Sorry that I don't write the names of those who reviewed this time. I'm kind of in a hurry. Hopefully, 19 pages in word will be enough to make up for the long time I was gone.


Of Knives and Pens

All your life you had to stand in line.
Still you're standing on your feet.
Billy Joel-Don't Ask Me Why

Morning found Minato lazily getting up from bed. He yawned as he looked around trying to figure out what time it was, only stopping when he saw the small analog clock on his bedside table marking six a.m. The blond got up from the mattress, pulling the black blankets with him, and wrapped them around his shoulders to protect himself from the chilly air that seemed to be following him since the night before.

He put on the sandals he guiltily remembered not taking off in front of the entrance to his team's quarters due to the cold he feared would attack his bare feet if he did, and walked out of his room.

The door leading to Rin's room was already wide open, and upon further inspection the man discovered the young woman was not in there anymore. Minato grinned, happy he didn't have to wake the girl up, and slowly made his way to the other side of the small lobby that gave access to their rooms.

Tentatively pushing open the door of the last bedroom, the man's sapphire eyes met with Kakashi's back. The boy was sitting cross-legged on the carpeted floor, leaning to the front in what seemed to be a very awkward stretching exercise.

"Kakashi?" The blond gave a step into the room, raising an eyebrow at his former student's pose.

The grey-haired ANBU turned his head towards him, looking completely calm and much better than what he had the night before. And soon Minato met the reason for the teen's supposed stretching. A small puppy poked its head out of the safety of Kakashi's lap, looking at him with eyes that were both calculating and adorably innocent at the same time, and the blond was reminded of a much younger Kakashi listening to his lectures.

The teen observed how Minato opened his mouth to say something before closing it, a clear look of bewilderment taking over the sleepy features of his face. Deciding to help, Kakashi collected the puppy into his arms and slowly got up from the floor.

"He's Pakkun." The youth said, as if it explained everything. Noticing that the puzzled expression didn't disappear from his squad leader's posture—or face, for that matter— Kakashi elaborated further "I made a contract with him a few months ago, but I hadn't had the chance to train him."

Minato could only groan. "You shouldn't be summoning anything right now."

But the boy was no longer looking at him, his attention was focused on the small brown pug, which was in turn looking up at the youth, its jaw moving fast. Kakashi's dark eye focused back on the blond, the trace of a sly smile visible through the mask. That is, visible if you had known the boy for as long as he had. The blond's eyes widened slightly at the evident show of emotion, still unused to them.

"You're right, Pakkun. He is weird."

Minato walked into the room and closed the door behind him, noticing that because of the lit fire, that space was much warmer than the lobby. Still hugging the blankets close to himself, the man walked over to the boy slowly, examining the dog.

"Isn't he too young to talk?" He asked, ignoring the insult against him.

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders, allowing the pug to jump from his arms to the neatly made bed "He knows a few wor—" A hand pressing lightly to his forehead made him shut his mouth, and he trembled at the cold skin grazing his own.

Mumbled words from the older male soon led to a warm hug. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Kakashi felt more than heard the words. He pressed his head closer to the blond's chest. "Rin and I can handle it for today, you know…"

The teen suddenly let go of the man and looked down when he heard the pup at his feet, growling at the blond. "He's not going to hurt us, Pakkun." Kakashi raised his gaze to meet the sapphire eyes that didn't seem sure whether to express concern for him or to brush it off and smile at the little pug "I have a headache, but it's nothing. I'm fine."

Nodding, Minato threw him one last concerned look before sighing. He shivered and gave a frustrated whimper at having to get out of his warm cocoon to get into the cold ANBU uniform. "I'm going to see if Rin isn't hogging the bathroom."

Kakashi nodded, tentatively sitting in the floor once more. His rapt attention went back to the dog that couldn't be more than a year old, repeating commands slowly and explaining what he expected at the order.

"You need to bathe too, you know."

The boy looked up at him with a slight frown "I'm busy."

Minato chuckled, bending down to be on level with the younger male "You smell, baby." He leaned to kiss the boy's hair before the youngster could do anything about it and got up, quickly jogging to the door and leaving his blanket on the floor. "Remember, be in that weird dining hall at seven."

Hearing the door close, Kakashi looked at the mess of blankets the blond had just left behind and gave a frustrated sigh, deciding he would later drag the man to the room and threaten him until he picked up his things instead of doing it himself.

He picked up Pakkun from the new hiding place the dog had found amidst the blankets contaminating the boy's floor, placing the pup in front of him once more. Kakashi spent the next fifty minutes teaching the puppy more commands, teaching the puppy more words that couldn't be used in its young, awkward sentence structure, trying for the puppy not to jump into the blankets like they were a pile of leaves, and taking the puppy's sharp teeth off his mask when the animal tried to pull it down.

In the end, Kakashi just sighed and decided that training Kuma, his other dog summon, had been many times easier, but as he walked towards the bathroom with Pakkun in tow, he did admit to himself that he had been his father's dog first.

Kakashi ordered the pup to stay in front of the stairs, and when it seemed like it was going to obey his command, he scurried off to the bathroom, which was still warm from its previous users despite both of them being long gone. The boy touched the water that was still in the deep tub, testing its temperature. Satisfied, he rid himself of his clothes and braced himself for the sharp stinging that would attack all of his new wounds the moment the water touched him.

&%&%&%&%&%&

Three pairs of feet walked down the hall. One irritably, the other two a little calmer and lagging behind. After the owners of the two calmer pairs spoke, the other finally slowed down slightly.

"Well, I think it's a pity we're not trying for a bit of inter-house unity," The girl said, looking over at the two boys.

But the inter-house unity turned out to end right before it started when a group of teens with blue adorning the black of their uniforms looked at the green-eyed boy with fear before cowering and rushing for the large wooden doors that led to the Great Hall.

The boy-who-lived made a sarcastic comment under his breath and led the way into the Hall. Harry stopped suddenly, causing his friends to run into him.

"'Sup, mate?"

