Chapter Text
Kakashi felt uneasy. He was so close to seeing his dad, but he had to wait in line so Dai-san could tell the nurse that Sakumo-san had visitors. The lady in front was taking forever. Maybe if Kakashi tossed a kunai at her leg she would have to be admitted to the hospital, they could get to talk to the nurse-
Gai was rocking on his toes on the other side of his dad, tightly gripping his thumb.
‘Is it long yet?’ asked Kakashi in full volume, so the annoying woman would hear him.
‘Patience, my dear boy! We have to wait like everyone else,’ he said with a smile. He gave Kakashi’s shoulder a little squeeze.
‘But we’re in a hurry,’ he complained, raising his voice. ‘We have school, and you the missions, and someone is taking forever!’
‘Kakashi-kun!’ Dai crouched to get on the boy’s level. ‘I know you’re feeling impatient, I do too. It’s frustrating, but we just have to wait a little longer.’
‘…But is it long yet?’ he repeated, turning his head to stare at the ground. He gave the floor a little kick.
‘I’m sure it won’t take much longer,’ he promised. Gai squeezed him by the neck, so he put his arm around his back and picked him up when he stood up. ‘Would you like to go up to?’
‘No, I have my own legs.’ He crossed both arms on his chest an fixed his stare on the back of the woman’s head. Maybe if he was looking at her for long enough she would finally move.
Dai chuckled, shaking his head.
‘Of course you do- Oh, there we go, our turn! Come on, Kakashi-kun!’
Kakashi almost run to the counter, but he could not see over it anyway; it was too tall. Dai-san was right behind him.
‘Hello! We’ve come to see Sakumo-san. Three visitors,’ he added and scooped Kakashi up; he held him by his side for the woman to see. The boy just stared at the nurse’s nose, squinting. The nurse chuckled.
‘I can see that!’ She smiled at them. ‘Aren’t you two adorable!’ she cooed at the boys, making Kakashi huff – he was not adorable, thank you very much – and Gai grinned and gave her a thumb up.
‘They truly are!’ agreed Dai with a laugh. ‘But not as adorable as impatient!’
Still held under Dai-san’s arm, he made sure to remember the number of the room (forty seven), and finally they were on the way. The nurse waved at them, having the audacity to see them as something small and cute.
Being carried by someone who knew the way was faster than running around and trying to find the right door, so he allowed it without complaints.
‘We’re almost there!’ said Gai happily, reaching down to pat Kakashi’s head. He had no idea how far was the room, but he was still confident that Papa would make it quick! He was walking pretty fast too, taking two steps at once.
Kakashi did not answer, too busy with being impatient (and adorable).
‘Three more doors on the right!’ announced Dai when they climbed on the second floor.
‘Three!’ Gai counted out loud.
‘Two,’ Kakashi joined him quietly under his breath.
‘One, and-’ Dai grabbed the doorknob. Gai knocked for the good measure because Papa had both hands busy and it was impolite to walk into someone’s room without knocking. ‘And rise and shine, Sakumo-san!’ he called in a sing-song voice, almost barging in.
‘Dad!’ Kakashi crossed his arms on his chest, still dangling in the air by Dai-san’s hip.
‘Pup! Dai-san, Gai-kun!...’ He pulled himself higher on the pillows and put the cup with water to the side. He smiled at them, although it felt forced. He was not sure if he even should show his face to anyone after what he tried to do, especially to his little boy-
‘Dad, I’ll be late for school and it’s your fault!’ complained Kakashi and aimed an accusatory finger at him. ‘
‘…Uh, Pup, I-’ he tried, but his words failed him. It was difficult to even look at him; he darted his gaze, feeling an uncomfortable lump in his throat.
‘Now, now, Kakashi-kun!’ chuckled Dai. He turned around, making a buzzing sound and gently tossed Kakashi on the bed. ‘Here comes the little bee!’
‘I’m not a bee!’ He climbed higher on the bed to sit on Sakumo’s stomach. Behind his back, Dai peeled Gai off of his side and tossed him in the air for a good measure before he helped him sit on his shoulders.
