When Time Stops
Chapter 8: An Innocent Mistake
6 months later
Kakashi plopped down at the kitchen table with heavy eyes as Naruto bustled about the kitchen, fixing a quick breakfast. A small pug, with short tan fur and a dark wrinkly mug trotted after Kakashi and folded up underneath his feet, closing his eyes and going back to sleep.
"Good morning, Kashi!" Naruto greeted cheerily as he set breakfast on the table for Kakashi and continued to the kitchen, cleaning in a frenzy.
"Hn," Kakashi grunted, slowly starting to eat the offered meal.
Naruto paused to watch his little brother. Kakashi had never really been a morning person. The sight of kakashi in the mornings amused him. He walked to the young ninja and ruffled his silver tuft of hair. "I've got a meeting at the Hokage Tower again today, Kashi," Naruto announced as he hurried back to the kitchen to clean the last of the morning dishes.
Kakashi hummed in acknowledgement at his brother.
"Go with Pakkun to the Missions Office after breakfast."
"Hai."
"When you're done with that, you can go to the academy for sparring. Iruka-sensei's class should be sparring today, I'm sure he won't mind...much." The blond continued, shouldering his Jounin vest and strapping on his sandals.
"No, Ni!" Kakashi, spun in his chair with a scowl on his young features and lips pulled tight in anger. "I hate sparring at the academy," he wined, "it's not even a challenge for me, besides I've already graduated! Why do I have to keep going back?"
Naruto had to keep from smiling at Kakashi's unhappy face. He loved being able to see Kakashi's expressions in the morning before they were covered by that blue mask of his. Naruto shrugged. "Because you need practice working with a team and sparring different people than just me."
"I'll spar with my pack then! Me and Pakkun against the whole pack!" Kakashi suggested, nearly standing in his chair as he pleaded his case.
"You need practice with 'humans,' Kakashi. Sparring with the pack is just fine, but you have to fight differently against animals than humans. You're going to the academy and that's final." Naruto concluded, walking to his charge and kissing the top of his head. "Do your best Kashi, I'll see you later today," he ruffled the boy's hair one last time before hurrying out the door.
Kakashi huffed loudly and turned back to his food.
Pakkun stretch and jumped to an empty seat and then to the table and sitting in front of Kakashi. "He makes a good point, pup."
Kakashi shot a scowl in the dog's direction. "You're not supposed to take his side, Pakkun. I thought you were MY nin dog."
The pug examined his paw and licked it until he deemed it clean enough. "I can still think for myself, and I agree with Naruto-kun. It is good to practice sparring at the academy until you get your own teammates."
Kakashi stuck his tongue out at the dog who raised a wrinkly eyebrow.
Pakkun shook his head, "Come on, pup, lets get going before everyone gets around to picking up a mission." He jumped off the table and headed to the door.
Kakashi took his bowl to the sink and followed Pakkun, strapping on his shoes and pulling up his mask before leaving with the dog out of the apartment and through the streets of Konoha.
Kakashi trudged down the dirt path towards the Hokage tower, hands shoved into his pockets. Villagers smiled and greeted him but he barely cast them a glance in his fowl mood. He kicked a pebble as he walked, which flew and hit Pakkun's rear end, who was walking just ahead of Kakashi.
Pakkun barked in shock from the offending pebble. "Watch it, pup!" he growled, turning and looking at the young ninja.
Kakashi looked pointedly away, "Sorry."
They continued walking in silence. Kakashi sighed finally, "Not only do I have to go to the academy to train, but I'll get a stupid mission because I'm with you. Why can't Naruto-nii take me on a dangerous mission to fight rogue nin in Rock or Rain country?"
"I take offense to that..." the small dog grumbled.
Kakashi stood at the end of the academy training ground watching the students spar each other while Iruka traveled from group to group, correcting stances, giving advice and intervening when necessary. He spent several minutes watching each group as they sparred, their clumsy movements and attacks using the few techniques that the academy taught students.
