Hi everyone! Not a OneShot linked to my main project 'Midnight Sun' ( s/10142829/1/Midnight-Sun ) I just got bored and started typing. It's nothing too special but I hope you like it!
The wooden post smashed into a thousand pieces as it was kicked into the back wall of the dojo, the man responsible stared impassively at the mess his training had caused before turning and marching out of the room. His hands and feet were severely bruised but he ignored the familiar pain as he made his way to the bathroom, it had been a 4 hour long workout and he had only just been starting to get into it when the alarm had sounded off that it was time for him to get ready. Stepping under the cool water of the shower, Hatake Kakashi finally allowed his mind to wander.
Today he would be accepting a Genin team, today was the day he would come face to face with his sensei's son and finally meet Obito's last living relative. Today was the day.
"I will not fail this time." His bloodied fists were clenched and his eyes closed as he pictured his own Genin team.
"I will not make the same mistakes." His eyes snapped open and he met his own steely gaze in the foggy reflection of the mirrored wall in the shower room.
"I will protect them." A second alarm could be heard from another room and so he turned off the shower before stepping out to dry, he had left Team 7 waiting long enough.
The 3 recently graduated Genin were exceptionally frustrated as they sat in the empty classroom waiting to meet their new sensei, as the clock continued to tick in the background their thoughts were running along the same lines.
"Just what does this guy think he is playing at?"
It was then that the hyperactive blonde that all could easily identify as Uzumaki Naruto had a mischievous idea come to mind, the other two Genin simultaneously groaned as they turned to see the wicked grin tugging at the blonde's lips.
For the first time in 4 hours, Uchiha Sasuke made his voice known to the room.
"Idiot, whatever you are about to-"
"-Silence."
The 3 startled children spun round as a tall, well-built man appeared in a crouch on the windowsill of the classroom.
"YOU'RE LATE!" The blonde and pinkette, Haruno Sakura, cried out at the man as they burst out of their seats to point accusingly at the newcomer.
The silver-haired man did not respond immediately and tilted his head slightly to consider the two worked up kids in front of him. The air was heavy as all 3 Genin waited for their apparent sensei to explain his tardiness.
It was a few moments before he finally blinked and the 3 young ninja fell to the ground in a collective gasp, their eyes were wide in terror as they felt an oppressive aura weighing them down and choking the air out of them.
The Jonin dropped down off of the windowsill and strode to the middle of the room, completely unaffected by the dark atmosphere that had the Genin at it's mercy.
"I said to be silent. Consider that Strike 1, 1 more strike and you will be stripped of your Genin statuses and will return to the academy for a minimum of 2 years before reconsideration. Genin will speak when spoken to. Am I understood?"
He allowed his eyes to roam over the stunned students faces and was satisfied with what he saw, the jade-eyed girl was nodding meekly with all the strength she could muster under his killing intent, the raven-haired boy was staring at him with wide, hungry eyes and the apparent trouble-maker was sweating freely under the pressure, but they all managed to convey their understanding.
"Good." He dropped the killing intent and leant back on the desk behind him, absently tossing a rubber band ball he had found up and down in his left hand as he waited for the 3 to collect themselves.
"My name is Hatake Kakashi. I am an S ranked Jonin of Konohagakure no Sato and I will be your sensei until the day you die, if you can survive the rest of the day without achieving another strike that is. Any questions?"
He could tell that his sensei's son was itching to say something but the boy remained uncharacteristically quiet and opted instead to stare up at him with a look that was a cross between awe-struck and loathing.
"Good. I know your names and I know your academy-assessed ability but before we begin I want to make it clear that, as far as I am concerned, you are completely untrained shinobi and you are nothing more than numbers to me."
It was at that point that the girl named Sakura raised her hand to speak, that would not do.
"You are training to be a kunoichi of Konoha, you are not in the academy any more. Genin wishing to address their superiors will do so in the following fashion: 'Permission to speak, sir/madam?' Am I understood?"
He received sharp nods in response, that would not do.
"Close but not quiet, you will say 'hai', 'hai, sensei' or 'hai, sir' when you nod and will always do so in the most respectable fashion. Am I understood?"
"HAI, SENSEI!" They were all stood at attention, staring at him intently and seemed to be expecting some sort of praise, they had a lot to learn.
"Permission to speak granted." he spoke to the young girl, almost smirking to himself as she withered slightly under his penetrating gaze.
"What do you mean that we are just numbers Kakashi-sensei?"
"You are not permitted to use my first name when addressing me, only when making reference to me. Try again."
"Hai, forgive me but why are we only numbers now sensei?"
Kakashi folded his arms and breathed out an annoyed sigh before responding.
