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CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT _________________________________ YEARS AGO
"OOH! CAN YOU TELL US A STORY?" SAKURA ASKED THE woman sitting in front of her, her emerald eyes pleading. She sat inbetween Naruto and Sasuke, who had bored looks on their faces. They were clearly tired of waiting for their silver-haired sensei, who had come up with some sort of excuse to be late to the team's mission.
Hana smiled and nodded her head, her expression sympathetic. Her husband's constant absence clearly took a slight toll on the Genin. "How about the story of why Kakashi is always late?"
The three of them lifted their head up and fixed their posture, gazing at the blonde woman with disbelief in their eyes.
"Are you sure you can talk about it, Mom? I thought you didn't even know." Naruto spoke, leaning on the edge of his seat.
"Well, it isn't a secret if you've known him since Academy days." She giggled at her son.
"Wait, wait, wait." Sakura held up a finger. "Before you start, have you seen Kakashi Sensei's face before?"
"Obviously." Sasuke rolled his eyes at the pinkette.
"Yes. Now, the story begins during our Team 7 days." Hana began, adjusting her position on her chair. "We had a friend. We'll call him...O. O was always late to his missions, and was always dragging me around everywhere. Kakashi was always telling us that we were late. It was annoying."
The children snickered and giggled at her words.
"Kakashi Sensei did? Really?"
"I know. Unbelievable." The Senju-Hatake agreed. "No matter how annoying he was, he was still friends with O. And he didn't realize how close he was with him." She continued. "Until one day O...went away. Kakashi and I were sad, of course. But he decided to keep the memory of him in his head by being late and making excuses. Just as O did."
"He died." Sasuke murmured quietly. "Right?"
He was met with silence.
Naruto frowned and lifted himself up to give his mother a hug. "I'm sorry Mom."
"Me too." Sakura grabbed her hand and squeezed it.
"Thank you." Hana smiled softly.
"Wow. I'll never complain about him being late again." Naruto suddenly said after a while.
"Is that why you guys love each other so much?" The younger girl of the group questioned, tilting her head to the side. "Because you only had each other?"
"Yeah." Hana's lashes fluttered at the realization the latter had. "Anyways, don't tell him I told you that, okay?"
The three of them nodded.
"Anyway, we're okay. Because we have a child that we love and a team that we will always protect with our entire being. That's all we've ever wanted."
NOTE 2 days till it ends and 2 days until we get to see hana and kakashi's love bloom 😭😁
