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randompand-a · 8 months

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TITLE: how to catch a stray pairing: hatake kakashi x reader note: i like this part a lot... i actually wrote this one before the first part. LMAOOO

MASTERLIST

part 1. part 2.

Never in your life have you known Kakashi to prefer alcohol to tea.

In fact, you don’t think you’ve ever seen Kakashi drink anything—not when he manages to keep that mask firmly in place no matter the shenanigans of his team. Even during the war, the fabric had been kept intact—an impressive feat considering the devastation done by the Zetsu army, and his fight with Uchiha Obito leading up to the confrontation with Ootsutuski Kaguya.

“How long has he been like this?”

Therefore, it’s stunning that Gai calls upon you for help one night to escort the Hatake home, slumped in his chair with a little sake cup perched between two dangerously loose fingers.

“I'm glad you asked—we’re deep in the third hour of our hot-blooded contest, and it looks like I'm the winner!” Gai bellows, jovial and inebriated as you pluck the sake cup from Kakashi’s hand. You wonder if he’d been bribed with a new copy of Icha-Icha: you’ve never seen Kakashi give any thought to alcohol without a reason.

“…Never mind, I’ve heard enough,” you sigh, get a hand around the Hatake's shoulder to prevent him from collapsing face-first into the table. He notices you approximately five minutes after your arrival, chin tilting up to meet your eyes.

“Oh, hey there.” Kakashi smiles beneath his mask, alcohol flushing high across his cheekbone, disappearing beneath the fabric. “Come to join us?”

“Afraid not,” you reply dryly. “I’m here to babysit. C’mon, let’s get you back so the village doesn’t see their soon-to-be Sixth Hokage falling over himself.”

“I entrust him to you!” Gai salutes with a wide, toothy grin. You merely offer a strained smile, grateful that decades of training allows you to support Kakashi’s weight without much issue. Lee is already on his way to help Gai home. “Join us next time! Together we’ll celebrate the springtime of our youths!”

“Thank you, Gai. I’ll, uh, remember that,” you say, hauling Kakashi out of the bar with a strong arm around his midsection. “Have a good night. Say hi to Lee for me.”

Kakashi is coherent enough that you don’t have to carry him, but he doesn’t say anything worth noting—dissolving into the occasional sigh, mumbling nonsense while you merely hum and nod. At one point, he tries to reach into his pocket for his Icha-Icha book. You swat his hand away.

“Are you even going to remember anything that happens tonight?” you huff.

“Mmm…” Kakashi hums, as if contemplating. “Maybe.” He giggles. “I dunno. Gai and I did share quite a bit.”

“You owe me a plate of dango for this,” you mutter. His head tilts.

“Huh?” he asks smartly, head lolling towards you, as if to hear better. “What’d you say?”

“Please tell me you’ve had water, you ridiculous man.”

“Water?” His voice slurs, head is lolling forward. Eyes trained on you. Before, when he’d carried the habit of sliding his forehead protector over his face, his gaze was not so suffocating. Now, however, with both of them visible, you cannot completely fight off the urge to look away. You let your gaze drift sideways, away from his.

“Yes, water. The thing you drink to live,” you say, guiding him around a divot in the ground. “I’ll make you drink some before I leave.”

“Hmm, but I can’t lift my arms,” he sings, leaning into you. “Might have t’feed it to me.” He chuckles at the expression that twists onto your face—the disgruntled slant of your mouth as your lips purse together.

“Don’t test your luck, Hatake,” you warn. “I’ll pour it on you if I have to.” At least Gai had the foresight to give you Kakashi’s keys. It saved you from the awfulness of having to dig through all those pockets yourself. Drunk or not, you have no desire to stick your hands where they didn’t belong, even with the intention of doing right by him.

“Quite a way to treat your comrade,” he drawls, stumbling.

“You’re technically not Hokage yet—I might as well while I can still get away with it,” you sniff.

“Y’mean you wouldn’t do it if I was already Hokage?” he asks.

“Of course not,” you say. “I don’t think it matters how close—how familiar we are. Playing pranks on the Hokage is usually frowned upon.”

“Who says I’ll let you get away with it now?” he asks, sounding startlingly sober.

You give him a sharp look, squinting. “In your current condition? I’d like to see you try, Hatake.”

“I could still defend myself,” he insists. “What kind of Hokage would I be if I let a little alcohol incapacitate me?”

You scoff. “Please. I saw all those bottles. I had to haul you out of your chair just now. I could probably remove your mask myself if I wanted.”

“Do you?”

