Spider and Fox

Naruto yawned, wiping sleep from an eye and stared up at the tall black-haired human. The human stared back, a tight lipped smile pulling at his features. At least the intruder—“He’s not an intruder, Naruto, please use his name correctly.”—had learned after the first time. Though, part of him wondered if being woken up at dawn was enough allowance to bite him anyway. 

When he glanced at their mother, laying beside the den, her head on her paws, he knew the answer would be a resounding no. 

His siblings weren’t doing any better, though. Beside him, Gumo was already nodding off where he sat, his head falling forward before he’d jerk back awake. Diapha had already given up the fight, sprawled on her back halfway into his brother’s lap. Kirum was…sleeping sitting up if the snoring was anything to go by. 

“Lucky,” he glared at the wolf enviously. 

Beside Kirum, Themo was the only other one awake, staring at Shisui-san. Whether he was trying to set the human on fire or was actually interested in the reason they’d been pulled out of the den so early, the blond wasn’t sure. He was hoping for the former.

“Alrighty,” the human chirped very loudly and yeah, Naruto kinda really wanted to bite him. Or…hm… “There’s a Poison Oak patch near the old rabbit warren,” he thought, as plots for revenge and strings of the itchy oily plant hanging in trees mixed with memories of his own experience a couple moons back. He could probably get Gumo to help him if he offered the redhead enough of those red berries he liked so much. 

“Today, my friendly pups, I am going to teach you how to find your chakra.”

Was his eye twitching? It might be. 

Hmm, they could find a burrow to hole up in and get some more sleep. All he’d need to do…

Naruto poked Gumo in his side. When his brother perked up, he leaned over and whispered conspiratorially, “rabbit.”

“RABBIT!” On cue, Diapha jumped up, charging into the human and knocking him over in her haste to run. While he was down, Naruto grabbed Gumo and ran into the forest. 

Let the intruder deal with that for a change. 

XxX

The second time the intruder came around, he had a new scent on him. The sky was barely light, and yet they were once more sitting on the ground, staring up at the black-haired human. Naruto did not glare, he glowered at the man. They were tired, having gone to bed not long before the sun was coming up and here Shisui-san was again, waking them up. 

Where as, the day before, his siblings had been sleeping, they were now watching him, their noses twitching. Whatever the scent was, it certainly had their attention. 

Human smiled, tight-lipped, and pulled a bag from a pocket, dangling it for them to see. “I’ve brought treats! If we can be friends I’ll give you all some.”

Dog Treats. 

Naruto wondered if he could set the man on fire. 

When his siblings nodded enthusiastically, Shisui-san threw a handful to them before tucking the bag in his back pocket. Blue eyes snapped to the brown bag. What if…

He had to bite back the grin that threatened to tear across his face. That was one way they could do it. 

“So today, we’re going to focus on finding the fire inside of you, and drawing it to the surface. It is called chakra, and it exists in—”

“We know,” Gumo croaked, cyan eyes hard, “Mama Kōri explained chakra to us months ago.”

Whelp, Gumo was angry. Gumo only ever got furious when he was cranky and he only ever got cranky when he was tired which meant they were up the same tree. 

Hmm…his redheaded brother did have the quietest feet out of all of them. That deal with the red berries was sounding more appealing then it did the day before. Naruto leaned over, well aware of the attention he’d drawn from their teacher by his action, and murmured the forming plan to Gumo.

When a dark, mischievous gleam sank into his eyes, Naruto knew what he had to do. 

“Rabbit.”

XxX

With ANBU mask safely stored away in his locker, Kakashi left for his apartment. He’d have about a day before he’d be back to Inu, but the downtime would give him a chance to meet with Hana and discuss formally introducing her to the pack. Itachi, after witnessing Shisui’s failed introduction, had volunteered to go last so he could do some research before hand. 

No wonder the Uchiha heir was considered a genius. He’d seen where his cousin had gone wrong and wanted to prevent those same mistakes. Brownie points in Kakashi’s book, at least. Considering Itachi was much calmer then Shisui in general, the silver-haired Jounin had no doubt things would go very differently. 

As for Hana, the last time he’d spoken to her, she’s wanted to bring her ninken along, let them introduce themselves to the pack. It wasn’t a bad plan. More friends of the four-legged variety could only bode well in his opinion. 

He more or less ambled in the direction of his apartment, allowing his thoughts to wander over what the upcoming weeks had in store. The mission with Danzo was going well, a subtle genjutsu via Itachi having been set up in the traitor’s office a few days before. Tenzo’s recent report was….enlightening in a way Kakashi now understood why pranksters got a kick out of their hobby. 

Then came a cry of the hawk. After thirteen years of being a shinobi, he was well trained to recognize it. Anyone of his caliber had to be. So he glanced up, finding the bird circling above his head, and raised an arm with practiced ease. As the bird came in to land, his eye narrowed in on the band around it’s leg—gold with three black notches. 

