This is a short series of flashbacks from Kakashi's childhood I've pilfered from my multi-chaptered fic 'Hound's Release' because it got deleted and, well, I just adore exploring young Kakashi's psyche. If I feel like it I may write some more.

Rating 'T' is for possible violence – there shouldn't be anything remotely sexual in these.

o0o

He's nine years old. A chūnin. Standing beside his sensei in front of a classroom full of pre-genin. They're slightly older than him but they're all stupid, clumsy and as useless as civilians. Kakashi doesn't want to be here, but his sensei has a large hand on his shoulder, keeping him from bolting. Not that he'd do that anyway. His pride stops him from running away.

The class is watching him and Minato with big eyes, some of them glancing at him and then away, whispering behind their hands. 'They say he was a chūnin when he was only a little kid.' 'He's weird, wearing that mask all the time.' 'My mum said it's a good idea to keep away from him, you don't know what he can do.' 'My brother went on a mission with him and he said that he killed someone.' 'No way!'

Kakashi doesn't care that they're afraid of him; it's always been that way. He's only here because it's his duty to his village and that is what he lives for. He wants to do his best for Minato-sensei, to not be a failure like his father.

"Kakashi-kun and I are going to give you a special demonstration on shuriken throwing," Minato says, giving the children a grin full of sunshine, his hand squeezing Kakashi's shoulder lightly, telling him wordlessly to ignore what they are saying.

Kakashi hates it. He doesn't need the comfort, he's fine by himself. He is a real shinobi, unlike these bumbling idiots masquerading as ninja. He jerks the hand of another pre-genin, roughly turning the shuriken in his hand so it's in the right position. He wants to ask, 'Don't you listen? Are you all really this stupid?' but he doesn't because he already knows the answer.

Besides, he knows, even though he's not supposed to, that this whole 'demonstration' thing is for his sake. Namikaze Minato shouldn't be in a classroom teaching pre-genin how to do something that their chūnin teacher is more than capable of telling them himself. He is a prodigy teaching a prodigy, and they're here because he wants Kakashi to get to know some children his own age, to make some friends.

Kakashi already knows it will never work – not that he wants any friends – and wonders if his sensei is just stupid or too inherently optimistic to see this.

"Watch," he commands the snot-nosed brat who keeps tossing shuriken so they land in the dirt a couple of metres from his feet. He brings out three shuriken from the pouch at his waist and flings them towards where he knows the training post is without looking. "You have to put more force behind it," he starts to say, but is cut off midway by a scream.

He has never heard a scream like that before. He has seen shinobi die, but even in the midst of the most horrendous torture no self-respecting shinobi would ever let out a noise that desperate. The sound pierces his ears and he wants to cover them but will do no such thing, even though he can see at least half of the class doing just that.

Minato and the teacher are huddling over a body between him and the training post and he knows with a sickening lurch of his stomach that he has managed to hit one of the bumbling idiots while he was showing off. Seconds later the Yellow Flash lives up to his name and he and the kid are gone.

The teacher turns to Kakashi, frowning, and the rest of the class follow his gaze. Kakashi flees.

He stands silently by the kid's side in the hospital, hoping no one will notice him there. He feels guilty; the boy may be two years older than him but he hasn't had half the training Kakashi has, and wouldn't know how to dodge at all. He should have looked where he was throwing. Although, looking at where the wounds are on the boy, if the kid hadn't moved at the wrong time he would have hit the post in the exact places he'd been aiming for. It's a small consolation.

"Kakashi, you used your own weapons didn't you?" Kakashi tenses as Minato's hand is on his shoulder again. He doesn't answer. "The class ones were purposefully blunt. Yours weren't."

"I didn't know that," Kakashi mutters.

"Well now you do," Minato says cheerfully, and holds a bouquet of flowers out in front of him. "Sign the card."

Kakashi scribbles a henohenomoheji on the card presented to him. "Does this mean I'm not in trouble?"

Minato sighs and ruffles his hair. "Kakashi-kun, I should have known better than to try and force you to interact with other children. This was my mistake."

Other children? Kakashi doesn't consider himself a child. The person on the bed covered in bandages is what he calls a child. He won't compare himself to someone like that. Sensei is wrong, this is his mistake. It's his fault that this kid is having trouble breathing in the hospital. He should have known better, should always know better. He is a genius, after all.