Chapter 8
Chapter Eight:
Kakashi grovels for attention from his three very cute, but also very vicious pups. It's been a week since they passed the bell test with flying colours, Kakashi having signed them up for D-rank missions the moment he came back alive from his near death experience with Sakura's wrath.
He's currently sulking underneath the shade of a tree, watching as his pups ━ for the third time this week ━ catch Tora the cat.
Naruto holds the cat by the scruff of its neck, his nose wrinkling. Sakura stands beside him, unimpressed, and Sasuke looks both disgusted and bored out of his mind.
Kakashi sighs. He'd love to pull out his book ━ a new one, he bought it in secret on Monday ━ but he's down right terrified of Sakura. He also doesn't want to upset his pups any further. He's already grovelling as it is.
Another week flies by. The summer in Konoha is always terribly warm and Kakashi sits on the doorsteps of a civilian's garden, sweating. His pups are pulling out weeds, muttering quietly to each other. Every now and then, the three of them send Kakashi a disappointed look or a cold glare.
Kakashi has tried just about everything. He'd gotten Sakura some new hair products when he'd caught her complaining to Naruto about hers running out. He'd even added bath bombs and the likes, making a little goody bag for her and leaving it on the outside of her windowsill.
She'd come to training the next day, smelling faintly of her new cherry blossom scented shampoo. Kakashi was over the moon, but deflated instantly when Sakura barely acknowledged his existence.
He'd even bribed Sasuke with a basket of Konoha's freshest tomatoes, and while he took the gift with a glint in his onyx eyes, he hadn't bothered to help Kakashi on his quest with trying to win Sakura back over.
Sighing softly, Kakashi balances his elbow onto his knee and leans his cheek into the palm of his hand. For Kami's sake, yesterday had been a failure with Naruto too. Kakashi had pulled out the secret box of guilt from the back of his closet. It was filled with trinkets and mementos he allowed himself to keep from his childhood.
He'd taken a moment to hold Obito's orange goggles between his calloused hands, had brushed his thumb over Rin's black necklace and then tucked the items back into place, swallowing his guilt and his fear as he pulled out an old scroll of Kushina's.
It was dark green and slightly charred on the outside, the Uzumaki crest keeping it sealed closed. Kushina had gifted it to him long ago with the promise of teaching him the contents. She didn't live long enough for that to ever happen.
And while Kakashi tried to read the seals inside the scroll, he wasn't able to. Uzumaki fuinjutsu was tricky and wasn't meant for outsiders to read. When he'd given it to Naruto, he received a curious look and not much else as the pup took it from him.
Perhaps Kakashi wasn't trying hard enough? He hums quietly to himself, closing his one eye in thought.
"That's it!" Naruto complains, dropping a heap of grass weeds into the garbage bag on the side of the small garden. "I can't take this anymore!"
"Hn," Sasuke agrees, shifting to sit on the grass. He wipes his stained hands onto his white shorts, leaving them green in places.
"You're right," Sakura agrees, looking down at her hands. They're stained green from the grass, the soft spaces between her fingers angry and red from all the pulling. She wipes the sweat off her brow with the back of her hand, sighing in boredom. "This is by far the dumbest mission we've received."
"Mission? Sakura, please," Naruto falls into the grass, just beside Sasuke, his nose twitching slightly. "This isn't a mission. This is child labour."
Kakashi opens his one eye, smiling beneath his mask. His pups are absolutely adorable. Oh, the crimes he would commit for them.
"I want a real mission," Naruto complains. "A mission where I can beat someone up. Damn, just imagine it, walking through the gates, getting to see the outside of the village for the first time…"
Kakashi's three pups sigh wistfully, all of them peering up at the blue, cloudless sky with something akin to longing.
The jounin tilts his head in consideration. His genin only have sixteen D-rank missions underneath their belts. They're nowhere near the minimum required for a C-rank mission ━ and the last time Kakashi checked the mission board qualifications, that number had been fifty.
Kakashi mulls over his thoughts, idly fiddling with a kunai between his long, pale fingers. He could try bribing the mission desk for extra child labour━
For extra missions.
That shouldn't be too hard. One smile from Kakashi and a discreetly placed pack of overpriced dango should do it, and while he's there, he might as well sign his precious pups up for the chunin exam. It doesn't matter that the exam is about a month and a half away, Kakashi will gift his kids this much at least, for being such a burden on them.
With that decided, Kakashi pulls out a pen and small notepad from the many pockets of his green vest. He opens it up to a random page and starts writing down the training his pups will need to pass the chunin exam.
