A.N. Sorry for being late! You see, there was this old lady that asked me to do this, asked me to do that, and then another thinng, and one more... Being a kindhearted person I am, I just couldn't refuse, and so I lost a lot of precious time that I could use to write...

Whatever, have fun and be patient.

Let me tease you, the next chapter's name is "Solution"...

Your advise, suggestions and reviews will be REALLY, GREATLY appreaciated!

Back in the Hokage office

-"WHAT!?"-Was the loud shout from Sarutobi as he rose from his chair.-"You can't be serious, Hatake!!?"

The mentioned looked up startled at his leader and started to sweat under the pressure. "I think I voiced the 'book incident' out loud unintentionally…" He raised his hands in front of him pleadingly.

-"Ho-hokage-sama! I swear I didn't give it to them! I said they can read it when they become juunin! As a reward, I swear!"

This seemed to work and the old man relaxed visibly, before settling back in his chair. After a tired sigh he said,-"I' m getting too old for all of this… Alright, continue Kakashi."-As much as Hokage was mad he couldn't deny the fact that the story of team 7 was getting more interesting than Jiraya's books. And he was ready to call off all the meetings to hear it coming from Kakashi's point of view.

-"Hai, but before we come to the troubling facts, I would like to take advantage of the situation to explain now what really happened on that day when I had to pay a fine for a mess that was caused by my students."-The third raised a brow, but shrugged and nodded, eager to hear.

Chapter 3 what really happened.

The three pairs of eyes gazed at the sun above questioningly and then was heard a loud sigh. The genin stood under a tree for one hour and they knew that another two hours will pass before their lazy perverted sensei comes to face them. Today they waited at the training ground 23, dressed in their new style clothes, with only difference being Naruto's shirt, today it was dark orange above the mesh. Every now and then, they glanced at the trio that stood not too far from them waiting for their teacher too. It wasn't that hard to guess, they had everything written on their faces. Though that was not the most interesting thing about them, what was more troubling were their looks. The Hyuuga was not the strangest sight to their eyes, there are tens and hundreds of white eye welders around, his expression though was amusing, he was just as annoyed at his sensei for being late as his teammates… Speaking of which, the hyperactive girl that had a crazy look when she sharpened her kunai was quite normal in comparison to some, even if she talked to her weapon. But there by her side was the weirdest thing in Konoha to see, the green 'kill me' color did not affect them, as they were immune to this stuff already, thanks to 'orange bull's eye', and those jumps and shouts were nothing new, but those eyebrows… What UFO experimented on this kid? The interesting fact was that they were all on the same training field. It was the small grassy clearing surrounded by the thickest of the forest. Probably the teachers planned something for them today, but what?


The streets of Konoha, same time

The street was busy, while people were going here and there attending to their business. Shops were full, children and parents having fun, ninja running around chasing Konohamaru corps', and in the middle of all that, (in the middle of the main street to be precise) a pair of jounin stood next to each other with their arms folded over the chest. Only their eyes were moving right and left searching, and mouths moving commenting.

-"Maybe Kotetsu and Izumo? I know they're busy today but they won't refuse."-Said the taller and greener one.

-"No, we can't trust them. Instead of paying attention they will have fun. Bad idea."-Commented the smaller person, while its lonely eye followed the body of a brunette red eyed bandaged kunoichi, keeping attention specifically to her ass and hips with mirth as she walked.

The few anbu walked by talking about unfairness (probably forced to chase the honorable grandson) with their spirits fallen.

-"What about an anbu squad? Responsible, quiet and neutral…"-Said the taijutsu specialist as he watched them go.

-"Too scary. We don't want to confuse our students, Guy."-Was the reply accompanied by a frown on the covered face.

The taller person turned to the smaller.

-"Then maybe Hokage-sama himself?"-To this the lonely eye widened.

-"No!"-Was a quick answer.-"He will agree to help, and then he will go and leave us to finish his paperwork!"-The green clad jounin quickly nodded in understanding.-"Besides, Sandaime-sama's status is not preferable in this case, we need someone… else."

Konohamaru corps' ran by them again making an impressive cloud of dust.

-"Then how about Mitarashi-san? She's neutral, her status is average and she would agree without a doubt!"-Was a cheerful suggestion, courtesy of Guy.

-"Yeah, and kill our students the moment they look at her the wrong way."

