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Swearing fills the air of training ground two. For a bunch of twelve year olds, two of whom give off the impression of being above such things, they are surprisingly vulgar. Kakashi certainly knew every curse under the sun by the time he was twelve, but he was not a prim and proper civilian (like Sakura) or a member of a Noble Clan (like Sasuke). Naruto probably picked up the vulgarity from the orphanage, so there's that. Kakashi flips another page of Icha Icha Paradise and tries not to think about that.
“I don’t remember Gai’s kids being like this,” he grumbles, and the tri-coloured wild dog at his side laughs. She looks up from where she’s lying between the fence-posts, her plate-like ears twitching with every thunk! of a kunai into the trees. A long, pink tongue lolls out between razorblade canines. It’s a high, summer morning and Kakashi is sweating through his jōnin blues, but Usagi seems utterly content to bask in the sun.
“Give them a chance,” she suggests, her smile softening the sharpness of her teeth. “They’ve only just graduated. Naruto’s aim is improving - look, he’s hitting the tree every time.”
Kakashi hums. Naruto is supposed to be hitting the target, not the tree, but Usagi always focuses on the positive side of things. It’s one of the many things he doesn’t understand about her. He doesn’t think there are many positives about being saddled with three pre-teen genin, especially an infatuated civilian girl, a broody Uchiha, and Minato's and Kushina’s jinchuuriki son. Their teamwork is hopeless; they don’t even like each-other. Four days he’s had these kids, and Kakashi’s broken up twice as much squabbling than he’s done teaching. How he’s going to encourage this team to work is beyond him. Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai have struck gold with their teams: friendly dynamics, abilities that complement one another. Kakashi’s been given the scraps.
Usagi oohs as Naruto’s kunai finally sinks into the target. “They’re going to be fine ninja,” she decides, laughing as Naruto bellows out a cheer. His shout startles Sakura into throwing wide; her kunai pings! off the edge of the target and careens into the woods, nearly skewering Sasuke’s daemon as she takes flight. Sakura’s shriek has Naruto’s daemon covering her ears, but Naruto himself isn’t so lucky as Sakura fists a handful of his shirt and bellows into his ear. For someone who plays the part of a silly love sick girl, Sakura is frighteningly vehement, and Kakashi hums as Naruto cowers from her rage.
He could weaponise that.
“Should we step in?” Usagi asks, ears flat with disapproval. Naruto’s and Sakura’s daemons are snapping at each other - again. Usagi has been breaking up their fights for four days, yapping at birds and snarling at cats, baring her teeth and sweeping her tail. She’s never been anything except gentle and patient with them - far more patient than Kakashi - but Team 7’s animosity seems to upset her a great deal. Kakashi’s pretty apathetic towards it just as he is towards most things in life, but daemons are soulful beings, and Usagi whines as Sakura’s daemon sends Naruto’s running with a flap of its wings.
“I’ll go,” Kakashi volunteers, snapping his book shut. Sasuke’s daemon whirls around at the sound.
“If you’re sure,” Usagi says.
“Have some faith in me please,” Kakashi sighs, scratching her crown before ducking under the fence. He hears her tail thump! into the dirt and smiles behind his mask; uh-oh, says Sasuke’s daemon, blanching at the sight. There’s a hiss of it’s fine from Sasuke even as the crow daemon tries to hide within the depths of his hair, and Kakashi feels a rush of fondness that not even Naruto’s and Sakura’s bickering can dispell.
“All right kiddies, break it up.” He hoists Naruto and Sakura up by their shirts and sets them a few feet apart. They both yelp and Naruto even tries to take a swing; Kakashi leans out of the way and then steps aside as the fox daemon snaps at his ankles, her ears pressed back against her skull. Yua has even less self-preservation instincts than Naruto, which is saying something, and Kakashi sincerely hopes she finds another form to settle in - any other form.
“Naruto - well done on hitting the target. Please go and fetch that kunai.”
“You saw that?” Naruto cries, his eyes sparkling. Yua scurries back and around his feet, happiness replacing her hostility in the blink of an eye. They bounce back like rubber, the pair of them, and it’s almost dizzying to see. “I thought you were reading your stupid book.”
Kakashi resists the urge to roll his eyes. “Appearances can be deceiving,” he says, nudging Naruto towards the trees. “Go. Sakura - try not to be so careless with your weapons. I know it was an accident, but I don’t think Sasuke would’ve been too pleased if you’d hurt his daemon, hmm?”