He’s watching you, now. Unsteady, but looking none the less. You turn away.

“Absolutely not.”

“Maybe you should try it,” Kakashi says cheerfully. The crickets scream around you. “My team still haven’t seen.”

“You haven’t even let Gai look at your face and you’ve known him for nearly your entire life,” you reply dryly. “Besides, you’ve said yourself it adds to your mystique.”

“I mean it—I’ll even let you,” he says. Something within you aches. It’s a relief that he’s still able to tease around the alcohol in his system.

“Let’s get you home,” you say quietly, and teleport the both of you to his apartment, just outside the door. Alarm skitters through your chest at the low, protesting sound he makes.

“C-couldn’t give a guy a warning?” he groans.

“Sorry.” You grimace. “Don’t vomit, okay? We’re almost inside.” You let him lean most of his weight against your back while you unlock the door, an arm still thrown over your shoulder and his face tucked against your neck.

His place is dark and cool. You haul him through the threshold, not bothering to remove either of your shoes.

Kakashi murmurs your name when you make it to his room.

“Yes, that’s me,” you say dryly, depositing him into his bed with the creak of a mattress and the muffled rustle of blankets. “Try to keep it together, okay? I’ll get you some water.”

“You got it, boss,” he hums, voice feathering around a drunken giggle. You remove his headband and wrestle his shoes off. The idea of leaving him alone makes you anxious—you'll stay just to make sure he'll be alright.

When you come back with a glass of water, he doesn’t even twitch at the sound of your footsteps—splayed horizontally across the bed, his legs dangling off the side. His eyes are closed. You say his name again, watch those silver brows twitch together.

“Still here,” he murmurs. You’ve never seen Kakashi drunk. It’s amusing.

“Thought you fell asleep on me,” you say. “I’ll put this here for you. Drink some.” He mumbles incoherently, makes no motion to sit up or open his eyes. “Hatake, if you don’t drink some water you’ll regret it in the morning.”

Kakashi speaks—barely mumbled words you can’t decipher through his mask.

Hands on the mattress, feeling it dip as you lean over him, you speak again. “Kakashi,” you say, quiet and soft, “please.” You hope he never remembers what happens tonight.

His eyes flutter open. Blood rushes to your face, but he’s drunk: you’re not worried about him picking up on your embarrassment, the cues too subtle for him—at least you hope. Your heart rabbits beneath your ribs.

“Wait,” he says when you turn to leave. Back to him, it’s impossible to see his face, but the mattress creaks as he sits up. You catch the soft sigh that escapes. “Can you help me drink it, after all? Wouldn’t wanna spill it all over myself,” he jests.

You frown at him. “Don’t you have, like, straws or something?”

He shrugs.

Helping him drink means you’ll have to remove his mask. It means standing close to him—not quite as close as you’d been while bringing him home, but face-to-face, there’s more of you bared to him than when he was pressed against your side, using you for support.

But he won’t remember this anyways, so you concede.

Your feet pad across the floor. The glass of water feels like lead in your hands. Kakashi’s head tilts with a smile.

You hover the rim of the glass by his mouth, telegraphing your other hand as it rises to his mask, your thumb playing with the edge of it, brushing against his cheek.

“If you say anything…” you warn, and close your eyes as your thumb slides beneath the fabric of his mask to pull it down his face. His cheek is soft. Warm and smooth against the pad of your finger.

While Kakashi drinks, you regulate your breathing. You don’t think about the knot behind your ribs; you don’t think about the slight pressure of him leaning his face into your hand; you don't think about what might happen if it turns out he does remember tonight.

After he finishes, you replace the mask with hasty movements, plucking it up when the fabric catches on his nose. Stepping away feels like tearing the atmosphere that’d settled around you in a thin membrane—removing yourself from his reach to refill the glass.

“Generous,” he croaks when you return. Your eyes roll skyward. Fist clenching and unclenching to forget the sensation of his face against your finger.

“It’s late. Get rest. I’m sure Tsunade-sama will be all too happy to get you instated as soon as possible.”

“Will I see you tomorrow?” he asks. It’s just you—the question is not charged. It’s just you—taking every ounce of yourself to remain nonchalant. The war is over, but there’s an iron fist around your heart. Keeps the grief and yearning locked tight within.

“Maybe. There’s still a lot to be done. I’m sure you’ll hear all about it,” you say, and take a breath. “Good night, Hokage-sama.”

“Not Hokage yet,” he argues, eyebrows drawing together. The line of your mouth softens into a smile. But his eyes shut all the same, and you, seeing him on the edge of sleep, reach out to brush your fingers across his cheekbone, allowing yourself a moment of weakness—an indulgent touch to be lost in his alcoholic haze.

