"So, are you coming with me for a walk today?"
A mess of sake bottles, various horribly dirty underwear and a blood-splattered Jounin vest that had not been sent to the dry cleaners were scattered haphazardly around the tiny living room. A lamp was knocked over; its shade had become a sort of weird basket for Pakkun.Kakashi was sprawled on the couch, dressed in only the standard wear minus vest.
This was the state the tiny apartment becomes when Kakashi comes home after a long brain-murdering mission.
"No." The statement was dry and flat. No way in hell was Pakkun going to get out of his comfy spot,heck,Heaven knows he had done more than his share of work in that S-rank mission.Damn that master of his for dragging that mission out for so long...Pakkun shifted comfortably in his basket-aka-lampshade.
"Fuck you."
"Aww, sulking already? Poor little widdle Kakki-ki..."
Kakashi gave him a bad-tempered scowl, a vein throbbing visibly in his head. He had completed that dang mission as the disgusting stupid bitch had commanded him to, and this was what he gets? A horrible, boring bulldog with a horrible, stupid squishy face accompanying him?
Life was so unfair.
"It seems like, as dogs get older and slightly slower in the brain, loyalty wanes."
Pakkun tried to grab a half-empty sake bottle. The liquid sloshed enticingly in the bottle, who cares what those Inuzaka vets said about it being bad for nin-dogs to glug sake as if it was water? He was the best drinker...And...dammit!Pakkun's paws waved futilely as his paw scrabbled uselessly a few inches away from the prize.Scowling,he settled back into his shade.
"It does in humans too."
Kakashi shrugged. He reached out with his foot and using his toes, grabbed the head of a sake bottle (Pakkun's prize for your information) and downed it all in one huge gulp. Amazing feat of acrobatics and agility. Pity Pakkun didn't appreciate it. Ignoring Pakkun's squeals of protest, Kakashi shot out his foot again, tipped his head back and glug glug glug, down went the sake.
"Um."He wiped his lips delicately with the back of his hand." Tastes great. Sensei loves-- "He caught himself."-- Loved it, I mean."
Pakkun glanced at his master. It was only so rarely that Kakashi mentioned his former team, even in the relative comfort and solitude of his nin-dogs presence and his home. He was determined to learn more about this Sensei and his teammates.Sure, he knew the basics...But then...He hesitated for a moment. Afraid of opening old wounds...
"...What about your teammates?"
Kakashi stared at the dirty crack-lined ceiling for a long moment. I should get the landlord to patch them up. Bringing his mind back to reality, he shrugged while lying down, one bright blue eye focused on a crack, tracing it-- One long twisting crack with four smaller cracks sprouting from it.
One-- He decided--The biggest crack, is Sensei. The other three-- He traced them all with his eyes-- Obito.The smallest and shortest...Rin.The second shortest. Both rubbed out. Stopped short in their good lives-- Well, not exactly good, he amended himself-- And the longest and the one stopped short...Me. And the fourth which comes us all, our destiny.
"Kakki?"
"Eh? Gomen." He swiped his headband off and shut his Sharingan eye. That headband always pressed down lightly on his eyeballs, exerting a faint persisting pressure. The Sharingan gleamed a faint bloody-red under the crack of his eyelids." My teammates...Un...All long dead before they chose what type of sake they liked."
"..."Pakkun was quiet for a while. Not for long though." Drink to 'em, Kakki-chan.You ain't gonna forget them forever and ever, aren't you?" He rolled over on his back and struggled to scratch his ear without looking like a demented, ruddy-cheeked doggy.Kakashi snorted under his breath at the sight and sipped a bit of his sake, enjoying the taste.
Pakkun watched Kakashi for a while. He felt slightly dizzy in his head. Small bright lights were fizzling behind his eyelids when he closed them and he suddenly forgot where his footpads were. Where is right…? Oh.Here.He wagged his tail, and tried to use it to bring a half-eaten doggy biscuit closer to him.
Pakkun opened his mouth. Then closed it again. And opened it again. And closed it again.Kakashi shot him a glance full of alarm. Suddenly realizing what Pakkun was about to do, he shot up straight, causing a loud crAccck to shoot across the apartment.
"Pakkun, don't—"
EeeArrgghhh!Ackackack—KACKKKKK--!
Kakashi groaned out loud when he looked at the pile of doggy bile. He said a few words that couldn't be written in this story and got out of his couch. Bending over Pakkun, he scooped the pudgy bulldog with an odd tenderness and lay down on the couch before putting the bulldog on his stomach.
You could almost see the Zzzzs forming in a bubble above Pakkun's head.
Kakashi rolled one bright blue eye before throwing an arm over his eyes."Oh well." He mumbled softly."Nighty-night Pakkun."
"Snnfff…."
It was 12o'clock at night when the master and the dog fell asleep.