Chapter 12: first bud

The last two Hatake children come home at the same time. It coincides with one of the big clan bashes, so it's a bit of a celebration. Toshiro takes the opportunity to pull Naruto aside, his blue eyes wide and curious. Asuhi doesn't like crowds and doesn't speak very much. She's rather shy, but still manages to hold a conversation better than Takehiko, who Toshiro has only ever heard a handful of words from in the entirety of their time together.

She clings to his side, her pale hand curled around his standard chuunin pants — and Naruto squints at her, chubby cheeks puffed.

"What the big idea, Toshi-sensei? Who's this?"

"This," he begins, crouching down to their level, "Is your cousin."

The words don't seem to compute for a moment, Naruto's bright eyes flashing wide and his jaw dropping. A noise leaves his throat before he gets ahold of himself, "MY WHAT? SINCE WHEN?"

Asuhi shifts nervously at Naruto's boisterous reaction, their personalities entirely opposite. Normally Toshiro wouldn't put stock into the idea of all Uzumaki being inherently energetic, but he can't help but hope that the little girl will be able to express herself with the same kind of exuberance one day. He puts a steady hand on her shoulder.

"Do you remember a year ago, when part of Konoha was destroyed?" Toshiro interrupts before Naruto can begin a tirade that's likely to attract attention.

The boy presses his lips together unhappily, "Yeah? It was that bad guy that made Sasuke's tou-chan lose his leg!"

Very bluntly, Toshiro nods to Asuhi. "Well it turned out he kidnapped some kids. We had no idea she existed, Naruto." And he definitely noted the initial flash of pain in Naruto's eyes when told about having a cousin, "It was never our intention to hide her from you. I'm sorry it took so long. And I know it might seem odd, to find yourself in this situation…."

Exceedingly odd, actually. Toshiro didn't have the first idea of how to explain everything. Naruto was much too young to fully comprehend — and the boy was more of a do-er rather than a thinker.

"But…" Naruto trails off, looking up at Toshiro, "She's my family, right? Really, really? And that man won't come back and take her?"

"Never," Toshiro swears, his mouth forming the shape of a smile like serrated steel, "He's dead, after all."

Naruto thinks this over for a moment. "Good." Then he peers eagerly at Asuhi, "Hey, hey! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Since we're family, does that mean we'll live together? What's your name?"

Toshiro shifts a little to the side to let Asuhi face the brunt of Naruto's sunny countenance. She blinks wildly when the boy gets in her face with huge baby blues and a grin that's all teeth.

"Hatake Asuhi." She replies, "And...I don't know. Toshiro-nii-san and Kakashi-nii-san are my guardians, so I'm living with them."

Naruto's smile dims, like it had the night he'd had to leave the Nara Compound — well, before Shikamaru told him to sleepover. "Oh. Haha! That's fine! I guess my place isn't really big enough for two people, plus I'm gonna be a ninja, so….I need space!"

Asuhi frowns, "You mean you won't live with us?"

Naruto blinks. "What?"

She looks up at Toshiro like she's wondering if she said something wrong, "He's family, isn't he? And you guys are my family too, so that means we're….all family. Doesn't it?"

Toshiro hums, still crouched. He folds his arms around his knees and lays his chin on top, "What do you think, Naruto? You wanna live with us?"

Cerulean shimmers, glossy and wet. Blond brows pull tight, "You're not kidding me, are you? You'd really let me live with you guys? Honest?"

"Of course." Toshiro says, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "We're pack, aren't we?"

Asuhi very carefully takes Naruto's hand, like she's still wary of his explosive personality. She looks him in the eye with a serious expression that's slightly comical on her cherubic features. "There's a lot of dogs."

Kakashi didn't exactly argue. They'd talked about what would happen, of course, once it was discovered that Asuhi was an Uzumaki. Her carrying the Hatake name did nothing to conceal her blood, after all. Kakashi, more than anyone, knew how much Konoha owed the Uzumaki Clan. He'd been close with Uzumaki Kushina, the wife of Yondaime-sama.

Kakashi's sensei.

And therein lay the problem.

Toshiro understood. Kakashi carried guilt like he was getting paid for it. Perhaps very obviously, Kakashi felt guilty about Naruto.

("You were a child." Toshiro had murmured.

"I was fourteen," Is what Kakashi replied. "A jounin. His father's student."

"What do you feel most guilty about?"

"That it took eight before I got to him.")

