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“Thank you so much for this,” the Nara woman rushed out. “I wasn’t expecting this. Normally Shikaku does stuff like this on his own.” She led him into the compound, tightening her forehead protector along the way. “We will be gone for about a week due to travel time.”
“It’s no problem,” Kakashi said. He scanned the area for all of the exit points, straining his ears for the presence of others.
“I can’t believe this,” she huffed. “Normally I’d leave him with Akimichi-san, but she’s coming too. Having to put in a mission to babysit my kid,” she despaired. “I can’t believe I’ve stooped to this level.”
“Nara-san,” Kakashi interrupted. “It’s fine. I got orders directly from the Hokage himself to take this mission.”
She blinked at him. “Huh. Well. Okay, I guess.” She turned toward the interior of the house. “Shikamaru! Get down here!”
Kakashi heard a loud thunk come from upstairs, followed by a period of silence. Just as he was wondering whether or not to be concerned, he heard “Troublesome,” get muttered under a child’s breath. Kakashi couldn’t help the amusement he felt, despite the lack of ability to express it.
A few thumps brought a child who couldn’t be older than 9. He was in sleep-rumpled clothing as he rubbed his eye. His hair was up in the standard Nara ponytail, if a bit messy from sleep. “What Kaa-san?”
“I swear, Shikamaru, how are you ever gonna be a shinobi if you just sleep all day?” She sighed, but Kakashi could see the fondness in her eyes. “Now, you remember the mission your father and I are going on?”
“Yes. Something diplomatic.”
“That’s right. This is Hatake Kakashi. He’ll be watching you while we’re away.”
Shikamaru finally seemed to realize his presence. But Kakashi knew better, he could see the lack of surprise in the boy’s expression as he looked at Kakashi. “Hello.” Kakashi watched the boy merely tilt his head in greeting, once again amused by his behavior.
“Hello, Shikamaru.”
“You’ll behave , Shikamaru,” the boy’s mother ordered. “If I hear about you causing any trouble, I’ll have you doing dishes for months.”
The boy’s face screwed up in disgust. “I’ll be good.”
The woman looked at him for a moment before scooping him into an abrupt, crushing hug. “I’ll miss you, you brat.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Shikamaru mumbled, but Kakashi watched him hug her back, even if the tips of his ears turned red in embarrassment. Kakashi felt something in him pang as he witnessed the familial affection.
“Okay,” the Nara woman sighed, setting her son down gently. “I’ve gotta get going. I’ll see you in a week, okay? Ino and Chouji will probably come to visit at some point so you’re not lonely.” Shikamaru sent her a curious glance at that, looking at Kakashi and back. “Have fun! Be good! I love you!”
“Love you, too,” Shikamaru muttered.
And with that, she was gone. Kakashi remained silent as he moved through the house, taking in his surroundings. He could hear Shikamaru follow him around, and he couldn’t help the duckling comparison that came to mind.
“How come none of your clan could take you in?” Kakashi finally asked the question that had been eating at him.
Shikamaru shrugged, hands resting behind his head. “I don’t know. I think it has to do with the fact that most of the Nara are shinobi, and they have missions to run.”
“I’m a shinobi.”
The boy looked at him curiously, taking in the mask and casual attire. He didn’t see the multiple weapons tucked away on Kakashi’s person. “Then why are you here?”
“I don’t know,” Kakashi parroted, unable to help the huff of air as a look of disgruntlement appeared on Shikamaru’s face.
Shikamaru yawned, and Kakashi almost felt bad for waking him. The boy looked at him for a moment longer. “Do you play shogi?”
Kakashi thought he could play shogi. He even thought he was quite good at it. But this child was giving him a run for his money. It was a bit reassuring to see Shikamaru's frustration with the current outlook, but Kakashi wasn’t going to tell him that this was him playing at his best. He’d made a mistake taking it easy on the boy in the beginning.
He would make a good commander someday.
The boy yawned again, nearly falling asleep against his fist.
If he could do something about his constant state of fatigue, that is.
Kakashi watched him from under his lashes, watching as his eyelids drooped further and further until he simply fell asleep against his fist. His chest felt tight at the display of trust from a child. He carefully gathered Shikamaru into his arms, ensuring that he didn’t wake him. There were dark circles under the boy’s eyes, and he wondered what was causing them.
He hoped it wasn’t anything similar to the things that caused his own.
