Chapter Text
Back when his family was alive, Sasuke had always celebrated his birthday along with the rest of the clan, on New Years Day. They had been a very traditional family, and hadn't adopted the relatively new tradition of celebrating a birthday on the actual day of birth. Since his family had been murdered, Sasuke hadn't celebrated at all.
This of course meant that they had to celebrate. New Years was a long way off, but Sasuke seemed fine with celebrating his birth the weekend before Naruto's own birthday. Kakashi dug into his ANBU pay (because after years and years and years of black-ops pay and very few expenses, he was fucking loaded,) and took the entire team out to be fitted for new kimonos. Because they absolutely could not go to a ryōtei in their every day clothes.
Everyone seemed to have a pretty good time. Sasuke even smiled a bit while he was being fitted for his outfit. Sakura went a little bit wild, and insisted on looking through absolutely everything, because as hard as her parents have worked, they could never have afforded something like this. Naruto seemed overwhelmed, and kept looking at the owners like they were going to kick him out (they weren't, because he and Genma had paid them a visit the night before, and the proprietors were on their absolute best behavior.)
Kakashi was possibly the worst role-model ever, but he stepped up and took Naruto by the shoulder, and showed him around the shop. He explained that honestly unless you really really wanted something specific, you could just stand on the stool, and the shop owners would do all the measurements and pick something that was the right style, color and cut for the occasion. That was what Kakashi had always done, that was what Sasuke was currently doing, and that it was completely fine if Naruto wanted to do that too.
Naruto seemed relieved by this. He let Sasuke and Kakashi go first, and Kakashi treated this appointment just like every single one of his other appointments – with a look of utter boredom and a book in his hand. Rather than annoying Naruto that he was reading porn in public (there was a new Icha Icha book out, and the plot was really good in this one – no really, it was,) Naruto seemed relieved that everything was business as usual.
After everyone had been measured, colors had been picked, and orders placed with strict instructions to come back on Friday for a second fitting before the celebration Sunday, Kakashi took the team out to a light lunch. After that he ran them into the ground, testing everything they'd learned while he was gone.
He was pleased with their progress. Genma had done a good damn job. They finally had enough of a grasp of chakra control that he could test their chakra types, which would help guide their future training. Turned out that Sasuke had lightning and fire affinity, Sakura had water and earth, and Naruto had wind, so between his team they had every basic affinity covered. That – was honestly surprising. Working together, they could become a serious force to recon with. They would have someone who could handle every type of ninjutsu attack thrown at them. (Well, the basic ones, at least. Bloodlines, space-time jutsu, and so on could still present difficulties. Still, they had a lot more to work with than even most ANBU teams Kakashi had seen.)
Sasuke's lightning affinity meant that Kakashi was able to take the practice sword he'd bought to the blacksmith and get a few seals put on it, which would help him learn to channel lightning into the blade, while also ensuring he was grounded and wouldn't electrocute himself while he was still learning the basics. It helped transform Kakashi's half-assed present that he wasn't even sure Sasuke would like into something worthy of a party that was covering eight birthdays at once.
Genma had managed to get Tsunade to assign him as Sasuke's ANBU guard for the foreseeable future. It hadn't taken too much to convince her, since Sasuke was already living with them, Genma was teaching him clan politics that Tsunade was too busy and too tired to want to deal with, and it meant that she could reassign his current guard elsewhere. So Genma would stay with them for the next few months at least, though when they were cleared to take missions outside the village again he'd likely have to be reassigned.
Kakashi let Genma be the one to teach Naruto the manners he would need to go to the ryōtei. In three days. Kakashi spent those three nights sleeping on the couch, but it was so worth it. Naruto wouldn't be completely embarrassed in public, and Kakashi didn't have to try to remember his own manners enough to teach them to someone else. Plus, make up sex was great, so really a winning strategy all around.
The dinner went wonderfully, except that Kakashi had to wear a formal, layered kimono, but since he'd picked the place he couldn't really complain. He'd switched his mask out for a more decorative scarf to at least nod in the direction of formality. The hostess wasn't too impressed, but Kakashi was paying, so he didn't give a fuck.