At this both of them only sighed and looked down. A crowd of ninja made another cloud of dust passing them in their chase. An hour of standing and waiting for a miracle passed by fruitless, the only left option was to kidnap the juunin Iruka from the academy and force him into the cooperation. Realizing this, both of them unfolded their arms and were ready to move, when from their left was heard a very familiar sound. Passing by, quite slowly, was a coughing jounin, that didn't look like he was busy, crazy, scary or irresponsible. The best candidate, Gekko Hayate. With widened eyes the pair raised their hands in his direction, making him notice them and glance at their gesture suspiciously. And realizing something was up the moment he saw the glint in their eyes, he, afraid to be a part of something he did not sign under, started to run as fast as he could to get away from the weird pair, while they simultaneously rushed after him.


Back to training ground 23

-"You didn't know? Guy-sensei never stops shouting about him! He says they are rivals for years already!"-Shouted a surprised weapon mistress.

At this the three members of team 7 just glanced at each other as if asking 'you didn't know it too?' and narrowed their eyes at the girl's proclamation.

-"That's right! And now the score is 46 to 45, with Guy-sensei winning!!"-Shouted too loudly the self proclaimed 'young green beast of Konoha'. Ten minutes ago the team of freaks confronted them and asked what they were doing on this field and what they knew about the teachers. It was easy to see the first difference between them, team 7 wouldn't get involved in anything without a reason, so they would never approach team 9 them selves first. Second difference was the opinion students held about their teachers. While team 9 kept saying that Guy was the best and the funniest, team 7 kept quiet, not having anything good to say and not willing to admit the shortcomings of their tardy sensei. After the short talk the genin decided that their meeting had something to do with jounin rivalry, and the reason for them being late was the tardiness of Kakashi.

-"I doubt that taking part in their rivalry is worth our time. More than often their ideas about it are simply ridiculous."-Voiced the Hyuuga. Even though he was a bit excited about facing the Uchiha he would never admit it, and his teammates did not look like they were weak either. The year ago Haruno was known to be the smartest girl in the academy, with potential to become a fine kunoichi or a medic nin, while the blonde known as Uzumaki was the weakest and the most stupid in his class. But this boy looked differently, more calm, or maybe the change of color was enough of a blessing for a dead last… Probably their teacher was a serious ninja.

The 'deep thinking and dreaming' look on Neji's face did not go unnoticed by the young Uchiha. As well as at whom it was directed. He narrowed his eyes and glared, trying to show the Hyuuga that he has no right to stare at the blond like that. Unconsciously the black haired boy made a short step forward and turned his body so that it seemed he covered his teammate with his back, but Neji understood the gesture in a different way. "So he's ready and eager to fight me, what a blessing. I have a chance to prove today the superiority of the Hyuuga over the Uchiha." At that moment the steps were heard from behind them, looking closely the genin noticed their teachers coming together, while in between them they dragged an unknown ninja holding his arms in a grip.

They put him in front of the curious genin but kept their hands on his shoulders as he stood scowling in their direction, on the right-Kakashi, on the left-Guy.

-"Would you care to explain to me, why I was dragged here all the way from the market district on my rare day off?!!"

The six kids in front of him looked at him skeptically, to the outsider it would look like the kids had a birthday party, and daddies promised to get a cool present, and now the children inspected it from its head to toes. Kakashi eye' smiled as he patted its shoulder.

-"Team 7, today you will fight with team 9. You already met young Neji, Lee and Tenten, and this um; 'youthful' man is Mighto Guy."-Team 7 eyed him carefully and realized that they found the alien that worked on Rock Lee.-"This man's name is Gekko Hayate. Hayate-san will help us today in evaluation of your skills and progress."-Here the sickly pale jounin with bags under his eyes looked at the pervert as if he was completely crazy.

-"ME?!"

Both rivals turned to him with smiles on their faces and a hidden warning.

-"Oh, Yes Guy-sensei! We're totally ready!! Where do we start?"-Was a scream of joy and happiness. Kakashi turned to the small green source of it and raised his right hand as happily.

