Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Running away from his Hokage duties was not something he’s proud of. But he’s a shinobi, used to the life at the fields, always moving, but instead, he’s now confined to an office with stacks of paperwork to do. He didn’t become a ninja just to sort through documents. It’s not like he can abandon it forever, no, it’s just a little much-needed break (even if he would hear an earful from Shikamaru and Shizune if he told her).

On this little trip he decided to check up on his students, the ones still in the village that is. He visited Naruto first because his house is the closest. Well, he’s not really visiting, more like checking up on them (also because he’ll also hear an earful from them and a chance of them calling Shikamaru. What a drag). When he arrived, he peeked through the window and saw a beautiful sight. Naruto was playing with tiny Boruto while Hinata busied herself in the kitchen. What a warm sight indeed. He’s very glad about the life his student found. Satisfied with his observation, he left, making a mental note of giving baby Boruto a gift soon.

Next was Sai. Well, Sai was currently on a mission so he settled on watching Ino instead. Not creepy at all. But before he can get to his house, he saw Ino on her way home from the market carrying groceries. There’s no way he’s going to let a heavily pregnant woman carry all that by herself.

“Yo!” he greeted, “do you need some help with that?”

“Hokage-sama! Aren’t you supposed to be in your office right now?”

“Maa, maa, don’t worry about that,” he said while taking the bags from her, “though I do wonder what are you doing grocery shopping all by yourself.”

“Ahh, I was going to just buy a small can of tuna but I got sidetracked,” she said, embarrassed. Kakashi remembered Sai had mentioned tuna has been a recurring menu for his craving wife.

“How’s the baby?”

“Sakura said he’s growing well, ready to pop out in just a few weeks! Finally! We’re so excited we had even arranged playdates with Sarada, you know! Also, with Shikadai and Chocho too- “and so Ino kept talking about how excited she was, to soon become a mother, as they walk to her home.

While they were finally there, Kakashi also helped her put them on her pantry.

“Are you sure you don’t need any more help?” Kakashi asked

“Nah, don’t worry about it! I’m pregnant, not disabled, you know. Besides, I think it’s about time you head back before Shikamaru sends the Anbu to collect you, Hokage sama.”

“If they can catch me, that is.” He smiled, “I just got another place to be so, see you later, Ino.”

And so, the Hokage made his way to his last destination, taking his time. Once he finally arrived, he could hear a loud cry from the house. Baby Sarada was crying her lungs out. He can also hear Sakura trying to calm her down. From her voice, she seemed overwhelmed. He waited for a few more minutes before checking on them himself. He knocked on the door and as he predicted, it took a while for Sakura to open it.

“Kakashi sensei!” Sakura greeted, baby Sarada still crying on her arm. Kakashi noticed the bags under her eyes and how she lost weight. His student also looked very pale and, well, exhausted. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I’m just here to check on my student and her cute little baby.” He answered.

Sakura sighed, “clearly your student is fine.”

 She invited him to go inside. Now that they’re in her living room, he can see the mess an infant can create. Bottles on the table, many used napkins laying around the couch, half-eaten baby food. The house was a complete 180 from Naruto’s ironically tidy house. Well, he can’t really blame her. Being a single parent is hard enough, being the head of the hospital on top of that is surely draining.

“Sorry for the mess, Kakashi sensei, I haven’t had much time to clean...” she said, quite embarrassed.

“Maa, no need for that, now give me the baby.” He extended his hand for the still wailing child.

Sakura, though bewildered, handed her daughter to the man. Kakashi bounced the kid and patted her back, trying his best to calm her down. To his own surprise, it worked. Sarada stopped crying and rested her head on his shoulder, probably exhausted too from crying too long.

“H-how did you do that? She’s been crying for hours and I can’t console her but just a few minutes with you she decides to stop?!” Sakura croaked.

“Well with both of you on edge I think someone calm needed to step in,” Kakashi said calmly, still rubbing Sarada’s back.

Sakura sighed and slumped on her messy sofa. “Is it that obvious?”

Kakashi gestured at the state of her house and she sunk further into the seat.

“You’re exhausted. I know you’re still taking duties at the hospital, and all that with raising a child alone, it’s bound to wear you out.”

“What else can I do?” Sakura whimpered, “I can’t just leave the hospital and there’s no way Sasuke will be back soon. There’s only so much I can do but so much that I have to do! Example A: look at this house! It’s unfit for a baby, yet Sarada keeps my hand-tied most of the time and when she’s not, then I’m probably passed out...”

