An Ordinary Day

Kakashi left his house that morning like it was any other day.

Which it was really.

The sun was shining and a few puffy clouds dotted the blue September sky as he strolled through the streets of Konoha, passing early morning shoppers on his way to the memorial site. Normally Kakashi spent hours standing before the cenotaph, visible eye tracing the name of his dead best friend over and over again while he relived every mistake and wrong decision that had led him here. Today though he paused only briefly to pay his respects before heading back into town. It wasn't the sort of day for Kakashi to spend wallowing alone in guilt. Obito wouldn't have wanted it that way.

So with hands stuffed in his pockets and a rare optimistic attitude adding just the slightest bounce to his step, Kakashi wandered along until he found himself passing the Academy grounds. It was recess and Iruka and a frazzled chunin were running around attempting to keep order among two dozen would-be ninjas. A girl with pigtails was wailing from the tree branch she had climbed up and gotten stuck on while a pair of boys threw small fisted punches at one another to the cheers of their classmates.

It was unlike Kakashi to slow to a halt just outside the playground gate and toss up a lazy hand in greeting to Iruka when he happened to look up which was probably why the harried looking instructor jogged over to see what was going on.

"Good morning Kakashi."

"Morning Iruka, another fun day at the Academy?" Kakashi gestured to the two young ninjas being scolded by another instructor who had broken up their fight.

"Yes, they're always a bit crazy when it's recess period," sighed Iruka as he glanced over his shoulder at the chaotic scene. He turned back to the white haired ninja leaning on the playground gate. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"No, not really," said Kakashi with a vague wave of his hand. "I was just passing by."

"Oh, uh, okay then" said Iruka, looking a bit confused. He and Kakashi weren't exactly friends, just casual acquaintances really, but even still not the kind who popped around to say 'hello' just for the heck of it.

"Nice day huh?" Kakashi remarked, tilting his head toward the sunny sky.

"Uh, yes, a very nice day" agreed Iruka, wondering when Kakashi had become the sort of person to start conversations about the weather.

A beat of akward silence passed.

"Well, I guess I'll be off then," said Kakashi pushing off the fence and sliding his hands back into his pockets. "See you around Iruka."

"Um, yes, you too."

The Copy Ninja ambled up the street leaving the Academy instructor and his puzzled expression behind. Kakashi wasn't sure what he had expected really. Iruka didn't know him too well after all and to think he would have some words for Kakashi today outside of a usual greeting was a bit big-headed of him.

Besides, it really was just an ordinary day...

The smell of flowers wafted through the thin material of Kakashi's mask as he turned a street corner where a short ways up was the Yamanaka's flower shop. As he drifted closer he recognized a pair of familiar female voices coming from inside and he paused outside the open doorway, pretending to examine the exterior of the shop across the street.

"Kakashi."

"Hm?" Kakashi turned slowly toward the flower shop as though the appearance of Kurenai, whose voice he'd just heard moments before, was a total surprise. She smiled from the doorway and beckoned him in.

"Oh hi Kurenai, what's up?" he said as he followed her inside the shop. Ino was behind the counter putting the finishing touches on an arrangement of blue and yellow flowers and she waved to him as he appeared behind the red eyed woman.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei."

"We almost didn't recognize you out there Kakashi, no book today?" Kurenai asked as Ino rang up her order.

"Just a little break for a change," chuckled Kakashi, rubbing the back of his neck. He had indeed kept Icha Icha tucked away in his back pouch that morning instead of reading it as he walked like usual. The orange-bound book was frequently successful in warding off unwanted company in addition to providing endless hours of amusement but today Kakashi had decided he wouldn't mind too much should anyone join him in his stroll through town or stop to chat with him.

Not that today was anything special, mind you.

"Flowers for a friend?" he asked Kurenai nonchalantly when Ino handed her the colorful arrangement.

"Yes, for Shikamaru's mother actually," said Kurenai, to Kakashi's slight dismay. "She's been a bit sick lately and for all her son has done for me these past few years I felt it was the least I could do."

"The least he could do is stop by and pick up some flowers for his mother himself," huffed Ino in regards to her lazy teammate. "If you see Shika, Kurenai-sensei, tell him I've an arrangement waiting for him to take home!"

"I'll do that Ino, thanks," said Kurenai as she headed for the door. "Coming Kakashi?"

Kakashi waved goodbye to Ino who had already turned away in search of a watering can and didn't catch the gesture. He sighed and followed Kurenai through town toward the Nara household, nodding his head for ten minutes or so as she talked his ear off about her bathroom renovations. He zoned out somewhere around "shower curtain rod".

