To say that Meiko didn't know what to do without her child all night was an understatement. Without having a child running around, she actually did things. She scrubbed her new apartment, she finished unpacking and went shopping late at night because that was the best time to do it.

But now, it's nearly midnight and she has nothing to do.

Meiko finally crawled into her bed and glanced at the other side of it, slightly sad that no one was laying beside of her. Normally by this time of night, Taka would lay with his mother and she would play with his silver hair like she would Kakashis once upon a time.

It had to be an hour later when she fell asleep, by herself with her blanket wrapped around her and her thought calming down, fading into nothing.

/////

"Otosan." Taka said as he jumped onto his father early in the morning. Kakashi groaned quietly as he peered his eyes open slightly, looking at the white haired little boy.

"Yes, Taka?" He asked quietly, still half asleep.

"It's time to get up. I'm hungry." Taka said with a small giggle, and Kakashi's eyes started to fall close once again. "No no no, Otosan! Get up!" Taka said as he stood up on the bed, grabbing his fathers hand and pulling on it slightly.

"Alright, alright, I'm up." Kakashi said as he sat up, rubbing his hand down his face slightly to help awaken himself as he looked down at his child, the little boy who was smiling brightly at him with his small upturned nose. The large man couldn't help but smile at his son, even through the annoyance of being woken up so early.

"Yay!" Taka said as he jumped forward and hugged his father tightly. "Can you make me food now?" He asked, still holding onto his father.

"How about I take you out to eat instead? I can't cook like Meiko." He said and Taka nodded quickly.

"We should bring Okasan!" He said loudly, leaping off the bed and running out of the room, a small laugh escaping his lips. Kakashi sighed as he slung his legs off of his bed, his feet touching the bottom of the floor with his hands on his legs. He was unsure if Meiko would want to go to eat with him, but he knew that Taka would be a sure way to get her out to talk with him. With a nod of his head, he got up and got ready quicker than Kakashi Hatake had ever been known too.

///

Meiko took a deep breath, staring at the empty kitchen. Usually, she had Taka bouncing on his seat asking when will she finished cooking. Without him around, she didn't feel like making any food.

Letting out a heavy sigh, she left her apartment, and started wandering around the village. Not many shops had been opened, but she was sure there would be a few places where she could get breakfast.

"Good morning old lady!"

Meiko turned, to find Naruto and his teammates walking towards.

"Morning!" She replied, giving them a forced smile. She hadn't gotten used to not having her son around, and it still pained her a bit, "You guys are early."

"Kakashi-sensei said he would meet us in the training grounds." Sakura said, "How about you? Where's Taka?"

Meiko sighed. "He's with Kakashi. And of course with that, he would be later than usual."

The kids groaned, and she let out a chuckle. "How about we grab some breakfast? My treat."

***

"You sure can eat a lot, Naruto." Meiko stated, staring at the empty bowls with a weary look.

"Well, I have to! So that I can be Sakura's boyfriend one day! Although she already likes me secretly..."

"What?!"

"Right, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, looking at the pink haired girl. The said Haruno immediately stood up.

"Take that back, Naruto." She growled.

"N-No!" The blonde replied, before he ran out of the ramen shop. Sakura chased after him, leaving Meiko and Sasuke in an awkward silence.

"So... What should we do now?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Hn."

She mentally face-palmed. Teuchi cringed at her and left the counter, probably feeling uncomfortable at the silence.

Luckily, someone soon saved her.

"Momma!!"

"Ah, hello, Taka!" Meiko cheered, literally, and caught her son who was running at her, lifting him up and planted kisses on his face, "I really miss you! Did your father treat you well?"

"Yeah! He told me stories about a secret group in the village long, long time ago! They wrote stuff on building, and he managed to send them messages!"

Meiko turned to Kakashi, giving him an incredulous look. The man shrugged and sat next to her, the only seat available, since the other seat was between Meiko and Sasuke, and that's Taka's.

As Taka started talking to Sasuke, Meiko finally looked Kakashi.

"So..." She trailed off, "I-..." She immediately stopped when she realized Kakashi was also speaking at the same time like her.

"You go first." Kakashi said.

"I'm sorry." Meiko said, glancing over at her son with a small sigh. "For everything. I was thinking late last night that it's really not fair for Taka to not see you as much as he would like, but I felt like I was dying without him last night." She chuckled. "I'm too used to being woken up night after night for little things, or making someone breakfast every morning."

