Hatake Kakashi – Resident genius of Konoha
Kakashi was not having a bad day. In fact he was having an incredibly bad day, no better make that an incredibly bad week… or why not make it an incredibly bad month and be done with it. The reason Kakashi was having a bad time was not the fact that as a high Jōnin he on high demand nor was it the fact that he was one of the few tasked with training the ANBU recruits. No not even the fact that he had been on two back to back A-rank missions, assassination and infiltration respectively, the last forty-eight hours was the cause of his dismay, but the simple fact that there had been Root-ninja (attempting to) watching him for the duration of the past month and it was setting all his senses alight with tension.
Kakashi could not point them out to the Hokage, because the man wouldn't take such an accusation against Danzo without lightly, add to that that Kakashi didn't have any evidence except the ninja's wearing the masks and he couldn't attack them and bring them in for questioning as the old hawk would deny ever knowing anything and then Kakashi would be the one in an unfavorable situation.
To top of it all of Kakashi had been in the village for no more than half an hour, giving his report from the mission – verbally, when he was summoned by the Hokage.
Letting go of a sigh Kakashi concluded the energy to Shunshin to the Hokage's office would be greater than getting there by foot and with his now rather depleted chakra stores didn't wish to tax himself unnecessarily if it was a new assignment. He didn't enjoy passing out from chakra exhaustion after all.
So Kakashi proceeded to exit the ANBU headquarters by the window, going by rooftops from there. Training ground 0 (as the ground outside was known as) was the entrance to the ANBU main-base and had a reputation to be immune to infiltration among the ANBU and ex-ANBU members. Kakashi however thought that was a shit lie that could respectfully go and set itself on fire, no place was immune to infiltration or intrusion and as such the rumor only painted itself as a target for exactly those things.
Kakashi should know, he had been sent multiple times to intrude on places seen as "safe" and leave evidence that there had been an intrusion. Sometimes as a clear way of showing that the target wasn't safe and other times to plant suspicion between two villages, clans, families, etc.
Still he supposed that it made some of the villagers feel "safe" just as it made the pre-ANBU recruits important, until he got his hands on them of course. Granted he only got to have a hand in the recruits when the unfit had to be weeded out and rejected or someone had messed up big time, but he still drove the ones he got to the ground. Drilling them out of any bad habits and behavior quirks. It was quite a task at times, but it could also be quite funny to watch the newbies trip over themselves.
Soon his hoping over Konoha's rooftops brought him to the Hokage tower, a quick scan of signatures showed that there was a few Jōnin in the Hokage's office probably waiting for him to arrive before starting. All in all there was 8 Jōnins in the office, 9 with him – genin teams perhaps? Causally Kakashi appeared in the window and raised a hand in his usual greeting.
"Yo. Sorry I'm late, but there was a bird insistent that I should talk to it before coming here." The ANBU general was a hawk after all and that was who he had been giving his report to. The Hokage simply nodded, but the other in the room wasn't either as well informed or as quick-thinking as the Hokage, somehow he doubted they were either.
"Can't you ever come on time Kakashi? Really it's getting old when…" The one who had spoken, Anko, suddenly stopped, Kakashi decided it must be because he was still in his ANBU uniform. The fact it was clean enough that there wasn't a reek of old blood or splattered with stains and yet was clearly worn (and smudged with dirt and the like) spoke much about his prowess in stealth and battle, thought probably only the other Jōnin caught this fact. The Tokubetsu- Jōnin? Not so much. They probably only shut up because he was in uniform. Sissies.
Giving a tired sigh Kakashi waited for Anko to finish her study of him, not that it bothered him to have the others see him in this get up, but he was tired and looking forward to seeing his bed again.
"Damn Kakashi, that doesn't look half bad at ya'." There was definitely a leer on the woman's face, not that it really mattered. Anko was that way, showing of her body to an almost lewd extent and making comments to provoke reactions from others.
"Thank you Anko." 'No use being rude after all.' And then Kakashi turned to Sarutobi "What was it that you wanted Hokage-sama?" Some of the Shinobi in the room shuffled in irritation or embarrassment at the casual tone as Kakashi entered the room fully and stood in his usual slouch. The Hokage only chuckled, used to the way Kakashi acted when not in mission mode.
