sunshineverse | [CLOSED] her dirty paws and furry coat

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[CLOSED] her dirty paws and furry coat

Who: Konayuki Itezora and Kakashi Hatake with special guest celeb Obito Uchiha!
Where: Konoha, the park and then Kakashi's apartment.
When: Evening on the 9th.

It had been long weeks of non-stop travel, from the mountainous eastern mountains of Ice Country to inner Fire, and Konayuki was both tired and farther from home than she'd ever been. It was lucky, really, that she had been tagged and rounded up before reaching the village, because it meant that her actual time spent wandering and getting hideously lost in the largest settlement she'd ever seen was cut short. Instead, she was sat on the ground in a park, nibbling on dango and marvelling as the surrounding buildings disgorged more and more people as the evening wore on. She'd never seen so many people in one place before. She'd never seen so many buildings in one place before.

She'd also never seen a place with so few animals to hunt. With so many people in the village, she supposed the immediate area was hunted clean and they'd have grounds farther out, but how to ask about it, when she was a foreigner? Maybe she could do what the Itezora children always did in the festivals or gatherings in Kanna, and trade hours of work building, fetching and carrying for the coins ground-dwellers used, since everyone seemed to be using those to buy food from the stalls in the park. How many coins would she need? A lot, she guessed. It gave her something to puzzle over as Uncle Obito sent out bird after bird, apparently using them to find Kakashi like her grandmother had used her two rabbit sisters.

"How will they find him in such a big place?"

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"They know where he lives. They can talk you know, and have no qualms harassing the man. He should have come after the first one though, she's the gentlest and the least likely to play with his head just because she can." He shook his head, offering her another stick as she finished the one in hand, taking his time with the other he had.

"They're ninja birds?" She slid one of the dango off of the second skewer, poked it onto hers, and then held out the other two for him to take back. As an adult, he needed more food than she did, after all. "Like uncle's--"

Speak of the devil. Even after seeing so many people, she zeroed in on the only shock of silver hair in the crowds. For a moment, she felt a thrill of familiarity, then a moment of disappointment when she didn't see the clan dyes... and then the thrill returned. "Ah, he's over there!"

Edited (WHAT IS PHRASING) 2015-03-09 23:58 (UTC)

He glanced over, then smirked, shifting. "How about we surprise him? Shift over so I'm between you guys and We'll see what he guesses I hassled him here for before I give you over mm?"

That was a lot of words and plans for a small child growing steadily more and more excited at the arrival of her quest's end goal. She took a step towards Kakashi's distant figure, then a step back, then managed to get halfway behind Obito before she thought to ask,

"Won't the birds have told him?"

The morning had been a tough one. Waking up as early as he had wasn't a problem given the reason, but it hadn't left him with very much energy to spare, and being interrupted from a nap by a host of insistent birds wasn't exactly something he was thankful for. Begrudgingly, he'd left his nest of blankets, gotten dressed at a lazy crawl, and was now sidling toward the park with absolutely no gusto for Obito's apparent surprise. That was, of course, until he heard a tinkling wind-chime of a voice call out, and he looked up from the book in his hand.

Well, that sure was Konayuki. In Konoha. With Obito.

His footing picked up speed, and he finally stopped in front of them both, staring at his little friend.

"Kona... What are you doing here?"

"Well, no, but it looks like he's up and spotted you so too late now." He only just resisted a pout, looking back to Kakashi.

"Hey, Kakashi, you wanna keep this kid or what?"

"That's okay, we can surprise him next time."

She grinned at Obito as Kakashi approached, and then tamped down and leaped at the latter in roughly the same manner as a bear cub would aim for a startled prey animal, ie with terrible aim but great enthusiasm. "Found you! Are you surprised?"

Kakashi was instinctively ready to catch her as soon as he saw her draw back, but her jump was a little misdirectioned and he had to lean a fraction to the right to avoid letting her sail straight past him. Once in his arms, his shocked expression didn't leave, and he looked from her tiny face to Obito's more studious expression, and gawked.

Keeping her? This hadn't been at all what he'd expecting to find at the end of Obito's summons.

"I... I'm very surprised.." he said eventually, then looked at Obito and grasped for an explanation. "What..?"

He tilted his head to the girl in Kakashi's arms, noting how comfortable Kakashi seemed to be with her being there. That bode well for his plans at the end of the month at least.

