I do not own Naruto.
Dog ignored the heavy panting of Deer, newly arrived to the office and smelling of paint. He didn't look over.
The Hokage did. His impassive face twitched.
Deer whined.
The Hokage burst into chuckles. "He got you, did he?"
"You know who did this!"
"Of course. Talented, isn't he?"
"I'm orange."
The Hokage waved off Deer's concern and gave them their mission. "And perhaps get a change of clothes first, hm?"
-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
The toddler smell that had pervaded the Hokage's office and surroundings for the past three years was strong. Fresh.
It got like this occasionally. Dog studiously ignored it, not even allowing the slightest hitch in his step as he, Bat, and Hawk arrived to report back.
There was a young boy in the Hokage's office, perched on a bookshelf among stacks of paper and books. His wide blue eyes scanned the ANBU and dismissed them.
Sometimes it was helpful to be dismissed.
Not when they were in full ANBU gear.
Not by this boy.
"Dog, report," the Third ordered.
Hawk cleared his throat pointedly.
From the corner of his eye, Dog saw the boy smirk.
"I'm aware, Hawk. Report."
Dog gave the verbal mission report succinctly, not filtering any of the brutality.
The boy was grim, but not horrified.
"Thoughts, Naruto?"
Dog refused to flinch at being forced to confront the boy's identity.
"We need a better information network. If we had been able to accurately assess the threat levels, Lynx and Bat could have swapped missions and three more nin would have survived."
"Enemy shinobi."
"Enemies do not have to stay so," the boy replied firmly.
The Third smiled approval. "Anything for our ANBU before I dismiss them?"
The boy's gaze swept over them again.
Dog felt the weight of it keenly.
He was relieved and disappointed when the boy shook his head.
The ANBU left.
-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
The boy was at most of the ANBU's reports after that.
Lynx and Rabbit acted as if he was a cute little brother.
Those who complained about the 'demon brat' were soon silenced.
The entire building smelled of the boy, now.
-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
Six years after the Kyuubi, the Uchihas were slaughtered.
Dog investigated. Dog helped clear the bodies. Dog eventually moved on to other missions.
Dog suspected the Hokage knew who had ordered it.
Dog's trust fractured. Cracked. Broke.
Kakashi's old hurts had numbed.
This new one still bled.
-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
Kakashi stood with Rabbit, Bat, and Deer. Rabbit was in the worst shape, uniform torn and splattered with blood.
The boy's eye swept over them.
Checked Rabbit over. Dismissed him.
Flicked over Bat and Deer. Dismissed them.
Locked onto Kakashi. Scanned him. Noted the curve of his shoulders, the angle of his legs.
Caught Kakashi's eye.
They stared for a moment.
The boy slid his eyes away, but Kakashi felt his attention for the rest of the meeting.
Part of him regretted that he was no longer being dismissed.
But only part.
-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
Kakashi's shoulder was just tender enough to warrant carrying all his groceries in the opposite hand.
They weren't heavy, but revealing his weakness rankled.
"Get out of here, monster!"
Kakashi didn't freeze. His head didn't whip around.
He drifted off to a stall as if he was looking to buy even more onions.
Then he glanced over, casually.
The boy was glaring at an old shopkeeper. The woman was gesturing wildly and scowling.
The boy snapped right back until she grabbed a broom. Then he left, head high and proud as a prince.
He was a prince.
Son of the Fourth. Groomed by the Third to be the Fifth (or perhaps Sixth).
Every ANBU knew he was a prince.
So why, when Kakashi strolled past the alley the boy had ducked into, did he look so much like a lost child?
-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
His tongue had slipped.
It had been an accident.
Really.
Lynx and Rabbit had been the ones who had taken it up.
All the ANBU used it now, though.
Called the boy Prince.
The little smirk that danced around the edge of the boy's lips pleased Kakashi.
The true smile now gifted to Lynx and Rabbit did not.
Kakashi had never wanted anything more than to tell the boy who had given him that nickname and receive a smile of his own.
He had never wanted anything less.
-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
The boy was perched on his usual throne, tucked in among the official documents he surely should not have been cleared to see.
Kakashi could smell wolf on the boy. All over the boy.
Lion, next to him, growled.
Kakashi's feeling exactly. Thank you, Inuzaka noses.
"Lion?"
"Why does P- Naruto smell like wolves?"
"I'm a summoner now. I'd appreciate if you kept it quiet."
"Not monkeys?" Lion asked. There had been something of a betting pool going. Monkeys. Foxes. Toads.