As he laid the boy on his bed, finding the room that smelled most like him, he watched his breathing for a moment. He looked at his hands, clenching them when flashes of gloves that dripped red appeared. It took him another shaky breath to leave the room without making any noise.
He found himself in the kitchen, staring at the little clock displayed on the wall above the fridge. It was almost dinner time. But he didn’t want to wake Shikamaru up. It was clear that he needed the sleep.
He could make something easy that could simply be reheated once the boy woke up.
Shikamaru set up groggily, rubbing his eyes and glancing at his alarm clock. It was late. The sun had long set.
He looked down at the blankets covering his legs, hand clenching at them. Had that Hatake carried him to bed? Because the last thing he remembered, they were playing shogi and he was getting soundly defeated.
His stomach growled and he frowned, wondering why he wasn’t woken up for dinner.
Maybe the man just didn’t care.
Easing his way out of bed, he crept through the house, nervous about waking up a man who was clearly ANBU, if the way he held himself perfectly still and silent was any indication. Although he did express himself more than most ANBU, Shikamaru noticed. Maybe a recent recruit? He dragged his hand along the wall to help him find his way through the house. No, because ANBU always recruited young, because older people’s reaction times were slower and would result in death on the kind of missions they ran. Maybe he recently left?
Shikamaru jumped when he walked into the living room and found the man sleeping on his couch. He watched for another few seconds, timing Kakashi’s breaths, and relaxed when he realized they were deep with sleep.
Odd. For an ANBU to be so unaware of their surroundings.
He crept into the kitchen, doing his best to be as silent as the shadows his father was just teaching him how to wield. The quiet crack noise as the fridge opened made him wince and dart his eyes toward the wall that connected to the living room, listening for movement.
A glance into the fridge revealed a tupperware container with a sticky note. He grabbed it and tilted the note toward the moonlight.
Just heat this up. - Kakashi
Shikamaru blinked at the note, then at the cold stew sitting in his hands. He left the fridge cracked for light and opened the microwave, popping the food in. He closed the fridge softly.
He opened the microwave before it could beep, grabbing a spoon and stirring his food. Cradling it with both hands, he blindly walked toward the dining room to eat.
Just as he was easing to sit down, the light flicked on, making him jump violently.
“Sorry,” Kakashi said, voice as monotone as ever. Shikamaru watched him, eyes still wide. “I heard you moving around and wanted to make sure you found the food I left.” He glanced at his bowl. “I see you did.”
Shikamaru cleared his throat, “Thanks, I guess.”
“It was no problem.”
Shikamaru turned to his meal, “Itadakimasu.” He began eating, awkward with the attention he could still feel, the shadows alerting him to a predator at his back. It was another few moments before he heard the scuff of feet retreating.
He didn’t realize the sound was intentional until he went back upstairs to sleep.
Kakashi stared at the two extra children on the doorstep. The girl huffed and planted her hands on her hips, “Are you gonna let us in or not?” He stepped aside, watching her strut in with a huff, the other boy glancing at him but mostly willing to follow her lead.
“Let me go get Shikamaru.”
“Is he even awake?” the girl asked sarcastically. “He knew we were coming, he’s just lazy.”
Kakashi stared at her unimpressed until she pouted at looked away. “I’ll be right back.”
He knocked gently on Shikamaru’s door, listening to the sounds of shuffling before it opened. Despite the girl’s prediction, Shikamaru was wide awake and had been since breakfast. “What?”
“Your friends are here.”
Shikamaru looked dismayed. “Why?”
“I presume to make sure you aren’t lonely.”
“But I just wanted to finish my homework…” Shikamaru glanced back at his desk. Kakashi looked over the boy’s head into his room.
“How much do you have left?”
Shikamaru looked at him suspiciously. “I never complete more than 60 percent… so about four more questions.”
Impressive, to know he’d be able to get all of the questions correct and keep a passing grade. Kakashi nodded and turned away. “Finish it up. I’ll keep them busy.”
Shikamaru stared, glancing down toward the stairs before shrugging and shutting his door.
Kakashi found the other two children sitting on the couch. The girl’s arms were crossed as she waited impatiently. The other boy was eating chips. Kakashi snuck up and snagged them from him.
He didn’t want crumbs where he would be sleeping for the next week.
The boy immediately leaped to his feet, face turning a blotchy red. “Hey—!”
