This story is based on Naruto written by Masashi Kishimoto.
A/N: sorry its been so long, I hope you like this update, i put in some more Hatake lore, i'll give a better explanation later on.
Enjoy :)
Sakura took a deep breath and sent chakra to her feet for what was probably the 100th time that afternoon, Kiba and Shino doing the same.
They all run up the tree they're standing in front of.
Sakura and Shino run without a hitch in their step. Kiba's a little shaky, but he still sticks to the trunk enough to run to the top.
They hold their position before walking back down. Once they touch the ground they collapse from the effort, their chakra expended.
Kakashi clapped from somewhere behind them and said cheerfully, "Great job! Think you guys have enough chakra left for some more henge, clone, and replacement jutsu practice?"
They groaned simultaneously, they have been practicing those nonstop.
"Ma, you sound so enthusiastic." He said teasingly. "Which is a good thing since I'm going to show you how to improve them."
They reluctantly sat up and paid attention. Kiba is the one who ended up asking, "How could they be improved?"
It was slightly horrific to think about how many times they have already practiced, and how many more it would take to make an improvement.
Kakashi clapped. "So glad you asked." He went through the sequence for the clone jutsu and a copy of him poofed into existence. "As you know, when you make a clone there is a noise and a cloud of smoke that accompanies it." He dispelled the clone and the sound and poof of smoke happened again.
He then did the hand signs for the henge jutsu and transformed into a perfect copy of Shino, before doing the replacement jutsu, a log in his place. Both resulted in the signature noise and poof of smoke.
"Now the smoke can be useful in battle to help mask your movements or to distract your opponent, but it can also give you away when you are trying to remain undetected." He dropped the Shino henge before continuing. "This is how you improve them."
Kakashi doesn't move to make the hand signs, a clone just materializes into existence beside him, soundlessly and without smoke. He then appears 10 feet away, leaves drifting down in his wake. And finally his appearance appears to melt into an exact copy of Sakura.
All of this was done soundlessly, smokeless, and without hand signs.
"Woah." Though Kiba said it, the others shared the sentiment.
Kakashi smiled at their expressions, so easy to amaze. "You can do it with enough chakra control, tree walking will help with that and I'll show you some other exercises another time. For now lets work on getting rid of the smoke. Fewer hand signs will come later."
Sakura nods to herself before standing up. "I'm ready Kaka-sensei."
Kiba and Shino followed shortly after.
Shino got into his ready position. "This will help with learning medical ninjutsu later. I will try my best Kaka-sensei."
"Let's do this!" Kiba fist bumped and Akamaru barked in agreement.
Kakashi smiled at their enthusiasm. "Let's start with the clone jutsu."
By the end of training they hadn't improved all that much, just slightly less smoke then before. It was still something though so no one complained.
As they were sitting down to catch their breath Shino cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention.
"My father and I would like to invite you to dinner tomorrow night." Shino shifted nervously, causing Kiba and Sakura to grow concerned, what could he be worried about? "There is a tradition in my clan for when you join a genin team, it would have normally happened already, as it has been more than 2 weeks now, but preparations needed to be made."
Sakura hummed curiously, a tick she's starting to pick up from Kakashi. "Everything's ready now? Are you allowed to tell us or is it a clan secret?" She glanced around the clearing even though she knew there were no eavesdroppers, probably.
Shino nodded. "I can tell you. For every team there is a small ceremony, usually only witnessed by the team and the clan member's family. Since my father is the clan head, the elders wish to witness the ceremony." He seemed to squirm in discomfort.
Kiba grimaces in sympathy. "Most of our clan elders are all crotchety assholes. I wouldn't want to be around them either."
Shino nodded again before continuing. "In short, the ceremony involves the Aburame team member implanting a female Kikaichu just under their teammates skin. Should anything happen during a mission, my male Kikaichu will always be able to find you."
Sakura's eyes widened in realization. "No wonder, that sounds like a really private thing. I wouldn't want them there." Echoing Kiba's sentiment.
"It is private, and it's also a strong show of trust by the other team members, trust that I won't abuse the ability to always know where you are." Shino shifted again.