"I called you here to handle the matter of the new genin teams, is there anyone who wants to have anything said before I start handing out the teams." Several of the people in the room stiffened, only briefly but long enough for the trained eye, at that in surprise. 'Idiots.' Kakashi thought 'what did you think could it be, three teams worth of Jōnins in one place?' The Hokage continued.
"I would like each of you to take a team and give them a test to see if they are fit for duty as genin." No one looked away from the Hokage and several of the gathered nodded their consent. 'As if they have a choice.' Yes, Kakashi knew he was being sarcastic, but he was in desperate need of sleep after going fifty hours and thirty-two minutes without. The Hokage continued again, unaware of Kakashi's thoughts.
"Gekkō-san team 1, team 2 is still taken," 'poor kids' Kakashi truly didn't think anyone deserved being exposed to That without good reason, the bowl-cut was bad enough on its own… "Genma-san team 3, Aoba-san team 4, Ishi- san team 5, …" 'Right; Dosekiei Ishi was a newly promoted tsukubetsu Jōnin, seemingly calm and well mannered, but had had a real temper once. A… doton (earth) user if Kakashi remembered correctly.' "… team 6, Kakashi-san team 7, Kurenai-san team 8, Mizu-san team 9 and Asuma; team 10. Any questions?" The ninja were all silent.
"Good, you can get the files on your teams from my assistant the genin will get their teams tomorrow. Report in to me tomorrow evening at 2100 hours, Kakashi come see me at eleven." The Shinobi bowed and left the office, Kakashi keeping to the back of the group. Once he got the files he once more disappearing thought the window.
When he finally got home Kakashi would, if he had been a lesser ninja, have collapsed in his bed. As it was Hatake Kakashi was one of the best ninjas in the village so instead of collapsing like he wanted to Kakashi took a shower. After he changed into a clean set of "normal" clothes and mask before going out his own window. Settling on the roof the Hatake brought out the files on his new genin.
Uchiha Sasuke – that one was expected, he was after all the only one in the village with a Sharingan and the knowledge of how to activate one. According to the file the last, loyal, Uchiha was good, in the top of Tai-, Gen- and Nin-jutsu as well as the top achiever in the written tests. Kakashi didn't doubt the Uchiha was good, for his age, but it had also undoubtedly given the boy a superiority complex. Add that to the fact that (almost) everyone in the village bent over backwards for the kid it was a complex Kakashi would have to break early.
The second genin was a Kunoichi; one Haruno Sakura the top Kunoichi. Kakashi briefly wondered if the elders were trying to appease him by letting him have the best kids in the class. So; the kid was average at best in Taijutsu, had good chakra control and was one of the better in Gen- and Nin-jutsu. Book smarts was apparently something the girl had but that meant she would need to physically experience some things before she got over herself and stopped relying on books. With a sigh Kakashi picked up the last file and then nearly went into cardiac arrest.
Uzumaki Naruto was the third genin on his team, the jailer of the Kyuubi and the kid the Sandaime had specifically ordered Kakashi to stay away from. He had managed to give the kid some presents by getting the ANBU on guard to deliver them, a nightcap, a basic pranking kit and a small plush dog had been some of the more trackable items. However as Kakashi hadn't really touched the items there was no scent to pick up on and while the plush dog was kind of obvious it was also a common item to give children, this made the council unable to punish Kakashi as they had no evidence. And if the Sandaime had tipped his hat at Kakashi the next time they had met with a pleased smile, well… who was he to tell on the old man?
The file however was hardly accurate, for one it said Naruto wasn't focusing on his written studies, wasn't trying to control his chakra and didn't try enough in Taijutsu class. Well Kakashi had seen the kid practicing his katas outside and knew the blond had most of the katas down, if not perfectly then, they were still good enough.
The problems with the kid had with chakra-control was probably the Kyuubi's fault and teachers telling the kids to use as much chakra as they could while using the Nin- and Gen- jutsu, the kid was a container for the Kyuubi and would be a chakra beast like all previous hosts of any biju of choice. For further reference look towards Kumo with the hosts of the two-tails and the eight-tails. The kid's genes probably didn't help either, Naruto's mother had been a powerhouse Kunoichi and his father hadn't been anything to scoff at either.
And it made him think, for if one of the files wasn't accurate how would he know if the other two were? Giving another tired sigh Kakashi stood, for a moment the man simply gazed out over the village. His apartment was in the, not quite, opposite direction of the Hokage Mountain. Located on high ground which gave the few top floors of the building a fantastic view over the village. One could easily see the midday market where the caravans visiting Konoha sold their wares, the west gate was close too as was the more pricy, but with better quality, shops.