They weren't allowed to tell him who his father was, not trusting that he wouldn't brag about it — then again, the boy clung so viciously to the prospect of family, that maybe he wouldn't. (Not when his father was dead.) So Toshiro urged Kakashi to talk about the one person he could, for the moment.

Uzumaki Kushina.

And that was how Kakashi and Naruto's first conversation went.

Now he lived with them, taking the nearest open bedroom to Asuhi. Toshiro hears them at night, when they think they're being sneaky, creeping into each other's rooms and talking until they fall asleep. They may be cousins, but Naruto claims her as his little sister and Asuhi goes along with it without protest.

It's very cute.

Technically, Naruto is not theirs by law. He still owns his dingy apartment and still gets a stimulus check every two weeks. No Clan is allowed to formally adopt Naruto, and Kakashi absolutely refuses to give the boy the name Hatake. He won't take the name Uzumaki away, not when he feels he's taken so much already.

It's a slow process, getting everyone settled. In a house full of children there's never a dull moment, especially when one of those kids is Naruto. He's messy, loud, prone to outbursts and exudes an exhausting amount of energy.

Toshiro loves it. Loves all nine of them and their individual personalities. For a lonely, reborn child-turned-man, the overwhelming abundance of family they established made him feel as if a great weight had been shaken from his shoulders.

So on the days he can, he drops them off and picks them up at the Academy. Yoshino has quite eagerly taken Asuhi under her wing and homeschools her in preparation for civilian schooling, which begins next year. Civilians had a much looser system of education. There were around four schools for general education, but not everyone went and not everyone finished. It wasn't required — not like it had been in Toshiro's previous life. Civilians, if they chose to attend, entered school at eight and finished at fifteen. Generally, most graduated to pursue apprenticeships, trade work, or marriage.

Toshiro very firmly told Asuhi that he didn't care whether or not she attended public school or stayed homeschooled, she was finishing her education. He also told her to ignore anyone and everyone who tried to convince her that her only path afterwards would be marriage.

You can be whatever you want to be.

In the end, she chose to give public school a try. Or at least, she intended to. That could change depending on how homeschooling with Yoshino went. Asuhi, for all that she did not want to be a shinobi, was still a prodigy. It was likely she'd become bored and frustrated by the pacing of a public civilian school.

And where better to get a full, prodigy-directed education than from the Nara matriarch herself? Uchiha Mikoto also stopped by often, her and Yoshina having become friends and bonding over their mutual roasting of their husbands. It was hilarious to see how whipped the two men were, even if Mikoto and Fugaku were more subtle about it.

So Asuhi had the attentive care of two matriarchs who would carefully treat her emotionally as the child she was, but verbally like a prodigy. There was a certain line to walk when dealing with a kid of high intelligence — they were still children, prone to be swayed by emotion and seeking comfort, but didn't deserve to be spoken to as if they were their actual age, because their minds most certainly saw it as being belittled.

On one such day in which Toshiro is able to pick up the kids from the Academy, he finds himself bearing witness to…. A fight?

"There's no way a loser like you will be Hokage, get real!" A little boy in a puffy jacket crows, red Inuzuka marks on his cheeks and a puppy in the collar of his hood.

There are children everywhere, and Naruto somehow separated himself from the group. Toshiro can see Shika's squad and the Hatake kids not too far away, talking and glancing around for their missing friend. He frowns at the words he just overheard, slipping through the gates and past a few families.

"You don't know anything!" Naruto yells in response, his voice high and shrill. "I'm gonna graduate and become a super incredible ninja! I'll be strong enough to prove it to everyone!"

It's loud enough to garner the attention of his friends. Naruto's cheeks are red in anger, his blue eyes flashing — yet there's a flicker that speaks of resignation. He's heard this speech too many times before. From the set of his little shoulders, however, Toshiro can see that Naruto's determination to succeed will not be snuffed out so easily. From the corner of his eye, he can see the group steadily make their way over.

"As if, deadlast!" The Inuzuka boy laughs, "You'll just have to get in line because I'll be Hokage before you ever come close!"

Toshiro halts upon seeing Shikamaru reach the two arguing boys first.

"Hey," Shikamaru interrupts, hands in his pockets and a lazy frown on his face. "Don't be such a pain, Kiba."

"Yeah!" Ino pops up by the lazy boy's elbow, "That's our future Hokage you're talking to, dog breath!"

"Excuse you." Gin mutters, hovering like a wraith behind Naruto, who looks startled at the arrival of his friends. "Hatake here."

