Sasuke sighed impatiently while holding the large fan upright on the front porch. “You’re doing it wrong,” he growled
“I know how to fix my own weapon,” Taryn snapped back annoyed.
Sasuke rolled his eyes and pushed Taryn’s hands away from the rip in the weapon. “Just let me…” he cut himself off and stared over Taryn’s shoulder at something at the gate.
Taryn looked up at him when he suddenly paused and followed his gaze. When she turned around, her breath stocked for a second and she was frozen in place.
Kakashi was standing at the gate and looked at her quietly.
Taryn glanced at Sasuke, who handed her her fan and headed inside.
Taryn placed her fan against the side of the house and turned back to Kakashi. She had known he would be here, but that didn’t mean she was ready to face him. She took a deep breath.
“Can I come in?“ Kakashi asked carefully.
Taryn hesitated for a second. She wasn’t sure how to act around him. It had been four years.
“Of course,” she said.
Kakashi stepped into the garden and took a look around. “You have a nice place.”
“Thank you,” Taryn said while he walked up to her.
Just as he reached her, Sasuke exited the house again with a young boy on his arm.
“… because your mother has a visitor and we’re gonna let them talk.”
“Are we going to throw shuriken again, uncle Sasuke?”
“If you want to,” Sasuke said while walking past Taryn and Kakashi without looking up.
“Can you teach me how to spit fire?”
“Maybe some other time.” He and Ichiru walked out the gate.
Kakashi watched them go and turned back to Taryn. “isn’t he a little young to start training?”
Taryn narrowed her eyes. “He wants to. It’s not like I’m forcing him.”
Kakashi sighed. “That’s not what I said. I didn’t come to argue with you.”
“I know,” Taryn muttered, “I’m sorry.”
A smile tugged at Kakashi’s lips. She hadn’t changed one bit. “You and Sasuke seem to get along now,” he noted.
“We manage not to kill each other,” Taryn said, “that’s all. I tolerate him and he ignores me most of the time, but that’s fine. We are capable of cooperating.” It was silent for a while as Kakashi eyed her amused. Taryn cleared her throat. “So… how are the Chuunin Exams going? Anyone participating I know?”
Kakashi shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
Taryn nodded. She tried to stay casual, but having him near made her nervous. “So, who accompanied you here?”
Kakashi smiled. “Naruto and Sai.”
Of course, she should have known. “No ANBU?” she questioned.
“Sai is ANBU,” Kakashi pointed out.
“Right. I forgot.”
“They both wanted to come,” Kakashi continued, “but I thought it would be better if I came by myself first.”
Taryn nodded. “Thank you.” She looked away from him.
“I looked for you during the Exams,” Kakashi said, “when you weren’t there, I almost believed you were avoiding me.” He eyed her carefully.
“I was on a mission,” Taryn answered.
“There are never any missions, during the Chuunin Exams.”
“It was a necessary mission.”
Kakashi eyed her thoughtfully. What kind of mission could be so important that it had to be executed during the Chuunin Exams? “Who stayed with Sasuke while you were gone?” She wouldn’t have left him unsupervised.
“He came with me,” Taryn said casually.
Kakashi blinked at her. “What do you mean, he went with you?”
“I needed someone on the mission and everyone else was busy with the exams. Besides, it was the perfect opportunity to get him out of everybody’s way. We’ve been doing well for the past four years. We didn’t want to remind people of what happened with the war. So yes, I took him with me. And before you ask, Temari watched Ichiru.”
“So it was just to get Sasuke out of town?”
“No, it was a real mission. To the land or Rivers. Now that Akatsuki is disbanded, they want to ally with us.”
“I’m not sure if you should have taken Sasuke there. The land of Rivers is still unstable. You should have taken at least one other shinobi with you.”
“I was fine with Sasuke,” Taryn said annoyed.
“But he can’t even use chakra…”
Taryn didn’t reply.
“Taryn…” Kakashi eyed her suspiciously. He suddenly remembered something Ichiru had said earlier. “What was Ichiru walking about when he asked Sasuke to teach him how to spit fire?”
She looked at him pointedly.
