The Fox, The Cat, The Rabbit, The Wolf and The Exhausted Caregiver

Private Lessons

Kakashi gets a little bit distracted on his first day of teaching
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After he left the three children behind with a veiled threat, Kakashi wandered for awhile around Konoha, looking for something, anything, that could get him out of the predicament he's in.

S-rank mission with low possibility of coming back alive? Yes please.

A-rank mission that may or may not involve missing nins? Why, thank you for the consideration.

An escort mission for the nobles? Urgh, if he must.

But being Jounin instructor to three children that barely qualify as genins? No, just no.

Kakashi had to wonder if the old man has finally gone senile with all the paperwork he had to do. Such a shame. They lost a good man.

While Kakashi was offering his prayers to the spirits above for Sandaime's (sanity's) death, a man bumped into him carelessly, causing papers to be thrown about in a messy scatter.

And yes, Kakashi purposefully did not evade despite the fact that he can because he thought that maybe this is all just a dream and a good bump on the shoulder might wake him up.

(Unfortunately, he's still here)

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!" the man apologised as he tried to pick up the papers.

Feeling a little bit bad, Kakashi stooped down and helped him collect his documents. Whoever started the rumors about Kakashi being an asshole is 100% right. But just because he's an asshole doesn’t mean he's cruel.

As he straightened up with the papers in his hand, he noticed the mask hanging around the man's neck. A Caregiver.

Kakashi tried to suppress a shudder. Caregivers are the worst in his opinion. They always try to smother you with affection and genuine love and Kakashi is a bit allergic to that so he always try to avoid Caregivers if he could.

"Ah, thank you so much for your help!" the man smiled at him as he accepted the papers from Kakashi. "I'm so sorry for troubling you again, shinobi-san." the man bowed respectfully before he went on his way.

Only, he didn't make it two steps away before he stopped. Looking back, he gave Kakashi a questioning look. "Yes, shinobi-san?" he asked.

Kakashi blinked at that before he looked down to see his hand grasped around the man's wrist. He blinked again.

That's new.

The man is giving him a concerned look right now and- oh no. Kakashi recognise that look. He's seen enough of that on the face of every Caregivers he had met in the hospital.

Hastily, he release his grip and smiled charmingly at him. "My apologies. You seem familiar and I was wondering," he bullshits.

The man tilted his head to the side for a bit as he frowned in thought before recognition came to him. Then the face shifted into anger and- okay, this is really new.

"You!" the man gasped with a pointed finger directed at him.

"Me?" Kakashi echoed amusingly, pointing a finger to himself as well.

"You're the one who made that atrocious report!" he exclaimed angrily.

Kakashi blinked at that.

"I never thought I would find someone who could write worst than a five-year-old yet somehow I did! How the hell have my predecessors been able to read your report?!" the man huffed. "I bet even dogs could write better than you!"

Okay, now he felt a bit insulted. As a matter of fact, Pakkun did write better than him and he's both proud and insulted at that.

"Maa, it has never been a problem now has it, chuunin-san?" Kakashi smiled.

The man gaped at him, mouth opening and closing before he shut it close with a decisive snap, eyes blazing in determination. He stalked purposefully towards him and- yeah, maybe it's time for him to make a hasty retreat.

"Well, chuunin-san. I have a... very important bussiness to attend to so I bid you farewell!" Kakashi said quickly before he tried to jump away.

Unfortunately, he underestimated an Academy teacher who is very determined and also happens to have experience in dealing with flighty, troublesome children.

Kakashi hadn't even took a step back before he felt more than saw something being slapped on him and his whole body froze.

Glancing down, he could see a slip of paper and what seems to be a seal drawn on it.

"Don't even think about running away, Hatake-san. You and I will have a long night to get to know each other better." the man promised darkly.

Kakashi, for the first time ever, felt truly scared.

Fast forward to a few moments later and now Kakashi finds himself sitting politely in front of a table, hunched over a paper with a brush in his hand and a stern teacher in front of him.

"Be more gentle with the strokes, Kakashi-san. How can someone who knows how to kill a person with his pinkie finger not able to write this character properly?"

"This kind of thing requires a steady hand, Iruka."

Iruka gave him a flat look. "I know you have steady hands, Kakashi-san."

Well... it's true, but Kakashi won't give him the satisfaction of confirming to that.

"I can write prettily, Iruka." he sighed loudly and no, he did not whine so shut up, Iruka!

Iruka just raised an eyebrow at that. "Yet why didn't you?"

"Because it's not important," Kakashi answered.

This time, it's Iruka that sighs. "Kakashi-san, I'm not asking you to write prettily. All I'm asking you is to write a report that doesn't make me want to consult to my student's own writing in order for me to decipher what exactly you're writing about."

Okay, that's fair. Even Kakashi admits that he can't understand what he's writing about sometimes.

Kakashi kept on writing as he tried to defend himself. "To be fair, most of my reports were made the day I came back to the village. And almost every time, I came back half-dead or almost dead."

This time, Iruka had to close his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Kakashi-san," he said after two whole minutes of just pinching his nose, "No one ever said that you had to write a report immediately after you arrived."

Kakashi's hand stilled at that. Glancing up to Iruka, he gave him a confused look. "It's not?"

"No. Reports can be handed two days after a mission and in the case of injuries, can be extended to a week after a mission or until the shinobi responsible for said mission could write it. No one said you had to hand your report on the same day you return." Iruka explained patiently.

A few seconds passed before Kakashi let out a curse. "The fucking Sandaime lied to me." he hissed.

Iruka just gave him a consoling pat on the shoulder.