-"And that's where it gets interesting!"-All attention was now on him.-"Separately, I and Guy will give you a task. You will have the limited time to fulfill it and you will be observed by the clones Hayate-san will create (here was heard the 'you want me to waste my chakra?!' that was silenced by another smile of warning) while the real Hayate-san will stay here with us to make sure that we are not helping our students in any way. After that the point will get to a teacher whose team will be the first to finish, which will be confirmed by Hayate-san as a witness. And the best thing is, team 9 will get their task from ME, while team 7 from GUY!"

The genin blinked. The sick jounin complained 'I don't have the time for this!' And genin blinked again. The pair of rivals dragged Hayate to the side and explained a few things to him, making sure he had no ideas about running away or ignoring their situation. Then they informed him about the tasks they prepared for genin, this time separately, so that Kakashi didn't know what Guy will ask his students to do, while Guy didn't know what Kakashi will ask from his. After a small talk and confirmation from Hayate, they strode to the genin to start.

With Guy

Genin of team 7 watched as team 9 joined Kakashi, when the bright smile from the 'bowl cut guy' gained their attention.

-"Hello little guys!"-The greeting earned him the three twitching eyebrows.-"I hope that your teamwork is excellent, because today we will test it! I gave the directions to Hayate-san so his clone will lead you to the cliff, where you will crawl up with a heavy stone on your backs! The stone is already placed at the base of the cliff, I put it there the moment sun rose above the horizon this morning! So your task will be finished when you will drag the stone up using your bright flames of youth!"-At the end of the speech the genin had a grimace on their faces and relief in their hearts 'who said that Kakashi-sensei is a bad person? He's cool, calm, and quiet!'.

With Kakashi

The three genin looked up expectantly. For a full minute the masked jounin didn't say a word, and just stared at them. 'Who said that Guy-sensei is creepy? This one wants to make holes in our heads with that stare!' Finally, the jounin spoke.

-"I don't care what your sensei taught you."-This earned him three frowns.-"You will have to work on it your own way, and your own methods. Listen carefully because I will not repeat myself. Your task is simple (Lee was making notes nodding to every word), get the Great Will of Fire."

After a moment of silence, the round eyes under bushy brows widened and Lee shouted.

-"I know where it is, lets go!!!"-And he immediately ran in the unknown direction with full speed, followed by his teammates and a quickly made shadow clone of Hayate.

Kakashi glanced at them questioningly and wondered if they understood what he meant. But then he quickly dismissed that thought and joined the coughing jounin on the grass to observe how Guy loudly and animatedly dismissed his team, which now followed the second clone of Hayate.

With team 7

The walk didn't take long. After like, 10 minutes, they were by the cliff, standing over a badass stone that was somewhat round and reached at least half their height, and observed by the clone of the annoyed man. Sakura stood in the middle, with her arms crossed over a chest. Her expression was unreadable, but her frown indicated deep concentration. To her right stood Sasuke, who had his hands in pockets, and an eyebrow raised while he looked down at the heavy object. To her left was Naruto, who's left hand was under his chin, and he looked down on the stone in thought, unable to understand what were they supposed to do with it.

-"Think Sakura. You're the smartest, come on."-Said Sasuke as he frowned. She narrowed her eyes even more forcing her mind to work at its best. Two minutes passed.

-"Maybe you would like some ramen, Sakura-chan?"-Asked a blond teammate hesitantly, but trying to help somehow.

-"Or coffee."-Offered the raven as she shook her head.

-"It's just, you know, we're supposed to look underneath the underneath, right? That's what Kakashi-sensei always says. There must be something else about this task, right?"

From the sideways Hayate watched them with widened eyes. They stood over a freaking rock for eight minutes already and they asked them selves what they were supposed to do? Incredulous, they pulled Kakashi on him! It's like watching the three mini Hatake over a memorial stone! Unforgettable!

With team 9

-"HARDER, NEJI!"

-"Shut up, I am trying!"

-"FASTER, TENTEN!!"

-"I know god damnit!!"

-"ONE MORE TIME, and PUSH!!!

-"Ahh!"

"What the hell are they doing…?" Thought Hayate clone nr one as he observed the situation. After running after Lee the whole way through Konoha and to the cemetery, they stopped by the monument that represented the will of fire of the heroes of the village. It looked like a big asymmetrical stone with the red flame symbol on it. Reading his notes to make sure he was correct in his assumptions, the green boy said that they were supposed to quote 'get it', and they will use their flames of youth to do so. Then he forced his teammates to help him drag, or to be precise, 'push' the thing all the way to the 23 training ground, thus changing its history of placement once and forever. "I can't believe they are going to actually do that…"

With team 7

-"What if this is a trap?"-Said Sasuke as he circled the stone as if waiting for it to say something.

