Old Dog, New Tricks
Pairings: KakaHina with onesided KibaHina
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto or any of the characters. If I do the story would be nothing like it is now.
Author's Note: This is a friendship gift for my pal BlueQuartzFoxy who is also co-writer/ collaborator on a few Naruto stories that we are doing together. She's pretty much become like a sister to me and I wanted to spoil her with a special treat. At first I was going to do a KakaHina fanart but it seems I've forgotten how to draw to the point that the art looks GOOD. After lots of wracking my brain I came up with this plot. It's near and dear to me since I used to work at PetsMart and know more about animals than most normal people. Hope you enjoy!
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Hakate Kakashi was not a happy man when he arrived home from work.
The previous day he had thought to visit an animal shelter to adopt a dog so that he wouldn't have to keep returning to a miserably empty apartment. It seemed like an intelligent idea. He liked dogs; They weren't as needy as women or as bitchy as cats. A loyal companion to greet him after a long day of work, keep him entertained, and to make him feel like somebody would give a damn if he dropped off the face of the planet.
The shelter was a sad place though it looked as if the people running it had tried to make it seem bright. There were colorful posters, flowers, and even cheerful music playing that attempted to drown out the cacophony of barking. A smiling receptionist greeted him and after taking down some of his information she lead him to the dog kennels to look around.
His options were limited due to the fact his apartment complex didn't allow anything over fifty pounds so he was forced to walk by the big dogs sending him woeful pouts toward the smaller kennels. There were warning tags on some of the cages as well as background, personality, special needs, and preferences written on cards pinned to the cage doors. His companion left him to look, not bothering to try and sell him on any of the reject dogs, probably figuring he was just another false alarm.
He peeked into each cage, not really expecting much. It would just be a dog and he wasn't one of the types of people to humanize animals.
But then he looked into big watery brown eyes.
Where most of the dogs had been excitable and wouldn't sit still long enough for him to get a good look this one just locked onto his stare. It was if the dog (The breed info on its card read 'Pug') were busy evaluating him with sad eyes as he judged it.
Kakashi was intrigued as the dog looked to be bored with him, letting out a long yawn and then snorting loudly. He read over the card, learning the dog was named 'Pakkun' and had been dropped off when his owners had to move. As he read the dog padded over to stand with his face nearly pressed to the bars of the cage. He plopped down into a sitting position and gave the man an expectant look.
Not really knowing what else to do, Kakashi held his hand up to the bars. "Don't bite me" he commanded the pug.
The dog looked at him with an expression that seemed to regard him as an idiot as its tongue came out to lap at his palm. After a few kisses he stopped and gave another impatient look.
"Am I supposed to adopt you for that?" Kakashi asked, bemused.
Pakkun let out a raspy grunt that passed for a bark.
Reading over the card some more the man learned that Pakkun was a bit of an older dog, hated cats, didn't know many tricks, and was lazy. The details suited him just fine since he wasn't looking for a hyper pet.
"Okay. Sell me. Give me a good reason to adopt you and let you live with me" he prompted the pug, wondering if it would work. He was surprised when Pakkun began to move and started to expect some sort of trick when the dog lifted his left hind leg…
And began to groom his nether regions.
After that Kakashi just had to laugh and grinned in approval as he went to the front desk and jumped through all the hoops to adopt the little dog. About an hour and a half later he was handed his new pet and went to the nearest pet store to buy all the essentials.
Everything had gone fine. He felt like he met a kindred spirit in his new dog and that night as he watched television Pakkun had hopped up onto the couch and laid down at Kakashi's feet, snoring loudly.
The morning had been pleasant when the man awoke to prepare for work, affording himself an extra twenty minutes to care for Pakkun. He set out food and watched the pooch scarf it down before walking him so he could do his business.
When they returned Pakkun went to his water dish and after a few hearty laps with his tongue he collapsed onto the floor in an almost instantaneous nap.
Kakashi wished him goodbye and left for work, none the wiser to the chaos that would await him when he got home.