"You know the dark green probably would look best with the white trim around the sink, Asuma would have liked that, don't you think?"

"Mm hm."

"Well it was good to see you Kakashi."

Kakashi realized they had already reached the stone path leading from the street up to the Nara's front door.

"You'll have to come take a look when the bathroom's all done," Kurenai called over her shoulder as she walked up the path.

"Uh yeah, I'll be sure to do that," Kakashi lied but Kurenai was already out of earshot.

He sighed again, slightly more exasperated this time, though he told himself it was only because the day was getting on and it was nearly time for lunch. Besides, why should he feel disappointed that all Ino and Kurenai had talked about with him today was flowers and bathroom tile patterns? And even though they were Kakashi's friends and sometimes teammates and it wouldn't be too much to ask that they happen to remember-

Kakashi shook his head, he was being silly. It was just his hunger talking and the day was still young. He certainly had closer friends and colleagues than Iruka, Kurenai, and Ino. It was just a matter of crossing paths with a few of them...

Not that he was really meaning to intentionally, of course.

The rumbling in Kakashi's stomach grew a little louder with every restaurant he passed. He breathed in the delicious aromas and was enticed more than once to stop but kept on until he came to his planned destination.

When he finally pushed aside the flap to the Ichiraku Ramen Bar Kakashi saw just what he had not been deliberately looking for; the back of a fluffy yellow head next to a spiky blue-black one. Kakashi smirked inwardly as he slid onto a bar stool to place his order, pretending not to notice that two ninja who'd been his students years earlier were sitting a few seats down.

"Yeah with the barbeque pork thanks-"

"Hey! Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi turned his head slowly until his visible eye was fixed on Naruto's bright blue ones. Sasuke was looking up from his meal at Kakashi too though he seemed far less interested in the appearance of his old sensei than his best friend.

"Ah, hey guys, guess I should've known I'd find you two here."

"Hmph," was all Sasuke offered in greeting.

"Yeah! Where else would I be for lunch Kakashi-sensei?" said Naruto enthusiastically, diving back into his third bowl of ramen. Behind the counter Teuchi shook his head and smiled hopelessly at his best customer.

"True," nodded Kakashi. "Been training today?"

"Oh yeah loads!" the blond told him eagerly. "Me and Sasuke were training all morning and we'll be right back out there as soon as we finish up here!"

Another half-hearted "Hmph" came from the Uchiha as Teuchi set down Kakashi's meal on the counter.

"What about you sensei? Any missions?" Naruto asked, oblivious to the noodle hanging off his chin and dribbling broth onto his shirt.

"Oh nothing new," said Kakashi with a shrug, "just seemed like a good day to take it easy, you know?"

"You've got food all over yourself, idiot," Sasuke mumbled to his teammate who hastily slurped the loose noodle into his mouth.

"With the cool weather coming we probably won't have many more nice days like this," said Kakashi casually, steering the conversation around again. "It must be, what? Halfway through September by now, right?"

Naruto scratched his head. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Today's the fifteenth," muttered Sasuke, sounding annoyed that he was the only one who bothered keeping track of time.

"Ahh, I suppose it is..." Kakashi trailed off. He prodded his chopsticks around the steaming bowl of noodles, waiting for one of them to respond but when he looked up again he realized they had already gone back to their meals, Naruto tipping the bowl into his mouth to drink the last of the broth while Sasuke chewed delicately on his vegetables and stared blankly at the wall.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Hm, the fifteenth, it sort of feels like there was something I had to do today-"

"I almost forgot!" exclaimed Naruto suddenly, turning to Kakashi with a triumphant grin on his face.

About time, Kakashi thought to himself, feeling more pleased than he had all morning.

"What?" he questioned the blond with feigned disinterest.

"This ramen's on you Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto chuckled gleefully, pointing his finger in Kakashi's face.

"Uh-?"

"No way I'm letting you get out of this one," Naruto pressed. "We made a bet that if I could go a whole week without getting decked by Sakura-chan that you'd pay for my next ramen!"

"Is this your way of saying she hasn't punched you once in the last seven days then?" Kakashi asked stiffly, suddenly feeling annoyed at how this whole conversation had turned out.

"Cor-rect!" Naruto pumped his fist in the air.

"Pfft, that's only because you were on a mission and she's had hospital shifts," said Sasuke as he slid off his bar stool and placed the money for his bill beside his empty bowl. "You haven't even seen her in a week, dumbass."

"Still counts," said Naruto quickly, following the dark haired shinobi's lead and standing up from the counter to leave. "A bet's a bet."

