Let Me Keep Them

Chapter Two

"It does not get easier. You just get stronger."
                                                                               
-Steve Maraboli

Kakashi's P.O.V.

Taking care of a child - a literal infant, at that - proved to be a much more difficult task than Kakashi had expected.

Sure, he knew it was hard for mature adults in their thirties. He just hadn't expected what it was actually like. Kakashi had never had a younger sibling, and never really experienced knowing someone younger than he was, really. He was younger than every one he knew. Rin and Obito had both been about four to five years older than him, and Gai was his age.

Surprisingly, Naruto didn't really cry that much. Sure, three times in seven days Kakashi had woken up in the middle of the night because of crying, but that wasn't so bad for the eight nights he'd been taking care of him.

Food was hard, too. Naruto barely had teeth, so he couldn't eat anything hard, and Kakashi had a hard time getting him to eat anything that was healthy, or at least relatively so. Then again, Kakashi put a raw egg in his rice, which Minato and Rin had always told him wasn't safe, so he probably couldn't judge.

Oddly enough, though, Naruto was always silent when Kakashi would stand at the memorial stone. When he would stand still for hours on end, Naruto didn't make a sound. Perhaps he could sense the heaviness in the air, or somehow knew that it was an important time.

Or maybe Kakashi was just so lost in his own mind during those hours that he couldn't hear him.

Kakashi knew he needed to take a mission soon. He was running low on money, and rent was due soon. But he still hadn't thought of what to do with Naruto.

He certainly couldn't just leave him at his house for however long it would take for him to complete his assignments. Sure, he worked directly under the Hokage, but recently he hadn't really been needing much investigation, it had been years since the war, after all. So he mostly just took B, A, and the occasional S-ranked missions when the need arose. Those were dangerous missions, and who knew how long it would take?

Taking Naruto with him was absolutely out of question. Missions occasionally got out of hand for Kakashi, and having to take care of an infant would never work. If things went south, that would be a total nightmare.

And while, sure, he 'couldn't ask Gai', Kakashi didn't really know anyone else, especially anyone else who was older than him or the same age. So, what else could be do?

But...

He also hated to admit he needed help. Even though he most definitely did.

Kakashi groaned, earning a giggle from Naruto.

"This is all you're fault, you know." Kakashi muttered, mostly to himself. "If you weren't Minato-sensei's son I would have never done this."

It wasn't really Naruto's fault, of course. And Kakashi didn't know why he was talking to a baby. But he also hadn't slept in a few days, so he could justify it with that.

Though it was true that, if Naruto wasn't Minato's son, he would have never taken him in. He probably wouldn't have given him a second thought. However terrible of a person that made him he didn't really care. It was true.

A knock came from the door, so Kakashi stood to go and answer it.

Lo and behold, none other than Might Gai stood at the entrance.

Figures. Kakashi thought. Come to think of it, I never actually told him where I lived. He just... found out.

"Hello, Kakashi!" Gai said enthusiastically.

"Hi, Gai." Kakashi replied, much less enthusiastically.

Kakashi let him in, closing the door as Gai walked over to where Naruto was sitting on Kakashi's small kitchen table.

"You should stop putting him there." Gai noted. "Seriously, he's gonna fall off one day."

"And where else am I going to put him?" Kakashi asked.

Gai shrugged. "Anyway, Kakashi, don't you need to take a mission soon?"

"Yes." Kakashi said, clearly irked.

Gai, of course, was completely oblivious. Or at least... he pretended he was. "What are you gonna do with the kid?"

"I don't know." Kakashi admitted.

Gai smirked. "I could take care of him..."

"You sound like a pervert." Kakashi muttered under his breath. "And no."

He gasped in feigned offence. "I do not!" A fraction of a second later, he was back to a (sort of) more serious tone. "But seriously, what else are you going to do? It's not like Kurenai or Asuma could do it, even though they probably would."

Kakashi scoffed. "What would The Third think if I had his son take care of the kid I'm supposed to take care of? That would go great."

"Exactly! So you need help, and I am here to provide!"

Kakashi sighed. "I do not need help."

"Do too!"

"I do not."

"Yes you do!"

"No."

"You do!"

"I do not!"

Both young shinobi were surprised at Kakashi's outburst, but Gai sighed, getting serious for real.

"Kakashi..." He said, trailing off a moment before continuing. "I'm just worried, okay? Look at you! You look like you haven't slept or eaten in days, and I just want to be here if you need it! That's what friends are for, right?"

Kakashi started. Friends...

"Look, I'm sorry, but you know I'm right."

Kakashi sighed. "Fine, fine."

Gai grinned widely. "Score!" He shouted, pumping his fist. "I knew I could be the first one!"

"Er, what?"

Gai waves his hand absently. "Oh, nothing. Just wanted to get you to accept help for once. Anyway, if you're going to you should probably go ahead and get a mission, before..."

As Gai continued on, Kakashi got lost in his own thoughts. It was insane how quickly Gai could go from being dead serious to joking and energetic. He likely had a mask on for one of the two, but which one is what Kakashi wanted to know.

"Oh, and Iruka asked about you."

"What?" Kakashi hadn't been paying attention, so that was an odd sentence to hear our of the blue. "Who's that agai- Oh, right."

Gai laughed. "And... you weren't paying attention. I ran into him the other day. We talked a little and he asked about you."

"Okay, I get that, but why does it matter?" Kakashi asked.

Gai smirked and shrugged. "I know a bloom when I see one."

Kakashi sighed. "Uh-huh. He's twelve."

Gai shrugged. "You're fourteen."

"Anyway." Kakashi said, changing the subject. "Why are you even here?"

"Can't a friend stop by and see a friend?"

"Not good enough. Out."

Gai rolled his eyes as he left the small house. "You suck."

A/N: Sorry for the kinda short chapter. But I haven't updated in like two weeks and had writers block for it so-

So I got my first person who added it to their library, and legit that helped so much for me to want to continue. Knowing that there is someone who actually wants to see the rest gives me inspiration.

So hope you enjoyed it!