Ahh, so that's what he was more worried about.
Kakashi hummed. "I haven't spent much time around the aburame clan so this is the first I've heard about it. It seems very useful." He smiled reassuringly and ruffled Shino's hair.
Kiba shrugged. "The Inuzuka have a similar thing, it's more clan wide and less private but it's close enough. Don't worry I get it."
Everybody looked at Sakura.
She looked back at them bewildered. "What? I don't see the big deal, we're a tracking team, once I learn how to sense chakra we'll all be able to find each other whenever we want anyway." She casually dismissed his worries with a wave of her hand. "It's no big deal."
Shino's tense frame relaxed. She really doesn't know how big of a deal it actually is for him.
His team's acceptance is a big deal.
Before he could say anything in thanks, Sakura interrupts him and exclaims, "I almost forgot! My parents invited you all over for dinner too. Nothing special, they just want to meet you when you are all free, no rush."
Kiba scratched his head in embarrassment when Akamaru barked at him. "Ah your right, since we're doing dinners, ma invited everyone over for the clan thing I mentioned earlier. It's not urgent either so you can come whenever. You basically have to sit through the rest of the clan coming up and sniffing you so they know what you smell like. If anything happens, an entire clan will be able to find you."
"Oh." Sakura felt oddly touched. "Thanks guys, this way none of us will ever be kidnapped successfully, at least not for long."
Kakashi shrugged. "True, Pakkun and the rest of the pack all have your scents memorized by now, so they have you covered too."
Sakura started tearing up. She grabbed Shino and Kiba, dragging them with her as she moves toward Kakashi.
Once they reach him they're moving with enough force that he makes an 'oof' sound on contact.
She lets go of their arms and proceeds to crush them all into a hug as best she can. "You guys are the best."
She would have to find some more fuinjutsu books, preferably ones that have some tracking seals in them.
"Ma, ma, there's no need to cry Saku-chan." Kakashi sounded genuinely worried, most likely partly for her and partly for his own sanity.
Sakura sniffed. "Ok." But she only let go a few moments later when Akamaru started to squirm. "Sorry."
Akamaru barked in what seemed like acceptance to her, so she took it that way.
Kakashi smiled down at them. "Alright, Shino's tomorrow, Sakura's next, and Kiba's last. I'll try to lighten the training for the next few days so you're not passing out in the middle of dinner." He eyed them seriously. "Just a little bit though."
They all nodded back just as seriously before smiling at him.
Kakashi was still getting used to the warmth he feels every time they look at him like that. Happy and trusting, trust he doesn't think he's earned yet.
But he's starting to like it.
The next morning after their warm up, Kakashi pops into existence with an announcement.
"As you know, this afternoon is teamwork training." There was a devious glint in his eye. "Well, I'm also going to start teaching you some tracking fundamentals. And by that I mean without the use of heightened senses. You probably remember some stuff from the academy but there's nothing wrong with a refresher."
He pulls a book out of his pouch that they haven't seen before. "Anybody with good chakra control can heighten their own senses, or trick other people's senses into believing something false. So you'll learn how to track by scanning your environment first and foremost." He turns the book over to show them the cover that simply states "Tracking" as the title. "The rest of your senses will come later."
Kakashi cracks the book open to the first page. "I'll be reading this to you while you train." He smiles at them. "Better pay attention, you'll need to remember everything this afternoon." He raises a brow at their seemingly overwhelmed expressions. "Well? Hop to it."
Sakura, Kiba and Shino jump up from their seated position and scramble towards where their targets are hung up for shurikenjutsu practice.
They cycle through all of their throwing weapons while they listen to Kaka-sensei read aloud.
Kunai, shuriken, sendon, over and over again. They get into the flow of throwing, running more on auto pilot, which allows them to concentrate on the words.
"When in pursuit start with looking for disturbances in the area, footprints in the dirt or grass, fallen leaves, broken sticks or branches, damaged tree bark, ripped clothing or hair left behind, blood trails on the ground or smeared on trees and bushes." He pauses for a second. "That is, of course, if you have lost sight of your target or you're in the forest."
