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Kakashi watched Shikamaru lazily move around the house. He had a pack on the couch and haphazardly stuck necessities into it. Kakashi could feel an eye twitch. Shikamaru was mumbling something that was lost to him as a scroll was shoved into the bag.
“Haven’t you ever packed for a mission before?” he demanded finally, stomping forward and dumping the whole bag.
“Hey, hey—”
“I will pack your bag for you. Since you clearly can’t be trusted to do it.”
He assessed the belongings. It wasn’t smart to just put things in randomly. It meant Shikamaru would have to dig for things, which meant other things would move around and get lost. The shinobi rulebook actually had guidelines for how a shinobi should pack away their bag. It was to prevent unnecessary luggage and maximum utilization of space.
Why pack only two weapons scrolls when, with proper arrangement, you could pack four?
Starting with the scrolls, he stacked them up neatly, forming a small tower at the corner of the bag. Then food stuffs when next to it, followed by the water pouch. The clothing—as Shikamaru would be gone for about a week—took up the rest of the space. Shirts, pants, and underwear and socks all neatly aligned with each other.
“There,” Kakashi said proudly.
Shikamaru sighed, and Kakashi was proud that he only flinched slightly as his hand came up to ruffle his hair. The older boy didn’t smell mad. If anything, it was almost happy? Pleased, maybe? “Thanks, kiddo.”
“Where are you going, anyway?” Kakashi hoped that his voice came off much calmer than he was. It was difficult to watch his one supporter in this strange new Konoha plan to leave him behind. He was a chuunin. He could go with him. But apparently Tsunade didn’t think it was proper for such a young child?
Or something.
Kakashi just hoped they didn’t plan on reenrolling him into the Academy. He might actually lose his mind. He’d rather take endless D-ranks than do that.
Talk with snot-nosed brats who had never even seen a battle?
No thanks.
Shikamaru considered him for a moment. Kakashi could practically see him weighing telling him over Tsunade’s wrath. He was elated when the wrath lost.
“The mission will take place in the Land of Wind. We’re collaborating with Sunagakure.”
“So we’re allies with them now?” Kakashi asked curiously, peeking at the scroll Shikamaru had in his hand. He only caught a glimpse of stolen goods before Shikamaru caught him and snapped it closed.
“Something like that. They attacked us, Naruto befriended their jinchuuriki, and Tsunade-sama demanded a treaty. Or else.”
Kakashi blinked at the sudden rush of information.
Shikamaru winced. “Right, sorry. Naruto was Hatake-sensei’s student. Gaara, the jinchuuriki of the Shukaku, the one-tailed beast, lost to him in a fight. They became friends.”
“Naruto sounds weird,” Kakashi said warily. How did he have a student like that? How did he manage?
Kakashi wondered if his older self was hiding grey hairs in his silver.
Shikamaru snorted, “He is.” He looked at Kakashi curiously. “Do you want to meet him at some point? He’s currently training with Jiraiya, but he’ll probably be back in about a year.”
Kakashi bit the inside of his cheek. Shikamaru smelled calm, and nothing hinted toward any negative feelings one way or the other. “What’s he like?”
Shikamaru hummed, packing the last few things away. “Well, he’s certainly weird, as you put it. Very… bright?”
“Like smart?”
Kakashi thought this Naruto would probably be offended at the cackle Shikamaru let out at that question.
“No, no. He’s not dumb, but let’s just say academics were not his strong point. No, I meant that he’s very determined. Optimistic. Encouraging. All those good adjectives. He’s also loud, reckless, and dense.”
Sounds like Obito, Kakashi thought wryly. Frankly, he didn’t know if he wanted to deal with an older, more cocky Obito. That sounded like a nightmare. The Obito that was his age was already constantly looking for reasons to fight with him—Kakashi knew he wasn’t the easiest to get along with, but it felt like he could never win with Obito. Sure, maybe he could lay off of him sometimes, but Kakashi always thought that Obito was going to get himself and his team killed with his lateness.
He didn’t even make it on time to important things. Some day, those important things would be life or death.
Kakashi didn’t want to have to choose death.
His dad told him he was too blunt sometimes, though. Maybe it was his fault?
“... did he…” Kakashi couldn’t bring himself to be louder. He was half hoping Shikamaru wouldn’t hear his bitten-off question. His palms sweat where they were shoved in his pockets, and it took everything in him to not hike up his shoulders.
He wasn’t a baby. He needed to stop acting like one.
Shikamaru, unfortunately, did catch it, and the older boy crouched down in front of him, a soft frown on his face.
Kakashi didn’t think frowns could be soft, but he’d been learning their various levels while staying with the deadpan Nara.