Kakashi sighed heavily, not looking forward to his encounter with his old 2nd year classmates. He walked forward towards the group and stopped just outside the group. Several of his former classmates stopped to look at him, some with confusion and surprise and others with scowls. "Iruka-sensei!" He called from his spot, arms crossed while Pakkun dutifully sat next to him.
The brunette teacher paused and looked up, a smile growing on his face. "Kakashi-kun!" He made his way through his students who had completely stopped practicing and followed their teacher to crowd around the young ninja and dog. "What brings you two here? How are you Pakkun?" Iruka asked pleasantly.
"Just fine, thank you Iruka." The dog replied evenly.
The students whispered about the talking dog, their eyes wide in surprise.
Kakashi's visible features were masked in apathy, "Sensei sent me here to train."
"Oh," Iruka uttered unintelligently, "Well that's fine, I guess you wouldn't have many opportunities to fight as a team. It'll be interesting for my students as well." He smiled and turned to his students. "Get in groups of three! Your group will fight each team, tournament style, until one group is declared the winner. The winning group will have no homework for the rest of the week."
The students hurried into groups as Iruka turned back to his visitors. "Unfortunately, you will not be allowed to use your ninja weapons." Iruka informed, eyeing Kakashi's full pouch of metal kunai.
Kakashi sighed, rolling his eyes and unstrapped his kunai pouch, handing it to Pakkun and folding his arms in front of his chest.
The dog scowled, "All of your weapons, pup."
Kakashi shot a scowl at the traitorous creature. He extricated two kunai from his sleeve, several senbon from the bottom of his sandals, and a spool of wire from one of his pockets.
"That's more like it. Well, I'll leave him to you, Iruka." The dog announced, picking the gear up from the ground.
Iruka nodded, "Thank you, Pakkun, it was nice seeing you again."
The dog disappeared in a puff of smoke, holding the weapons in his mouth.
"Alright, Kakashi-kun," Iruka smiled, wrapping an arm around the boy's shoulders and leading him forward, "Luckily we have a student missing today, so you will fit nicely into a group with Hiroshi and Tana." Iruka stopped in front of two students, one a tall, lanky girl with formal clothes, dark black hair that was no longer than her shoulders, and pale eyes while the other was a boy just a bit taller than himself with brown hair and unremarkable features. The teacher left quickly, noticing two groups arguing.
"I thought you graduated..." Hiroshi spoke evenly.
Kakashi barely wasted his time squinting his eyes at the offending words.
"It's nice to see you again, Kakashi-kun," Tana smiled.
Kakashi managed to smile a bit beneath his mask at her words. He remembered Tana as always being polite and nice to him, though she usually spoke very little. He glanced at the teams around them, many of which were chatting. He rolled his eyes, looking back to his temporary teammates. The two of them were talking quietly.
"So, what now?" Hiroshi asked, looking to Kakashi with doubt.
"We need a strategy," Kakashi nearly cut him off. "What are your skills?"
Hiroshi stammered, "What are yours?"
"Tracking, strategy, taijutsu, and chakra control." Kakashi replied, unfazed, crossing his arms over his chest.
Hiroshi frowned, obviously put out that Kakashi was skilled at more than he was despite their age difference, "Well I'm good at the clone technique and transformation technique."
Kakashi nodded, looking to Tana.
"I'm good at genjutsu and I have the Byakugan, but I'm still learning to use it properly.
Kakashi nodded and thought only a moment before Iruka started assigning opponents and hollered at them all to begin.
"So what's our plan?" Hiroshi asked as they faced their opposing team.
"Just follow my lead," Kakashi instructed, already going through a set of hand seals.
"Well, well, Shorty, I never would've thought that you and your thrown-together team of misfits would make it to the final round against MY team," the older redhead sneered in the way Kakashi remembered all too well from his school days.