‘I didn’t expect to be attacked like that first thing in the morning,’ admitted Sakumo. He offered a small wave to Gai-kun, who beamed at him with his partially toothless smile and a thumb up.
‘Well, any complaints should be file on paper and delivered to this little man!’ Dai patted Kakashi on the head and pulled up a chair. He sat down on with a sigh. ‘He’s been buzzing all morning, so eager to see you!’
‘What happened,’ whined Kakashi, giving his father a slap to the chest. Sakumo groaned at the accidental kick to the wound in his stomach; Dai-san grabbed Kakashi by the waistband and pulled him a bit lower to stop him from sitting almost on the bandaged spot. ‘You didn’t tell me about that mission! And since when you’re getting hurt!’
‘Was it Iwa-shinobi?’ asked Gai, leaning on his dad’s head. ‘Was there many?!’
‘Why are you here!’ demanded Kakashi at the same time.
‘Will you die?!’
‘You can’t die!’ cried Kakashi even louder and landed a series of hits on his father’s chest. Sakumo raised both arms, chuckling nervously.
‘Oi, Pup, hold on now…’
Dai glanced between them and forced a smile. He had to intervene, Kakashi-kun was clearly on the edge of a meltdown – he had seen it before a couple times.
‘Alright, let’s take a few deep breaths!’ Dai reached to hold Kakashi’s hand down. The boy made an angry sound and tried to pry Dai-san’s fingers open to let him go. He had to let him go, Kakashi had to hit his dad again to make sure he was really there, not imagined and he could push and press and he would feel it- ‘It’s alright, Sakumo-san. I’ve got this,’ said Dai quickly because Sakumo automatically reached to his son to pull him away. ‘Kakashi-kun, I need you to stop. He’s been hurt on the mission enough, you don’t have to finish the job.’
‘No-’
‘I know you’re upset,’ he added quickly. ‘Do you think you can stop hitting your dad and take a few deep breaths with me? I’ll let you go if you can.’
‘Fine!’ he grunted through his teeth. Dai-san let go of his hand immediately just like he promised, but Kakashi still swung at him in a slap.
Sakumo gasped, offended, but Dai paid no mind to it. He shushed his friend with a gesture, still focused on Kakashi.
‘Five deep breaths!’ announced Gai loudly and took a very big, loud breath in and puffed his chest.
‘Just like we agreed. One- ’ Dai followed the suit and took a long breath through the nose, and slowly exhaled through the mouth. Kakashi was not looking at him, still fuming and struggling with calming down, but it not discouraged him. He kept modeling the slow breathing and the boy eventually joined when he was at the third one. ‘Very good, just a few more. In! And out.’
Together, watched warily by Sakumo, they managed to get the agreed five breaths.
‘Good job!’ Dai praised him immediately and offered his palm up. ‘High five?’
Kakashi, still frowning, gave both him and Gai a high-five and turned to stare at his father’s ear.
‘Alright… Um.’ Sakumo cleared his throat, exchanging quick looks with Dai-san. He did not tell them what had happened, of course he did not. Shit. He had to come up with something to explain why he ended up in the hospital. ‘Y-yes, it was Iwa shinobi. A lot of them.’
‘It was an ambush,’ added Dai, lowering his voice like he was sharing a secret. ‘Sakumo-san did not notice them like would normally do, because he was distracted!’
‘With what?’ Kakashi tilted his head to the side. ‘Dad’s never distracted!’
‘Because it’s not an everyday to see a cloud that looks just like a dog!’
Kakashi looked between the dads, waiting for one of them to admit it was just a joke.
‘…A dog cloud?’ he repeated suspiciously.
‘Yes! And the cloud was getting closer and closer, and! Actually…’ He paused, looking between Kakashi-kun and Sakumo-san. They were both watching him curiously. ‘It was not a cloud that looked like a dog, but it was the other way around!’
‘No way!’ gasped Gai.
‘I’m telling you! You told me yourself yesterday, Sakumo-san, tell them!’
‘Did you really see a dog that was a cloud?’ demanded Kakashi.
‘I did!’ he agreed a little too fast with a nod. ‘He was… The fluffiest dog I have ever seen. And that’s when an arrow came out of nowhere. It missed the cloud, I mean the dog, and got me instead.’
