Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

The Reason for Books

"You're reading that again?" remarked Sakura with a trace of disgust wrapped around a familiar sigh of resignation. She watched as his eyes crinkled pleasantly. No doubt he was smiling beneath his omnipresent mask.

"Reading is an important skill to have, Sakura," replied Kakashi mildly.

Sakura failed to conceal a roll of the eyes and an unladylike snort. Kakashi was met with a small wave of nostalgia. She used to nod, rather reluctantly, as her genin mind churned away at forming some reason or other for his answer, convinced he was imparting some kind of sagely advice. The younger Sakura had once been so gullible, so quick to accept—but not necessarily believe—his most half-assed excuses for most things. As she grew up, however, it grew harder and harder to pass off certain idiosyncrasies as minor matters.

"Reading is a hobby of mine, as you know," Kakashi explained, returning his eyes to the book.

"I wouldn't exactly call that first-class literature," said Sakura. That overt distaste and scathing attitude was all Tsunade.

"I have my reasons. Why don't you go find Sai and tell him about that assignment I just told you about?"

Sakura frowned, but uncrossed her arms and began to walk away. "Pervert," he heard her mutter before disappearing on the other side of the bridge. Kakashi sighed. He got that from a lot of people.

"Pervert," muttered Obito, crossing his arms and glaring pointedly at his sensei.

"Obito," reprimanded Rin quietly. Rin just looked embarrassed to be seen in the presence of such an outrageous piece of fiction. She'd heard many a sordid tale concerning the contents of those books.

Kakashi remained silent, examining his weapons for signs of wear and tear. He wasn't about to complain about his sensei's racy hobbies. As long as he didn't pull it out in the middle of a battle, he was fine with it. He was pretty sure Minato's girlfriend harped on him enough about it, anyway.

Minato flushed a bit as he looked up, flipping it closed with a small degree of guilt. "Sorry, I just wanted to know what happens next," he explained with a weak smile.

"Shouldn't we be training?" griped Obito, clearly upset that his sensei's attention had been lost to debauchery.

"Is that appropriate to bring with you on a mission?" queried Rin timidly. "I mean, you did tell us to pack light and all," she amended quickly.

Minato smiled as he set the book down on his thigh. "Yes, I told you three to bring only what you thought was necessary, and one thing that was important to you as a shinobi. So, what did you bring?"

Rin's brown eyes rounded in bemusement at the unexpected question. It sounded uncannily like the beginning one of her sensei's impromptu lessons. She pulled out a thin sheaf of what resembled exploding tags. "I brought some cauterizing tags with me," she glanced apprehensively Obito, "in case of emergencies." Obito avoided her look, cheeks turning an unhealthy shade of pink as he remembered last month's humiliating defeat on another mission. He had been sliced open in battle and had barely made it to Rin's feet before he collapsed from blood loss. She normally would not have had to use them, as they caused no small amount of pain, but under the circumstances, it had been a last resort. To her credit, it was an invention of her own. She had gotten the idea from exploding tags; with a slight rearrangement of seals, she was able to harness the combustive heat of the paper for medical treatment. Minato nodded his approval.

"Obito?"

Obito jumped, as if he hadn't realized Rin had stopped talking. "What?"

"What did you bring with you that is important to you as a shinobi?" Minato reminded him patiently.

Obito glanced at Kakashi. He was pretty sure Kakashi's answer would have nothing on his. "I brought my forehead protector," he announced proudly, shifting it with his thumb and index finger. "It represents that I fight for the people of my village!"

Minato nodded, but said, "Relax, Obito, this isn't a competition." Obito crumpled a little, his lips puckering into a sullen expression. Rin patted him across the back. Obito blushed and muttered that he was fine. "Kakashi, what did you bring?"

He wordlessly pulled out the sword bequeathed to him by his father from the strap on his back. Minato knew the story of his father's disgrace. Everyone did, which was why Kakashi had been ambivalent about bringing it in the first place, but it was important to him, and it was also a useful tool in combat.

"What about you, sensei? Did you bring something?" asked Rin.

Minato held up the book. "I brought this."

Obito looked like he was about to gag. That—that—was the one important thing he chose to bring with him?

"Seriously?" Rin spluttered, blanching. Was her sensei more depraved than she aware of? This totally changed things.

Kakashi was beginning to wonder if his sensei's girlfriend knew about his obsession.

"I recommend this book to all three of you," he said, blue eyes ebullient.

Kakashi regarded him skeptically. He had been told that his teacher was an exceptional genius, not an exceptional pervert, so, strange as it was, he knew there had to be a point to all this madness.

Obito made strangled, choking noises behind him. "Are you crazy? I'm not reading that!"

"Isn't it rated mature?" whispered Rin, turning the color of cooked beets.

"Well," laughed Minato, scratching the back of his head gingerly, "you shouldn't read it until you reach adulthood. Don't get me wrong now! I'm not reading it for the, uhh, romance or anything!" Kakashi cocked a silver brow at him. Did that line really work on his redheaded girlfriend? Minato's expression suddenly grew gentle and serious. "I read it because my sensei wrote this book."

"Yeah, well, still," grumbled Obito.

Minato laughed again. "Give it a chance, once you're old enough. You'll realize that it's more than you think it is. What's that saying? 'Don't judge a book by its cover,' right?" He flipped through some of the pages. "You'll learn a lot about life. You'll learn not to give up on your hopes and your dreams. Every book has a lesson to teach, and Jiraiya-sensei's got a pretty good record for teaching, don't you think so?"

"Well, I guess," hedged Obito, looking unconvinced.

"Has he written anything that we could read?" Rin attempted, scratching the shell of her ear.

Minato brightened considerably at their responses. "Well, there is this one book I'm really fond of. Have you ever heard of the 'The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja'?"

"Heard you're my new biggest fan, kid," announced a full-toned voice from behind him.

Kakashi didn't turn around, but was privately surprised that he had been caught off guard. He only knew a handful of shinobi that could sneak up on him like that. "Minato-sensei told me to read them. They're not bad."

Jiraiya guffawed, his laughter bubbling up from somewhere deep in his belly. He grinned, crossed his arms and lounged against a tree, in a way that was reminiscent of Minato-sensei. "I'll let you know when I publish the next one."

"Please do," said Kakashi. He turned and walked out of the graveyard, leaving Jiraiya at his late sensei's headstone.

"Kakashi-sensei! We're ready to move out!" cried Sakura from several meters away, Sai at her side. As he approached them, Sakura spied the telltale orange cover peeking out of his pocket. "Good grief! You're taking that with you?"

Kakashi smiled. "Don't judge a book by its cover, Sakura."

Sakura frowned petulantly. "Well, I know that, but—"

"Have you ever read one?" inquired Kakashi casually, meeting their stride.

"Are you insane?" sputtered Sakura hotly, cheeks warming at the very idea. "I wouldn't touch those things with a ten-meter pole!"

"That's too bad," said Kakashi, pulling it out of his pocket and opening it in front of her. "You may well learn a thing or two if you did."

A/N: An extremely old idea that I was inspired to complete. It veered off-track a little, but all in all, a good excuse to write in a smidgeon of Team Minato. Comments are welcome, and critique is encouraged. Thank you for reading.