Thanks for all the Faves, Follows and Reviews!
.96780: I wonder...
Outofthisworldgal: I would hate to have Kaida's sense of smell lol.
Mason Oury: Pairings are still up in the air at the moment.
Dark Neko 4000: Lots of things; birthdays for sure.
Hope this is a good read! I had to rewrite most of it because of the previous writing program fiasco. thanks for reading! Also, crisp high five for anyone who figures out what kind of dog his nin-ken is!
Chapter Seven
Tsume laughed herself silly.
Kaida managed to convince the dog to back up off his, heavy, curled tail wagging back and forth. Sitting upright, Kaida got a look at his attacker.
He was big, with thick, dense fur the color of fresh toast dipped in powdered sugar, his belly and neck downy white. his head was wide and bearlike with softly pointed ears set wide and a long, lolling tongue coming out of a mouth full of thick, strong teeth.
His fur was greased in spikes and flat spots and there was a frayed rope above one of his over sized paws, like he had been tied up somewhere gross.
Not to mention the smell, enough to make their sensitive noses wrinkle, Kiba's hand twitching like he wanted to cover his.
Kakashi knelt down beside Kaida and took the dogs head in his hands, wiggling it back and forth with a smile "now aren't you the stinky one? Kaida better get you all cleaned up, neh?"
"outdoor bath." Tsume said immediately, pointing towards the big barn and the open piece of stone just to the left of it that had a water pump.
All traces of weariness left Kaida as he geared himself up for the monumental task, grinning at the dog.
His nin-ken!
There was no doubt that he was, he could feel it in his soul and the way the dogs dark eyes danced and tongue lolled, proved it.
He was smiling.
A doggy smile, but one nonetheless.
"I'll help!" Hina volunteered but Tsume grabbed her by the collar before she could follow "how about you clean yourself up and get ready for bed, hmm?"
"aw man!" Hina puffed her cheeks out in a pout but did as she was told, racing into the house in her usual way of everlasting energy.
Kakashi trailed after Kaida and the rough looking pup and Kaida murmured in the dogs ear "'Kashi really likes animals, but he'd never admit it."
The dog boof-ed an answer and Kaida saw Kakashi's eyes narrow, just slightly.
It was a lot of work, getting the oil from the dogs double coat but 'Kashi helped and it gave them a chance to assess his health.
He was thin and roughed up but seemed to be happy despite it.
"we'll take him to the animal hospital in the morning, just in case." Kakashi finally announced after cutting the rope from above the pups paw "he's still a puppy so its important to give him the right amount of food so he grows properly."
Kaida nodded, falling into the familiar role of teacher and student as he worked soap between the dogs toes, searching for anything sharp that might hurt the sensitive skin.
It was almost like his paws were webbed, the way the skin stretched between his toes.
He seemed to enjoy the attention, at least.
It was full dark by the time they gave him one final rinse and Kakashi did something fancy to dry all three of them.
Tsume was waiting for them at the gate, holding a wrapped container that smelled faintly of raw meat.
"Here, I doubt you have anything fit for a pup tonight." she handed it to Kaida, giving him a stern look "be sure to take good care of him, Kaida. If you do, he'll return the favor."
"yes Oba-chan." Kaida said, face serious.
She cracked a smile and shooed them away "get outta here, go get the rascal settled and get some sleep." she poked him in the nose and he gave a little wince, still sore from the kick "and put something on this."
she lifted and eyebrow at Kakashi for a moment "and you watch your back, it has a bright red target on it."
"when doesn't it." Kakashi muttered.
They both thanked Tsume and made the quiet walk to their apartment, Kaida fading now that everything started to catch up.
Kakashi kept the apartment dim, only turning on the connected kitchens light so Kaida could feed the pup his meal before half crawling to his room, collapsing into the futon face first.
A heavy weight settled onto his lower back.
He fell asleep like that, vaguely hearing Kakashi's goodnight before dropping off into the first true sleep since the training camp.
a wet nose rooting Kaida's face out of his pillow brought him out of a hazy dream and he sat up, face being thoroughly washed by a warm tongue as he fought the urge to go back to sleep.
The smell of cooking food was what really made him commit to being awake and he drug himself up out of his warm blankets, itching his eyes as he made his slow way into the main room "'kashi?"
"rise and shine, Kai." Kakashi looked much to awake for Kaida's comfort, smiling in a way that showed the sharp tips of his incisors, another Hatake inheritance they both shared "I made bacon."
the promise of meat was the only thing that kept Kaida from walking back to his cozy bed.
The toasted marshmallow of a dog waited patiently for scraps as Kaida fed him off his own plate.
"We have an appointment at the vet in half an hour, then I thought we'd go check out some gear." Kakashi said, crunching on a crispy piece of bacon.
"huh?" Kaida asked, looking up from his eggs "gear?"
"well-" Kakashi smirked "your birthday is the day after tomorrow and I do have the day off."
Kaida punched both his fists in the air, wide awake "yay!"
it was rare for them to spend an entire day together, with Kakashi's missions and paperwork and Kaida with the academy.
"but first, have you decided on a name? Nin-ken need to be registered at the administrative building." Kakashi waited patiently at Kaida's wide eyes.
He didn't even think of a name.
"I-I thought they came pre-named." Kaida had assumed they were like humans, with their own names.
Kakashi laughed "some do, I guess." he consented, seeing Kaida's scowl "but he's a pup and doesn't seem to be from any notable nin-ken line that I know of. Someone might have tried to smuggle him in from one of the other villages."
Kaida looked down at his food "did my dad have a nin-ken?"
