Title: Above the Underneath

Summary: "Careful Kakashi-sensei. Look too closely at underneath the underneath and you may fail to see what is right in front of you." Kakashi regarded the blond pensively for a moment, before he eye-smiled. "You have grown a lot from the hyperactive five-year-old that I babysat." No Yaoi.

Yaoi?: Nope!

Beta: Withered Pages (thanks!)

Once again thank you very much for the feedback. It's very much appreciated. To repeat: this is not really and AU… These are mostly my thoughts about the remaining Team 7's relationship (especially focusing on Kakashi and Naruto) 'behind the screens' moments so to speak. Of course, there is always the possibility that I go away from the plot and have some more fun with the 'what if's' but for now… I will remain with the original plotline.

If there are any behind the scene moments that would be perfect to write about, please let me know. I might be able to work with it.

Note: This chapter was updated after having posted the 'now-chapter-5!'

Please enjoy!

~Two weeks after the Mission to Wave~

"Stop."

The two boys froze on the spot at the simple command, knowing better than to test Kakashi-sensei's limits during training.

The Jounin was leaning against one of the three poles on the training field, watching his two students spar as Sakura rested next to him, having just finished sparring with her sensei. She had been hit a couple of times, it would make sure that she wouldn't leave herself open like that again. The girl hadn't complained this time – like she had been doing in the beginning – and he found that refreshing.

Maybe Sakura was finally getting more serious about it. The mission to Wave had done wonders for the attitude of his team towards training.

Well… maybe 'wonders' was too exaggerated.

"What are you two doing?" He asked, waiting for them to figure it out themselves.

The two boys remained frozen as they were and studied each other and their own position. Naruto's arm was reached back to give himself more power to punch Sasuke, while Sasuke was nearly finishing a block and had his weight on his left leg so that he could kick out with his right.

"I'm blocking Naruto's punch and planning to hit him with roundhouse kick."

"Naruto?"

"I was going to punch him in the jaw."

Sasuke snorted and Naruto glared at him. Kakashi mentally smirked, but sighed instead.

"Underestimation is not good, Sasuke."

"I'm just confident in my ability to block him." The Uchiha protested, resulting in a soft 'Teme' from the boy opposite of him.

"If Naruto continues with his own plan, are you going to stick with your plan Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes." Sasuke said with an air of confidence.

Naruto grinned at his teammate.

Kakashi sighed. "Sakura?"

The girl stared at the two frozen forms of the two boys in front of her looking at her questioningly.

"Well Sasuke-kun will proba-" She trailed off when she saw her sensei give her a pointed look. They had had a talk about how dangerous being 'subjective' could during battle yesterday, which the girl still felt somewhat embarrassed about.

The worst part was that Kakashi-sensei had been somewhat right. Somewhat.

'Still, he kept his promise and didn't tell anyone what we talked about,' she thought to herself and forced herself to become serious.

Closing her mouth and studying her two teammates again – objectively this time – her eyes widened. "Sasuke-kun will be forced to dodge to the right and if Naruto reacts fast enough he will be able to swipe Sasuke off his feet after failing to hit his jaw." She told Kakashi.

"Ha! Take that teme!"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Dobe."

"Maa maa… You can continue." Kakashi told them.

A few seconds later, Sasuke indeed lost his balance. Had he not seen this coming, he probably wouldn't have been able to twist himself to land on his feet properly. He was about to charge forward, but Kakashi ordered them to stop for a moment.

The Uchiha sneered in frustration as Kakashi nodded towards Naruto. "Good job, but make sure to be less obvious about changing tactics. I could see the shift seconds before you actually took action. Still, good job," he added, earning a bright smile in return.

He turned to Sasuke. "Let's try that one more time. Now be careful to watch where Naruto puts the weight on his feet. Also, don't let your emotions get in your way."

The sneer became more pronounced.

"Remember guys… self-reflection. Accepting criticism is an important factor." Kakashi pointedly stated, forcing Sasuke to mask his annoyance.

"Hai, Sensei," they chorused.

"Alright… once more."

This time Sasuke won, as usual, but mainly because of the warning that Kakashi had given him. Kakashi was sure to give Naruto some pointers for next time. He was pleased to note that Sasuke had taken Naruto a lot more seriously than before though.

They are growing, he thought with a smile.

Of course, just as the thought passed in his head, the pleased smirk on Sasuke's face riled Naruto up like usual and Sakura easily slipped back into her self-proclaimed role of defending 'her Sasuke-kun'.

Kakashi sighed.

~A couple of weeks later ~

"Yo."

The greeting was met with the cry of a young preteen. "What the-"

A second later, there was a thud where something breakable broke and some sort of liquid was spilled over the floor. There was a moment of silence – the silence before the storm – before eventually followed by another cry.

The blond teenager cradled the mess that was left behind, his hands grasping the precious goods that were now lost.

"Noooo!" Another dramatic outcry. "My precious Ramen!"

The young Genin practically cried tears for the cheap unhealthy noodles that were spread over the ground. For a moment, Naruto was completely ignorant of the arrival of his sensei only seconds ago. Until he remembered just who had started this whole mess.

Pointing his finger at the silver-haired and masked individual, who was somehow able to stay crouched on his windowsill while keeping his lazy posture intact, Naruto wasn't hesitant to let his disappointment show.

"Kakashi-sensei!" The reply was a little too loud for the Jounin's taste. "Look what you did! Don't scare me like that!"

"Ma… ma… so loud Naruto." The jounin chided, while remaining to keep one arm behind his back, hiding something.

Naruto wasn't paying him much attention anymore though.