He looked to Kakashi's face and flashed a grin. "Well, you see. It seems that kid there would like to move into Konoha, so before I try to place her, better I ask you if you're gonna keep her first. Mmm?"

"Ah, it's okay! I brought a tent," she waved the arm that wasn't keeping a grip on Kakashi's flak jacket, embarrassed by the phrasing. "I only wanted, um..."

She trailed off, distracted by a strange noise coming from Kakashi's jacket collar.

At the sound of her high voice - a voice she didn't recognise - Eien had woken from her little nap curled around the underside of Kakashi's collar, and wriggled around till her head popped out of the seam of his flak. A moment passed, practically a second, and Eien gave a loud yip and leaped in much a similar fashion as Konayuki had earlier, but given the shorter distance, her aim was much better. Kakashi carefully placed the two on the ground once Eien had started licking at the girls face, her tiny paws on the girls cheeks as she covered her in affection, leaving Kakashi a little speechless.

Obito watched the dog and child for a moment, then looked back to Kakashi. His tone was a bit more serious. "You alright?"

"You got a puppy!"

Thoroughly distracted now, Konayuki steadied herself as she was lowered back to the ground. Her embarrassment at causing trouble vanished in the face of such enthused affection, exactly what she had needed after her panic in Ice. She held Eien up to her face with a practised motion, the same way she used to hold her baby brothers and sisters, murmuring nonsense and giggling as she was covered in dog spit.

"Mm, her name is Eien. A dear friend of mine gave her to me." Kakashi put a hand on Konayuki's head in a soft pat, and then turned to Obito.

"I.. sorry. Couldn't concentrate," He shook his head, a little awkward laugh escaping him on the precipice of a calming exhale as he tried to settle his confusion. "... Did she contact you to get here?" Kakashi still couldn't quite believe this was happening, that Kona was actually here... How could this be possible??

"She said she came on her own." He examined Kakashi carefully. "Her first request was you. Will she be staying in your hands Kakashi?"

"On her own?" Kakashi's eyebrow twitched, and he turned to give the girl a little glance before shifting his attention back to Obito.

"She came from Ice alone?"

"I couldn't have done it alone," she said, through a mouthful of Eien's tail. "It was really far... I had help from everyone who showed me the way, or let me walk with them."

She couldn't really tell him that she'd not been able to wait for him to come back, so she busied herself with Eien again a little guiltily.

"Well, I didn't know anything about her until she got here." He reached out, wrapping his arm around Kakashi's waist to give him a squeeze. "Deep breaths. She's entirely intact, I checked."

Kakashi gave Konayuki a look, like he was double checking for any signs of harm, before he looked back to Obito. He looked a little calmer, a little more satisfied that he wasn't dreaming, but he was still a little peaky and it showed in the way his voice came out in a slow and slightly awkward rumble.

"I.. probably should have mentioned this in my report, huh?... That might have made this exchange a little simpler."

She was dusty and grimy from her weeks on the road, and there was a scuff on one cheek and entire sections of her dress that she'd had to darn from various collisions, but the skin beneath the grime and marks was only slightly discoloured with bruising. On any other child, you'd assume she had had an eventful day in the park.

And in any case, she was more concerned with him.

"Has uncle been ill?"

"Ah, no, no.. Just.. A little busy..." he said with an embarrassed little smile. Her level of care for him was resounding, and as much as he tried to stifle the tactile urge to want to get her cleaned up and have any bruises or bumps looked at-- he couldn't deny that there was definitely a bond between them now. He supposed bonds like this were bound to happen when you went around avenging entire clans.

He gave Kakashi another squeeze, noting that he hadn't tried to get away from the touch... which in a context like this meant that he had to be pretty comfortable with the child, and needed his presence to ground him out of his shock at once.

Interesting.

"You got being ill out of the way last month." He flashed Kakashi a grin, then looked back to the little girl. "He just didn't warn me about you, which is a really uncool thing which we'll be talking about later. You, kiddo, are going to be under his responsibility from here on unless he tells me otherwise. Sound like a plan?"

"Yes!" she chirped out in an attempt to be helpful, looking between them. Was he angry? With so many people in the village, why would the mayor- no, Hokage- worry about another one? But she didn't pretend to understand how a leader thought. That wasn't her role. "I don't mind at all. But. Um, is the tent no good?"