Kakashi's smile turned a bit crooked "he sure did and he was a terror all on his own. He could even Henge himself to look like a human."
so that was possible.
Kakashi looked at his own food, smile fond and a bit sad "His name was Siri, a big, shaggy black dog that was as vain as any noble lady."
"Padfoot." Kaida mumbled, frowning at the vague memory that swam hazily in his mind.
Kakashi nodded "one of the best trackers in Konoha. Your dad always threatened that if I didn't behave, Siri would be his best man when he got married instead."
Kaida smiled, soaking in the words and committing them to memory.
Kakashi smacked his hand down on the table "now that's enough sap, finish your food and get ready to go, pup." he looked down at the big brown eyes staring up at him "and pup."
Kaida started shoveling his food faster, thinking hard.
Both Adzuki and Akamaru were name for their color, a common thing in the Inuzuka but nothing along those lines fit in Kaida's mind.
He watched as the puppy took a piece of offered egg, his mouth opening in a wide smile afterwards.
He was a smiley pup, eyes bright and laughing like Kaida's own.
"what about Niko-Niko?"
Kakashi looked at the dog and its smile and snorted "fitting."
Kaida leaned down to be nose to nose with the puppy "Do you like Niko-Niko?"
He boofed in reply, tail wagging twice.
Kaida took it as a yes.
Kakashi put his mask and hitae-ate on while Kaida rinsed his plate and changed into his favorite vest and well-worn shorts, slipping sandals on and racing after Kakashi, Niko-Niko on his heels, bouncing along happily through the streets of Konoha.
It was early enough that the shopkeepers were just opening up, the sun new in the sky and a bit of a chill on the air. Kakashi acknowledged greetings from both civilian and shinobi as they made their way closer to the Inuzuka side of town, where the vet would be waiting for them.
It was a familiar building, one Kaida had gone too many times while tagging along with various Inuzuka. It was longer then it was tall, with a faded red roof and a wordless sign with a small terrier dog on it.
The women who ran it smiled in welcome, recognizing both of them and always open to meeting new animals.
It was their job, after all."
"so whose this?" Kenji Inuzuka was the one they came to see, a burly man with wild hair and kind eyes.
"Niko-Niko, my Nin-ken!" Kaida said enthusiastically "He found me last night!"
"so Tsume told me." He smiled, picking the solid pup up onto a standing table and running expert hands through his heavy coat.
"Niko-Chan here looked like he'd rolled around in a cooking pan, and he had some rope tied to his foot." Kakashi said, looking at Kenji with that pointed look on his face "i'd appreciate if you could look through the import list for me."
Kenji's face was darkened at the words "I will." his countenance lightened and he ruffled Kaida's hair "Your nin-ken is perfectly healthy, if a little underweight. Feed him up and he'll be fine. he'll be a great partner, his kind was bred to guard palaces, after all."
Kaida gave a sigh of relief.
He'd been afraid, deep down, that something would be wrong.
"perfect." Kakashi said, tapping his chin as Kenji set Niko-Niko back on the ground and wrote up a note, handing it to Kaida with a fond smile "we'll go get him some supplies, find Kai-chan a birthday gift and then get Niko-chan registered."
he looked down at the two of them "any objections?"
Kaida shook his head, threading his fingers through the thick fur of Niko's ruff.
"good."
they left the vet and roamed lazily through the shopping district, picking up a bag of groceries at one of their favorite stalls and a soft red scarf the color of Kaida's vest that he tied in a bow around Niko-Niko's neck, loose enough that he could wriggle out if needed but so-so-
"kawaii." kaida whispered, standing up and continuing on their mission.
Kakashi was the one to hold them up in a shinobi gear store, arms crossed as he glared at the selection.
Kaida didn't know what he was glaring at, this was the top store among the village shinobi.
Kaida thought it was awesome.
Kaida was flitting from spot to spot, bottle-green eyes glittering as he looked at every style of any thing any aspiring ninja could ever want.
It was sensory overload.
He didn't even see what Kakashi had bought before he was being dragged out by the hood, Niko-Niko laughing in his increasingly familiar way.
They briefly ran into Iruka and Natsu on the way.
She handed Kakashi a wrapped present and said he could open it when he and Kaida got back home.
A thank you present.
Her face had been very serious.
They made a stop by the apartment to drop off the bags, including the ingredients needed to make a nutrition packed meal for niko-niko, Kakashi peeling the wrapper off the present.
His eyes widened and Kaida's narrowed.
"If you read that, I'll find a way to make you regret it."
Kakashi made a gutted noise, holding the 'super special edition, never before seen Icha-Icha Paradise' in all its orange bound glory.
Kaida saw him stick it into his back pouch with a clear pout before they left for their final official stop, the administration building.
Kaida hated the administrative building.
It was hot, stuffy and smelled like old people and ink.
But he went anyway, carefully writing down all niko-niko's information down and waiting half-patiently for his picture to be taken.
Kakashi had disappeared somewhere within the building and Kaida had to put his nose to work, Niko-niko trotting after him, struggling briefly on the short set of stairs into a back room.
Kaida opened the closet door.
Two pairs of eyes turned to him, wide and horrified like he had caught them at an indecent act.
Oh he did.
"was it worth it?" he asked Kakashi and Genma, their guilty faces covered in multi-colored glitter, the hollowed out book held weakly in Kakashi's limp fingers, the trigger that had launched the glitter in their faces sitting innocently within.
Kaida smiled sweetly "good luck getting that out."
he recognized the glitter from a previous prank.
It was not coming out anytime soon.
He could use them as decorations for his birthday party.