"I'm not here to talk, Hideaki. My sensei sent me here to train, but its been more like a day off." The silver-haired boy replied as he shifted into a fighting stance. His teammates followed suits, having figured out that Kakashi actually knew what he was doing, despite his young age.
Hideaki scowled, "You're going down this time, midget!" His teammates, the small, mousy haired girl and tall boy with glasses voiced their agreement.
The six stood still for the shortest of seconds as the rest of the class and Iruka watched them before Kakashi ran forward, shunshining past Hideaki and diving to his hands, trowing his feet out to sweep out the mousy girl's and glasses boy's feet from underneath them. The two gasp as they fell to their butts, scrambling to dodge out of the way of Kakashi's next attacks.
Hideaki spun to follow Kakashi and nearly forgot about Kakashi's two teammates as they came upon his backside. He spun on his heels, managing to block Tana's first attack and countered Hiroshi's kick with a kick to the midsection.
Hiroshi backed up, gasping to catch his breath again and attacked Tana, entering a dance of blows with her until he managed to hit her solidly across the face. He turned to run towards Kakashi who was easily beating up his teammates. "Kakashi!" he yelled, stopping several feet in front of his rival.
Kakashi stopped his fight and turned towards the older redhead, carefully watching mousy girl and glasses boy from the corner of his eye.
The two boys suddenly ran at each other as if at a signal, Kakashi concentrated chakra to his fist and arm, strengthening his muscles and hardening his fist. He threw the first punch, to which Hideaki blocked with the side of his arm. Kakashi's fist landed with a loud crack and Hideaki's eyes widened with pain, but Kakashi didn't let up and instead used the opportunity to push Hideaki back and keep him on the defense. He noticed his teammates regain their composure and collide with Hideaki's teammates in a fairly even battle. HIdeaki stumbled on his feet tripping backwards. Kakashi crouched and swept his foot into Hideaki's causing the boy to fall onto his back with a loud thump. Kakashi' jumped onto him, and aimed a punch towards the redhead's throat, stopping short.
Hideaki lay still beneath Kakashi, his eyes wide and breathing heavily.
Kakashi quickly jumped up to help his teammates finish off the last two enemies. After a few minutes, the fighting stopped and Kakashi and his teammates were left standing over Hideaki's defeated team.
"Well done, students!" Iruka congratulated them all. "Hiroshi and Tana, as I said you two won't have any homework for the rest of the week."
Tana smiled and Hiroshi cheered. Kakashi brushed off a patch of dirt from his pants.
"Kakashi, I'll give a good report to your sensei."
The silver haired ninja nodded, sliding his hands into his pockets.
"Now, if the six of you would make the reconciliation seal." Iruka instructed
Kakashi made the seal to his opponents as did his teammates. The mousy girl and glasses boy made the seal as well, but Hideaki scowled. "I'm not making amends with that Shorty!" He yelled, holding his injured arm tenderly.
Iruka frowned, "It was a fair fight-"
The redhead pointed at the stoic Kakashi, "Next time, I'll beat you. You can count on that, Shorty!"
Kakashi sighed. He turned to Iruka, "I should get going, Iruka-sensei. I'd like to find my sensei and drag him to get me a decent mission today still."
Iruka nodded, "Thank you for joining us today, Kakashi-kun."
Kakashi walked towards the academy gates, hands still shoved into his pockets while Iruka took the class inside and sent Hideaki to the nurse.
Kakashi sat patiently in in one of the many halls throughout the Hokage Tower. He kicked his feet, idly twirling two pebbles in mid-air above his palm using chakra and listened to his surroundings with his eyes closed, training his hearing.
Busy ninja walked past his up and down the hall, carry papers, leading teams or scurrying from one room to another. He didn't bother to look up at them, none of their footsteps matched the sound of his brother's footsteps. Another group's footsteps started down the hall, one person's agile and quiet while the other three were clamorous as they scraped along the floor and fell heavy to the ground with each step. The voices that belonged to the footsteps were juvenile and animated - genin. The footsteps stopped suddenly in front of him, first the silent footsteps ant then the three loud ones. The pebbles he was twirling fell to his palm and he looked up to the figures before him. In front of his stood a genin team, students he remembered from his third year class, and their sensei, a tall intimidating man in white robes with long dark hair and intriguing eyes.
