He stepped over the threshold without any mishap, skillfully avoiding the inner soles of his shoes that were spread around the apartment. Bisuke came running in a flurry of paws and barks, Pakkun strutting after with a dignified pace.
"I tried to stop him," the older dog muttered, regarding Bisuke's insistent licking with a snarl.
Kakashi picked up the remnants of his footwear, inching the soles back where they belonged. "You're not supposed to chew on my things, you know."
Bisuke cocked his head to the side, along with an ambiguous waggle of his tail.
"Let's go outside for a bit."
Every ninken was different. Pakkun was as clever as he was small, grasping complex ideas on the first go. Kakashi had learned how to train his dogs from his father. More often than not they'd been away from the village, they were gone for days at a time on hikes and tours. When he was seven he'd seen a bit of every country. For his birthday they'd gone to the water festival in the land of snow, participating in the joyous three days of celebration. They'd seen the sun rise over the endless land of Fields, their tent a single dark dot on an otherwise spotless turquoise horizon. His father spoke more when it was just the two of them. He smiled more. Less tired. Their longest hike had gone to Land of Fire's highest mountain. Kakashi was eight by then, and acted it.
"Da-ad," he whined, "everyone stays at home for the holidays..."
Sakumo regarded him with a smile, shrugging off his protests with an air of finality. "I know, but now you'll have something to talk about when you get back."
The little shinobi sighed, "It's a mountain."
Continuing on with the trek, Sakumo waited for him to catch up. "Maa, that's true. But it's quite dangerous. Not everyone can do it."
Having perked up at the idea of a challenge, Kakashi ran to his side. "Is it very dangerous?"
"Oh, yes. So you need to be careful."
It took two days to get to the foot of the mountain, a small encampment with a single house and a handful of tents. They spent the evening sharing stories with the other travelers, Kakashi perching atop a chair in his father's shadow. They learned what to look out for, which roads to choose, every singularity and shift in mood of the nature. Despite that it consisted of rocks and soil and nothing else, they spoke of it as if it had a mind of its own. The weather was flaky. It went from noble blue skies to thick, growling snowy clouds in a short amount of time. He was almost too excited to fall asleep, spending the night listening to each murmuring gust of wind that rattled the tent's roof.
When his father woke him the next morning he was in disbelief of the conditions. The tentative clouds from the evening before had dispersed, leaving nothing but high air, and space. The heavens were limitless. They ate a small breakfast, having packed down most of the snacks in their bags to eat throughout the climb. It was a frustrating climb, the gravel constantly rolling under their feet, threatening to make them fall. It was windy too, gusts kept pulling on Kakashi's clothes, tugging on his very shape.
Sinking back behind a bigger rock he asked for a pause, trying to escape the wind. "How much is left?"
Sakumo leaned out from behind the rock at his question, regarding the path before them. "We're halfway there."
Kakashi groaned.
Each step was a battle. Every piece of mountain he conquered was a victory over fatigue and his own mind. There came a part with lots of bigger, steeper rocks, a little trail nestling between them. People had walked there for ages, for years. He stumbled on, grabbing a ledge for support.
"We're almost there," Sakumo encouraged him.
When they reached the cabin by the peak, Kakashi sank down onto the closest stone. "I'm never going climbing again."
His father sank down beside him, his long hair ruffled from the wind. His cheeks were ruddy. "Take a look at the view," he said, nodding towards it.
Kakashi got up, his legs shaking, his clothes had gotten cold during his short break. The breeze trampled up from the canyons, ruffling him awake. Countless mountains eloped from this one peak, dark shapes that seemed so big when you stood beside them but now suddenly were small. It was bright, welcoming, allowing. No horizon, just a kind blend of the mountains and the sky.
"Next year I thought we could go to Iwagakure."
Kakashi smiled, "This was a piece of cake."
His dad chuckled, "I'm glad to hear it."
They never went.
Instead, Kakashi found him on the living room floor, beside the couch, halfway to the kitchen. His father died. Obito died. Minato almost died.
It seemed he was being punished.
On joyous occasions, like promotions and exams, people said "Congratulations. You deserve it." but if you had to make yourself deserving of good things, didn't it make the opposite true? That you only got what was coming to you? That he'd brought this upon himself? He strained to remember a point in his life when he'd been guilty of such sins.
It was pointless. All of it.
Pakkun brought him back to reality by scratching on his pants' leg. "Oi, airhead. Look at what your pup's doing. "
By the street corner Bisuke had found the fast-food stand, crouching, his tail pointing straight out like an odd weather vane. Kakashi simply lifted the dog up, ignoring the giggles from a nearby flock of kids.
It was night time when he finally made it back to his apartment alone. The ninken had dispersed. The most exhausting part was schooling the dogs. Bisuke had a great affinity for tracking and capturing, but half of Kakashi's commands were disregarded. Pakkun had never been this much trouble...
Kakashi got into bed, shivering under the cool covers. It was quiet in the house, his neighbors having gone to bed hours before him. There was a glitch between him and the others, something standing in the way of a normal life. If he wanted it, it was his for the taking. He didn't. It straight-out bored him, like going through a maze that you'd gone through a dozen of times before.
Sighing deeply and pulling the cover higher up, he blinked out across the room. He split his nights at home between his apartment and the barracks, one being too empty and the other too crowded. Neither was comfortable. Neither allowed him to sleep.
He greeted his clients with a curt nod. The gig as a bodyguard had never amused him, especially not one like this, a mission that was made to be foolproof. He probably could have sent a bag of flour and it'd have the same result.
They walked in silence, him and the elderly couple. They'd paid for security, and there he was. Their very own personal scarecrow in a loose-fitting Konoha uniform.
The woman shifted her backpack on her shoulder to ease the burden, still regarding him with a suspicious frown. "Aren't you a little young to have gray hair?"
Kakashi smiled, turning away. "So I've been told."