A short little piece (I think?) about Kakashi's life being turned upside down.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Boo.
Upheaval
Kakashi was the expert on how a ninja's life was often filled with unexpected turns.
He was foolish, really, to have thought just because the Five Great Ninja countries were not at war meant that he could take his time in teaching his students.
Kakashi realized this as Team 7 walked from the Land of Waves to Konohagakure, and he intended to atone for his mistake. Just...not yet. After all, what was the worst that could happen? Kakashi ought to have known that was the worst thing to think.
Kakashi wanted Team 7 to realize what it meant to be a ninja. So Kakashi signed them up for the Chunin exam, which, he reasoned, would probably force them all to realize that they needed to get serious about their career. That meant no orange jumpsuit, no fangirlingm, and a reasonable work ethic. For, I don't know, passing the time bettering themselves while Kakashi was late, as opposed to standing around waiting?
Kakashi only realized after the preliminaries what a horrible mistake he had made.
Sakura was taking her career a bit more seriously, but still fangirled over Sasuke and kept her rivalry with Ino. Naruto didn't learn anything aside from the Taijutsu move he borrowed from Sasuke. And Sasuke had the handicap of the Cursed Seal placed upon him.
After that, everything seemed out of control. Kakashi couldn't waste any time, after seeing what Gaara was capable of, and decided that training Sasuke was his first priority. And he even got Naruto a teacher, too! Though the kid wasn't that grateful, Kakashi only hoped Naruto would see his reasoning later on.
Everything left Kakashi's control when the Invasion took place. Kakashi should have at least suspected that there might be a betrayal, but he preferred the safety of his naivety. And just as he realized what was happening, everything was over so quick.
People died.
The Hokage died.
Sakura and Sasuke and so many others would have died, if not for Naruto. Kakashi was thankful Naruto had ditched Ebisu for Jiraiya when he'd heard about Shukaku.
The funeral was horrible. Kakashi had lost another person. Everyone was wallowing in their grief. Most had never even spoken to the Hokage aside from mission-related topics, and yet they shared his sorrow. Kakashi wanted to childishly deny the fact that the Hokage was dead, but he could never do that. That would just be another delusion, and Kakashi was sick of how his delusions always got people killed.
Kakashi wasn't even done grieving by the time the Akatsuki showed up. And then suddenly Sasuke was off, running away to Orochimaru. And then Naruto was off with Jiraiya, hunting for Tsunade. And Sakura just looked at him with sad eyes, surrounded by her injured comrades, and faded into the background.
Everything just spun out of control so fast...
They weren't even proper ninja...
Everything escalated, each time Kakashi ran into his team. The stakes got higher, the risks became more dramatic, Sasuke became more deranged, Sakura became more volatile, and Naruto became more over-confident.
Kakashi was sure they'd die. Each time. It haunted him, really. The thought that they'd die, off doing something brave or stupid or valiant, and it would be all his fault because he hadn't taught them like he should have.
Kakashi was the expert on how a ninja's life was often filled with unexpected turns.
After all, who in their right mind would have predicted this?