“Sleep well, Kakashi,” you murmur.

When you teleport, you go to one of the quiet parts of the forests surrounding the village, and stay there for a long, long time.

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randompand-a · 8 months

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Book Club (Kakashi Hatake)

Chapter 2 - Another Ambush, Poorly Executed

You learn very quickly that Naruto Uzumaki has a big mouth.

word count 5.7k (chapter 2/9 - 7.6k words total)

read it on ao3 here

Kakashi arrives on time, for once. Part of you is a little disappointed - your genin only left an hour ago, and since you had them up at the asscrack of dawn, you were hopeful you'd be able to squeeze in a nap before Kakashi arrived to spar. You'd even spent extra time choosing a particularly comfortable tree to lean back against. As it is, you're only just finishing your lunch when you sense his chakra in the forest behind you.

"Good afternoon, Kakashi!", you call out through a mouthful of rice once he's within earshot. "Surely my watch is broken!"

"Aah... is my reputation really that bad?"

You snicker as he drops down from a branch, landing with his hands in his pockets. "I've heard rumours that Tsunade-sama has included in your file you're to be told missions start an hour earlier than they actually do." Lady Tsunade has taken fantastically to her role as Hokage, but you still see a shadow of worry pass over Kakashi. No doubt he's reminded of Orochimaru; you've heard rumours about the Uchiha boy, too, that are perhaps best to steer away from.

Kakashi is back to his usual, blank-faced self before you can think of something to say. "Well, old age slows you down, so they say."

You scowl at him and push to your feet. "We're the same age, Hatake. Didn't you ever learn not to call a lady old?" Unfortunately, you back gives a resounding pop when you straighten, which you feel rather takes the threat out of your words. He chuckles.

"You're slower getting up than you used to be.", Kakashi notes, not unkindly. You toss another scowl, along with your flak jacket, freeing up your arms to really stretch out the tension from your morning training session.

"Hey, my genin are getting stronger! Sometimes I actually have to try when we're sparring now. It's weird. And exhausting. I'm just counting down the days 'til they pass the Chuunin exams and I can get some peace and quiet." A few rolls of your neck have you feeling much better; you take back your jacket from Kakashi, then crouch to strap your weapons pouches back on.

He begins to prepare himself, too, rewrapping his bandages and checking his pockets. "I saw them in the market on my way here. You have the Inuzuka girl, don't you? She's... very loud. Almost as much Naruto."

"Keiko-", you groan fondly, "She's insane, Kakashi. I've never known a kid to be so utterly crazy. If I ever came up against her in a real battle I think I'd just kill myself to save the headache." He hums in sympathy - from what you've heard, his own team are even more of a handful. Since you started teaching Keiko basic fire-type chakra control, she's developed a particular affinity for blowing things up. You've since been instructed to keep these training sessions away from trees, homes, and anything else remotely flammable. But she's also an incredibly sweet kid when you aren't chasing her around, and her companion Aomaru is a real cutie.

Kakashi tosses his flak jacket against the base of a tree trunk, and you're pretty sure you see Icha Icha poking out one of the pockets. Come to think of it, it is pretty hot now the sun is up. You leave your own jacket next to his, then peel off your long-sleeve too, leaving you in a tank top that exposes the scar of your old ANBU tattoo. His eye flickers over it knowingly. You'd left the organisation just a few months after him, released back onto regular duty after the Uchiha massacre left the village short on jonin, and readjusting proved a challenge for both of you. You rub a palm over the faded skin there, and decide to put it out of your mind.

"Shall we focus on Taijutsu today?", you suggest brightly, leading the way onto the pitch.

"You sounded far too much like Gai just now."

You cackle, throwing yourself into a high somersault, and perform several flips before landing on the other side of the midway line to Kakashi. "It's because I'm so youthful and energetic, rival! All I need now is the green jumpsuit!"

"Stop it-", he grumbles, pinching his nose. "-I was looking forward to a training session that wouldn't leave me with a headache for once."

You grin. "When I'm finished with you, your whole body will be aching." You didn't even really mean that as an innuendo, but you're still pleasantly surprised to see how he stiffens for a split second. "So, Taijutsu?"

"Alright, then.", he nods, then he's vaulting into in the air and over your head and landing behind you without a sound, and you're sensing his familiar chakra start to thrum before you've even spun to meet him.