"Because I said so. Names carry a lot of weight and until you prove yourselves to be of some worth to the village, your names are meaningless. Both inside and outside of this village the name Hatake Kakashi is spoken with respect and in many cases fear, by the time I am done with each of you then you will be able to make that same statement. Until then, you will be numbers.. hmm.."
He trailed off in thought as he turned towards the window, pondering what random numbers he would assign them. Turning back to face his new students, it was all he could do not to laugh at the confused and expectant expressions on their faces.
"Haruno Sakura is number 44 from now on, Uchiha Sasuke is number 63 and Uzumaki Naruto is number 82. Understood?"
"Hai, sensei." It was a much less enthusiastic chorus but he was proud that none of them had an outburst at being labelled in such a way, they might just make it under his strict regime.
"Good. Now for the golden rules of being on team 7, listen carefully because the punishments for breaking these rules aren't anything you want to find out about. 1. During training and in all formal situations, Genin will speak only when spoken to 2. There will be no slacking off and lastly 3. Teamwork will be valued above all."
The sound of the clock ticking was the only noise in the room as the Genin waited for their sensei to say something else. It was all they could do not to react when he sat down on the desk, pulled out a small book and began reading as though he had suddenly forgotten they were there.
In Uzumaki Naruto's mind, he was having a very difficult time convincing himself not to speak and lose his chance to be a Genin. Just what was this guy playing at? Why did he have to be number 82 and why were they just standing around doing nothing? It had been 15 minutes and the Jonin had not once re-acknowledged their presence in the room, leaving them to stand there in annoyance as they watched him read his book.
Glancing over at the Uchiha boy he had loathed for as long as he could remember, Naruto was pleased to see he had his fists clenched and was shaking slightly. It was always nice to see something get through the other kid's icy exterior and made it slightly easier to calm himself down.
Sasuke, or 63 as he was supposedly now known, was having a similar argument to himself as his idiot team-mate. He knew they were being tested but couldn't believe that a man he had never even heard of would disrespect him, an Uchiha, in such a way. The Hatake would not get to him though, he would show him that he was worthy of the Uchiha name.
44, although she did not show it, was having an actual argument in her head with herself about how to respond to her sensei's actions. It was a little known fact that the pinkette had a dual personality and would often be influenced by inner Sakura's outbursts. The only thing keeping her from shrieking at the well-defined man was the risk of getting thrown off of her one true love's team. So she would do what their sensei wanted and show Sasuke that she was deserving of his affections.
"Pathetic. I'm clearly going to have to spend a great deal of time teaching them to conceal their emotions, particularly 44. When I'm done with her she will shudder at the word 'romance'. I think they've passed this part of my test though."
Marking his page in the book and stowing it away for later, Hatake Kakashi stood up and made his way over to the window. He was somewhat impressed that the Genin followed him with his eyes and not their bodies as that would have been strike 2 and it would have been over before it started.
As he reached the window he paused for dramatic effect before calling over his shoulder to the expectant Genin and disappearing from sight. He didn't miss the dumbstruck expressions on their faces as he left though and chuckled softly to himself as he leapt across the rooftops away from the academy.
The 3 children were frozen to their spots in confusion as they replayed the man's instruction over in their heads.
"Your test mission is to bring the cat belonging to the Fire Daimyo's wife to training ground 7 before midnight. Fail and you will know pain."
44 was the first to break the silence as she turned to face her new team-mates.
"That's it? He wants us to find some cat?" She jumped back slightly startled as village trouble-maker found his energy once more
"Right! Let's go get this stupid cat, how hard can it be!?" The other two Genin sweat-dropped as the blonde pumped his fist in the air before charging out of the room with the assumption that they were right behind him.
63 was silent as he stared out the window that his sensei had left from. Something wasn't right, why did he give them til midnight just to find a pet? It was clearly a trick. Brushing past 44 and heading out the room in the direction his dumb blonde team-mate had gone, the raven-haired boy just knew he was going to end up adding Hatake Kakashi to his list of people to kill before the day was over.
He had to find the dead-last though, the promise of pain in his sensei's eyes when he gave the rule about teamwork was not something he was going to take lightly. This was his team now and he was not going to let them drag him down and ruin his chances of getting closer to That Man.
The Torture & Interrogation Unit was anything but a welcoming place and Hatake Kakashi smiled softly to himself as he recalled the many times he had dragged spies down these putrid halls to meet their match in Konoha's top Interrogator 'Morino Ibiki'. The journey to the interrogation rooms was enough to break some of the weaker-willed infiltrators and it amused Kakashi to no end how the fear or something rather than the thing itself could break a man.
