A Mother's Knight

Part 8

''Ah,'' Naruto stretched himself up, standing at the back of his house, enjoying the light sunrays of the morning. It had been a long time since he had woken up like this in the morning. Over the past, he'd been waking up on a schedule, for training purposes. There was even a cup of tea on his right hand.

''Someone is enjoying the morning,'' Kakashi said, sitting at a branch on the tree behind the house. ''Your mother still sleeping?''

''Possibly,'' Naruto said with a shrug, as if he didn't care about it. But Kakashi couldn't be fooled. ''What brings you here at a time like this? As far as I remember, you're not a morning person when you're not in duty.''

Kakashi put on a look, ''what? Can't I miss my little friend enough to visit him this morning to show him that I really do miss him?''

Naruto gave the Sharingan user a look of his own. He wasn't going to be fooled by the man. He knew Kakashi well enough. The man may be care about him, but it wasn't enough that he would wake up so early just to see him. He might have just returned yesterday, and didn't see the man, but there had to be something that made the man come here at this time.

Kakashi sighed. ''Sometimes you're no fun,'' he said quietly. ''I just returned to the village from a mission. When I heard that you'd returned, I came here and waited for you.''

''That is something that I'm willing to believe,'' Naruto said. He paused to take a sip of his tea before looking up at the Sharingan user once again. ''It has been a few months. How has your return to Anbu been... is it killing you, yet?''

Since the Sandaime had the man return to Anbu the man buried himself with Anbu work and it was surprising how he was still able to continue after so long. Naruto had heard stories about the man forgoing all things in life just to focus on his work as an Anbu: friends and the like had stopped mattering. Well, that was the past. Kakashi had changed, but was still working the sweat out of his body in his role as an Anbu operative.

No many were suited for the job. Itachi fit in well because of his usual stoic mask and personality. The man wasn't shy to do dirty work in order to get the job done for Konoha. The man in front of him was fine Anbu as well. But he was still a different person from the Uchiha.

''Not yet, but soon enough especially with the Sandaime refusing to allow me to retire once again,'' Kakashi said tiredly. ''But by the end of this year, I will have retired my mask for good and become a Jonin once again and do normal missions.''

''Living in the light, huh?'' Naruto said. Personally, he had no desire for any of that. The only light he wished to live in was the light of his mother. Nothing else mattered aside from her.

Still, with how things were and how he was seeing things, he was going to be forced into the journey of a Konoha shinobi. To think that he would end up serving those monkeys... Despicable. Naruto was looking for a better reason that wouldn't make him feel dirty about doing anything for Konoha has its shinobi. Well, it was the license to living here. If he did not pay that price, he could never be free in here and his mother would pay for that choice.

Well, there he had it. The perfect excuse.

''Yea,'' Kakashi said with a nod. ''Perhaps I will become your sensei when you become Genin,' the man said with an eye smile.

Naruto cocked his head to the side, appearing to think for a moment. ''That may happen. Knowing the Sandaime. I wouldn't bet against it,'' he nodded to himself. ''Yes, that will happen. Well, I hope you become a good sensei, Kakashi. I would be disappointed if your tardiness got in the way of what is important.''