He throws a punch at the back of your head and you sidestep it, turning in to a high kick that he easily dodges; then he's coming at you again, a barrage of punches that you deflect and dodge and catch, barely even breathing hard. He's so relentless you have no chances to hit back, effortlessly guarding himself even as he rains down strikes on your forearms. It feels good to train like this, your movements flowing like water as you dance around him. You were always agile, even when you were a kid and you didn't even know what Taijutsu was. Sharingan no Kakashi is quick, but you are too.

The next time he strikes high you feint left, then right, watching his eye flash to keep up with you - there, he's watching your feet instead of your hands - you catch his wrist and use his momentum to pull his arm past your head, turning and driving your other elbow up into his ribcage. Kakashi grunts, twists free of you, and all of a sudden there's a foot driving into the back of your knee. You drop but manage to keep your balance, rolling around him and springing back to your feet just as he's on you again.

"It isn't like you to focus so much on offence-", you state matter-of-factly, letting him continue to bear down on you in the hopes of tiring him out a little. "You always let your opponents come to you, back in ANBU."

Kakashi doesn't so much as look at your face. "In those situations, I knew nothing about my opponents. It was better to stand back and let them reveal their weaknesses on their own." He's pressing you back so hard that you have no choice but to give ground. The trees are behind you and the sun is glinting off his hitai-ate and he mixes in a low kick, forcing you to leap backwards. At least he's starting to sound just slightly out of breath.

"On the other hand, I know how you fight. We've been teammates on enough missions for me to know your patterns." He says this as if he's discussing the weather, and not ramping up the intensity to push you backwards even faster. You cast out your chakra behind you and are instantly met with forest: he has you backed up against a solid tree trunk - you move as quickly as you can, darting left and pushing chakra from the soles of your feet to give you an explosive boost, flitting into the empty space behind him-

He catches you.

Kakashi's hand is around your neck and he's got you pressed against the tree trunk. "For example.", he continues, eye turned up in a smile. "You always go left when you're cornered."

...Damn. You do, don't you?

Despite your irritation at being read so easily, despite the fact you'd be dead if this was real, you laugh. Old enough to have a bad back, but at least not so old you can't learn. Kakashi's fingers are right up against your pulse point, surprisingly gentle considering the force with which he'd thrown you into the tree, and they loosen even more as you laugh. Now. You bring your knee up and kick him away square in the chest. It buys you enough time to slip into the cover of the forest, even if you're certain he let you land that hit on purpose.

The fight continues as you chase each other halfway around the forest and back again. You're determined to be more aggressive now, and to prove that you know him just as well as he knows you. So you hurl yourself at him over and over again, hardly letting him dodge around one tree before you're dropping on him from the boughs of the next, grappling with him when you reach clearings, even going so far as to drop a particularly large branch onto his head at one point.

Dodging it easily, Kakashi stares up at you. "That poor tree might miss that branch.", he deadpans, shoulders rising and falling rapidly with the weight of his panting breaths. He's stalling for time, but you're honestly glad of the break.

"Call it a casualty of war.", you say mournfully, too tired to think of a cleverer comeback. Your chest is heaving. Kakashi has always had more stamina than you, and the heat isn't helping even under the green-tinged shade of the tree canopy. A bead of sweat rolls from your hairline and all the way down your neck. There's no two ways about it, you're considerably more tired than Kakashi - but you're having so much fun. You haven't faced up against him properly since you were kids, and it's nice (if not a little strange) to see how far you've both come.

"Want to call it a day?", the silver-haired jonin calls. Clearly he can see how exhausted you are, and he sounds pretty tired too. You don't even pretend to consider his offer. He's already one-upped you, and you're no Gai, but you're not willing to accept any kind of defeat from a man who reads smut in public.

Instead, you pull a kunai from your pouch. "Absolutely not." Then you launch at him, and the fight continues. Sparks fly between your kunai with every strike, the sound of metal against metal and heavy breaths the only sound in the forest. Kakashi manages to back you up against another tree, but this time you jump and go over his head - he's smiling at you when you land, still smiling when he kicks you in the ribs, but it vanishes from his eye when you put a blast of chakra into your next palm strike and send him crashing back into that very same trunk. The forest is going to be ruined if you're not careful. Perhaps you can blame Keiko.

The battle has you dancing through the trees for what feels like only the blink of an eye, but by the time you're back out on the training pitch, the sun is lower in the sky than you remember. Every muscle in your body is screaming out in agony. You keep coming at him, pleased that even this tired your kunai is barely more than a quick glint in the sunlight. When the flow of motion takes you onto the river that rushes along the western edge of the pitch, you welcome it, pushing chakra from the soles of your feet and relishing in the cool breeze that comes off the water. Kakashi doesn't even cause the water to ripple when he chases you - an impressive display of chakra control even at your level.