Dai nodded seriously, pressing his lips in a thin line. Gai, still sat comfortably on dad’s shoulders, gasped quietly. Kakashi grabbed the sheets and pulled them down to see the wound.
‘You won’t see, it’s bandaged,’ he explained, but lifted his hospital shirt enough so the boy would see the wrapping. ‘It… Came right through here.’ He pointed at the hidden stab wound.
‘Does it hurt? To be shot by an arrow?’ Gai propped his elbows on dad’s head.
‘Awfully,’ said Sakumo with a nod. He fixed his clothes and the covers. Kakashi still looked unhappy, but he seemed to accept the explanation. Or at least to let the topic slide for some time. ‘I’ll have to stay here for a couple of days.’
There was a moment of silence when Gai was climbing down from Dai’s shoulders. Kakashi pointed at a drip stand.
‘What’s that?’
Sakumo turned his head to look at what his son was pointing at.
‘This? Oh, it’s an IV to help me get better sooner.’
‘Will you stay here for long?’
‘I hope not!’ he chuckled weakly, rubbing at his neck. He dropped his gaze at Pup’s hands nipping at the edge of his blanket. He could see that the boy kept picking at his nails all evening, he must had been very anxious. ‘Most likely I’ll just be in here for two, maybe three days to make sure the wound is alright. Then I can get back home.’
‘Actually you should have a longer rest,’ said Dai, crossing both arms on his chest. Sakumo did not meet his eyes, but he refused to look away. ‘It wouldn’t be too smart to leave you on your own anytime soon.’
‘But dad said-’
‘And he’s right! But it takes longer than a couple days to heal a stab wound, Kakashi-kun. Just because it’s closed and isn’t bleeding, it doesn’t mean its alright to go back to normal daily activities. Sakumo-san will have to focus on getting a lot of rest.’
Kakashi straightened his back, turning back towards his dad.
‘You won’t be getting missions?’
‘I… Yes, I think I’ll… Take it easy for some time.’
‘So you’ll be home all the time?!’
Sakumo nodded, finally smiling a little at the almost palpable excitement.
‘It seems like it.’
‘For more than a week?!’ His eyes went round in awe.
‘For a few weeks a least,’ he nodded. Kakashi just stared, wide-eyed without blinking.
‘Cool.’
‘I’ll make sure your dad’s behaving,’ promised Dai, stubbornly staring at Sakumo. He finally returned the gaze. ‘So I’ll be around more often. Making sure nothing bad is happening.’
Kakashi frowned at his dad who seemed to curl into himself a little.
‘So it means Gai will be around more often too,’ he noticed.
‘We can have so many competitions!’ he exclaimed, jumping up and down. He ended up hopping up on the bed. ‘Like, like, who can do homework faster! Or who finishes the training first! Who sweeps half of the room-‘
‘Or you could simply work on all those things together instead?’ Sakumo raised his eyebrows. He made a face when all three just stared at him in silence. ‘What?’ he asked, confused.
Kakashi sighed, shaking his head and reached to put his palm on father’s shoulder.
‘Dad, I don’t think you understand how rivalry works’ he said seriously. ‘Me and Gai have to compete’ he explained seriously.
Gai nodded, crossing his arms just like his dad.
‘Exactly. We’re in this for like, years. Whole eternity! It’s in the nature of our relationship! Right, Kakashi?’
The other boy nodded.
‘Right.’ He fixed his mask. ‘See? That’s why I have to prove that I’m better at everything.’
‘You wish,’ he scoffed immediately. ‘I can do anything better than you!’
‘No, you can’t.’
‘Yes, I can.’
‘No, you can-‘
‘Yes, I can!’
‘Alright there, champs,’ chuckled Dai, placing palms on their heads. ‘One more minute and it will turn into another competition!’
‘That’s the whole point!’ noticed Kakashi.
‘It might be, but not everything has to be a competition!’
‘I second that. You could try to keep each other on your toes instead. It probably be more fun if you wouldn’t know when the next challenge would be,’ suggested Sakumo. Dai nodded, ruffling hair of both boys. Kakashi as always tried to squirm away.