Kakashi flicked his forehead. Hard. The boy whined and clutched at it, glaring at him through watery eyes. “What are your names?”
“Yamanaka Ino.”
The boy grumbled, “Akimichi Chouji.”
“Well, Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru is working on homework right now. He’ll be down in a bit. In the meantime,” he began making his way toward the kitchen—it was almost lunchtime and Shikamaru still hadn’t eaten, “have either of you had lunch?”
The two looked at each other and then looked at him, disbelief obvious in both their scents and expressions. Perhaps they could learn a thing or two from Shikamaru.
“Who are you?” Ino demanded.
“Hatake Kakashi.” He watched her eyes widen as she recognized the name. Made sense if her father was Inoichi. He’d been on the receiving end of too many of that man’s psychological evaluations to be comfortable around his daughter.
“Why are you watching Shikamaru?” Chouji asked, following him into the kitchen. Hook, line, sinker. An Akimichi would never turn down food, not with how demanding their jutsu was.
“I was assigned the mission.”
Ino stomped after them reluctantly, clearly not wanting to be left out. “What are you making?”
Kakashi looked at her. “What are we making.”
“We?” Honestly, no respectable future shinobi should sound so offended at being forced to cook. Kakashi learned when he was five.
“Yes, we.” Chouji seemed interested if nothing else. “And we’re making sandwiches because I don’t trust you with anything sharp or hot.”
Ino looked offended, again. “Hey!”
Kakashi stared until she deflated. Clearly, as long as you didn’t react to her temper, she seemed fine. “I am not surprised you don’t know how to cook. That’s why we’re making sandwiches. They’re simple and easy so you can make them yourselves.”
“Okay,” Ino mumbled, embarrassed. “What do we do?”
Kakashi allowed his head to tilt and relaxed his posture. Not much he could do about appearing more friendly, but he probably didn’t want to come across as threatening. “First, grab the bread.”
The sandwiches turned out fine. The bread was a bit squished from an over-enthusiastic Chouji and they were a bit condiment-heavy from Ino squeezing too hard, but acceptable for their first attempt.
Kakashi strained his ears listening to Shikamaru upstairs. He could hear the rustling of papers being stuffed into a folder, the lack of pencil scratching giving away that Shikamaru was finished. He passed two plates to Ino, who blinked up at him with wide eyes. “Take this to Shikamaru. Go ahead and eat upstairs.”
“But Yoshino-san never lets us eat upstairs!” she protested, clearly nervous about defying that rule.
Kakashi raised a brow. Then she should’ve told him about that rule, he thought wryly. “Well, it’ll have to be our little secret, won’t it?” He held a finger to his lips.
A smile broke out on her face. He watched her hurry off, calling for Chouji to follow her.
Once Ino and Chouji left, Shikamaru carried the plates back downstairs, finding Kakashi sharpening kunai on their couch. It might say something about him that he didn’t even pause to think it was weird.
“Do you have nothing to do?” Shikamaru asked. Kakashi’s eye flicked to him. Shikamaru scowled when he saw how the man’s eye crinkled slightly.
“Worried?”
“No,” he pouted, walking into the kitchen and dragging a step stool over to rinse off the plates. “Troublesome.” Shikamaru hated doing the dishes. Why couldn’t they just buy the disposable ones to avoid it altogether?
Someone stepped up beside him and took the plate to dry it. He blinked up at Kakashi, who didn’t even acknowledge him, and slowly continued, glancing at the ANBU now and then.
He got them done in half the time.
Shikamaru watched the man leave the kitchen, hearing the shink as he resumed sharpening his kunai.
With a slight grumble, he wandered upstairs, grabbed his Academy homework, and shuffled back downstairs. He paused in the doorway to the living room, hesitating before shaking himself. “Hey, help me with this.”
A single dark eye glanced up at him, eyeing him and then his stack of books and folder. “Do you even need help?”
Shikamaru glared, cheeks flushing slightly as he looked away.
Kakashi sighed, sealing away his weapons and gesturing the boy over. “Come on, then. Let me see it.”
Kakashi was surprised to see what the Academy was teaching students these days. They had subjects other than how to fight.
It was… nice. Made him feel like his work was actually helping.
Shikamaru clearly didn’t need help, Kakashi noticed with reluctant amusement. He asked simple questions but then would easily answer far more difficult ones.
Do you have nothing to do?
What an oddly sweet kid.