The blond girl coughs, "Er, you know what I meant."

Kiba scoffs, though his hackles rise when he takes in the size of the group backing Naruto. "I know you act like a complete sack, but I thought you were supposed to be smart, Shikmaru. Why don't you forget this guy and be my Advisor instead?"

"Shikamaru's mine!" Naruto exclaims vehemently, letting out a war cry and promptly decking Kiba across the face. The Inuzuka lets out his own yell before moving to retaliate.

Time to intervene.

"Boys!" Toshiro scolds, appearing in a flash between the two kids and nabbing both of them by the backs of their coats while they're mid-lunge.

"Hey!" Kiba exclaims, wiggling fiercely, "Let me go!"

Naruto hangs limply, arms crossed and a scowl on his face. He looks completely unrepentant. Toshiro sighs. What troublesome children.

"Inuzuka-kun, it's not nice to put down other's dreams." He says, finally dropping the boy. Then he carefully places Naruto down, watching for any movement that may indicate their desire to restart getting physical. "And Naruto, you shouldn't raise your fists to your future fellow shinobi, not over words you know aren't true."

The Inuzuka scoffs again, but Toshiro doesn't look at him. He looks at Naruto, meeting those frustrated blue eyes with vibrant, calming pink. After a moment, Naruto huffs and turns his nose up, calmer but not losing all of his famed Uzumaki temper.

"Quit picking on Naruto." Sasuke sends a glare he must have learned from his father at Kiba, standing side by side with Ino. They make an adorably intimidating sight together.

"Yeah, it's better to just be friends." Chouji adds sincerely.

Kojika peers around the Akimichi, stuttering as she tries to appear assertive, "A-And don't bring Shika-nii into it! He's definitely Naruto's!"

Toshiro puts a hand over his mouth to hide a smile and stifle the laugh he so desperately wants to let out. The little Nara is staring up at the sky with a woe is me expression, complete exasperation in his eyes and a scarlet flush on his cheeks.

"Whatever!" Kiba pulls at his eyelid and sticks out his tongue, "I'll just prove you wrong!"

Then he runs off, scowling at Toshiro as he passes.

What an energetic child, he thinks. A bit like Naruto, actually. They could probably be friends if the two of them stopped getting distracted by their pride.

"Toshi-sensei!" Ino tugs at his shirt.

He glances down, offering her a smile. Oh well, they're kids. They'll work it out eventually. "Yes?"

The Yamanaka looks up at him eagerly, "Can Sai come over today? We're going to do some gardening together!"

"Oh," he murmurs, glancing over her head to the pale boy hovering at the edge of the group. His face is expressionless as usual, but there's an undercurrent of nerves in his dark eyes, like he thinks Toshiro will say no. "Of course. Is anyone else going?"

"Just Sakura, everyone else is going to Chouji's today." Ino shrugs, gesturing to the pink haired girl giving Sasuke goo-goo eyes.

Ah, Toshiro remembers her from the last clan gathering. She's civilian born, and from what he knows of her so far, neither of her parents actually know what it takes to be a shinobi. That talk of dieting is what worries me.

"Sai," The boy comes at Toshiro's call, blinking upward. Toshiro ruffles Sai's dark hair with a soft smile, "Have fun today, okay? Try to be home by eight if you end up having dinner with Ino-chan and Sakura-chan."

Sai nods resolutely, always a little too serious. Ino beams up at him and grabs Sai's hand. He startles, but she's already whirling him away with Sakura at her heels. Toshiro observes them leave with no small amount of amusement, the bubbly blond swinging their hands as they walk and chattering excessively to Sai, who merely watches with wide eyes.

It's good that he has a friend like Ino.

"So, you're going to Chouji's?"

"Yep!" The Akimichi exclaims.

Gin shifts, Takehiko standing close to his side with a little fist curled in his shirt. "That's ok, right? We didn't have dinner planned tonight, did we?"

Because you didn't visit the Akimichi Compound and not eat.

With a shake of his head, Toshiro replies, "No, we didn't. You've still got school tomorrow though, so I want you guys back around eight, just like I told Sai." The slightly downtrodden expressions make him smile. They're all so cute. "You can have a big sleepover when the weekend hits, don't fret."

Touma throws up his arms in joy, letting out a whoop and jumping onto Chouji's back. The Akimichi boy takes it in good spirit, and soon they're racing around.

Naruto cheers loudly, arms winding excitedly around Shikamaru's neck. He shakes the poor boy back and forth. "YAY! Let's do it at Shikamaru's house!"

