Kakashi and I walked, thankfully and mercifully alone, to the training grounds at the edge of the Forest of Death. I looked around, reminiscing. I sighed and smiled.
"What is it?" Kakashi asked, tilting his head questioningly.
"Sweet memories of becoming Jiraiya-sensei's apprentice." I laughed a little as I told him about that particular adventure.
"Exploding wind-up shrimp? Saber nut shot of doom?" He roared and chuckled at our odd jutsu.
"You have to admit, though, it IS effective." I brushed a joyous tear of my own from the corner of my eye.
"True..." He trailed off and burst out laughing again. After he sobered up, he asked, "Want to spar now or are you just going to kill me with laughter? It's effective in this case, especially imagining Jiraiya-sensei..." He barked out a little chuckle. "Anyway, let's head into the Forest, shall we?"
"No problem here." I chuckled a little as he reached into his pocket for a small key. He held the door open for me. "Ah, a gentleman..." I twitched back a little bit as he stopped me from entering.
"Wait. Please. I know you are ANBU-in-training, but things happen to the best of shinobi in the Forest of Death. I want to give you a little something that will allow me to track you if you get hurt. I promise I won't use it for anything else." The Hatake ninja made a few hand signs and slammed his hand to the ground. "KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!" A small pug with a ninja headband and a black jacket appeared. Kakashi knelt before the tiny dog and patted its head gently. "Pakkun," he said quietly, "this is Chessy. We're going to be sparring together in the Forest. She's an ANBU trainee. I want you to look after her. She's young, and, well, I don't want her hurt. Okay, Pakkun?"
"Right." The pug spoke in a gravely little voice as he looked me over doubtfully. "So, how am I supposed to keep up with her? If you guys are going to be sparring, I want to keep from being squished, squashed, eaten, pummeled, and otherwise maimed or killed. She doesn't have any pockets or anything..."
"Well, I guess we could improvise..." I trailed off, blushing as I picked up the nin dog. "Just try not to get TOO comfortable."
"What do you mean by that?" Pakkun asked, just before I dropped him down the front of my ANBU vest, where he was held in place by my own natural...barriers. He snuggled in tight, leaving his paws to hook over the top of my vest. "Oooh...nice. Hey, Kakashi, this is warm and soft. Why don't you have something like this?" The nin dog asked honestly.
I whispered in his ear.
"Oh." The pug blushed, even though I thought that was impossible for even a summoned animal. "So you mean that those aren't just padding...those are your...ohhh...but they're just so smooth and--sorry."
Kakashi abruptly burst into laughter as I blushed fiercely.
"Okay, Pakkun, now that you're all cozy, how about the lady and I spar without you embarrassing her any more?" Kakashi snorted in amusement as the pug dropped his head in shame and as I jumped in reaction to this. "What's wrong, Chessy?"
"Cold nose." I muttered.
Kakashi threw back his head and laughed his ass off.
"Let's go." The shinobi said with a smirk as he looked at the pug nuzzled against my chest. "We ARE going to spar sometime today, aren't we?"