Kakashi looked at his student finally releasing her exhaustion. It must have been a hard week. It’s been a very long time since he’s seen her so defeated.

“You know what, why don’t you rest, you can leave Sarada with me for a bit.”

Sakura looked at him incredulously, “sensei... Aren’t you busy? Shouldn’t you be in the office right now?”

Kakashi sighed, “Not from you too...”

“But seriously. Sensei, you don’t have to do that. No, you shouldn’t do that! The village is more important... We can’t take your time like that.”

“Well, the village also needs its best medic-nin on her best condition. Plus, Shikamaru can fill in for me until I come back, it’s not like I haven’t done the urgent matters before coming here, the rest can wait.”

“Can it…?” She looked at him suspiciously.

“Are you doubting your Hokage, Sakura?”

Sakura sighed, “alright, but just for a few minutes... A power nap is not supposed to take longer than 12 minutes, so please wake me up then, Sensei. Also, diapers are on the nursery, um, clean bottles are on the cabinet- “

“Sakura.” Kakashi interrupted, “just sleep.”

Thankfully Sakura nodded and went to her room to sleep, leaving Kakashi alone with Sarada. It was then that he realized that it was the first time he was ever left with a baby. What was he supposed to do with a baby? Is there some kind of manual? Should he check her diapers? She’s clean as far as his acute nose can sniff. Nap? She doesn’t look sleepy. What does a baby do?

“Um, what do you want to do now, Sarada?”

The 7-month-old stared at him with those big black classic unimpressed Uchiha eyes.

“You’re really your dad’s daughter.”

Sarada replied to him with a squawk as if she’d understood him in the first place.

“Hm? You can now hold a conversation, huh? Aren’t you a smart young lady?”

The curious baby then started making grabby hands towards his face. Figuring that she won’t do anything harmful he lifted her closer to his head where she immediately gripped his hair with her hand that he just now realized covered with drools.

“Gross.” He remarked impassively.

The little girl ignored him and continued to tug his hair and soon his whole head was not spared from the curious chubby little fingers. His ears got tugged, even his scar got her attention. He didn’t mind though, he’s patient enough for the babbling from grouchy old people calling themselves the elder council, this is nothing. Though, he didn’t really expect her hand to be able to tug down his mask, completely revealing his face.

He froze. The little girl too stopped for a moment before going back to touch his now exposed nose while making baby sounds. Well, at least no one was in vicinity so he let the baby be for now. But still, he’s still paranoid about the face, so once he noticed Sarada moved her attention from his face he tugged his mask back up. You can’t be too careful.

The Hokage-turned-babysitter looked around and saw toys laying in a padded corner, a play area. He approached it and set Sarada down. She searched over her pile of toys, as if analyzing them before picking a bunny closest to her and started chewing on its ears. Wait- isn’t that dirty? It’s not sanitized, she’s not supposed to have that in her mouth, so the sensible man tried to take the ear out of her mouth which was a big mistake because Sarada cried loudly at the man who stole her toy.

Kakashi was flustered. Okay, so no taking stuff out of a baby’s hand.

He picked her up again and tried to stop her crying by patting her back like he observed Sakura done before. His eyes looked all over the house trying to see what he can do to calm her down and it fell upon bottles. Well, they were used bottles but maybe feeding her a fresh one would calm her down?

The Sixth Hokage managed to find a clean bottle and made the crying baby her milk per instruction from the formula can. Hopefully, it’s enough. Another problem; how to feed a baby her formula? He’s seen Hinata done that before, Temari too, but it’s still kind of confusing especially when the baby was crying and squirming. Thankfully Sakura didn’t wake up to that. Awkwardly, he positioned the baby in his arm and gave her the bottle. Surely enough, little Sarada took it quite eagerly, and soon she started drinking the milk.

“So, you were hungry. Eat a lot, Sarada.” He cooed at the little girl as she drank impatiently from the bottle. She kicked her legs in glee as her little eyes sparkled, taking in his face curiously. With the baby calm and so close, Kakashi can finally see her in more depth. Sasuke. He can clearly see the distinct Uchiha features from her silky black hair to her sharp cat-like eyes. All Sasuke. All but her temper, she clearly got that from Sakura. What a curious thing, procreation is.

Sometimes it still takes a moment for him to process how his students now have families, children, on their own. A future that he never knew he will be able to live and see. One of the things that makes him glad that he’s still alive.