"We did that last time." The Nara grumbles.

Sasuke pokes Naruto's side, making him squirm like a noodle. "It's my turn to host. Didn't you want to see Itachi-nii again?"

"You're right!" Naruto gasps, "He's gotta help me learn how to be Hokage!"

The two boys begin to squabble a bit, Shikamaru trapped in the middle as usual. He somehow always ends up with Naruto on one side and Sasuke on the other, the two boys clamoring for his attention. My little brother is so popular.

"Nii-san," Chiasa murmurs, appearing silently at his side. She'd been talking with some students in her class. "I won't be joining them. May I go with Nara Tsushika?"

Toshiro glances at the girl he knows to be in Chiasa's class, her hair pulled in a low pony-tail with the same trademark Nara spikes. "Of course! You heard what I said about curfew, right?"

Chiasa nods.

"Ok then," He smiles and can't resist patting her head. Most of the kids have become resigned to it now due to Kakashi. "Have fun." Then, loud enough to catch the whole group's attention, "You can walk with these guys to the Nara Compound, assuming they're picking up Asuhi."

"YEAH!" Fist pumped into the air, Naruto bounces on his toes. "We gotta go get Asuhi, ya know!"

It looks like he and Kakashi will be eating dinner alone tonight. It feels as if they haven't done so in forever.

—

They get take-out from one of the Akimichi restaurants. Neither of them are up for cooking and Toshiro has really been craving their soba. Kakashi orders his usual salt-broiled saury with a side of miso — completely typical and not at all adventurous. They sit at the kitchen table, lights low and dogs mysteriously absent. Toshiro thinks they might be out in the yard.

He's mid-sentence when Kakashi pulls down his mask in full view of Toshiro's gaze, entirely aware of the fact, and proceeds to eat.

For what it's worth, Toshiro only pauses for half a second and stutters his next two words before continuing with his story about what he'd witnessed at the academy.

Kakashi's face is pale, as expected. His skin is clear and his features mostly symmetrical, bottom lip a little plumper than the top. A straight nose with a bump at the ridge from multiple breaks. High cheekbones, heart shaped jaw — a little beauty mark just below the right corner of his lips. The scar almost reaches it. Toshiro hadn't realized how long it really was… he's seen the upper half, the part that shears through a slate gray eyebrow and into the flesh of Kakashi's forehead. It's unnervingly straight — the telltale sign of a blade inflicted wound — and spans almost the entire length of Kakashi's face. When Kakashi's mouth moves to chew, the turn of his lips puckers the bottom of the scar.

Then there's the teeth.

Toshiro tries hard not to stare. He's being trusted here, with Kakashi's most desperately kept secret. His face. It wouldn't do to act like a fool — yet he's already intensely interested in mapping out every little feature of the man he calls his closest friend.

But back to the teeth.

Kakashi has fangs. If Toshiro didn't know any better, he'd say Kakashi was an Inuzuka with a mouth of pearly-whites like that. He straight up has dog teeth. It's fitting, and Toshiro does wonder if the teeth are a side effect of his blood or his contract with the nin dogs. (Technically one in the same, since only Hatake have access to the summons.)

Kakashi's face is, overall, frightfully pretty. It makes Toshiro's heart drop to his feet and butterflies press at his throat. He stuffs soba noodles into his mouth to stop from stuttering out something stupid during a pause in the conversation. Whether Kakashi wore his mask or not, Toshiro's budding feelings were already established. They had been, before ever witnessing the unfairly attractive features of Hatake Kakashi. The man could have looked like anything.

So, of course he was beautiful.

"In a few weeks the kids will get their dogs." Kakashi mutters, tongue flicking along a sharp incisor. "It might be better to introduce one dog at a time. I'm not sure yet…. I didn't have any siblings." There was a sharp quirking of his mouth. "So I suppose we'll figure it out as we go."

It's so weird. Seeing Kakashi smile. Or semi-smile. It's a crooked one, too, the left side pulling a little higher than the right. Toshiro feels utterly smitten at the sight. How disgustingly unfair.

"You hate not having a plan." He swallows around a mouthful of soba. "You're basically half Nara. And you want to wing it?"

A steel gray brow rises, pale lips twitching once more into something resembling a grin. Questioning and amused. Kakashi's expressions are so much easier to read now. (Obviously.) Weird. "There isn't a guidebook for Hatake life. I checked. If there was, it's long gone."