“You undid the chakra seals!” Kakashi hissed in disbelieve.
“Not exactly,” Taryn said.
“How about more precisely?” Kakashi said.
“I might have closed a few of his Tenketsu with my Byakugan before the chakra seals were put in place,” Taryn answered casually.
“You did what?!”
“I lowered his chakra. When the seals were placed, they only sealed the chakra they could sense, the amount that wasn’t suppressed, so not all of it was sealed. Sasuke will never regain his former strength again, but his chakra is still there.”
“But why did you do that?”
“I had to do something.”
Kakashi shook his head, though he wasn’t really surprised. “How did you pull it off though? That Ao from Mist, he scanned Sasuke with his Byakugan. I was there. He didn’t see it.”
“It’s like with your Sharingan,” Taryn explained, “his Byakugan will never be as good as the original. And even most Hyuuga can’t see the Tenketsu.”
“I hope you’re not making a mistake, Taryn, with trusting Sasuke.”
“It will be fine.”
Kakashi shook his head. “I hope you’re right.”
***
Kakashi stared at the gravestone in front of him. He had never really known Itachi that well. No one in Konoha had. He kept to himself a lot. Of course now he knew why, but he wondered what had made the Uchiha prodigy open up to Taryn. Even in Konoha there had already been a bond between the two.
His eyes moved around the garden, the small stone bench at the grave, the hitai-ate that was stuck against the rock wall behind the grave.
He let out a sad sigh.
When he heard soft footsteps behind him, he looked up.
Taryn was approaching him with two mugs of tea.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “I didn’t mean to invade.”
“It’s fine,” Taryn said softly. She handed him one of the mugs and sat down on the bench.
Kakashi sat down next to her. “He looks like his father,” he said, “Ichiru.”
Taryn smiled. “Yes, he does. But he takes after Sasuke too.”
“That’s to be expected. After all, he is around Sasuke all the time.”
“Ichiru looks up to him.” Taryn’s expression became soft. “I’m glad he has at least someone to…” she sighed.
“You still miss him, don’t you?” Kakashi asked softly.
Taryn nodded and stared at the gravestone. “That will probably never go away. I just.. I just wish we’d had more time.” She closed her eyes. “If I had known sooner, if I had tried harder…”
“If the Uchiha clan hadn’t planned a rebellion,” Kakashi finished for her, “if Sasuke hadn’t killed Itachi, if Itachi hadn’t been ill.”
Taryn opened her eyes and looked at him sadly.
Kakashi gave her a half-hearted smile. “If I hadn’t resented my father so much as a child, If I had listened to Obito and gone with him from the start…” He sighed. “Look at us, both regrets over Uchiha men.”
Taryn let out a short laugh and sighed. “I missed you.”
Kakashi smiled and tapped her chin. “You’ll be fine.”
***
“Kakashi sure is taking long,” Naruto complained, “I wanna have a look around and get something to eat.”
“He said we didn’t have to wait for him,” Sai told him calmly. He was sitting at a desk, drawing in his note book. “He went to visit Taryn-sama. They appear to be good friends, I have seen them talk in conversion on several occasions in te past. Friends that haven’t seen each other in a while have a lot to talk about, isn’t that so? ‘Catching up’ I think they call it.”
Naruto blinked at Sai. Even after all this time, Sai was still a little strange every now and then. “I wanted to catch up with Gaara,” Naruto said, “but he’s busy with the exams.”
“You’ll have time afterwards, Naruto,” Sai said, “we won’t return to Konoha right away.”
“I know,” Naruto sighed. He looked over Sai’s shoulders. “What are you drawing?” he peeked at the paper and smirked. “Hey, hey, isn’t that the girl from Mist? She’s the sensei of that boy with the spiky hair, the one that made it to the final round.”
Sai’s hand stilled and he let out a nervous laugh. “Really? I guess it is.” Naruto crossed his arms and his smirk grew wide. “You like her.”
“You think so?” Sai tilted his head curiously. A faint smile crossed his lips. “Maybe I do.”
“Ha!” Naruto pumped his fist in the air, “you need to talk to her.”