"You know, Naruto, you should really be treating me today-"

"Thanks for the ramen Kakashi-sensei! See you around!" The cloth flap of the Ichiraku banner that Naruto had disappeared after Sasuke under swung back and forth before falling still again. Kakashi grudgingly pulled out his wallet and deposited enough money to cover Naruto's three bowls along with his own untouched meal. He didn't have much of an appetite anymore.

He left Ichiraku and took to wandering the streets again, annoyed about the way the day was going and then feeling more annoyed that he even was annoyed to begin with. Conversations with Naruto typically did consist of just training and noodle talk, why should a perfectly normal day like today be any different?

Kakashi saw more friends and teammates as the day went on and the encounters were nearly the same as those earlier; a distracted "Yo Kakashi-sensei" from Kiba as he passed with Akamaru, some brief one-sided flirtation with Anko, a nod and a pleasant "hello" from Neji and TenTen respectively.

Even when Kakashi ran into Gai, the thick-browed jonin was too busy jumping rope around the village three hundred times to challenge Kakashi to some absurd battle of skill which Kakashi found he actually wouldn't have minded today.

"Some other time for certain!" Gai panted heartily, pausing to jump rope in place while he addressed his rival. "But now I must succeed in my quest and renew my students' belief in the wonders of youth! I will set the example for Lee!" He skipped away, the thick rope swinging madly over his head and under his feet then back up again.

Kakashi scowled as the green clad figure faded in the distance. If even the man who had been pestering him with a stupid rivalry for so many years couldn't spare a few words for him on today of all days then Kakashi knew he'd been right from the start, it really was just an ordinary day.

Pulling Icha Icha out of his back pouch and holding it before him like a shield, Kakashi made his way to the Hokage tower, deciding that what he needed was a mission to distract himself. On the stairway to Tsunade's office he passed Kotetsu and Izumo, ducking under the bookcase that they were each carrying a side of.

"Hey! Watch it!" said Izumo, lifting up the wooden piece of furniture as Kakashi slipped underneath.

"Yeah, this thing is heavy, you know!" growled Kotetsu who was struggling to adjust his grip.

"Sorry guys, I'll try to be more careful next time," said Kakashi idly as he disappeared up the stairs, the sound of the two assistant complaints fading behind him.

It hadn't really taken long for Kakashi to revert back to his usual, solitary self. With a shake of his head he decided that he'd just been acting silly and sentimental all day, probably a side affect of his increasing age-

"Kakashi-sensei!"

"Hm?"

Peering over the top of his book Kakashi saw a head of pink hair behind the desk outside the Hokage's office.

"Oh, morning Sakura," he said, lowering Icha Icha to greet his former student.

"Morning? It's afternoon already," she chided with a laugh as she stood with a stack of documents under her arm, "Head in the clouds as usual sensei, and you know you're pretty unapproachable with that book out..."

"Ah, I guess that's right," said Kakashi with a forced smile, cursing the irony of it all. "Is the Hokage in?"

"She had a meeting at ANBU headquarters but she should be back soon, I can check her schedule if you'd like," Sakura suggested, turning towards the small filing room behind the desk.

"Thanks but that's not really necessary," Kakashi began but Sakura cut him off with a wave of her hand.

"It's not a problem, really, just give me a second," she said, disappearing through the doorway and dismissing him like every other person had that day.

Kakashi sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day and leaned an elbow on the high counter of the desk. He was staring off into space when he realized that Sakura had walked back into the room and around the desk to place something in front of him. He dragged his eye away from the wall and found himself looking down at a large vanilla frosted cupcake with rainbow sprinkles on top.

There was a single, hot pink candle burning in the middle of the confection.

"What-?"

Before Kakashi could finish the question a warm pair of lips pressed a soft kiss to the pale skin above his masked cheek. He turned as Sakura straightened, arms tucked shyly behind her back, green eyes twinkling playfully.

"Happy birthday Kakashi-sensei," she said with a pleased smile and with a slight cock of her head added, "You didn't forget it was your own birthday, now did you?"

Kakashi laughed and offered her a sheepish shrug which in turn widened the curve of Sakura's lips as she smiled at him hopelessly. At that moment Kakashi was sure her smile was the prettiest thing he had ever seen.

Not that it really mattered to Kakashi whether or not anyone remembered this particular occasion. It certainly wasn't something he anticipated all year long and then spent all of said day thinking about, no not in the least bit...

But if someone went to all the trouble of wishing him a happy birthday and making him a birthday cupcake and giving him a birthday kiss... well then who was Copy Ninja Kakashi to refuse?

Thanks for reading!