Toshiro pushes a few noodles around with his chopsticks. "Then ask your dogs."

Kakashi purses his lips, contemplating. "Huh. I suppose I will."

They don't mention Kakashi's bare face. At some point, Toshiro makes Kakashi laugh. The smile is wide and crooked, displaying sharp teeth and a flash of red tongue. His scar pulls and his eye narrows but doesn't shift into the closed, half-moon shape that he uses as a substitute. Toshiro memorizes the look, because now he knows what shape Kakashi's eye takes when he's actually smiling.

In the face of such a sight, Toshiro jabs himself in the chin with his chopsticks and spills soba into his lap. He does not miss the calculating look Kakashi levels him when he frantically moves to clean the mess.

It makes his heart leap. Does he know? Does he suspect? Would it matter?

Then Kakashi drawls that 'if you've gotten so clumsy, maybe we should up your training regimen' and Toshiro can only scowl half-heartedly because the man is a slave driver.

They do the dishes together. Kakashi washes, Toshiro dries. The older man uses the opportunity to flick stray drops of water in Toshiro's direction.

"Don't start this fight," Tosihro mutters, elbowing Kakashi gently in the side. "I'm the one with a water nature." It didn't matter that Kakashi probably knew twice as many jutsus, they would always be harder to perform since his chakra nature was the natural opposite. Having a water nature combined with Toshiro's excellent chakra control — as long as Kakashi didn't use his sharingan, the cheat — meant it was Toshiro that would wipe the floor in a water-only battle.

Strictly water ninjutsu only. Strictly. Kakashi could still kick Toshiro's ass in taijutsu with one hand tied behind his back. At least they were on the same level genjutsu-wise….again, sharingan excluded. What a hack.

"I'm so scared." Kakashi's lips curl, expression mocking. He's yet to pull his mask back up.

It remains bunched around his neck until the children get home.

—

Medic-Nin very rarely get out of a surgery when it comes to being 'too close' to a patient. Civilian doctors seem to have some code where if you're related to the patient, there's a potential conflict of interest that prevents you from making the most sane and logical choices. It means they aren't allowed to operate on their loved ones unless there's no other option. In the shinobi world, there is no such rule. Medic-Nin are expected to operate on their comrades constantly. It's why they go out in the field.

It's why Toshiro has learned to turn his emotions off and just work.

Their relationship was born on a hospital bed. He's had to rearrange Kakashi's guts before, has been the reason for many healed scars littering the Copy Nin's skin. The man's blood has coated his hands, his clothes, his safety mask. He's seen Hatake Kakashi near-dead at least ten times.

It doesn't get easier. In fact it starts to feel worse.

That doesn't stop Toshiro from doing his job.

A jounin leaps into the hospital from the second-floor shinobi entrance — the one Toshiro had insisted upon because shinobi fast traveled through the trees and it created a bridge from the forest straight into the hospital — toting an unconscious Kakashi over one shoulder. Crimson drips and smears against the ground.

Toshiro feels himself pale, feels his heart stutter in fear — the kind of fear he hasn't felt in a long, long time. He snaps on his gloves and barks out orders, pushing a team to set up one of the hospital's operating rooms. Operations go a bit differently here. There's the usual surgical procedures, mainly used for less severe injuries, but the go-to is medical sealing arts. The success rate was far greater, especially concerning ninja and their chakra-related injuries.

Kakashi has a broken leg, two bleeding, burnt hands, and a hole in his gut. The gut wound is the most concerning wound, so they prep the room and place his still body at the center of the sealing array. Upon proceeding, black ink curls over his body, expanding and shifting with the force of collaborative chakra. The flesh of his bare abdomen seems to writhe and shiver, new cells growing at an extremely rapid rate. They need to regrow part of his large intestine and part of his liver, as well as repair the overlaying muscle and fatty tissue.

Sweat drips down the side of Toshiro's face and off the tip of his nose. He tastes salt at his lips. His sharp, peach-pink gaze never wavers from Kakashi's pale, pained form. When they'd stripped him of his shirt, Toshiro had placed one of the standard hospital masks around the man's face. It's not like it mattered — but it was habit to protect what Kakashi held close, and that included his face.

It takes eight hours. Then another three to fix in the damage in his leg. Toshiro is beginning to run low on chakra. This is usually around the time he takes a break and switches out with another Medic-Nin on duty, but he can't bring himself to leave until he knows he's healed Kakashi to the best of his ability.