Slowly, Sarada’s eyes started to droop. A stubborn little thing, though, she fought to keep it open through her bottle. But alas, the drowsiness got her as she finally put her eyes to rest, her mouth still suckling on her milk. Kakashi couldn’t help but chuckle at this. Cute. Once she’s finally deep in her sleep, Kakashi put the bottle away and very carefully, with all the ninja stealth that he had, moved to put her in her crib. The baby squirmed a little as he settled her down which made him hold his breath, but she just snuggled deeper into her blanket. The Hokage heaved a relieved breath.

Kakashi slumped into the sofa. Not thirty minutes into babysitting and he’s already tired. He had new appreciation for parents and all that they have to go through. Especially single parents like Sakura. Also, his father, bless his soul. Looking around the house, he could see the toll it took on his student. Well, maybe then he should help her more. Starting by helping get the house neater. Oh well, Shikamaru can wait another thirty minutes.

The Hokage then started by washing the dishes, which mostly constituted of Sarada’s stuff; bottles, baby food bowl and spoon. He also tidied Sarada’s toys, folded her blankets, and put misplaced things back in their place. Soon, the house was neat. Not clean, but now at least it looked decent.

Looking at the clock, he found that he should be back to his office soon if he didn’t want Anbu agents to come and wake the ladies up. But should he really leave them both like this? With Sarada unattended? Just as the thoughts came to him, Sakura emerged from her room. Looking around her newly tidied-up room she seemed quite surprised.

“Kakashi sensei...” She started, “You- you really don’t have to do this…”

Kakashi gave his student an eye smile, “don’t worry about that, Sakura! I’m glad that I’m able to do this. You both deserve a good rest and a clean environment so this is the least I could do after all the responsibilities I put on you.”

“Just,” Sakura gave him a watery smile, “Thank you very much, sensei…”.

“Anytime, kid, anytime.”

Looking at the clock, it seemed that Kakashi had been gone longer than he planned. Shikamaru would give him an earful. Well, it was all worth it, though. He did say that he’ll do anything for his students once upon a time.

“I should be going then. It was a nice break from all those paper works but I need to get back to those now. Sarada’s napping on her room, by the way. Bye!” Kakashi said as he poof-ed his way out of the house and back on the street, finally strolling to the Hokage Tower where he belonged.

Chapter Text

The sight of a pouting Naruto in the middle of the Hokage’s office was… something that’s not really foreign to Kakashi, actually something he’s seen for about a decade and three Hokages now, but given the age of the man in front of him, not to mention that he has his baby wrapped in a baby sling on his torso, sent shivers down the Hokage’s spine.

“It’s not fair sensei!” the blonde whined, “it’s blatant favoritism! How is it that you only babysat Sasuke’s daughter but not my son! I mean look at him, isn’t he adorable enough for you?!” he said as he lifted the baby up to face him. The baby in question blew spit bubbles as if trying to prove his father’s point. The pair made a very cute father-son duo.

“I wasn’t really planning to babysit her in the first place, you know.” Kakashi looked at him unamused. Though looking at the baby now, he’s really cute. Kakashi also wanted to ‘bond’ with his students’ children… Even though he never thought it would be this soon, “but, you know what, next time you’re planning to give Hinata a well-deserved break for a little while, you might want to check up on my schedule.”

Naruto all but grins devilishly, “great! ‘cause I’m taking her on a date today, and oh, look at the time we gotta get ready!” The blonde shoved his son to the Hokage (who’s still on his office hours damnit!) and put what Kakashi assumed was the baby bag on the desk, “we’ll be picking him up at 9 sensei! Have fun!” 

Without anything but a kiss to his son’s head, Naruto  sunshined  out of the office, leaving Kakashi with the blonde baby on his lap. Kakashi needs to teach his successor some tact. He’s the Hokage and he got works to do. Though, he did have works to do too at that time he babysat Sarada so it’s more or less the same. But a baby in his office…

“Hokage-sama these are some files the T&I want you to look at-“ Shikamaru stopped on his track. He was gone for a couple minutes and suddenly he opened the door to the office and the Hokage had a child on his lap. Not just any child. Naruto’s kid. He heaved a long sigh. “Do I even need to ask?”

“No, no, just carry on and put those in this pile,” Kakashi gestured to the pile on his left while adjusting Boruto on his lap. The little baby, though, was wide-eyed, very curiously looking around at his very new surroundings. It’s a wonder he didn’t cry at the unfamiliarity.

Just then the tiny version of his student spotted a cup of ‘tea’ on his desk. The cup itself was a present from the Mizukage, hence the flashy purplish-blue color which would obviously catch the eye of the baby. Boruto eagerly moved to reach for the tea. Kakashi gently held him back.

