kakashi—"

"I didn't mean to yell," he mumbles.

He winces. Sympathy wringing his heart. Minato tries again to talk to Kakashi. "No, it's okay," he promises. "I know you'd never do a thing like that on purpose. Do you… Would it help to talk? It must have been bad."

Kakashi rolls onto his other side — taking Pakkun with him. "Nothing to talk about," he says over his shoulder. "Just memories. It's all done."

He sighs. "The thing that happened in your memories might be over but—"

"Goodnight, Sensei," breaks in Kakashi, voice sharp and leaving no room for Minato to argue.

Still, Minato doesn't get up. "Would it," he starts, stumbling, "help if I stayed a little bit? Just until you fall asleep again."

For a beat, Minato thinks Kakashi has taken to ignoring him. Then the boy whispers, "Maybe."

Relieved that Kakashi will allow his presence, he settles in to wait for the boy to fall asleep again. "Okay, let's try," he replies. "I'm right here."

The two of them stay where they are for a long time. The sound of each other (and Pakkun) breathing is the only sound in the room. When, twenty minutes later, Kakashi's breathing continues its waking pattern instead of changing into the slower one of sleep, Minato offers, "Would you like to get up? Maybe a snack would help."

Kakashi shifts. Lifting his head a little, he looks at Minato out of the corners of his eyes. "Instant cheese curry?" he asks.

Minato blinks. He finds himself surprised and touched Kakashi wants to partake in his post-nightmare ritual. He nods at the boy. "Yeah, of course," he replies.

Getting them up, they wander into the kitchen. There, Minato freezes. At the table sits his girlfriend, dressed in one of his shirts and sipping at a glass of water. "Kushina!" he gasps, horrified.

He'd forgotten she was still here while trying to help Kakashi.

She smirks. "Hey, pretty boy," she says. Kushina then glances downward, a flush starting on her cheeks when she sees Kakashi behind his legs. "Oh, Kakashi."

"We're having instant cheese curry," the boy proclaims as he pushes past Minato.

Kushina squirms a little in her chair, hunching in a little and crossing her legs. All Minato can think as he witnesses her awkward shifting is she's probably not wearing underwear. He prays Kakashi doesn't bring up their interrupted sex.

"That so?" she says to the boy.

Kakashi, who is already working on filling Minato's kettle with water, replies, "Yes. It helps you feel better when you have a nightmare."

Kushina looks over at him, brows raised. "Oh totally," she agrees even though she looks utterly bemused. "Minato teach you that?"

Kakashi, filled kettle in his hands, turns away from the sink. "Yes," he answers.

Minato decides now is the time to swoop in. "Let me take that," he tells the boy as he takes the kettle and puts it on the stove. Starting the burner, he suggests, "Why don't you get enough out for all three of us?"

"Hey!" yips Pakkun.

Minato glances at the dog. "Ah, four of us, Kakashi," he corrects.

The boy snickers. "Sure, Minato-Sensei."

He shifts uncomfortably from foot to foot for a moment before going to sit at the table with Kushina. "Do you want anything?" he asks his girlfriend. "I could get tea for you too."

She waves his offer off. "No thanks," she says. "Kakashi, kiddo, come sit with us till the water's ready."

His student eyes her. "Fine," he agrees. "Are you gonna stay after curry?" he asks as he clambers up in his chair. "'Cause I don't know if I'll be able to go back to sleep soon. I don't think Sensei will have sex with you while I'm awake."

Kushina, who'd been taking a sip of her water begins to choke on it while Minato cries, "Kakashi!"

"You told him we were having sex?" Kushina hisses between coughs.

Minato can't even make coherent words. (Un)thankfully Kakashi doesn't have the same problem. Propping his elbow on the table and his chin in his palm, he says, "No. He smells like you and is wearing just boxers. It's not hard to figure out."

Kushina who's tomato red by the end of Kakashi's little lecture, grabs at her hair and crosses it over her face. "I'm never coming over for a booty call again," she mumbles. "This is too embarrassing."

Minato can't help but agree. He thinks he's reaching new levels of mortification with every word Kakashi speaks. Despite how hot his own face feels, he apologizes, "I'm so sorry Kushina."

"What?" Kakashi demands as he looks between them. "Sex is normal isn't it?"

Kushina goes from horrified to laughing. Minato can't help but join in after a few seconds. This appears to only confuse and upset Kakashi, however. The boy stands up in his chair and slaps a hand down. "Hey!" he complains. "Quit being weird."

Kushina doubles over. Minato has to slap a hand over his mouth to help himself get his laughter under control. The whole time, Kakashi watches them like they're a pair of aliens. At last, when he has his chuckles more or less under control, Minato explains, "You're right. It is normal. However, kids your age being so frank about it? Sorry, 'Kashi, but that's not normal."

Kushina, now sitting up properly again, dabs at her eyes with the collar of Minato's shirt. As she does, she says, "Yeah! Most six-year-olds think babies come from cabbage patches, you know."

The boy tilts his head. "Why would they think that?"

Minato can only shrug helplessly. "You probably know sex is a private thing for couples, right?" Kakashi nods agreeably and so, Minato explains, "Since it's private, it's sort of taboo to talk about. However, babies do come from sex, and since most adults aren't going to talk about it with kids, I think they came up with the cabbage story to explain where babies came from. That's what most six-year-olds believe until they're a bit older and start going through puberty and it becomes relevant for them to know about sex."

"I'm glad I wasn't lied to," Kakashi declares. "No comrade would let me live down believing something so childish."

Kushina snorts but Minato finds no amusement in his student's words. He's in fact quite sad. Kakashi is being a little cynical for his tastes but he does have a point. Such innocent, childlike beliefs would have had to be broken quickly if he was imbued with them. If only for his own safety out on missions. These days, Minato finds it hard to believe Sakumo Hatake made many good decisions in regard to his son but on this one, he is thankful for his choice.

Smiling despite his ill ease, Minato leans in and gives his student a poke. "I dunno Kakashi," he jokes, "it'd have been a cute story, no? Your future kohais and students would have had belly aches from laughing at the fact me or one of my friends had to tell you the birds and the bees."

Kakashi wrinkles his nose. His lips pull in the way they often do before he erupts with protests but before he can make a sound, the kettle on the stove whistles. Kushina jolts and twists in her chair. "Should I get that?" she asks. "I know where you keep your instant stuff."

So does Minato. If it were just the two of them in his apartment, he'd agree. The sight of her reaching up for it would be a lovely one. However, he glances at Kakashi. As aware as he is of the facts of life, Minato isn't about to let Kushina be his first glimpse of a girl's ass. The complexes it could create for him in the future are ones he's not interested in contemplating. He pats his girlfriend's thigh.

"You're a guest," he tells her. "Kakashi, get to it," he orders.

The boy stares at him, surprised. The corners of his eyes then crinkle. Minato smirks back. The boy chuckles low. "Mah, Minato-Sensei," he whines as he gets up. "I'm your student, not your servant."

Thank you very much for reading and please let me know your thoughts!