They listen attentively, the rhythmic thunk of their weapons hitting the targets a pleasant background noise.
"In a village setting look for additional disturbances, alarmed shouts from civilians as the target pushes through a crowd, or simply civilians moving away from something if you are close enough to see it. Knocked over carts or stalls that happened to be in their way, or other signs of destruction depending on the target."
Thunk, thunk, thunk.
"When you are the one being pursued, make sure you don't leave that trail behind you for your tracker to find."
They continue target practice as they listen to kakashi wrap up the lesson.
"You should also pay attention to sources of water or food in the area, if they are unaware of your presence they may stop for a break, both humans and animals alike."
Kakashi smiles and closes the book with a snap, effectively knocking them out of their trancelike state.
"That should be enough for now, I expect all of you to finish reading it before our next teamwork training session."
He pulls out 3 identical books from his pouch and throws them their way.
"I hope you absorbed the lecture, and you should probably collect your weapons." Kakashi pulls out his summoning scroll, and in a poof of smoke Pakkun is sitting before them. "Because you're about to put your knowledge to the test, consider it the taijutsu portion of your morning and expect a spar when you're caught."
Sakura, Shino, and Kiba pale considerably and scramble for their weapons.
Pakkun raises a paw as they frantically prepare. "Yo, I have been instructed to track you down using the basics, I will disregard anything learned through my heightened senses, anywhere in the village is fair game." Kakashi has his face stuck in one of his disguised books, clearly letting Pakkun handle it from here. "You have a 30 second head start, starting now."
Kakashi giggles to himself as he looks at their blank expressions.
They snap out of it at a bark from Pakkun, hurriedly taking to the trees in a random direction.
Smiling to himself, he uses this time to let his mind wander.
His pups were too adorable.
About an hour later all three of them were on the ground, panting from the non stop cardio they just experienced running from Pakkun.
Kakashi smiles down at them. Pakkun went easy on them of course, just chasing them until they wore themselves out.
But they did reasonably well for their first try.
He claps his hands together and says cheerfully, "Who's ready for their spar?"
His only answer is a chorus of groans from them.
Kakashi chuckles in delight, the sound of their suffering is music to his ears.
After the team finishes with their fence painting mission they're on the way to lunch, Kakashi having left them to go do some errands.
Sakura stretches her arms over her head and looks over at Kiba and Shino. "I've been thinking, Kaka-sensei has been getting us a lot of stuff and I want to do something nice for him, any ideas?"
Kiba goes into a dramatic thinking pose. "It should be something useful, and if all of us pitch in we would have a pretty decent budget."
"What to get a jounin." Shino said while he glances at stores. "We only have time for lunch right now, let's think on it while we eat."
There were murmurs of agreement and they all made their way to the semi regular sushi spot.
As they waited for the order they began throwing out any idea that pops into their heads.
"New gloves?"
"Extra shuriken and kunai."
"Shuriken launcher."
"Would he use that?"
"If he hasn't gotten one himself already, probably not."
It was a common theme with their ideas so far. He could just buy those himself.
"More books?"
"Icha icha disguise covers?"
"New mask."
"We need something more personalized."
"A pouch with his family crest on it."
"Kunai with seals engraved or painted on them."
Sakura jolts in her seat. "Oh that's a good idea for when I learn more seals."
They stop for a second to eat once the food arrives.
"How about we get him a new sheathe for his tanto?"
Sakura and Shino look over at Kiba in surprised realization.
"That's right, his tanto does look old, at least the sheathe does, I've never seen the blade but that's probably fine." Sakura pops a piece of salmon into her mouth. "Where did that idea come from?"
Kiba gives a sheepish laugh. "Well I was remembering how he took us to get custom weapons at that shop and how we decided to get them as a set." He took a bite of rice. "He seemed familiar with that guy right? So he probably got his tanto from him, we could ask him to make a replica of the sheathe he made before, but have it match our set."
Shino nodded. "It is a good idea, we wouldn't need to bring the tanto to be measured if he is the one who made it. And that would make it a complete team set."