“What is it, kiddo?” a hand laid itself on his head, and Kakashi hated how grounding it was. Shikamaru’s fingers were thin but carried obvious strength, and his callouses caught lightly on his hair.
“Did he…” Kakashi swallowed. Why did the words get caught behind his teeth? He could handle the answer. He could. It didn’t really matter to him. “Did Naruto… like me? As a sensei?”
Shikamaru blinked. Kakashi braced himself for the ridicule that was no doubt coming.
Too harsh.
Too demanding.
Too cruel.
A light chuckle filled the space, and the hand on his head ruffled his hair, now cut slightly shorter to keep it out of his eyes without his headband on.
“He did, Kakashi.” Shikamaru smirked. “And between you and me, even your missing-nin student has a soft spot for you.”
Kakashi frowned. He’d forgotten about that.
How could someone leave Konoha behind as a missing-nin? More than once Kakashi has considered leaving the village and all its whispers and taunts behind, but he’d stayed because it’s what his dad would have wanted.
But as a missing-nin? To be willing to fight his former comrades?
Kakashi couldn’t do it.
“Really?” he asked doubtfully. “Because if he cared, why would he leave?”
Shikamaru sighed, “We need to have that talk about the Uchiha when I get back, okay?”
“Well, that’s not ominous at all,” Kakashi muttered.
“It’s what you’re getting, kiddo. Take it or leave it.”
“Fine. What am I gonna do while you’re gone, then?”
Shikamaru glanced away, a small pout on his face. “I’m just going to say that this wasn’t my idea, but Tsunade-sama was insistent when I took the mission—”
A knock sounded on the door.
Shikamaru winced.
Kakashi took a small sniff of the air and stiffened.
“Why is Hyuuga-san here?!”
Shikamaru didn’t even have the decency to look guilty. His father would always give him a sheepish grimace before foisting him off on someone else.
If he bothered with that at all.
“You don’t know anyone else, and anybody else I trust will not be to your tastes.” Shikamaru considered him. “Besides maybe Shino. And, like I said, it wasn’t my idea. But I also realize I can't leave a child barely out of toddlerhood alone at home.”
Kakashi scowled at the two of them, though it was hard to be mad when Hinata gave him an apologetic smile. At least she wasn’t the one springing this on him out of nowhere. And he guessed she wasn’t that bad. For a Hyuuga, anyway.
“I’m still mad at you,” Kakashi huffed.
“I know, kiddo,” Shikamaru chuckled. “At least this way you won’t be alone.”
“Where will we be staying? Here or at Hinata-sama’s place?”
Hinata finally spoke up, hands waving quickly as if she could wipe the words out of the air. “Just Hinata is fine, Kakashi-kun. I’m no longer heiress, after all. We could go to my place, since I’ve gotten my own apartment, but I’m fine with whatever would make you more comfortable.”
Kakashi wrinkled his nose at the thought of leaving the house. He’d have to adjust to a bunch of new scents, not to mention that Hinata probably lived closer to the village center.
Hinata giggled, “Here, then.” That was amusement on her scent, despite him dragging her away from her home.
Konoha shinobi of this generation were weird, he realized. Even the other children from his time in the Academy weren’t this nice to him.
Even Kakashi himself felt more relaxed. He didn’t know if it was the lack of needing to take care of himself, or the ability to finally drop his guard after needing walls taller than Hokage Mountain before, but there was something about these people that left him at ease.
Maybe it was just finally being allowed to not be a shinobi.
Or maybe some of his adult soul or whatever lingered, labelling these people as safe.
Whatever it was, Kakashi could feel his shoulders starting to lose their tension. The previous deception being forgiven in favor of the realization Shikamaru would be leaving.
The teenager was shouldering his pack, mumbling quietly enough to hide the words from Kakashi as he patted himself down. Likely making sure he wasn’t forgetting anything.
As if Kakashi would let that happen.
Kakashi walked over slowly, hand reaching up to grab at Shikamaru’s flak jacket. He stared at the appendage in betrayal as the older boy looked down at him.
“What is it, kiddo?”
Kakashi struggled. The words lodged themselves in his throat. Everyone he knew from his life was dead. Minato-sensei. Rin. Obito.
Father.
“Be safe,” he mumbled. And he felt the tip of his ears burn at the scent of something like care hitting him. Hinata, who hadn’t said another word, smelled like kindness. Like calm and serenity and happiness.
Kakashi didn’t think that had a scent, but there was just something so non-threatening about her, and her kindness was such that she remained quiet despite the embarrassing display Kakashi was putting on.