‘You’d still have to be ready anytime and everywhere! But then the challenges would be more meaningful, don’t you think?’
Gai pouted a little, deep in thoughts.
‘But then we would have to keep score,’ said Kakashi slowly. ‘To know who’s winning, like, in general. Not just the last time.’
‘Oh, that sounds like fun!’
Kakashi hummed in agreement.
‘I think,’ Dai lowered is voice. ‘That we should let Sakumo-san rest now. You crickets still have to get to the Academy, remember?’
They both groaned, making unhappy faces.
‘What’s with that reaction?’ he laughed. ‘You have mostly classes outside today, don’t you?’
‘It’s alright, Pup,’ Sakumo patted Kakashi on his knee. ‘I won’t be out from here for a while, you can just come back after classes.’
‘I’m going to.’ He slid off his father’s lap. ‘So don’t sleep.’
‘Do sleep,’ said Dai quietly. ‘Just not after school.’
Sakumo could not help a chuckle. He nodded.
‘I’ll be awake after school, I promise. See you later, crickets.’
‘Bye, dad.’
‘Bye, Sakumo-san!’
Dai only waved at him.
‘Alright then! Pup and Sprout, off you go! Shush, shush!’ Dai herd both boys in front of him. Kakashi did not mention that only his dad was allowed to call him that. Instead, he let Gai pull him along by his sleeve.
‘Pup and Sprout.’ Sakumo shook his head, smiling, but when the door closed behind them with a quiet click, the smile disappeared from his face. He sank deeper in the covers, throwing an arm over his eyes.
It was close. It was so close for everything to be over but he messed up again. He did not even know how we was supposed to feel about this – he wanted to be dead. He was ready for it, but unfortunately he was found in time.
If he only properly locked the door-
Or he could just leave the house and do it in the forest, the chances to be found there were slim to say the least. Now he was stuck in the hospital – and the red band around his wrist was a clear sign he was being watched closely to not try to pull anything like that while he was admitted. He had to wait it out.
But before he could see her again, he would have to spend some more time with their son.
He was kept in the bed for three days. Once he was cleared to leave the hospital room, he dragged himself out of the hospital. The last thing he wanted to do was to go to the Third’s office to confront him about what had happened. He was not good at confrontation. He could kill on command and do it fast with no hesitation, but it was a mission. Outside missions, Sakumo could had had hot soup spilled on him and he would thank the person who did it.
The Third obviously knew what had happened – or actually what did not happen, the word spread fast. The council would not let it slide either.
Sakumo really did not have the energy for all of that. If only he could just crawl into some small, dark space where nobody would find him…
The stares of people passing him on the streets were somehow worst than waking up and realizing he failed. They knew. Of course they knew, just like they did know about the mission he refused to do, they knew about his betrayal, they knew he was progressively losing it during the last months and now they knew he was a coward. Unfortunately not a dead one.
He did not remember walking to the Hokage’s office nor knocking on the door. He could recall some flashes of raised voices when he was kneeling on the middle of the room, his head hung low and gaze locked on the floor. The council were both berating him loudly (‘…unacceptable!... Pathetic excuse… should be demoted, nobody wants to be under your command anyway… bad example…’), Lord Hiruzen was only staring at him above his hands and smoke from the pipe. The Hokage said something as well – perhaps is was a longer speech, or it were just a few words – but the only thing that had gotten through was that he was removed from the list of shinobi on active duty until further notice.
Sakumo only nodded and once dismissed, he left the office.
Until further notice.
He found himself walking to the cemetery, but he did not go on the grounds. He should not show up to her like that, not yet. He promised they would meet again soon and there he was, still in the flesh.
Sakumo turned slowly on his heel, letting his legs carry him wherever. Preferably far from the villagers, other shinobi, from everyone…
And of course that was when he was spotted by Dai-san. Sakumo really did not want to see him. Actually no, he did but only to punch him. If it was not for him, he would be long gone just like he should – wanted – to be.
‘Sakumo-san, what a lovely surprise!’ boomed Dai, happy as ever. ‘I was just about to grab the kids from the Academy and head to the hospital! And yet there you are, already released!’