The food was good, and it was nice to see Sasuke enjoying himself, even though he did look a little sad at times. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to do something formal and remind him of his family. But it was healthy to replace bad experiences with good ones, and celebrate positive memories, or something. (Genma might have left some self-help books on his nightstand that he'd started reading by mistake and then had finished out of spite.)
They gave Sasuke his presents after the last course, where everyone (even the genin,) was given a glass of sake. Kakashi went first, handing Sasuke the sword, and promising to teach him how to channel lightning down it. “Now that you've got your sharingan, you could probably learn my signature technique, too. But let's start with the sword, before we get carried away with assassination techniques.”
“I'd like that,” Sasuke said diplomatically. Kakashi wasn't sure if he liked the present or not, but he seemed eager to learn, at least. That was probably as close to approval as Sasuke ever got.
Genma offered Sasuke a scroll. “I know your family usually summons crows, but I figured that after everything, that might be a little complicated. Anyway, the snake contract allows one signature per generation, and since I have no relatives...well, it'd be nice to be able to keep the contract alive.”
Sasuke's eyes widened. Being offered a summon contract from another family was a Big Deal. Genma could have started a clan war with an offer like that, if either of them had had any clan to speak of. Even without all that drama, sharing clan secrets with non-clan members, it was a basically as close to offering to adopt Sasuke as he could get without officially making him a Shiranui.
“I accept,” Sasuke said. “When can we – how should we -”
“Read over the contract when you can, and we can go over the formal signing process later. It's not too involved though. You've already met the clan matriarch, and she likes you, so I think you're actually past the worst of it.”
Kakashi resigned himself to a house full of snakes. It was worth it, to hear Sasuke's soft, “thank you,” as he tucked the scroll away.
They all sort of sat there for a moment in awe before Sakura pulled herself together. “Geez Genma-sensei, you should have gone last! How am I supposed to compete with that?!”
Genma rubbed the back of his neck in a decidedly Kakashi-like gesture and said, “ah, sorry.”
“Che. Well, whatever. I got you a scroll too, Sasuke-kun. I was doing some research in the library, and obviously all of the Uchiha records are kept on the clan compound, but not everyone in your clan was an Uchiha, right? A lot of them married in. So I did some research, and make a family tree. You might not have any other living Uchiha relatives, but you do have a few in other clans, and a couple civilians too. Not that you're obligated to talk to them or anything, but I thought you might like to know.”
If possible, Sasuke took this scroll with even more reverence than he had the last one. “Thank you, Sakura, that is. Very thoughtful.”
Kakashi thought he might actually be tearing up.
Naruto coughed nervously, when it was his turn. “Ah, my present isn't actually here yet. It's not a thing...so much as a person? Uh. Sorry, I don't know how to explain, really.”
Sasuke seemed mystified, but not actually angry, which was good because Kakashi wasn't looking forward to breaking up a fight at the ryōtei and getting them kicked out for life.
On their way back home - having agreed to let Sakura and Naruto sleep over, since it was very late - a crow's deep croak called through the night. All of them stopped. Crows didn't usually mean good things, where their team was concerned. A figure appeared in front of them, and Kakashi put his hand on his sword, only to stop when Naruto cried out happily,
“You made it!”
There was a deep chuckle. “Well I figured after all this time I'd better not actually miss the big event, right? Even if Jiraya didn't relay your message until it was almost too late. Luckily, my crows were more tuned in to what was going on.”
The mystery man stepped closer. “Relax, Kakashi-sempai. I'm not going to hurt anyone. At least, I hope not.”
The man was an Uchiha, that was immediately obvious. With that skin and that hair and the one black eye, there was nothing else he could be. He was rail thin, but whether that was genetics or a long illness, Kakashi wasn't really sure. He looked...familiar, even if Kakashi had never known any Uchiha with a missing left eye. (Except Obito, but it wasn't Obito, even if his heart jumped for the briefest moment at the thought that it could be.)
“Sasuke...I don't know if you remember me. It's been a while.”
Sasuke stared at him for a long moment, and his face transformed from terror and suspicion to joy. “Shisui-nee-san! I thought – I thought -”
Shisui opened his arms and Sasuke sprinted across the space between them and almost knocked the man over by jumping into them. Sasuke was crying, Shisui was crying, Kakashi had never felt so much like a third wheel in his life.