Harry took a second to make sure he wasn't seeing things and pointed to someone standing near the High Table. "That one's blond."

Hermione looked over to see the blond guard and raised her eyebrows at her friend. "Yes," When the teen didn't say anything else, but didn't make to keep on walking, she continued "so?"

The green-eyed boy took another second to gather his thoughts, then turned to look behind him and pointed at another person standing by the door. "That one's blond, too."

Both Ron and Hermione spun around only to see that no, their friend was not going crazy. Another blond, wearing the exact same hairstyle and mask was standing there, too.

The girl stared for a second, but was quick to push both of her friends towards their table when she noticed the man was now looking at them. They sat down near the teacher table, the rest of the long piece of furniture being occupied by their housemates, and did their best not to look at the man standing in front of them as they began eating.

Harry grimaced. "Dumbledore didn't say when Hagrid was going to come back."

Ron said something, but it was incomprehensible as bits of food came out from his mouth. Toad shifted to lean his whole weight on his right leg and turned his face away.

"That's gross, Ronald." Whispered Hermione before leaning in a bit closer to Harry. "Maybe he didn't want to draw attention to Hagrid not being here."

"Haw c'ud wee nt nticd?"

The bushy-haired girl made a disgusted face at her friend's eating habits and opened her mouth to reply to what she thought his question was when a cloud of smoke appeared before them with an almost silent poof.

The display had attracted the attention of many other students, and even a couple of teachers had gotten up from their seats and had drawn out their wands for cautionary measures. Neither of the guards moved even an inch. When the smoke cleared, it revealed the missing guard, wolf mask firmly in place and holding a small dog that promptly leaped to the ground. The silence the hall had fallen into was broken by Toad.

"You're… late."

The youth tilted his face to the right, the older male noticing the almost invisible cringe the motion resulted in. The boy took a look around the silent room. "Pakkun wanted to bathe, too, see."

There was a second of silence before a flat "Right." came out from both of the blondes' directions before the one directly in front of the silver-haired guard disappeared.

The short male took over the place the disappeared blond had been standing on; looking over at the table of teachers to silently indicate everything was fine with his hand. The adults slowly and distrustfully put their wands away, following Dumbledore's example of appearing completely comfortable with the events.

The students, on the other hand, began a round of what they probably thought was very silent chattering about the foreigners, though even the untrained Pakkun whined at the loud voices and moved next to Wolf, wordlessly glaring daggers at his pack leader for bringing him somewhere so annoying for his very first mission.

"Really, Pakkun, this is good training." When the puppy's look did not lose its edge, Kakashi resisted the urge to smirk "It's also punishment. I told you not to go into the bathroom, but you st—."

"—Impossible. No one can Apparate inside the castle!"

Kakashi stopped when he heard the commotion in front of him. He looked over, noticing the main charge and his friends giving him and his former teacher odd glances, then shifted briefly to Rin and then back at him. He didn't move, but added the foreign, unknown word into the repertoire of questions his team had for Dumbledore.

Instead, Wolf simply settled back into the wall of stone behind him, eyeing the food on the table with apprehension. He never did want to try something like that again. He looked down at Pakkun, smirking lightly when he saw the small puppy give a sleepy whine and press against his foot.

After a couple of minutes of his attention being divided between mindless chatter from the students, the feeling that his head was close to exploding, and Pakkun's head drooping at his feet when the ninken got too tired, Kakashi finally took pity on the poor animal and picked him up, scratching him behind the ears.

He contemplated Pakkun would need an identifying mark on him as the woman in green of the day before began to hand out small pieces of paper to each of the students in the table closer to him. He noticed with slight interest how she spared him a glance when she gave the slips to the trio of friends sitting right across from where he was standing.

Suddenly, everyone was moving. Wolf waited until the hall was mostly clear before walking over to his teammates, masking the pain that was ripping his head apart with a laid-back stance. Shrike's jagged breaths were easy to hear even with the distance that their heights put between his ear and her mouth. He grimaced while he watched their blond team leader slowly approached them.

"Be quiet or the enemy will kill you." He whispered.

To her credit, the girl didn't flinch at his cold remark, but she did stand up a bit straighter and attempted to take longer, neater intakes of air.

The Toad ANBU took a hold of their shoulders when he got to finally stand in front of them. It was a light hold, as if to remind them both that he was still there, but he let the warm contact end almost immediately, hands falling to his sides.

"I have clones on most classes right now." The man started, his face turning away from them slightly to look at the teachers, who were leaving the room by the door close to their table, then returned his hidden gaze to them. "But there are a few teachers we need to watch a bit more closely. Umbridge-san from yesterday, and also…" He paused for a second looking up at the enchanted ceiling, then petted the puppy in Wolf's arms. "Right. Snape-san, the man in all black? Anyway, I've heard some children complain about a class that is outside, so I'll save you two from the cold and keep an eye on that one. You two decide which class you want."

"I'll take Umbridge-san. She doesn't seem that nice, but she should be better than a grumpy man." Shrike said, grinning at the youngest male from behind her mask.

Kakashi rolled his visible eye, the girl was breathing hard again. He nodded, however, accepting the layout. For some reason he couldn't quite place, the boy had the vague idea that Umbridge was safer than Snape at the moment, and he simply could not bear to think of losing another of his teammates just for childish arguments.

Seeing the nod of his teammates, Wolf quickly disappeared to find someone to follow to the classroom. Just his luck, he found Snape himself, and the teen was quick to follow the man through stony corridors.

The boy cringed the second he entered the classroom, and he felt Pakkun attempting to shove his tiny head into his chest in an attempt to escape from the unbelievably foul smell that attacked their noses. The room smelled like rotten eggs, burnt flesh, along with some other things that he couldn't quite identify, and for once was glad he couldn't. The odor made Wolf want to hold his head and simply leave, it was really making his headache worse.

