sunshineverse | [Closed] You were the brightest shade of sun I had ever seen

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[Closed] You were the brightest shade of sun I had ever seen

Who: Kakashi & Kushina.

When: BGS 16, October, a short time after Naruto is born.

Where: Kushina & Minato's home.

When Minato-sensei had asked that Kakashi take on a very important mission that would last approximately ten months, Kakashi had felt an unprecedented amount of pride for the trust his sensei obviously had in him. He hadn't even been in ANBU for a month when the opportunity arose, and of course he accepted without a moments hesitation. In retrospect, perhaps he should have hesitated, because accepting without questioning the nature of such a lengthy mission had evidently been his downfall. As an ANBU operative, Kakashi would have never thought that he'd be whisked away to supervise a pregnant woman in secret when he wasn't training with his regiment, and yet for the past ten months he'd been doing exactly that; training in the day, a few issues of patrol or guard duty, and then to sit on the roof of sensei's house or in the bushes out by the window, guarding Kushina-sama incase something happened.

In the ten months he was posted at her windowsill and on her slate roof no danger befell her, and though Kakashi was definitely egotistical enough to believe that it was partly because of his presence, he also assumed it was because there was very little danger that Kushina-sama couldn't handle herself. Personally, jinchuuriki or not, Kakashi wouldn't have bothered trying to attack her in the first place - even if she was pregnant, she wasn't weak - but the Hokage had made it abundantly clear that she was to be supervised and protected, and that she should have no idea that ANBU guards were watching over her. Kakashi wasn't sure about why the last condition needed to be prevalent, but adhered to the commands of his Hokage and sensei nonetheless. He was, after all, very good at being invisible.

Eventually, the time came for the baby to be born, and Kakashi's position as guard was terminated. He left without a trace, leaving everything just as it had been, and assumed he'd be issued straight back onto regular ANBU duty-- only to return again as Minato had instructed him to check on her one last time while he cleared up a few things in the tower. His specification was to "give her some company" and, despite Kakashi's knee-jerk reaction of wondering why on earth he would be sent to keep anyone company, Kakashi agreed.

He wasn't sure if this was an official mission or not, but he supposed it didn't matter much either way, and he knocked quietly on the door of the home that hosted Kushina and her newborn.

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He didn't have much room for argument when it came to Kushina; both a product of his structured but selective politeness, and the well taught knowledge that it probably wouldn't get him anywhere fast. When she put Naruto down, Kakashi knew his fate had been sealed, and he expelled a small sigh before finally discarding his arm-plates once more, along with his gloves and finally his chest armor.

In regulation navy blues, he wandered into the kitchenette a little later, with a quietly curious look on his face. He liked to watch people cook, and Kushina was incredibly adept at it.

By the time he had arrived, she had already set water to boil and was pulling out the ingredients and tools she'd need. Normally she'd order him to help cook, but she supposed she could cut him a break for all his hard work on her behalf. So she grinned over her shoulder at him before picking up a brisk pace to start cutting beef.

"You can sit down if you want."

She nodded back at the table just outside the wide doorway. Luck was on her side so far where her son was concerned.

At the offer of respite he instead moved to stand at her shoulder, peering round her to watch what she was doing. He was starting to get taller and the possibility of being able to peek over people's shoulders was slowly - very slowly - becoming a possibility. He wondered if one day he might even be taller than Kushina...

"I'll watch," he said carefully, in his most polite voice. "Or help. If that's okay..."

Well, if he was offering... She wasted no time in fishing out a second knife and a plate to use as a cutting surface.

"Help would be good. You can start on the onion, and if you get that sliced fast enough, there's bell peppers, mushrooms, and carrots that will be going in too."

She pointed out the vegetables sitting on the counter between her and the plate she'd set down.

Ah, something Kakashi could definitely do. The part of cooking that threw him off was the composition; preparing and combining the ingredients to make a substantial meal that was more than just reheated restaurant leftovers, or simple rice/noodles garnished with raw egg or soy sauce.. but cutting was definitely a task he could do, and do well. After all, he was trained in kenjutsu; this was basically the same, just on a smaller level.

He set to work with a speedy precision, soon finishing and moving onto the other vegetables.

She made short work of the meat - well-practiced herself in both the arts of kenjutsu and cooking - and was soon putting it into the heating pan with a sizzle. With the water boiling behind it, she stirred in some rice. After covering it, she brought the heat down low to steam it properly.

"Alright. Once the meat's halfway done, we can add the vegetables and some sauce. Keep everything a little on the crisper side instead of soggy." She gave him a quick wink between digging out some ginger root, a grater, and soy sauce, and washing off her cutting plate. "So, what did you want to drink with lunch? Water? Tea? Something else? Just don't ask for alcohol, we haven't had any in the house since last year."

She had a quick chuckle at her own joke, because she probably wouldn't have served him alcohol, even if he'd asked.

Kakashi was so transfixed with watching the proceedings of the meal making - trying to work out what the end product would be and trying to memorise the ingredients and the method - that he left Kushina's question hanging in the air for a long moment after she'd finished speaking. Then, he seemed to snap out of it, and looked at her with a politely confused look.

