What the Crows Left Behind | Kakashi x OC

Part X : Back in the Field

She found him outside.

Kakashi stood barefoot in the garden, motionless, eyes closed as the pale morning sun bled slowly through the mist. The dew clung to the cuffs of his pants, softening the edges of his silhouette, but Sayomi could still read his posture perfectly — calm on the surface, but with that familiar tension just beneath. Hands in his pockets. Head tilted slightly, like he was listening for something she couldn't hear.

She watched him for a moment, leaning against the doorway. Their home was quiet — too quiet for a man like him.

He spoke first.

"I think I'm ready," he said, still facing the trees.

Sayomi raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

He turned slightly, just enough for her to catch the smirk on his lips. "To move again."

She stepped out into the grass, the chill of the dew soaking instantly through her bare feet. "You're bored."

"I'm... restless," he corrected. "There's a difference."

Sayomi stopped in front of him, studying the familiar face that somehow still looked like a stranger sometimes — the silver hair, the lines near his eyes, the gentle weight of someone who had died and come back. Not a ghost. Not anymore. But still carrying something invisible.

"You miss the field," she said softly.

Kakashi hesitated. "I miss feeling... useful. Focused. And if I'm honest, I don't think I was made for this kind of peace."

Sayomi didn't look away. "Then we go."

His brow lifted slightly. "You'd really come with me?"

"I'm not letting you out of my sight," she said simply. "If there's risk, I'm there. End of discussion."

He looked down at her hand as she slid it into his — firm, certain, warm. His fingers curled around hers with a quiet exhale, and he nodded.

"Then let's go see the Hokage."

The Hokage's office looked the same, but it felt different now — brighter, somehow. Or maybe it was just Naruto. He stood behind the desk, sorting through scrolls with his usual untamed energy, but when he glanced up and saw them walk in, something in his face shifted.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, voice steady but full. "You look alive."

Kakashi's eye crinkled above the mask. "I am."

Naruto stepped around the desk without hesitation and pulled him into a firm, brief hug. Sayomi stayed just behind him, arms crossed, watching the moment unfold.

"I never got to say it properly," Kakashi said as they stepped back. "Congratulations. You did it."

Naruto laughed a little. "Faster than expected, though. I was supposed to have a few more years of freedom, you know."

"You were ready," Kakashi said. "You are."

Sayomi finally stepped forward, casting a sideways glance at her husband. "Can we cut to the part where you assign us something?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "You're serious?"

Kakashi nodded. "We're ready. I'm ready."

Sayomi added, "He's not built for domestic life, clearly."

"Hey—"

"It's true," she said, deadpan.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, grinning. "Well, lucky for you, I've got something. Nothing major. Weird chakra readings coming from the western forest near the border. The kind of thing that's probably bandits with stolen scrolls but could also be something worse."