There’s a mutter of manipulative little shit from across the field that only Kakashi hears. He smiles, crow’s feet wrinkling around his eyes, and Sakura digs her toes into the field.
“It would’ve been Naruto’s fault,” she grumbles, but she looks abashed towards the ground.
Kakashi opens his mouth to argue, but a familiar swirl of chakra jogging up to the training field stops him. Gai’s fire-affinity burns brightest through his Gates, a fire-storm in the autumn carrying fierce gales of change. It’s the furnace that fuels him through his absurd training regime. Now it burns like a coal-fire at the edge of the field, and Kakashi slumps in relief at Gai’s impeccable timing.
“Since target practice seems to be boring you,” Kakashi begins, certain that Gai won’t mind being signed up for this: “Go run laps around the field. Count ‘em till you drop. Anyone who runs less than ten will be spending the rest of the week stamina-training with Gai.”
“Who’s that?” Sasuke asks, just as Naruto comes careening out of the woods with kunai in hand and points across the field, “Hey, who’s that weirdo?”
Kakashi plucks the kunai out of Naruto’s hand before anymore damage can be done. “That is Maito Gai.”
“Is training with him a bad thing?” Sakura asks. Her daemon, now a pit bull terrier, cocks his head so that one square-ish, folded ear flops over its face.
Kakashi eye-smiles. “Do you want to find out?”
“Not… really,” Sakura replies: Sasuke’s no is firmer, and they glance at each other, apparently surprised that they agree on something.
Kakashi has to bite his tongue to stop himself from laughing. “Okay then, ten laps. G -”
“HEY.”
Naruto’s yell is even louder than Sakura’s. Chakra floods from him like water breathing a flame; his teeth are beared like an animal, like the fox-shaped daemon snarling at his feet. Worryingly, non-pulsed Sasuke goes rigid with shock beside him, fixating on something at the edge of the training grounds. Kakashi snaps alert. The wayward kunai spinning around a finger, he whirls to the threat but only sees Gai and Usagi at the fence: Sakura oofs as he pulls her behind him and Naruto’s daemon snaps her teeth, hackles rising. Sasuke’s daemon is a crow atop his shoulder and her cry is a familiar Uchiha omen, her claws are sharp, and her eyes are beady and gold.
“You let her go!” Naruto demands, and he’s halfway across the grounds before Kakashi thinks to grab him. Yua leaps ahead and snarls at this unseen foe, and from behind Sakura’s legs, Totomi curls back his lips and barks.
“Sensei,” Sakura breathes, and she grabs Kakashi’s arm in the same moment that he realises what the problem is.
“Naruto, don’t.”
Yua lunges. Gai side-steps and avoids her with ease; he wouldn’t grab her if he could, his arms ladened down with Usagi’s full weight. The wild dog daemon yips in confusion and then yelps as Naruto ducks the fence and crashes into Gai’s legs, shoving the three of them off-balance. Gai catches himself on the fence but loses purchase on Usagi as he does, and this time it’s Yua who yelps as Usagi lands like an ungraceful sack of rice down on top of her, flattening her into the ground.
Sakura gasps, her and her daemon both covering their eyes. Kakashi heaves a sigh at the sky.
“You can’t do that!” Naruto shouts, pummeling his fists into Gai’s stomach. He could be a ragdoll for all that his attacks seem to be hurting Gai, but this only seems to enrage him. He kicks and punches and tries to tackle Gai over again, and still yapping like a miniature Nine-Tails, Yua scrambles out from beneath Usagi to join the fray.
Usagi lets her go. Humongous ears perked up, she looks between Kakashi, striding over, and the equally confused Gai, and then as Gai scoops Naruto up under his arms and earns himself a kick in the face for his efforts, Usagi starts to laugh.
“Young Naruto, your spirit is admirable but I fear your anger is misplaced,” Gai tries, still accepting every blow that Naruto inflicts. He’s smiling. “Please calm yourself. I believe there has been a misunderstanding.”
“You were touching Kakashi-sensei’s daemon!” Naruto all but shrieks. His face is red and Yua nips at Gai’s feet. “You can’t do that! It feels bad and it’s not allowed!”