Kakashi looked over them passively as he began to twirl his pebbles with chakra again.
"Kakashi-kun," the tall, dark-haired man spoke with a deep voice.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the man, ignoring his former classmates ogle at his chakra exercise. "Who are you?"
The man smiled, the only break in his emotionless mask, "My name is Neji Hyuga. I'm a friend of Naruto's."
Kakashi nodded and continued staring up at the man, urging him to continue.
"What are you doing here, sitting in the Hokage Tower?" Neji asked. His genin team shifted impatiently behind him.
"Waiting for my sensei. He's been in meetings everyday for the past couple of weeks."
"What about your training?" a small girl with pig tails asked.
Kakashi looked to her, noticing her ninja gear and pack. Looking to the rest of the team, they were all outfitted with gear for a mission out of the village. "I've been training with my sensei's shadow clone, or my summons, or with the third year students at the academy."
"I see," Neji spoke thoughtfully, glancing towards his students.
Kakashi shrugged, "Today I'm making him take me on a serious mission. I've only been getting D-ranked missions everyday because I'm with Pakkun, but no more."
Neji examined Kakashi. He had seen the jounin turned child around town. It was an altogether different experience seeing the silver-haired boy up close and interacting with him. He wondered why Naruto had been neglecting Kakashi's training with so many meetings, though he knew Naruto well enough to know that the blond wouldn't neglect his kid-sensei. "Would you like to come with me and my team on our mission then? Who knows if Naruto will get out of his meeting anytime soon."
Kakashi's eyes widened slightly, "Really?"
"Sensei! What are you talking about?" one of the boy's in the team protested. The others voiced their protests as well but were quickly quieted with a sharp look from Neji.
"Well?" their sensei asked.
Kakashi caught himself for a moment. 'Should I wait for Naruto-nii? Would Naruto-nii approve of this? Neji-san is right though, I don't know when Naruto-nii will get out of his meeting, it could last all day... This is just the sort of mission I was hoping for anyways, a mission that doesn't involve babysitting or searching for lost pets or planting gardens.' Kakashi nodded and hopped down from his chair, "I accept."
Neji smiled again, "Great, come on then. We're on our way to receive our mission from the Hokage herself. We'll leave a message with her for Naruto." He waved them all forward again in their trek down the hallway.
Kakashi shoved the pebbles and his hands into his pockets, eyeing his temporary teammates. The girl seemed the most adept, at least her gait was the least clumsy. One boy had shoulder length hair, messily tied back with some strands falling out and a large scroll tied horizontally to his waist. It must have been filled with weapons, Kakashi thought to himself. The other boy seemed the most incapable of them all as he tripped from foot to foot. From what he remembered of the boy in the academy, he was lively and carefree, but had excellent chakra control.
"I believe you all know each other from the academy?" Neji asked to interrupt the silence that had descended over the group.
"Yea," his team chorused and Kakashi nodded, though he knew Neji could not have seen it.
They soon found themselves inside the Hokage's office. "Team Neji, it's nice to see all of you." Tsunade greeted as the five ninja filed into her office. She eyed Kakashi curiously and looked to Neji for an explanation.
"Tsunade-sama," he greeted and bowed his head. His team and Kakashi followed suit. "We have come to receive our mission. I was hoping, also, to bring Kakashi-kun along for this mission. He told me that Naruto has been in meetings lately and has not been able to take him on missions."
"Ah," Tsunade uttered in understanding. She smiled as she leaned forward in her chair, resting her elbows on her desk. "That sounds like a fine idea, I'll be sure to let Naruto know."
