A/N: I am in the mood to write! :D So, great, new chapter! And thanks so much for the reviews, they just make me happier you know? ;) I hope you like it :]
Review Replies; (again, if I spelled names wrong I'm sorry :O)
Lazy Gaga – I hate boring classes ;_; they just drag on forever! Thanks for the review (: notgonnasay09 – Awh, I'm sorry :( I'll try to make more sense ^_^ me – Thanks! ^_^ Fk306 animelover – Thank you :) Ooooh, sppooookkky! :D:D coyote86401 – I like creepy I guess :D Thanks for the review (: NaginiFay - *dom dom dom!* Haha, thank you (: Prescripto13 – Demons make for some good creepiness :D:D Thanks deary! :) yokid – My mind will tell in time ;) RUMBLINGROCKSBUZZ – It's time to update ^_^ Yay! Thanks :D Ninjapirate101 – Honestly, ghosts are just everywhere these days, am I right? :D haha RaynexHatake – Thank you so much for your review! I've been on this for a while, but practise makes perfect :] I'll work on it :D:D and also, thanks for telling me what you think! It helps a lot (: Kakashi is probably one of my favourite characters ever just for his laidback attitude! So yes, thanks again :)
Chapter Seven – Crunch
"Imagination has brought mankind through the dark ages to its present state of civilization. Imagination led Columbus to discover America. Imagination led Franklin to discover electricity."
- L. Frank Baum
Perhaps he was going crazy. Maybe he already was. But there was one thing Hatake Kakashi was sure of, and that was that he had bought some annoyingly colourful Shibo! Cereal yesterday.
Yes, the stupid card company had decided that it wasn't enough to destroy young kids' minds with plain Shibo! Cards. They needed to make cereal, comics, posters and clothes with the characters faces plastered all over them.
Naruto forced Kakashi to sit and read the comics or watch the way-too-happy characters on TV as they tried to catch their nemesis Hachirou before he caused too much damage to their home. Daichi was the lead, with bright red hair and a famous catchphrase of 'If you can do it, so can I!'. Every time he said it, Kakashi felt himself die a little inside when he saw Daichi giving a thumbs up and a cheesy smile.
The girl on the front of the pack of cards was Hanako. Though she didn't have a catch phrase, she was a very important character. She was the girl that Daichi was madly in love with and did everything in his power to make her fall in love with him.
It vaguely reminded Kakashi of how Naruto was 'in love' with Haruno Sakura. He sighed and shut the cupboard, deciding to just go buy another packet of the cereal himself since he knew Naruto would eat nothing else.
Naruto had decided to train by himself today. Kakashi had merely nodded when Naruto mentioned it, but that was because he was used to Naruto's routine. Naruto trained at least three times a week by himself, once with Sasuke and two times with Iruka. Sakura flat out refused to train with Naruto, let alone be seen with him outside of the school. Kakashi trained him from time to time, but Naruto could never keep up and Kakashi was not prepared to go easy on him.
If it were a real ninja enemy attacking Naruto, he doubted they'd slow down and give him a chance to catch his breath…
As he walked down the bright streets, he noticed Gai and Goro. Goro was staring at a Shibo! Card, and Kakashi wondered how far this phenomenon had spread. Gai was scratching his soup bowl-shaped hair.
"So what does Kichi do?" he asked.
Goro shrugged. "I'm not sure, I just confiscated these off some kids in my class because they weren't doing their work."
"He looks so youthful!" Gai screeched, giving his trademark smile and almost blinding Goro. Goro chuckled and outstretched his hand, the card between his fingers.
"I wouldn't do that," Kakashi murmured.
Goro paused. "Why not?"
"Kichi is the strongest player…He's able to beat Ryo, and no one was able to beat Ryo until Daichi managed to recruit Kichi in the fourth comic," he told them.
Goro raised an eyebrow, but Gai was fascinated. He leaned forward, eyes sparkling and heart thudding. To Gai, this game sounded perfectly youthful and he was more than willing to try it.
"Daichi you say?" he asked.
Kakashi nodded and stuffed his hands into his pockets. The card game itself wasn't hard to understand, but the comic went into a lot of detail and surprisingly, Naruto completely understood it. In fact all of the children at the Academy could understand it, but most of the senseis who tried to keep up with the comic didn't get it.
How could Daichi possibly defeat Ryo using just a piece of cloth? And why on Earth did Hanako like Ryo?
He shook his head. "I'll see you later guys."
As he walked away, he could hear Gai yelling after him.
"Kakashi, my rival, I promise to beat you at this Shibo! game!"
Naruto was running. His heart was thumping against his rib cage, so painfully that he felt tears sting at the corner of his eyes. He shook his head and kept running.
"Wait, wait Naruto!"
He stopped. He knew that voice! That was Kakashi's!
He smiled brightly, his fear subsiding. In his young mind nothing could go wrong when the fearless Mask Man was around! He had been right. His fear was gone when he saw Kakashi, who was leaning away from him a little, rubbing the fabric of his jacket.
"Naruto, why were you running?"
"H-He was chasing me, Kakashi! Didn't you see him?" Naruto asked, looking behind Kakashi. Naruto turned away from Kakashi, craning his neck around to see if the thing was behind him.
Thump.
Naruto jumped and spun around, just in time to see Kakashi change into a dark shape and start to walk towards him.
"Well, I think I saw him…," he murmured in a husky voice.
Kakashi didn't hear Naruto wake up from his nightmare, mainly because he hadn't been watching. He only noticed Naruto's bleary eyes blink a few times before he fell back asleep. He hadn't been too worried. It had been weeks since Naruto moved into Kakashi's, and nothing much had happened.
He had been in the kitchen, making Naruto a breakfast before he went to the Academy. Naruto hadn't even twitched in his sleep, but he snored. Naruto always snored. It was like an earthquake every few seconds.
"Hey Naruto, come on get up!" he called.
Then he opened the cupboard and stuck his arm in blindly, looking for the box of cereal he had purchased yesterday. Yes, Daichi was on the front, smiling with Shibo! scribbled on the top in messy writing and with his trademark 'If you can do it, so can I!' on the bottom.
When he couldn't find it, he sighed. He knew that he had bought it. He knew that he had put it in the cupboard, because when he had gotten home, Gai was waiting for him with ten packs of Shibo! in a bag, demanding that Kakashi teach him how to play.
"Where the Hell is it…?" he muttered. Sighing, he stood up and went to wake Naruto up.
The only thing he could see was Naruto's tanned foot sticking out of the blankets, and his loud snores. Kakashi rolled his eyes and pulled the blankets away
"Come on Naruto, get up."
"Ten…more…minutes…" Naruto begged between snores.
Kakashi gave up and went to find the cereal. Surely he wasn't going insane, was he?