-"We'll never know if we don't try, Kakashi-sensei always plays his own games with his own intentions, so…"-Here Sakura was interrupted by a blond, who waved with his hands.

-"Don't get mad Sakura-chan, but remember that this is not Kakashi-sensei. This man is different. Shouldn't we like, understand his 'ways'?"

Sasuke perked up. The Pinky raised a brow. A moment later she raised a fist, and with the first word, first finger.

-"Taijutsu."-She said.

-"Muscles."-Voiced the blond and the second finger raised.

-"Speed."-Nodded the raven and the third finger raised.

-"This jounin is not the kind of a person to think too deeply or create plans too complicated."-A moment's pause.-"We are to wrap these ropes around the stone and our bodies and get it to the top."-Concluded the girl with a twitch of her eyebrow.

-"I'm not doing this."-All three of them said.

With team 9

The sweat was covering his graceful body and he noticed it with disgust. He had a headache after being for too long too close to his green and orange idiot of a teammate. He was tired and didn't find the situation amusing, and the task itself was making him think about it again. Something just seemed not right. Curious as to how the other team was doing, he activated his bloodline. He found them near a familiar cliff, standing over a familiar rock, in thinking poses. As if they didn't know how to do the task, or were forming a plan about it.

-"They think about it too much for their own good."-He voiced his thoughts tiredly.

-"What do you mean, Neji-kun?"-His female teammate turned to him.

-"I looked at the other team. Guy-sensei made them do 'the rock dragging' exercise. But, instead of doing so, they stand by it and think."-The weapon mistress laughed.

-"Probably just like their sensei would! Ha, ha, I start to believe we will make it in time after all!"-She smiled widely, but then something occurred to her. Like student, like teacher. Her smile fell.-"On second thought, I don't see this Cyclops giving us a test like this. It's Guy-sensei's style, not his. Maybe we should think about this 'will of fire' thing again?"

With jounin trio

-"I pass."-Said Guy as he frowned at his hands.

-"I am in."-Said Hayate as he grinned at his own hands.

-"I win."-Sang Kakashi as he placed his cards down on the grassy ground, and after a sight of shocked faces of the other two, he gathered the money with a barely hidden grin. It pays off to practice with Asuma every weekend.

With team 7

The small army of clones dragged the stone up the cliff while the trio of genin, including the clone maker didn't bother to get their hands dirty with the job. At the same time the Hayate clone nr 2 stared at the picture in awe, unable to get over a fact that some genin could create an army of clones, while he lost at least half of his reserves to create the two.

The trio turned around at the sound of the hasty steps. Another Naruto was running to them. He stopped in front of his creator and started to speak.

-"The other team figured out the task given to them by Kakashi-sensei! If we don't hurry up and stop them we lose!"

The Pinky stared at the clone in surprise, while the raven had a brow raised in curiosity.

-"You made one of your clones follow and spy on the other team, Naruto?"-The real blond nodded.-"You're a genius."-Stated Sasuke.

-"The stone will be on top in five minutes, but we have to make sure that the other team's not just late with the task, but haven't completed it at all. That way, the victory will be solely ours."-Said the girl with fire in her emerald eyes. Her teammates nodded, and she turned to the Hayate clone nr 2.-"Is there any rule preventing us from attacking the other team?"

The sickly clone stroked his chin in thought-"There was nothing about it in rules created by Kakashi-san. So I wouldn't mind that."-he said with an evil smile, eager to see the genin beat each other to death.

With team 9

The top floor of the Hokage Tower, near the Hokage office, close to the secretary desk

Team 9 figured out that the "will of fire" is the "flame of youth" and the greatest one is the Hokage himself.

-"Let us in NOW! We need to see Hokage-sama!"-Shouted a girl in Chinese dress.

-"Yes, this is IMPORTANT!"-She was backed up by a small version of a green beast of Konoha.

-"Please, understand that this is a matter of safety of our village; don't force us to use our combat skills to get inside his office."-Was the voice of logic from Hyuuga prodigy.

After another fifteen minutes of negotiations, they were allowed to get in. And once they did, they didn't give the Hokage a time to get any answers or questions, and only notifying him that he's going with them, grabbed the old man and rushed out of the tower.