But now he knew he hadn't adopted a dog. Oh no. This was a demon that could open the gates of hell and unleash the monstrosities within on his apartment while he was away. What had once been a fairly tidy bachelor's pad had become a fallout zone.
"What…" was about all the flabbergasted man could utter as he looked over the carnage.
His furniture was totaled with giant shreds in the fabric and stuffing leaking out like puss from wounds. Magazines, books, and paperwork were scattered across the floor with some bits being reduced to confetti. Some of the decorative art he kept had been knocked from its perches and lay in shattered heaps on the floor.
The trash was overturned, there were 'accidents' on the floor, the food dishes were sitting in the middle of the floor. Dog toys were nothing but stuffing. It was chaos and Kakashi stood at the center of it feeling like a disaster victim.
The thanked the higher power that he had the peace of mind to shut his bedroom door but something made him look to check anyway. The door was open a crack.
"Oh God no!" he whispered, feeling the icy stabs of panic as he vaulted over the back of the couch to get to his room and the irreplaceable valuables inside.
There on his bed lay a mangled heap of tattered pages and gnawed on orange paperback covers with a little brown dog happily chewing on what was once a mint condition first edition of 'Icha Icha Paradise' issue number one.
"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" his owner cried dramatically, scrambling over to try and salvage what was left but it was too late. Nothing but carnage remained.
He shot a look to the pug that was grunting happily, wagging his tail as if he'd done no wrong and hopping about to try and get his master's approval.
"What have you done, you devil dog!?" he demanded, only to feel a bit guilty when Pakkun shrunk back and whined. His anger deflated quickly and he picked up the dog and carried him out to grab his leash and take him for a long walk.
They both needed to get out of the house for a little bit; Kakashi so he could think and Pakkun so he could go do his business and get some exercise.
They wound up at a dog park with an enclosed area for dogs to run around off leash. There was a sign asking that all poop be picked up and that aggressive dogs remain leashed, simple enough rules to follow.
"Don't get any females pregnant" he warned the pug before putting him in the pen and watching him able off to sniff a few butts. There was a big off-white hound that was jumping and playing around happily as his master shouted at him as well as a gangly looking mutt that kept looking anxiously back at its owner who also looked gangly… And could use a sandwich.
Bored with looking at the dogs he started to people watch, on the lookout for lady joggers in sports bras and tight capris with no rings on their fingers. All he got were power walkers and women pushing strollers.
"Akamaru!" a melodic female voice called cheerfully, catching Kakashi's attention.
A beautiful young woman with long blue-black hair and pale eyes wandered over to the edge of the pen and waved at the hound that went bounding over to slobber on her smiling face.
"Lucky mutt" he muttered, taking note of the way her jacket was clinging to her curves and thankful for the invention of skinny jeans.
She turned back to talk to the hound's, Akamaru he guessed, owner and he enjoyed the view she gave him of her butt. The dog owner, a scruffy kid with tattooed cheeks, was smiling at her with a goofy grin that told Kakashi that every word the pretty woman said was going in one ear and out the other.
She pointed him back toward the dog enclosure and smiled as she watch him walk back to leash his massive mutt and then come back. As she spoke she took the dog from the tattooed boy and began making it do tricks, rewarding the dog each time it behaved.
The owner eagerly gestured to get his dog back but failed at getting his dog to respond to any command, making the girl frown and turn back to go look through a large duffel bag Kakashi assumed she'd brought with her.
While her back was turned he watched the owner beam at his dog and indicated the dog to sit and give him a high-five...
Which Akamaru did flawlessly.
So the guy and his dog were playing dumb and the beautiful girl was a dog trainer? The clouds hovering over Kakashi's dismal day seemed to scatter and sunshine fell through as a brilliant idea came to him.
Someone had to protect the girl from the dog owner with less-than-wholesome intentions. And so what if her defender had designs on her himself, right? All his problems seemed solved.
"Oh Pakkun!" he sing-songed, getting his new pet's attention… Only for his pet to turn away again. It seemed Pakkun and the gangly dog were getting to know each other since the little pug was bouncing around the larger dog's feet, trying to get it to play.
