Author's Note: I don't own Naruto. This takes place pre-Shippuden and pre-Chunin Exams. The genin of Teams 7, 8, and 10 are 12. Kakashi is 26. Asuma and Kurenai are 27. I've separated different sections by lines to make it easier to read, but there's no real significance to them. Off topic, I can't believe how long it's been since the last time I've written a fanfic. I need to gain some motivation. I hope this isn't too bad, since it's the first one I've written in awhile.

Kakashi sat in a tree, his book in hand. Below him was his team of genin working on a simple D-Rank mission. Despite being in charge of them, he wasn't paying much attention to them or the progress of their mission. Rather than look down and examine his team's progress, he flipped the page of his book. Of course, he already knew what was coming next in the book from having read it so many times. But he simply couldn't resist one of the happy reminders that he had of his former teammates and Sensei. Unfortunately, today was one of the most difficult days for him. It was his former teammate Rin's birthday. He had originally planned to take the day off from doing his shinobi duties, which would've also given his genin the day off. His students, specifically Naruto and Sasuke, did not want a day off, saying that they needed to keep up their training, and Sakura wasn't one to disagree with Sasuke. Kakashi hadn't been in the mood to argue, so he chose to let them have their way. Kakashi had known that if he had told them the reason why he wanted to have the day off that they wouldn't have reacted the way that they had. But he chose not to bother them with the matters of his past. After all, they were his memories and there was no need to create a sad atmosphere around his team. In these moments, their presence helped to give him happiness, even if it was only temporary and they were completely unaware of their significance to him. Of course, he would never admit that to them.

Sakura looked around, the field was now cleared of weeds, at least as far as she could tell. Next to her, Sasuke and Naruto were doing the same. By this time, they all stared up into the tree at their Sensei. Typically, he was well aware of when they were finished, ready to go, and ready to tell them when to meet up for the next day, even though he always showed up late. Still it was habit, and the three genin were bothered by the change. The three teammates stood next to each other, silently waiting for Kakashi to notice, but at the same time, they were subconsciously wondering if there was something that they were supposed to do that they were missing.

Sakura frowned, "Do you think that we are missing something?"

Naruto pouted, "The least he could do is tell us if we are!"

Sasuke gestured to the field, "Look around. Does it look like we missed anything?"

Naruto glared at Sasuke, "Duh! Of course it doesn't look like we missed anything, or else we would be working on it."

Sasuke smirked, "Figures that you wouldn't be able to catch on to sarcasm. Idiot."

Sakura looked up at the tree and watched as Kakashi absent-mindedly turned another page in his book, "Do you think he's okay? This really isn't like him."

Naruto cocked his head to the side, "How should we know? It's not like he ever tells us anything."

Sakura replied, "What if he doesn't know how to?"

Sasuke sighed, "I'm afraid that Naruto actually has a point. He is able to come up with obscure answers for everything that we ask him. The fact that he can do that shows that he simply chooses not to."

Sakura shook her head, not wanting to be wrong, "It's not like we've ever really asked about his life. Hell, we've never even bothered asking what his book is about. We've just assumed that it's smut, but maybe it's not."

Sasuke frowned, while Naruto grinned. Suddenly, Naruto started running to the tree with his teammates following.

Kakashi was still reading his book, unaware of his team coming towards him. Sakura decided that there was definitely something wrong with him, he should've noticed them coming up the tree even if he did miss them running towards him.

Naruto was the first one near Kakashi and acted like himself, "Hey Kakashi-sensei! So, what are you reading? And what's it about?"

Kakashi glanced up to see Naruto's face in his. He was caught off guard by Naruto's presence, "What? It's rude to interrupt people from their activities, Naruto. Also, if you continue to get that close to people, you will have more experiences, such as your kiss with Sasuke at the Academy."

Naruto glared at him, "Why'd you have to bring that up? And I asked you what are you reading and what is it about?"

Behind Naruto was Sasuke and Sakura, who were also waiting on Kakashi's answer.

Kakashi looked confused and replied in his usual cryptic, sometimes sarcastic manner, "I'm reading Make-Out Paradise, like usual. Or as you guys refer to it, smut. I'm reading my extremely smutty, pornographic book."

Naruto turned to Sakura, "See! Even he said that it is smutty! And porn-o-whatever he said."

Sakura glared at Naruto, "He said that we call it smut. He was just mocking us, you moron!"

Sasuke shook his head, "Can you try not to be stupid for 5 minutes, Naruto?"

Sakura smiled at Kakashi, "So, Sensei, what makes it your favorite book? There has to be a reason."

