Author Note: This takes place in Chapter 2 just a little bit after the twins' third birthday when they were taken to the orphanage.

Canon

Superstitions

"They're gone?"

"Gone."

"Oh. Okay." Kakashi stared blankly at nothing. "When are they going to come back?"

Genma cocked his head at the younger shinobi, brow furrowing. "They're not, Kakashi. They're not allowed to be around us anymore." The brunet hesitated, as if he was afraid that the wrong word would shatter Kakashi like glass. "You do realize that they aren't coming back, right?"

"Right." Kakashi wet his lips, feeling the rough cloth of his mask against his sensitive tongue. "I'm going to go clean up, then."

"Um, okay." Genma frowned at him. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yes. Of course I am." But then the direction he turned in was definitely not towards his room.

"Kakashi—"

"I'll be right back." And then Kakashi vanished back outside the building.

"Shit," Genma mumbled, dragging a hand through his hair. "Shit, shit, shit." With a sigh, he forced himself into action. He stepped outside and immediately executed a series of shunshin. He landed in the shadows a bit away from the orphanage and cast his gaze up into the trees. Letting out a tired breath, he jumped and pulled himself up onto the branch. "If the Hokage finds out we're here, we're both going to be running punishment missions for a month."

"We should be allowed to see them."

The pure anger in Kakashi's voice made Genma pause for a moment. He turned so that his back was against the trunk of the tree and leveled his stare at Kakashi. "We don't get to decide that."

And just like that Kakashi's entire being seemed to crumble. He hunched his shoulders whispered a hoarse, "I know."

Genma looked down at the orphanage courtyard. It was easy to find the two, separated from all of the other kids. Naruto was attempting to do handstands against a tree while Mirai sat only a few feet away, scratching what looked like katakana into the dirt. He sighed. "I do wish we could see them," he murmured. "And you're not exactly wrong. After all, we're the closest thing to family they've got, aren't we?"

"Yeah," Kakashi mumbled. And then he managed a half-amused scoff. "Are you actually disagreeing with the Hokage, Genma? You?"

"I know how to have my own opinion," he shot back. "And being Hokage doesn't make a man perfect."

"Brave words coming from one of his most trusted shinobi."

Genma didn't exactly have an answer for that. So instead, he focused on the kids again. "She asked for you, you know," he murmured. "Before we had to bring them here. She wanted to say goodbye and I had to tell her that she couldn't." He cleared his raw throat. "I . . . I just thought you might want to know that."

"Oh. I— Thank you. I . . . wish I could have said goodbye."

"I know." Genma groaned and slumped against the trunk, pulling his hand agitatedly through his hair. "It's safer this way, you know. Being around ANBU really was too dangerous for them."

The look that brought to Kakashi's face was too painfully similar to the one he'd worn at his teammates' funerals and Genma desperately wanted to take the words back. But he couldn't because Kakashi sighed and dropped his head into his hands. "You're right," he mumbled. "They're safer away from me."

Genma desperately wanted to same something in response, something to assure him that wasn't the case, but all the words that came to mind were too small. So he just put a hand on Kakashi's shoulder and didn't say anything at all.