Naruto x Digimon

Alive - Team Minato's Digidestined

Chapter 03

Originally Written: November 5, 2022 1036PM to 1148PM

. . . . .

Somehow, Minato Namikaze got Team Minato past the D-Rank slog, into the mess known as C-Ranks, and to the Chuunin exams. Unfortunately these exams reminded Kakashi that Gai Might existed. The trade off was that he was the only one in his team formally promoted to Chuunin. Not that it helped anything, because he was still part of Team Minato. Tutored under the man who was slowly starting to understand what Kakashi meant when he said he'd kill them. Yet, he was learning much more slowly than Kakashi wanted him to. A shame that most people weren't as smart as him.

The Third had taken a bit more interest in him, though he tried to act as though Kakashi hadn't noticed. Kakashi had noticed the Third's interest. He also noticed that Minato held enough sway in the Third's eyes to actually tell him to quit it without being punished. For a time, the Third had listened, but was back on the trail as soon as Minato stopped paying attention to him. Minato was so green.

As green as Gai's clothes, and as bright as Minato's smiles and eyes. Smiles and eyes like his father's before he left for that mission. He ignored Gai as the older teen followed him around, and tried to challenge him to different ridiculous tasks. His slowly growing number of hound summons searched the fields, trailing ahead of him. Pakkun stayed closest, speaking to him in quiet conversation.

"Is that pup one of yours too?" Pakkun asked. His voice slowly matured as he aged, but for now he still sounded like a young puppy. Despite being the oldest, Pakkun was the smallest of their little pack. He seemed to compensate for this by learning how to speak human language, something the other dog summons couldn't do.

"No." Kakashi replied. Gai sulked in the background for just a moment. Kakashi ignored him, even when he continued following.

The Hatake house was small, but the lands surrounding it were relatively large. Big enough that the backyard was mostly a forest of dense brush. All sorts of animals flitted through the grounds, making their way through. Kakashi never bothered them, and they never bothered him. He mostly ignored them, until he rediscovered his father's summoning scroll, and tried his hand at summoning.

It took a while for any of the dogs to warm up to him, but once they did, they let him know that there was a not-quite-wolf-dog-animal-thing prowling the grounds. Pakkun couldn't quite explain what it was, even when translating the other dog's explanations of the creature. Kakashi settled for 'wolf-dog thing'. Bisuke saw it just once, but couldn't describe it well, besides pointing out the prominent yellow horn on its head. It stood out to him, because well, dogs don't have horns. Neither do wolves. Its scent was hard to pick out as well, because it almost didn't have one. It faded into the forest better than the other animals did.

When he wasn't on a mission, or training, Kakashi spent his time with his ninken searching the Hatake Clan grounds. He still didn't want the house or the surrounding land, but they were growing on him. His summons had a lot of room to run around and train whenever Kakashi was busy. They also helped keep track of the grounds, making sure there were no trespassers that needed to be taught a lesson. He didn't think the villagers would be bold enough to encroach upon the grounds, but with the threat of war on the horizon, and the villager's grand ability to hold grudges, Kakashi wouldn't be surprised if they started to try.

"Whatever it is you are searching for, dearest rival, it knows where your traps are." Gai commented.

Kakashi almost jumped when Gai spoke. His voice was a soft whisper. Very much unlike the loud booming voice he was used to. Kakashi looked at the nearby trap he had set up. Something had traveled through this area that wasn't a normal sized animal. He didn't recognize the footprints either. So it was something new to the area. Yet the trap hadn't been triggered.

"That one, at least." Gai continued.

Kakashi waved a hand. His dogs split up. Even Pakkun rushed off. "It's wolf-like in nature. Or perhaps a dog? A mix of both? A feral breed." Kakashi crouched in front of the prints.

Gai nodded, looking around as Kakashi spoke.

"And it has a yellow horn on its head."

"Most unusual, dearest rival!" Gai nodded again, fidgeting in excitement. "Would you like me to help you find your wayward canine?"

Kakashi looked up at him in confusion. "I thought that was why you stayed."

"Oh…no." Gai shook his head. "You still haven't responded to my request!"

Kakashi blinked once more, trying to remember what said request was.

"But now that I am here! I will help you find your missing canine!" Gai clenched his fists. "It'll be our own personal mission!"

"Uh….sure, whatever." Kakashi took Gai's yelling in stride. He'd have a headache by the end of the day, but if it meant he would find the animal sending his summons into fits, then he'd take it.

They searched most of the afternoon, but didn't find the wayward creature. Maybe it had left the area? Kakashi forgot all about the white rectangle with a strange screen sitting in his pocket. He couldn't speak to it while pretending to talk to himself once either. No matter how low he spoke, Gai always seemed to hear him. Kakashi couldn't figure out why, but the genin seemed to think he was always saying something profound and important. So Kakashi spoke, Gai listened, and his ninken searched. The device he forgot all about blinked in his pocket, glowing faintly. And they never found the canine trespasser.

"We will need to search another day then." Even Gai sounded dejected that they never found anything.

"Will that be that before or after racing to the top of Hokage Mountain?" Pakkun asked.

Kakashi stared at Pakkun with a look of betrayal. That request was stupid! If Obito saw them, he'd want to join too, just to challenge Kakashi. If Obito could do it, surely all the other genin would try, not wanting to be outclassed by the deadlast of their generation. It would be the silliest thing occurring in all of Konoha, and Pakkun just put him in the center of it.

"Before, of course!" Gai beamed, smiling so brightly that Pakkun and the other dogs needed to look away.

Kakashi looked away, unsure how to respond to someone putting him and his concerns before themselves.