Life-Coach (Part 2)

A continuation of the life coach idea with a little more Kakashi. Not much because I still don't have a proper feel for writing him.

Warnings: Plotholes. Not part of AtO. And short.

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As Harry took a seat at his table, the restaurant owner smiled. “Harii-san, I'm glad you could come.”

“I never say no to free food.” Harry said.

“I'm glad I can repay all the help you've given me.”

“I didn't do too much, Kimiko-san. This restaurant is running because of your hard work.”

Kimiko huffed but said, “What can I get you two?”

A grey-haired man sat on the other side of the table, opposite Harry. A man who definitely hadn't been there moments ago. 

 “Broiled sanma and miso soup,” Kakashi Hatake, his latest client, said, conveying a pleasant voice.

Turning back to Kimiko, Harry just shrugged. “Surprise me.” Harry waited until their orders arrived before he pulled out a thick stack of papers. “The Hokage sent this over.”

Kakashi didn't move to take the papers. 

“I don't like this entire situation either,” Harry said. “But ignoring it and being uncooperative isn't helping anyone.”

Kakashi glanced up in a lackadaisical manner. “It's helping me feel better.”

Harry pretended he didn't hear that and pressed on. “I need to fill out this progress report so that I don't get in trouble with the Hokage.”

“I can't fill it for you,” Kakashi said.

“The Hokage thinks we've been in each others' presence constantly over the past week. But you only show up to mooch meals off me when I eat outside.” Harry took a deep breath to control his rising ire. 

“You came to eat here on purpose.”

Harry hoped his of-course-I-did-you-idiot look wasn't too scathing. “I need your help to fill in some of this,” he said as he readied his pen. 

“You've filled out my life goal,” Kakashi said, his eye fixed on the paper. 

“You said you didn't have one,” Harry said. “So I gave you one.”

“To be less irritating is not a realistic life goal” Kakashi pointed out. 

“I'm sure everyone who knows you wishes it was,” Harry muttered as he took a bite of his chicken. “Don't you want to go back to ninja work?” At the stony silence he got, Harry nodded. “Then we need to give the Hokage something that shows progress. And right now, filling this report is that something.” 

After a long moment, Kakashi gave a slight nod of resignation.

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Kakashi remains a pain to write. I don't want to make him too similar to other characters- in the way that he acts and interacts with Harry.

I like the banter between Harry and Shikaku so I don't want that for Kakashi. I also don't want too much silent communication because that's an Itachi thing. And Jiraiya is... Jiraiya.

In my unpublished version of chapter 14, I wrote Kakashi as very sombre (depressingly so) when he interacted with Harry and I hated that. It was one of many reasons I re-wrote chapter 14 differently- and made Kakashi's role in it significantly smaller.

So while I'm experimenting with this alternate job- I'm hoping by the end of it, I'll get at least one or two characteristics of Kakashi's personality that I like enough to write into AtO. 

Otherwise Kakashi is forever doomed to hi-bye scenes.

Polar