Sakumo just stood there, staring at Dai-san’s dirty jumpsuit – he was most likely digging through someone’s garden, judging by the dark spots of soil on his knees – unable to move. His brain seemed mostly disconnected from his body, it barely listened to it anymore.
Dai approached him with his bouncy step and threw his arm around Sakumo’s shoulders.
‘Kakashi-kun will be delighted to have you pick him up!’ he noticed, the man was positively glowing. Sakumo felt a sudden urge to withdraw into himself like a cockroach caught in a spot of light. ‘Let’s go!’ He did not mind lack of answer; he did not push for a conversation even once since the incident in the hospital that left Sakumo with a busted lip. ‘Any plans?’
‘No.’ He barely recognized his voice. ‘I’m suspended,’ he added.
Dai was quiet for a moment, scratching his chin.
‘Well, that’s unfortunate but understandable! Still, all I see is an opportunity for uninterrupted rest and lots of quality time with your precious son!’
Sakumo did not have an answer to that. Dai-san had that weird thing with only seeing the positive of any situation he found himself in. It was infuriating. He wanted to argue, but somehow he could not. He just nodded instead, allowing the other man to pull him along.
They reached the school gates not long before the bell announcing the end of their sons last class of the day. Dai was planning out loud a day by the river to celebrate Sakumo’s release and the beautiful weather. It seemed to last, it was a shame to not take the opportunity for a fun family day. Sakumo wondered if his annoying happiness had anything to do that he never had to endure a mission more complicated than chasing a cat. He was the only gennin in the village allowed to take D-rank missions by himself. Well, it would be rather weird to have him join a team consisting of two kids barely out from the Academy…
The wave of children from all the classes flooded the school grounds seconds after the bell stopped ringing. The older classes were first of course; come of the kids we jumping out of the window.
Kakashi was one of them.
Sakumo needed a double take to fully register what he just saw – a boy with googles on his head jumped out and landed on the grass. Kakashi did just the same right after, and next two other boys – including Gai - followed their lead. He could hear the teacher’s scolding even from where he was standing.
All four disappeared in in the crowd, so they could not exactly see the landing.
‘Oh, dear,’ sighed Dai with a frown. ‘Don’t tell me Gai jumped and twisted his ankle.’
‘…Well, he is being carried.’
Dai marched forward, maneuvering between the buzzing youth to get to his son and release his colleagues from his weight.
‘Gai, what happened?!’ he called.
‘…I lost a bet,’ he admitted in a wobbly voice. He was clearly in pain.
‘Did you bet to jump down from the second floor?’
‘It was a chakra jump!’
‘It wasn’t,’ argued Kakashi immediately. ‘You landed like a sack of rice.’
‘…It was supposed to be a chakra jump!’
The boy with googles and an Uchiha emblem on his shirt laughed loudly.
‘You should have seen your face!’
Kakashi sighed, wringing his hands. Dai scooped his precious son up. A quick check luckily did not confirm his fears about twisted ankle - it was just sore, hopefully it should get better within minutes.
‘Well, maybe another time! With enough practice you’ll be able to do it do eventually.’
The Uchiha boy poked Kakashi on the shoulder.
‘We’re going to play can with Rin and the rest, you’re coming too?’
Kakashi shook his head.
‘No, I’m going to the hospital.’
‘Again? You said the same thing yesterday and the day before!’
‘Because my dad is still in bed,’ he explained with raised eyebrows. ‘Obviously I’m going.’
‘Awh, shame,’ groaned Uchiha. ‘I need a rematch!’
‘Not today.’
The boy smiled with a nod and he only glanced at Dai, before he run off without another word.
‘Actually, Kakashi-kun,’ said Dai, lowering his voice. ‘We’re not going to hospital today.’
Kakashi jerked his head up.
‘Dad’s out?!’
Dai laughed happily, putting a hand on Kakashi’s shoulder and steered him towards Sakumo. None of the parents he was standing nearby even tried to exchange a few courtesy words like they would usually do – at least before the mission. Kakashi almost choked on air in the excited gasp. He reached to Dai-san’s hand to grab his thumb and pulled him along straight towards his father. He ignored everyone standing in their way – he was using Dai-san and the fact that people would just walk away from him to make a way for himself in the haze. When he was close enough to not have to squeeze himself between people, he let go of him and hurried towards his dad.
