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After a long morning of training with the hounds, Kakashi felt he deserved a nice sit-down. A chance to relax and rest his weary bones.
“Don’t tell me we tired you out, pup,” Pakkun teased as he crawled into his summoner’s lap and got comfortable. “How long has it been since we trained like that?”
“I think-“ looking back on his memories, he couldn’t quite place the last time he had actually summoned the hounds to train with him. Usually, when he called on them it was for a mission, or to help his students work on their speed.
Since his students had all gone off to train under new masters, he hadn’t actually summoned the hounds for any kind of training in months.
Something that he would have to rectify, given the horrible state he was in after just an hour with them.
“That long, huh?” laying his head down on Kakashi’s leg, Pakkun focused his attention on the small path that led into the training field. Keeping an eye out for anyone who might interrupt their rest. “You should call us out more often. It’s fun to see you chasing after us.”
“Even more fun when I catch you and dangle you in the air, right?” Placing a hand on top of Shiba’s head, he gave the hound a quick pet before moving on to Akino. Determined to give them all some attention while they were with him.
“I could do without that part,” Bizuke yipped, nipping at his hand when he reached out to pat his head. “No need to embarrass us just because you caught us, pup.”
“Then maybe you should get faster,” he suggested, lowering his hand and waiting until Bizuke gave it a little head bump before finally petting the hound’s head. “Then you wouldn’t be caught so easily.”
“Or,” Pakkun glanced back at him. “We could just embarrass you in return.”
Embarrass him? How did they ever expect-
Catching a glimpse of movement by the path Pakkun had been so carefully watching just a moment ago, Kakashi’s eyes flickered upwards. His heart-stopping in his chest when he saw a familiar face.
Judging by the sound of hushed snickers all around him, the hounds were plotting something that he would want to do everything in his power to avoid. Which meant he would have to act first.
“Yo, Shizune!” He called out to the newcomer, offering her a smile when she glanced his way. “Tsunade-sama let you off work early?”
“Smooth,” Shiba kicked a paw back, nailing Kakashi in the side. “Top rate flirting there, pup.” Always the protective one, Guruko headbutted Shiba for his insults. Huffing when the other hound pounced to his legs, ready for a scuffle.
“Well, you could say that,” making her way towards them, Shizune waved towards the hounds. “Tsunade-sama decided to skip out on her paperwork in favour of some gambling this afternoon, and instead of chasing after her I thought it would be more productive to get some training in.”
Unsurprising, given the Hokage’s love for gambling. He never quite understood how Naruto had convinced her to come back to the village and take the Hokage mantle when she so clearly wanted to stay retired, but a fact he was forever thankful for.
If Naruto hadn’t managed that, the Elders might have turned around and tried to make him Hokage, and that was just a nightmare no one needed.
“I don’t suppose-” Shizune’s eyes scanned over the scene in front of her, taking in each of the hounds sitting by Kakashi’s side. “If you were still using the training field then I could-”
“Oh, No we’re done,” he assured her with a chuckle. “We just finished, in fact. The field is all yours.”
“And so is Kakashi.” reaching back, he pinched Bizuke in the side. A triumphant smile was hidden under his mask when the hound jumped away from him with a yelp.
Bringing Tonton up in front of her face, Shizune made a poor attempt of hiding her laughter behind the small pig. Completely ignoring the fact that Kakashi could see her joy clear as day in the way her shoulders vibrated with laughter.
Laughter that he couldn’t help but wish he could hear more often. Perhaps in the early mornings when the sun illuminated the room early in the morning, shining down on Shizune’s beautiful face while she cuddled up closer into-
Giving his head a shake, he returned his attention to the present. Determined not to get lost in dreams of a life that would never be. “You said that you were here to train. Well, how about a training partner?”
“Oh, now he has the energy to keep going,” Rather than getting up from his spot on Kakashi’s lap, Pakkun relaxed more. Almost as if he was protesting against the offer Kakashi had just made. “Well, you’re going to have to wait. We need a break too, Mr. Energy.”
Of all the times for the Hounds to have a protest, they had to choose now. When he was actually putting effort into making friends and forming strong bonds with the people around him. It was almost like they didn’t want him to make friends.
