The Mother He Never Had

26

After a long journey of finding Tsunade, fighting Orochimaru and Kabuto, we went back to the Leaf Village, where Tsunade made the announcement that she was the Fifth Hokage. That was of course after all the commotion with Konohamaru. 

While Naruto was doing his own thing with his team, I was at home, writing a letter to Gaara. When I was done with that, I tended the flowers in the living room. As I was watering them, the doorbell rang. 

I looked over at the door, then set the watering can down to answer it. "Yes?" I asked, opening the door. "Kakashi, it's you. What are you doing here?" I asked. "I wanted to see how you were doing." He answered. 

"Are you sure you didn't come over here to ask me on a date?" I teased. "Am I that easy to read?" Kakashi asked, a bit embarrassed. "A little. Plus, Aoi Tori informed me that you were coming." I mentioned. 

Kakashi chuckled sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head. "Well, since my agenda is free, sure, I'll go on a date with you." I said. "You will?" Kakashi asked in shock. 

"Of course. Why do you look surprised?"

"I wasn't expecting you to say yes. Since you're a mother, I didn't think you'd have free time on your hands."

"Sometimes I do. Just not all the time. Most of the time, I'm either cleaning the house or watering my plants. Actually... now that I think about it... there's something I've always wanted to do."

"Oh? And what's that?" 

I smiled at him and closed the door behind me. "I'll tell you on the way... while we're on our date." I said. Kakashi smiled and took my hand before leading me to the streets of Konoha.

Naruto's POV

Sasuke, Sakura, and I were at Ichiraku's ramen, eating some lunch. I heard a giggle that I knew all too well; It was Mom's laugh. 

I turned around and nearly spit out my ramen when I saw Kakashi and Mom together. 'No way! I had no idea they were dating! And she tried to keep it from me?!' I thought. "Hey, what are you looking at?" Sasuke asked. 

I didn't answer as I watched Kakashi and Mom walk by. "No way! I had no idea your Mom and Kakashi were going out!" Sakura said, quietly, so Kakashi and my mom wouldn't hear her. "Neither did I." Sasuke chimed in, looking at Kakashi and Mom.

"Don't jump to conclusion yet, you three," Ayame said. "Kakashi is probably helping her with an errand of some kind."

"No way! Look at how Haru is hugging Kakashi's arm like that! They're totally going out!" Sakura said, convinced.

"Just to be sure, we should tail them and find out if they really are going out." Sasuke said. 'Since when was he so interested in my mother's love life?' I thought, frowning at him. "Of course, Sasuke! You're so smart!" Sakura agreed, making me roll my eyes. 

"Come on, let's go!" I said, quickly leading the way. I heard Ayame sigh in the background as we left.

*****

We tailed Mom and Kakashi as they walked the Leaf Village a bit. They stopped at Yamanaka Flowers and looked at some flowers. A pink flower petal gently landed in Mom's hair, in which Kakashi nobly removed it and showed it to her.

Mom smiled at him as Kakashi smiled back. "Aww! So cute!" Sakura squealed. "They're moving." Sasuke informed. Mom and Kakashi started walking again, this time, to a grassy cliff.

Haru's POV

"The breeze feels wonderful up here, do you think?" I asked Kakashi. "Yeah." He agreed. "Kakashi... Do you remember when I told you there's something I've always wanted to?" I said. "Yeah." He answered. 

I smirked and walked over to the cliff. "Haru, what are you doing?" Kakashi asked. "I'm going to jump." I answered.

"What?! Haru, don't!"

"Don't worry. I'm not going to die. It's just something I saw my grandfather do at one time."

"Are you saying he committed suicide?"

"No, nothing like that. He just simply... jumped."

I took another step closer towards the cliff and faced Kakashi. "Haru, stop! Don't do this!" Kakashi said. "Relax, Kakashi," I said, turning around so I was facing the cliff. "You just have to take a Leap of Faith."

I leaped off the cliff while Kakashi yelled out to me. "Haru!"

I glanced back to see that he had jumped after me. 'Noble Kakashi.' I thought with a smile. I did a front flip, then dived into the water. 

Kakashi splashed in after me as I swam up towards the surface, then walked towards the shore. I threw my head back as I smoothed my wet hair back so my bangs weren't covering my eyes. "Very sweet of you to dive in after me, Kakashi." I said, playfully as I wrung out my hair.

"Of course I was gonna dive after you! I thought you were committing suicide!" He said. "And abandon Naruto? That's nonsense. Plus, you should've known there was a lake just beneath the cliff." I stated. "I wasn't really paying much attention." He admitted. 

"Ah, I see." I replied. He got out of the water as water droplets dripped from his clothes. "Haru, why'd you jump if you weren't going to commit suicide?" Kakashi asked.

"Because it's been a long time since I did something like that. I live for the adventure," I confessed.

"When I was little, my grandfather always took me to this spot just above a lake. He told me stories like how he always wanted to fly, and what it would be like to fly. Then, one day, he jumped off the cliff. He didn't die, of course. The lake was able to break his fall. My grandfather got so excited because he said it was the most wonderful feeling he had ever felt in his life. So, he called it, 'The Leap of Faith'. I'll never forget the smile on his face. He even taught me how to perform it correctly."

"That's an interesting story." Kakashi commented. "Isn't it?" I smiled. "However... I'll never be able to get those days back. Those blissful, wonderful times I spent with my grandfather... I'll never get them back." My smile faded as I thought about him.

"Did he die from the attack?" Kakashi asked, hesitantly. "No," I answered, shaking my head. "He died from an illness. There was no cure for it, so he wanted to spend his last moments having fun. The last activity he did before he died... was perform the Leap of Faith, and he asked me to do it with him. I obliged, of course. I wanted to do everything to keep him happy." I said.

Tears threatened to escape, so I quickly wiped my eyes before they could fall. "Anyway, that's enough sad stories for today. Let's go." I said. I took a step forward until Kakashi took my hand.  I turned my head to look at him. 

"What is it?" I asked. Without saying anything, he pulled me forward and embraced me. My eyes widened slightly as I blushed a bit. "Kakashi?" I asked, glancing at him. "I'm sorry that you lost him. Your family." He apologized. 

My eyes softened as I hugged him back. "Thank you, Kakashi. But not all is lost. I still have Naruto... and you." I said. Kakashi broke the hug to look at me and I smiled with a soft blush. He gently smiled back as I saw a tint of pink beneath his mask. 

"Incoming!"

"Whoa!"

"You idiot!"

Kakashi and I looked towards the waterfall and saw Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke fall into the lake from the cliff. "Huh?" I asked with a raised brow. "Naruto? What are you doing?"

"Mom! Hey! Funny running into you here, right?" He said, sheepishly. "Indeed, it is." I agreed. 

"I knew we were being followed, but I didn't think it'd be them." Kakashi said. "Followed?" I repeated before looking at Naruto and the others. "You three were following us?"

"Of course not." Naruto lied. 

"That'd be ridiculous." Sakura lied. 

Sasuke just shrugged his shoulders. 

Kakashi and I sweat dropped because we knew they were lying.