Kakashi looked at his 12-year old students looking at him, of course, he was never taught how to be around children, so he had no filter. He debated on telling him that it reminded him of his former teammates, but then he knew that the follow-up question would be about them. And he did not want to talk about them, especially not today. Kakashi looked at Sakura and replied nonchalantly, "Well, I guess it would be because of the detailed sex scenes."

Naruto pointed at Kakashi, "You're even worse than Pervy-Sage!"

Sakura laughed nervously, "Oh, well then. That's a nice reason. So, how are you doing today, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi shrugged and replied, sounding completely bored, "Alright. Better if I could read in peace. Or perhaps participate in some of the action going on in my book."

Sasuke and Naruto both turned to Sakura with looks of 'We-were-right'. Sakura, determined not to be wrong, forced a smile before looking back at her teacher, who she was struggling not to look at as a filthy pervert, "So, do you have any family, Sensei? Or a girlfriend?"

Kakashi frowned, as he looked at his team, "What's this about?"

Naruto cocked his head to the side, "What's what about?"

Kakashi glared, not in the mood for his students to play dumb, "The sudden interest that you three have in my personal life."

Sakura tried to hide her panic over the fact that he was on to the fact that they had a motive, which she came up with. "We're just trying to have a conversation with you, Kakashi-sensei. You don't have to be so suspicious of us."

Kakashi frowned, "You three can't really expect me to believe that. Ninja never fall into deception. Now's your last chance. Why do you want to know?"

Naruto stood up, "Because you know about us, but we know nothing about you!"

Sasuke nodded, "You said that it's important for a team to understand one another."

Kakashi chose to remain silent, as he looked away from them.

Sakura remained silent, amazed by her sensei's anger at being asked personal questions. It was so unlike his usual self, just like his behavior during the mission.

Sakura turned away from Kakashi and whispered into her teammates' ears to avoid his hearing, "What if this isn't really Kakashi-sensei?"

Naruto cocked his head to the side, before whispering back, "What do ya mean? It's not like we really thought that he would answer our questions. Do you just really want to be right that bad?"

Sasuke shook his head, "What kind of idea is that?"

Sakura turned serious, "Think about it. He doesn't notice that we are finished. Which he always does. Then he doesn't answer our questions. What if it's not because he doesn't want to, but because it's an impostor that doesn't know the answers?"

The three genin quickly glanced at the maybe impostor Kakashi. Naruto frowned, "Damn, what if she's right? What are we supposed to do?"

Sasuke smirked, "I guess, we attack the impostor."

Sakura smiled, proud of herself for catching onto the signs of an impostor. The three genin stealthily pulled out kunai, preparing to attack on Sasuke's signal.

Kakashi looked over at his team, wondering what was so important to discuss in private. He noticed that Naruto's expression seemed far too serious compared to what it usually was. He couldn't help but wonder what it was that they were discussing, "Have you three completed the mission?"

As soon as he had finished asking the question, Sasuke gave the signal. Suddenly kunai started to get thrown at him.

Kakashi leapt up to start dodging them, "What are you guys doing?" He knew that they didn't handle being turned down well, but he hadn't been expecting all three of them to be reacting violently.

"Shut up, you sensei-impostor!" Naruto threw another kunai.

Kakashi looked confused, "Impostor?"

"You heard him!" Sakura continued the onslaught of kunai.

Asuma was followed by his team on their way to get barbecue. Ino glanced over at the commotion and pointed, "Hey. Isn't that Sasuke and Naruto? And Billboard brow?"

Choji looked over, chip in his mouth, "Yeah, and are they going after their Sensei?"

Shikamaru looked to see what his teammates were talking about, "What a drag. They are causing such a commotion."

Ino cocked her head to the side, "Maybe it's a training exercise."

Asuma lit another cigarette, "Doesn't look like one. Looks more like Kakashi's team turned on him and are ambushing him."

By this time, Team 7 had made it to ground and were chasing after their believed impostor.

Kurenai, with her team, came up behind Team 8, "I didn't expect to run into you here, Asuma. So, what's so entertaining?"

"Not much, besides Kakashi getting his ass beat by his team," Asuma smirked, "I wonder what he did."

Kurenai frowned, "I'm not sure that's what you should be wondering. More like, will he be okay."

Asuma laughed, "I'd piss myself if he loses to three genin."

"Hey, look, there's others. We could ask them for back-up," Sakura pointed out to Naruto and Sasuke. Sakura turned to where Teams 8 and 10 were, "Hey! You guys come help!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "Like I'd join some pointless fight."

Choji nodded, "I still have this bag of chips to finish."

