Boone stumbled through the dark house, pausing over his sleeping friend. "Pakkun, wake up." He nudged the small dog. "She isn't back yet."

Pakkun stretched and glanced at the window. The sun had set. He wasn't worried. Well, not too worried. She was with Kakashi after all, but he'd been so reluctant to go through with this Pakkun had expected him to bring her home a lot sooner.

Maybe he'd actually enjoyed himself.

"We should look for her. I bet we could find her pretty fast working together." Boone's jaw chattered in agitation. "I should have followed them when she left."

The little pug yawned. "Kakashi won't let anything happen to her," he reassured. "They'll come back when they're ready."

"I know he won't but, I have a bad feeling. Every time she leaves I have a bad feeling. Like something bad happened," he started pacing and licking his lips. Pakkun watched him uneasily. It seemed like the seal Kakashi had used did work on his memories, but not completely. He remembered how it felt. Just not what caused the feeling. Luckily he hadn't been exposed to any of the ANBU involved in taking her. There was no telling whether that might trigger a more concrete memory.

"How did her hand get hurt?" he barked. "I know something happened back then, but I don't know. I wasn't there and I should have been!"

"Boone," he said sternly. "Don't worry about it. We have the best doctors in Konoha and her hand is fixed now. She's safe."

His words didn't make much difference. Boone was fixated.

He didn't have to try to calm his friend for too much longer at least. They both scented their favorite humans outside. Together they slipped out to greet them.

Kakashi carried Mari in his arms. She was fast asleep. Kiba lounged on a thick tree branch with at least two sleeping hounds and called out, "Oi Kakashi sensei! Did you and Mari have a good lunch?"

The silver haired jounin glanced up. "Yeah. Where should I take her?"

"Pakkun can show you," Kiba shot him a wicked grin. "There's a spare tatami mat in her room. Just sayin'."

Pakkun motioned him to follow and turned back toward the house.

They entered through the hospital door, so as not to disturb Hana and the Haimaru Brothers. Mari's room was the first door past that. Pakkun pulled her mat out of the corner and unrolled it with a nudge of his head. Moments later, she was lying comfortably on it with a pillow and blanket tucked around her. Boone made a delighted grunting sound and curled up next to her hip.

"Where is Sholpan?" Kakashi asked.

"Sleeping," Pakkun sighed. "Since Mari wasn't here she went and laid down with Kiba and Akamaru. She sleeps with her eyes open. it's kind of creepy actually."

"Have you been fed?"

"No," Pakkun lied. Hana had fed them all, but no self respecting dog ever passed up the opportunity for a bonus meal.

His master sighed. "Follow me." They traveled to his apartment in silence.

Kakashi prepared Pakkun's meal first. Todays mask and shirt were tossed into a laundry basket. His flak jacket carefully draped over the back of a chair so he could inspect it and make sure everything was intact and well stocked before tomorrow.

He caught Mari's scent again as he opened and closed the pockets on the front, restocking scrolls and other tools.

Damn it. This wasn't part of the plan. Not that he had a plan, but whatever pit of isolated emptiness he'd imagined as his future certainly didn't involve sitting on a rooftop watching the sunset with a mysterious foreign girl he could only marginally communicate with. That kind of stuff was limited strictly to self insert Icha Icha fantasies.

Still, he couldn't deny the warmth he'd felt at finally seeing her relaxed and smiling. Maybe that's what it felt like to have a woman in your life, but as a friend. He felt warmly to all his friends, so this must be the same thing. He just felt more responsible for her because she was a fragile defenseless civilian. That was all.

He sighed, leaned his forehead against the back of the chair and inhaled again. Her fragrance brought back a vivid memory of her face tipped toward him as he lifted her into his arms, the way her body relaxed as she leaned close and inhaled his scent.

Pakkun finished licking his bowl clean and hopped onto the bedcovers. "So," he began, "how did you manage to spend ten hours with her and not even kiss?"

Kakashi ignored him.

"Isn't that how humans show affection to each other? They mash their mouths together?"

"We ran into Gai," he deadpanned.

That quieted him down. Kakashi wondered how he managed to raise such a smartass dog. No, make that eight smartass dogs. "I didn't expect her language skills to be this advanced."

"She's a good student," Pakkun admitted.

"With an excellent sensei."

He tucked the last storage scroll into a pocket, then crawled into bed and laid flat on his back with his hands behind his head. Gai thinking they were a couple was troublesome, though there was a good chance his exuberant friend would forget about it by tomorrow. Kiba's lewd remark though. How many people had drawn that conclusion?

Pakkun turned in a few tight circles on his bare chest and laid down. "How did you get her to fall asleep so soundly?"

"Eh?"

"Mari. She doesn't sleep. She gets twitchy and anxious. And when she does finally sleep any little sound wakes her up. Sometimes I think even silence wakes her."

The uncomfortable memory of her being taken by the ANBU in the night came to mind. "Did that start before or after Ibiki?"

"She was always like that."

At least one problem wasn't his fault then. Pakkun shifted and repositioned himself, then wiggled and repositioned himself again. "What's wrong?" Kakashi asked, lifting his head so he could see his dog better.

"Mrmph. Nothing. Mari's chest is more comfortable than yours though. "

Why did that subject keep coming up? He rubbed his nose uncomfortably, which Pakkun did not miss.

"Every night when she lays down," he began, "she curls up on her side and puts her hands up by her face-"

"Pakkun-"

"and it makes the perfect spot, right under her chin." his master pulled a pillow over his reddening face. "And so I lay down there, curled up against her nice, soft, chest. It's like two warm pillows-."

"Pakkun, stop," came the muffled response, his voice unusually shrill.

"I thought you liked that sort of thing," he said.

"Not tonight."

Pakkun snorted, then laid his small head down. The rapid beat of Kakashi's heart pounded in his ears. Mari wasn't the only one who had trouble sleeping. The dog already had years of practice calming an anxious boy every night before bed.