Of course, he couldn't just do that, and the young ANBU valiantly walked until he was standing in the corner of the room, almost completely shrouded in the shadows, a suddenly slumbering puppy in his arms. He too would have slept if that would save him from this torture, but he knew all too well that he wouldn't even be able to close his eyes with the pestilence. He noticed the teacher give him a look that would have probably made most of the kids tremble, one that would usually make the young prodigy smirk, though with his headache he only managed to look directly at him, letting his porcelain mask do its job.

The first two hours were more of a torture to Wolf's nose than it was for the young children who simply looked absolutely lost as to what they were supposed to do under the scrutinizing gaze of their teacher and the apparently threatening presence of the ANBU. For the third hour, the teen was able to get both himself and Pakkun some fresh air before they went back to the poisonous, windowless chamber.

"Before we begin today's lesson," Snape finally said, his glare switching from the unwanted guard to his own students "I think it appropriate to remind you that next June you will be sitting an important examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned about the composition and use of magical potions."

Despite just standing there holding a puppy, most of the teenagers in the class were looking at Wolf instead of their teacher, which in turn provoked Snape into virtually barking at their students or, the ANBU guessed would have been virtually barking if the man ever opened his mouth instead of talking through his teeth.

The boy shifted. Despite not looking like it, he was listening very closely to the words the oldest male spoke to the children. In the best of cases, he could later laugh along with his team at just how frightened some of the students were, and in the worst scenario, he hoped any kind of information could be used against the man.

Just a shadowy, silent presence that disappeared from their minds after a while, Kakashi's voice startled them as it rang loud and clear in the silent room at the end of the first hour.

"That girl's pot is on fire."

Snape looked over, his jaw clenched tight and prepared to berate the shinobi for speaking while people were working when he saw the cyan-pink flames that a girl from his own house had created and was now attempting to put it out. He silenced the Gryffindor's quiet chuckles with a glare before putting out the fire and emptying the cauldron, sneering at the guilty student.

"Start over." Snape said, then proceeded to look into Neville's cauldron and humiliate him to take the focus away from the previous incident.

For the second hour, Kakashi walked around the room in an attempt to clear his head and trick his other senses into pretending he wasn't fundamentally choking with every breath he drew in. It wasn't until he attempted to read the blackboard while inspecting the several vials scattered around the teacher's table that he noticed his vision was blurry around the edges.

Waking up Pakkun, he left the small pug on the floor and told him to stay put for a few seconds, then scurried out of the classroom and closed the door behind him. He breathed in the clean, cool air of the dungeons, immediately feeling his own head stop spinning. Well, choosing to guard Snape's class hadn't been such a good idea.

Wolf took a couple of minutes to cleanse his lungs from the damaging smoke and then went back inside, this time leaving Pakkun outside for the last few minutes while he kept an eye on the students. It was only when the youngster had the training ninken back in his arms that he heard Snape criticizing the Potter boy's potion, and he curiously looked around the room, noting the many other failures that seemed to be ten times more threatening than that one.

When everyone began moving around their desks and towards the teacher, Wolf made sure he had a secure hold on his dog before darting through the door as quietly as possible. He went around the several floors and hallways, Pakkun excitedly looking over his arms, until he found the room he was looking for. Several groaning children were coming out of a classroom, his female teammate leaning on a nearby wall, and looking at the first years through her expressionless mask.

In this floor, the walls had big arches that led outside, and allowed the rain from the sudden storm to slam against the students walking down the corridor. He tried to call Rin's attention with an arm, but she seemed unfocused.

He stood in front of her, straightening up as much as he could when he saw, not for the first time in the last couple of months, since the girl had been growing like something akin to weed, her head tilt downwards to look at him. With her shoulders slumped like that, she looked kind of miserable.

"Did something happen?" Wolf asked above the noise of the rain, ignoring the children giving them both awed and frightened looks.

She shook her head. "Not really. Umbridge-san is just… Well, I think Obito would be planning a prank against her if he could."

Wolf looked the other way, shifting his weight to his left leg and then finally looking up at Shrike. "Switch classes with me. The smell of Snape-san's classroom won't be as bad for you as it is for us. I can deal with Umbridge-san"

"Really?!" Even with her face hidden away, Wolf could easily imagine the delightedness of Rin's eyes at his words. Had he really misjudged the woman that badly? She seemed like an idiot, sure, but not much of a threat. Then again, he hardly heard her the previous night, and he had been too preoccupied with his own head almost imploding to check her over in the mess hall.

The grey-haired youth shrugged, nodding his head. Noticing Pakkun seemed to be a bit more awake and energetic than what he had been earlier; he placed the pug on the ground before turning back to Shrike, quietly explaining how to get to the classroom in the dungeons. "The students have lunch right now, from what I heard, so we'll switch after that."

He pretended not to notice the chakra-covered hand that touched his bare bicep, and he most definitely pretended not to hear the disapproval in Shrike's voice when she told him to stop doing things that would cause a relapse of his illness as the older teen attempted to shake the moist out of his grey hair.

Kakashi rolled his eye and vaguely signaled the hallway, smiling slyly when the girl actually huffed as she pushed past him. Watching her move fluidly down the hall, the boy focused on his puppy, who was looking up at him questioningly. Though the rain seemed to have woken Pakkun up, he didn't seem particularly amused.

"Come on. Let's work on your speed for now." The boy said before jogging away at a much slower pace than what he was capable of. He knew Pakkun would struggle, being so tiny and young, but training for a ninken had to start early if the shinobi wanted to develop their companion's abilities to the fullest. Of course, having so much trouble with Pakkun, Kakashi doubted he would attempt to make a contract with a newborn dog ever again.

By the time the pair reached the Great Hall, Pakkun was whining as loud as his lungs would allow, a stiff, uncoordinated paw trying to gain the attention of his master with awkward taps on the teen's sandals. The pug was tired, wet, and sleepy, and Kakashi would be lying if he said he didn't feel the same way.

Just as the young ANBU was picking up his ninken, a shadow surrounded them, stopping the rain from hitting them. Kunai in hand, Kakashi turned around, ready to fight off the threat (for that is what it was, if it had managed to sneak up on him), only to stop mid spin as his gaze met with a familiar face grinning at him.

