Naruto biked home. Hard.
So many strange things happened today. He was itching to have someone to talk to, someone to share them with. He ran up the stairs, hooked the wires, and opened the door –
And his apartment was empty. He faltered and scanned the room frantically. The place was small, and the dog was large, impossible to miss, and yet – and yet –
Naruto's chest heaved uncontrollably. He gulped, clenched his fists, and ran to the stash of cash he hid under the floor. It was his fault. It was his fucking fault for promising him food and not delivering. He knew what it was like to be hungry and yet – "Fuck," he muttered, grabbed a stack of bills, and ran out.
He was such a fucking idiot. He had one good thing going for him, and he ruined it. He ruined everything. Fuck.
He ran to the nearest animal store and burst in, causing the woman sitting near the register to jump in surprise. "I need dog food," he panted. "Best you've got."
The woman blinked at him, tilted her head, and –
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the village idiot. So what, you're eating dog food now?"
Naruto gritted his teeth and turned around, glowering at the kid who mocked him. Kiba. "No," he objected. "I've got a dog."
"Like hell you do," Kiba scoffed as he drew near him. His eyes were furious and gleeful. "Everyone knows you're so poor you're practically homeless. Ain't no way mom's gonna sell you a dog."
"I didn't buy him," Naruto countered, his pulse drumming in his ears. "And I've got money." He turned back to the woman, who followed the exchange intently, and showed her the cash crushed in his fist.
"What's that?" Kiba drawled and wrapped his hand around Naruto's neck. His hold was too tight. "Did you rob a bank?" His hand reached for the money.
Naruto reacted instinctively. He elbowed Kiba – hard – and shoved him against the wall. "Leave me alone already!"
Kiba got up and raised his fists. "I'll kill y-ow! Lemme go!"
The woman grabbed Kiba by the neck and put him in a chokehold. "What are you doing, you brat?! Is this the proper way to treat a customer?! I'm gonna tell mom, you know!"
Kiba struggled to breathe. "L-Lemme… L-emme go!"
The woman released him and pointed to the back door. "Now, asshole."
Naruto watched, clueless and dumbfounded, as Kiba – the kid that made his time in school awful in every way he could – stomped his way to the back of the store and shut the door behind him. The way he glowered caused Naruto to take a step back.
The woman turned to face him with a smile. "Please ignore my younger brother. He doesn't know any better. Now, what kind of dog do you own?"
Naruto struggled to clear his head. He had always assumed having a family meant safety and love. He never thought – "Ah. White," he blurted. His cheeks burned when the woman barked a laugh. "Really big," he added.
The woman shook her head, still smiling. "Does he have a preference? Fish, beef, chicken?"
Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "I… I don't know," he mumbled. "I gave him a sandwich."
The woman frowned. "You should not feed animals human food. It's not good for them," she chastised. Her shoulders slumped when Naruto winced. "Well, never you mind. It's a good thing you came." She picked up a small bag and offered it to him. "Give him this – see if he likes it. You should also bring him to my mom for a checkup! She's the town's vet, you know!"
Naruto accepted the small bag. "How much?"
"Oh, don't worry about it. It's on the house," the woman said brightly and waved her hand. "Please forgive Kiba for being such a jerk. I don't know what's gotten into him lately."
Naruto nodded and stuffed the cash into his pocket. He was overcome with the need to flee. "Thanks, Miss! You're really nice – I gotta go – " And ran outside.
Now he had to find his missing dog.
Kakashi watched over Sasuke.
The boy stuck to his routine. If it weren't for the large number of painkillers he consumed, Kakashi might have been fooled by his act. Well, and his scent.
The boy smelled like old blood and fresh wounds.
The way he grabbed his shoulders… a bird, then, just like his older brother.
Kakashi waited, but the transformations had yet to start. The boy must have found a way to keep them at bay using mathematical algorithms – distract the mind, stop the pain. It would not last long, he knew. It was his fate, no matter how hard he struggled.
Kakashi remembered his first transformations. He had no one to help him, guide him, explain – he remembered the sheer terror and the intense pain that flooded his body when he tried to resist. He remembered the panic – when he thought he could never transform back. It was the boy's brother, Itachi, who helped him.
That was before he massacred Sasuke's entire family.
Kakashi waited and kept his watch. He had to –
He blinked when a familiar scent hit his nose. Naruto.
