One word would describe Kakashi Hatake that fateful day he lost his son; Terrified.

Not terrified of losing Taka, but terrified more of the boy finding his mother.

Don't get him wrong, Kakashi was definitely scared of losing Taka. He loved his son a lot, but there were few things Kakashi Hatake was truly terrified of, and one of those is a mad Meiko Sarutobi.

The Hatake was running around town attempting to find his son, as was his team. Kakashi had told Sakura and Sasuke that they had a super secret mission that they could not tell Meiko about. And Kakashi did not bother to tell Naruto, because that boy would surely blab to Meiko in a heart beat. Even if he didn't mean to.

"Taka!" Kakashi called out, walking around and looking for any trace of the white haired little boy, taking a few more steps and then screaming out again.

"KAKASHI HATAKE." Meiko's voice escaped from behind of him, and the copy cat ninja, stopped dead in his tracks. He didn't move, he didn't breathe, as far as anyone could tell, he was dead.

Kakashi glanced back at Meiko, and saw Taka in her arms, hiding his face slightly. But beside of Meiko, was non other than Naruto. Kakashi shot Naruto a glare but turned and looked at the woman he loved. The Hatake scratched the back of his neck, smiling at Meiko.

"Oh, hey Meiko." He said, giving her a closed eye smile. But what he wasn't expecting, was the punch that sent him flying down the road of Konoha, causing a small ditch as he flew backward. Kakashi skidded back along the ground for a little bit, and Meiko stood where Kakashi originally did, Taka now in her brothers arms.

"WOW OLD LADY, YOU SURE ARE STRONG!!" Naruto screamed, fist bumping the air. Asuma turned the Genin, trying to silence him so he wouldn't also feel Meiko's wrath. But to her brothers surprise, Meiko didn't attack Naruto. She simply walked back over to them, picked up Taka from her brothers arm, and walked in the opposite direction.

"OLD LADY WHERE ARE YOU GOING??"

"I don't know yet. Away from Hatake. Before I really do kill him." She said, and Meiko Sarutobi disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Once Asuma was sure his sister was out of sight, he walked to Kakashi, kneeling down beside of him and raising his eyebrow.

"How exactly did you lose your own child?"

"I didn't lose him.. per-say. We were playing hide and seek, because Taka wanted to... and then I couldn't find him. He wasn't in our house." Kakashi said, pulling himself up on his elbow within the deep moat his body had created. "So I knew that he had left the house, I got Sakura and Sasuke to help me look, but obviously Naruto found him first and returned him to his mother." Kakashi said, glaring at his student.

"What?!  I was trying to be helpful!" Naruto said, sticking his tongue out and turning around, walking away.

"That child.." Kakashi muttered before he pushed himself all the way up, and brushed all the dirt and dust off him. He glanced over at Asuma and sighed heavily, shaking his head slightly.

"How long should I avoid her?" He asked, and Asuma shrugged slightly.

"I've never made Meiko mad over her child, since she didn't have a child last time I saw her. I would say at least a day, since Taka isn't hurt. He was just scared."

Kakashi sighed slightly, glancing down at the ground. The one thing that Kakashi wanted to do as a father was make sure his son was always safe and secure, and he hadn't even been here a week before Kakashi allowed him to be scared.

"But don't worry." Asuma said slightly. "I'll look for her, and I'll talk to her for you. Okay?" He said, and Kakashi nodded slightly, pulling out his book and walking away.

| * | * | * |

Meiko sat on top of a hill, Taka asleep in her arms as she cradled and rocked the boy gently. She was staring off into the distance, her eyes focusing on the clouds slightly. The sleeping boy in her arms only occasionally moved around in her arms, which would break Meiko's concentration for a few moments. But she would always focus back on those clouds. The way they moved through the breeze with easy, and the amount of peace they brought with them.

Meiko Sarutobi was a proud woman. She was someone that it took a lot to break down and make her genuinely feel bad for something she had done. So it was no surprise that she didn't feel bad for launching Kakashi down the street. Her son meant more to her than anyone in the whole world, he was her pride, and all the joy she had.

"Hey, you're Asuma's sister right?" Said a male voice who came and sat down beside of her. When she looked over, she saw the boy from this morning at her brothers home. Shikamaru.

"Yeah, you're shikamaru right?" She asked, and he nodded slightly as he laid down on the grass beside of her, glancing up at the clouds.

"Yeah, that's me." He said, and Meiko nodded slightly as she went back to staring at the clouds as well.

"Is that kid Kakashis?" Shikamaru asked, not looking away from the clouds.

"Yes." Meiko said, glancing down at her white hated little boy, brushing her fingers through his soft hair with a smile.

"What a drag." Shikamaru said. "What's his name?"

"Taka."

"Hawk? Why Hawk?"

"Because Kakashi's name means scarecrow, and I threw around crow for a little bit but I didn't like it that much. So I just decided Taka sounded nice." She shrugged, and Shikamaru nodded slightly.

"Makes sense, I guess."

"Why are you up here anyways?"

"I could be asking you the same question."

Meiko chuckled slightly, nodding her
head slightly. "I guess you could. If you tell me, I'll tell you."