Ino glared at her teammates, "Quit being bums! What if Asuma-sensei is wrong? It's not like he's been serious at all today! Our help could help them succeed in their training. And then they'll owe us!" She smirked, knowing that she just convinced her teammates to do what she said.

Kiba smirked, "What about you guys, Shino and Hinata? It'd be nice to have them be in our debt. And Hinata, you'd be able to assist Naruto." Shino and Hinata nodded. Kiba smirked, "Well, then. Let's go kick some Jonin ass!"

Unfortunately for Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai were having a conversation and didn't notice their students leave to join the chaos.

Kakashi dodged yet another shuriken, "Why do you three think that I am an impostor?"

Sakura grinned, "Well, impostor, if you really want to know, I guess that I can explain it to you. The first thing that stuck out was how you acted when we finished our mission. You payed absolutely no attention. There was no reaction from you at all. Then you ended up asking us if we were done! Our real Sensei would've been aware of our being done. He wouldn't have need to ask us. Then you wouldn't answer our questions about your personal life. Of course, as an impostor, you wouldn't know about Kakashi-sensei's family or dating life. Therefore, we have come to the reasonable conclusion that, you sir, must be an impostor."

Kakashi frowned, "How is that reasonable?" He dodged another weapon, "Did you ever consider that I simply don't want to talk about my past with you?"

At that time, the other two genin teams arrived. Ino smirked at Sakura, "So, you need reinforcements? How pathetic!"

Sakura glared, "Shut up, Ino-pig! We need to get rid of this impostor and find our real Sensei!"

Kakashi sighed, now he was facing off against nine genin and a dog. He really wasn't interested in injuring anyone, but with the way things were going for him, he figured that he was going to have to.

Kurenai looked over, "Hey, Asuma, where did our teams go?"

Asuma looked around, before he heard barking, "Sounds like they joined the fight against Kakashi."

Kurenai gasped, "Well, we have to help him! That's nine people at once!"

Asuma smirked, "So, basically, it's a good time?"

Kurenai shook her head before heading off towards the action.

Asuma frowned, "Looks like you've lost control of your team, Kakashi. Although, I'll admit that I'm surprised to see you out today, with it being Rin's birthday and all."

Naruto glared at Asuma, "Don't tell him stuff like that! That guy's obviously an impostor!"

Sakura smirked, "So our real Kakashi-sensei does have a girlfriend."

Asuma and Kurenai cocked their heads to the side, obviously confused. Kakashi frowned, blocking attacks, "I planned to take the day off, but I have a Team that consists of extremely spoiled brats, as you can see. And I don't currently have a girlfriend, at least not a serious one anyways. Rin is my dead teammate."

Suddenly, the onslaught stopped. Sakura frowned, "What do you mean dead teammate?"

Kakashi looked down, "I mean what I said, she was my teammate and see is dead. Not much more to say."

Naruto looked down, "But, you didn't say that's why you didn't want to come today."

Sasuke remained silent and feeling as guilty as his teammates.

Kakashi glared, "I shouldn't have to explain my reasons to you. I am in charge of you three. Maybe you should learn to accept that."

Teams 8 and 10 stood around awkwardly, realizing that they had joined into a huge mess and mistake. Kurenai glared at them, "You will be dealt with later. Understood?" The other genin nodded.

Asuma continued smoking his cigarettes, "Now, I believe that it's time for us to leave and allow Kakashi to deal with his team."

Naruto watched as the others left, for the first time ever, wishing that he was with one of them. Kakashi looked at the three children left, all of which were now back to looking down at the ground. Kakashi sighed, it wasn't like he could punish them for wanting to understand him, "Don't ever do something that stupid again!" He watched as the genin looked even more ashamed of themselves, "Also, besides not being in a relationship, I have no living relatives." The three genin looked up confused, they couldn't understand why after what they had done, why he was answering their question. Kakashi smiled sadly, looking at the three children reminded him of his former team, which bought back bittersweet memories. By looking at them, he could tell that there was nothing that he could do that could work as better punishment than what they were already going through. Kakashi looked at his team, "How does cake sound to you three brats?"

Naruto looked confused, "Why cake?"

Kakashi looked at him, completely serious, "Cake is good for birthday celebrations." Kakashi looked up at the sky, he was fully aware that Rin, as well as the rest of his team, would want him to be celebrating rather than mourning them constantly. Still, it was difficult for him, but he would take it one step at a time, with his new team to help him.

Kakashi gestured for his team to follow him, as he lead the way to a bakery. It was his first time doing this, for any birthdays, but he was willing to try in order to properly honor his friend, as well as bond with his students.