| Breakfast of Champions | [Dec. 26th, 2013|10:59 pm] |
[Takes place the morning of May 4, Yondaime Year 5, about an hour after Leading the Lost Ones.]
Naruto woke up too hot. His hair was sticky, all over his head, and his new footie pajamas with the frogs on them were all twisted up around around his belly and too tight. He squirmed, trying to get comfy, and kicked something.
Something said, "Nrgh."
Naruto froze, clutching his blankie. This was his bed. There wasn't supposed to be anybody else in it. Monsters lived under the bed sometimes, but Dad always went under the bed with a kunai and when he came out the monsters were all dead. But Dad wasn't here. What if the monsters got brave, with Dad away, and tried to come up on the bed and eat him?
A monster that fit under the bed couldn't be very big. Kakashi-niisan and Tousaki-san had killed a bug in the Forest of Death that was big big big, bigger than Tousaki-san. If this monster was smaller than the bed, Naruto could kill it too. Then Kakashi would be proud and all the ANBU would be embarrassed and they would put its head in the living room for Dad to see when he came home.
Naruto twisted around to face the monster.
It wasn't a monster. It had bright gold hair, very messy, and a stained blue shirt and a very tired sleeping face and it was Dad.
Naruto screamed, and threw himself onto him.
They fell off the bed.
Dad grabbed Naruto by the back of the head and wrapped his arms around him and rolled, bump bump across the caltrops and halfway under the bed. "Stay down," he said, all rough-voiced and scratchy. "Don't—"
Then he stopped, blinking his eyes open. Naruto beamed at him. "You're back!"
"Oww," Dad said. He unwrapped one arm from around Naruto, pulled a caltrop out from under his hip, and blinked at it some more. "Why did we think it was a good idea to give you these?"
"Rin-neechan gave them to me for my birthday," Naruto said happily.
"Rin doesn't have to live with you," Dad sighed. He dropped the caltrop and wrapped his arms around Naruto again. Naruto snuggled in against his chest. He was still too hot but he didn't care anymore. Dad smelled like steel and blood and smoke but there was still Dad underneath that, all bright and hot and salty, like sunflowers.
Naruto said, muffled into his shirt, "I missed you."
Dad squeezed him tighter. "Missed you too, little frog."
"Missed you more," Naruto said. "You didn't say goodbye."
Dad bent his head down and pressed his lips to the top of Naruto's hair. "Sorry," he said roughly. "I won't do that again."
Naruto wriggled against him, so that Dad had to roll out from underneath the bed and Naruto could sit up on his chest, fists bunched in Dad's shirt, and pull at him the way Captain Seaweed pulled at First Mate's shirt when she was mad at him. Dad was too big to come off the floor the way First Mate did, because First Mate was a seagull, but he sat up a little with his shoulders. He was listening.
"You have to say goodbye," Naruto told him. "And if you go for a long time again you have to come on the radio and tell me you're okay. Or send bird messages. Or just come back! Or else I'll have to come rescue you this time."
Dad's chest did the funny shaky thing where he wasn't really laughing, and in the dimness of the curtained room his eyes were all bright and sparkly. He sat up for real and put his arms around Naruto and pulled him in. The top of Naruto's head fit just under his chin. Naruto could hear Dad's heart beating, thump thump against his ear. Dad said very quietly, with a kind of lump in his voice, "I wish your mother could see you." He kissed the top of Naruto's head again, and then turned his head and rested his cheek on Naruto's hair. "Okay," he said. "I'll be good. I might have to go away again soon, but I'll tell you before I go, and I'll radio every night that I can. But you have to stay here and be good, too. Be nice to Saya-san and eat all your vegetables…"
"Um," Naruto said, guiltily. He wiggled. "Let's go wake up Kakashi-niisan!"
Dad laughed properly this time. "I think you already did." He unwrapped Naruto and tilted his head back, toward the door. "You can come in, Kakashi. The wild thing has been appeased."
Naruto hadn't even seen the white-tipped shadow just beyond the door. He squealed, jumped off Dad's lap, and ran over to throw the door open, grab Kakashi by the hand, and drag him in. "Dad came back!" |
|