Wolves had not been on the list.
"It was a personal choice. I feel they suit me. Report."
Kakashi did so, unthinking.
He may have paused slightly longer than necessary for a breath when he realized.
He had just taken an order from the boy.
-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
A particularly grueling mission ended in near disaster.
Something during the report must have given Kakashi away.
He was asked to take a break from ANBU, just for a while.
Kakashi's apartment was empty.
The training fields were empty.
The streets were empty.
The memorial stone was too full.
-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
Pakkun sneezed as he trotted back to his master. "Smelled a wolf over in the next field, Boss."
Big shook his head. "Three at least."
Socks huffed. "Boys. Get your noses screwed on straight. There were two wolves and a boy."
Kakashi and the Pack finished training.
He had no reason to go over to Field 19.
No reason at all.
And then he was masking his scent, channeling chakra to his feet to silence any noise.
The boy was lounging against a massive, sleeping wolf, body mocking a meditation pose.
A pup was snoozing on the larger's head.
"I'm a sensor, too, you know," the boy commented.
The pup looked up, sharp and alert. Then yawned.
Kakashi mentally cursed and ranted and swore.
He stepped into the clearing casually. "Yo."
The boy's backrest opened one eye, took in the sight of Kakashi, and closed it again.
Neither of the humans spoke.
Kakashi refused to become uncomfortable. He slouched, stuffed a hand in one pocket, and read the little yellow book he carried everywhere.
It was soothing, reading about the passions normal people could incite in each other.
The boy dismissed his summons as the sun was going down.
He nodded to Kakashi.
He left.
-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
Kakashi bought a cheap pair of bells at a shop.
He administered the bell test.
The team failed.
Kakashi was unsurprised.
As far as his month went, it ranked slightly above eating and sleep but somewhat below the breath holding contest with Gai.
-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
The boy was in Field 19 again.
Kakashi refused to admit he had been stretching his senses every visit, just in case.
He finished his training.
The boy was sandwiched between two large wolves, both mottled brown and red. One of them snarled at Kakashi, then grumbled and drifted off again. The other wagged its tail before ignoring him.
The boy gave him a curious glance.
"Yo."
"Hello."
Kakashi leaned against a tree and read his book.
The boy nodded and left at sundown.
-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
Kakashi reported in, describing the dull escort mission to the Hokage directly only because of the supposedly 'delicate' political situation.
The Third was somewhere between disappointed and disgruntled by Kakashi's new, lax attitude.
Kakashi wanted to snarl at the Hokage, demand to know what he had expected when he'd torn the ANBU away.
Then the boy tipped his head. Looked calmly into Kakashi's eye.
Kakashi glared back.
His ire faded.
Kakashi bowed to the Third and shunshin'd away.
-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
Kakashi laid out on a tree branch, reading.
The boy was locked in a staring match with a thin young wolf.
Kakashi held the book between his eyes and the sun.
The boy slept on the back of a gorgeous white wolf.
Kakashi hummed as he read.
The boy was settled on the giant wolf's head, the pup balanced precariously in his hair.
-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
A new team failed the bell test.
They failed very badly.
Kakashi brooded in his apartment.
-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
Field 19 was empty.
Field 19 was empty, again.
Field 19 was still empty.
-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
Kakashi visited the Hokage's office to request a mission.
He didn't acknowledge the way his insides untangled when he saw the boy nestled among the papers and books.
The mission was easy. Kakashi didn't need to give a verbal report.
The boy was there when Kakashi did so anyway.
"You might take your Pack out to the Forest of Death," the boy said idly, eyes already back on his papers. "I've found mine enjoys it."
Kakashi hmm'd as he left.
-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
The Pack did enjoy the Forest of Death.
More so when a few oversized wolves were around to keep the biggest carnivores away.
So, really, it was for the Pack that Kakashi joined the boy's training runs.
-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
Another team failed.
Kakashi was beginning to get irritated. Surely the Academy instructors knew what sort of test he gave?
This team had been mediocre in all aspects, but particularly the only one Kakashi cared about.
Teamwork.
He wanted to go back to his apartment and shut the world away.
The Forest of Death was empty.
The Pack's chorus of howls was a coincidence, really.
The boy showing up right after must have been, too.
-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-
The dead-looking eye in the mirror stopped Kakashi as he passed.
He snarled at himself. Tugged at his jounin vest viciously.
The stray memory of the boy's laughter cooled him down.
He slammed his fist into the mirror and stared at the shard of glass sticking out of his glove.