Kakashi watched with muted breath as the blond haired toddler fiddled with their apartment keys in front of their chipped door. They made valiant efforts trying to insert the key, barely stretching tall enough for their pudgy hands to reach the lock. Kakashi had to hold himself back from helping the child out of their predicament. After what felt like forever, a click came from the door and, with a cry of triumph, they pushed the door open on their tip toes before closing it behind them with a resounding thump.
Sometimes, Kakashi really had to wonder if his fellow shinobi had any common sense. If they did, it must have been buried somewhere deep, deep down, because most of the time it certainly didn't seem like it. For example, whose bright idea was to give a four year old — a literal baby — an apartment of their own without any supervision!? He would swear on his Hokage's head, these guys never learned. It's like he wasn't a walking, breathing example of why it was an unwise idea to leave a young child to live by themselves.
Kakashi still had it better than his teacher's son did. He at least had a basic inkling on how to take care of himself, his father having involved him in the chores around the house with the excuse of family bonding. But Naruto? He had no such luck. The orphanages were overflowing with children after the Kyuubi attack and lacked enough volunteers to really pay attention to each individual child, much less to the vessel of the demon, or demon child as they called him.
No one had taught him the most basic things for those who live alone like cooking, cleaning and most importantly: money management.
Kakashi watched on as the toddler waddled around their apartment setting up for the night. They reached over the counter taking off the tea kettle to boil some water for their usual choice of meal, a cup ramen. After a few minutes the whistling of the kettle announced the water to be ready. On their tippy toes they took down the device from its place and poured the scalding water into the already opened cup ramen. Leaving the noodles to soak they dumped out the excessive water into the sink and sat down at their dining table waiting for their meal to be ready, a pair of chopsticks already in hand. After a wait time so brief that the noodles wouldn't have had nearly enough time to soften, they dragged the cup closer and started sucking down noodles with the ferocity of a starving beast, not even caring about the possibility of burning their tongue.
Kakashi watched on with a wince. He had to do something about that.
The Hokage's decree forbade any Anbu squad tasked with the protection of their jinchuuriki from interacting with them, but if he wasn't seen it couldn't be called an interaction, now could it? So with his mind set, Kakashi gave one last backward glance and left his perch to grab some sleep then do some well-needed grocery shopping first thing tomorrow.
The next morning, his first stop was a book store where he bought many books on child care and balanced meal plans for growing kids. After a rough skim through the pages, he went to the markets to buy some healthy vegetables and fruits that didn't need to be prepared, because god forbid he let an untrained child like Naruto around a knife, much less a hot stove.
With his grocery bag in hand he slunk along the main street while expertly avoiding the rushing civilians around him. In the corner of his sight, he noticed a warm looking turquoise blanket with various breeds of dogs and colorful paw prints adorning it in the window of a small shop. Thinking about the threadbare blanket on Naruto's bed, he entered the store and bought it along with a small plushie of a beautiful snow white yakutian laika.
Purchases safely tucked away in a sealing scroll, Kakashi circled back around to Naruto's apartment. A short peek through his window revealed no hint of the kid, so he silently snuck in through the window and put down the grocery bag on his kitchen table. As he placed the folded blanket and plushie down beside it, he heard the jangle of keys and made a hasty retreat back out the window. Surreptitiously, he peered back inside to see the tiny figure of Naruto enter the room, head hung low.
He watched on as the child locked the door behind him and turned, only to stop in his tracks when he spotted the objects on his kitchen table that definitely weren't there when he left.
With great suspicion, Naruto approached slowly, then poked the bag with a finger as if expecting it to bite him. Seeing no reaction, he carefully pulled the bag towards himself and peeked inside, only for a surprised expression to break across his face upon seeing the various fruits and vegetables staring back at him from the bottom of the bag.
When he moved to grab one of the fruits, his hand brushed against something soft that made him jump back in startlement. Upon seeing what he just touched, his eyes widened even more. With much more courage, he approached the folded up blanket and carefully ran his hand along the soft. With clear wonderment, he reached out for the plushie sitting on top of it delighted in its feel as he hugged it close. He grinned so brightly it would put the sun to shame. All reservations forgotten, he made a grab for the blanket and, with both of his new treasures in hand, he ran off towards his room and happily threw himself on his bed.
Kakashi watched on with a soft expression hidden under his mask until the small child fell asleep bundled up in their new blanket and hugging their doggie plushie close, a peaceful smile on their face. He left shortly after that to take care of his anbu duties, content in the thought he did something right, even if he couldn't be there for his teacher's son like he would have liked to be.