A/N: Hello peeps! Sorry for the wait! I've been reaaally busy these past 2 months (huh, funny that I'm busier during the holidays...) and didn't have much time to write. Will reply to reviews next update, I'm so sorry! The next update will probably be in March - I'll be going overseas soon, plus it's almost CNY (pineapple tarts! :D), so I won't have much time to write/edit. Sorry!

I've rewrote this chapter, thanks to the help of greeneman42! :D He's a great beta, really improved on the chap!

Hope this chapter is alright. Enjoy!

Shift 10

"Midoriya-kun," Kakashi said slowly, "haven't your parents warned you about strangers?"

"I'm already eleven! I can take care of myself." Midoriya smiled, lips wobbling. "Also, I saw you at the bank. You're trustworthy! You took down the bad guys, after all!"

Kakashi wanted to facepalm. Midoriya definitely had no sense of self-preservation.

"Where are you from?"

"I'm visiting my grandparents. They're the Kamatas, they live nearby." He tilted his head cutely. So much valuable information, freely offered. Oh dear, Kakashi should talk to Midoriya's mother about this. "What are you doing here?"

"I work for the Fujiokas'. You're, ah, currently on their farm."

"Oh! Sorry!" He flushed again. "Mariko-obasan normally doesn't mind though. Am I disturbing?"

Yes, yes you are, Kakashi thought mournfully as he shared a glance with his straw brethren. "Not at all," he said. "What were you saying?"

"Oh yeah. Where did you learn to fight like that? It's amazing!"

"Thank you," he demurred. He made no effort to say more. The boy was not deterred.

"How did you do it?"

"They couldn't even hold a knife properly. It wasn't a challenge."

"Can you teach me to fight like that?" His eyes were earnest and eager.

Oh? That certainly got his attention. "Why do you want to learn to fight?"

"I want to be a hero too!" He punched the air with one hand.

I want to become the Hokage!

Oh. The moment felt like déjà vu. The tingling down his spine felt as if someone had doused him with a bucket of cold water. He scrubbed his mine free from such painful thoughts and refocused back on the boy, who was green-haired, not blond. "And why do you want to be a hero?"

"I want to help everyone with a smile, like All Might! I'm q-quirkless, but I study hard!" He punched the air excitedly, eyes gleaming. For a mad second, image of a blond, energetic boy overlapped with the green-haired boy in front of him. Nope, not today, not now, he thought to himself as he shoved those memories deep down, buried it under a mass of Icha-Icha scenes.

The silence has grown awkward in the span of time it had taken for him to clear his mind. The awkward atmosphere was made worse by the excited boy staring at him with those bright, puppy eyes.

"Is that so," Kakashi finally said uncomfortably. Why was the boy looking at him like that? Heavens, he had forgotten how excitable kids his age could be.

"So? Can you teach me?"

"Sorry, I don't accept students." To get another student would be akin to admitting that he couldn't go back; it would be settling down here. He didn't want to get attached, not so quickly. Much as it would be a nice change from this slow pace of life, he didn't want to risk it. Not yet.

(To accept a new student would be bidding farewell to his old students, to his universe, to-)

It was too soon.

"Ask someone else," he suggested, then teleported away before the boy could ask more from him.

Midoriya's expression turned defeated, before he brightened again. It wasn't a straight-up no! He has a chance.

Kakashi scowled and looked across the cabbage plantation. The other farm-helper and Daichi were with him as they tended to the cabbages. However, he wasn't paying full attention to the current task at hand. There was a constant, niggling buzz at the edge of his senses that was getting on his nerves.

He tugged at the cabbage with more force than necessary. Daichi gently placed one gloved hand on his arm to still his motion. "Kakashi-san, be careful, you're damaging its roots!"

Kakashi sighed in frustration. "Sorry, Daichi-san. I keep feeling someone watching me for the past two days, and it's distracting." The last part was said deliberately loudly as he aimed a glare at a nearby bush.

He was sure the squeak wasn't his imagination.

