Roses {Kakashi Hatake}

2. Tutor

Sakumo stayed true to his word, he did actively look for someone to help the girl. She couldn't learn everything by herself, she need help from a jounin and he actually had someone in mind.

He wasn't quite sure whether he would actually agree on it, bearing in mind his lazy attitude and the fact he didn't even know her. The seventeen year old shinobi was known to be intelligent, yet he was pretty damn lazy. He was member of a well known clan and a traditional team combination.

His name was Nara Shikaku. His teammates were Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Chouza. He found them training their Ino-Shika-Chou formation and he patiently waited for them to notice him.

"Sakumo-san?" Inoichi questioned, it was unusual for the White Fang to visit their training ground.

"Shikaku, can I talk to you for a bit?" he asked, "I've got a favour to ask."

The Nara shrugged. He thought it was troublesome, like he did with nearly everything, but he would listen to him. He followed him back to the village as Sakumo told him what he was asking from him.

"Tutoring a five year old?" he questioned, "Are you sure of it?"

Sakumo nodded, "She has potential, but she won't be able to reach it on her own. Her parents can't help her and I highly doubt their teacher actually agrees with me." In truth, he did not. All he saw when looking at the girl was the same as Kakashi, tutoring her was just a waste of time.

"Should she really start out this early?" Shikaku asked, "It may not be good for her too start this young."

"You can start with the basics," Sakumo retorted, making Shikaku think about it. He had heard about her passion and he couldn't deny that was important, but who knew what would become of her afterwards. "So, what do you say?"

***

She was surprised to say the least, surprised to have been visited by a jounin that afternoon. "Am I in trouble?" she asked, "Did I do something wrong?"

The young jounin shook his head, his pineapple shaped hair unmoving, "I've come by because someone asked me for a favour."

"What was it?"

"He asked me to tutor you."

She stared at him with a blank expression, thinking it was a joke. When he kept looking as serious as he did when he spoke those words, she realised it wasn't. A smile appeared on her face, "And you agreed on it?" she asked, "You will tutor me?"

He nodded, "It's troublesome, but it's not like I've got anything else to do at the moment."

Before they could start, she needed permission from her parents and even though Akahana knew they would grant it, she still had to ask. They agreed, just like she thought they would, after asking the Nara a lot of questions concerning the training he had planned for her and who asked him.

He didn't have an answer for the latter, since he promised he wouldn't tell anyone who asked him to do it. Of course he thought it was strange he didn't want the girl to know, but he must have had a reason.

---

Just like Sakumo had suggested, he started off with the basics, the things they should be capable of at the Academy.

When Akahana kept missing the target, Shikaku decided to give her some advice, "Take more time to aim. Once you actually hit the target properly, you can practise your speed."

She nodded and tried again. This time, she nearly hit the bull's eye, but it took her way too long to Shikaku's liking. Sure, her determination and passion could get her far, but now she was as good in shuriken throwing as Gai was in ninjutsu.

Shikaku sighed, he had to learn to accept she wasn't a very fast learner, it was going to take time. Unfortunately, he'd have to give up a lot of his own too. Damn, this is troublesome...

Even though Shikaku wasn't watching, Akahana kept going. She refused to give up and complained when Shikaku decided to end the training for today.

When she came home, both her parents were waiting for her, the food already on the table, "How was it?" her mother immediately asked.

Kobayashi Yuuki wanted for Akahana to achieve her dream. She didn't know exactly what happened the day she came home with the question wether she could go to the Academy. However, she didn't really care, she just wanted her only daughter to be happy, even if it meant for her to be a shinobi.

Akahana was positive about the training she got, which both Yuuki and Sora were happy about, "I've improved my throwing and we're going to train my speed tomorrow."

"Is Nara-san a good teacher?" Sora asked.

"I don't know yet," Akahana replied, "We haven't done much yet.

After spending most of her weekend training with Shikaku, she had come to the conclusion he was quite a good teacher. Yes, he was lazy, but he was also very smart and knew what he was talking about.

He explained everything in a way so she would understand. Because of it, she was able to improve her speed and aiming and Shikaku had also taken the liberty to get to know her.

"Why do you want to be shinobi?" he had asked her after one of their sessions.

"I've always looked up to them. They are so brave and strong, I wanted to be like that too."

"You know the responsibilities, don't you? Do you know the risks you're taking?" He hoped she had actually thought about it before entering the Academy.

She nodded, "I know I could die, but I don't really care. I'll just make sure I'm strong enough not to get killed!"

"Are you certain?" he asked.

She looked at him, her green eyes sparkling with determination, "Of course I am! I wouldn't be training this hard otherwise!"

Shikaku decided to change the subject, the girl was stubborn and nothing he said could change her mind, "What's your favourite food?"

"Uhm...." Akahana hummed, thinking about an answer. She liked all kinds of food, but there was one thing she liked best. It was a dish her mother made for her every birthday, "Dango."

And so they had ended up in Dangoya, a dango shop in Konoha. Akahana told him all sort of things about herself, her favourite colour, animals and she had also told him about her parents and the shop they runned.

She had also told Shikaku to tell some things about himself. She learned he liked to look after deer in the Nara forest and playing Shogi.

"Can you teach me how to play shogi?" she asked. Sora never really liked shogi, he preferred other kinds of games using his intelligence, like puzzles.

Shikaku was surprised when she asked him, he didn't expect a five year old to want to know more about stragedy. He agreed on it anyway, it would also be a good way for him to test her intelligence.

Akahana proved herself to be a clever girl for her age. She was nowhere near winning from the Nara, but she did make a couple of smart moves, trying to make him lose.

"I like it," she stated, "Tou-san isn't the type for stragedy games, but apparently I am."

"You're quite good for your age," Shikaku told her, "It could be a good way of improving your battle planning."

"Really?" she asked in excitement, "Thank you Nara-san!" She looked at the clock, realising she was supposed to be home an hour ago, "I gotta go!" she exclaimed as she ran out the door, "Good night Nara-san!"

Shikaku chuckled, she was quite amusing to watch and not as troublesome as he thought. She was a very kind girl and she had probably made many friends.

However, he was wrong about one thing. Even though she was kind and happy, she didn't have many friends. She was bullied by her class mates for being so bad in nearly everything. Her only friends were Asuma, Kurenai and Gai, but that was enough for her.