Dreams of the Past

Epilogue Part 1

Chapter 39

Epilogue part 1

Two years after war

Kakashi slid out of his shoes, leaning heavily against the wall. He'd only been gone two weeks, but it felt like years. He inhaled deeply, the scent of home, of his boys, of his mate. Sakura. Contentment washed away the exhaustion that had weighed him down the last few days. "I'm home."

Somewhere in the house, a ninken barked. "Daddy!"

Footsteps thundered through the house, more barking and giggling. He took a few steps further inside and braced himself for impact.

"Daddy! You're back!"

Tenzō slid around the corner, barreling into his legs. The three excited puppies at his heels just managed to avoid toppling over themselves behind him.

"Tenzō-chan!" Kakashi hoisted his son up into a hug, little arms tightened around his neck. He was really going to miss being greeted this way one day. "I missed you bud."

"I missed you too, Daddy."

More sedate in his greeting, but clearly no less pleased to see him, Kakashi-kun stood to the side, his arms folded in front of himself. "Hey, Jii-san."

Kakashi sat Tenzō down with a kiss to the top of his head and reached out to pull the older boy in for a hug too. "Hey kid."

"Me-chan should be home soon. She said she'd make dinner tonight."

"Has she not been?"

He shook his head as they walked through the house. "She took over the evening classes this week too. There was a medical emergency in another village, so Tsunade dealt with that. You know Me-chan won't leave if you aren't here."

That was true. He didn't plan to stay an active shinobi much longer, and her ventures from the village were few, but they never overlapped. One of them was always home with the boys. "Well, if she's working all day I'm sure she'll be tired when she gets home. Why don't we take care of dinner while we wait?"

Tenzō tugged on his hand. "Can we have Ichiraku?"

Before he could reply, Kakashi-kun rolled his eyes. "Tenzō-chan, we've had raman three times this week. Raiu-san took us there for lunch today."

Tenzō's face screwed up in annoyance. "But Daddy didn't know that, Nii-san." Kakashi stifled a laugh.

"I'm hungry for something else."

"No eggplant!"

This time Kakashi did not hold in his amusement. "What? No eggplant? But that's my favorite."

His son pouted. "I know, Daddy. I guess we can have that, as long as we don't have to have fish with it. I want beef."

"I thought you wanted ramen again."

He made a face at Kakashi-kun. "You said we can't have ramen. That's my second choice."

Kakashi ruffled his hair. "Alright, beef and eggplant it is. Why don't you go wash up and you can help."

"Okay Daddy!"

<>

He felt her pass through the barrier just as they were laying dinner on the table. When she called out that she was home, both boys abandoned him to greet her just as eagerly as they had him.

"Mama!"

"Hey, baby." Kakashi could hear her lips smack against his cheek. "Hey, Kakashi-kun." He got a kiss too. "What smells so good!"