Scarecrow: Defender, Impostor...Littlest Brother

Little Ninja

Luffy has seen him around the busier parts of Windmill Village on several occasions. He was so very tiny, shorter than even Luffy, and Luffy was already very short to begin with. He always tried to follow him, but the silver-haired kid would always sometimes vanish.

So Luffy always thought of him as the "Mystery Kid."

And right now, Mystery Kid was right in front of him, standing before the ocean. Luffy thought he looked lonely, and went to approach when the other did something that shocked the six-year-old...

"WOAH! HOW'RE YOU DOING THAT?!"

—————

'Here goes my effort...and dryness perhaps...'

Gingerly, he stepped one foot onto the water, fighting to balance his massive spiritual energy with his lesser physical one. He'd been working on his physical strength for a while now, and it finally seems as if he's made progress! Now, he strains to place his other foot—

"WOAH! HOW'RE YOU DOING THAT?!"

Kakashi uncharacteristically startled, losing his focus and he stumbled into the cool water of the ocean. Sputtering, He righted himself and shot a look at the kid who surprisingly startled him, and didn't seem to take the hint.

"Maa..."

Kakashi didn't really know what to say. He sighed and trudged out of the water, grumbling as the sand stuck to him. He'll have to rinse the particles out later, what a pain—woah, careful there. He sounded like a Nara there.

"I'm Luffy!" The other greeted halfway. "Who're you?"

The tiny shinobi sighed and held out his hand. "Hatake Kakashi." He said simply. Luffy grinned and shook the other's hand so enthusiastically that Kakashi's entire arm waved up and down. With a deadpan, Kakashi waited for the kid to stop talking. Or let go of his hand.

Which he didn't.
He was led through town, barely keeping up (damn it, Why was he so tiny?) and Luffy stopped in front of a building, finally. Glancing up at the sign, Party's Bar, he wondered what business a six-year-old would have in such a place. Luffy turned to give him yet another of his blinding grins before leading him inside where the stench of alcohol burned Kakashi's sensitive nose. Outwardly, Kakashi was the epitome of poker face. Inwardly, He cringed at the strong smell of alcohol.

Grateful for his temporary mask (as his old one was getting fixed, thanks to stupid forest tigers), the smell was somewhat filtered, but Kakashi inwardly wanted to get the hell out of there...but he didn't. Because Luffy seemed to have a vice-like grip on his arm. As he was dragged in through the doors, the noises quieted.

"Look what Luffy dragged in, Cap'n! Isn't that the one you said to look out for?"

————————

Shanks has noticed, with his Haki, that one of the residents of Foosha Village wasn't whom they seem to be. That same resident was currently dragged through the doors of Party's bar by Luffy, drenched and excluded an aura of resignation.

With the feel of the aura he had, Shanks had initially thought it was a short old man. Instead, he saw a tiny child pulled through the doors of the bar, with Luffy grinning madly.

Is this the case of someone being born with an old soul?

"Oi, Luffy!" He greeted amicably, blatantly meeting the new child's gaze. "Who's your new friend?"

(Thus Kakashi was indirectly interrogated by the protective pirates in the bar.)

AN: Ha-ha! Finally, some Kakashi action, eh? Welp, too bad for you, 'cause this is just a memory.

I'm sure you didn't mind the backstory first anyways. I'm struggling with the interactions, but I like to think that I'm doing pretty good!

In this flashback, Luffy is six and Kakashi is four. It's earlier on in the year Shanks and his crew stay in East Blue. Shanks still has his arm.