"Hey you." At Wolf's stunned silence, Minato grinned even wider. "Rin thought you were taking too long, and since I was in the room getting this," He moved his arms, signaling the cloth that was covering them from the rain "I thought I wouldn't need my mask to come get you. My clones are taking care of lunch time. We have to eat something, too. I think the trip here is still affecting us all."

Kakashi was quick to recognize the white cloak that identified the blue-eyed man as an ANBU leader, his gaze quickly settling on the Toad mask tied to the older male's hip. The blond hair was dripping wet from being under the rain for two hours, but the man seemed to have gotten used to the cold, for he showed no discomfort.

Pakkun, on the other hand, looked excited to see another familiar face; one that had previously been nice to him and hadn't made him run all over the castle. He barked happily at the man, and stood on his hind legs as Minato tied his ANBU mask in place.

Sighing at the dog's attitude, the teenager grabbed the ninja hound in his arm and stood up, Minato following suit. The man collected his cloak from over their heads and wrapped it around his shoulders. He then motioned for the hall with his hand, almost mocking the way he had signaled to Rin earlier even though he was sure the man had not been there. Still, Kakashi walked.

"So," The man began a few seconds after turning into a hall that was not open to the outside. "I was thinking about what you said. And you're right, you know, the boy is almost here and…" His voice faltered, but he took a piece of paper out of his pocket and gave it to the boy, looking tenser by the second.

While Kakashi utterly feared what was written inside, he handed Pakkun to the man— mostly out of caution, in case whatever was inside would endanger the safety of his arms— and unfolded the crumpled sheet. Whatever the teen had been expecting, it wasn't that. Written in oddly neat characters, which was a feat in itself for the bond, were several names for boys.

He turned to look at the older male, eyes questioning. He knew most people wouldn't be able to tell, but he also knew Minato could read him like a book whenever he wasn't trying to be goofy.

"Is this…?" At the other's nod, his attention was back on the list reading over it carefully. Though the names were… Different, Kakashi couldn't say he expected any less from his former teacher. Not that he had anything to say about the matter, being named after a scarecrow. Dai, Konran, Son, Are, Arashi, Maki… "Naruto as in—"

"Yeah." He could hear the Namikaze's smile in his voice, and even though he had a list, Kakashi knew what the man's final choice was going to be. "I'll have to show them to Kushina and see what she thinks, of course, but… I… kind of wanted your opinion."

"Naruto works best." And it did. Not only it showed some ties to the origins of Kushina, but it was also the name of Jiraiya's main character. The true main character, not those others he used for later novels.

By the ecstatic hug he received, Kakashi knew he had given the correct answer. He tried not to groan at the sudden movement, but he knew the man had noticed the stiffness of his body. Despite himself, Kakashi looked around to see if no students could see them.

Pakkun had looked interested in the conversation up until the point he was almost crushed, and after that he struggled in the blond's arms until he was handed back to his master.

Their headquarters were quiet, Rin simply sitting on the floor reading through a letter, her half-eaten meal almost forgotten on the table behind her. She looked up as the two males were taking off their masks, and she smiled, extending the yellowish paper towards them.

"It's from Jiraiya-sama! He says he's coming every two weeks to pick up the mission reports." For someone who had not spent all that much time with the man, Rin seemed very eager about the prospect. "And Sensei, Dumbledore said he would answer our questions later tonight, after dinner."

Kakashi barely noticed the oldest of the group give a relieved nod and take the letter from Rin's hand before he settled down on the floor, taking one of the sides of the squared table and letting Pakkun sniff around until the dog seemed content to curl up next to the young woman.

While he served himself some of the food that had been clearly prepared specifically for them, Kakashi unbuckled his tantō from around his torso, letting it fall unceremoniously to the carpeted section of the floor. The male teen needed an excessive amount of focus to simply not spill half his food over the table with that stupid, shaking hand of his, and so was taken by surprise when Rin's giggles cut through the comfortable silence the trio had fallen into.

The boy looked up from his plate to look at the girl, but his gunmetal-colored eye was quick to focus on Minato's seething form. The squad-leader held Jiraiya's letter still, long fingers clearly struggling to restrain themselves from ripping the whole thing to shreds, if the bright flush of his face was anything to guess from.

Due to Rin's incessant giggling, Kakashi knew there was something wholly inappropriate written there. So he did what every mature shinobi would do: as fast as his stiff, feverish body would allow him, he leaned across the table and took the missive out of the older male's grip, unable to suppress the sly smile when he read Jiraiya's message for his former teacher.

"That's not bad advice."

"Shut it, you scamps. It's not a nice joke to make!"

The man's scolding, along with the bright red skin adorning his face only made Rin's giggling transform into full-blown laughter, while Kakashi tried not to snigger with all his might, for he knew his headache would only get worse if he did. Instead, the youngster handed the piece of scroll back to the man, who in turn snatched it out of his grasp.

After a few minutes, the girl left them alone to go to the bathroom, much to Pakkun's dismay. The silver-haired ANBU didn't stop eating, even when his former sensei did, but he did look up when he noticed Minato's eyes didn't waver from him.

"I actually thought you didn't like this kind of jokes, Kakashi." There was a whine to the man's voice that made the boy's smile widen. Really, while Minato was usually calm and composed, he was the only person he knew that would act like a child when he was expecting his own child soon.

"They're fine if they're not about me."

"Meanie." Okay. That he had gotten from Kushina.

While it was virtually impossible for a body to be warm after spending a hundred-and-twenty minutes out in the rain in a rather icy weather, Minato somehow managed, Kakashi discovered. The boy suddenly found himself surrounded by a snug cocoon that counteracted the chilly effects his fever had had on his skin for the past week.