“That’s alright,” Kneeling in front of them, she set Tonton down carefully and watched as the pig trotted her way over to Bizuke. “It’s good to rest the body between training sessions. You’re just watching out for Kakashi-san and I appreciate it. He doesn’t take care of himself well enough without someone watching over him.”
Today was apparently ‘Be mean to Kakashi’ Day. Unsurprising, since almost every day was ‘Be mean to Kakashi’ day when his students were around, but a little annoying. The one upside to the three of them going off to train under new masters was that no one was around to bully him anymore.
Cleary that was incorrect and he was foolish for believing he could ever catch a break. If his students weren’t going to stick around to bully him, others would just have to pick up the slack for them. Even the nicest people of Konoha, such as Shizune, would pick up the slack.
Though, Shizune had been spending a lot of time around Sakura these days. Helping her train and making sure that she took care of herself between training sessions with Lady Tsunade. Perhaps there were a few things she was learning from the teenager as well.
A flick to the nose brought his attention back to the woman in front of him. The bright smile that greeted him was an unexpected gift that he couldn’t help but stare at. His heart-melting just a little when she giggled. “We can train when Pakkun has decided you’ve rested enough,” she promised, reaching out to pet the Pug as she spoke. “Until then, I will happily spend some time with all of you. If you’re alright with that, of course.”
If he was alright with that. What a funny thing to say when she was offering him a dream come true.
“Oh, really?” A fit of giggles took over, causing her to curl into herself and cover her mouth as the laughter vibrated through her body. It was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen in his life. “A dream- come true?”
Processing the words that she was struggling to get out between fits of laughter, Kakashi felt his stomach drop when he realized what she was saying. A mistake had been made and the only solution was for him to crawl into a hole somewhere far away and perish.
There was simply no recovery from this.
Hatake Kakashi, the most emotionally stunted man of Konoha, spilled his feelings like an open book.
Disgusting.
“Well, at least now you can ask her out,” Pakkun narrowly avoided getting shoved off of his lap, choosing to jump onto Bull’s back instead for safety. “Nothing to lose now, Pup. You already threw it all out there.”
It probably wasn’t healthy for him to be upset about the fact that Pakkun was right, but he was. Hearing something so obvious yet so incredibly embarrassing was simply not something he enjoyed. He would much rather disappear into the ground, never to be seen again.
It was better for his sanity.
“I don’t know, Pakkun,” finally getting a hold of herself, Shizune observed Kakashi with a look in her eyes that he could only describe as ‘Michivous’. Something he had made the mistake of assuming she was incapable of ever being, given her naturally sweet nature. “I don’t tend to date people who blame their Hound summons when they’re late handing in a mission report.”
Could this day get any worse?
Judging by the howls all of the hounds let out, it could.
“You did what?” Shiba growled.
“We would never.” Bizuke insisted, turning on Kakashi for the first time since he had summoned the pack when he was five.
“Let me guess,” Pakkun ignored all of the arguing going on around him to focus on Shizune instead. “He told you that we ate his mission report?”
He was going to die today.
If Shizune said one more word, the hounds were going to rip him to shreds. Figuratively or literally, it didn’t matter. He would be a dead man and there would be no chance of him ever living out that dream of waking up by Shizune’s side.
He had to do something, quick.
“Ramen!” he spoke without thought, resorting to something that was familiar and safe. A place that was guaranteed to work out in his favour, even if he himself screwed everything up. “My treat.”
“Hmmm,” that mischievous look only got worse, her stare burrowing deep into his soul. “Ramen does sound nice, but I was so determined to train this afternoon. I wouldn’t want to waste this rare opening I have-”
“Training and then Ramen,” he decided, using the opportunity Pakkun had provided when he moved to stand. “How about it?”
“Well, that does sound like quite the treat,” she tapped a finger against her chin, turning her attention towards the hounds. “What do you all think? Would I have fun, or would it be a mistake to say yes?”
His soul left his body when there was a resounding response of ‘Worst mistake of your life’ ringing through the air.
To think, his hounds had betrayed him at such a crucial moment. When everything had been going so horribly wrong and he had already shamed himself enough on his own, they decided to take the chance to make one final hit.
And that was it.
There was no recovery from this one.
He was just going to have to die here and now to save face.
“I agree,” staring up at the sky, he waited patiently for something, anything, to take him. To strike him down where he stood and save him from further humiliation. “But what a wonderful mistake it would be.”