Only to be met with the sight of team 7 standing in their way.

Fifty shadow clones, thirty flying kunai, forty three flying shuriken, five exploding tags, three taijutsu spars, one sexy jutsu Naruto style (against Neji and Lee), one sexy jutsu Sasuke style (against Tenten), one sexy jutsu Sakura style (against Lee), four won bets among the spectators and 6 minutes later the territory was surrounded and secured by Hokage personal guarding anbu squad.

With jounin trio

-"Well, I guess we gave them enough time to finish the task."-Said Kakashi, his companions' nodded.-"Please dispel your clones, Hayate-san."

And the jounin did so. Immediately his eyes impossibly widened and his expression changed sixty times within a minute.

-"So, what do you think?"-Asked Guy with stars and flames of hope in his eyes. But the man turned to Hatake and spoke to him seriously.

-"You have a very promising team, Kakashi-san. They won."

Kakashi eye' smiled happily and the man turned to Guy.

-"Your team is very strong, Guy, but the strength is not enough in the life and career of a ninja."

Guy smiled sadly and nodded, taking words to his heart.

-"Oh, and by the way, both of you have to pay a fine for disturbance caused by your students under the Tower."-With that, the pale jounin rose from the ground and walked away, while the green clad man looked quizzically at his rival, who smiled and scratched his cheek behind the mask sheepishly.

Both of the teachers left to find their students; Guy to make a new training schedule, Kakashi to congratulate his team and reward them.

He found his team on the street leading to the Ichiraku stand, with the blond complaining about his headache because of his clones' memories, and his raven teammate helping him walk holding him tightly and tenderly. Kakashi knew that Sasuke had some feelings for the blond, and even though he knew the thing was wrong, he couldn't deny the fact that thanks to these feelings the heir to the Uchiha clan not only opened up to his team, but started to enjoy living. If he interfered, or even voiced his observations and opinion, he would tear the thin thread that connected his students; he would destroy their building up teamwork and friendship… It confused him that he has to let them play their little teenage game, so they could become better ninja. He watched as Sasuke's right hand that held the blond boy close by the waist rose to his shoulder, and the fingers played with blonde's hair, when the whiskered boy didn't comment on it, the hand rose higher, and the palm stroked the side of the head, combing the locks with fingers. His left hand replaced the right on the waist, and the raven boy smirked, when he noticed the mix of a stare and a glare coming from his female teammate. It was scary and funny at the same time. His team was coming along nicely… His team. Tomorrow he will give them a reward for their efforts, and for making him proud. Sasuke will have a scroll with a new high fire technique, Naruto will receive a scroll with the wind techniques, and Sakura some medical tips and illusion technique. He will promise that every time they positively surprise him, and every time they make him proud, he will hand them something special, and teach them things they would like to learn. It will give them motivation, and make them trust him and believe in themselves, and want to be a Team.

Hokage office, present time

The old man slightly smiled and nodded to himself.

-"So that's what happened that day… Yes, I remember, it was very entertaining, indeed Kakashi."

The jounin sighed bowing his head. He was trying to make a good impression about his team but one man can say so much before he has to stop playing around and get to the real point…

-"Now then; why don't you tell me about this, solution, that you mentioned earlier."

-"Hai…"


Omake

'How to deal with things' Kakashi style

The juunin appeared by the door in the morning and hastily knocked a few times. Waiting a full minute for a response, he knocked again, this time louder… another full minute of silence. Confused and angry at the same time, he hit the door with feet and fists.

-"It's open!"-The reply was voiced in the annoyed tone. The juunin rushed in surprised and started to shout.

-"You are to attend the jounin meeting, Kakashi-san, right now!"

-"Not interested."-Again the annoyed tone. The jounin was laying on the couch in the living room reading his precious smut.

-"Kakashi-san…"

-"I am busy."

-"But, but this is a meeting called by Hokage-sama himself!!!"-Shouted the desperate juunin messenger.

-"Right now I have one Sama and it is in my hands."

-"Kakashi-san you're crazy!"

-"I am lazy."-Here Kakashi made a sign and by the couch appeared the shadow clone. The real Kakashi addressed him without lifting his gaze from his book.

-"Go and deal with it."

The juunin gaped.

End of 3 chapter