Kakashi sighs, fixing his father with one last look, one last chance to give up on their argument before he hooks a finger in his mask and pulls it past his chin. "Dad..." Next, his hitai-ate lands on the table. He pauses to run his fingers through messy, white locks, then reaches to place a hand on top of Sakumo's as lips curve into a gentle smile. "Look at it from my side. The war is over; it's been over. You don't need to fight anymore." For once, Kakashi's able to keep eye contact. "Please?"
The moment he sees his son beginning to tug his mask downwards, Sakumo knows he’s lost their months long battle. It seems ever since the war ended, and even on occasion beforehand, all Kakashi has wanted to talk about is Sakumo retiring from the shinobi force. Constant ‘you’re not getting any younger, dad’ conversations had been met with an equal amount of stubbornness from the man. If Kakashi assumed he would simply stand back and allow himself to be taken off of missions, he had another thing coming.
But, after a while of it, Sakumo had (unsurprisingly) began to falter in his stance. First and foremost, he was Kakashi’s father. And with the war ended and a new era of peace on the horizon, Sakumo could justify his need to be an option for the higher-ups less and less. A fact that, once apparent, his son had jumped on. Honestly, why did he have to go and raise a kid that was smarter than he was?
❝ There really is no changing your mind on this, is there? ❞ It’s accompanied by a sigh and then a hand scrubbed over the lower half of his face. His son’s newly appointed rank of Hokage aside, he really couldn’t say no when he looked like the splitting image of his mother. Dammit.
Still, he meets his request with hesitance and soon enough, their eye contact is broken as he ducks his head. Retirement? For him? He never figured he would see the day. What was he even supposed to do with all the free time that gave him? Take up a board game?
A huff of hot air and he’s throwing his hands up slightly, the silence finally breaking as he caves.
❝ Okay, fine. Fine! But, you have to promise to come to me if you ever need help with anything, alright? And I do mean anything, Kakashi. Missions, village decisions, wedding plans, what to have for dinner, any of it. If you promise that then I’ll let you have this like the push-over I am. ❞
He was most certainly going to regret this.
