Out of the corner of his eye, the younger male could see Pakkun watching them with intrigued curiosity, but he could not bring himself to make a sarcastic comment at the pug's tilted head. Not when he was that comfortable. He knew, of course, that this was all a dirty tactic so he would sleep and the medic of the team could make another overdue check-up; however, his already heavy eyelids were granted the weight of lead when the man's neck pressed against his nose and mouth over the thin fabric that hid half his face, lulling him with the rhythm of the pumping blood.

"I'll wake you up when we have to leave, Kashi."

&%&%&%&%&

"He's not taking any night shifts for a little while, sensei." Rin said as the gentle, green chakra disappeared from her hand "He shouldn't have summoned his hound."

Minato, of course, didn't need to be told that. He simply sighed and smiled a little at the fact Kakashi had eaten all of his food before he had to take such a drastic measure for him to be compliant to for his medical examination. "Well… yeah. But you know how he is. We'd have to chain him to a wall a few meters off the ground for him to actually do what he has to for him to get better medically. Or drug him."

The girl shrugged, smiling kindly at him before moving to pick up all the dirty plates and stash them in a semi-neat pile. Usually, that was Minato's job as the oldest, but seeing how he was trapped under ninety-nine pounds of stubbornness and fever, Rin shouldered the task.

"You seem to manage well enough without the chains or the drugs, sensei."

The man returned the smile, adjusting his position so he could still enjoy his meal despite the teen resting against his chest. "That's only because he was so tired already."

"No. You always could get away with things Obito and I couldn't, even if it was touching his shoulder."

Minato shifted once more when Pakkun decided to use him and Kakashi as a bed, making sure the pup wouldn't fall down and hurt himself. He then shrugged at Rin's comment, not knowing what to say. Up until a few months earlier, the man had always attributed that to the boy simply knowing him longer, being there when his father took his own life.

They finished eating quietly. Minato then used the reverse of Jiraiya's scroll to write a reply, along with a specific, sealed section directed at Kushina for her to see the his ideas for a name.

"How did this get here anyway?" The blond asked, waving the letter high in the air for Rin to see from the other side of the room, where she was sorting out some weapons.

"Oh. Some…thing brought it. Just leave it on the table."

Furrowing his eyebrows, the squad leader did as he was told. Gently squeezing Kakashi's arm, he leaned down to whisper that it was time to wake up, then rubbed the teen's back to ease the transition from the world of dreams to the real one, something the boy had always had trouble with.

Although he seemed groggy when he opened his eyes, the boy clearly looked more rested than before, the darkness under his eyes having disappeared somewhat.

Once everyone got up and was ready to move, Minato with his white cloak securely around his shoulders, the deep hood covering his bright hair from view, they made sure each of them knew where the others were going. The teens informed the adult of the change in their positions and everyone went their own way.

The first thought Wolf had about Umbridge was that the woman was extremely annoying. The students simply seemed to find her boring, and the ANBU hoped the dullness of the class and the squeakiness of the teacher's voice would diminish when she got older students.

Granted, every time Wolf wished for things to go better, they often went worse.

He saw Harry Potter walk into the class and mentally groaned. It was obvious the boy didn't have that good of a relationship with the teachers. Umbridge had that horribly fake smile that hurt his sole uncovered eye even more than the harsh tone of pink of her clothes, and Wolf didn't miss the dirty look thrown his way before the eerily silent children settled down on their seats.

Wolf watched, mostly with impolite disinterest, how the woman guided the fifteen-year-olds through a quick-learn course of Umbridge-approved greetings and answer formats before ordering them all to read their assigned textbook.

Only to have bushy-hairs raise her hand in something that was clearly not a question from the assigned reading. Great.

Honestly, though, Wolf was quite amused when the girl did not lower her hand for forty-five whole minutes, causing the rest of the class to stare at her. Even little Pakkun was looking over at her, tiny head tilted to the side in an unspoken question.

"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" Umbridge finally asked Hermione.

The girl's gaze quickly traveled to the guard in a nervous tick before she returned the defiant gaze towards the teacher "Not about the chapter, no."

'Damn it, girl. And you looked like the smart one out of them.' Wolf found himself thinking as adult and child kept challenging each other.

"Using defensive spells?" The laugh that followed made Pakkun give a step back towards his master. "Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"

Even to Wolf, who didn't know much about this world nor classrooms, such a thing sounded ridiculous. What is learnt in the classroom is meant to aid the students once they leave the academic institution. He didn't know how these people fought, but spells did seem to be an important part of their repertoire. As the discussion progressed, more people joining in to throw their opinions, Wolf simply repeated to himself that he could not imagine little academy brats just learning the theory of a Replacement Technique instead of practicing it until mastery or at least a basic degree of control. If they didn't they would be killed.

Approaching war or not, surely these kids were right to question such method of learning.

Then the stupid Potter boy asked the question that plagued his mind.

"There is nothing waiting out there, Mr. Potter."

Wolf thought there didn't need to be. Not really. But the intelligent light that had illuminated the teen for that one question obviously abandoned him as he responded with an obtuse 'oh, yeah?' followed by the name of the person the ANBU and his team were there to protect the boy from.

The reaction made the thirteen-year-old blister. Little screams, gasps, flinches and pale faces were the response to the simple word. A simple, harmless word. These people thought they were getting ready for a war?! Umbridge seemed morbidly satisfied with the thick-headed response Harry had given.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter. Now, let me make a few things quite plain." The woman leaned over her desk in a clearly threatening stance, and Wolf felt his muscles tense and lock in tightly in anticipation. Perhaps Toad was correct and Umbridge was a threat.

But it was clear the witch did not wish to bodily harm the boy, and when that was noticed by the students, Harry once again jumped to the attack with a stubbornness that landed him in detention.

Wolf could only roll his eyes at that. Even Obito knew when to stop when it came to teachers. He had seen him once when he had graduated and the Uchiha was still in the academy. Minato, still his sensei at the time, had been asked to deliver a message to a chuunin that worked at the academy as a small favor, and Kakashi had been dragged along before their mission. He could clearly remember Obito's comments to the teacher about his lesson, and had watched how the moment he knew the man was not going to take any more crap, the older boy had leaned back and resumed his work while a nineteen-year-old Minato picked him up to flicker them out of the room.