‘Hello, Pup,’ Sakumo greeted him, crouching down. He noticed some time ago that he picked up that habit from Dai-san. ‘How’s the day?’
‘Boring.’ He stopped in front of him, reaching to his hair to grab it and twist around his fingers for a bit. ‘You’re out!’
‘Yes, they released me at last.’ He almost managed to smile, but he frowned at the look at Kakashi’s face. ‘What?’
‘So… You’ll be back on missions now?’
Sakumo shook his head.
‘No, I told you I’ll take a break.’
‘But you always take a week at most. And it’s already been three days.’
He did not look at Dai-san who just approached them as well. The man smiled at a nearby group of other parents and shinobi, but they just turned away. They sneered loudly enough for them all to hear.
What’s White Fang even doing? First the mission, then he’s been hanging around with these weirdos and didn’t he just tried to kill himself as he should? He’s a disgrace to the village, the nerve to walk around like nothing happened-
Gai twisted in father’s arms to look at them.
‘Kakashi.’
‘What.’
‘Give me a rock.’
Kakashi picked up two bigger ones and handed them to his friend without asking why.
‘What are you- Oi!’ huffed Sakumo. Gai just tossed the rock at the group of people.
‘Shut up! You’re the disgrace!’ he yelled at them. Dai squawked in surprise and turned to stop Gai from throwing the second one. ‘Don’t talk like that about my Rival’s dad!’
‘Gai, what on… What did I tell you about it?!’
‘And thanks for cheering!’ he added even louder.
Sakumo could not help a snort. He hid his face in his palms, chuckling weakly.
‘What the hell do you even-’ called one of the fathers, shocked at the unruly behavior. Just as expected from the kid of the village clown.
‘Imagine being a chuunin and not being able to ditch a rock,’ said Kakashi loudly. ‘That’s sad.’
‘Enough, Pup. Gai, please don’t throw rocks at people any more. Let’s just go.’ Sakumo stood up, pushing his trembling hands deep in his pockets.
‘Next time I’ll use my fists!’
‘So I’ll have to help you again?’ asked Kakashi, looking up at him.
‘I’m better now!’ he scoffed. ‘And I don’t accept anyone talking bad things about my friends and their family! It’s my self-rule!’
Dai squeezed him a bit harder and gave him a loud peck on the cheek.
‘…Again, I don’t need…’ tried Sakumo.
‘Are you sure?’ Gai looked at him seriously.
Sakumo raised his eyebrows.
‘What?’
‘Because I know it’s annoying, and you’re an adult. Adult people can’t throw things at other people.’
‘Unless its an enemy and you’re using shurikens,’ corrected Kakashi.
‘And kunais. But I can!’
‘…I must disagree,’ noticed Dai. ‘I don’t want you throw anything at people unless absolutely necessary, dear boy. Kindness and self-discipline is your best weapon!’
‘And shurikens!’
‘You still can’t score-’ Kakashi butted in.
‘I’ll practice two times more until I get sharp shooting right!’ boomed Gai, tossing both arms in the air since his father was holding him securely. ‘It’s a promise! And then we can have a competition!’
‘I want juice, not a challenge,’ grumbled Kakashi.
‘I have just the thing at home!’ beamed Dai. ‘Both shurikens and juice!’
Sakumo only sighed heavily. Taking Kakashi and going home was not even an option, Dai-san of course already decided they were coming with them. He did not have the energy to argue. He fixed his gaze on his feet to not see the stares of the villagers.
Once again the little Hatake family was dragged to the Maito’s house for dinner. When Sakumo tried to speak with Dai about going home, the man was pretending to be deaf until Sakumo dropped the topic. With a sigh, he turned to look at the boys crowded by the end of the table over their homework. He scooted closer, glancing at Dai-san busying himself with the dishes.
‘What do you have here?’ he asked. Since he was apparently being held hostage, he could at least help the boys with their homework.
‘Seals!’ whispered Gai with a frown. ‘We have to write how to break them. There are two.’
Sakumo hummed, tilting his head for a better view.
