Kakashi x Reader

8

8

Your mum takes you in her arms and your dad stands in the doorway while you try desperately to hold back the tears. You can't. The quiet whisper of "Shh, it's okay, my little one" only encourages the flow of tears. You haven't told anyone exactly what happened, but since you've confided in your mum about your feelings, she's simply put two and two together. Your dad is just a silent support. Or have they talked and he knows too?

After you have slept for a few hours, there is a knock at the door. You hear it from your room, but you hardly care. You pull the blanket over your head and curl up to withdraw, but when voices get louder, you sit up.

"I don't think she wants to see you," your mum says in a tone that is icy for her.

"What's wrong with her? Is she all right?" Obito. You recognise his voice immediately.

"I'd like to talk to her."

You swallow and shake your head silently. You know this voice too, and it's the last one you want to hear right now. You lie back on the mattress, curl up, and angrily push back the tears. Your pillow is already wet enough, and since you don't really care what Kakashi wants from you right now, you close your eyes and fall asleep.

***

Three days later, you are walking to the shops with a bag full of groceries when someone suddenly takes one of them out of your hand. You turn around in shock, ready to follow or wrestle the thief, but all you see is a friendly smile on a good-natured face, a swinging brown braid and a horizontal scar that runs from the cheek to the nose and the other side.

"You don't have to help me, Iruka," you begin with a grinning shake of your head. "I'm already big and strong, and the bags are hardly so heavy that I couldn't carry them."

"You're right, of course. But I'm happy to do it for a pretty young lady, and a simple thank you would be enough for me in return, (Y/N). So it's a very inexpensive service."

Your grin gets wider, but you nod and thank him politely, albeit somewhat amused. Together you walk to the end of the alley as the sun slowly disappears in the sky. You are about to open your mouth and ask Iruka how his mission went when he beats you to it. "The party was cool, don't you think?"

You stiffen a little, because you have successfully repressed what happened there and worked hard not to let anything, absolutely nothing, show after the night of crying. You automatically shrug your shoulders to release the tension, which Iruka mistakenly interprets the wrong way. He takes the other bag from you too and his eyes shine as he looks at you lovingly. You look at him and want to grab the bag, but he turns so that the bag is out of reach.

"What do you say? How was the party for you? We... there was a lot of dancing and laughing. It was nice to finally have a few hours off to spend with friends. Besides, I thought it would be nice to spend more time with you in particular."

"You guys throw parties all the time," you say, trying once more to get the bag back. In vain. "What was so different and cool about this one? There was alcohol, dancing, laughing and talking like at any other party."

Iruka snorts. "Um... yes, of course... but..."

"But?" you ask politely, because he has stopped.

He scratches his head and the plastic bag rubs against his cheek. "It was the first one you were at too. And I liked that. As I said before, I thought it was nice that we could spend some time together."

You frown. "Well, that's not quite right. I was at Asuma and Kurenai's birthday party."

"We were maybe 12 years old. You can hardly call that a party, (Y/N)."