"Pakkun!" he shouted again. He needed the dog to cooperate for his genius plan to work. "Pakkun! Oi! Mutt that destroyed my apartment!".
"D-do you n-need help?" asked a gentle voice and as Kakashi turned to look at the person who spoke he was suddenly thankful that his dog seemed to have developed attention deficit disorder for dogs.
The dog trainer he'd been watching so intensely was looking up at him with sincere concern even as she twiddled her fingers in the most innocent way. "I-I'm a trainer… M-maybe I can help? The p-pug is your dog, r-right? Try clapping as you s-say his name" she suggested.
Kakashi didn't even turn his head. He remained staring at her as he clapped a few times and called his dog's name. Pakkun could've been giving him the finger and he wouldn't have known.
She turned to look for him and smiled. "I-it worked. H-hello Pakkun" she greeted, bending over the fence so she could reach down and pet the small dog, giving Kakashi the most heavenly view it almost brought tears to his eyes. She picked the dog up and looked him in the eyes, smiling softly at him.
"Wh-what a cutie!" she chirped as Pakkun struggled to crane his neck so he could lavish her face with kisses.
"I just adopted him yesterday. We're having some… Problems" Kakashi sighed, playing it up enough to deserve an award.
She held Pakkun against her chest and turned all of her attention back to him, her expression turning sad. "Adopted? Th-that makes sense. Many sh-shelter dogs are only th-there because they n-need proper training".
Was it just him or was her stutter the cutest thing he'd ever heard?
"Yeah well… He wrecked my apartment while I was at work…"
She frowned. "You only got him y-yesterday and you l-left him alone f-for a day? You n-need to spend some t-time with him so you can know hi-his needs. He could've been abused o-or have a nervous p-problem… Plus bonds d-don't happen overnight" she admonished gently.
"I'm sorry! It was sort of an impulse decision since I was so lonely after my last girlfriend dumped me… I just wanted someone who would love me unconditionally, you know? I should've looked into it more and prepared myself but the pain of… Excuse me a second".
While it looked to the girl that he had to wipe stray tears from his face he was actually grinning like an idiot. She was buying every bit of his lie. As if he'd ever been in a serious relationship!
"Oh I'm s-so sorry! I just assumed…" the girl looked so worried that a pang of guilt stabbed Kakashi in the chest but he ignored it for the greater good of getting her number.
He composed himself and looked back at her, looking like he was forcing a smile. "That's alright" he sighed, "I just wasn't good enough for her… I'm Hakate Kakashi by the way".
"Hyuuga Hinata" the girl replied, biting her lip. She blushed but seemed determined to say something. "Y-you know that girl probably just wasn't th-the one. You seem so nice and friendly and handso-" she stopped, her blush increasing tenfold as she let out an 'eep' of surprise at her own words.
Did he say her stutter was cute? No it was the blush, it had to be the blush. He wondered how far down it went on her pale skin.
"You s-said Pakkun destroyed your apartment, r-right? Would you like some h-help cleaning up? I c-could teach Pakkun and g-give you a few lessons if you w-want" she offered generously. And here all Kakashi had been aiming for was her phone number.
"I couldn't keep you from your work. I've already wasted enough of your time" he said, though he knew it sounded reluctant.
"I-It's no trouble. Kiba-kun and Akamaru were my last clients of the d-day" she said, smiling. "Th-the first lesson is free, anyway and if you do wind u-up as a client then it w-will be good that I'm a-around your home and get t-to know you both… That is if you want to b-be a client!"
Kakashi grinned as he linked Pakkun's leash onto his collar and lead the way back to his apartment.
He did his best to listen to her questions and her suggestions of crate training, a dog walking service, and bonding exercises. In his mind he was busy imagining how he could bond with Hinata instead.
It wasn't until he reached the front door that he panicked on how he would need to hide the dismembered orange books on his bed.
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Author's Note: So there it is! An incredibly short and probably not very good oneshot starring Kakashi and Hinata! Hopefully you enjoyed reading it. Review if you like.