‘And how is it going? Did you break it yet?’
‘…No.’
‘I think. It’s…’ Kakashi scratched his head. ‘For four people to break.’
‘Yes. Always count the brush strokes of the character on the seal, that’s the first step,’ agreed Sakumo.
‘It’s a character for a tree, so four strokes,’ said Gai slowly. He drew three squares more around it. ‘Why a tree?’
‘Hmm, the characters on seals are based on the basic chakra types, but there can more than one symbol to use on a seal than there are chakra basic natures. Tree and Earth are for earth chakra nature.’
‘So the tree says the technique is made of earth chakra?’
‘Yes. After breaking the seal, most likely some kind of trap or defensive technique would be activated, and it would be based on earth release.’
There was a moment of silence when the boys were taking in the information.
‘It would need two teams to break the seal and it should have at least one person with lightning release,’ said Kakashi. ‘Because earth is weak against lightning.’
‘It’s not a necessity, but it does help. It’s always good to keep that in mind when dealing with seals.’ He nodded towards their notebooks. ‘Now, do the second one.’
Kakashi was first to finish writing. He stared at Gai’s pointy characters, but did not share his answer immediately. Since his son was done faster, Sakumo asked Gai to read his answer (he already read Kakashi’s). It was correct, so the delighted boy raised his arm ready for a high-five. Sakumo had no choice but to indulge him.
‘Can you go train with us?’ asked Kakashi, tugging at his father’s sleeve. ‘You could show us something cool!’
‘…I do recall you were planning to practice sharp shooting.’
‘Yes!’ Gai closed his notebook. ‘Can you help us, please, Sakumo-san?’
He nodded, standing up.
‘Let’s see what you’ve got.’
Dai-san winked at them, wiping off the plates.
‘Do your best! Don’t bother Sakumo-san too much, he’s still recovering!’
Gai run outside; Kakashi trotted behind him with his father dragging his feet. They went behind the little house – it looked more like a shack with extra room built it to give them more space – and Sakumo took a seat on one of the tree trunks. It looked like it endured a lot of beating; he had seen both Gai relentlessly practicing the same hits or kicks hundreds time into perfection. Sometimes Kakashi was training with him. This time, however, both boys picked a home-made target shield. Dai-san built it from scratch and painted it for his son having a spot to practice his not so good aiming skills. At some point during the last months, Dai added a second one for Kakashi as well.
‘Don’t challenge me, you already lost,’ said Kakashi, reaching to his pockets. Sakumo only blinked at the realization that his boy just carries around shurikens in his pockets. He would have to give him a waist pouch, it was better to store weapons than the pockets. The mystery holes in his Pup’s pants suddenly were not so mysterious anymore.
‘Don’t worry, Rival! I won’t challenge you today, BUT! One day I’ll defeat you, you’ll see!’
Kakashi made two perfect throws.
‘Sure.’ He whisked more and with a quick series of precise throws, he wrote a ‘dog’ on his target plate. ‘We’ll see about that.’
‘Confident as always! Good! You’ll need that!’ Gai threw his shurikens; he did hit the plate, but nothing was close to the center. One of the stars did not even dug in the plate. ‘…Laugh while you can!’ screamed Gai when Kakashi snorted, walking to his target to retrieve his weapons.
Gai waited for his friend to walk away from the targets – he took that time to puff himself up – and threw it again.
Sakumo sighed, standing up.
‘Gai,’ he called softly to get the boy’s attention. ‘Your stance is off.’ He walked closer, watched closely by both of the boys. ‘Here. Don’t twist your body like that. Instead, put one of your legs a little forward. You too, Kakashi, you can aim good but your posture is not perfect either. Then, with the opposite hand grab the shuriken. Try to line up your thumb with the edge… Yes. And now, raise your arm… Not like that, elbow closer to your body.’ He placed his hand on Gai’s arm and guided it to the right position. ‘Now, listen. The first part of the good shot is correct line-up. Point the elbow toward your target. It’s going to be a straight move down, but the actual toss is all about your wrist. Look.’ He nodded at his son, and Kakashi threw his shuriken for a demonstration. It landed right in the middle circle. ‘Still a little too wide, Pup. Short, straight motion down, you don’t move your whole arm, just extend the elbow like you’d like to point with your fingers at where you throw the shuriken.
