Ripple (The REWRITE for Ninetails in Naruto! Oh Well!)

Chapter 14

(Me adding an explanation or my own little input )

(Just normal ol' parentheses)
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3rd Person POV

 Immediately approaching the residence, Hiruzen could hear the sounds of Kakashi preparing breakfast for himself and his young charge. As he got closer, politely knocking on the door and making his chakra presence known (wouldn't be a good idea to catch a shinobi off guard, after all), it seemed that the young teenager had created a shadow clone to help out. 

 "Coming!" A voice sounded from the other side of the apartment door, followed by the pitter patter of footsteps- that required conscious input to cut off the natural instinct to keep them silent, Hiruzen mused, pleased that Kakashi had thought to do so for baby Naruto. It wouldn't do for the child to not make the association between that sound and footsteps, would it?- and the sound of infant babbling to get louder as the pair drew closer to the door.

 "Hokage-sama!" Kakashi instantly contorted to a bow, his body tucking itself (albeit a bit awkwardly with a newborn in his arms) into 90°, twitching as he rejected his muscle memory urging him to drop to a knee. Hiruzen offered his genuine smile at the pair, signaling for the boy to rise. His eyes, noted everything with Kakashi's stance, but he'd know that while control would improve with time, ANBU training would never fade, it wasn't supposed to.

 "Kakashi-san! I just dropped by to check on you two, may I come in?" Naruto stared at the stranger, seemingly more curious than suspicious, before ultimately settling for smooshing his body even closer to Kakashi than previously. The markings of his social mother, and the natural protection seeking of an infant.

 Ho ho, who knows? Maybe the child would become as ambitious as his father, as out of the world and in the stars Minato was. (1)

 "Of course, we have coffee, I'll prepare you some tea if that's not to your taste?" Hiruzen felt so tired that he'd like to drink out a bar, but that wasn't something he could voice, so instead he opted to respond,

 "Ah, there's no need, Kakashi-san, I won't be intruding your morning too long, coffee is fine." as he followed the teenager into the apartment. 

 A minute later saw Hiruzen sitting at the table sipping at the coffee his host had poured him, while Naruto sat on his newly bought highchair throwing the little bit of yogurt his guardian had given him (while his baby formula and oatmeal with mashed bananas was being prepared) all around the vicinity. His ANBU shadows didn't portray anything outwardly, but Hiruzen had known some of them long enough to know who would be gushing over the child quietly in the locker rooms later.

  As Naruto shoved his yogurt coated fingers into his mouth, while Kakashi's shadow clone (who'd taken the most yogurt-abuse) sat there disgruntled, the spoon which the baby had no appreciation for in his hands, Hiruzen hid a small grin on the inside of his cup, remembering himself in the same situation as the shadow clone during Asuna's infancy.

 Kakashi seemed less caught up in the ghosts of his past now that he had a living being to take care of, though full healing wouldn't be until years in the future- not with Minato and Kushina's deaths still so fresh in everyone's minds- it was still amazing progress, and Naruto himself seemed happy and healthy. It made Hiruzen feel better about giving a child to another (incredibly troubled) child to raise.

 After a few more minutes of watching the pair- Kakashi attempting to feed the baby while his shadow clone was released to handle cleanup (and why didn't Hiruzen think to do that?)- Hiruzen filled some moments of silence with idle small talk, and questions about how he and the baby were doing. 

 "Thank you for your hospitality, you've been incredibly kind to me. You and Naruto seem to be doing very well! I'm afraid I'll have to leave now, take care!"

 Hiruzen left the complex, the burden just a touch lighter knowing he was walking away from a happy reality of a child munching on his oats and "'nannas!", a tired, but endeared guardian, and a disgruntled ("but at least I'm cleaning instead of feeding it") shadow clone.

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(1) Sage of Six paths: Tee hee 😇

Aw, aren't they so cute-

Should I tag this story as "slow burn"? I feel like I should haha

Yay! Family life chappie- did you pick up the little shinobi things I sprinkled in at the beginning? Just wanted a small undercurrent of "hey, shinobi parenting is a little different than what a civilian would do!" you know, besides the "teaching your kids how to kill" part- 

Thanks for reading, and stay safe!