Flower in the Mirror [Hatake Kakashi] [1]

❄️ Chapter 23 ❄️

Months rolled by like that and Yumetsuki found herself getting completely comfortable with the role that she had been given in regards to taking care of her young godson. She didn't care what people thought about them. She didn't care if he wasn't the most perfect child. All she knew was that she wanted to raise him into a nice young boy who would do his best to live his life well.

Yumetsuki, in the eyes of the young Uzumaki Naruto, was apparently the most perfect person to have ever exist – or so he would tell her. She had always taken it lightly but she knew that she may be the only one in the entire village who went out of their way to take care of him like she did.

To Naruto, Yumetsuki was just perfect and the sweetest person, someone who cooked the best food and did everything so simply and quickly that it appeared like magic. Someone who could never do anything wrong. Someone who was just completely flawless.

"Meiko-Chan, when I grow up, you have to stay with me," Naruto told her as he would pull her face so that they could look at each other. "You have to, okay? You can't go live with someone else!"

Whenever he would say such things, Yumetsuki would smile at him but she knew that one day Naruto may learn the truth about her life. She had been such a mess even when she had lived for such a short time on this earth, and she had too much blood on her hands.

Even though Yumetsuki had slowly begun to take herself away from the world of ANBU, Hiruzen had called upon her one day and informed her that she would be taking a mission to the Land of Frost along with a small team that consisted of Kakashi, Tenzo, Itachi and Sugaru. Initially Yumetsuki had wanted to refuse but in the end, her expertise was far too valuable for her to stay back.

So, as it was decided, Yumetsuki bid her goodbyes to Naruto, informing him that she will be back home in two days and that while she was gone, she would leave her Fox Summons with him to keep an eye on him and to take care of him. She had also given him pocket money to treat himself.

"I'll have Ramen!" Naruto said excitedly as he stuffed the money into the froggy pouch Yumetsuki had gotten him on his last birthday to encourage saving. "I'll have lots of it!"

"Not at all meals," Yumetsuki reminded him. "I made you some food as well. You just have to heat it up. If you have any trouble, you may ask Amaterasu, alright, love?"

Naruto had been too excited to be 'independent' initially but when Yumetsuki got ready to leave, he had caught her skirt, looking up at her with watery blue eyes, "You have to come back quickly,"

"I will," Yumetsuki assured him, crouching down to give him a hug. "I will be back you know it, Naruto-Chan,"

Itachi had not expected himself to be the youngest part of a team that would be heading to the Land of Frost – there was going to be his team leader Hatake Kakashi, Sugaru from the Aburame Clan, and a boy a little younger than Kakashi yet long-living part of ANBU named Tenzo who had the ability to use Wood Style, a ninjutsu only the first Hokage, Hashirama, had been able to use.

That had been what he had heard but before they were to head out, Itachi had heard the door to their locker room open and almost in unison, the entrance of that person had caused both Kakashi and Tenzo to perk up – one of them smiled widely and the other one began to turn pink shyly.

"Yuren-Chan," greeted Kakashi in a voice that was so light and happy that it was hard for Itachi to believe that they were dressed in the ANBU garb. "What brings you here?"

Never before had Itachi heard that name before and never had he heard Kakashi address someone so affectionately – the suffix Chan on the lips of the twenty-year-old was a foreign thing – and Itachi could only be more shocked when he turned around to find Yuki Yumetsuki standing there.