Kushina sighs and looks at the square maroon clock in her kitchen for the third time in as many minutes. It's almost a quarter after six now. She'd never thought Kakashi would be the type to stand up a dinner invitation but maybe things change. It also doesn't help she and Tsunade practically bullied him into agreeing, she supposes.
Kushina bites the nail of her thumb. Should they not have done that? Would it have been better if she let him refuse a couple of times first? Sometimes the long con is the better way to do things…
She gasps when the kitchen window opens. Immediately she reaches for one of the dirty knives in her sink and shifts in preparation for an attack. The adrenaline pumping through her abruptly stills when a shock of gray hair pokes into the room.
"Kakashi!" she yelps, half-annoyed, half-relieved. Kushina loves her dear, departed husband but there is no doubt he failed his student in one important way. Manners. He'd never been as tough on this type of misbehavior as he should have been.
"I know, it's rude. I'm sorry. But… it's cute too, right? Right?"
Kushina swallows as Kakashi comes in fully. When he stuffs one hand in his pocket and raises the other, she fights back a shaky smile. "Yo," he says; visible eye crinkling at the corners.
Yeah, this dickishness is kind of funny. Maybe Minato was right. Kushina still hopes Kakashi doesn't teach it to Naruto. Her little baby is the smartest and most amazing boy ever but she's damn sure he isn't going to be a prodigy like his big brother or father. He's going to be more like her. Normal.
He's going to get himself killed if he tries these stunts.
(Except for the fact he isn't. One, like her, Naruto could one day be the vessel of the Nine-Tailed Fox. Kushina's going to do her best to spare him that. She's survived one near-death, she'll do it again if she has to. Hopefully, she'll live to be old like Mito and pass it on to a distant relative rather than Naruto or a grandchild).
He's going to get himself killed if he tries these stunts.
She crosses her arms and plays at being mad instead of happy he's arrived. "You're a bit late," she chides.
Kakashi blinks. "Hm? Really?" he replies.
Kushina squints at him. She thinks Kakashi is teasing her but she's not familiar enough with his brand of joking to be sure. Kushina drifts forward and presses a hand to what little exposed forehead she can get at.
He jolts at her touch but doesn't duck away immediately. "Are you feeling okay?" she demands as he finally steps back and readjusts his Hitai-ate.
He rolls his eye at her. "Mah, I'm fine."
Kushina purses her lips. She thinks Kakashi is behaving a little weirdly right now. Then again this is kind of sort their first time alone. In the past, they've always had Minato or Kakashi's teammates as a buffer between them. "If you're sure," she says at last. Kushina then smirks and gestures over to her covered cooking. "Luckily for you, the food's still warm. I had to feed Naruto already, though. He's sleeping now."
"Ah," says Kakashi.
She considers him. He doesn't look upset at this news but he had been concerned about not seeing him back at the hospital. Maybe it would be good to let him see Naruto now? Just so he can see he is okay? "We can peek in on him?" she suggests. "That is if you'd like to see him."
"…Okay," replies the teenager after a drawn-out beat.
Kushina smiles and turns toward the kitchen doorway. "C'mon," she urges. "The food can wait a minute more."
Kakashi follows her out into the little hallway of her and Naruto's apartment. They walk the length of it until they reach Naruto's room at the end. Carefully, she eases the door open. Inside, in the middle of the room, Naruto sleeps soundly in his cradle. "There he is," Kushina whispers before stepping aside to allow Kakashi to peek inside.
The teenager stares in there for a long time. When he pulls back, he surprises Kushina by complimenting Naruto. "He's cute," he says.
She laughs and shuts his door. "Only when he's sleeping these days," she tells him. "You should visit when he's awake sometime. He's becoming a whirlwind now that he's walking."
Kakashi blinks. "He's doing that already?"
"Yeah," Kushina replies with a bob of her head. Shuffling back towards the kitchen, Kakashi on her heels, she explains, "I think seeing Sasuke toddling about convinced him to hurry up and learn, you know?"
In a murmur, Kakashi repeats the name, "Sasuke…"
"Mikoto's youngest," supplies Kushina as she ushers Kakashi to the table and starts to uncover their dinner. "Maybe you've heard of her older son? Itachi?" she asks as she starts to dish a bowl of the eggplant and noodle soup she made for Kakashi. "He's a genius like you."
Kakashi accepts the bowl and stares into the brown liquid with an expression of consideration. When he meets Kushina's gaze again, he says, "Uchiha Itachi?"
"Yeah, that's him," she replies as she leans back in her seat; cup of water in hand.
Kakashi rolls down his mask. "Some gossip about him has found its way into the ANBU," he comments as he picks up his chopsticks.
Kushina is startled by this. "Wow, really?" she says. She'll have to bring it up to Mikoto later. Kushina hopes it doesn't worry her. She already frets so much about Itachi and how quickly he's flying past milestones.
Between bites of his dinner, Kakashi informs her, "People are comparing him to me. They're wondering if there will be another fourteen-year-old captain this decade."
"I see," she says when she can't find anything else to say. She doesn't like the idea of another kid being in such a dangerous role. Kushina can't voice that feeling to Kakashi, though. It could offend him and she's trying to have a nice dinner with the teen.
"So, uh, how are things for you?" she asks after some time when they just eat.
Kakashi barely glances up from his food. "Busy," he answers.
Kushina sighs. Why did she expect him to say anything else? Shinobi in the ANBU aren't really supposed to talk about their missions with others. And since they are the only missions he's taking these days… "I guess I deserve that answer," she grumbles.