Kakashi nodded, a smile hidden behind his mask.
"Your mission is to escort a carpenter back to his home in the Land of Wave and protect him from thugs and mercenaries that may want to steal his cargo. He will be waiting for you at Konoha's gates."
"Understood," the genin chorused.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Neji spoke as they all turned to leave.
"Oh, Neji," Tsunade called before they could leave. She pulled out a small slip of paper and wrote furiously on it before handing it out to him. "If you would read over this message and relay it to Hiashi. It is of the upmost importance."
Neji accepted the note and quickly read over it. 'Neji, please keep a close eye on Kakashi. The ninja that changed him have come back once before to take him and it is quite possible they will again, though I do not think that is very likely. He is to be watched at all times, especially outside of the village. I will leave him in your capable hands.'
Neji nodded, handing the note back to Tsunade, "I will do as you ask, Tsunade-same."
"Good, thank you. Good luck on your mission, Team Neji." She called after them, turning back to her piles of paperwork.
Team Neji walked along the dirt path, escorting a rough, frail man with worn, wrinkly skin and a balding head. They were escorting the man back to his home, along with his cart of goods, pulled by a mule who walked with a slight limb in his rear left leg. The genin of team Neji chatted amongst each other, talking about the best way to make a trap and switching between bickering about who was more of an idiot and answering the carpenter's questions.
Kakashi released a large breath and looked up at the sky. They had been walking for several hours and the sun had hidden itself behind dark grey clouds the whole time which had left the earth looking dull and sullen. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply through his nose. It would rain by nightfall, he guessed. He could smell the storm in the air.
"It would be wise for us to set up camp before the rain starts, don't you think?" Neji spoke suddenly from Kakashi's side, causing the boy to look towards the jounin.
Kakashi nodded, "I think it'll be here pretty soon. We probably wont make it to Wave today."
Neji smiled. "Probably not," he admitted to the boy. "We'll stop here for the night and set up camp." Neji broadcasted, causing their group to come to a halt.
"What? I thought this was just a quick day trip, Sensei." The boy with the scroll tied to his pack complained.
Neji nodded, walking to the side of the path, just under the trees, and set his pack down. "It is, but it will rain soon. We're not in any rush and it will be a much more comfortable trip if we're all dry. After we set up camp, well get in a bit of training before the rain comes."
They all set down their packs, building a fire and setting up tarps and tents to keep dry through the night. The carpenter settled by the fire, feeling the cold ache of the rain in his bones as the genin gathered around their Sensei on the wide dirt path.
"You two and I will work on genjutsu, " Neji spoke to the girl with pigtails, who smiled and nodded animatedly, and to the carefree boy.
"Toya, you will spar with Kakashi. Kakashi, I wonder, have you ever sparred with a weapon before?" Neji asked, studying the boy's face. He remembered that the Kakashi from the past had been well instructed with the tanto. He had also heard that Sakumo Hatake, Kakashi's father, had wielded a white chakra blade which he had passed onto his son after his death. Surely Kakashi would have learned how to use the weapon at an early age, shortly after his father's death. He wondered if this Kakashi knew how to wield a similar weapon.
Kakashi shook his head, "Sensei hasn't taught me to fight with weapons other than kunai, senbon and wire yet."
Neji nodded thoughtfully. "Theres no better time than the present to learn. Toya, would you lend Kakashi a tanto. Teach him the basics of using it and then do some light sparring."
"Yes, Sensei!" The boy dropped to his knee, pulling the scroll from his pack and unrolling it. He preformed a seal, bringing forth a tanto as long as Kakashi's forearm. He picked it up gently with two hands as if it were his own newborn child and handed it to Kakashi.
Kakashi accepted the blade, holding it lightly in his hand. He stepped back and swung the blade a few times. It felt...familiar to him; his body acted as if it had been fighting with a tanto all along and his muscles knew how to handle such a weapon.