Daichi chuckled. "The boy has taken a liking to you, haven't you, Izuku-chan?"

The boy popped up from the bush, twigs and leaves in his curly hair. "I'm sorry!" He blurted out, before he was up and racing back to the Kamata's farm.

Kakashi knew how Sasuke felt now. He totally empathised. Poor Sasuke and his stalkers. No wonder young Sasuke was in a perpetual bad mood.

Kakashi wondered why this was his life.

The third time Kakashi spotted a green leech lurking at his peripheral vision on the same day, he decided that enough was enough. He was distracting, and much as having an admirer was flattering, Kakashi did not appreciate someone tailing him, thank-you-very-much.

The boy was squatting behind a bush yet again, impervious to the amused giggling of passer-bys. None had the heart to inform him that, despite his green hair, he was far from being inconspicuous. Kakashi waited until Midoriya was distracted and slipped away from his line of sight. He approached an unsuspecting Midoriya silently from behind, standing directly behind him and waiting for a few seconds to see if the boy had noticed his presence.

When there was no reaction besides a muttered "where did he go?" The shinobi asked dryly, "looking for someone?"

Midoriya shrieked, turning around so quickly that he fell off-balance and landed on his bum. He flushed. "I-I'm not!"

Kakashi looked down on him impassively and made no move to help him up. "Oh," he said. "You're certain you weren't looking for me?"

"Haha." Midoriya's voice was remarkably high-pitched, his freckles standing out on his red face. "Why would I be?"

"Why, indeed?" He echoed, rubbing his chin in a mock thinking action. After a while, he shrugged. "Hmm, anyway. Stop following me. I'm still not accepting students."

Midoriya hefted himself up, actions stiff and defensive. "I didn't do anything!" He protested.

The silver-haired man was already ambling back to the farm. "If you say so," he drawled. He raised his hand in a goodbye without turning around.

A few seconds later, Midoriya's shout rang through the air: "I'll make you change your mind!"

Challenge accepted, Kakashi thought to himself. He felt a chill run down his spine - familiar tingling sensation that informed him that his Bad Luck was at work again - and thought that perhaps he shouldn't have challenged the universe.

Kakashi's preferred training ground was a small clearing in the forest. While not exactly hidden, it was a distance away from the fields such that barely anyone chanced upon it. None had any reason to venture there as well. It gave him a modicum of privacy, and at night, it was a safe haven for him to use ninjutsu without fear of anyone stumbling onto him.

Kakashi often slipped away to the clearing to rest, be it to read or train in his idle time. He only practiced kenjutsu and taijutsu in the daytime; ninjutsu was better done in the cover of the night. With no more missions to keep himself in shape, no genins to test or comrades to battle, he could only resort to putting in more effort in individual training to stay in shape. And pass time. Menial weeding work was, well, extremely boring, and sparring with the occasional shadow clone was better than nothing.

He wasn't lonely, per se. It was just a tad dull.

It was dull, until a green-haired leech stumbled into his life. Midoriya was excitable, with ambitious dreams and high hope. Naruto - it reminded him of Naruto.

Naruto had remained obstinate even when Life repeatedly slammed the door in his face. He had fought and fought, carving out his own path until his hands were bloodied and bruised, refusing to give up until the Hokage cloak was wrapped proudly around his shoulders, and his family safe behind him. He didn't budge; instead, he made the world change for him.

Midoriya seemed to have the same "screw you" attitude towards Life telling him "no" and... Kakashi didn't know how to feel about that.

The boy seemed insistent in trailing him, even go so far as to follow him when Kakashi stepped into the forest. Obviously, the boy paid no heed to Kakashi's blatant "stop following me" comment. Sage, was this how Minato-sensei felt when he went to train secretly behind his back despite orders to rest? He was sorry, Minato-sensei. He was such an insufferable brat.

They were barely at the edge of the forest, but it was far enough from the Kamatas' to incite worries in the boy's parents, had they known where he was venturing into.