"…Dark wizards, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend. And now, you will kindly continue your reading. Page five, 'Basics for Beginners'."

The black haired teen stood up. And this time, Kakashi did groan. He saw the three kids closer to him turn to him in surprise, as if they had forgotten he was even there. With the attention span these people had been showing, it wouldn't surprise him.

'Just sit down, Potter.'

The boy showed he was not a mind reader when he opened his mouth for a shaky retort to come out. "So according to you Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?"

Kakashi knew about the Diggory kid. It had been part of the explanation Dumbledore and the Third had given his team as an explanation of why they were needed. Quietly, he looked over at Pakkun. The puppy was absorbing everything with an odd expression of understanding, even though it had never really listened to the language before. Perhaps the hound could understand languages on instinct?

"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident."

"It was murder. Voldemort killed him and yo—" Suddenly Harry found a gloved hand covering his mouth. His eyes widened and he turned just slightly to see the grey-haired guard, shorter than him by a whole head, looking at him. A feeling of intense fear ran through him for a second before suddenly stopping. He didn't feel like continuing his argument with Umbridge. The guard must have sensed it, because he took his hand away slowly.

"Come here, Mr. Potter, dear." The voice of the woman was no longer deliberately cold, instead replaced by a soft, girlish tone Kakashi hoped he never had to hear on Rin.

Still startled by the fast intrusion from the guard that had left all of the class looking at the masked male rather than him, Harry walked over to the teacher's desk, where Umbridge had begun to write something on a piece of pink parchment. Despite the angry scribbles, she was not looking at her own hands, but glaring at the short, silver-haired man.

She gave him instructions of what to do and Harry strode over to the door, only to have the guard stop him by the arm. Wolf hesitated. He knew he was going to regret this, but he bit the thumb of his free hand and slammed it on the floor, murmuring a few words.

A cloud of smoke was cleared by a big, brown hound that looked like an odd breed of a Labrador and a Rottweiler. The canine looked around the classroom sharply, a growl escaping the back of its throat. Its gaze stopped on Umbridge, who looked livid and was pointing a finger to Kakashi, and stopped, looking back at the boys.

"You only call me when there's danger, pup. What is it right now?" The whole class gasped and stared at the clearly female, though gruff, voice that the dog had produced.

Kakashi could swear the room tilted to the side, then swayed before stopping. His gaze fell in the face of his father's summon. "Nothing much, Kuma. I have to leave this room, but I need you to guard it. Maybe teach Pakkun a few things. Keep him out of trouble. When the kids start to leave, take Pakkun and find me, will you?"

The dog nodded, and Wolf turned around.

"Wait!" Called Umbridge. Wolf looked over. The woman was now walking towards him in a complete change of her sweet-girl charade. She pointed a stubby finger at his face and motioned at the two newly growling dogs with her other hand. "I order you to take these beasts with you!"

Despite the horrible feeling of nausea that had once again washed over him, Kakashi held his ground, pulling himself to his full height so he could stand above the woman even if it was just slightly. "I outrank you, and therefore, will heed no orders from you."

The woman shivered with fury. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before words finally tumbled out of her mouth "You sound like nothing but a child. How dare you even think tha—"

"Whatever age I might or might not be, the fact remains that I hold more power than you could ever imagine. I'll leave my hounds here." Kakashi didn't know where he got the strength to do so, but he nodded at Kuma and pulled Harry out of the door and down the corridor before the witch could reply.

Only when they were a safe distance from the room did Wolf let go of the green-eyed youth's arm. Though Harry looked at him several times, the ANBU did not sway from his strategic position at his back. The cold Kakashi felt was becoming truly unbearable, and he could feel both the heat that was racing to his cheeks and the debilitating force of a fever grabbing at his muscles.

Once Potter was safely inside McGonagall's office, her invitation for him to join them declined with a shake of his head, he walked over to a spot on the hall that looked hidden enough from view. Although he knew, in the back of his mind, that he had just enough strength to get to his own room, he couldn't bring his body up to par. He closed his eyes as he heard a thunder break the sky.

When he opened them, the first thing he saw was Minato's Toad mask, his blond hair uncovered. He could feel the man's hands holding his head, and could barely make out the sound of his concerned voice through the static of his brain. He was asking him if he was okay, where it hurt, what had happened. He then heard a distinctive bark that sounded a lot like his name. Minato's tone transformed to a disbelieving one when the big dog arrived at their side with the little pug hanging from the neck between her teeth.

"You summoned again? Dammit, Kakashi!" When the man used his real name instead of his codename, the youth knew, vaguely, for he was having a lot of trouble with the knowing of a lot of things at the moment, how angry the blond really was.

Kakashi could feel himself being picked up and did not struggle. With his face tucked between Minato's shoulder and neck, the boy had little to no idea of what was going on around him. He could feel movement, faintly hear voices, but he had no real intel of his surroundings.

Minato flickered to the door of their headquarters—having discovered earlier that day that he couldn't get inside for some reason— and quickly gave the password before running inside the room, up the stairs and into the small teen's room. He deposited Kakashi on the bed, untying his mask and feeling the warmth of the boy's skin returning. Cursing under his breath, he unclasped the ANBU chest armor and proceeded to remove the tight shirt from the boy's torso. Not knowing what else to do, he removed the rest of the boy's armor while his clone arrived with Rin.

In reality, the older male knew the young woman had only taken less than two minutes to get there, but to him it had felt as if an hour of raw panic had gone by. She sat down on the other side of Kakashi's body and took out a pill from a small container. The whole thing looked like a tiny, transparent plastic bag with dark blue liquid inside, causing a peculiar effect of the color floating in mid-air.

While the man watched, the girl gently lifted the Hatake's head from his pillow and carefully forced the capsule into his mouth. When the boy whimpered at the taste, she squeezed his bare shoulder and shushed him. Once Rin was sure the pill was no longer on her teammate's mouth, she took off his hitai-ate and held her thumb to his forehead.