"I thought you didn't know how to use a tanto," Toya spoke up with a speculative air to his voice, seeing the ease with which Kakashi handled the weapon.
Neji watched Kakashi carefully, wondering as to the full extent of Kakashi's condition and what the boy retained from his previous life.
"I haven't," Kakashi replied evenly, "but it seems easy enough."
Toya snorted, picking up his own weapon of choice and rolling up his scroll to set it aside.
Neji led his other two students away and began training with them as Toya stood with his katana and faced Kakashi.
"Let's just start fighting. When I see something for you to fix then I'll let you know. That seems like it'll be the easiest, ya?"
Kakashi nodded.
Toya began by swinging over his head towards Kakashi, to which the silver-haired boy blocked easily, followed by several strikes at Kakashi's side. Each attach grew more complex, requiring greater knowledge from the defender in order to block each attack.
Kakashi gritted his teeth, blocking an attack, but using the full force of his muscles to hold the opposing weapon at bay. Another disadvantage to being young, he made a note to himself, was that he was much weaker than others at his level. He decided then that he would start strengthening his muscles. Toya swung again and he trusted his instincts and body to block the strike. Their swords met with a loud clank underneath the heavy clouds.
"Like shit you've never used a tanto before." Toya growled, fighting at his normal strength now, trying to outmaneuver Kakashi.
Kakashi ignored the boy and let his mind go blank. He didn't know why his body knew what to do, but for whatever reason it did and he tried not to think about it too much for fear that it would cause him to hesitate and get struck by Toya.
'Good Kakashi, you're learning well.'
Kakashi grunted in acknowledgment, decided to try his hand at offense. He pushed forward, swinging at Toya.
'Now swing with your whole body, not just your arms.'
He did, and his tanto hit Toya's katana with an even louder clang, drawing glances from Neji and the other genin.
The clouds above them thundered, shaking the earth with their power. Kakashi saw the katana coming towards his head, wielded by his blond headed sensei, and jumped to the side, rolling a few paces before he stood and faced his opponent again.
"Where the hell are you going? I'm the one on defense here!" Toya yelled in frustration.
'You fight just like your father, Kakashi-kun' The blond smiled, sheathing his katana at last. He plopped to the ground as if he were a kid and sighed contentedly as he lay in the grass, cool breeze blowing his blond locks.
"I'm nothing like my father, Sensei." Kakashi rebutted sourly.
Toya stared at him strangely, putting away his sword and keeping his distance from the silver-haired boy.
"Kakashi," Neji called as he walked towards the boy.
Kakashi looked up from his thoughts and into the man's pale eyes.
"You seem very adept with the tanto. You should speak with Naruto and ask if he might get you one..." Neji began.
Kakashi listened to Neji, but his mind was preoccupied with watching the other three genin. Toya twirled his finger near his head. "He's crazy, guys, really. He was talking to himself and blocking attacks that weren't from me. Not to mention the kid said he never used a tanto before, but he was keeping up with me easily - ME! I tell you, that kid's nuts."
"Maybe he's so good because he's crazy," the girl whispers, petting one of her pigtails nervously. The three of them shot glances at Kakashi.
He looked away but listened still, his hurt hid behind his emotionless mask.
"I mean," the girl continued, still whispering as if no one could hear her, "We were all in class with him. How can a little kid be that good of a ninja?"
"Well, maybe his ninja skills are so incredible that it's making him crazy!" the last boy suggested loudly, throwing his hands in the air.
Kakashi decided to stop listening in then and returned his full attention to Neji.
"...train with my friend Tenten. You're welcome to come and train with Toya anytime, also."
"Neji-sensei," Kakashi cut in with emotionless eyes, "thank you. I think I'll go back to camp now."
Neji nodded, watching little Kakashi walk back to the camp. He sighed, knowing that the boy hadn't been listening to him at all. He walked over to his genin team who quieted their gossip at his arrival. "Before you come back to camp, you are all to run down to that tree," he pointed to a lonely, fat tree who's base took up half of the pathway, "and back five times."