"Tea is fine," he answered, apparently not getting her joke. He didn't much like the taste of alcohol anyway. "Thank you." He actually managed a smile at that; just the slightest pull of his mask.

She'd been about to restate her question or check if he'd heard her when she did get an answer. Even with her little joke missed, her smile grew again at his thanks.

"Tea it is, then. Any kind in particular or do you want a surprise?"

With her plate set back down, she plucked up a kettle and filled it with water. Once it was set on a burner to heat, she took up the soy sauce, paused a moment to think, then got a bowl to pour some into. Liquid set aside, she took up the ginger and got to work grating some it and then adding what she grated to the soy sauce to get the flavor infused properly.

He paused for a moment, almost going to lean against the counter before he straightened up into a more professional stance once more. He treated the question of flavour like it was a consideration to be taken incredibly seriously, and the gears in his head turned as he watched her make the sauce.

"...A few weeks ago, I was sitting above the kitchen window while you were making tea, and the steam escaped while you were brewing the leaves. It smelt like firewood, but it was almost flowery..." he said, his voice low with recollection. "Could we have that one?"

A few weeks ago felt like a million years and she paused in her grating to think back. What tea was it that matched that description and was there any of it left...

"Uh... Firewood but a little flowery... I think we have some left. Hm... Here, grate off a little more ginger and put the rest back in the fridge while I dig out the tea."

Without waiting for an affirmation to her order, she set down her work and went right to the cabinet where all their tea was stored. It took her a few minutes of shifting around containers until she found one and opened it to take a whiff.

"AHA! Is this the one you were talking about?"

She held out the container for him to smell, feeling confident she'd found the right one.

Kakashi set to work, but turned his body slightly so that he could watch her rummaging. They sure had a lot of teas.. It had been some time since his tea cupboard had been stocked full (mostly due to Kakashi's reluctance to go grocery shopping, and his ineptitude at the art, even now) but even in the years his father was alive, he didn't think he'd ever seen a cupboard that full. There was something oddly comforting about the sight, though he couldn't explain what exactly.

When she held out the container he reached up to shift his mask down just enough to reveal his nose and gave a good sniff of the contents, and like a puppy recognising its master he looked up with an accidentally bright look.

"Yes! That's it!"

His scent memory was nigh-perfect, and to him there was nothing more comforting than a familiar smell.

She honestly couldn't remember the last time she'd seen his face light up like that. Or if she'd seen that look before in all the time she'd known him. It took some effort to bury the immediate maternal instinct to scoop him into a hug, but she beamed instead and set it on the counter to measure out after. Unless...

"Did you want to measure out tea for both of us while I get everything else in to finish cooking? You should find clean mugs there - " She pointed up to one cabinet. "And strainers for tea there - " Her pointing finger drifted down to a drawer on the other side of the sink.

Kakashi's eyebrows raised as he tucked his mask back over his nose, his open eye sweeping the indicated cabinets as if securing their locations and uses to his memory.

"Of course--" He gave a little movement that was half a nod and half a bow before laying the ginger and the grater to one side and moving to do as instructed. It wasn't hard to notice the excited tone in his voice, and the way he moved around getting the necessary items as though his effort had been formally requested by the Hokage.

He wasn't sure what it was about this particular task but as he set up the cups and their strainers, opened the pot and dished out enough leaves for the both of them.. Something was grounding him, making him feel comfortable - really comfortable - for the first time since he'd got here.

She deemed the amount of ginger to her liking and put the rest of the root away after mixing what he'd grated into the sauce. His tone and the way he was taking to his tasks were endearing. Maybe she should hassle him into coming by more often, even if it was only for tea. Or maybe babysitting...

As she plotted, she tipped the cut vegetables into the pan with the meat. Once they had a chance to cook for a few minutes, she'd add the ginger sauce.

"Okay... I think that's everything. The food just needs to finish cooking, the sauce goes on soon, and the tea should be ready in a few minutes... That's everything, right?"

"Uh," Kakashi muttered as he glanced around. "Do you.. set the table?" he asked as his eyes caught the corner of the table he'd been offered to sit at earlier. At home his manners were... a little on the lacking side since he'd been living alone, but in his mental checklist that had been one thing that rose a flag (even if most of the time he even failed to set the table himself.

"I could do it, if you'd like."

Ah... Yes, that was something she had missed. She laughed sheepishly at the glaring oversight.

"Yeah, I kinda missed that... Would you mind? Plates are in the cabinet next to the mugs, silverware is in the drawer next to the stove. ...But where did I put the napkins? I'll hunt those down."

"Of course."

Kakashi was quick in his task; to the point and professional much like he'd been the whole evening, but the stiffness from his frame had all but vanished and in its stead there came a relaxed kind of amble, like his strings had been cut to free his movement.

He did a quick relay with the plates, cutlery and finished it off by setting up a pot of boiling water to brew their tea. Once he was done, he gave the table a fast overview, then stood by it with a muted look of pride at his handiwork.

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[Closed] You were the brightest shade of sun I had ever seen

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...fuck me, now I want to try this recipe even though I made it up off the top of my head

i want to try it too ;-; cook for me tophie

would if I could ;n;

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