Title: Laps

Author: Chakahlah

Abstract: Kakashi often assigns his team laps because it means seeing Naruto sweaty and flushed

Prompt by Werebunny87

Warnings: Pre-slash, Kakashi

Laps

Kakashi chuckled to himself as he listened to his three cute not-so-little genin arguing while they waited for him to arrive. Even though they had now been together for just over three years, his team still hadn't caught onto the fact that he was always there before them so he could get his daily entertainment before he did his duty by them. So far, his most memorable memory was a few days after the team Tsunade sent after a deserting Sasuke had returned with a successful mission and all of Team Seven was told they would be punished together – by not being permitted to advance up the ranks for a minimum of five years.

Everyone who knew of Sasuke's belief that his team mates were holding him back only just managed to hold back their amusement when it actually hit him that it was him who was holding his team back, not the other way around. It was Naruto's reaction, however, that caught everyone's attention. He had just nodded once and left once he was dismissed. He had been found not too long after by Shikamaru, Asuma and Choji at the Sandaime's grave telling him about everything that had happened since he had died and – to their surprise – expressing his relief at being a genin for longer as he knew he had a lot of work to do before he was ready for promotion.

Absent-mindedly, Kakashi turned the page of his book. He would be the first to admit that the news shocked him and, once he got over Asuma, Tsunade and Jirayah all telling that that he was a horrible teacher and then told to prove them wrong; only to find he couldn't … well, it had opened his eyes to how badly he had failed his team.

"What do you think you are doing, Babka?"

Kakashi almost fell out of the tree he was in at the loud, high pitched shriek that came from his only female student. Even after all this time training them, he still couldn't bring himself to think of her as a kunoichi. She was still obsessed with Sasuke, still ate less than what her body required and had the occasional period of time she refused to do something that would make her dirty, sweaty or make her chip a nail.

Curious about what had set her off, Kakashi put his book down and laid along the branch he was currently straddling. From his new position, he could see all three of his trouble makers.

"I'm doing exactly what it looks like I'm doing," Naruto's calmer voice drifted up to him. "I'm stretching. So far this past week and a bit, Sensei has turned up out of nowhere and demanded we run around the training area multiple times. Each time it happens we are all left sore because we didn't stretch before or after."

The older man silently applauded his blond student. He had honestly thought that it would have been one of the other two who would begin stretches first as they were the supposed most intelligent of the generation. Looking at them now, however, he wondered if that title was more of a detriment to a student's development than anything else.

Sakura began verbally abusing the blonde over his apparent stupidity and foolish plan of making Sasuke look bad and Kakashi once again silently applauded his blonde's ability to drown out her unpleasantly shrill voice.

That had been yet another eye-opening realisation for the silver-haired man. Sometime after he began to seriously train his genin and focused on more than just the Uchiha, he had begun to notice things about Naruto that he hadn't before: This like how he never revealed his throat to anyone in a spar, how he always sniffed the air when he was in a new or unfamiliar place and, most surprisingly, how he would yap, yelp or growls at a frequency most humans couldn't hear in periods of high emotion.

After he had summoned Pakkun to discuss these changes, he was informed by the pug that the boy had always exhibited those signs and it had been him who had ignored it. Not too long after that, he had begun observing him closer to see what other behaviours the boy exhibited, only for his new observations to start visiting him while he slept.

Quickly shaking his head to scatter those thoughts before they caught him under their spell, Kakashi looked back at his genin and almost swallowed his tongue. Sasuke was standing on the bridge in his usual brooding silence, Sakura was standing beside the boy attempting to draw him into a conversation and Naruto … By Kami Naruto!

The part of Kakashi's mind that dealt with analysing his surroundings while on an intense mission noted that his blond must have been closer to the Nara Heir than he previously thought. The rest of him, however, was currently staring at the very firm rear end that had been haunting his dreams the last year as its owner bent over to touch the ground between his slightly spread legs.

It wasn't until his boy headed towards the tree he was hiding in, mumbling something about control that Kakashi snapped out of his daze and decided to gift his students with his presence. Just as Naruto placed both feet on the tree, Kakashi shunshined to behind Sakura and happily announced:

"Hello my cute Genin!"

To his amusement, Sakura shrieked, Sasuke spun around with a kunai in his hand and Naruto let out a soft yelp as the book Kakashi had left on the branch unbalanced and hit the boy in the stomach.

He eye smiled at them.

"I hope today finds you well rested because it is going to be a long one. There are several D-rank missions I've requested the Hokage to put aside for us , as well as training and sparring! But first … LAPS!"

Naruto rolled his eyes as his teammates glared at him, as though it were his fault their sensei decided to start them off this way.

"How many?" he asked instead of defending himself.

"Until you collapse," Kakashi answered, grinning at the almost silent whimper the boy let out. "Come on! Chop chop!"

Kakashi clapped his hands excitedly, as if he were giving them a wonderful treat.

"No jogging; full out sprint only. No slowing down!"

Naruto let out a growled whine of protest that sent a shiver down Kakashi's spine before he turned to start his laps. The blond had never made that sound before.

Kakashi's grin just grew when he decided to see just how many new sounds he could make his boy create today and estimate just ow many of them would revisit him that night. As Naruto appeared on the opposite side of the clearing, Kakashi noted the slight flush of exertion on his cheeks and the tell-tale shine of the first beads of sweat on his hairline and couldn't prevent the small amount of blood leaking from his nose. His final thought before focusing on his own training was: Praise Kami for laps.