Team Yondaime


He was the youngest genin in the history of Konoha.

The son of the White Fang.

The prodigy.

He never doubted his believes and values, especially after the death of his father.

A ninja must obey rules, and put the welfare of the village before everything else.

Thus, he was taken back when a fourteen-year-old was assigned to be his teacher.


"So, you are already chunin," Minato stated flatly, sizing up his charge and finding him barely up to his waist.

"They think you are too young to be a chunin and me too inexperienced to be in charge of an entire team. So, I guess we are stuck together," a mournful tone coloured Minato's voice.

Kakashi raised his eyebrows.

"I don't think you will be a good teacher, Namikaze-kun," he said bluntly, arms folded. "Honestly, what kind of jounin walks straight into a tree?"

"I was reading," Minato protested. Why am I feeling as if I am the student? he thought, scratching his head.

"Whatever," Kakashi said as he walked to the door. "Are you going to spar with me or not?"

Why that little – Minato gave a sigh of exasperation as he followed his student, who was apparently infected by Superiority Complex Syndrome.

Perhaps a little Sharingan genjutsu would help...

Minato felt his pockets. He has just enough money to bribe Mikazuki...

"If you are not going to call me 'sensei,'" he said, snapping out of his thoughts and taking big strides to catch up. He tried to re-establish his authority. "At least call me 'senpai.'"

"No," was the flat reply.

Oh yes, Kakashi was going to give his new teacher a hard time.

Maybe then, Konoha will replace him with a more experienced, and less clueless jounin.


Eventually, however, he came to respect Minato for his deadly power in battle and his ability to recover psychologically from each massacre.

Kakashi would always see him smiling as they trained, even if Minato had killed only moments before.

To Kakashi, Minato was a perfect shinobi.

A perfect tool.

He failed to realize sooner that there is a hidden side to everyone, and his teacher was no exception.

He failed to comprehend immediately that his teacher did not kill due to lack of emotions, but out of love for his friends, for his village.

Even so, Kakashi enjoyed the daily routine of training with Minato, the only man Kakashi has revered since his father's death.

But, life just has to take that away.

Nothing was ever the same again when Konoha decided to expand their little group by adding two new members...


"I hate you," Obito said to him the first day they met. "Because of your existence, my mother never spoke of me as an ideal son."

Kakashi looked at him unblinkingly, taking in his orange goggles, his lopsided headband, and his family crest.

"And you are?"

Proudly, Obito puffed out his chest.

"I am from the proud Uchiha clan," he said, jabbing a finger into Kakashi's face. "And I will surpass you! Once I awaken the Sharingan, of course." He added the last part as an afterthought.

Annoyed, Kakashi pushed the offending hand away from his face.

"We will see," he said simply.


He must admit that he did not enjoy being part of a complete genin team. He missed the days when it was just him and Minato, who spent all his energy whole-heartedly on him.

Obito had disappointed him deeply. Kakashi had expected more from a member of the prestigious Uchiha clan.

An embarassement to the Uchiha clan, Obito was often compared to Kakashi by his family.

No wonder he hates him.

Not that Kakashi cares.


Rin was, well, Rin.

Kakashi enjoyed her obedience and placidity, but was frustrated by her lack of combat skills.

"Girls are weak," he once made the mistake of muttering his thoughts out loud while training with two jounin, with whom he will work with during their next mission.

Sadly, they did not let the remark go unnoticed.

While Mikazuki stared unbelievingly at his stupidity, which was shown by saying something like that in the presence of two kunoichi, Kushina sent Kakashi home with two lumps on his head.


Years later, he would often stare at the picture frame and regret the times he had wasted by quarreling with Obito, by yelling at Rin, and by complaining to Minato about Kushina.


Sometimes, he blamed himself for their deaths.

Other times, he blamed his teammates for leaving him.

"You are the Fourth Hokage, God dammit!" he would say as he stares at the picture on his bedside table. "You are not supposed to die from fighting a lump of chakra."

The man would always stare back, smiling.

Getting no response, Kakashi would turn to the next person in the picture.

"Ditcher," he would say bitterly. "Idiot."

Many a night he would spend sleepless, staring at the picture and waiting listlessly for dawn.


"Please, Minato-sensei!" the familiar voice made Kakashi stop short. Quickly, he suppressed his charka and climbed silently up a tree. Pushing apart the leaves, he found Obito and Rin speaking to their teacher.

Obito, oblivious to the presence of Kakashi, continued.

"You have to help us!!"

Minato shook his head. "It is an invasion of privacy," he said sternly.

The hairs on his neck suddenly stood on end. Kakashi is getting better and better at stealth…he thought.

"But we want to know if Kakashi has buck teeth!!" Rin spoke up.

Her teacher stared at her disbelievingly. "Buck teeth?"

"Or huge, fat lips," Obito added in.

Minato patted his two student on the head as he bursted out laughing. "Whoever gave you that idea?" he asked them, wiping tears away from his eyes. "I can assure you right now. Kakashi looks normal."

"Define normal," Obito argued stubbornly. "Believe me, silver hair at the age of ten is not normal."

"Yeah, yeah," his teacher said distractedly, spotting an eighteen-year-old kunoichi walking towards them, red hair gleaming in the sun. "Meet me here later. Whatever you do, don't get Kakashi mad, got it? I am the one who will have to deal with the aftermath later."

Waving a hand, he left them, strolling towards the newcomer.

"I swear, sensei!" Obito yelled at the retreating figure. "If you don't help us, Rin and I will be light-bulbs on your every date with Kushina-san!!"

"Oh, so now you are stooping down to blackmailing. Impressive," Kakashi said sarcastically as he dropped down from the tree behind them, landing in a cat-like stance and making Obito and Rin jump. "What was it about my having buck teeth?"

Gulp.

"Uhh…let me explain," Obito laughed nervously as Kakashi advanced towards him…


"Light-bulb, indeed," Kakashi smiled to himself as he watched Naruto and Sakura lunge at each other. "How come I never thought of that to blackmail sensei?"

Watching as Sakura toppled a tree when attacking Naruto, he held up his arm, and his two students paused.

"Sakura, you need to be more subtle in your attacks," he told her. "You don't want to let your enemy's reinforcements know where you are. Naruto, you need more ferocity, and—" he tapped Naruto's temple. "Brains. A ninja must look underneath the underneath, I thought I have told you so many times already. You never learn."

"Pfft. You sound like Sasuke," Naruto pouted.

There was an awkward silence between them as Naruto's words sank in.

Realizing what he had said, Naruto put his head down on his hands, depressed.

So it has begun, Kakashi thought, observing the abrupt change in their moods. The pain of past generations will be eventually inherited by the future. I wonder, which member of Team Kakashi will be the last one left?

He turned his head in the direction of the village. He could make out the faint outline of the faces on the Hokage Mountain.

Or maybe.

All of them will live.

He could only hope that he won't be the last one, again.

THE END

A/N: I would like to thank all my reviewers. Thank you for your support. XD Best of luck in the future.