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Hatake Kakashi was never meant to be a genin instructor. It had been obvious right from the start. There was a reason he had hidden away in ANBU for so long, and even once kicked out, he had all but begged the Hokage to let him go without teaching. Unfortunately, it was not to be.
But back to his point. Him, mentoring a bunch of small children? It simply wasn’t in the cards. Everyone knew it. The day he first walked into the bar with his new title, his friends practically laughed him right out of the place. Oh, Tenzou had attempted to console him, and Gai had given him his hearty congratulations, but it was Genma who had said what they were all thinking.
Hatake Kakashi? Teaching kids? This is going to be a disaster.
And it had been.
Maybe he’s been getting rusty out of ANBU. Maybe he’s just the biggest idiot alive. Maybe he isn’t used to protecting three dumb children while making the fatal mistake of underestimating his opponents.
Whatever the reason, their first C-rank is an utter disaster that nearly ends with Sasuke dead and the Kyuubi breaking free. All because of his ridiculous overconfidence and pathetic chakra limitations.
So what does he go and do on their next C-rank?
Oh, that’s right. He passes out again, and gets them all captured.
They nearly die, as they often seem to do even under his watch. Kakashi pulls three all-nighters, and eventually, they escape, but not without… issues. Being imprisoned, tortured and then on the run isn’t very fun. A day’s work for Kakashi, of course, but somehow, knowing these kids have been subjected to it as well makes it… different.
And so, as exhausted as he is, even though he wants nothing more than to get back to his empty apartment and collapse into bed, he still makes sure to follow his genin as they depart.
It’s not stalking, not really. Kakashi slinks across the rooftops, keeping a careful eye on his students below. They say their goodbyes, and one by one, go their separate ways.
That’s fine, right? It’s enough that he’s seen them safe back to Konoha, back to their peaceful neighbourhoods. Kakashi stands there for a solid minute or two, warm summer wind blowing through his hair, and tries very hard to make himself go back home.
Or maybe, he’ll just check to ensure that his genin made it home. A quick peek through their bedroom windows, that’s all. It would barely take any time at all.
He gives a long, tired sigh, before taking off, headed straight for Naruto’s apartment.
Naruto’s neighbourhood isn’t bad, but neither is it particularly nice. Kakashi believes that the boy’s jinchuuriki status probably contributes to the reason why so many of its nearby rooms lie empty, why the streets are oddly quiet. He hops his way across the neighbouring buildings, then stares down at Naruto’s balcony, contemplating his next move.
Should he go in? Should he just sneak a glance inside? Surely seeing that Naruto has made it back safely will be enough, he rationalizes. There isn’t even anything to worry about, not really. This is just to— settle his mind. That's all.
Kakashi sniffs the air once, then lowers himself for a better angle to peer inside the room. He’s almost in position, windowsill with its house plants and stacks of empty ramen cups in sight, when he hears the creak of the frame pushing upwards. Kakashi ducks back into the shadows.
There’s a quiet rustling sound, then Naruto’s blond head pops out, body following as he clambers onto his balcony. A dark nightcap sits on his head, which he pulls off, tossing back through the window.
Kakashi pauses. Just what is he doing?
With a massive leap, Naruto is off, hopping down onto the streets below. Kakashi follows him closely. This can’t be a regular occurrence, can it? Students sneaking off mysteriously at night… no, this has to be a one time thing. Kakashi suddenly wishes he paid closer attention to his team.
The boy darts through the winding roads, taking a sharp left turn at the library. That’s… on the way to the civilian district, isn’t it? Another left, and Kakashi suddenly knows exactly where they’re headed. He’s proven right as Naruto stops outside a nice, square, two-story house.
Sakura’s house.
There’s a tall tree near the top floor that Naruto shimmies up, sliding from the branches to perch just outside the window through wildly inefficient use of chakra adhesion. Kakashi conceals himself behind a further tree as he watches his student rap loudly on the curtained window.
A moment passes. Another. Suddenly, the curtains throw themselves open, Sakura appearing in the frame. Her eyes are furious, kunai clutched tightly in hand. “Whoever you are, I’m warning you—“ She stops short. “Naruto?”