“He's been spying for Jiraya,” Naruto said softly, like he'd always been privy to the secrets of Konoha's spy network. “I went to go see the old man, after I found out what happened to Sasuke's family. I said some pretty awful things to him. He told me that he was sorry, but that's not really good enough, you know? But then he said that if I wanted to maybe help make things a little better, I could write to Jiraya and tell him it was time for Shisui-kun to come home. So that's what I did. The crows helped a lot. Jiraya is the actual worst. Did you know he was supposed to be my godfather? Ugh. I dodged a kunai there.”
It was all a lot to take in. Luckily, they had sake at home. A lot of sake. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura got tea, but he, Genma and Shisui made a considerable dent in the sake collection they'd been building up over the years. Shisui apologized for not returning sooner. He'd had a significant head injury, and had honestly thought he was dying. He'd made some less than intelligent decisions, but by the time he'd been fished out of the river and recovered enough to function, all he knew was that the entire clan had died. Konoha had done its best to make sure none of their enemies knew Sasuke was alive, because it was much easier to get ahold of the coveted Uchiha bloodline if it consisted of a single traumatized kid. From where Shisui was in the remote ends of Fire Country, he'd thought everyone was dead.
So he'd agreed to spy for Jiraya, and had become a pretty competent medic-nin while he was at it, helping people who were at as low of a point as he'd been when he jumped in the river.
“I'm still working out all the details, but I'm here to stay. I'll be as involved in your life as you want, but if you don't want to see me, I understand.”
By the way that Sasuke had fallen asleep still clinging to Shisui's shirt, Kakashi didn't think he had to worry about that.
xxx
Luckily for Kakashi's sanity, Naruto's birthday party was significantly less involved. Kakashi set up a ramen tour, where they ate from sun up to sun down, moving from one ramen restaurant to another, ending the day at Ichiraku. Sasuke and Sakura complained after the seventh restaurant or so, but Naruto was actually crying from happiness by the time the sun set, so Kakashi figured he'd done a good job. Of course, his original gift of various ramen flavorings from Hot Water Country felt like a lame present after what he'd given Sasuke, even though Naruto had shouted with joy when he'd opened the package.
But that was okay, because a message hawk from Tsunade ended up saving the day. The hawk appeared during the desert ramen course (Kakashi couldn't even fathom desert ramen, but Naruto was having a good time.) He took the scroll from the hawk, hoping it wasn't a mission calling him away again. He had to read it three times, and then handed it to Genma to make sure it said what he thought it did.
Genma's eyes widened as he read it. “You're sure?” he asked, partially looking to Kakashi for some kind of guidance, and partially asking the message hawk. The hawk preened itself, and took a shit on Kakashi's shoulder before taking off back towards the tower.
That made everyone laugh, and covered Genma's quick use of fire jutsu to burn the scroll to ash.
When they got home and Kakashi'd had a bath and a change of clothes (stupid fucking bird,) he and Genma took Naruto out to the garden alone.
“Um. It's not bad news, is it?” He asked, pacing in front of a stone bench.
“Why would you think that?” Genma asked.
“Well uh, I haven't ever had as good a day as this, you know? And something always goes wrong. And I saw that message you got during dinner. So I thought...I don't know. Is – is everything ok?”
Genma smiled. “Yeah kid. Everything's okay. Kakashi has something to tell you, but it's not bad.”
Naruto turned to him with the widest, most hopeful eyes ever found on a human being. Kakashi shot Genma a look of betrayal. Talk about pressure. But it was okay. He could do this. He was Kakashi fucking Hatake, he could tell Naruto about his parents, even if Kakashi felt that their death was one of his biggest life failures to date. Naruto deserved to hear about them from people who loved them. He could do this. He could.
“I'm going to tell you about one of the most brave and selfless ninja I have ever met. She was a jinchūriki too. Her name was Uzumaki Kushina, and she was your mother.”
Naruto's eyes widened. “You knew...my parents?”
“We did. You'd better sit down, it's a long story.”
Naruto had probably never sat down so fast in his life. “Please, please, Kakashi-sensei. Tell me about them.”
And so he did.