Kakashi turned around sharply –
The boy walked the streets, alone and defenseless. The hour was late – close to midnight – and the kid was still out. He carried a bag of dog treats.
Fuck.
Kakashi winced and returned his eye to Sasuke – but the boy had yet to transform. Or notice him, perched on a tree and stalking his student. Not today, he concluded. Hoped.
Kakashi jumped down, entered his car, and drove toward the other kid before the idiot entered the gang's territory in a futile search for a dog that did not exist.
He slowed down when he neared the boy and rolled down his window. "Oi, Uzumaki!"
The kid tensed – his eyes snapped up, brimmed with tears – and saw him. He wiped his eyes and looked away, his nose red. "What are you doing here, Sensei?" he muttered.
"I'm on my way home," Kakashi lied easily. "Can I give you a ride?"
Naruto shuffled his feet. "S'fine. I know where I live."
Kakashi smiled. "Well, I never doubted that. It is late, however," he said gently.
The kid scoffed, but his eyes flickered and, for a moment, met his. "I'm looking for my dog," he confessed, his voice brittle. "Gotta find him first." He started walking away.
"That dog you drew, you mean?" Kakashi kept up with the kid by gently releasing the brakes. "I must say, he seems rather wild." Give up on me, kid. Give up and –
"He's not!" Naruto protested. "Wild animals aren't… they aren't nice. He came home with me, so I think he was abandoned n' I promised I'd get him food but I didn't n' now he's gone and – " Naruto fell silent and swallowed with difficulty.
Oh. The boy was close to tears again.
Naruto walked faster. "Leave me alone, you creep!"
Shit. He was creepy, wasn't he. Kakashi flinched and stopped the car. "Wild animals don't understand human speech, Uzumaki. I doubt the dog left because you did not keep your promise."
Naruto stopped in his tracks.
He said nothing, so Kakashi continued. "Wild animals come and go as they please. He might already be waiting for you in your place." He suddenly remembered he was not yet supposed to know about the kid's situation. "How about you call your parents and ask them?"
Naruto flinched. Kakashi could see the tremors snaking under his shirt. "And if he isn't there?" he asked in a small voice.
"Well, I can help you search for him tomorrow if you like. We can cover more ground with my car." He decided not to push the subject. He had yet to prove he could be trusted.
Naruto was clearly torn. He did not know what to do. "Are… are you from the area, Sensei?" he managed.
Kakashi frowned, then realized. Naruto's neighborhood had a reputation, after all. "No, I moved here recently," he lied again. "But I trust you can direct me."
Naruto rubbed his arm self-consciously. And tensed – which meant that he was still going to refuse – and that Kakashi had to push after all.
"Do you want me to call your parents?" he asked gently, kindly – and felt like an utter piece of shit when Naruto's knuckles burned white. "Uzumaki, is something wrong?"
The kid flinched again and turned to face him, his expression a mixture of anger and defiance and hesitation. Fists clenched, he looked away as he marched to Kakashi's car, opened the door, sat in the seat next to him, and glared ahead.
He held the dog treats tightly against his chest.
Kakashi turned to look at him.
Naruto's scowl deepened, as did the reddening of his ears. "What?" he barked, turning to glower at him instead.
"Seatbelt, Uzumaki."
Kakashi's calm voice did not have the effect he had hoped for.
Naruto blinked – eyes wide and vulnerable – and obeyed. His scowl returned, as dark as before.
He smelled… scared. Did something happen when he was away? Should he ask?
The boy's muscles tensed under Kakashi's eye, so he returned his gaze to the road. "Where to?"
Naruto rubbed his arm again. "Make a U-turn. Then keep straight."
Kakashi turned on the air conditioner. He adjusted the rearview mirror with a subtle twist of a node so he could observe the kid's face.
Naruto blinked when hot air blew in his face. He glanced at him and immediately looked away, the scowl back in place. "M'not cold," he mumbled.
"I am," Kakashi lied again.
Naruto turned to look at him. He scoffed and looked away.
Kakashi supposed his baggy jacket gave him away. He had to find a way to appease the boy. "Your dog," he started carefully and observed Naruto as he clenched his fist, "does he have a name?"
The kid now pointedly looked out the window. "Couldn't think of one," he mumbled.
"I see." Kakashi could not think of anything else to say. The kid curled away from him as much as he could. Perhaps silence would –
"The game we played, today," Naruto blurted suddenly. "Gonna do it again next week?"