"Obito, I-" Kakashi started, about to stand up for himself at the other man's comment about his behaviour being 'uncool' (he'd been busy with various proceedings in the village, and the staggering body-swap nonsense that had spread out amongst the nations had fully collared his attention in recent weeks-- it was hardly his fault he'd forgotten to mention it) but then Kona mentioned a tent.

"A tent? Why would you need a tent?"

"She was talking about wanting to stay in a tent while you were still in shock. I think so she wouldn't be a bother." He reached over, putting his hand on the girl's head. "Tent is no good. Those are meant to be temporary, and you're planning to stay, right?"

"It's much warmer here, so I don't need a cave or a house--" she started, before she glanced between them again and grasped a small part of the mood. "Ah, but if uncle Kakashi doesn't mind...!"

His eyes met with Kona's, a wash of some strange emotion he'd never embraced before blooming in his chest as he grasped for an answer, then finally landed on his choice; the only choice he could have possibly made in this situation.

"Of course I don't mind." His eyes creased with the smile hidden under his mask, and he reached out a hand for her to take.

He leaned in, kissing Kakashi's masked cheek before releasing the man. "Alright you two. For now, I'll considered this handled. Kakashi, if you need help getting a bigger space, tell me. If you need help taking her shopping for clothes." He flashed him a smirk. "Tell Rin."

Kakashi stepped back from the hold, but gave Obito an almost challenging look with his one visible eye. Even the thought of giving Rin an opportunity to go crazy with his money was a disastrous one, and he channelled that opinion through the look he levelled Obito with.

"Yeah yeah," he murmured, brushing the matter off. "I'll know where to find you if I need you." Maybe he'd dodged getting comeuppance for forgetting to forewarn Obito about the little girl he'd met in Ice... He could hope.

The walk from the park was a short one, but after they'd said goodbye to Obito the reality of the situation seemed to start to settle in, and it made those few short minutes feel like hours... Walking back to his house with company - company he'd just practically adopted, no less - was not by any means something he was used to, but now he supposed that it (and many things like it) would fast become a regular occurrence now that he had responsibility, and a position of support to play in another persons life.

It was terrifying. Of course it was. Kakashi hadn't put himself in this position since ANBU for the fear of the damage he might do-- but Kona was resilient and determined to say the least; after the bond that had formed between them in Ice, and after the monstrous journey the little one had made to be close to him... How could he turn her away, even if he'd wanted to? They would take this journey together, and face whatever it might throw at them together.

Having tucked her ridiculous sword out by the back of the complex, he led her up the stairs to his floor. Once outside the door he glanced at her, unable to help the twitch of a smile at the view of Eien's little face practically swamped in the tuft of silver atop her head, and then took in a deep breath before unlocking the door and pushing it open.

"Well," he announced, with the tone of voice that made it sound more like an apology. "This is home."

Konayuki, conversely, had had the entire duration of their conversation and the walk back to mull over her new situation. It wasn't like she objected to the decision, but the blind panic that had set her scrambling down the mountain towards a distant, unknown village was fading in the face of other people, and she was guiltily aware of how selfish she was being by going along with them... but Kakashi felt less like an obliging foreigner and more as though he was a distant relation. Was it so bad?

She'd keep being selfish for now, she decided, and managed a bright smile as she pattered past Kakashi into his apartment and released Eien back into the wilds so she could pull off her boots. And then onward to investigating.

"It's high up!" was her first conclusion, as she hopped up to the desk via the bed. She thought about that, took in the row of photographs and the little carving, took in the tidiness and lonely feel, then laughed more genuinely as relief surged through her. It wasn't just selfishness. She could help him too. "I can't really call Uncle Kakashi a ground-dweller any more, huh?"

Kakashi looked for a fraction too long at the little pair of boots sitting at the side of the door. There hadn't been shoes there for a quite some time, and even when they had been, they'd always been visiting shoes that would leave within a few hours or less. He carefully picked them up and placed them on the mat, soon joining them with his own before he padded into the apartment after her.

"There are higher points in Konoha," he said with a small smile, trying not to feel self conscious at how suddenly bare and lifeless his apartment felt when surrounding Konayuki. "Like the mountain.. but yes, I suppose we're quite far from the ground right now."