"What'cha doing?" Naruto asks, appearing in an orange blur in front of Kakashi. He sits on the concrete floor, pulling one knee up to his chest. Naruto blinks up at Kakashi, peering through his blonde eyelashes in interest. Ever since the bell test, he's been using his father's body flicker technique to annoy Sasuke and raise Kakashi's heart rate.
"Writing down a training regimen for the three cutest pups I know," Kakashi answers honestly, pausing in his writing as he eye-smiles down at Naruto from his perch upon the doorsteps.
Immediately, having overhead him, Sakura and Sasuke are pressed to each side of Naruto, looking heavily suspicious. Kakashi notes that Naruto no longer looks bothered by their touch. They've been a team for barely a month, but their annoyance and anger for Kakashi, coupled by their hunger for power, has brought them somewhat closer together.
It warms Kakashi's cold, dead heart.
"I can't tell if he's lying,'' Sakura says, frowning as she sniffs the air, trying to suss out Kakashi's emotions. Smart pup, Kakashi thinks, reigning in his scent. She knocks her shoulder into Naruto's, who then gently nudges Sasuke's side with his elbow.
"He's telling the truth,'' Sasuke mutters, scowling. "Look at his face."
Naruto hums, low and thoughtful. "I guess you're right." He agrees. "He doesn't have that stupid smug look on his face whenever he's manipulating us into doing something dumb."
"Still, I don't trust him," Sakura speaks as if Kakashi isn't sitting right in front of her. She gives her sensei a flat look. "Alright, I'll bite. What's the training regimen for?"
"Maa," Kakashi places his pen and notebook back into the pocket of his jounin vest, returning to fiddling with one of his kunai. He'd love to hide behind his book right now, but alas. Choosers can't be beggars and Kakashi is grovelling.
"It's for the chunin exams," Kakashi answers, knowing damn well he has his pups now wrapped around his pinky finger. "I've decided to sign you up."
His three genin grow silent at his words. Kakashi tilts his head and Naruto instantly mirrors his movement. It seems to be unconscious, but… precise, perfectly copied. Kakashi feels the hairs on the back of his neck raise with goosebumps. This is the second time Naruto has revoked such a reaction in him. Kakashi squishes the feeling easily down.
''We've got zero experience out in the field," Sakura says flatly, "you'll get us killed in the exams."
"I hate to admit it, but she's right, ya know?" Naruto agrees, looking upset. "I mean, all we know how to do is summon ninken, catch Tora, weed out gardens and babysit some snobby upper-class kids."
"Hn," Sasuke mutters, curling his upper lip into a snarl. He doesn't say anything else.
"Maa, don't worry your cute little heads about it," Kakashi waves his hand in front of his face, smiling. "I'll bribe the mission desk for extra missions and on Friday we can start with some basic tree climbing."
"More child labour? Ugh." Naruto scowls, hiding his face into his hands with a groan.
"I'm afraid it's necessary," Kakashi explains softly, watching as his pups all give him the same suspicious look. He never said he was a good man and they're right for questioning him. "It's mandatory to have a hundred D-rank missions before you can enter the chunin exams."
Alright, Kakashi is exaggerating, but this way he can spend so much time with his precious pups! They'll thank him for lying in the long run.
"When's the next chunin exam?" Sakura asks, holding her chin between her thumb and index finger thoughtfully. She shares a look with Naruto and Sasuke and the two boys nod, indicating their desire to move up a rank.
Bingo, Kakashi thinks gleefully. He keeps his voice soft and calm, hiding his giddiness. "A month and a half away from today."
"That's insane!" Naruto throws his hands into the air. "How many missions have we done so far?"
"Sixteen." Kakashi says. "You've got enough time to catch up. Being a shinobi requires you to be able to multitask. You'll be doing missions and training at the same time." He pauses, twirling his kunai between his fingers. Here comes his hook, line and sinker. "Don't you want to show your former classmates how much better and stronger you are?"
"You're manipulating us," Sasuke scowls, crossing his arms across his chest defensively. His onyx eyes are narrowed, the set of his shoulders tense.
"Yeah," Naruto sniffs, "and it's working."
Sakura sighs. She holds out her small, grass stained hand towards Kakashi, her palm open and her fingers splayed. "You can't just teach us tree climbing. We need to know a lot more than that."
"Maa," Kakashi says, shaking Sakura's much smaller hand with his larger one, sealing a deal between them. "Sensei would never leave you weak and vulnerable."
And he means it. He wonders if his pups can tell, but judging by the looks on their faces, Kakashi highly doubts it. "Alright, finish weeding the garden. I'm giving you a day off tomorrow and in the meantime, I'll set everything up."
He stands to his feet, dusting his pants. He gives his cute, little students one last eye-smile and disappears in a swirl of leaves.