“Sakura-chan!”
The kunai lowers slightly. “What are you doing here?”
“Ahaha,” Naruto scratches the back of his head lightly. “I’m sorry if I woke you up. I just wanted to check in on you, you know? ‘Cause I wasn’t sure if you made it home okay or not.”
Sighing, Sakura puts the kunai down, then slowly slides the window open. She gestures for Naruto to sit. “I guess it’s okay. I wasn’t asleep anyway.”
“…oh.” Naruto crouches on the windowsill, eyeing her hesitantly. “You weren’t able to fall asleep either?”
She bites her lip. “It’s not that! I just—“ She sighs again, explosively, but when she next speaks, her voice is quiet. “I’m used to having you guys there now, okay? So it’s just strange when you’re not anymore.”
Naruto brightens, reaching out for her. “Me too! ‘Cause I would always know that you were okay when I went to sleep. I miss having Sakura-chan there, and—and, that bastard too, I guess.” His voice trails off. “My room is really quiet.”
Something in Kakashi’s chest cracks.
Naruto’s voice gets stronger as he picks up from where he left off. “But I guess you’re here, so it’s fine! I’m just gonna make sure Sasuke made it back, and then I’ll go to bed.”
He jumps back onto the tree before making his way back down. “Goodnight, Sakura-chan!”
“Goodnight?” Sakura flips her way out of the window, carefully closing it behind her before starting her own descent downwards. “Where do you think you’re going, dummy?”
“Um… Sasuke’s house?”
“Without me?”
Naruto’s eyes brighten. “You— you wanna come too? I mean— yeah! We’ll go together!”
“Good,” she huffs. “Come on. It’s that way. We can save time by going through the alley.”
“Oh wow, you’re so smart! I didn’t know you knew all the shortcuts!”
Kakashi can make out the red tint to her cheeks even in the dim lighting. “Shut up.”
He follows them down the dark alleyway, emerging on the other side on a more direct route to the Uchiha compound. This can’t be healthy, can it, running around the village at night to check on your teammates before being able to fall asleep?
He ignores the fact that he’s been doing the same thing.
When they finally make it to the compound gates, the moon hangs heavy in the dark sky above. Sakura and Naruto crowd at the tall wooden entryway, a tattered uchiwa fluttering in the breeze atop the towering gates. Kakashi can’t help the shivers that crawl across his spine whenever he comes here. This is a place spilled with far too much blood.
And yet Sasuke lives here regardless. Ah, well. It’s not like Kakashi is unfamiliar with living in a home haunted by ghosts.
Sakura hesitates at the entrance, but Naruto doesn’t bother, barging straight through.
“Woah,” he exclaims. “The bastard lives here? It looks… kinda creepy.*
It’s true, in a way. The Uchiha compound is a ghost town. Kakashi can still see the bloodstains on every surface.
Sakura gets over her initial reluctance, following after Naruto with a huff. “It’s not Sasuke-kun’s fault that everything is so messy.”
Kakashi slinks after his two students as they stumble through the clan compound. They’re not even attempting to be quiet, their voices bouncing off the empty walls and filling the air. It’s no surprise how quickly Sasuke shows up.
It’s also no surprise that he looks utterly pissed.
“What are you doing here?” Sasuke hisses.
Naruto bristles back. “Checking in on you! Why is your place so big? Why is it so creepy?”
“Naruto—” Sakura bites out.
Sasuke’s eyes flash. “Get out.”
“No!”
“I said—”
“We had to make sure you were okay!” Naruto blurts. “Cause what if something happened when you were going home? And now I know that you live in this creepy place— what if you get kidnapped? What if there are ghosts?” He shudders.
Sasuke scoffs, but there’s less heat in it this time. “There’s no such thing as ghosts, idiot.” He turns away, walking back to his house. “Whatever. I’m going to bed.”
Naruto follows after him, Sakura on his heels. Kakashi stays in the shadows, but follows along as well. This is getting a bit ridiculous.
Sasuke endures it for a couple seconds, before spinning back around. “What are you doing?”
“We just want to accompany you home, Sasuke-kun,” Sakura pipes up. “That’s all.”