‘…Ohhh,’ whispered Gai. ‘I was throwing it like a ball!’
‘That’s why you can’t hit the target, your movements are too wide and circular. You don’t repeat it exactly the same on each throw, so the shurikens land on different spots.’
‘Leg first, then my arm… Shuriken behind my ear…’
‘Next to it,’ corrected Sakumo.
‘Next to my ear. And… I aim with fingers.’
‘Like you’re pointing at it.’ He scooted away. ‘Give it a go.’
Gai nodded and with a focused frown, he repeated a few times the movement sequence before he took a deep breath and threw the shuriken. With a quiet thud it hit the target on the line of the middle circle.
Sakumo raised his hand, flicking his palm a couple of times for the boy to see what he meant.
‘More wrist. The toss itself comes from the wrist.’
‘I used to use the other hand,’ said Kakashi. He raised his left hand in front of his chest. ‘To stop the other.’
‘I see! I’ll try it too!’ Gai beamed and whisked another shuriken.
‘Start slow. You need to overwrite the incorrect stance habits you’re created so far.’
Kakashi and Sakumo just watched Gai, who once again practiced the movements a couple times before he tried another throw. He gasped loudly – the star landed inside the inner circle – and squealed.
‘I did it! I hit the center!’
‘Well done.’
Gai laughed loudly and turned towards the house.
‘Papa! Papa, COME LOOK!’
With a sigh, Kakashi tossed two more shurikens before Dai had showed up.
‘Come look at what?’ he asked, grinning. He squawked when he saw what his Sprout was pointing at. ‘Gai! You got it right in the center?!’
‘I have! Look, look, I’ll do it again!’ He turned and tossed another one, all excited. He jumped up and down when he got the target (close to the line, but still inside the inner circle). ‘Did you see?!’
‘My little ninja is so talented!’ he cried, walking up to them to scoop Gai in the air. The boy laughed loudly, his feet dangling in the air. Dai swirled around with his son above his head. ‘I told you many times your hard work will pay off and look at you now! Not only you can do the ninjutsu at school, and now you’re a sharp shooter too? HAH! I couldn’t be more proud!’ He dropped him back into his arms just to catch him for a tight hug and a loud kiss on the cheek.
Sakumo could feel a small smile tugging on his lips at the sight. He could not disagree, the boy had a knack for this – he only needed correct instructions to be able to get things right. First he had issues with hand seals, making it very difficult to do any technique at all, now he only needed some small corrections and he immediately started hitting the center. He glanced at his son, raising an eyebrow.
Kakashi looked away, crossing both arms on his chest. With a huff, he reached for shurikens and went back to practice – this time with his left hand.
Sakumo turned to look at Dai.
‘Want to give it a go too?’ he asked.
Dai laughed, shaking his head.
‘I don’t do well with weapons!’
‘It’s a matter of practice.’ He shrugged. ‘Maybe you weren’t corrected at the academy, usually that’s the case. Come on.’ He reached to his waist bag and offered a couple of stars. ‘Don’t back up when kids are watching.’
Dai snorted, putting his son back on the ground.
‘Alright then, watch me!’ He puffed himself up – very much just like Gai did, almost making Sakumo laugh – and with a wide toss, he hit the tree trunk of Kakashi’s target plate. There was a moment of silence. ‘I guess I might have gotten a little rusty.’ He grinned.
‘Well, Gai, can you tell what was wrong?’ He looked at the boy. Gai beamed and with an excited gasp, he jumped into explanations and demonstrations for his dad – he scored another few times, making them both scream and laugh from joy. Sakumo could not help to notice Dai-san was making a spectacle of mistakes and asking multiple times if he was doing it right, so Gai had to go through the steps many times. As silly as it was, it was quite an interesting way to make sure the kid had some extra repetition. He seemed to get comfortable about the new technique quite fast and he missed only a couple of times.
It was nice to look at them. Kakashi was helping too, making sure his friend was not already forgetting the tips from Sakumo, while practicing his aim on his left hand.
It almost made him forget about the sucking hole in his chest.