Chapter Text
Naruto was not having a good day. At all.
Sasuke was in one of his bossy, passive aggressive moods and it always managed to get under Naruto’s skin. Literally. Every time Sasuke made a snide comment or gave him that judgemental glare it made his skin itch and crawl with humiliation.
And Sakura’s constant ass- kissing behaviour didn’t help one bit. Sasuke was being an absolute dick and Sakura just nodded along with everything he said. As much as he liked Sakura, it irritated him to no end.
So after a few hours worth of embarrassment (aka training), his self esteem was not doing well. Every time he tried to make a comeback his brain would move to fast for his mouth and he’d just stumble over his words, making him look even more pathetic.
He was sick of it all.
Kakashi was packing some kunai back into his bag. Sakura and Sasuke had already gone home, but Naruto stayed. They had done laps at the end of training, and of course Naruto had been the last to finish, so he sat down on a rock, catching his breath and occasionally sipping from his water bottle.
As he rested, his mind kept replaying the events of the day, the memory of Sasuke’s cold, taunting eyes making his skin crawl and hearing Sakura’s teasing voice making his stomach hurt.
His leg began to bounce, and he suddenly felt rather irritated. He didn’t exactly know who he was irritated with, but he was upset nonetheless.
The more he thought about it the more his stomach hurt and the faster his knee would bounce. He got more angry, and began to wring his wrists. He heard a voice speaking to him, but his mind was spending what little energy it had left on dwelling over training it couldn’t be bothered to process what was being said to him, so all Naruto heard was incoherent mumbling.
Even that pissed him off, for some reason not even he knew.
”Just shut up and leave me alone already!” He snapped at the person talking, who ended up being Kakashi. Naruto looked up and saw an unreadable expression on his sensei’s face. Oh no. Had he pissed him off? Did Kakashi not like him anymore? Stupid stupid Naruto!
Naruto was frozen, until he felt his face get warm and sweaty and a pressure building behind his eyes. Fuck… not now… you’ve already made such an ass out of yourself today…
Kakashi saw a few tears drip down his student’s face and knelt down to his level, his expression softening.
”…Rough day?” He asked in a gentle, understanding yet friendly voice that made it clear he wasn’t upset. Naruto nodded feebly, scrubbing at his eyes with his palms.
”What can I do to help?” Kakashi prompted. “Uhm- mmh… I dunno…” Naruto mumbled, his brain spitting too many thoughts at him at once. “Hm… would you like a hug?”
Naruto found himself nodding before he even processed it. Kakashi slowly wrapped his arms around his student, giving him plenty of time to push away, but he didn’t.
Naruto let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding as he felt his sensei’s warm, loving arms wrap around his body. He pressed his face into Kakashi’s chest, who didn’t say anything about the tears and snot that were likely getting on his vest. They sat like that for a few minutes, Kakashi occasionally using his thumb to gently rub Naruto’s tears away.
”Do you want to talk about what made you so upset?” He asked eventually. “N-not really…” Naruto mumbled. “Okay. That’s perfectly alright. But just know if you ever do need someone to talk to I’m here. I understand, and I care. You’re not worthless, you matter kid.”
Naruto nodded, the thoughts rushing through his brain slowing down a fair bit, providing him relief.