Interesting that he was choosing to basically force Kakashi to do schoolwork , but he supposed it was better than continually sharpening his weapons.
Kakashi hadn’t even considered this. He stared down at Shikamaru, who was looking up at him with a bored expression. He glanced at the boy’s bag that was slung over his shoulder.
“I need an adult to drop me off,” Shikamaru explained. “It’s annoying, but they need to be sure someone can take care of me if I get hurt or sick.”
Kakashi felt his heart clench at the thought of a tiny him bandaging his wounds and arriving to class with such a high fever that he was immediately sent home. Sakumo, when alive, did what he could, but he was so frequently away on missions that Kakashi was often left to take care of himself. “That’s good.” He led Shikamaru out of the house. “Let’s get you to the Academy, then.”
He could hear the boy mutter under his breath, “Troublesome.”
Poor kid probably thought he would let him skip.
When Kakashi came to pick him up later, he found him sleeping on one of the benches. A teacher was standing nearby, watching over him. Kakashi nodded and carefully scooped Shikamaru up, maneuvering to drape him over his back.
“Who are you?” the teacher asked in suspicion. Kakashi rolled his eyes and ignored him. It was easy to dodge the hand that tried to grab him and shunshin back to the Nara estate.
Shikamaru didn’t even budge.
It was the work of a few moments to remove the boy’s shoes and backpack and carry him upstairs.
Kakashi carefully shut the door, musing about what to make for dinner.
Kakashi snapped awake when a small finger poked his cheek. His hand snapped out and grabbed their wrist.
It was just Shikamaru.
Kakashi was pathetically grateful that his instincts hadn’t made him crush the boy’s hand.
Shikamaru was blinking at him with tired eyes, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. “I can’t sleep.”
“Why not?”
“Insomnia, I think.” Shikamaru crawled onto the couch with a yawn. Kakashi watched with some amusement as he snuggled down into his blanket.
“I see.” Shikamaru’s blinks were slow and heavy. “Is that why you’re always tired?”
“Troublesome,” the boy muttered as another yawn ended. “Yes. It’s genetic.”
“What would you like me to do?”
Shikamaru looked at him in confusion. “What could you do?”
“Well, why did you come to get me, then?”
A grumble as he looked away, embarrassment coloring his scent. “You feel safe.”
Kakashi was sure his eye was wide, a bit thankful that the dark hid it. “Oh?” his voice was steady, but a side glance from Shikamaru revealed that he could tell something was off.
“Yes. The shadows around you are calm.”
Kakashi had no clue what that meant, but he was sure it was a compliment. “Okay. Well… I could tell you stories if you like?”
Shikamaru looked at him, deadpan and bored, but he couldn’t hide the way his scent spiked in interest.
Naras; always easily bribed with information.
“When I was even younger than you, I got assigned to a genin team—”
Shikamaru was asleep by the time he finished describing Rin’s crush on him. Kakashi merely adjusted him to be comfortable and allowed himself to fall into a light doze.
The day Shikaku and Yoshino were due home, Kakashi was surprised when Shikamaru shoved a piece of paper under his nose. It was a bit disconcerting how easy it was to let him into his personal space.
He leaned back to get a better view of the sheet. It was the assignment they’d worked on, a perfect 100 circled in the top right corner. Kakashi glanced down at Shikamaru, who stared at him with tired eyes but was practically vibrating as he waited for Kakashi's reaction.
“Well done, Shikamaru.” He ruffled the boy’s hair not unlike he would his ninken.
Shikamaru grumbled, “Troublesome,” but his scent was light with pride and happiness.
When his parents came back, Kakashi received a single shogi piece. He looked at Shikamaru, who refused to meet his eyes.
“Thanks, Shikamaru.” His cheeks turned pink as he looked at Kakashi. “You’re a good kid, maybe actually consider trying in the Academy, yeah?”
Shikamaru pouted. “No.”
Even Kakashi was taken aback by the chuckle that escaped him. Shikamaru looked at him with wide eyes. To escape the awkwardness, Kakashi patted his head before turning to his parents, who were watching the exchange in something like amusement. “He was perfectly behaved.”
A bow, and he left.
If Kakashi sometimes caught himself making three meals a day when he never had before, that was between him and his kitchen.
And if he babysat Shikamaru again at the request of a bewildered Yoshino? It was simply because he had nothing better to do, of course.