Against a different opponent, you would hope to distract them from their chakra control, force them to plunge into the river rather than take a direct hit. But Kakashi doesn't so much as stagger when you go back on the offensive, not even when you sweep at his legs and he somersaults backwards onto the deeper water. It's frustrating, especially when you're this exhausted. So, you kick up a spray of water right into his face, a frankly childish move your genin have resorted to before.

He emerges looking distinctly like a wet dog, shaking his hair in a way that would be endearing if you weren't so focused on dashing forward into a shoulder strike; Kakashi lets you barge right into his chest, absorbing the impact, and he's wrapping his arms around you and then throwing you up over his head and it's all you can do to stay afloat as your back slams against the water - this is it, he's got you, you're too worn out and sweaty to roll away, so you just stare up at him and he - hang on, did he just glance at your chest? - the desperate wave of chakra you sent out to cushion your impact must have knocked his off balance because he's falling, one foot plunging into the river - you have your kunai at his throat before he's even on his knees.

"A draw?", you suggest, still on your back, practically gasping for breath. This is the best you can hope for against an opponent like him.

Kakashi is kneeling behind you, one hand on each side of your head, throat pulsing against the point of your blade. He's blank-faced for a moment, then blinks. "Alright, then."

You gladly drop your kunai, roll onto your stomach, and push to your feet with all the grace of an especially fat old dog. Kakashi's hand finds your bicep to give you a welcome boost. "I'd hate to have you as a sensei. I think I'd die if I had to fight like that every day.", you groan. As tough as you can be on your team, you've heard that Kakashi is much worse. It's a relief to get back onto solid ground and let your chakra melt away.

"Your endurance is really quite good, you know.", Kakashi replies. Although you do know, you can't help but feel flattered.

"Well, I must be getting lazy in my old age.", you tease, glad to see a sheepish crinkle to his eye. He brings both hands up in a mock surrender, hunching over, and he looks for all the world like a bedraggled cat with his floppy, dripping hair and one wet trouser leg. No doubt you look just as ridiculous - covered in sweat, with twigs in your hair and bruises already starting to form on your arms. Both of you are walking much more slowly than tiredness calls for.

By the time you reach the pile of your things, all you're really thinking about is a hot shower, and maybe a trip to the ramen stand this evening. You toss Kakashi his flak jacket and are reaching for your water container when you remember what you saw in his pocket earlier. "So, how are you finding that action novel?"

Kakashi splutters through his own mouthful of water. You quirk a concerned eyebrow at him as he pounds his chest. "Hah... I haven't had much time for reading this week, you know, my genin team have really been keeping me busy."

"That's a shame-", you shrug nonchalantly, starting to bundle your things into your backpack. You'll walk home without your jacket and enjoy the sun, you decide. "I'm looking forward to reading it. Take your time, though!" You don't want to seem too pushy and let him realise you're teasing him. "Right now I should really be focusing on preparing my team for the chuunin exams-"

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!!!"

The shout comes from the direction of town. You whip your head around and see a shock of orange racing across the training pitch. Kakashi barely has time to groan under his breath before Naruto Uzumaki screeches to a halt in front of you both.

"SENSEI! We've been waiting for you since noon, and we didn't even bring lunch!". The boy's blonde hair is sticking up haphazardly all at odd angles. "I only had one cup of instant ramen for breakfast, too!"

Kakashi doesn't react to the loud rumble of Naruto's stomach, and doesn't question how he found the two of you. "You see - well, I was helping (name)-san here catch a cat."

Naruto narrows his eyes and puts his hands on his hips. You're strangely reminded of Iruka Umino. "A cat? Then why have you been swimming?!".

Kakashi looks like he wishes he'd used his katon to dry off. A droplet of water rolls from his hair down his mask. "This was a special kind of cat that can control chakra to walk on water. That's why (name)-san needed my help."

His grey eye turns onto you, impressively blank, but you read the silent plea in it regardless. Naruto seems to notice you for the first time. "...Yes. The Hokage brought a shinobi cat back from her travels. He's very dear to her." You're pretty sure Tsunade-sama hates cats. Surely Naruto won't be fooled by this-

"Hmm...", he grumbles, seemingly accepting your poker face as trustworthy. Then his face splits into a wide grin, Kakashi's lateness apparently forgotten. "I'm great at catching cats. You should have got me to do it, Sensei!"