“No, Boruto, those are not for babies.”

But Boruto inherited his father’s hard-headedness and won’t stop until he got what he wanted, so he leaned further and further to reach the cup. Not even his toy which Kakashi pull out to distract the baby steered him away from his goal. That would be a very good trait for when he grows up later and decided to be a shinobi. But for now, it’s not a real good thing for Kakashi especially. That cup was crazy expensive and very fragile.

Thankfully Kakashi had mastered the arts of getting Naruto back on track by distracting him with an even cooler thing, it should probably work on his son as well. Kakashi held out his hand just outside of Boruto’s reach and let tiny controlled sparks of electricity run through his hand, controlling it so that it changes colors from blue to purple.

“Look, Boruto. Sparkies.”

The baby, as expected, moved his attention to the ‘sparkies’ and looked at it in wonder. At first, he was just looking at it, probably trying to process it with his baby brain before then trying to jump to it which of course was held back by Kakashi’s strong hand. 

“No touching.” 

Just then Shikamaru sighed, “nothing in this room is baby-proofed, not even you, Hokage-sama.”

“What? I’m perfectly capable and safe at handling babies.”

“Not with a lightning jutsu in that proximity to a baby, no.”

“Don’t worry, I kept  both  Naruto and Sasuke alive, didn’t I? I know how to handle their kids.”

But just then tiny Boruto stopped his movements, though still keeping his eyes on the lightning sparks. It relieved Kakashi for a moment but then…

“Shikamaru…” Kakashi blanched. “Is he…”

Shikamaru laughed at the horror on Kakashi’s face. The baby in question had this very focused look on his now red face, his body rigid and sometimes trembled along with tiny little grunting sounds.

“Yes, Hokage-sama, Boruto is pooping.”

Kakashi held Boruto up immediately so that he was not sitting anymore, now the panicked look on his face made even an Anbu guard slip a snort. “What should we do Shikamaru?”

“Just wait it out until he’s finished.”

Boruto’s hands were now clenched shut, and his focused expression almost made Kakashi laugh because it was so cute and hilarious at the same time. But the smell that started to come out made him panic even more. His sensitive nose is a curse sometimes. After waiting it out, finally, Boruto finished with a shudder.

The Hokage then handed the baby to his personal assistant. “Here, you change him.”

Shikamaru was now the one who was flustered, “what- why me? You change him.” He handed him back to Kakashi.

“You’re a father, surely you have experience.” Kakashi handed the baby back to Shikamaru.

“Temari usually deals with those.” By now Boruto was sporting a confused look being passed back and forth between the two of them.

“And what do you think I somehow dealt with these things?”

“I don’t know, you’re old.”

In the middle of it all, as if this whole thing isn’t embarrassing enough for them, a group of Anbu who had just finished a mission appeared in the middle of the room on one of their knees, clearly ready to report the outcome of their very serious mission.

“Hokage-sama.” The team leader managed to call his attention with a great amount of effort to not laugh in the face of their highest commanding officer.

“Uh, hi, Boar, sorry we have an emergency here.”

Thankfully one of Boar’s teammates was an uncle who had been very hands-on with his nephew a few years back and he offered to teach his Hokage how to clean poop diapers. Kakashi asked him to do that instead but since this was the second time he was in charge of a baby (everyone somehow heard about how he babysat Sarada) he insisted on teaching him so that ‘he’ll know what to do next time.’ Oh, and yeah, there will be next time.

Once everything’s clear and squeaky clean (by that Kakashi really meant Boruto’s butt) and the Anbu mission report had been submitted, Kakashi finally had a chance to collapse on the couch set on the corner of the Hokage’s office with the baby draped across his stomach. The baby in question looked ready for a nap too, judging by how he kept rubbing his eyes.

Now from his experience with Sarada, babies tend to go to sleep when you feed them with warm bottles so that was exactly what Kakashi tried to do. He carried the baby as he made some milk and heat it up with a simple fire jutsu while Shikamaru excused himself for an appointment with the contractors for some new renovations in the academy.

Kakashi carefully hold Boruto like he did Sarada and fed him on his office chair while looking through the file Shikamaru had brought earlier. Multitasking. He wondered if this is what moms do. Thankfully Boruto took the bottle without a fuss, and with a healthy appetite too. The baby fully slept on the fourth page and since Kakashi’s in the paperwork now, might as well let the baby sleep on his arms for a while longer. A while turned into four paperwork and he’s quite impressed at himself to be able to have a productive afternoon even with a baby to look after. Though his position might not be that comfortable so Kakashi carefully laid out a fluffy blanket Naruto packed in the baby bag onto the coffee table and laid baby Boruto there. He then very carefully moved the coffee table turned baby bed next to his desk so that he can continue his work and watch the baby at the same time. Genius.