He crosses his arms, glowering. “I don’t need you to accompany me home.”
“Just to your house,” Naruto wheedles. “Then we’ll know you didn’t get kidnapped or something.”
“I’m not going to get kidnapped,” Sasuke huffs, but he keeps walking.
When they finally get to the Clan Head family home, Naruto and Sakura follow him right inside. Kakashi lurks outside the window, while Naruto spots a couch and gets comfortable, lounging on the dark blue furniture.
“What are you— get off!”
“I’m tired, bastard! We just walked all the way to your stupid house! Can’t you even let me sit down?”
Sasuke crosses his arms. “I didn’t want you to walk here. And you’re not sitting down.”
“But I want to sleep—”
“Get off, idiot!”
Sakura stands in the doorway, looking slightly sleepy as well. To be fair, his genin have had a long day. Kakashi gets it. Whenever he gets home from a long mission, all he wants to do is crash. Not run around and stalk infuriating little brats.
Sakura tips her head. “Why weren’t you asleep, Sasuke-kun? How did you find us so quickly?”
Sasuke clicks his tongue, still yanking at Naruto’s protesting limbs. “You were less stealthy than a herd of bulls.”
She colours slightly. “Well… we weren’t trying… But I mean, you were pretty much there right away. And it didn’t look like we woke you up.”
Sasuke’s quiet for a second. “I was going for a walk.”
“A walk?”
“Yes,” he snaps. “A walk. I was thinking.”
“Look, Sasuke-kun,” Sakura says hesitantly. “If you’re thinking, and you want to talk about something, or— share anything… you can, you know that, right? I’ll listen to you.”
Sasuke scoffs. “Why would I want to share anything with you?”
What a brat. From his windowsill perch outside, Kakashi sighs silently.
“Hey!” Naruto jolts upright, knocking a cushion off the couch. “Don’t insult Sakura-chan!”
“Hn.”
“Don’t just grunt at me, bastard—!”
“Maybe,” Sakura cuts in, “I wanted to talk about things. Did you ever think of that?” Her voice is abnormally cutting. Her fists are clenched.
Sasuke’s emotionless expression doesn’t quite break, but it’s clear that he’s surprised. Kakashi’s surprised himself. Sakura never talks to her precious Sasuke-kun like that.
“I know I’m lucky that I have my parents,” she continues. “And they love me, and they— well, they mostly support me. But they don’t understand. Because when I have bad dreams, they tell me it’s just a dream. They don’t realize that it’s things that have actually happened, things that could easily happen on our next mission… They’re civilians. They just— they don’t get it. And if I told them, it would only scare them. So I don’t have anyone to talk to.”
It’s quiet in the house. Sakura swallows and keeps going.
“So that’s what I think. I just wish you would open up, once in a while, because you probably don’t have anyone to talk to either, and— and when no one can understand you, it’s… sometimes I just feel…”
“Lonely,” Naruto says. His voice is strangely subdued.
“…Yeah. And, I don’t want you to feel like that.” Her eyes shift to Naruto’s. “Either of you.”
There’s another moment of silence. Then Sasuke huffs. “You two are sleeping on the floor.”
“What? C’mon! Why can’t I stay on the couch? You’re not even gonna use it!”
“Y-you’re really going to let us stay over?”
Sasuke turns away. “Just this once. Only so that we can prepare for our mission debriefing tomorrow.”
Sakura’s serious expression suddenly turns all red and flustered. “A sleepover at Sasuke-kun’s place…”
Naruto perks up. “A sleepover? Really? Really? I’ve never had a sleepover before!” He suddenly hesitates. “Wait! But what about Kakashi-sensei?”
What about him? Kakashi frowns in confusion.
“Kakashi-sensei?” Sakura echoes, a similarly perplexed frown spread across her features.
“We didn’t check in on him! What if he got kidnapped? What if he passed out on his way home? We have to make sure he’s okay!” Naruto declares.
Sasuke rolls his eyes. “I’m sure he’s fine.”
“Naruto does have a point though,” Sakura admits reluctantly. “Sensei does pass out an awful lot. Maybe we could just peek in on his apartment?”