Most of the blacksmiths of Konoha worked not too far away so getting new weapons vas never quite as much a shore as it was for the other parts of Konoha. So yes it was an good placment for the apartment of a ninja, not only that but Kakashi had bought the top apartment while the prices had been good and had therefore not had to pay for the increased rent the rest of the buildings occupants had felt when the prices had gone up again.
Sighing Kakashi looked at the sun's position, the time was approaching 4 in the afternoon and Kakashi decided he better get a move on if he wanted to catch his new students in their normal after-school routine.
So with quick jumps Kakashi sped towards the home of one Haruno Sakura as her address, now memorized and marked down in the map of Konoha Kakashi had made in his mind. With a twitch of his lips he remembered the days he had put his cute torture vict…- oh he meant training partners in ANBU when they had been asked to find leaks in the security of Konoha's outer walls. The team trying to plug the leaks he had found had been run ragged and after a week the Sandaime had asked him to stop tormenting his comrades by getting past them no matter what they did. Even the normally stoic Itachi had been twitching the last day if he remembered correctly. Ahhh… good memories.
Finally arriving at his chosen location, Kakashi kept his chakra muted as to escape notice. Oh he was sure the Chunin on other side the street knew approximately where he was but to stalk a fresh Genin he wouldn't need to mute it anymore. Slowing his breathing Kakashi sent out his senses registering the different presences in the vicinity. Fifteen civilians, eight of them women and two of the woman and one of the men old, there was five small children and three ninja in the area. One of the ninja the Chunin he had already noted and young female Genin. How did he knew the genders by scanning someone's chakra? Let's just say there was something more… soft… fragrant… (?) in the chakra of a female and leave it at that.
The genin was standing a street down and Kakashi lazily made his way towards them, absently fetching his loyal book and walking across the street on a power-cable. By the spikes in chakra Kakashi guessed the Genin were arguing about something. A small trickle of chakra and he could hear the children arguing.
Looking up briefly Kakashi noted one of the children had long blond hair in a ponytail with bangs cowering the right side of her face and green eyes. The new Kunoichi was wearing purple and had her newly gained headband tied around her waist.
Inwardly Kakashi winced at the way the metal caught the light, and the much too revealing clothing many Kunoichi seemed to favor for some reason. 'Really, just look at Anko.' He thought.
The other Kunoichi was pink-haired with her forehead-protector tied as a headband, the hair ended at the small of her back and Kakashi once again winced. The hair would be a perfect way to catch hold of the girl or obscure her sight. The girl was clad in a red cheongsam or qípáo, or a Chaise dress depending on what you wished to call it. 'At least they can move in their clothes.' And wasn't that something at least, there had been one,… more than one now that he thought about it, genin who had had so insensible clothes that they hardly could move. Concentrating Kakashi focused a tiny bit of chakra in his ear to listen in on what the girls were saying.
"…-pig, I will be the one to win his heart!" the pink haired girl exclaimed. Sadly he noted this was his future student, Haruno Sakura, and from the information noted by the Chunin-sensei (teacher) Kakashi figured…
"No WAY! Bill-board! I will never lose to you! I will be on Sasuke-kun's team and then you won't have even the hint of a chance when I dazzle him with my looks!" … that the other one must be Yamanaka Ino. The pinkette's apparent rival.
"Like HELL you will! I will be the only one to ever be on Sasuke-kun's team!" There was only a handful of things that had ever scared Kakashi, one was Guy on a rant about YOUTH, a second was the Sandaime on a bad day when he would ask his ANBU-guards for a spar, and a third was his own personal fan-club. True the club wasn't as big now as it had been, and hopefully never would be again (!), and its members were discreet. However Kakashi still shuddered at the memory of being chased by a hoard of girls when he was younger; all of them intent to at the very least see his face.
Many didn't know it, but that was one of the reason Kakashi always had an Icha-Icha with him. There were hardly any self-respecting women who would read the book or wanted to be seen with someone known to read it, much less someone who read it in broad day-light while walking down the street. The back-draw was that the women left in his fan-club was high Chunin or Jōnin by now who didn't mind porn or the like. Really the ambushes he could handle, but he would dare anyone not to get scared (or mentally scarred) when five or more Chunin/ Jōnin tried to capture them while trying to tell him exactly what they would let him do to them.