Kakashi pats Naruto on the head. "Well, we didn't catch him today. Your training session can be to find him before midnight." Poor Naruto suddenly seems so determined, you nearly laugh, but just about manage to turn it into a dignified cough that reminds the boy of your presence.

"Say, who are you, ne-san? I don't think I've seen you before!". It's entirely possible you're the only person in Konoha who Naruto hasn't pranked, yelled at, or otherwise inconvenienced. Your paths have simply never crossed. There are many people who would call this good luck.

You're careful not to say anything too incriminating: you know what your own genin are like, and this Uzumaki boy already seems just as troublesome in the way that children tend to be. "An old friend of your sensei - we went to the academy together, actually."

"HUH?!", he yells, arms flying up in the air. "No way you're the same age as Kakashi-sensei! You're so young and cute and you don't even have grey hair like Kakashi-sensei, I say! How-"

Kakashi claps a hand over Naruto's mouth, making a valiant effort to ignore the boy's muffled noises of indignation. "We should get going now so Sakura and Sasuke aren't waiting. That cat could be halfway to the Land of Fire border by now!" Naruto stops squirming just long enough for Kakashi to release him, and he starts to race off in the direction from which he came - then spins on his heel, splutters on the dust cloud he kicks up, and sprints back to you.

"Sorry, ne-san, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Naruto Uzumaki!", he chirps, sticking out a palm. You see Kakashi smile out the corner of your eye.

You can't help but smile too as you shake his hand. How could anyone ever be cruel to this boy? He's so infectiously energetic, and he definitely gets bonus points for calling you cute. "Naruto Uzumaki, huh? I'll be sure to remember that name."

He looks so delighted you nearly melt. Kakashi waves at you before they both disappear in the direction of the village; you smile all the way back to your apartment.

Konoha in the evening may be your favourite thing in the world. The sun is just setting when you leave your apartment, lighting the Hokage monument up gold and casting the streets of the village in a warm orange light. You're sore off your training session but a hot shower has done wonders to take the sting out of the pain, leaving you with the kind of ache reminiscent of a hard day's work. After your shower, you had opted to dress in simple civilian clothes: a light sweater and loose trousers, with your favourite pair of sandals. It's been a while since you've had a whole evening to yourself.

The street lights begin to come on as you walk to the market square, restaurants and bars switching on their neon signs, and porch lights flick on outside homes. You catch sight of a mother cuffing her academy-age son around the ear, scolding him for not being home in time for dinner. If your genin have any sense, they'll have already eaten and will be preparing for bed right now. They're going to be focusing on chakra control tomorrow - on the water, far away from anything they can set on fire - and you've got no intentions of letting them leave until they can at least cross the river.

Thankfully, there's an empty seat at your favourite ramen stand, despite how busy the marketplace is. The chef knows your order without even asking, and you're left with a few minutes to take in the atmosphere while he prepares it. Once the shops shut for the day, street food vendors move in with their carts, and the square fills with academy students and jonin and civilians alike. You spy the old man who runs the grocery store, the blacksmith's apprentice who makes the best kunai, and an old classmate's new wife looking incredibly pregnant. You'll have to drop by and offer them your congratulations soon, you note - it seems like only yesterday you were dragging Kurenai onto the dance floor at their wedding.

The ramen is good, as always, and you slurp it down noisily, as always. You're halfway through a mouthful of boiled egg when you get the feeling you're being watched. Your first instinct is to look over at the old woman next to you, apologise for eating too loudly - but she's unbothered, her nose buried in a gardening book. Huh. You suppose it could have just been someone in the market recognising you. The prickling on the back of your neck disappears just as fast as it came, so you go back to your meal.

When the time comes to pay, you find yourself having to dig around in your coin purse for an embarrassingly long time. "Sorry...", you laugh, finally fishing out enough money to put down on the counter. "I guess it's time I take my team on another mission, right?". The chef smiles wordlessly and hands you a tub containing a few dango sticks; he's never been much for chat, but you've always tried anyway and it seems he enjoys it more than he's let on.

That sensation strikes you again when you duck out of the stand, and you know that someone is trying very hard to keep their eyes on you through the crowd. There's a kunai under your sweater, but you don't reach for it just yet. It could very well just be a civilian who has had a few too many drinks and doesn't realise how much he's staring, you reason. You just hope whoever it is doesn't follow you. God... You just want to eat your snack in peace.