"Don't fight it." A tender flow of chakra was transferred, and both healthy shinobi observed how the boy slowly fell asleep. Rin breathed a sigh of relief.

"Was that a soldier pill?" Minato asked a few minutes later, Rin now sitting on a chair next to the bed while the blond sat on the mattress next to the younger male, his hand holding the other's tightly. Both dogs were resting in a far corner of the room.

Rin shook her head "Not exactly. Soldier pills are temporary solutions and give raw energy. After being on the same team with Kakashi and Obito for so long, I realized they kind of needed something else, so I created these." She handed him a flask full of the blue pills. "They make the user lethargic and increase the production of chakra. Of course being asleep helps even more so I…" She vaguely motioned to Kakashi's unmoving form. "I didn't use them on him before because they're still a prototype. I was going to test them on myself first. His chakra levels were so low that I had to, though."

Nodding, Minato handed the pills back to the girl, who placed it right back into one of her two hip pouches. The man couldn't help the proud grin that took over his features at seeing his student, once a shy little girl and then a rather insecure pre-teen, advance like she was doing. He was happy for Kakashi, too, despite the headaches the young man managed to give him sometimes. Obito had earned the biggest prize on that sense, however; the boy had grown up the fastest and had never wavered.

By the time Minato noticed, one of his clones had just dissipated, getting him some information about the quarters all of the students lived in. As he went through the clone's memories, he looked at Rin, confused.

"These people have interesting interior decorating ideas."

Having been watching the grounds, or at least pretending to because Minato had no idea how she could see anything with the rain falling and hitting the window in an impressive cascade, the girl looked down to smile at him before jumping down. She took off her glove and felt Kakashi's forehead with the back of her hand.

Brows furrowing at the female's expression, the blond let go of the boy's hand, placing his knuckles against the other male's solar plexus. Though it was usually formed in the stomach, teens' chakra was most easily felt in that spot, while adults' were stronger around the heart, throat, or forehead and older people's was often easily detected in the top of the head. Minato couldn't feel all that much chakra, but the heat his own network received was enough to tell him Kakashi was in a rather fast way to healing.

"Is something not working right?"

Startled out of her thoughts, Rin shook her head. She made a meek attempt to comb Kakashi's hair into more-or-less acceptable neatness and sighed, finally looking back to the pair of dogs resting on the floor. Pakkun was sleeping soundly by the heat the bigger dog provided, but Kuma was looking at her summoner intently.

"You shouldn't worry. Kakashi-kun is going to be just fine. He just needs rest. He shouldn't skip dinner either."

The dog looked at the girl warily and refused to nod at her. She hadn't been given all of the details, and Pakkun had managed to make a mess of things when trying to explain, but that didn't change the fact that her original pack leader's puppy was in bed with two obviously worried teammates surrounding him. Kuma got up from the floor after making sure Pakkun wouldn't wake up and jumped on the bed, settling herself between the blond man and the teen.

Minato didn't seem to mind the intrusion, even caressing the back of the dog's ears before making more space for her by getting up, but Rin frowned slightly.

"The heat from your fur will—"

Her former teacher silenced her with a cold finger to her lips at the same time the trained ninken growled at her. Kuma then placed her snout in the crook of Kakashi's neck, closing her eyes. Kakashi's labored breathing decreased to a regular ratio in an instant, some of the tension Rin had been able to feel in his shoulders and back visibly easing.

"Clones would have taken a slower, but similar toll on his chakra, Rin. He summoned because he knew about this." 'This' being the apparent feeling of absolute safety the teen boy got when the big dog was close to him. "I saw Kakashi sick once when he was much younger, only a few months old, I think, and getting Kuma to cuddle him up seemed to be a common practice of Sakumo-san's. Almost every time I've seen him sick since then, Kuma has been around somewhere."

Rin still frowned slightly, because dogs were known to be warm, while this time her teammate needed at least a temperate weather. She knew, however, that trying to fight with an experienced ninja hound that was in a protective mood was not a smart thing to do. Instead, she sat on the floor next to her teacher, asking the man on different strategies they could use to make sure the students were never on their own, even during nighttime.

When they noticed, the hour used for dinner by the students was over. They got up and put on the armor they had taken off to be more comfortable. Minato looked at Kakashi, still dormant under half the canine, and doubted. Coming to a decision, he walked over and gave the boy a kiss on his uncovered lips. Kuma opened one of her eyes to study him, but did not bother moving.

The blond smiled at the ninken for the vote of trust. "We're going to a meeting with the client, Kuma, I don't believe we'll be long. If he wakes up, don't let him follow us… not that I think he could, but still. I'll give him food when we come back."

Kuma nodded and once again closed her eyes. Rin, trying to make amends, gently placed Pakkun near the older dog, still making sure the tiny puppy was somehow touching the teen boy's skin.

The hound looked at her uneasily, but begrudgingly allowed her to give Kakashi another blue pill before both able ANBU slipped out the door and hurried to the Great Hall. Their arrival was received with alarmed glances of the few students that were still around.

While most of the teachers were gone by then, both McGonagall and Dumbledore stood and walked up to them. The witch nodded stiffly while the older man smiled calmly and motioned for them to follow him. Out of the corner of her eye, Rin saw Umbridge glowering at them, though she made no attempt to follow or stop them.

Instead, the pair of ninja followed the oldest wizard, being in turn tailed by the older witch. Minato's mouth twitched slightly at being treated as a war prisoner who had lost the will to fight. He glanced back at McGonagall and made sure Rin was close enough to him so he could protect her in case of grave danger.

"Blood-flavored lollipops" The old man whispered when they arrived in front of a gargoyle, and Shrike and Toad can't help but look at each other in something akin to wonder before following the man in the stairs suddenly made available for them.