The genin groaned in complaint and Toya squinted, trying to make out which tree was being discussed in the distance.
"Also, the last person to finish must run down and back twice more."
The genin's eyes widened. The carefree boy took off without warning, sprinting towards the tree. The other two sputtered, taking off after their teammate as Toya shouting angrily at his cheating friend.
Neji grinned, knowing Lee and Gai would be proud of him. He glanced back at young Kakashi, who had taken a seat next to the old carpenter, wondering what else the boy would surprise him with during this mission.
Kakashi smiled as the old man chatted with him about how he reminded him of his grandson. He stood, "I think I'll go collect some more firewood before it all gets wet."
Kakashi walked out of the camp, pushing through the underbrush for some way until he found a shady tree to sit underneath. He leaned against it and slid down, pulling his knees close and tucking his face in them. A loud clash of thunder rumbled through his ears and tiny droplets of water fell from the sky. He wondered if everyone thought he was different. People certainly acted strange around him. Adults always acted just...weird around him, and they all knew his name. The genin and students he was always around thought of him as a child or a crazy freak.
He rubbed his eyes from the wetness that tried to pool up in them. It was raining harder now and the cool drops had drenched his figure, causing him to shiver slightly. He preformed a seal, summoning two of his nin dogs, Pakkun and Bisuke, who looked at him with dark, droopy eyes. "Pup," Pakkun spoke up, looking at him with a tilted head, "what's wrong?"
Kakashi shrugged, "It's cold."
Bisuke trotted lazily next to him and curled his body next to Kakashi's, resting his head in the boy's lap. Kakashi smiled, petting the dog's tan fur fondly. Pakkun took a seat next to him and Kakashi affectionately petted him as well. "What are you doing out here in the forest by yourself?" the dog asked.
"I'm on a mission with Neji-sensei and his team."
They sat in silence for a while, simply listening to the pitter-patter of the rain as it his the tree leaves and fell down to the ground with a muddy splash.
He wondered again why he was so different. He was sure it had something to do with those ninja who had kidnapped him and how Naruto and Sakura were so protective over him. Sakura had told him that the ninja would probably come back for him. What was it about him that made them so interested in a five year old genin? He briefly wondered if it was okay for him to have come on this mission with Neji and his team. Naruto would be devastated if something were to happen to him. It was all okay, he assured himself. He was with Neji-sensei, who seemed like a decent ninja, and now he had Pakkun and Bisuke to protect him.
The bushes nearby rustled, startling Kakashi and causing his dogs to look up in curiosity. Bisuke growled and Pakkun stood up, ready to pounce.
Kakashi berated himself then for straying away from camp. He reached into his kunai holster, slowly wrapping his fingers around its handle in preparation for a fight.
Some bushes shifted in his sight and he cursed the rain for covering up all of the scents around them. 'Of course this would be the perfect time to kidnap me!' Kakashi thought to himself. 'I'm far away from Naruto-nii, away from my team, and the rain will cover up all of the tracks and scents!'
The tree above him shifted and he eyed it acutely.
'I'm surrounded; there's no way I'm getting out of this...'
A figure pushed through the brush in front of him, his long black hair and white robes as soaked as he was.
"Neji-sensei..." Kakashi uttered dumbly, inconspicuously letting go of his kunai.
"Kakashi, what are you doing out here?"
Kakashi stood, "I'm sorry Neji-sensei, I just wanted to be alone."
Neji pursed his lips but nodded. "Let's get back to camp and dry off our clothes, huh?"
Kakashi nodded and followed Neji back, Pakkun and Bisuke loyally following him. They quickly stripped down and hung their clothes up to dry. Kakashi quickly made his way into his tent with his dogs as the genin team had even come back from their exercise. He zipped up the tent front and curled up under his thin blanket, letting his dogs curl up on either side of him as he listened to the team carry on together.