o.o

Tardiness is unbecoming of a Kage. 

To leave the other Kage’s waiting, wondering where he was, had no doubt earned Kakashi a reputation as an annoyance and a slacker, but he hardly paid any attention to it. They weren’t the first people he had forced to sit around and wait for him and they wouldn’t be the last.

Yet, this time he couldn’t help but feel a little guilty as he made his way into the meeting room to be greeted by three angry stares and Gaara’s usual ‘hello’. At least there was one person in the room who wasn’t upset with him.

“Hatake!” A slammed a hand down on the table as he stood. “You’re late!”

“As to be expected,” Mei sighed. “Handsome men always think that they can do whatever they want.”

“I don’t- That’s not it at all,” raising his hands in front of himself, he chuckled. “I’m sorry, I got a little sidetracked on the way here.”

Onoki scuffed at the poor excuse. “It seems the Kazekage’s father was not the only one who failed to teach his child manners,” he scolded Kakashi with a glare. “Really, what was the White Fang thinking?”

“Well, He was six feet under when I was five so… I don’t think he was thinking all that much,” the words are said with lightheartedness, but as soon as they leave his mouth the room went silent. Not a single person was willing to continue the conversation after the bomb that Kakashi dropped. “However, I’m here now so perhaps instead of focusing on those who are no longer with us we should start this meeting?” He doesn’t wait for a response before taking his seat and turning to A. “You wanted to speak about the trade agreement. How about we start there?”

As quickly as the room had fallen into silence, it burst with life once again. Mei, A and Onoki all fought for control in the conversation while Kakashi and Gaara sat back and waited for their opening. Just as it went with every meeting.

And while the conversation began, Kakashi thought about the little friend he had in his left breast pocket, cuddled up with a small cloth away from the rain pouring down onto the world outside. 

“Come here,” convincing the kitten out of its hiding spot had taken more effort than he would have liked, but after ten minutes of trying the little orange cat finally slinked out of the bushes, it had claimed as cover. “I’ll keep you warm.”

Behind him, he could hear Tenzo snickering, but he chose to ignore his friend for the moment. If it was funny to see the Sixth Hokage kneeling in front of a bush trying to coax a cat out of hiding, then he was happy to provide some entertainment. As long as he didn’t leave empty-handed.

Sniffing his hand first, the kitten stared up at him for a second. Every inch of its tiny body was dripping wet from the rain, but even with the offer of a warm place to cuddle up, it was still refusing to come to him.

“I don’t have treats on me right now,” he admitted. “But I can get some along the way, and you’ll be warm and out of the rain.”

Another sniff of his hand and a cautious touch of its nose against his finger, and the kitten finally gave in. Crawling into his hand it meowed as he lifted it into the air. “Don’t worry,” he offered the little creature a smile. “I’ll keep you safe.”

When his hand was close enough to his breast pocket, the kitten took its opportunity and crawled into the warmth. He couldn’t quite see what it was doing at this angle, but with a little meow and some ruffling, it settled into the warmth.

“You really are something, Senpai,” Tenzo sighed behind him. “We’re late now.”

“Ma,” gathering himself to his feet, he turned to face his friend. “They’ll forgive me. They always do.”

The conversation was beginning to get heated. Onoki was floating in the air, A was squaring off ready for a fight, and even Gaara was leaning forward paying full attention to what everyone else was saying. If something didn’t happen soon, there was likely to be a full-blown fight. 

“Why is it every time there’s an argument, you’re the one starting it, Old man?” Mei narrowed her eyes towards Onoki. “Is the word ‘Cooperation’ even in your vocabulary?”

“I have been doing this job a lot longer than you!” Onoki shot back. “If I come off as resistant it is because I have burned one too many times in the past.”

“There’s resistant and then there’s argumentative. You are the latter.” 

Kakashi prepared to play peacekeeper to Kage’s more experienced at the job than him, when a tiny meow echoed through the room, causing everyone to stop and search for whatever had made the noise. They didn’t have to look for long though, for as soon as the sound had been made a tiny fluffy head poked out of Kakashi’s breast pocket.

“Is that-” A looked at him with disbelief.

“Oh, my.” Mei snorted a little, covering her mouth when she was unable to stop herself from giggling.

“First your late,” Onoki plopped back down into his seat with a grunt. “And now this? Really?”

Gaara was the only one who kept his opinion to himself. A fact Kakashi was thankful for, even if the Kazekage was giving him the most judgemental look he had ever seen on the kid's face.

“Look, I- I can explain,” he couldn’t. Not in a way all of them would accept at least. “It was raining outside.”

“So you took a kitten in?” Mei teased. “Konoha’s Copy Ninja, a big softie at heart. Who would have known?”

“I’m not-”

“It makes sense,” A interjected. “Uzumaki Naruto’s Sensei. Of course, he picked up some of his softness from the man who trained him.”

“Hey, that’s not-” Ok, maybe he taught Naruto about the importance of teamwork, but that was it. Everything else about Naruto had nothing to do with his training methods. Out of all his friends, he was probably the harshest on his students when they first formed as a team. Gai had scolded him multiple times for his bell test and Kurenai couldn’t believe her ears when he told them about some of the things he put the kids through.

“It makes sense,” Gaara finally spoke up, his eyes glued on the little kitten who was now crawling its way up Kakashi’s vest onto his shoulder. “A hound summoner would have a soft spot for animals.”

Betrayed by his only ally in these meetings. Kakashi had never thought he would have to feel the pain of betrayal again after Sasuke returned to Konoha, but here he was being stabbed in the back. All for the crime of saving a cold, lonely kitten from the rain. The only thing he could do to heal his wounded heart was reach up and give the kitten a little head pat. “What have I ever done wrong to any of you?”

“Would you like a list?” Onoki asked.

“Alphabetized or by date?” Mei made a show of pulling out a scroll as if she actually had a list on her at that very moment. 

“You’re all horrible…”

“Even-”

“Except you, Gaara,” Mei and A rolled their eyes at his addition. “You don’t have a list of grievances against me.” That automatically won him a spot in Kakashi’s good books.