"Kakashi, back so soon? Am I to assume your new Genin have thrown in the towel?"
Morino Ibiki made for an impressive sight. He had an imposing build and a rugged, scarred face but it was his eyes that instilled the most fear in his victims, they were neither cold nor warm but instead they were devoid of all emotion. In his eyes there was an never-ending emptiness that spoke volumes about his ability to both withstand and to administer torture. He was a no-nonsense type of man that knew what he was and what his duties were, there was nothing else to consider. Kakashi liked him a great deal.
"On the contrary, they are actually impressing me so far." Kakashi leaned against the blood stained wall opposite his old companion as he met the man's inquisitive stare with a small chuckle.
"Oh and how is that? Considering you brought the Daimyo's Wife's cat here this morning and asked me to keep it caged up for you all day?"
Both men chuckled this time as Ibiki folded his arms and waited for Kakashi to respond.
"They're actually working together for one and even borrowed radios from the academy so that they could stay in contact and cover a wider searching area. Heck they've even got Uzumaki using shadow clones to scour the village for Tora."
Ibiki nodded approvingly at the tactic but his curiosity finally got the better of him.
"So what next? Are you just going to let them search aimlessly for that infernal creature until their inevitable failure at midnight or are you going to make things a little bit more interesting?"
The smirk he received was enough of an answer.
"That's why I came back actually, I'm looking for Anko."
Team 7 were beyond pissed off, it had soon become apparent that Tora the cat was some sort of phantom demon whose name alone made older Genin shudder and that finding her was only the first part of the torture because once she eventually turned up you would apparently "wish you had never laid eyes on it."
That had been disheartening to hear after an hour of searching but at least they had figured out the trick to the seemingly easy task. No, that was not what had them thoroughly annoyed with their new sensei. As if finding the stupid cat wasn't proving difficult enough, snakes of varying sizes and viciousness had begun attacking the team at random, launching out of seemingly nowhere and latching onto them with a shocking tightness.
They had wasted a ridiculous amount of time fighting the snakes off but paranoia had gotten the better of them as they would jump at every small sound out of fear that the snakes had returned.
It was fast approaching midnight and they had made little to no headway in locating Tora beyond figuring out what she looked like.
"Sasuke-kun, please can we stop for a minute, I don't feel very well." The Uchiha boy ignored his pink-haired teammate's whining as they raced down another alley in the Restaurant District of the village, hoping to find the cat pigging out on waste.
Sakura had been bitten a few times by some of the snake summons and although they didn't seem to be life threatening, she found herself feeling a bit light headed and her stomach unsettled- which wasn't helped at all by all the running.
"I feel fine Sakura-chan, we don't have a lot of time to find Tori or whatever it's called so I could have one of my clones carry you if you like?"
The young girl was hurt that the object of her affections would disregard her but was in no state to refuse her annoying team-mates help so nodded to him in gratitude despite the shame she felt welling up inside of her as she climbed onto a clone's back.
Sasuke briefly glanced back at his team-matesand sighed to himself, this was what he was going to have to put up with from now on and it wasn't particularly encouaraging.
Kakashi knelt in front of the Memorial Stone with his head bowed as the skies let loose a heavy rain over the village.
"Minato-sensei, Obito, 're a lot like we were this new team of mine, despite their many flaws, but I'm going to make damn fine shinobi out of them and turn them into the team we never truly got to be. I hope you're all watching me, I won't fail this time."
He raised a hand slowly and gently ran his fingers over their names on the cool stone, it had been sometime since he had visited this place and although he was somewhat ashamed of that fact, Kakashi knew they would not want him to waste his life mourning over them.
So he trained and he worked, when he wasn't out on a mission or driving himself into the ground with intensive workouts, Kakashi studied the small bingo book he carried with him everywhere, recalling and reciting all he could remember about the enemy for when the time came that he would have to go against them.
After resigning from the Anbu Black Ops 6 months ago, Kakashi had been waiting for the day when the right team would come along for him to prepare for the outside world and he was feeling ever so confident about Team 7. They were the team for him, he was going to turn them into efficient killers and he didn't care that they would probably end up despising him for his strict and somewhat sadistic training methods, they would survive all that was thrown at them and that was all that mattered.
It was nearly midnight now and he wanted to see how they would respond to failing the task he had set them, he had a small camera ready to capture the looks on their faces when he revealed he had the cat locked away the entire time. It would be priceless.
Team 7 dragged themselves into the training ground and flopped down in exhaustion onto the ground, not bothering to look around for any sign of their sensei. They had no choice but to give up when they realised how little time was left and knew it would be better to at least get to the clearing on time to hear their fate at failing the task.