"Such a troublesome woman, but okay." Shikamaru said, sitting up. "I'm up here because I just like to watch the clouds. They're peaceful. Just floating along, not a care in the whole world. And I wish my life was that easy, and not such a drag."

"They are pretty peaceful, aren't they." She said, smiling up at the clouds. "I'm up here because Kakashi lost Taka and my son was returned to me by Naruto."

"What?!"

"Yeah." Meiko said, looking down at Konoha. "And then I punched Kakashi. So hard he flew back, and created a small ditch in the road. And I don't feel bad for punch Kakashi, because he deserved it. But I kind of feel bad for doing it in front of Taka. I've preached to him for years that violence isn't okay unless you have to, and I don't get angry in front of him often. But Kakashi deserved it." Meiko said, looking over at Shikamaru.

"Damn you're a troublesome woman." Shikamaru said. "But I guess I can see where you're coming from."

"You know what, Shikamaru?"

"What?"

"I like you." Meiko said laughing, and Shikamaru nodded slightly.

"What a drag." He said, and Meiko chuckled slightly. He reminded her of her brother, and she figured that was why she liked him so much.

"Geez thanks." Meiko laughed, and Taka stirred in her arms slightly, nuzzling his nose against her arm. She looked down at her son and smiled, her heart filling with joy. "Don't worry, I'm sure you will be seeing a whole lot of me in the time to come."

"I'm sure." Shikamaru said, and Meiko pushed herself up, still holding Taka in her arms. The prosthetic leg shook slightly as she stood up, but Meiko being the girl she was, didn't let that stop her. She took a deep breath, looked back at the Nara boy and smiled before she walked away.

Meiko sighed heavily and decided that the only place she could go was home. The home she shared with Kakashi.

She just hoped she didn't kill him when she saw him.

| * | * | * |

Meiko sat down on the couch, it was late in the evening and Taka was asleep, again. For a six year old, Taka loved to sleep. But she didn't mind, it gave her more freedom than most mothers had.

Currently, Meiko was undoing her leg and placing it beside of the couch, sighing as she laid down and placed the blanket over her lower half. With a book in her hand, she began to read. Until the front door was opened, and in walked Kakashi Hatake. 

"Oh.. Hello, Meiko." Kakashi said, and without looking up, Meiko replied.

"Hello." She said.

"Meiko.. can we talk?"

"No."

"Please, let me explain."

"No."

"Meiko, let me expl-"

"Explain how you lost my son? Let you explain how the only flesh and blood you have left got lost, and was wondering around Konoha BY HIMSELF. And then, the person who found him, was Naruto?!"

"Meiko, I can explain."

"I want to hear you try to explain this I me." Meiko said, placing her book in her lap, staring at Kakashi with cold eyes.

"Taka wanted to play hide and seek, and I told him yes. He wanted to go first, so I said okay. He told me to count to twenty very, very slowly and he would hide. When I was done, I searched the house high and low for him. And when I realized that he wasn't in the house, I actually began to panic and I told Sasuke and Sakura that we had a mission to find him because I was so worried. I didn't lose him because I wasn't paying attention, I lost him playing with him."

"When we lived in Suna... he used to run to the Kazekage building when we played hide and seek.. He might have been looking for that.." Meiko said, glancing down at her hands slightly. Suddenly, guilt exploded through her body for hitting Kakashi earlier.

Kakashi moved and sat down beside of Meiko, still leaving a small amount of distance between the two of them. "I promise Meiko, I would never intentionally hurt Taka or you, or lose one of you." Kakashi said, placing his hand on Meiko's back timidly.

Meiko nodded slightly, and glanced over at Kakashi. "I forgive you.. and I uh.. I'm sorry for ... punching you earlier." She muttered the last part before turning towards him and grabbing his mask with her fingers. Kakashi grabbed her wrist, staring at her with his one coal black eye.

"What are you doing?"

"I've seen your face before, stop acting like I'm going to freak out over it." Kakashi said, pulling the mask down off of Kakashi's face. She placed her hand on the bruise that had formed on Kakashi's cheek, and stroked her thumb over the bruise slightly.

"It's not that bad. It doesn't even hurt anymore." Kakashi said, and Meiko sighed slightly.

"It doesn't take away that I still feel bad." Meiko said, and she glanced up into the coal black eye of Kakashi, and the two both froze. Their eyes were focused on each other, locked on as their breathing barely echoed in the silent room.

Between the two of them, they were replaying all the memories between the two. Their first date, first kiss, first time making love to each other, and the first time they said goodbye.

Meiko stared at Kakashi, her hand still placed gently on his face as she remembered the first time she really knew she fell in love with Kakashi. When he was helping her learn to become a ninja again with the use of her prosthetic leg, when he was pushing her to do he very best. When he was the best side of her.

Kakashi stared at Meiko, and slowly began to move his head down towards her, his hand snaking around her lower waist and pulling her closer to him. Meiko didn't notice as she watched Kakashi's face slowly get closer to hers, and she didn't notice until his lips were pressed gently against hers.

An explosion of feeling and emotion traveled through Meiko's body. The love she once had for Kakashi, and everything she had ever felt coming back to her. And she did something that she never thought she would do again, at least not for a long time.

She kissed him back.

///