Wow. Get a load out of this lot. Kakashi isn’t sure whether he should be more endeared or insulted.
“We’re not checking in on him.” At least Sasuke is on his side. The boy continues. “If he passed out, I’m sure another shinobi would have found him by now.”
Traitors, the whole lot of them.
“But what if Sensei is injured?” Naruto argues. “Remember when he was being stupid and kept trying to hide his injuries from us?”
Sakura’s frown deepens. She cracks her knuckles. “We’re going to his apartment,” she declares firmly.
This time, neither of the boys argue.
And so it has been decided. His utterly ridiculous genin depart to check on his apartment, just to make sure that he isn’t somehow lying knocked out cold somewhere along the streets of Konoha. Kakashi trails after them, pinching the bridge of his nose and mentally planning the intense training regime he intends to give them tomorrow. They will all do Gai’s obstacle course, he decides. They will do it so many times.
Soon enough, they’re back at his apartment complex. Kakashi peers longingly through the windows. He could be in bed right now. He could be asleep and resting, and not running around after a batch of infuriatingly over-anxious midgets. But life hates Hatake Kakashi, so this is what he gets.
His genin enter the building, starting up the stairs, and he goes to follow them, when—
Fuck.
The traps.
Kakashi may be the Hidden Leaf’s worst teacher. Still, he refuses to go down in the history books as not only the Copy-nin, but also that one genin instructor who somehow managed to lose one of their charges to a door-triggered exploding kunai trap. He shunshins, picking his way through his apartment window and hastily rips off the worst of his exploding tags and tripwires before he hears the loud knock on his door.
Yeah, he’s not answering that.
His genin are relentless, but he still can’t help but harbour the faintest hope that they’ll give up and turn in for the night. A hope that is rapidly squashed. He watches from his hidden perch on the ceiling as his door is kicked in, and wonders what kami he wronged in his past life to deserve this.
“Kakashi-sensei!” Sakura announces. “You better not be bleeding out, or else!”
Kakashi is not, in fact, bleeding out, thank you very much. Well… he does have slight injuries, but that hardly matters. Certainly nothing worth being subjected to the hospital med-nin for.
His genin trek towards his bedroom. Kakashi still isn’t sure what to do. Should he show himself? Chase them off? To be honest, he really doesn’t want to deal with this situation right now. Also, a very, very small part of him is maybe secretly relieved to have them all within his line of sight. He ignores it.
“He’s not here!” Naruto says.
“Obviously,” Sasuke shoots back, gesturing at the apparently empty apartment.
“What do we do? Oh! I’ll make clones! I can send them all over Konoha to look for him!”
Sasuke looks at him derisively. “You’re going to send a horde of clones out at 1 in the morning, screaming Kakashi’s name through the streets?”
That… sounded like an awful idea. Kakashi internally cringes. If it really came to that, maybe he’d have step in after all.
“No, we shouldn’t bother anyone,” Sakura says. “It’s okay. It’s… Maybe he’s out with his friends.”
Both Naruto and Sasuke look unfairly doubtful. Hurtful.
“We could wait here, though,” Sakura continues. “Then we can check on Sensei once he finally turns up.”
Naruto’s eyes brighten. “I call the bed!” He dives onto the covers.
That’s his bed. Genin. The absolute worst.
Sasuke elbows Naruto in the side. “What makes you think you deserve it, moron?”
Sakura sniffs. “I’m the girl. You should be polite and let me take it.”
“But Sakura-chan, I’m tired! Wait, what are you– ow!”
“Get off, idiot!”
Kakashi sighs, going back to the kitchen to remove his equipment. He resets the traps by the door and windows. By the time he gets back, his genin are all piled in the bed, limbs askew and completely passed out. They’re clearly exhausted.
Kakashi is exhausted too. And that’s his bed. He should wake them up, maybe even dump them in the lake for their sheer audacity.
Instead, he grabs a blanket from the living room. Settles in against the wall, half-lidded eyes fixed on his slumbering team members. Kakashi’s normally a light sleeper, and a terrible one at that.
This time, he drifts off without any problems at all.