Kakashi glanced at him – but the kid lifted his knee as a barrier between them and did not meet his eye. "No point, really. You and Uchiha surpass the rest of the class. The game, instead of encouraging them, will cause them to give up."
Naruto curled further away from him.
Kakashi thought of the metal box the kid had hidden under a tile in his shitty, one-bedroom apartment. "You performed exceptionally well," he added.
Naruto perked up, eyes wide and vulnerable yet again – before retreating to his hiding place behind his knee. "Didn't win," he mumbled.
"That wasn't the point," Kakashi replied gently. "I wanted to challenge you to think creatively about math and believe in yourself and your skills. Both you and Uchiha performed far better than I had expected." He glanced at the kid who, despite his resolve to stare at anything but him, was clearly hanging on to his every word. "Also, that picture you drew was very impressive. Where to now?"
Naruto stared at him, eyes wider still, and blushed. "Oh. Um. Still – no. I mean, right. Turn right."
Kakashi obeyed. The kid wasn't leading him to his apartment. He still did not trust him.
"Here's fine," Naruto blurted. "Thanks." He undid his seatbelt and opened the door before the car came to a complete stop.
Well, now's a good time as any. "Uzumaki," he called after the blond.
Naruto tensed again. He swallowed and turned around.
"Tomorrow, could you come to my office hours? There's something I would like to discuss with you. Nothing bad," he added quickly when the kid flinched. "It's about your application. Some matters to review."
Naruto shuffled his feet and offered a short nod.
Kakashi smiled. "Excellent. Good night, Uzumaki."
The blond nodded again and mumbled, "G'night," before turning and marching away, jumpy and agitated.
Kakashi drove away, parked the car, and undressed. He stopped and stared at his reflection in the mirror. Fuck. He ran his fingers through his hair. Fuck. This wasn't going well at all.
Naruto refused to trust his human self and refused to let go of the wolf.
Fuck.
He exited the car and buried his keys under it, then transformed.
He galloped, the cold air raw and invigorating, and jumped up to Naruto's room. He looked up –
Naruto opened the door, chest heaving and forehead gleaming with sweat, and tripped when he saw him. He closed the door behind him, locked it –
Kakashi trotted to him and rubbed his face against the kid's shoulder.
"I was looking for you," Naruto whispered. "I kept my promise. I'm sorry it took me so long." He opened up the bag and offered him a treat.
Kakashi growled at the food and knocked it out of the kid's hand. He lifted his paws and balanced on the kid's shoulders, then licked his face. He did not mind pretending to be a dog, but he still had some boundaries. One of them was dog food.
Naruto stumbled down to his knees as he picked up the treat. "You don't like… eh, beef, flavor? I can get a different one – "
Kakashi growled and knocked the treat out of Naruto's hand again.
The kid sat down. Tears slid down his cheeks. "Why?" he whispered. "Don't you want to be mine? I don't want you to be wild," he choked and wiped his eyes. "I want you to stay. Don't leave me."
Fuck. Kakashi rumbled and sat next to him. Naruto pulled up his knees against his chest and hid his face, so Kakashi laid his head on top of his and nudged him gently until the kid finally snuggled against him. He was cold, so Kakashi wrapped his tail around his legs and breathed hot air down his back. Don't cry, kid, he tried to say. Shame and regret pooled in his stomach.
"You don't want treats or food or a collar… I don't get it. Maybe you really are a wild animal and…." Naruto blinked furiously. "Maybe I'm an idiot for trying to tame you."
Kakashi rumbled again and lifted his paw to hug Naruto. The gesture was awkward, but it inspired the kid to embrace his neck in response. Naruto's hurt voice and broken eyes would be the death of him. He hated watching the kid cry.
"Guess it's fine, as long as you come back. You will come back to me, right?" He looked up, shining eyes desperately searching his red and black.
Kakashi licked his face. A promise he could not keep but had to make.
Naruto chuckled and shoved his face away. "Ah! I'm all wet." His smile was brittle, but Kakashi decided to reward that with a wagging of his tail.
"You're doing the tail thing again!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing at his tail. "I knew you weren't wild!" He jumped on Kakashi and pushed him down. "That means belly rubs!"
That most certainly did not mean that. Kakashi rolled away and got up. He leaned on the counter and opened the cabinet, then grabbed a cup of ramen and offered it to the kid.
Naruto scoffed to hide his smile. "You're taking care of me better than I'm taking care of you," he admitted.