Sai looked at him bewildered. “Talk? Me? Why?”
“Duh! How else will she know you exist?! Really Sai, you can be really dumb sometimes.”
“But… what should I say? I mean, I’ve read about conversations between men and women, but it all seems very complicated.”
“Don’t worry,” Naruto grinned, “I’m on it!” And he rushed out the door.
“Naruto!” Sai called after him, “I’m not sure that’s…” But Naruto was already gone.
***
“Momma! Momma! I almost hit the target today!” Ichiru ran into the house with a big smile on his face.
“Did you?” Taryn lifted the boy in her arms, “very good, Iku. I’m proud of you.” She kissed his cheek and looked over at Sasuke, who was still standing in the doorway, his eyes fixed on Kakashi.
She put Ichiru down and ruffled his hair. “Go wash your hands, dinner is almost ready.”
The boy nodded and darted off towards the bathroom.
“I’m eating out today,” Sasuke said and pushed away from the door.
“Okay,” Taryn nodded without giving him much attention. She returned to the stove to turn the fish she was grilling.
“I’m sorry,” Kakashi said, “I didn’t mean to chase him away.”
“Don’t worry,” Taryn answered, “it’s nothing personal. He’s just being polite and giving us some privacy.”
Kakashi raised and eyebrow. Sasuke polite?
“Could you carry these to the table?” Taryn asked and handed him a stack of plates. “Ichiru! Dinner!” She carried the pan to the table and sat down.
Kakashi took a seat next to her. He smiled at Ichiru when the boy sat down across from him and studied him curiously. “Who are you?”
“Eheh,” Kakashi said nervously, “I’m a friend of your mother’s.”
“Kakashi is the Hokage,” Taryn said, “he is from Konoha.”
“Is that where you met my mom?” Ichiru asked.
Kakashi blinked at how straightforward the boy was, but when he looked at Taryn, she only looked amused. “Yes,” he nodded at the boy, “it is.”
“Why are you wearing a mask? And why is your eye covered up?”
“Ichiru,” Taryn warned.
The boy huffed and Kakashi smiled amused. “He’s just curious.”
“Be glad you missed his ‘why’ period,” Taryn said with a wry smile.
“Did you know my daddy to?” Ichiru asked.
Taryn flinched and Kakashi looked at her hesitantly before turning to Ichiru. “I didn’t know him very well. He was vey busy with the ANBU and I wasn’t assigned to many missions with him.”
Ichiru sighed disappointed.
“You look like him,” Kakashi hurried to say and he smiled when the boy beamed at him happily.
Taryn let her breath escape and smiled at Kakashi gratefully. “Thank you,” she mouthed.
***
“How do you think sensei is holding up?” Kuro asked.
“I don’t know,” Hiro said, “it must be strange for her to see Kakashi-sama again. It’s been four years after all.” He picked up a menu and studied it, “I hope there won’t be any trouble with Sasuke and all.”
Kuro sighed and looked out of the window of the restaurant they were at. “What time was Daro coming?”
“He said he’d had to go to see Gaara-sama first. He’s getting assigned to his first group of students. And then he’s going to pick up Casey and meet us here.”
Kuro turned back to his friend. “He’s getting students? Really?”
“Uhuh,” Hiro nodded, ”he told me last night.” He smirked. ‘He’s so nervous.”
A smile crept across Kuro’s face. “He’ll be fine, but it will be funny to see him squirm.”
Hiro chuckled. “I hope he gets the biggest troublemakers of the bunch.”
“I think Taryn-sensei already had those,” Kuro muttered.”
Hiro stuck out his tongue. He sighed. “You think Daro would mind if we ordered? I’m starving.”
“You’re always starving.”
Hiro threw his menu at Kuro’s head and they both laughed.
“Fine,” Hiro said, “we’ll wait five more minutes.”
---
A/N Ah! How quickly brats grow up T.T
If you guys could check my short story LKelpie, it would be really great. You can find it in my book of one shots. And if you like Crow's Feathers, check out my new story Clash of the Brats. It's a colab with Amaterasu and includes more Taryn and her students :) The first chapter was just posted. I would really appreciate some feedback :)