When they finally get to the hands, Toshiro taps out. There's less need for the sealing array now. The hands can be healed on their own, with fewer Medic-Nin present. Toshiro does not have the chakra to keep going. He would have, if he hadn't already been at the end of his shift when the man came in.

Toshiro strips his scrubs off in the changing room and takes a shower. He finishes quickly, tying still damp hair up in a bun. It's far, far past the time he should have left. Which reminds him —

Shisui appears at his side when he takes a step out of the changing room.

"Your kids are sound asleep, Shiro-chan!"

He blinks, "Oh. What time is it?"

The Uchiha hooks an arm through Toshiro's, subtly directing him in his exhaustion. They wander steadily through the halls. "Almost 6AM, baby! Your Director sent a missive to your house to let the kids know you and Kakashi wouldn't be home last night. So of course, since all the little troublemakers were hanging around, Sasuke told us and….ta-da! Mikoto-sama had me babysit!"

"Oh no."

"Hey! I'll have you know I'm an excellent babysitter!"

Toshiro laughs, pressing his cheek to Shisui's shoulder and sighing at the warmth he finds there. Uchiha are always so warm. Like a portable heating pack. "Is that why Sasuke runs screaming every time he sees you?"

Shisui pouts, fluttering his absurdly long eyelashes. (Which just looks like rapid winking, with his one visible eye.) "That kid's just a stick in the mud."

Huffing out a brief laugh, Toshiro rolls his eyes, "Tell me there's still a Hatake Compound."

"There was only one fire," Shisui says, like it's an accomplishment. "Nothing was terribly burnt."

"Oh, good." It kind of was an accomplishment, with Shisui involved. "Where's your better half?"

Shisui pinches Toshiro's side in retaliation, then moves his arm to wrap around Toshiro's waist. He's very touchy-feely for an Uchiha. "At the house now. I wanted to be the one to pick you up!"

"You didn't need to." He tries to say, but finds himself leaning heavily on the taller man.

One dark eye looks down at him with an expression that can only mean yeah right. "You're dead on your feet, Shiro-chan. Someone had to come and make sure you didn't just pass out on that ratty futon in your office."

He scrunches his nose, a little offended, "My futon isn't ratty."

"Sure, sure," Shisui acquiesces, "And I have two working eyes."

Toshiro huffs. "Take me home already."

A clenching in his gut — and the streets before the hospital shift into the gate leading to the Hatake Compound. Shunshin no Shisui strikes again. Toshiro bites his thumb and swipes chakra-infused blood down the bars, igniting the seals with a flash. The gate clicks open. Shisui drags him along to the main house, kicking the gate closed behind him with a foot.

Hoshika steps out the front door to greet them, her amber-brown eyes tired but alert. She scratches at her cheek, dark hair out of the usual poiny-tail and wildly messy. "Hey. How's Hatake?"

Toshiro flashes her a quick smile, "He'll live. Sorry you had to deal with this."

She shrugs, "It's nothin'. Your kids aren't as much of a pain as some others."

"And it's good practice!" Shisui chips in, squeezing Toshiro tight and pulling him up the low steps to the engawa.

Toshiro turns his gaze to Hoshika's stomach with poorly hidden surprise.

She scowls and flicks Shisui's forehead when he gets close, "I'm not pregnant."

"You could be." The Uchiha wiggles his visible eyebrow.

"Anyway," Toshiro clears his throat loudly, hopelessly fond and amused. "Thanks for this."

Hoshika bumps his shoulder. "Stop thanking us, it's a pain. Now get inside and sleep."

They usher him inside, boxing him in and making quips to each other. Toshiro feels his eyelids grow heavy, heart swelling with warmth — and safety. He's safe here, between these two. Who would have thought? The boy who wanted nothing to do with anyone throughout childhood now found himself an adult, desperate for it. For friendship.

And he has it.

"Eight hours of sleep, Shiro-chan! We'll make the kiddies eat their greens and take 'em to the Academy." Shisui pokes his nose and lays him down. Toshiro blinks in surprise, not even noticing that they'd already gotten to his bedroom. Shisui pulls his sandals off and tucks him in — and Hoshika has to pull him away before he starts doing something stupid like tell a bedtime story.

"Sleep well," she says, one hand in the collar of Shisui's shirt. They leave the room, Shisui whining the whole way, one arm outstretched in a pathetic attempt to reach for Toshiro.

He hides his smile in his pillow and shuts his eyes.

When he wakes, he'll take the kids to visit Kakashi.