Kakashi should have called Midoriya out; he should have turned the boy back. The child had no place following him into the forest in a misplaced bid to convince Kakashi to be his teacher. It was dangerous, and the boy could be hurt, and this was a foolish plan. Midoriya needed more common sense. Kakashi knew that was the logical path he should have taken; he considered it, then dismissed it.

Instead, the shinobi let him follow. What was life without some danger? A shinobi's life, even a child, was fraught with danger. A hero's would be, too. Furthermore, Kakashi wanted to test if the boy was intelligent enough to "track" him. It had nothing to do with fondness, he told himself.

He slowly made his way deeper into the forest, all the while keeping his attention honed onto the kid - to make sure he didn't get lost - even as his eyes never once strayed behind. The boy followed, occasionally lagging behind slightly but doing his best to remain unseen while keeping Kakashi in his line of side. Sometimes, Kakashi would hear cursing as the boy lost sight of him and struggled to keep up.

Kakashi chuckled softly and deliberately stepped onto a branch for good measure. It snapped cleanly into two, producing a very audible and loud crack that was bound to be heard by his little stalker a little while away. Ah, there he was. There was a cacophony of noisy rustling and broken twigs announcing the boy's presence as he stumbled after Kakashi.

Kakashi blundered about loudly for three more steps - just enough to ensure that Midoriya could hear and follow him - before switching his gait into the more familiar, silent one of a trained shinobi.

The crickets chirruped.

Midoriya paused, clearly befuddled by the sudden lack of noise. He could still see the man, but if he closed his eyes, it was as if his hero was not there? How the hero managed to walk silently in the forest was beyond Midoriya's understanding.

He blinked, and suddenly, his hero was gone too. He gaped, turning around once, then twice, but still finding no sight of the white-haired man.

After wandering around for ten minutes, Midoriya gave a frustrated yell, pulling at his hair. There was still no sight of his hero. Finally, begrudgingly, he trudged back the way he came from, out of the forest.

Perched atop the branch above Midoriya's head, Kakashi grinned. He wasn't going to make it easy for the boy, but he wanted to see how far Midoriya would go. Perhaps he needed more common sense too, but Hatake Kakashi's perception on normal had always been a little skewed.

Also, this was fun.

The second morning, Kakashi once again allowed himself to be followed. He entered through a different path, ducking under overgrowth and skipping past most of the dead leaves. This time around, his navigation through the forest was quieter, only making a bit of noise when the boy needed it. Every time Midoriya was too noisy, Kakashi made sure to pause and look around purposefully. His eyes would sweep past Midoriya's hiding place, and the boy would give an audible sign of relief. The sounds of crackling leaves lessened after a while.

When Midoriya stepped on a particularly dry branch, creating a painfully loud crunch, Kakashi's head snapped up.

The shinobi could feel the boy hold his breath, keeping as still as he could.

A pause later, Kakashi shrugged and continued his "forest walk", fully transitioning into walking silently while doing so. He allowed Midoriya to observe him for another five minutes before pulling another disappearing act on the boy.

The boy's search was futile once more. Midoriya muttered furiously under his breath for a few seconds before coming to a decision. He propped his hands on his hips, nodded in determination, and turned to head back to the fields. This time, his eyes were glued downwards, and his actions were careful.

As the boy left the forest, his steps were slower and more deliberate. Midoriya stepped less on loud, snappy objects on the way out, motion still clumsy, but it was an improvement.

From above him, shinobi's eyes curved upwards.

Lunch was at the Fujiokas', as per their daily routine. Neatly placing his shoes at the shoe rack, he followed the aroma of stir-fried vegetables wafting through the house to the dining table. Mariko-san was laying out her blue plastic placemats decorated with large hibiscus prints. She greeted him warmly, grey hair pulled back into a bun and sleeves rolled up to her elbows.

Kakashi moved to take the plastic container of utensils from behind her, only to be swatted away. "No need! Go check on Daichi, I've got this covered," she said cheerfully.

