The Fox, The Cat, The Rabbit, The Wolf and The Exhausted Caregiver

Along The Road

They met Tazuna. They hate Tazuna. The slightly like Tazuna. And Naruto got poisoned. It's a great start overall.
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The first time they met Tazuna, everyone immediately agreed that he was an asshole and a pain in the ass.

When they got attacked by two C-rank missing nins on their way to Wave and heard his story, they thought less about him being an asshole. The pain in the ass still stands though.

"Well then my little gremlins, what do you think we should do when our mission gets misranked?"

"Yell at the person in charge for not doing a proper job when we get back?" Sakura guessed amusingly.

"Continue doing our mission with no holds barred?" Sasuke suggest with a hopeful look.

"Kick Tazuna's ass?" Naruto smiled innocently.

"Incorrect!" Kakashi crossed his arms to form an X. "Although I approve of your train of thoughts."

The three genins preened at his approval.

"While I hate to be the voice of reason, I'm now dating Iruka so his voice of reason got stuck in my head instead," he told them sadly. "So who can guess the correct answer?"

"Are you seriously doing this right now?" Tazuna asked incredulously.

Kakashi gave an eye-smile at Tazuna. "Of course! Every moment is a learning experience!"

"Whatever! Just get me out of this damn green thing so we can go back to Wave!" he tapped angrily at the barrier surrounding him.

Sakura tutted at the man. "And this is the thanks I get for trying to protect him." she grumbled as she made a series of handsigns. The barrier seemed to waver for a moment before it shimmered out of existence.

"It's a thankless job for sure," Kakashi spoke as he gave a light ruffle of Sakura's hair without looking when she went near him. Already used to Kakashi's weird ways of handing out compliments, she leaned into it and gave him a beaming smile in return.

"Alright kids, what do you think we should do now?" Kakashi asked, gaining his gremlins' complete attention.

"Are you saying you're giving us the chance to choose whether or not to continue the mission despite you being the team leader and have the executive right?" Sakura asked knowingly.

"There's a reason why you're one of Iruka's favorite." Kakashi said fondly.

"Obviously, I'm the number one." Naruto added slyly.

Sakura rolled her eyes at him. "Keep dreaming. Iruka-sensei likes me better."

"Hmm, somehow I doubt that," Sasuke interjected.

"Now, now, my little gremlins. Now's not the time to see who Iruka likes better," he chided lightly. "Besides, we all know Iruka likes me best." Kakashi smirked at the end.

Immediately, the three genins let out a loud protest at his claim and Kakashi just smiled and ignored them all.

Tazuna just stood where he was and groaned, wondering what he ever did to get them instead.

"Oh yeah, I got scratched earlier by their claws and now my hand feels weird." Naruto said suddenly and held out his hand to show where the scratch is.

"It's probably the poison." Kakashi told them nonchalantly as he eyed the healing scar.

"What?! Why didn't you say this earlier?! We need to quickly get the poison out!" Sakura exclaimed before she rummaged through her bag and pulled out a smaller bag full of first-aid kit. But before she could do anything, Naruto pulled out a kunai and stabbed his hand, much to her shock and ire.

"What the hell, Naruto!" she shouted as she pulled out a few antiseptics and gauze. "Just because you can get the poison out like that, doesn’t mean it's a smart move, idiot!" she scolded him, smacking him lightly at the back of his head out of anger and worry. "You might die of bloodloss!"

"Meh, I'll live." Naruto waved dismissively with the hand holding the kunai, sending a few blood splattering to the ground. "It'll take much more than this to get rid of me," he assured.

Sakura just let out an exasperated sigh as she forcefully took his bleeding hand and starts to treat it.