Shikamaru sighed, not his usual troublesome one but one that carried a level of fondness with it. He crouched so that he was at eye-level with Kakashi, something that Kakashi was pretty sure he picked up from Hinata, because he had never done that before their encounter at the store.
He refused to admit that it made him feel better.
A hand settled in his hair, but Kakashi couldn’t find it in himself to work up the annoyance the action would normally bring.
“I will do my best to come back to you exactly as I left you,” Shikamaru promised. “And if I can’t do that, I will make sure I come back alive.”
Kakashi furrowed his brows before his eyes widened. They started to burn, because surely there was no way he, even with the renowned Nara intellect, meant what Kakashi thought he meant.
There was no way Shikamaru was promising to try and return unchanged because of what happened to his father, right?
He couldn’t know how Kakashi’s father had changed after his mission. After every mission. Every time he came back, there was something haunted in his gaze that would only just start to fade before he was sent out once again.
“You better,” Kakashi choked. He was dragged into a hug that he didn’t want to fight, burying his nose in Shikamaru’s shoulder and inhaling.
The teen smelled like what Kakashi imagined was confidence. There were nerves, but his heartbeat was steady against Kakashi’s own chest, and his scent remained calm.
A smaller, more gentle hand landed on Kakashi’s shoulder. He looked up to find Hinata gracing them with a smile. It made the older girl look beautiful, Kakashi thought. She reminded him of the princesses in his books.
If those princesses could also kill, he mused.
“Shikamaru-kun will be fine, Kakashi-kun,” Hinata promised. Her pale lilac eyes glinted with what Kakashi knew was confidence. “He was the first of our class to become a chuunin, and he’s easily the smartest of us. Have faith, okay?”
Kakashi’s father was supposed to be the best of them, better than even the Sannin because he’d earned his title alone rather than as a group, and that hadn’t saved him.
Shikamaru huffed, amused. “I have a wonderful team, Kakashi. I will be just fine. Ino and Chouji would never let something happen to me. Neither would Asuma-sensei for that matter.”
“Asuma is a jounin-sensei?” Kakashi asked, and he stifled his disgust when he realized how rude he sounded.
Shikamaru raised a brow. “There’s a story there I wanna know, kiddo.”
“Fine,” he muttered.
Shikamaru chuckled and ruffled his hair again, standing. “I’ll be back before you know it. Don’t torment Hinata. She’s much too nice to tell you off for it.”
Hinata made a small hmph noise, Byakugan eyes narrowing. “I’ll show you nice.” Fingers darted out faster than either Kakashi or Shikamaru could track, nailing the older boy right between the ribs and making him squeal.
Kakashi’s eyes widened. Hinata caught his look of shock, giving him a playful wink.
Shikamaru is ticklish.
“That doesn’t leave this house,” Shikamaru grumbled, rubbing his side and pouting.
“I wouldn’t dream of it, Shikamaru-kun.” Hinata’s eyes were wide. Demure and innocent. Kakashi wouldn’t have expected it from the girl if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes.
He clapped a hand over his mouth as a giggle escaped. Hinata gave him a blinding grin in response and Shikamaru sighed with false betrayal.
“I can’t believe my own ward is laughing at me like this. Troublesome, the both of you.”
Kakashi and Hinata exchanged looks.
Kakashi, for a moment, was allowed to forget that his caregiver was going on a mission. One that always ran the risk of him not returning from.
The two teenagers seemed to recognize his sudden somber mood. Hinata brushed her hand through his hair before crouching. “Say goodbye, Kakashi-kun. We’ll find a way to welcome him home, hmm?”
Kakashi nodded, biting his lip behind his mask. He looked at Shikamaru for another moment before darting forward and slamming into the teen’s legs. He gripped tightly, something that he’d long stopped doing to his father. The elder Hatake did not appreciate the gesture for what it was, the guilt consuming him whole and making the process much worse for the both of them.
Kakashi didn’t want his father to feel guilty. He wanted him to know he’d miss him, and that he wanted him home safe.
Shikamaru didn’t smell guilty. There was resolve, and a bit of nerves, but not guilt.
Kakashi was glad.
“Goodbye, kiddo.”
Another hair ruffle, making Kakashi finally huff, and Shikamaru was gone, the door to their house closed with a quiet snick.
Kakashi blinked quickly, refusing to acknowledge the traitorous water gathering on his tearline.
“Kakashi-kun, how about we make something for lunch?” Hinata asked, her hands still so gentle as one landed on his shoulder and the other in his hair. “We can go for a picnic, and then I can show you around Konoha. I imagine it’s changed a lot, no?”
“But…”
Shikamaru is going to take me.
Was what he was going to say.
Instead, he said, “I’d like that.”