Never one to disobey orders, he dutifully ducked past the door curtain into the kitchen. Daichi was already transferring the vegetables from the wok into a bowl, scraping the last of the gravy down noisily with his wooden spatula.

"Do you need some help, Daichi-san?"

The older man placed the wok into the basin and wiped the sweat off his forehead with one burly hand. He smiled. "Here, you can take the dishes out," he said, wiping his hand onto his apron. "Thanks, Kakashi-san."

A plate of freshly-made croquettes and a bowl of stir-fried vegetables topped with garlic soon sat in the middle of the dining table. Daichi emerged from the kitchen with three steaming bowls of rice, and they dug in eagerly.

"I've heard that young Izuku has taken a liking on you," Mariko said, tone partially teasing.

Kakashi sighed. "Ah," he grumbled, "he wants me to be his teacher."

Both looked at him expectantly. Kakashi, unsure as to what they wanted, went back to eating quietly. He bit into the crispy skin of the croquette, the delightful flavour of meat and potato bursting in his mouth. They would clarify in a few seconds, he reasoned, if he remained silent.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, Daichi prodded a hesitant, "and?"

The shinobi raised an eyebrow.

"Are you going to be his teacher?" Mariko elaborated.

Kakashi placed his elbow on the table, chopsticks dangling from his hand. He pursed his lips slightly, eyebrows drawn together. "I don't know," he finally admitted. "I don't know if I'm ready for it again."

Sensing that this was a sensitive topic for their tenant, they hesitated, the desire to know more countered by ingrained politeness. Finally, curiosity won in Mariko. "You have taken students before?"

Kakashi gave a stiff nod.

"Do you... Do you want to talk about it?" She asked, peering at his face intensely. The shinobi shrugged even as his mouth twisted reluctantly.

"Okay," Mariko nodded. "It's alright, we don't have to know. You can tell us when you want to, Kakashi-kun."

"There's no pressure to become Izuku-chan's teacher," Daichi said. "He's an eager boy, but he can afford to learn some patience."

"But he's hardworking and determined, I'll give him that," Mariko quipped. Kakashi thought of the boy who doggedly followed him and found his lips twitching upwards. Those, he couldn't refute.

"You can wait until you're ready again," Daichi continued. "Take your time. In the meantime," he said as a slow grin stretched across his face, uncharacteristically mischievous, "won't it be a good time to gauge his capabilities?" Daichi chortled, shaking his head fondly. "Izuku-chan spooks easily."

Kakashi's grin was equally cheeky. "Maa, I know."

Mariko covered her mouth with one wrinkled hand. "Oh, poor Izu-chan. Did you sneak up on him?" She snickered. "More importantly, how was his expression?"

Kakashi's smirked. "Priceless."

After lunch, Kakashi decided that an afternoon walk would be part of his routine from now on. He informed the Fujiokas, both whom laughed loudly, giving him knowing looks and less-that-discreet mentions of the Kamatas.

"I don't know why you're eyeing me like that," he told them, eyes wide in a facade of innocence. They weren't buying it.

They told him the directions to the Kamatas' ("because you should know how to get to their house for future reference, of course") even though he didn't ask for it, before vaguely wishing him all the best. In actual fact, he had already known their address - and no, he did not stalk Midoriya; he was only making sure the brat reached home safely. Thus he set off while the sun was high and scorching, eager to find shade in the forest, where the temperature was bound to be a few degrees lower than the unbearable heat in the fields.

He sauntered past the Kamatas' farm, lingering just long enough to see a little green head scampering after him. Then, he headed towards the true destination of his walk: the blessedly cool forest.

If he felt a pair of eyes scrutinising his actions closely, more focused on his feet and stance than the direction he was heading towards, he said nothing. If he walked straighter, slower and more deliberately, no one would know but him.

End of Shift 10

That's all! Terribly sorry, I'll reply to the reviews in March.

Reviews will be appreciated! :D

-littlesparrowkeet