She swears she sees his lips twitch in a smile. "For you?" he asks in a neutral tone as he places his chopsticks down and reaches for the pitcher of water to pour himself a drink.
"Huh?" she mumbles, surprised. She hadn't expected him to try and carry on the conversation. But Kushina is happy Kakashi is.
"I'm doing okay!" she says after recovering from her initial shock. Running her hands through her hair, she tells the teen, "I don't know if you talked to Tsunade at all about me lately but she's pretty sure I should more or less be back to what my baseline normal was in a few more months. It's pretty exciting, you know!"
Kakashi nods. "Hm," he agrees.
Kushina glances down at Kakashi's bowl and sees it's more or less empty. That seems about right to her. He's used to eating quickly so as to keep his face hidden. Even if he's trying to be a bit more leisurely right now it must be hard to slow down. "Do you like it?" she asks, pointing her chopsticks at his bowl. "I remembered you enjoy eggplant."
"Yes," says Kakashi. "Thank you."
Kushina shifts her attention to the pot in the middle of the table holding the rest of the soup. "Do you want more?" she asks.
"No," answers Kakashi as his fingers reach for the edge of his mask. "Thanks for dinner," he tells her once he's got his mask fixed back in place.
She bobs her head and grins. "Yeah!" she exclaims. Kushina then taps her chin and remarks, "I guess you want to leave now?"
Kakashi's gaze slides away from her. "…I'm tired," he murmurs.
Kushina pushes down the disappointment burbling up her throat. Kakashi came. He saw Naruto, ate her food, and even made a little chitchat with her. This evening has gone far better than even her highest hopes.
If Kakashi wants to go now, she needs to not make him feel bad. It won't be easy to draw Kakashi back here if she has him leave on a sour note. Kushina pushes herself to smile and say, "I understand."
Kakashi's shoulders lower minutely.
Before the teen can rise from his seat, Kushina throws up a hand and asks, "But, uh, can you wait a minute? I wasn't lying when I said there's some stuff I want to offer you."
Kakashi starts, "You don't have to—"
"—Oh no, don't finish that sentence," Kushina breaks in. "Yes, I do have to do this. Minato would at least want me to give you the chance to reject the stuff, you know?"
The teen lowers his eye to the dishes on the table. "Yes," he murmurs.
Kushina winces. She hadn't meant to upset him. She should have known talking about Minato in such a way would, though. Kushina squashes the sigh building in her chest and nods. "I'll be right back," she promises before darting off for her (and Minato's) room.
Once inside, she quickly gathers the small pile of things she put aside earlier in the day for Kakashi to go through. She also picks up the little stack of photos by her bed. She hadn't really intended to give all of them to Kakashi today but maybe she should. Kushina is sure she can find another reason to convince Kakashi to come here again.
Arms laden with the things she intends to give Kakashi, she returns to the kitchen. Smiling at the teen, she puts them down in front of him. "Here we go, a few scrolls and books." As Kakashi starts to eye them, she thrusts her hand with the photos out in front of his face and exclaims, "Oh! And I discovered these too." Kakashi takes them from her hand and begins to card through them. Coming around the table, Kushina looks at the photos with Kakashi over his shoulder. "They were tucked in the pocket of an old vest," she tells him.
Kakashi tilts his head back towards her and murmurs, "He just kept these in a pocket?"
"Yup," she answers with a chuckle. "You know he really liked showing you guys off."
Kakashi chuffs. "That sounds like Sensei," he admits.
Kushina grins. "Look at you here," she remarks, pointing at the picture Kakashi has stopped on. It's a photo of Kakashi and his genin team. Kakashi is a lot smaller than Rin and Obito; it had to have been taken not long after they became a team. Possibly during or after one of their first missions together. A D-Rank one, Kushina muses, since the three are gathered in front of a field of freshly churned dirt. All of the kids are muddy and a bit sweaty looking.
"You're sulking as Rin and Obito are mugging it up," she says. Kushina shakes her head and pats Kakashi's back as she pulls away from him. "Man, you were the worst about pictures as a little boy."
Kakashi lowers the photos and sighs. "I didn't see why I would want to remember doing D-Rank missions with them then," he admits.
Kushina twists a lock of her hair. "Ah, don't feel too bad. All kids are short-sighted," she consoles.
He turns around and says, "Thanks for giving me these." He carefully places them in the pocket of his shirt and then reaches for two of the scrolls on the table. "I'll take these scrolls too."
Kushina nods. Then, on a whim, snatches up The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi and shoves it at the teen. "Take this book as well," she urges."I insist. It's the one we got Naruto's name from."
Kakashi blinks and inspects it. "Hm," he hums. "I didn't know Jiraiya wrote a normal story…"
"Yeah," she agrees. Then she frowns as his words register fully. "Wait! How do you know about his other stuff," she demands.
Kakashi stiffens. "I really should be going," he says.
"Kakashi," she growls. She's not going to just let this go. He's fourteen. And months away still from fifteen. Who's letting him read Jiraiya's erotica? It's going to give him the wrong ideas about sex and relationships!
"Bye!" calls Kakashi as he vaults for the window and throws himself out of it.
Kushina runs after and sticks her head out of it. "I'm gonna find out!" she yells at his retreating form.
Kakashi doesn't even look back in her direction. Kushina pulls her head back into the kitchen and grumbles, "Brat."
Thank you for reading and let me know what you think!