"Maybe you should move in with me." Kakashi said, and Meiko slightly choked on her own air. Kakashi patted her back slightly, and waited to speak again until she was able to breathe on her own again.

"W-what?" Meiko said, her cheeks slightly redden.

"I mean, you said it yourself. It's not fair to keep Taka from me, or vise versa. He deserves to have me in his life. Plus, I believe you owe me that much." 

"Excuse me, I don't owe you anything Kakashi Hatake." Meiko said seriously, glancing at the white haired man.

From behind his mask, Kakashi smiled. "Of course you do. Because you kept my son from me, and left me without even an attempt to contact me. I believe you owe me this much." Kakashi said, and Meiko quietly stared at the table in front of her.

"... Fine." She mumbled slightly, and Kakashi gave her his normal closed eye smile that she loved ever so much.

"I knew you'd see it my way." Kakashi said, watching as Meiko looked over at their son, placing her hand on his head and messed up his hair slightly.

"What are you and Sasuke talking about?" Meiko asked, and Taka smiled.

"Training! Sasuke said if I'm good, he'll help me train!" Taka said happily, and Kakashi glanced over at his student with a raised eyebrow.

"The oh-so-tough Sasuke Uchiha wants to help my son train?"

"I-I.. Hn." Sasuke said before he got up from the stool, placing his hand on Taka's head and ruffling his hair slightly. "See you soon, kid." Said the Uchiha before he leap away.

"I've never heard that kid echo more than a sentence to people, but he seems to have taken a liking to Taka." Kakashi laughed slightly and Meiko glanced over at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Taka just has a way with people. There's a boy from the sand village who everyone fears. He doesn't have any friends other then his family, and yet he's nice to Taka. The boy has it rough, but when he thinks no one is paying attention, he plays with Taka and makes him smile. It's just.. He's an amazing little boy." Meiko said with a small smile on her lips as she adoringly looked at her son.

"He seems a lot like you." Kakashi said. "Amazing."

"Hush, Hatake." Meiko said with a small laugh, glancing at him and then back at Taka.

"So when are you moving in?" He said with a laugh, and Meiko rolled her eyes slightly.

"Do you know how much of a pain in the ass this is? I just got everything in my apartment unpacked." Meiko whined slightly.

"I can help you, and I'm sure Taka wouldn't mind to help either." Kakashi said as he stood up, walking over to his son and placing him on his hip. He then extended his free arm and grabbed Meiko's hand, interlocking their fingers as he used to when they were children, but this time he had a tighter grip so Meiko wouldn't pull away.

And even though she wanted to for the pure fact that they were not together, that they'd grown apart and weren't the same as they used to be, she didn't. Their arms rocked back and forth slightly, people staring slightly as the Hatake boys and Meiko walked down the street to Meiko's home.

///

Meiko and Kakashi spent two or three hours packing up her home, and traveling everything to Kakashi home. But it wasn't until they had everything at Kakashi home that she noticed that there was only one other bedroom in which they had placed Taka.

"Kakashi Hatake, where will I be sleeping?" She asked as she walked into his bedroom, tapping her foot on the floor slightly.

"Right here." He said, pointing at the side of the bed he didn't sleep on. Meiko let out a loud laugh before shaking her head.

"Take it easy, Hatake. You're pushing all of this a little too far." She said with a small turn of her body, shaking her head slightly. She grabbed her blanket from on the rest of her stuff, and walked to his living room. With a small sigh, she sat down on the couch and pulled her pant leg up so that she could see her prosthetic leg. She undid all the buckles and removed the leg from the stump, and placed it against the couch. She laid down on the couch, closing her eyes with the blanket pulled up high on herself, and not long after she fell asleep.

Kakashi came out about an hour later, smiling under his mask when he saw Meiko asleep on his couch, a small trail of drool trailing down her chin as she slept, her hair laying crazily around her small frame. Kakashi laughed and walked towards her, placing his arms under her body and lifting her up. He carried her to his bedroom, laying her down on the opposite side of the bed he slept on.

He brushed her hair out of her face slightly, leaning down and kissing her head slightly. "I love you Meiko." He said. "I promise from now on, I'll protect you and Taka. With everything I have."

//

BIG BIG THANKS TO MidnightRavencrow FOR HELPING ME WITH THIS. ILY. 💕