Of course they follow you. Of course they do, because Kami forbid you just want one quiet fucking evening. They follow you through six wrong turns, two instances of doubling back on yourself, and even a shortcut through a hedgerow. You finally give up and cast out your chakra in the middle of a small park. Whoever it is obviously hasn't really thought this through, because three distinct chakra signatures slam you in the face without any effort at all. There's one that simmers as if on edge, one bright and bubbly, and-

"Naruto?", you say aloud, turning to see a tuft of yellow hair poking out over a flower bush. A small hand tugs him down and you hear a yelp. Satisfied that whatever's going on here is no threat to you, you shove another dango ball into your mouth. "Get out from behind there, come on."

He pops up, flushed bright red and stammering out excuses. "What a coincidence seeing you here, ne-san! I was just-"

"All of you.", you insist. Naruto's eyes widen comically and his mouth drops open. There's a shuffling from behind the bush, and then a pink-haired girl emerges, managing to look quite dignified if not a little sheepish. She grabs Naruto under the arm and hauls him towards you - then the last one appears, the Uchiha boy, walking five steps behind and clearly trying very hard to look like he has nothing to do with them.

You just stare at them as you chew for a moment, relishing in how each of them blushes slightly. "So, Naruto - did you ever catch that cat?"

His eyes light up at the opportunity to change the subject. "Not yet! Kakashi-sensei told us we had to keep looking until midnight, but he fell asleep, so we snuck away to-"

The pink-haired girl elbows him in the ribcage. "We were just coming to get some food to take back and share with Kakashi-sensei.", she finishes, smiling sweetly at you. "Naruto said he recognised you and wanted to say hello!"

"Well, that explains why you were hiding.", you reply. Her eyebrow twitches but she does an impressive job of maintaining her smile. Naruto, on the other hand, dissolves back into frantic excuses.

"I wanted to... to try and scare you, I say-"

"This must be your team, Naruto." You pat him on the shoulder to console him. It's funny teasing these kids, but you're worried he might spontaneously combust in a moment, and you're not really annoyed beyond the distraction from your dessert. "Why don't you introduce us?"

"This is (name)-san!", he half-yells. Naruto then jabs a finger at the Uchiha, who is still staring very hard at the ground. "That's Sasuke! He's in a bad mood because I was faster than him today." You think Sasuke may burn holes into the earth with his eyes.

"And I'm Sakura Haruno!", the girl says. You're starting to recall her more the longer you look at her.

"Sakura... I remember seeing you at the chuunin exams." Your own team had been disqualified in the second round, but you'd still taken them to watch the individual battles. Sakura's smile drops into an expression of disappointment. "I thought you were very brave."

She preens under the compliment. Naruto, in a fashion which you've already come to predict, starts jumping around and demanding to know why you didn't think he was brave. Sakura smacks him once again - you're really starting to like her. "Just face it, Naruto! I'm braver than you, even a jonin thinks so!"

"A jonin? She doesn't look like one...", Sasuke finally speaks up, dark eyes taking in your outfit and snack with a hint of disdain. Back in your genin days, you had an Uchiha teammate, Ichiro. Sasuke has definitely inherited the clan's talent for withering looks; if you were a different woman, you might have been embarrassed. As it is, you brush the crumbs off the front of your sweater and laugh. Sakura looks as though she might pass out.

"Haaahhhh! Don't be so blunt, Sasuke-kun!"

Well, she definitely has a crush on him.

Sasuke huffs, and looks you hard in the eye for a moment. "Whatever. I really don't get what all the fuss is about. I'm going home." He vaults up onto the rooftops with a speed surprising for his age, and vanishes into the twilight. Oh, he's an Uchiha, alright.

"You've been making a fuss over me, have you?", you turn back to Naruto, cocking an inquisitive eyebrow. "Surely your sensei won't have been pleased you weren't paying attention to training."

Naruto sniffs. "He's a silly old man who doesn't pay attention himself! He just sat under a tree with his eyes closed for most of it."

Sakura is suddenly inching closer to you, all sweetness and innocence. "Naruto says that you and Kakashi-sensei searched for Tsunade-sama's cat earlier this afternoon, (name)-san..."

You quickly pray that this girl never decides to go into the interrogation unit. It's crystal clear what game she's trying to play. But those seven years in ANBU have left you with, at the very least, a great poker face. You nod and allow her to continue. Naruto leans in conspiratorially as she probes. "He's never told us much about his life. Aaaaand we've never seen him around a woman before... Are you guys maybe-"

Kakashi claps a hand down onto each of their heads and they scream. Sakura goes pink enough to match her hair, and Naruto wraps his hands around Kakashi's wrist, swinging wildly under his grip. He must have shunshined here because even you get a bit of a shock, reflexively starting to reach for your kunai, but you're quickly doubled over with laughter instead. Kakashi catches your eye; you can see him smiling at you through his mask before he spins his students to face him.