While Dumbledore sat down behind his desk, and kindly told the other three to sit down, McGonagall and the shinobi refused to do so. The ANBU, however, did make it a point of taking off their masks. This was the client, after all, and clients hardly trusted people who didn't show their faces.

"My, Minerva, how right you were. These do seem rather young." Dumbledore did not seem frightened or angry, simply amused, though these was an almost undetectable edge to his voice that told Minato about the sadness he felt towards the culture of Konoha. "Well, whatever the case might be, I do believe you had some questions for me?"

As the Team Leader, it is Toad who steps forward, bowing while Shrike imitates him in the background. His voice abruptly becomes two or three tones lower, just like he has always noticed it does when giving important reports or treating with an unknown situation (oh, how Obito teased him—how Jiraiya-sensei teases him still). He asks about the language spell first, because he refuses to keep talking if he is not completely sure what language he is speaking.

The old man in fact laughs merrily at them for a few seconds before replying, explaining how the spell works as a sensor. "Magic is somewhat different to chakra, I'm sure you know that by now" He says, and the blond feels Rin waver with a sense of anger at the suggestion they might have taken such a long time to notice. "The spell activates when the sensor believes their chakra is trying to reach out for a wizard's magical core."

The next one is about the Ministry of Magic and the order. Dumbledore patiently explains the relations between the two, their different beliefs, how one must never be mentioned outside of a safe environment (namely nowhere, Rin concludes) and how the Ministry managed to infiltrate in the school by taking advantage of his lack of teachers for the Defense Against the Dark Arts course.

It is only then that Rin remembers a question Kakashi had asked while they were eating earlier that day, and she comes to stand next of Minato with a serious questions whose answer leaves her baffled, because none of the so-called unforgivable curses that everyone seems to fear sound all that threatening to her ears.

Minato resumes the questions with the missing Care of Magical Creatures teacher, and this answer does please him. "He is trying to obtain help from some strong allies. If he is to succeed, we believe the battle would lean in our favor." Is what the Headmaster tells them.

They learn that apparition has a similar effect to their Replacement Technique, but that the bases are not the same for both and that enables them to perform it with no problem while the students and most of the faculty cannot do their own.

The answers are easy to understand, the harder ones only needing a moment to process in their brains for them to understand. It is their instinct kicking in that allows them to swallow such a great deal of information in such a small place in time.

"We would like a map of the school. So far, we have found our way, but a map would make it much easier to plan our rounds and create emergency plans in case of an unseen attack." Minato requests as he is placing his porcelain mask back on.

Dumbledore's smile widens "I am afraid that would not be possible. The castle changes at will, and a map would not be able to follow in the way it is supposed to. Some of my most… ambitious students have made attempts to make one, and though there is one that works well enough, there are many blind spots that you, as guards, must be aware of."

Although Rin is not sure why the man is comparing his own abilities to those of his students (as if the Hokage compared himself to the rest of the village or a Chuunin teacher did the same to his academy disciples) she, along with her former sensei, swallow their disappointment at the news.

"We were also wondering if we could engrave a name on a stone. It doesn't have to be here, exactly, but maybe on the Forbidden Forest." Rin asks not a second afterwards.

"A name?"

Minato winced at having to explain. "One of our teammates died in battle a little over a month ago, and we would appreciate if let us—"

This time, Dumbledore did not bother trying to hide his sorrow, and Minato felt a sickly sensation prickling at the back of his neck at it. "Of course you may do so. I also have a request for you. It has come to my attention Mr. Potter has gotten a series of detentions for himself, and I would like that one of you is there with him at all times."

They nodded and Dumbledore got back on his feet. He grabbed a small vial that had been sitting on his desk, among many silver decorations the shinobi tried not to get distracted with, and walked over to them with calmness. He extended the glass over to the male.

The father-to-be took it and tried to make out the runes and pictures that adorned the label, to no avail. "Excuse me, what is this?"

The twinkle in the older male's eyes returned. "One of our medicines. Your friend will appreciate it, I'm sure."

When he didn't say anything after that, both shinobi bowed and left the room. When they arrived at their headquarters, dinner was already on the table, the letter Minato had left there nowhere to be seen. Balancing everything between the two of them, they made their way towards Kakashi's room.

The boy was awake, though Minato could see he looked every bit as anemic as he had done when he had first arrived at the village after his long mission. Pakkun was firmly settled on the thirteen-year-old's lap, and Kuma was rubbing her snout on the teen's stomach. He barely looked over when they approach.

They placed everything on the floor and prepared the food. Getting everything into the plates, Rin gave both hounds their own share before making sure Kakashi was comfortable enough grabbing her own plate while Minato sat next to the boy patiently asking him to open his mouth so he could eat, which the teen's fever-hazed mind had difficulty comprehending.

After a long while, everyone was done with their meal, and Minato gave a final glance to the odd vial Dumbledore had given him before carefully making Kakashi drink it. Even when Rin had gone to make her own rounds in the castle, Minato stayed by the boy's side until he fell into a deep slumber. Preparing mentally for the next day, the man asked both ninken to protect Kakashi.

Kuma snorted at him. As he retreated to his own room. "The pup's been through a lot. This won't beat him."


Some dialogue has been taken directly from J.K. Rowling's The Order of the Phoenix

That awkward scene where Kakashi goes to Rin and then they both go to the Great Hall, it looks like that because I thought there was no break between classes and that Divination was the last class instead of DADA. So…

All of possible-Naruto names mean something along the words of whirlpool and storm. Except for Son. That one is for Son Goku (Or just Goku, in the non-japanese version), who was an inspiration for Kishimoto to write Naruto.

The ANBU cloak is going to be the one they use in the chapter where they look for Sasuke (of course, all in black or white), because… well, because ANBU cloaks make no sense! Have you seen them?! They're all closed and have no pockets! The sleeve design is stupid! So, yeah, the design is going to be the one that actually makes sense.

By the way, if anyone was wondering, Jiraiya's advice was something about Minato not letting the title "yellow flash" take over all aspects of his life (coughcoughspeedcoughcough).

Kuma means bear.