A summon from his Hokage. 

Taking the rolled piece of paper, he didn’t even bother reading it, instead turning toward the Hokage tower once the hawk took off. 

When he arrived, the office was empty save Hiruzen and his ANBU guard. The Hokage looked up from a scroll he was reading, old eyes tired. 

“Kakashi-kun,” he said by way of greeting.

“Hokage-sama,” the Hatake nodded in return, “you summoned me?”

“Yes, I did.” with that, the scroll in his hands was closed, replaced by another edged with the same gold and black that had been on the hawk’s band. “I have a mission for you.”

Aah, so that explained why he suddenly had a day off from his ANBU duties. “So much for introducing Hana to the pack,” he pushed the thought away, and reached for the scroll. Opening it, he glanced over the mission directive. 

Assassination. Nothing new.

Wave Country. It was uncommon but not rare. 

Possible Kiri interaction. Read the parameters. That would be fun. He hadn’t had a run in with Kiri-nin since news of civil unrest within their borders had spread. They were a pain to fight but they gave as good as they got. 

He rolled up the scroll, storing it in a pouch. “When do I leave?”

“By the end of the day. Normally, I’d have you leave immediately but,” that mischievous gleam was back in the old man’s eyes. Somebody must have pissed him off down at the mission’s desk again. “I’m aware of your other responsibilities. Do what you need to get them in order then be on your way.”

Find somebody to keep an eye on the pups and make sure ROOT doesn’t try to get ahold of them. Thankfully, he knew an ANBU and two Jounin who would be up for the job.  Kakashi bowed, “Yes, Hokage-sama.”

“You’re dismissed.”

With that, the Hatake left the tower to find Tenzo. 

Which proved easier then it should’ve been. He’d been spending too much time around his teammates if he knew where they would be hiding. As it was, the ANBU was in Training Ground Forty-Four napping on one of the highest branches of a tree. 

Kakashi leaned over the branch, eye squinting in amusement as he saw several tigers resting below the tree in question as if waiting for lunch to fall into their paws.

“What is with you and the Forest of Death?”

His brown-haired teammate shrugged, eyes still closed. “It’s peaceful. The animals don’t bother me when I’m this high and the afternoon sun is great.” Right… Mokuton user. Kakashi hadn’t forgotten, he just hadn’t taken into account Tenzo would enjoy the same things plants did.

“Remind me to buy you a plant or two when I get back.”

That caught his attention, soft black eyes opening to gaze at him, “Mission?”

“Yup,” he popped the ‘p’ at the end, squatting as he turned to look at the teen. “I’ll be gone for a couple weeks. I need a babysitter in the meantime. Up for it?”

Not so much babysitter, Kōri-san could handle the pups just fine, but more of a bodyguard should Danzo try to act up again. Tenzo understood the underlying implication, for he nodded. “When do you leave?”

“Once I finish packing,” came the reply, and the brunette sat up, legs dangling on either side of their seat. 

“Anything I need to know?”

Kakashi hummed, tilting his head in thought. Shisui could handle the training, Kōri-san would keep track of them during the day, that only left… “They take nightly excursions, that’s when you’ll need to be most on guard. Try not to step in unless they need the help, it’s part of their training to get into and out of enemy territories without being noticed. Usually they wander, but sometimes they go to the library. Naruto’s getting good with seals, he goes through Fuinjutsu theory like a fish in water. The pups get distracted by restaurants easily but they never go in or go near unless Naruto wants to. Their biggest gapstop is the ramen place, you know it?”

“Ichiraku’s?” 

He nodded. “Teuchi’s noticed his nightly visitors and taken to leaving food out back in crates for them so don’t be surprised if they stop by. He and his daughter never step out because they startle easily. After that, they’re usually back to the den by sunrise.”

Back in the den meant out of Danzo’s hands. That’s why he was mainly only worried about their night training. It was when they were susceptible to being picked up by ROOT then any other time of the day. Even if Tenzo could only watch them while they left the wards, it would be more coverage then they had otherwise. 

Thankfully, his teammate seemed to agree. Determination set in his shoulders, “I’ll take care of them. Just worry about completing your mission.”

Kakashi turned to leave, the chakra for shunshin sitting in his chest, but he paused, glancing back at the brown-haired mokuton user. “Thank you, Tenzo.” With that, he disappeared to find Itachi. 

XxX

A Jounin walked into a bar. Really, it was the start of an all around lousy joke but here Kakashi was, searching the dimly lit room his chakra had lead him to. Itachi had been easy, the teen sitting in a training ground in his clan’s compound reading through a book on canid dietary requirements, which, he’d never admit, but Kakashi found highly amusing. Finding Shisui, on the hand, had been somewhat more challenging. 

The Uchiha’s usual haunts were empy, which meant he’d had to go looking for the teen’s chakra signature…

Which lead him to his current destination. 

