You were halfway through inventorying mission supplies — because someone (cough, Kakashi) spilled curry on them during last night's debrief — when a familiar puff of summoning smoke filled the tent.

There was a low huff. It was followed immediately by a grunt, a confused squeak, and the sound of something... waddling..

You didn’t even look up. "Kakashi. What did you do?"

No answer. Just...shuffling. And a strange squeaky snort.

You turned.

There he stood, your freshly assigned co-instructor, Hatake Kakashi — mask in place, book in hand, expression unreadable as always. And sitting beside him, munching lazily on what might've been your last emergency apple, was the largest rodent you’d ever seen.

"...Kakashi," you said slowly. "Why is there a capybara in the mission tent?"

Without missing a beat, he closed his book with a soft snap. “Apparently, the summoning scroll had…alternative opinions today.”

You blinked. “That’s not Pakkun.”

“No,” Kakashi agreed. “This is Captain Cap’n. We’re spiritually linked now. It’s a whole thing.”

The capybara — Captain Cap’n, apparently — let out a low, approving grunt and leaned against Kakashi’s leg like they were old drinking buddies.

“Did you mess with the summoning contract?” you asked, already dreading the answer.

He scratched the back of his head. “Technically, I expanded it. Theoretically. Temporarily.”

Captain Cap’n tried to climb onto your bedroll.

“This is a classified mission zone,” you hissed.

“I think it pays rent in serenity. He’s very quiet,” Kakashi offered, as if that made it better. “Very chill. Good for morale.”

You narrowed your eyes. “He’s eating the paperwork.”

“He’s just...editing.”

The capybara sneezed.

You sighed and sat down on the floor, defeated. The capybara waddled over and curled up beside you, radiating heat and mild swamp odor.

Kakashi gave you a thumbs-up. “Welcome to the team.”