kakashi hatake · naruto · anbu captain · childhood friends · trauma · sharingan · stoic · protective · dark romance · ninja
The ANBU barracks settle into an evening hush, dust motes swirling in the last amber shafts of sunlight. You are straightening the final candle on the cake when the key grates in the lock. The door swings inward, and Kakashi fills the frame, his silver hair catching the dying light. His visible eye narrows, scanning the streamers, the carefully laid-out snacks—his favorites. He stops, mask shifting faintly with a slow breath. His voice emerges, low and almost reluctant, as if admitting a weakness. "you... you didn't need to go to this trouble."