Spying the target of his search, he moved forward, a frown tugging at his lips the closer he got. 

“Maa, Shisui-san, you look like you’ve taken a roll in the Inuzuka kennels.”

His teammate wearily lifted his head, before thinking better of it and letting it drop again. “‘Pid mtsh, ‘pid bits, run,” the unintelligible mumble faded off into mutterings. 

Kakashi slid into the seat beside him, leaning down to try and meet his eye. “I don’t speak table, Shisui-san.”

The Uchiha grumbled before he lifted his head, and wow, now that he could see, there was a very definitive paw print left in dried mud on his teammate’s forehead. “What am I doing wrong? I’ve tried everything, early morning exercises, treats, I even offered scratches because one of the Inuzuka told me dogs like that but nothing I do works.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa. What? Kakashi stared at him for a long minute before he sighed. “Start from the beginning. In full sentences.” He added when Shisui opened his mouth.

The Jounin took a deep breath, exhaled slowly then, “First, I thought early morning, they’d be pliable so I could get them to sit still for chakra exercises. Next thing I know Blue Eyes is running for the hills screaming something about rabbits and the others have disappeared into the trees.”

Kakashi kept his expression neutral but the gears were turning and he could already see how this train wreck was going to go. Not that his teammate seemed to notice, he was already full steam ahead. 

“Then I thought bribery. What kid doesn’t like treats? You said they took after their family so I brought…” he gestured, eyes glancing around the bar to ensure no one was listening, “treats. Somehow the treats all ended up the pockets of my vest and they decided on a tug of war to get them loose.”

“Oh no,” Somewhere, deep down, something like pity echoed death rattles. 

Shisui swallowed, rubbing his forehead only to grimace when he felt the dried mud and rubbed harder to try and get it off. “So then, I went to an Inuzuka I’d gone to the academy with. I told her I’d gotten a new puppy and couldn’t get it to listen to me. She said puppies like scratches and attention so I thought…”

He grimaced, leaning closer to Kakashi. “The brat bit me because I gave one of the others a headpat. Just how feral are these kids?”

“Which one did you touch?” Because if it were Kirum, it would only make sense. Naruto was protective of his entire pack but after past events, he held a sort of overprotectiveness toward his sibling.

Shisui shrugged, “the brown-eyed one. He seemed the most friendly out of the bunch and I thought I’d run less of a chance of getting bit. The blue-eyed one hits like a stampeding bull, and the red-eyed one always looks like he’s trying to set me on fire. Which, are we sure it isn’t just Sasuke wearing a fur pelt? Those two act too much alike for it to be a coincidence.”

Now he wanted to slam his forehead against the table. Really, Kakashi should’ve known he couldn’t leave Shisui unattended. And Kōri-san probably thought the whole thing was hilarious because wolf pups were downright adorable when they went through the destructive stage. 

But, the silver-haired Jounin did in fact keep his brain cells intact. He set his elbows on the table, and clasped his hands together before laying his head on them. “I will give you props for being creative.”

“But,” Shisui edged, eyeing him wearily. 

“But you’re an idiot,” straight forward and to the point. “You’re forgetting the last contact any of them had with a human besides us, Kirum—the brown-eyed one—almost died. Besides the redhead, he’s the closest to the blond. He is loyal and protective to the umpteenth degree, of course he’s going to go after you for touching his siblings. Diapha—the blue-eyed one—is afraid of rabbits because she almost had her eye taken out by one, even mentioning them sends her blindly running off and the siblings are cunning enough to use that because she has a thick head. Themo—the one you think is Sasuke—might as well be Sasuke’s twin. They feed off each other’s sarcasm and most of the time it’s like they’re sharing a brain between them.”

His teammate sagged, his jaw dropping at the information dump. “Then what am I supposed to do? They don’t like me. That much is very clear and nothing I do seems to win them over.”

“For one, don’t wake them up at the crack of dawn,” because, really that helped nothing at all. 

Kakashi could tell from Shisui’s expression the neurons weren’t firing correctly so instead he asked, “How would you feel if you stayed up all night and someone woke you up at the crack of dawn for training?” At least he had the brains to ask Kōri-san about their training. The silver-haired Jounin knew the pups weren’t so much angry at Shisui being an intruder as waking them up so soon after going to bed…Well maybe Naruto was still, but that boy had a stubborn streak the size of Konoha and then some. This little campaign Shisui had started probably wasn’t helping matters on that front. 

But, the gears were turning, Kakashi could almost see it, as the idea took root. His teammate frowned, confusion in his brows. “Why would they be up so late?”

“Wolves are nocturnal by nature.” he murmured, “Ask Kōri-san about their training before you go making grand plans. I have a mission sending me out of the village for a couple weeks. She’ll be your best bet on getting them to come around.”

With that, he left the Uchiha alone once more and headed for his apartment. He had some packing to do.