Kakashi landed on all fours and licked his forehead.
Naruto closed one eye with a wince and rubbed his hair. "Great. More dog drool." He stood up and turned on the kettle, then sat next to the table and took out his notebooks – the old and the new. He smiled when Kakashi sat behind him and wrapped his long body around him. "I nearly died today," he said casually.
Kakashi perked up his ears. His heart skipped a beat.
Naruto brushed his fur absentmindedly. "I tried to enter Hatake's classroom through the window, so Iruka won't catch me. But Hatake was there, and I freaked out. I nearly fell." His hand froze, fingers buried deep. "I remember thinking that I didn't wanna die." He barked a short laugh. "It's weird, but every other time when I was close, I didn't care. I didn't think – or, y'know, I thought fuck it, right? I mean, it's another way out of this place. But, this time, I… I didn't want to. I wanted…."
The water boiled. Naruto got up, poured them into his ramen, and then sat back down.
Kakashi instinctively whined. He wrapped his tail around the kid and placed his head in his lap and hoped the kid would not sense his agitation.
Naruto's smile was sharp and painful. "I guess it's because of you. You care about me." He blushed slightly. "And, eh, well, I think Hatake maybe cares about me too." He scratched his cheek. "So that's two. That's a lot, for me."
Kakashi winced and did not move. Every word Naruto uttered made him feel worse.
"He saved my life, y'know? Pulled me back up. I thought he was skinny and weak, like a math nerd, but he's really strong! His arm's like, muscley. Is that a word?" Naruto kept talking, cheeks blooming pink and voice vibrant.
The kid kept expressing his admiration for him in private yet actively tried to avoid his company. Patience, he reminded himself. The kid was testing him. He needed time.
"And then we had a math game and I got Kiba pretty good and I almost defeated Sasuke! It's pretty amazing, isn't it? And Sensei liked the drawing I did of you. He wanted to keep it. I still lost, though."
The sound of scribbles attracted Kakashi's attention. He raised his head.
Naruto drew Sasuke, eyes gleaming, a smirk on his lips –
He turned the page and started sketching again. Kakashi followed the movement of his hand, mesmerized by the skill –
Oh. He drew him. He drew two pages full of him.
Naruto sketched his face and his neck when he surrendered, paying particular attention to the veins that defined it; he drew his smile, the crooked one; he sketched his eye and his lashes, curling down.
He drew him when he leaned back, reading his book, and when he drove his car.
He drew his hands – his fingers – again and again and again.
"I like his smile," Naruto whispered. "His real smile, I mean. I think he lies all the time."
Kakashi stared. Naruto's attention to detail was astounding. The drawings were precise and emotional. Was that, truly, how the kid saw him?
More flattering than I deserve, he thought. His mouth dried as tension shivered through his muscles. He can see through my mask.
He wondered if Naruto would tear up those drawings, as well.
The kid did tear them, but slowly and carefully and only along the edges of the page. He stored them inside his precious metal box.
"Well, homework time," he yawned and opened the notebook Kakashi gifted him and –
Finally, Kakashi thought.
Naruto found the note Kakashi left for him. 'Excellent job,' he wrote. 'I'm proud of you and your efforts. Keep it up!'
He traced his fingers over the words, mouth parted and eyes wide, breath shaky.
He did not cry. Instead, he jumped up, ran to the kitchen, retrieved a pair of scissors, and cut the words free. He then opened up his other notebook and glued the piece of paper to the page.
He wrote the date and Kakashi's name and grinned. "Also, he gave me a ride home and didn't try to grab me or anything, so I think he might be nice, y'know?"
Kakashi flinched. That's why the kid was so wary and agitated during the ride.
Fuck.
Notes:
Hey y'all,
How's this Friday treating you? Hope y'all are doing well! Maybe even as well as a kid with a new crush (bad transition I know 😂)
It is going to take a while for Naruto to overcome his trust issues, but I got a feeling Kakashi isn't scared of a challenge. He'll get a chance next chapter... guess it remains to be seen if he'll screw it up or not 😉
And regarding Kiba... I don't think he's actually bullied at home, that was simply how Naruto interpreted it, but you can make your own judgment. I mean, usually, when I write I know exactly what's going on with the rest of the characters even if I don't share it with the reader, but in this case, it could really go either way.
Anyways, that's it for today! What'd you think? Next chapter is going to be longer - hope you'll like it! See ya next time! ❤
