safety [Kakashi Hatake x OC]

ninety-eight

Eri could feel Kakashi's emotions through their telepathic communication via the Yamanaka ninjutsu. The poor middle-man must have been so very confused and overwhelmed. Nonetheless, the typically stoic man welled with emotion so much stronger than anything he felt before, even in falling in love with the girl.

"Eri, I love you." He finally communicated. "I promise, I'll come home to you." He paused, swallowed, and continued, "The end of this war will be the beginning of a better world for our child to live in." He declared, encouraging himself just as much as the crying woman back in Konoha.

While he felt the most excited he ever had been in his life, he was equally heartbroken that he couldn't be with her in that moment; he was so sad that he couldn't be by her side as they found out their lives were going to change forever. This war became so much more important for him, and it was already a matter of life or death for the shinobi world.

"Make sure you stay safe." He said solemnly.

"You too." She answered. "I love you."

The conversation ended and communication was cut off. Eri bit her lip to bring herself together to tackle what could be coming with the war.

It took everything in Kakashi not to break down in the middle of his camp.

"Yo, Kakashi." One of the divisions lead fighters and the gloomy man's long time comrade and rival approached him with a cocky smiley and thumbs up - seemingly inappropriate for the atmosphere. Shifting to a more quizzical persona with a hand on his chin, the green-jumpsuit-clad man asked in a booming voice: "Why do you seem so down?"

"Guy." Kakashi acknowledged with a sigh. He didn't have anyone else he could confide in. He assumed Sakura knew because she was back in Konoha, and anyone he considered himself somewhat close to were in other divisions. So, he confessed quietly, "I just got news that Eri's pregnant."

As soon as Guy's - the Might Guy's - jaw dropped, the white-haired man quickly hushed his dramatic response. "I would rather not tell the world right now."

The black-haired man nodded in what seemed like understanding, then he revised his reaction. Instead, he started tearing up in a way that stars glittered in his eyes. He reached out to Kakashi for a brotherly embrace...

Only to be rejected with an aura that oozed disgust. "Don't you dare."

"Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Guy stood up straight once more. "Seriously, Kakashi. Congratulations." He smiled genuinely; it was a gentler smile than his typically prideful one. "I mean, with my dashing, youthful looks I always thought I'd be first." The obnoxiously cocky persona was back.

The father-to-be rolled his visible eye bitterly.

"But you deserve to be happy and to have a family." He finished. "We gotta make sure we get you home alive then." He shoved a thumb towards his own confident grin.

Kakashi let his guard down slightly - something he only learned how to do with Eri - and dropped his shoulders. His eye shone with a smile. "Thanks, man."

At that point, the Third Division was just waiting for Sakura to finish up at Konohagakure and a last few remaining groups of shinobi from various villages before moving forward. It was a waiting game for the first battles of the Fourth Shinobi World War to begin.