Sakura smiled. "It's settled then, we'll go to the weapons shop and order it."
Kiba started eating faster. "After training when we have time."
Sakura and Shino nodded and got back to eating their much needed lunch. Who knew what Kakashi would have them do for team training.
Kakashi crinkles his eye and cheerfully delivers the news.
"For team training you'll be doing an extra D rank mission today."
His munchkins looked delightfully confused.
"It will be utilizing tracking and trust me, you will need teamwork for this one most of all."
They lean forward slightly, intrigued.
He brandishes the mission scroll dramatically.
"The Tora mission!"
The Tora mission ended up taking them dangerously close to the time they were expected to be at Shino's house.
Finding her wasn't the hard part thanks to Akamaru, it was catching her and then keeping the damn cat restrained.
Kiba and Akamaru were in charge of tracking.
Sakura was in charge of the trap.
And Shino was in charge of the restraining.
After several failed traps, some consisting of nets, rope, wire, cages, all using salmon as bait.
All of their hard work leads to nothing but an overfed cat.
Eventually they got tired of her getting away and just had Shino's Kikaichu drain her enough to make her docile.
What the fire daimyo's wife didn't know wouldn't hurt her. And really all it did was make Tora tired enough for a nap, which could just as easily be blamed on the salmon.
On the way back to the tower, Sakura decided Tora looked secure enough in Shino's hold and jogged ahead to catch up with Kaka-sensei.
Getting his attention, she asked, "Hey Kaka-sensei, would you be able to help me in the independent study section of training tomorrow? I've been practicing and I wanted some help on making seals, or have you check over my practice ones."
Kakashi shrugs. "Sure, not too long though, I have some things to take care of before the team dinner at your house."
Sakura gave an excited squeal. "You're the best Kaka-sensei!" She gave him a quick hug. "I have so many ideas."
He smiled down at her. "Mm, that's the spirit."
He ruffled her hair before walking over to Shino to relieve him of his burden. "I'll take care of this and meet you at the Aburame compound. Better hurry or you'll be late."
They didn't even bother giving that hypocritical statement a thought.
"Oh." He added on as a quick after thought. "Don't forget to add 5 pounds to your seals." All they had to do was add enough chakra to the final seal he put on their stomachs, distributing the weight throughout their bodies and not just their limbs.
The genin rushed off towards the market place with quick confirmations and thank you's shouted over their shoulders.
"If we hurry we should have time to place the order without being late."
"Roof hopping would be faster."
"Lets go!"
All three of them jumped to the closest rooftop and raced towards the market.
Kakashi chuckled to himself as he made his way to the hokage tower. He'll let them keep their secret they were very not subtle about having.
They seemed to enjoy it, whatever it was.
Sakura and Kiba's first meeting with Aburame Shibi goes well.
After their quick order at the weapons shop, all three made record time in cleaning up and getting to Shino's on time.
Sakura and Kiba both bow when Shino's dad opens the door.
"Hello Aburame-sama, my name is Haruno Sakura."
"I'm Inuzuka Kiba."
"Thank you for having us." They chorus, identical smiles on their faces, almost as if they had rehearsed it.
Behind them Kakashi giggles to himself at their improving synchronicity. His greeting is far more casual.
"Yo Shibi-sama."
He gives them a small smile, very reminiscent of Shino's, before waving them inside. "Welcome, please come in, and you may call me Shibi. Shino has told me much about you."
Wondering what their teammate has said about them, they follow Shibi into a large room.
The elders are already present, unobtrusively sitting along one wall, far better than they were expecting.
Shino is kneeling in the center of the room with a dish of clear liquid, a jar of something yellowish and some cotton balls of all things.
Sakura figured it looked more like a medical procedure then a ceremony, which she didn't really mind. They had talked about what was going to happen and where to implant the Kikaichu while painting the fence. they unanimously decided on the inside of their arm just before the armpit.
Everybody decided to wear their normal clothes, Sakura's vest leaves her arm exposed already, as does the vest Kakashi wears under his long sleeve shirt, and Kiba's mesh undershirt.