The hospital was the worst, for it often meant being both hurt and low on chakra during the "attacks". This was also one of the reasons the (more popular) Jōnin of Konoha disliked being kept in the hospital. Fangirls.
So shit. One of his students was a fan-girl, the second the object of her desire and the third in the bottom of the graduating class. 'Fun.' Kakashi hung around lazily reading his book, unobtrusively observing the female on his future would be team. When Kakashi decided he had seen enough he left to find his second new student, the last (loyal) Uchiha.
The Uchiha resided in the now deserted part of Konoha where the Uchiha clan had lived, which was redundant if you asked Kakashi, the boy would only get reminded of his dead family at every turn and every time he looked somewhere. When he found the Uchiha the kid was eating dinner, take-out if Kakashi would trust his nose, and then the kid simply went right into training.
Kakashi shock his head, not that the brat was bad or anything, but he was too rigid in his movements and his body wasn't being trained right. The brat was way too hotheaded and impatient as he made only the most basic warm-ups before training until he dropped. Kakashi sighed, that would take some work.
When the Uchiha had dragged himself into the house again Kakashi headed home himself to get some rest before getting up tomorrow morning.
Morning arrived bright and early, as most Shinobi Kakashi was usually up and about during the early morning hours, sometimes with the sun - sometimes before it, while the civilian part of Konoha slept. These hours the village was a bit surreal, there was only the sound made by nature and the few greetings exchanged between Shinobi. Genin, as a thumb rule, were still asleep as they usually only woke an hour or so before the civilians. No one knew why it was that Shinobi woke with the sun at the latest, but Kakashi theorized that it had something to so with nature-chakra which was usually more potent during daytime and therefore: the more sensitive the ninja was, the earlier the smaller increase in the natures-chakra levels was needed to wake them.
Getting ready for the day Kakashi had breakfast and shaved, getting out of his apartment he went for a lazy walk through the village, Icha-Icha still in his pocket, most of the Shinobi he met nodded in his direction. Even the Chunin-sensei's in a hurry to get ready for the team assignment took s second to nod to him, he might be a pervert, but he was still one of Konoha's strongest Shinobi.
Having reached the training grounds Kakashi began his morning exercises; stretching out muscles warming up slowly and building the harshness of the exercises up from the ground. Techniques starting out basic and progressingly becoming more and more advanced. Around lunchtime he was done and a quick Shunshin got him back home where he ate some leftovers and took a shower to get rid of grime and sweat. That taken care of Kakashi once again changed clothes and went to meet the Hokage.
The Hokage's office was a place many ninja never found a reason to enter, after all only the highest ranking ninja and missions ever needed a direct report to the Hokage. Lower level missions than B-rank only ever needed to be given a report and the B-rank often debriefed someone with less authority than the Hokage as they usually wasn't really that important.
Kakashi was an exception to the rule; he was probably the Shinobi (excluding the Kages) that had been the most inside this room. Really; as Minato's student Kakashi had often been spending time in the room even if it was doing something as boring as signing paperwork to help his teacher, later Kakashi had been an ANBU and as such spent time guarding the Sandaime once the man retook the position as leader, and of course there was the fact that Kakashi had taken more B-, A- and S- rank missions than any two Shinobi together. But what else could you expect when you threw yourself into the ANBU as a fourteen year old and then "left it" (no one really left the ANBU) twelve years later.
Now as he stood in the office before the desk that had been created by Hashirama Senju Kakashi couldn't help but feel nostalgic. He had so many memories in this room, memories filled with joy, trepidation and fear, anger and hate as well as hope and content. Now he would soon be tasked with another team, a team that would be his the same way his Genin-team had belonged to his sensei. It was humbling in a way, to have the same position as the most important person in his life had had.
Shaking of the memories Kakashi looked at the Sandaime, the man seamed old and fragile, a kind grandfather anyone could tell their secrets. And the Sandaime truly was a good man, but fragile he was not. Even now Kakashi could feel the chakra pulsing rhythmically from within the man, as bright as a blazing bonfire. The brush was held in a precise grip and the words were flowing down the pages in graceful strokes. Fingers resting on his book Kakashi focused in on the man before him as the third Hokage laid down his brush.
