Chapter 12 - A father's duty - pt 1

[Author]:this chapter was edited by [Swalih] Please comment what you think of the edition and if you need to improve anything, it will help you a lot.

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"Ugh .... Damn ... couldn't you take this a bit lighter?" Kakashi complained, the poor guy was laying on the floor with some visible bruises on his body.

"You will only learn to survive by fighting seriously, no pain no gain!"  Eiji replied without an ounce of mercy, He felt that his face was sore too, but his physique was more resistant and held a lot more vigor, so there were no permanent marks on his body.

"How come you don't have any bruises on your body like me, I hit you hard the last time after all?" Kakashi complained.

Eiji looked at his brother with pity.  'Your bad luck, at least I won't be sore' thought Eiji in his mind.

"Let's go in, it's getting late, and we're stinking too much, you go to the bathroom while I cook our food" Eiji knew at least how to cook the basics, so he could save some of the money that their father had given them.

"You just want to boss me around,don't you?" Kakashi scoffed.

"Uhmmm, really? How about this, I will take a shower and you're going to make the food" Eiji prodded at the fact that Kakashi didn't know how to cook.

Kakashi quickly closed his mouth and ran into the house, obviously, it was not to make food.

'Lazy kid ... well who cares?'  Eiji hummed as he made his way towards the kitchen.

*sound of a depressed guy opening the door*

Eiji heard the door open and was alarmed until he heard a familiar voice.  "Eiji, Kakashi where are you? I came back from the mission" It was such a familiar and calm voice, but it now seemed to be full of sadness and hurt.

"You finally came back old man, Kashi-ni went to take a shower while I'm cooking something to eat" shouted Eiji, his voice echoing from the kitchen.

Soon a man appeared in a totally worn out jonin outfit, with some cuts in various places of the fabric, other than a few bruises on his body , he was relatively well.  Looking into his father's face Eiji realized what had happened.

'Failed, huh ... I should have expected this' Although Sakumo showed a reassuring smile, his eyes betrayed his emotions.

"So you learned to cook huh? Then I must eat my own son's food, hahaha" Sakumo said with joy.  He desperately tried to express as much emotion as possible to not show his concerns. But for Eiji, the sadness building around Sakumo was clearly apparent.

Soon Kakashi appeared in the kitchen and saw Sakumo,he quickly tackled the older man in a hug and exclaimed,"Dad, you're back!!"

"Haha, I am back, Kakashi. How is your training with Eiji going?" Sakumo said, trying to conceal the rising guilt as much as possible.

"We trained on taijutsu the most! Dad, you have to teach me kenjutsu, alright?" Kakashi started narrating their training session, completely oblivious of his father's thoughts.

"Alright, I will try my best. But, let's eat first." Sakumo said, wanting to eat his last supper.

Soon everyone was eating happily and in harmony…. 

Until Kakashi asked a question.  "How was your mission, Dad?" Kakashi had taken a liking to listening to his father's stories, after all, he aspired to be a ninja as capable as his father, to hear tales about his father's missions were his greatest hobby.

Thus, his ears perked up and his eyes gleamed with anticipation for a thrilling story.

Sakumo flinched for a moment but quickly straightened up, but this didn't escape Eiji's eyes.  "We failed in the mission" He paused for a moment before continuing, "The mission could not be completed without a sacrifice, so we decided to retreat."

"So the mission failed just because of that?"  Kakashi blinked, unable to wrap his head around the fact that his father actually failed a mission.

"Yes, the mission was an extremely classified one, so I can't tell you about it, I'm sorry,"  Sakumo said warmly, he had not changed his expression after the first question. But inside his mind was filled with thoughts of regrets.

"Are you okay, Dad?" Eiji asked Sakumo , expressing his worries, after all, this man raised him. Obviously, Eiji was concerned about his father's condition.

Sakumo noticed something different about Eiji's question, but he kept his posture steady and smiled gently.  "Of course I'm fine, after all, I'm eating something made by my own son"

'Hope so...'

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"Let's go to class" Sakumo shouted, he wondered if his children were crossing on purpose.

"Damn it, Dad, we don't even have anything to learn there, we only went there for a little over a month," complained Kakashi, he couldn't stand that academy anymore.

"No, you will stay there even if it's only for 1 year, you should at least make some friends, going to the academy is also about making connections with future talented clans and Shinobi" Sakumo warned Kakashi severely.

"Haiiii" replied Kakashi, still not wanting to go there, he could learn a lot more at home.

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"Look, it's him...I heard he failed the mission"

"Yes, he is a failure, a traitor"

"He gave Konoha a lot of losses"

"Why is he still a ninja?"

Several comments were heard by the Hatake trio when they passed the streets, Sakumo pretended that he heard nothing.  Kakashi was irritated by the comments made against his father.

'So things are really going to happen like this huh ...'

Eiji looked at his father, although his face remained expressionless.  There was a lot of sadness in his eyes, the words spoken by the citizens had hit right in the middle of his heart.

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With each passing day, the rumors got worse and Sakumo's condition became more regrettable, Kakashi became a little more reserved and serious, but compared to what should be, it was very little.

"Let's go to dinner, kids, you must sleep early today" Sakumo warned, he looked more dejected and without any spirit? His hair was messy as if he didn't fix it for days, the happy and kind man that they were used to seemed to have disappeared.

"Okay, Dad" Kakashi replied, he wouldn't mind sleeping earlier.

But, Eiji noticed the changes in his father's words.

'Sleep early? This never happened. It must be today' Eiji guessed, Sakumo never cared what time we slept, he was always very open to these things.

After finishing Eiji's food. He looked towards Kakashi and declared, "Come on Kashi-ni, tomorrow I think I'll take the training to a new level" Hearing such profane words, Kakashi's hair stood on end ...he wanted to escape, but he couldn't.

"Sleep well, kids" Sakumo smiled, he loved the interaction of this pair of brothers, but when the two disappeared down the hall, sakumo's smile disappeared and took on a lifeless face.

Placing the dishes in the kitchen, Sakumo took a kitchen knife, and walked to the living room, stopped for a few moments, and when he was just about to make a move.