"Hello there, Sakura, Naruto.", he says, smile gone and voice expressionless. "I'm very sorry for napping all the way until midnight."

"You didn't-"

Sakura kicks Naruto in the shin. "We're sorry, Kakashi-sensei. We couldn't find the cat and it was Naruto's idea to go home."

Naruto kicks her back. "No, it was Sasuke!"

Kakashi pretends to look around, humming to himself. "Well, that makes sense, since Sasuke is the only one who seems to actually be at home. Can't you see that (name)-san is just trying to have a peaceful evening?"

They both have the good manners to look bashfully at their feet, although you doubt they're really ashamed. You catch Kakashi's eye over their heads and mouth, come on, they're just kids.

He rolls his eye and releases his grip on their heads. Kakashi has a reputation amongst the jonin instructors for being a hardass with his students, but you can see how much he cares for them too, and you try to never judge a sensei's relationship with their team. He seems to have wrangled them pretty well considering how strong each of their personalities are. "Go home and get some sleep. We can start an hour earlier tomorrow because of tonight's antics.", he instructs, smiling at them brightly for the first time.

They both groan, say a quick goodbye to you, and then walk away griping at each other. Kakashi sighs. "I hope they didn't give you too much trouble."

"Not at all. I actually think they're pretty funny.", you admit. This is more excitement than you'd planned for your evening, but it's nice to see kids being kids (and a pleasant surprise to see Kakashi again, if you're honest). "Especially that crush of Sakura's."

You've both started walking in the direction of the residential sector, feet falling in tandem. "Maa, it's been more troublesome than funny. She's struggled to keep her feelings separate from her performance in the past."

"Oh, don't be such a cynic, Kakashi! Don't you remember what it was like to be young and in love?", you tease, waving a finger at him. His breath hitches a little bit, you think. "She'll be oblivious to everything else until she's twenty. Has she even realised how much Naruto likes her?"

Kakashi chuckles. "Not yet. Although, I think she has some competition in you."

"Me?", you exclaim, nearly choking on air. "I don't think so. He's met me once and I was literally a mess."

"Teenage minds.", he shrugs. You've reached the point where the path branches off, one street leading to your apartment block and the opposite to Kakashi's - but he doesn't head off just yet, instead choosing to tip his head up and watch the last rays of light warm the top of the Hokage monument. You join him, a strange feeling twisting in your gut when you see that they've started to put up the scaffolding for Tsunade-sama's carving. The street is empty, just you and him and the setting sun.

"Can you blame him?", you ask softly, when the comfortable silence has stretched out for a few long moments. Kakashi tilts his head at you, seemingly coming back to reality. Your mouth starts to curl up into a smirk. "For having a crush on me?"

This time, he blushes fast and hard, all the way up to the tips of his ears. You raise your eyebrows expectantly and cross your arms. Kakashi doesn't say anything, but a tiny wheeze escapes his lips, and his fingers furl and unfurl several times.

You don't let him flounder for too long - this is an objectively nice moment, and you don't want to ruin it by risking him passing out and hitting his head. "Kami, Kakashi, I'm only joking! You've already called me old today, so you can't possibly say anything worse."

Kakashi laughs, a proper one and not his normal quiet chuckle, in a way that has warmth spreading on your cheeks too. You must hold his gaze for just a second too long, because he's quickly turning back to the monument. "Thank you for helping me out with that cat story."

"That's okay. But I have to ask - are you just late to mess with your students?"

"...Sometimes.", he concedes. "But sometimes I'm late for more important reasons."

"Like spending time with an old friend?", you suggest, voice lilting back into light-heartedness. You want so badly to poke him, but hold yourself back on the grounds that you are not Sakura Haruno with her teenage crush.

"I was thinking something more along the lines of encountering a particularly friendly dog."

You gasp and clutch your hands to your heart. Kakashi turns to you again, eye twinkling under the streetlamps. "Well, that does it! I'm going home. And don't bother using me as an excuse next time you oversleep!"

The sound of his laughter follows you up onto the rooftop - a shorter route home, now that the tiredness of the day is really hitting you. He remains stood in the middle of the empty street, watching you closely, and he's obviously smiling so you feel too bad to rush off without a goodbye. "Goodnight, old man!", you call down.

Kakashi raises one hand in a wave, and you feel his eye on you until you're out of sight, his chakra warm and golden like the sun.

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