“Naruto, for god’s sake -” For the second time that afternoon, Kakashi dangles Naruto by the back of his shirt and sets him down far from the source of his ire. He leaves a hand on Naruto’s shoulder to still him and crouches down. More gently, he adds, “Don’t jump to conclusions. I’m fine.”
“But he was -”
“Does Usagi look distressed to you?”
Naruto’s face scrunches with suspicion. Usagi blinks back, her small, black eyes shining. Her tongue lops out of her mouth.
“...No?” Naruto concedes, ceasing his attempts to squirm free from Kakashi’s hold. Yua lies down at his feet, whining with confusion. Naruto pouts down at his daemon and then over to the wild dog. “Her name’s Usagi?”
Kakashi drags his gaze up to Gai, who’s still grinning like a loon and not trying to hide it. Usagi is sitting at Gais’ feet, pressed up against his neon orange leg-warmer. She’s waiting for the perfect moment to jump back into Gai’s arms, Kakashi is sure. There’s many things about her personality that he doesn’t understand, but she is predictable despite this, despite everything he doesn’t know.
“Yes,” Kakashi replies, steering Naruto back into the field. “Ten laps. Go on.”
Naruto digs his feet into the dirt. Yua shifts into a ferret and darts into his jacket pocket. She wiggles around for a moment before poking her white-furred head out of the top. Naruto pats her head but doesn’t look away from Gai.
“You’re Kakashi-sensei’s friend?”
Friend is one word for it, laughs Kakashi’s daemon, closer now than she had been before.
Gai offers a thumbs up. “I am Kakashi’s Eternal Rival! You rose to his defence so admirably, young Naruto, I am most impressed!”
“Uh,” says Naruto. Kakashi pushes him a little harder back into the field. Slightly less reluctantly now, Naruto goes, leaving Kakashi, Gai, and Usagi standing by the fence.
“That went well,” Usagi says, although Gai has the decency to look somewhat abashed.
“Forgive me for causing trouble, Rival. I hadn’t predicted that your student would react so strongly to -”
“Forget it,” Kakashi dismisses, scrubbing a hand down his face. “Not anything you did.” Naruto’s short fuse will land his team into heaps of trouble once they start running missions beyond the village. Perhaps he’ll have to delay that as long as possible - which might not be so hard, given Naruto’s track record with training. Kakashi leans back over the fence and flips open his book again, hoping Gai falls for his air of indifference.
“I see!” Gai says - and perhaps he does, perhaps he doesn’t. “I will endeavour to take more care next time. How are your most wondrous students today? I heard Sakura’s Youthful Spirit from outside the grounds and I am most impressed!”
Kakashi hums instead of answering. “What did you want, Gai?”
Usagi headbutts his leg; it’s about as reproachful as she gets. Kakashi is, of course, unable to deny her anything, so he scratches between her ridiculous ears in apology and earns himself a playful nip in response. All is forgiven between them, but with Usagi and Gai, there is never anything to forgive.
“I will be out of the village for a few days with my team,” Gai says, and Usagi perks up as if there’s any possible way this is news to her. “It is a simple C-rank so please don’t concern yourself with our safety, we will return without incidence, I am certain! We’ll be leaving within the hour, but I have left some of my Special Red Curry in the fridge for you! I am sorry that I will not be able to -”
“It’s fine.” Missions take precedence: that is the life of a shinobi. If Kakashi wanted a quiet life with a partner, nine dogs, and a cat, he would check himself into Psych for a long overdue evaluation and a one-way ticket into civvies. “A few days, you said?”
“Yes, we’ll be back by midweek.”
So Kakashi’s threat of running laps with Gai is now redundant. “Shame.”
Usagi whines. Kakashi and Gai both look down at where she is lying, her tri-coloured flank squashed between them. Gai smiles and crouches down; he cups Usagi’s short snout and wobbles the fur around her mouth.
It’s too stupid to watch. “We’ll be fine without you,” Kakashi manages, staring at his dog-eared book. Out of sight until now, the sandy-furred caracal circling the fence perimeter jumps up onto the post at his elbow, her golden eyes as bright as Kakashi’s hair is lightning-white. She brushes past Kakashi without a sound, her rope-like tail trailing over the open pages of his book. He feels their shared amusement like static electricity snapping between them.
“We’ll miss you both too,” Gai says, and if he knows that Noa is there then he doesn’t look up, but Usagi’s tail thumps happily into the ground.