Too young to feel this old.
The ramen store had been officially closed for half an hour already yet still old man Teuchi sat at its counter with one of its patrons. Only the two of them tonight, the beautiful young girl who often served, the old man's daughter, had been sent home a long time ago.
"So, what age did you graduate then?" the question had been expected but it always brought back memories. Weathered eyes watched and waited for an answer.
"Five" Kakashi replied exhaling, that number disturbed him.
"Sad." The old man said.
The lethal man he now sat next to had been eating ramen in his store since only a year after graduating from the academy, yet he knew next to nothing about him.
"You were promoted quiet quick I've been told. Father was a genius, suppose you are too?" he continued. Feeling strangely content, Kakashi obliged.
"I'm the youngest ever to graduate from the academy, youngest ever Chunin at six. I've been a Jonin for more than half of my life." His visible eye turned towards Teuchi and watched him stare at the counter.
"You've seen some terrible things then" The reply was never a question.
"The worst." The Jonin added. "But better that we see and do them, so you never have to."
Teuchi flinched visibly. The old man was holding something back these questions were going somewhere. Kakashi had a bad feeling about where.
"What's this about, Teuchi-san?" The stool creaked quickly as it quarter turned to face the other man. Kakashi crossed his arms and cocked his head.
"Ayame."
Understanding came.
"She is too old." Kakashi offered. Academy students generally started at four and the oldest graduate was thirteen. Ayame was a good five years passed that, her eighteenth birthday only a season ago.
"So she has been told." The old man had not cheered much more. Hurt still creased his face and fear weighed his shoulders. "She has been told that she can only enter the academy for its last year, and the exam of course."
"She would have to find a trainer for the first part. It could be anything from a year to three, depending on how fast she learns. No Chunin would be permitted to train her; their role extends only as far as operational leaders."
The old man's body slumped a little and he nodded as each fact was stated, he'd heard all this before. Finally he spoke, finishing what he assumed Kakashi would tell him next.
"It would have to be Jonin." Teuchi turned at last to face Kakashi, he looked hopeless and lost. The famous Ichiraku smile was nowhere to be seen. "All Jonin have or are being assigned teams to take care of, Genin teams. The ones left after that will be doing the village's share of high level missions."
Kakashi felt that Teuchi needed to hear things from a different point of view. There were more reasons that his daughter should not enter the world of shadow and steel; more important reasons, in Kakashi's opinion.
"It may be better that way." Kakashi began, "Ayame-chan has lived for eighteen years in relative peace. A job, parents and friends. Time to do the things she loves and time to herself. Your daughter has had the childhood that many of us will never know. She's got too much to lose if she becomes a ninja. We don't miss it, because we never had it. Ayame has."
"You don't understand," A new voice. Teuchi had no time to reply or give a reaction to Kakashi's words. Ayame was standing in the open curtain to the stall. Tears shone briefly as they caught the moonlight and then she turned and dashed down the street.
The old man turned to plead with the Jonin but he was already gone, leaving only a puff of smoke and some leaves in his wake.