Living with the Dead

Chapter 5 - "The son of my Master"

It wasn't his style to wait so long, and yet he sat there all day. He wasn't used to being on time, but this time he was even earlier. He didn't even stand so long above the graves of his loved ones (he was there for less than 10 minutes, while he normally spends over 6 times more there). He couldn't understand why this boy had such a big impact on him. Something in the blonde always attracted Kakashi to him, something made him want to meet him. That's why he couldn't miss this chance. He knew that Naruto might not come; why would he do that? But something told him to leave that message and be there, like some kind of internal strength.

Was that worth it?

Of course.

It was already evening, somewhere around 6pm. To be honest, he had already lost hope that the small man would show up. But in the morning he promised himself that he wouldn't move from there until dark, and that he would keep this vow. It was only the beginning of September, so it was getting dark at around 8pm. There was still some time...

Then he sensed it. His chakra approaching in that direction. He shifted uneasily on the post he was sitting on and turned his head in the direction from which he thought the energy was coming. After a moment he saw him coming out from behind the trees. The boy emerged from the greenery and stood in front of the forest line, crossing his arms over his chest. There was a long silence. The child was apparently waiting for the man to speak. Hatake didn't know what to say at this point, where to start. He waited so long and he didn't even manage to prepare himself. So they stood there in silence, the feeling of awkwardness growing in both of them with every second.

Finally, the Uzumaki couldn't stand it. He let out a breath and walked forward, soon standing under the three trunks. Kakashi jumped off his seat, thereby landing in front of the child, and took off his ANBU mask. They both looked into each other's eyes.

"Why do you care so much, sir, dattebayo?" Minato's son couldn't stop the question that he was dying to ask for a long time "I'm not important."

"That's not true" the gray-haired man denied, squatting to have his face at the level of the child's one "You already know the truth. You should know very well that you are special."

"This fact has nothing to do with it." the blonde shrugged his shoulders, clearly showing his indifference in this topic "What does my origin give me, since no one knows about it anyway? Nothing. So it doesn't make me extraordinary."

"You're right. Maybe not for others, but for me it is very important."

"Just because I'm the son of the Fourth Hokage?" Naruto blurted out "And more specifically, your master?"

The Sharingan possessor seemed surprised.

"How do you know about the latter?"

"How can I know if I can trust you, mister?" the blonde crossed his arms over his chest "Why should I tell you anything? You were spying on me. You gave private information about me to the Hokage. I don't know how much you know about me. I can't even see your whole face."

The masked man was surprised by the boy's caution, but at the same time he became a little sad. He really wanted to meet this kid and talk to him honestly, but first he had to assure him that the boy could rely on him. The only question is - how?

"You're right, you can't believe me from the very beginning... Then what should I do to make it happen?"

"First of all, you still haven't answered me, sir. I asked why you wanted to meet me so much?"

"Because you are very important to me, Naruto." he touched his heart with his hand to strengthen the meaning of his words "You are my last resort. Everything that keeps me alive."