Boruto’s nap was peaceful. Kakashi was able to get some works done, got Jounins and Anbu teams briefed in a hushed quiet tone (though if the baby’s anything like Naruto, even a firework won’t wake him), and even got himself a snack break. He was enjoying the quietness of his work environment when the baby finally woke up from his nap, fussing. He immediately picked him up and shushed him, rocking slightly like he saw Hinata did when he came to visit a few weeks back. He’s actually getting the hang of it by now.

What they ended up doing was that Kakashi stacked four paperworks in front of him from different departments and lined up Boruto’s toys in front of it and let Boruto, who was on his lap, pick which paperwork should he do first. Kakashi had to admit Boruto’s picks were great and definitely worked with him. 

“Good job, Boruto. Give me a high-five.” He held out his hand in front of the baby. Seeing the baby not understanding high-fives (of course he’s seven months old) he took his tiny hand and gently touched it with his gloved palm. “This is called a high-five, Boruto. We’re going to master it by the end of the day, what do you think?”

So every paperwork Boruto picked, Kakashi made Boruto do a high five. It amused his Anbu guards greatly. By the grace of Kami-sama himself, it looked like Naruto actually birthed a genius, because Boruto finally mastered the art of high-fives after the seventh document. That must be Minato Sensei’s genes. Kakashi couldn’t be more proud.

“Hokage-sama, here are the final documents with the contractors. I have reviewed it and talked it with them I think it’s fine we just need you to review it and your signature.” Shikamaru came in and handed him the said document.

“Hey, Shikamaru, look!” Kakashi gushed. “Boruto, high five!” He spread his palm in front of the baby. Boruto squealed in excitement as he smacked his little palm to Kakashi’s, the baby himself was also excited that he got to learn a new trick.

Shikamaru chuckled. “A fast learner, aren’t you? Must get the from Lord Fourth.”

“Yup. Also with the help of a good Sensei, right Boruto?”

The baby answered with a cute giggle which earned him a rice cracker snack. Kakashi quickly proceeded to review the document then signed and stamped it before giving it back to his assistant so that it would be processed quickly.

 Without them realizing it, the sky had turned orange. The day in the office was almost over. With a baby, the day did seem to run a little faster. And, though, he won’t admit it to anyone, especially to Naruto, it’s almost… fun to have Boruto in his office. Kakashi was getting bored and tired of having to seat and doing the same routines every day, now mixing things up with something other than paperworks (re. a baby) really helped him. But it had been a tiring day and the Hokage was more than ready to end his day and retire to his home to relax and hopefully read some icha-icha had he not had any more documents to bring home.

Just as Kakashi was thinking of walking to Naruto’s home instead, the blond showed up with a poof in the middle of his room with his hand scratching the back of his hand. “Sorry, Kakashi sensei, we got a little bit side-tracked.”

“Hm, how was your date?” Kakashi asked, bouncing little Boruto who was still in the middle of reaching for his toy in front of the T&I report on their latest prisoner.

Naruto laughed sheepishly, “we were planning on going out, but we ended up napping in the house after cleaning up a bit.”

Kakashi chuckled, “at least you got yourselves a little break, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Naruto grinned, though he pouted when he noticed that Boruto was not even giving him a glance. “Boruto, don’t you miss your daddy?”

The said boy glanced up before continuing to play with his toy.

“Good job, Boruto, give me a high five.” Kakashi grinned. He just loved Naruto’s jaw dropped reacting to seeing Boruto high-fiving his sensei.

“Y- you- When did- HOW?!”

Kakashi shrugged, “oh, you know, just some brilliant teaching method, isn’t that right, Boruto?” The said baby gave the Hokage a wide drooly grin. “Though, good timing on your part, I was just about to wrap up here.”

Naruto sighed and sling the baby bag on his shoulder before giving his old teacher a very wide grin, very much like his son, “soo, how was your day? It seems you both had a great time.”

The Hokage smiled, “Yeah we did actually.” Boruto, knowing his attention was on him, put both his hands up in the air, expecting a high five which Kakashi catered to immediately. “Your kid’s not so bad.”

“Hmm maybe we should do this more often” Naruto snickered.

Kakashi could only give him a glare.