At the dinner table in Barton's farmhouse, the kids excitedly looked at Kakashi. They were focusing more on him than their food.
Clint Barton grinned, his thoughts proud as he introduced his children. "The little cutie here is my daughter, Lila, and the little champ here is my son, Cooper."
Cooper's eyes sparkled, with excitement. "When can we witness the cool things you could do? Dad tells us how you can breathe fire like a dragon. Show us!"
Lila chimed in, her thoughts fixated on Kakashi's hair. "Dad said you could grow your hair bigger. Show us that."
Kakashi's eyebrow twitched with embarrassment. 'That damn jutsu.' He'd made the mistake of showing Clint the Lion's Mane Jutsu, copied from Jiraiya, during a moment of boredom.
'Never again.' His mind groaned. 'Now I'm paying for it.'
"Maybe later," he said, his voice deflecting.
Clint's thoughts were gleeful, sensing a chance to show off. "Now, now, Uncle Kakashi is going to stay here for a couple of days. You both would have plenty of time to see him in action. And do you want to see Dad do some cool ninja stuff too?"
"Cool, let's go!" the kids shouted and were about to go.
"Finish your food first and you can go," Laura said stopping them in their tracks. They had no choice but to follow her oders.
After quickly eating their food, they grabbed Clint's hands, pulling him toward the lawn outside, Laura following with a chuckle.
Kakashi sat awkwardly on the table not knowing what to do.
A soft chuckle behind him made him turn, and he sighed, spotting Natasha Romanoff leaning against the doorway with groceries in her hands.
'And Of course she's here.'
"What, not happy seeing me here?" Natasha asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Before he could reply, Natasha continued, her tone lighter. "Don't worry, I wouldn't be spying or interrogating you here. It's a family home with kids, and we're both guests."
Kakashi's voice was dry. "Haven't seen you in a while."
Natasha replied casually,"I was undercover, spying on Tony Stark."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow curiously. "Clint told me he has some poisoning."
Natasha nodded, "It's dealt with. In fact, he dealt with it himself. To be honest, according to me If you're the strongest person in a fight, that man's the smartest I know. If he was not such an arrogant self centred person, Fury would have been licking.... I mean taking good care of him."
Kakashi's thoughts paused. 'Did she just praise me genuinely? And did she just insult Fury?'
His mind weighed her words. 'I doubt Tony is smarter than Shikamaru, but he could be, considering the oddities in this world. Shikanaru was a strategic genius while Tony excels in other type of genius. Minato sensei or Lord Second type of genius. One who makes new things from scratch. He made that suit in a cave, and I haven't managed to make my puppet with all the materials yet.'
Before Natasha could respond, Lila's voice rang out, "Auntie Nat, you should see this! Dad just made four of himself!" She grabbed Natasha's hand, dragging her outside to the lawn where Clint was performing illusion clones for the kids.
Kakashi stayed behind, sinking onto the couch. His hand twitched toward his pouch, tempted to pull out his copy of his new novel. Then he stopped, his thoughts exasperated. 'Clint specifically said no smut in front of the kids.'
He recalled Clint's mock-serious lecture, complete with finger-wagging. ''Keep that pervy book away from my kids, Hound!' Laura would kill both you and me if she knew that you showed Kid something like that."
Closing his eyes, Kakashi leaned back, he truly felt that this place was pretty peaceful. And that was something he was not comfortable with. He lived in chaos and somehow thrived in it.
'I don't think it's a good think though,' Kakashi thought smiling wryly.
Half an hour later, Clint returned, flopping onto the couch beside Kakashi.
Kakashi opened his eye, his voice dry. "You brought a former assassin to your family? Not that I'm saying you should've brought me either. I'm not someone who should be with kids."
Clint smiled, "I vouched for Natasha to Fury for a reason. This is a form of trust from my side to hers. Natasha, having been raised in the Red Room and involved in covert operations, lacked a normal family life. Introducing her to my family was a way for me to offer her a glimpse into a world of familial love and connection that she never experienced."
Clint continued, his voice earnest. "And that goes for you too. You've always been quiet, mostly talking to your dogs. I believe they're something of your family. And I'm pretty sure you would've said you have no interest in starting a family. I just wanted to show you what it means to have one."
Kakashi stayed silent, letting Clint speak.
Clint's voice grew serious, his thoughts heartfelt. "Besides, I know if something happens to me, I can rely on you to protect and take care of my family."
"It would be too much pain," Kakashi said, his voice quiet. "I'd rather have nothing happen to you." His mind flicked to a forbidden technique, his tone half-joking. "Hmm, maybe I should learn the jutsu that brings back the dead."
Clint's eyes widened, "You're serious? There's a jutsu like that?" His voice wavered, fear creeping in. "Wait… will I return as a zombie or skeleton??"
"It's complicated. But if I have to say probably a Zombie, " Kakashi said.
Clint shook his head, trying to laugh it off but then noticed the serious expression on Kakash' face, "You're messing with me, right?"
---Author Notes---------
Thankyou Lame_Artist109 and Isaac Buckman for supporting me!
Y'all can now read the next 15 chapters of the fanfic on my pat*reon instead of 12 chapters.
Also you can also now read exclusive one shots on it.
https://pat*reon.com/Charizard6
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