Meiko froze in her spot, before she slowly turned around and looked back at Kakashi.
"I didn't know you were awake." Meiko said softly as she walked back towards Kakashi.
"Are you really here, or am I just imagining this again?" Kakashi said quietly as Meiko sat down on the bed beside of him.
"No I'm here. Are you feeling okay, Kakashi?" She asked as she pushed his hair back.
"I'm fine. I don't want to talk about me. I just want to talk to you." Kakashi said as he tried to sit up, but Meiko pushed him back down gently.
"No, you need to lay down and rest. We can talk, but you need to lay down." She said, and Kakashi nodded slightly. He laid back down and kept his eyes glued on Meiko.
"Why haven't you talk to me?" Kakashi said with a sadden tone.
"I just haven't had much to say. I've been really busy. I teach academy kids now, and I'm just really busy.. I'm sorry." She said, and that wasn't a complete lie. She was really busy a lot of the time.
"But you could have fou-" Kakashi started off, but he was cut off by the bedroom door opening, and a small white haired boy walking into the room.
"Okasan, Tasuna wants to know if it is okay if I have a glass of milk?" He asked, and Meiko nodded her head slightly.
"Tell him I said that's fine." Meiko said, and Taka nodded quickly before he shut the door behind him. She looked back over at Kakashi who was staring at where the door was open.
"Who was that." Kakashi said, looking at Meiko.
"That's my son. His name is Taka." She said quietly.
"How old is he?"
"He's 5. Almost 6." Meiko said, and Kakashi stared at her.
"Is he.." He trailed off, and Meiko took a deep breath.
"Yes, Kakashi. His full name is Taka Hatake. He is your son." She said softly, and Kakashi pushed himself up on the bed, supporting himself with his elbows.
"Why did you never tell me about my son?" Kakashi said as he got closer to Meiko's face.
"Because we were young. We were still children ourselves and I wasn't sure how to tell you." She said, keeping her voice soft and calm.
"But he's my son, you should have told me. I.. I would have been there to help you." Kakashi said quietly, and Meiko nodded slightly.
"I just wasn't sure how to tell you Kakashi, and I'm sorry." Meiko said. "W-Would you like to actually meet him?" She asked, and Kakashi gave a small nod.
"One second." She said as she got up, and walked out of the room. She walked into the living room where Taka was sitting with Naruto, the two of them playfully shoving each other and laughing about it.
"Taka." Meiko said, and the little boy whipped his head and looked at his mother. "Come here." She said, and the little boy jumped up and ran over to his mother. Meiko scooped up the boy in her arms and walked back to the bedroom.
She shut the door behind her, locking it so that Kakashi's nosey students couldn't come in. Taka kept looking over at Meiko, and at the man laying in bed staring at him.
"Okasan, who is this?" Taka asked, and Meiko crouched down beside of Kakashi, placing Taka on the bed beside of Kakashi.
"Taka... Remember the conversation we had about your father? About how he was a proud man?" She asked, and the boy nodded slightly. "Well, Taka, this is him. This is your Otosan." She said quietly, and Kakashi stared at the little boy who looked just like him.
Taka's eyes widened as he slowly looked over at Kakashi, tears welling up in his eyes. He looked back and forth between Meiko and Kakashi, as if asking his mother silent permission to hug his father. Meiko just nodded her head slightly, and watched as Taka wrapped his arms around Kakashi's neck, hugging him tightly. Kakashi gently placed his hands on the boys back, not sure on how to act like a father.
"Otosan.." Taka whispered quietly, and Kakashi nodded slightly as he pulled Taka closer.
"I'm here, kid." He whispered quietly, and the little boy began to cry against his shoulder.
"I love you Otosan.. I've waited so long to meet you." Taka said, and Kakashi ran his fingers through the bottom of the boys hair.
"I... I love you too." Kakashi said quietly to the little boy who was crying and nuzzling his head against his shoulder.
Meiko placed her hand of her sons back gently, rubbing small circles on the child's back. Taka looked over at his mom who smiled slightly at his mother.
////
Kakashi and Taka both fell back asleep on bed, Kakashi cradling his son against his chest with a small smile on both their faces. Meiko started at her love and son, and smiled at the resemblance between the two. Since she knew there was no way she was getting Taka out if Kakashi arms for the night, she stood up and walked out of the room.
She walked into the living area where Sakura and Naruto were asleep in sleeping bags. Naruto was snoring loudly, and she smiled at how much he looked like Minato. She walked into the living area and sat down on the couch, near where the third member of the Kakashi's squad, the Uchiha, was.
"How long have you known Kakashi." Sasuke said, and Meiko looked over at him with a serious expression.
"My entire life."
"So you're from the leaf?"
"Yes sir." She replied, relaxing back into the couch. "Have you ever heard of the thirds daughter? The one he sent away to help other villages?"
"Yeah."
"That's me." Meiko said with a small smile. "My name is Meiko Sarutobi, and I'm the daughter of the third hokage."
"How do I know you're telling the truth?"
"I guess you don't, do you?" She said with a laugh.
"So, your son, is he Kakashi's?"
"Yes, he is. Taka Hatake."
"Why did you name him Hawk?"
"Don't know, I just liked the name. I mean, Kakashi's name means scarecrow so I threw around crow for a while, but I didn't like it as much. So I chose Hawk." She explained, and Sasuke nodded slightly.
"Does he know about Taka?"
"He does now." She said, slightly ashamed.
"Hn." Sasuke replied, and Meiko closed her eyes, drifting to sleep soon after.
//////
Meiko woke up, and surprisingly it was the first time that Taka hadn't been the one to wake her up. No, this time she woke up on her own time. Meiko sat her head to and looked around the room slightly to see everyone except Taka and Kakashi sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast.
Meiko pushed herself off of the couch, only slightly noticing that her leg was off balance. She walked through the hallway to the bedroom she had left her son with Kakashi was.
As she entered the room, she smiled at Taka and Kakashi laying on the bed, only slightly awake. Kakashi opened his eyes as he stared at Meiko, obviously tired.
"Did he wake you up?" Meiko asked, and Kakashi nodded slowly. "Welcome to the world of having a child." She laughed quietly as she walked over to the bed and sat down beside of him.
"Is it like this every morning?" Kakashi asked with a raspy voice, and Meiko nodded slightly with a chuckle.
"Every single one." Meiko said, showing him a big smile.
"Meiko I want to talk to you about something."
"What is it?"
"He's my son too. And I want to be there for the rest of his life, Meiko. I'm not going to sit back and let you finish this by yourself. Move back to Konoha."
"You say it like I don't have a choice in this."
"Honestly, you don't." Kakashi said with a stern expression.
"Fine." Meiko replied.
////
chapter 3!'