Their heads whipped round as they heard someone stroll into the clearing whilst whistling a merry tune and they quickly mustered up the energy to stand at attention as they waited for him to address them. As their heads were dipped slightly in shame, they missed the brief smirk that flashed across Hatake Kakashi's face as he saw the defeated expressions that adorned their faces.
He folded his arms and waited for the whole team to make eye contact with him.
"Report."
Despite her weakness, the only girl of the team could tell that the two boys were having enough trouble refraining themselves from blowing up at the man to be able to respond calmly and so nominated herself spokesperson instead.
"I'm sorry but we failed sensei. We were unable to find the cat." She was swaying slightly on her spot and so the Jonin took pity on the young girl.
She wasn't fast enough to catch the small vial but looked down in confusion as it landed by her feet.
"It seems you were the only one unfortunate, or perhaps weak, enough to get bitten by the poisonous snakes. Their venom was not lethal but that liquid should help with any queasiness 44. You have my permission to sit down."
The small girl nodded in gratitude before dropping to the ground and swallowing the liquid.
"Thank you sensei."
Kakashi ignored her as he looked over the other two members of the team.
"Right sit down as well boys, we have much to discuss."
"Hai, sensei" They mumbled in unison, which brought a satisfied smile to the Jonin-sensei's face.
"I'm not feeling particularly cruel today so I will start by saying that I never intended for you to find Tora."
"Wha-" Naruto was able to quickly clamp his hand over his own mouth before looking up apologetically at his sensei. Kakashi would let that one slide.
"The truth is that you had no chance of finding Tora because I have had her caged up somewhere you don't have access to all day."
Their reactions did not disappoint and the silver-haired man was able to quickly produce his camera to snap a shot of their flabbergasted expressions.
"Don't look so surprised, my personal motto is that you should always 'look underneath the underneath' and is something I didn't understand the first time my sensei said it to me so I don't expect you to get it straight away."
"Permission to speak sir?" It was all the Hatake could do not to burst into laughter at the daggered look he was receiving from the Uchiha boy.
"Permission granted 63." He heard the sound of gritting teeth and this time he did smirk at the kid.
"Why did you tell us to bring you the cat when you knew we would never be able to find it? Sensei!?" His fist was tightened and he was giving his most powerful glare- it was the most hilarious sight for Kakashi watching a Genin try to sound threatening to a Jonin, who said being a sensei was no fun?
"Simply because finding the cat would have meant nothing to me, what if you had gotten lucky and caught the cat 10 minutes in? What would I have learned from observing you then? No, I wanted to see how you worked together, how you formulated your ideas and how you handled yourselves under increasing pressure and the very real possibility of failure. I added in an enemy in the form of the snakes to see how you dealt with unexpected interferences and overall I was impressed with what I saw and will be keeping you on as my team. Congratulations."
It brought a bit of warmth to the man's heart to see the varying looks of elation on his subordinates faces, it was about to get trampled on though.
"However, I have been observing you all day and there have been several intolerable issues. 1. I gave you numbers and told you that they would replace names within the team yet your overall count of using each other's names totals 104 so as punishment, tomorrow you will do 104 laps around this training ground- on your hands. Next time the laps will be around the village."
Their faces paled considerably but none spoke.
"2. One of your team-mates voiced that she was not feeling well after the snake attacks. You two boys should have made taking care of your team-mate a priority, teamwork is a core value in my squad as I stated earlier, so as punishment you two will then carry 44 around the village twice whilst dragging small boulders that will be tied to your ankles."
The boys looked ready to protest but their voices were caught in their throats at the small burst of killing intent he aimed at them.
"That being said, 82 did offer to carry 44 so he will only have one boulder tied to his ankle."
He had half expected some smug look from the blonde but the boy did not react in the slightest and kept his head lowered.
"Other problems include; near constant insulting of one another, poor communication and lack of attention to surroundings. We will deal with these issues in time though. You will report back here tomorrow at 6am for a training exercise I like to call 'The Bell Test' which will show me how well you fight together as a team. No excuse for lateness. Dismissed."
"Hai, sensei."
Watching as the three exhausted Genin trudged out of the clearing, Kakashi smiled to himself as he pondered how much they had already learned in such a small amount of time.
"What an interesting bunch."
He had spent all day studying those children though and it was high time he got some training in. Turning and strolling out of the clearing whilst whistling a soft tune, Hatake Kakashi briefly considered taking it easy for a night, maybe head down to the Jonin lounge.
No.
He could rest when he was dead.
Well that's that. I hope it was a good read... If you didn't t like it then that sucks but hey ho, that's how these things go. Let me know either way! Who knows, it might be a future story of mine.
Thanks!
Winnieflutters, x