"If we'd tried to build something this high on Mount Odori, it would have blown over super quickly," she confided.

Given that she'd been living in a cave on the dregs of her village's stores, the apartment was practically bustling. When she spun and hopped back down onto the head of the bed, there was nothing but interest in her expression, which shifted back to the more dangerous facet of curiosity as she hopped once more and went to investigate the kitchenette.

Or the counters of the kitchenette. Being small was hard and no one understands. Back to the main room, then.

"I think it's great! Where should I put my pack?"

Kakashi watched her plod around with her defiant curiosity, Eien skipping about by her heels-- and all of a sudden, that lonely and empty view he'd had of his apartment shifted and made a sharp turn into it's opposite. Suddenly, surrounding Konayuki's brightness and Eien's life, the apartment was starting to feel less like a room and a bed and more like something vaguely resembling a home.

He paused for a moment, however, when she mentioned her pack, and realised he wasn't entirely sure where he'd been intending to have her sleep.... Oops.

"Anywhere you want. You can tuck it in the cabinet there," He pointed to the little storage unit at the side of his desk. "Or you can put it on top of the desk."

Meanwhile he moved over to open the doors of his closet and rummage around in the bottom of it.

"Got it!"

Most of his time spent rummaging, she spent looking between her satchel and the cabinet with a child's heavy doubt. It didn't look very sturdy. But once she'd taken out her flask and the last packs of food and placed them on the carpet for Eien to sniff enthusiastically, there was enough give that she was done with time to spare.

Which meant, naturally, that she was obliged to pad over to stand next to Kakashi and announce, "Done!" in his ear. She might have been the weakest in the village, but she was one of the best when it came to giving her elders mild heart attacks.

Out of his closet he started to pull a mess of blankets in varying stages of softness and use; some of them he hadn't seen since he was a child, and others were more favoured by his dogs, but he intended sort through them all to find something for Konayuki. As much as he was well aware she had a tent and probably could have easily assembled it in what little floorspace he had clear, he thought an actual place of rest might prove more grounding for his new lodger and companion, even if it would temporarily be a nest of soft things.

His thoughts were musing over where exactly he was going to set up her bed when her voice rang loud in his ear, and like a terrified cat his hair stood on end, his balance failed and he wobbled from his crouched position to a sprawled heap on the floor with a defeated thud.

He couldn't help it. The surprise had been too perfect, and his reaction even moreso. He laughed, honest and loud, right from his chest, the expression creasing his eyes and pulling at his mask.

She'd already started to giggle the moment he'd jumped, but by the time he was laughing on the floor and Eien had decided this meant playtime and had bounded over to start barking helpfully at Kakashi from atop his chest, she was beaming brightly enough to cause third-degree burns.

Eien's barking turned into a startled yip as she tugged the blankets he'd gathered out from the cupboard and placed them over Kakashi's torso - and over the puppy - but she wriggled back out fast enough and took up residence under his chin instead. At least her barking was replaced with enthusiastic licking, whilst Konayuki used the distraction to fetch her sleeping roll from her pack.

"This will work, right?"

Kakashi pushed the little dog away with a gentle hand as he moved to sit up. Eien seemed to have no problem at all in licking his chin despite the fact it was covered by his mask; she seemed entirely unphased by the presence of the fabric, and in fact licked all the more enthusiastically as if to compensate for his skin being covered. It was adorable, that much was true, but it left his mask with an inconvenient damp patch and he grimaced at the feeling of cold, wet saliva sitting against his jaw. He'd have to change.

"For now. I'll find you something a little more appropriate tomorrow, I have a friend-" He paused. He needed to check that Yamato was actually in the village before promising anything bed-shaped out of him. He let the sentence die into silence, looking from Kona to the mess of blankets, to the barren spaces in his apartment. "...I should have prepared a little more."

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[CLOSED] her dirty paws and furry coat

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i messed the order uuuup.... im traaash.....

only people who abandon threads are trash....

(i see what you did there and i appreciate it) QUICKLY SORTS OUT THE TAG ORDER AFTER MY FUCK UP.....

BUT I'M SUPPOSED TO GO AFTER KONA?!

EMBRACE THE NEW WORLD ORDER also shorttag

tag orders are for losers

NUH UH

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later on when they're actually at his apartment

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