Bringing a Boy Home

Yuki Yuichi followed Kakashi Hatake toward his house and asked, "Copy Ninja, nobody's home, right?"

At that, Kakashi Hatake stopped in his tracks and turned to look at him uncertainly. "Probably nobody... right?"

Yuki Yuichi: "???"

So you don't even know whether anyone's home?

"So, do you still want to go back?"

"Uh..." Kakashi Hatake thought for a moment, then said, "I just remembered that we don't seem to need any ninja tools for training."

"Let's head straight there."

"Hmm, hmm, hmm." Yuki Yuichi clicked his tongue twice. "You're not scared your father's home and will beat you for skipping class, are you?"

"What are you talking about!" Kakashi Hatake protested, as if someone had stepped on his tail. "What kind of thing is that to say!"

"My father wouldn't care about little things like that!"

Seeing him like that, Yuki Yuichi smiled. "Then shall we go to your place?"

At that, Kakashi Hatake calmed down.

Seeing Yuki Yuichi's knowing smile, he cleared his throat twice. "Fine, let's go!"

"I just remembered that we don't need ninja tools, that's all."

"But if you want to go, then we can."

With that, he headed straight toward home.

Seeing him move, Yuki Yuichi froze, rubbing his chin as he silently wondered:

Could this kid really have changed his mind because they didn't need ninja tools?

At the thought, Yuki Yuichi shook his head. Impossible. Absolutely impossible!

Then he followed after him.

Kakashi Hatake, walking ahead, caught sight of Yuki Yuichi coming up beside him out of the corner of his eye and snorted.

Yuki Yuichi didn't mind. The young Copy Ninja was a little tsundere. That was only to be expected.

The two of them soon arrived at Kakashi Hatake's home.

Kakashi Hatake stood in front of the gate without making a move.

"Open it. What are you standing around for?" Yuki Yuichi urged him.

"I'm opening it. What's the rush?" Kakashi Hatake frowned.

"Let me make this clear first. Don't go messing with anything in my house."

At that, Yuki Yuichi patted him on the shoulder. "Relax, relax. Don't you know what kind of person I am?"

I know exactly what kind of person you are. That's why I'm worried.

He kept the thought to himself.

Instead, Kakashi swallowed and opened the door.

Through the open gate, Yuki Yuichi could clearly see the inside.

It was a detached house. The gate opened onto a courtyard, where some blades and two wooden posts stood.

There were also a few chopping marks at the bases of the posts.

Judging by the marks, this was where Kakashi Hatake trained.

Seeing this, Yuki Yuichi nudged him with his elbow. "Copy Ninja, your house is pretty big."

"Hmph!" Kakashi Hatake raised his chin and puffed out his chest, the corners of his mouth turning up.

Seeing him like that, Yuki Yuichi couldn't help teasing him. "Copy Ninja, being tsundere is out of style."

"Besides, you're a guy."

"But it's not like that's a problem." Yuki Yuichi rubbed his chin as he looked at him.

Kakashi Hatake froze, then took a couple of steps to the side.

"Bastard!"

"What kind of outrageous thing are you saying?!"

"I mean, even though you're a guy, you can still be tsundere." As he spoke, Yuki Yuichi walked into the house.

"What are you thinking?"

"I... I..." Kakashi Hatake gave up trying to defend himself.

He realized he wasn't as quick with words as Yuki Yuichi.

He couldn't win an argument against him.

Seeing Yuki Yuichi walk in, Kakashi Hatake followed him inside.

He first peeked through a window. When he saw nobody inside, Kakashi Hatake breathed a sigh of relief.

He really had been afraid his father would be home.

That would have been hard to explain.

Skipping class on the second day of school?

If his father found out, he'd be in for a lecture.

Yuki Yuichi wandered around the courtyard, while Kakashi Hatake picked up two wooden swords of moderate weight and tossed one to him.

"Here."

"I don't need one," Yuki Yuichi said, looking at the sword in his hand. "But thanks."

With that, he started swinging the Turtle Style Sword, wildly chopping at the air where he stood.

Kakashi Hatake was speechless at the sight.

He wasn't the only one. Hatake Sakumo, hidden nearby, also twitched at the corner of his mouth.

Contrary to what Kakashi Hatake thought, he hadn't gone out. After hearing Kakashi and Yuki Yuichi's voices, he had hidden himself away.

Seeing his son bring a classmate home, he had no intention of scolding Kakashi Hatake for skipping class.

He knew what they taught at the Ninja Academy.

He knew his son's personality even better.

It was only a matter of time before Kakashi Hatake skipped class.

He only thought of the Ninja Academy as a place to keep his son occupied.

The Ninja Academy taught less in four or six years than he could teach in half a year.

He had sent Kakashi Hatake to the Ninja Academy for just two reasons.

The first was to give himself a break. The second was for Kakashi Hatake to make some friends at school.

Now it seemed the Ninja Academy wasn't so bad after all.

Hatake Sakumo thought smugly to himself that it was only the second day, and Kakashi Hatake already knew to bring a boy home.

Today he brought a boy home. Tomorrow he could bring a girl home.

In a couple of years, Hatake Sakumo could be holding a grandson.

Just thinking about it filled him with joy.

A small step for Kakashi Hatake, a giant leap for the Hatake Clan.

Yuki Yuichi and Kakashi Hatake had no idea Hatake Sakumo was secretly watching them.

They didn't just take two wooden swords. They also grabbed some unopened Kunai and Shuriken to use for training.

"All right, we can go." Once everything was ready, Kakashi Hatake glanced around guiltily, then spoke to Yuki Yuichi.

Yuki Yuichi knew Kage Rock well.

He had even peed on the Third Hokage's head before.

"Hey, Kakashi, are you sure there's really a suitable place to train here?"

"It's not far ahead," Kakashi Hatake replied without turning around.

The two of them walked on for a while.

Just as Yuki Yuichi was about to ask again, Kakashi Hatake suddenly pointed ahead. "We're here."

Yuki Yuichi followed the direction of his finger and his eyes lit up.

Just as Kakashi Hatake had said, there was an open clearing.

The ground was covered in grass, as though someone had deliberately made a spot here.

Wait, someone had deliberately made a spot here?

As if he'd spotted something off, Yuki Yuichi's face scrunched up.

"Are you sure this is just a clearing and not somewhere someone else prepared?"

Kakashi Hatake was taken aback by Yuki Yuichi's question. "Probably not."

"I've been training here for ages."

"If someone else used this place, I would've known by now."

Hearing Kakashi Hatake's answer, Yuki Yuichi nodded. Kakashi had a point.

If someone else had set it up, they would have chased him away by now.