"How are you Kakashi-kun, recovered from your mission I hope?" The Kage had a slight smile on as he took in Kakashi's lazy posture and normal ruffled appearance.
"Quite, a little stiff but nothing major Hokage-sama." The Shinobi was surprised when the older man stood.
"Good, we wouldn't want you in a bad shape today. Come, there is something I wish to show you." A little confounded and bemused Kakashi followed his leader towards the less rich parts of Konoha, not quite the slums and the red-light district but closer to those than the rich parts surrounding the Hokage's tower.
Soon got of the major road and into one of the side paths which eventually led them to stand in front of an unassuming building, the building was small and ill taken care of. A few of the windows were broken, some of the pain was starting to flake and fall of, the floorboards would have croaked as the two of them walked down the hallway had they not been ninja.
The apartment they entered was surprisingly well taken care of compared to the neighboring ones. The front door was newly painted Kakashi noted as the Hokage unlocked the third story door (don't ask him where the old man got the key, he really had no idée) on the inside there was empty cup-ramen packages yet there was no clothes on the floor nor any dust in the one room complex. A quick peek into the bathroom showed that there was no mess there either. Toothbrush in a glass and toothpaste beside it on the sink, a somewhat neatly hung bath towel on a rack and so on. On the only table in the small kitchen/bedroom/ living room there was a yellow table cloth which was only slightly wrinkled and there was a plate with breadcrumbs and a open container of milk on it.
The window of the apartment was closed and there was an (not to obvious) trap that could easily be avoided if you knew it was there. The window itself faced the Hokage-mountain, a nice view and as it overlooked the village a practical one.
"So Hokage-sama why are we here?" Kakashi looked over the room noting a few traps and listing ways to improve them. The Hokage puffed on his pipe.
"The apartment belongs to Uzumaki Naruto, hopefully your new student." Kakashi considered that statement.
"This is Naruto's house?" A short nod.
"Yes."
"He's a moron, but I think giving him to you is best, you have a good nose for these types." Kakashi nodded and picked up the milk seeing that judging by the date the milk had gone bad a week ago.
"Plus, your team will have also have Sasuke of That Uchiha clan. Good luck." And wasn't that the truth.
"Yes sir." Sending out a chakra pulse Kakashi made sure there wasn't anyone close enough to overhear their conversation.
"He's being watched, no?" They both knew the truth so the Kage didn't bother answering. "Will Danzo and the elders be a problem?" The Hokage sighed before answering.
"Not in the beginning, no, but in time they might become one. Danzo especially seem intent on making you focus on Sasuke only. The restraining order that the council placed on you is out of effect now, by the way. You might be able to turn that to your advantage, try not to be too obvious about it thought. That would only lead to trouble."
"So Hebi (snake), is it true? Is Ōkami-senpai really getting another team?" the Dark clad man turned to the new arrival that had glided silently into the lounge. The woman glanced at the other for a second without breaking her stride towards the couch.
"Yes Hyō (leopard), he is. However they have yet to pass his test, there is still a big chance that they fail; after all he has yet to pass anyone." There were scattered nods among the individuals in the room.
"They will pass." Hebi looked up at that.
"Why?" By now all attention was on the conversation as the others gave up the pretense of not being interested.
"Well, Ōkami-sempai retired not too long ago, right? He was still a member when he failed the other teams."
"True." Hebi shot back. "But he can still fail them Tara (cod), there is no guarantee they will pass the test." A gleam entered her gaze. "Bet the kids will fail, actually I bet my next mission pay on it." The others in the room stilled and then Tara spoke up with a sharp-toothed grin.
"Taken." Others chimed in after that, some betting on the outcome and others on details. A few moments later the room was almost quiet again; the loudest sound in the room the ticking of a clock and the murmurs of muted conversations.
T.B.C.
An: So… another story eh? That's… ok, I think. Well I'm working on my other stories (at least in my head) and I will try (try!) to write more of it down. However as I have a lot of ideas they might take some time to write. For now I'm mostly concentrating on this one "Konoha's resident genius", but also "the friend you least expected" and "the time of change". So I'll see you as soon as I find I've written another chapter in one of my stories or begin another story entirely. For this one I have like another one and a half chapter written. Soo… I'll look through those and see when I'll update next.
Vi ses! (See ya'!)
Begun: 2014-04-12
Done: 2015-03-06 (2015-06-03 in USA time)