Shino had also asked Akamaru if he was alright with getting a Kikaichu of his own implanted. He agreed of course as long as it was implanted on his back.
All 4 kneeled down in front of Shino, finally ready.
Feeling nervous, Shino dipped a cotton swab into the bowl of rubbing alcohol.
He leans over towards Kakashi first, who has already lifted his arm. "Hatake Kakashi, do you accept this Kikaichu?"
At his nod, Shino swabs the area of the bicep on the left arm as was decided. Taking a kunai, he makes a tiny incision, just enough for the beatle to crawl through. He set the Kikaichu onto the arm and it was gone in a second. Wiping it with another cotton swab and applying the fast acting ointment is the final step.
Shino repeated the process with the rest of his teammates, who found the whole experience quiet and efficient, if a little weird.
At the end the elders left silently, apparently satisfied.
Team 8 grinned at each other and went in for a group hug now that it was over.
Shibi smiled to himself at the picture they made. He had already seen a small change in Shino recently, and now he got to see why in action.
Looking over at Kakashi revealed that he was lost in his own thoughts.
Shibi clapped to get everyone's attention. "I believe it's time for dinner."
The kids chatter excitedly to each other as they make their way to the dining table, the adults following close behind.
Kakashi slowly ambled in the general direction of his apartment. The sun had only recently set and he was in no real hurry to get anywhere.
It was times like this that gave his 'lost on the road of life' saying some basis in truth.
He took the time to think of some things that have been changing with him lately. More frequent cuddling with his ninken, ruffling his genin's hair every chance he gets, savoring every hug they give him, almost growling when they get hurt, calling them pups when he hasn't heard or thought that endearment outside of his ninken in more than a decade. Avoiding sensei's pup less (he never wanted to be Naruto's sensei but he still cares).
Becoming this attached.
The process of his instincts awakening slowly probably started when he got pulled from anbu. It just sped up a crazy amount once he finally got a team of his own.
It's hard for long dead instincts to stay dead when you have young pups to take care of.
The Inuzuka may have Characteristics they share with their ninken partners. But the Hatake have an ingrained connection with the wild species each member bonded with. Kakashi's own father bonded with wolves. That connection and his own with his ninken created stronger characteristics in him.
Soon, because of his pups, it will be like he had never been numb, like he's always had a wolf underneath his skin, waiting.
Kakashi smiles to himself.
He needs to stop being so introspective all of a sudden, it can't be good for his health.
By the time team 7 dragged themselves up the stairs to the missions desk in the Hokage's office it was very late into the night.
Naruto's whines echoed throughout the tower. "No more D-ranks jiji! If I have to pick up one more piece of trash I'm going to explode dattebayo!"
Sasuke shot him a glare for his volume but didn't seem to disagree.
Hinata stood there in embarrassed silence, hopeful that Hokage-sama wouldn't give them even more to do tomorrow in retaliation.
Kurenai exhaled a long suffering sigh and gave Naruto a light chop to the head. "You will accept what Hokage-sama gives you."
He didn't think it was light if his continued complaining said anything about it.
After a moment of rubbing his head he seemed to calm down, crossing his arms and pouting at the Hokage instead.
He chuckled at Naruto's familiar antics. "It seems you're in luck then, we have a C-rank escort mission to the land of waves available."
"Yes!" Naruto pumps his fist into the air. "We're going to kick ass! Right Hinata?"
"Right." Her reply was a little shaky but she's improving in leaps and bounds when it comes to that stutter.
"Hn."
Kurenai hopes this mission will be over quickly for her student's sake, she didn't want to find out how long it would take before Sasuke's small amount of patients runs out and all three of them have a fight to the death.
Metaphorically of course.
Probably.
Hokage-sama waves at the door behind them. "Come on in Tazuna-san."
The door opens and in comes an older man, looking visibly drunk.
"These brats? Please, they look like idiots."
"The hell you say old man?!"
Kurenai sighs for the second time in only a few minutes.
One of these days she's going to hammer volume control into that blonde's head. And probably manners, even in the face of rude assholes.
But really, she's not a miracle worker.
She'll take what she can get.