"My Ramen!"

The Jounin-sensei sighed as he hopped from the windowsill into the apartment, but kept the object still hidden as he did so.

"I would have expected you to at least sense my presence, Naruto. We have been practicing this for two days already. Besides, I wasn't hiding it from you at all. I would have thought that after having accomplished an A-rank mission that you should at least be a bit more paranoid. After all, as a genin, you should be more aware of your surrou-" He trailed off as he noticed that his student wasn't really paying attention to him anymore.

Naruto sniffled rather dramatically as he carefully picked up all the broken pieces of the cup that had broken. Still, behind that dramatic outburst there was a sense of actual sadness, which alerted his teacher-senses immediately.

Why? Even Naruto wouldn't be that sad over spilled ramen, knowing that he had another cupboard full of them.

Kakashi's eye narrowed momentarily as it landed on the pieces of the broken cup, but he snapped out of his thoughtful state as soon as Naruto gave any indication of looking at him. When he didn't, Kakashi decided to speak up on his own after having put the object that he carried around on the counter behind the boy.

"I apologise for catching you off guard." He told his student somewhat lamely. "I had not expected you to react that violently."

Naruto didn't give any indication of noticing the suspicion that was present in Kakashi's voice.

"It's alright, sensei. I just usually don't get a lot of visitors. You are right… I wasn't alert enough." He said with a grin, carefully assembling all the pieces, but not throwing it away as the Jounin would have suspected. "You startled me. I was just lost in thought."

"Hmm…" The masked man hummed, as he saw the boy carefully put all the pieces into another bowl on the counter, before he noticed the basket that the Jounin had brought along.

"Hey hey!" The hyperactive energy once again returned.

Bounding on the balls of his feet he sneaked closer to the basket to see what it held. "Is that for me? What is i- Veggies?" The disappointment was clear in his voice.

Kakashi's eye closed and curved into a familiar smile. "You need to eat more vegetables, Naruto. It's important to have a diverse diet."

"But I there are many types of Ramen. Miso Ra-"

"Different types of food, Naruto." Kakashi corrected, wondering of the genin had been serious or not.

Naruto didn't seem convinced by his explanation and poked at the different 'green stuff' that filled the basket. "I don't like veggies."

Kakashi chuckled softly and ruffled the Genin's hair, causing him to freeze for a moment. The Jounin's eye narrowed for a moment before he pulled back. He had made sure to use another way of ruffling his hair than he had done as Inu. Had Naruto noticed a similarity though?

The blond looked up at him questioningly, patting his hair, before he scowled when he glanced back at the veggies.

"I don't like veggies." He repeated, though he wasn't telling him to take them back.

"Do you want to stay a midget forever?"

"No!"

"Well then, you need some more variety in your eating pattern."

Naruto visibly shuddered, before he quickly turned towards his sensei with narrowed eyes, pointing his finger towards the man.

"Wait, did you just call me a midget?!" He protested, suddenly realising what the Jounin had implied.

"Are you going to argue about that?"

"I'm not short!"

"You are to me." The somewhat-teasing pat on his head made Naruto twitch in annoyance as he half-heartedly slapped that hand away.

"I just haven't had my growth spurt yet!" Naruto grumbled, unable to deny that fact.

"Well, maybe all that Ramen of yours is why it hasn't started yet."

Naruto sent him a glare as he crossed his arm and silently fumed. A soft "Baka-sensei" escaped his lips.

Kakashi pointedly ignored it – feeling very amused by the boy's behaviour - and picked up the basket that he had brought along. Still, he made sure to give the genin a warning flick on his head to let him know that he had heard the insult.

"Do you know how to make a meal out of this?" He asked, though he was already pretty sure that the young man didn't.

As expected, the Genin shook his head with a pout.

Kakashi tapped his chin with his book and sighed. "I will show you then," he said before he shot his cute little student a pointed look. "Just don't get used to it," he warned him as he started to gather some of the basic items they would need.

"You can cook?" The Genin asked with wide eyes, which widened even more when his sensei put away his favourite book.

"I know the basics," the Jounin told him. Having lived on his own for all this time since… He didn't have much of a choice in learning how to cook after that.

Naruto laughed at him.

"Maa, Naruto, it's important to know how to cook a proper meal. How will you ever be a good Hokage if you don't eat food that allows you to grow? You can't always buy take-out and instant food."

"Sensei!" The blond whined.

As Kakashi turned around to check the drawers and cupboards, he was more than aware of the silence that surrounded them.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto asked, suddenly sounding a bit solemn.

"Hmm?" Kakashi hummed, showing him that he was listening, but not turning around.

"Looking underneath the underneath…-"

Kakashi purposely continued with his casual movements as he studied the kitchen. Had Naruto actually figured it out? He silently cursed himself for having grown too close to the boy. Not that it would chance much, but to be caught like that would hurt his pride… not to mention that it would end up with a lot of questions, which would be difficult to answer.

"–Where does that phrase come from?"

Kakashi turned around and leaned against the counter. "A good friend taught me the phrase," he told the young man, sticking to the truth.

He mentally winced when he saw the eyes become somewhat hopeful.

"Really? Like many years ago?"

"A long time ago," Kakashi agreed, staring out of the window as memories of that horrible mission automatically seemed to surface in his thoughts. "In some circumstances, he was surprisingly wise."

Was.

Naruto shoulders sagged forward, but he nodded slowly. "Well, he must have been a very cool ninja," Naruto said, sending him a bright smile.

For a moment, Naruto couldn't quite understand why Kakashi-sensei was staring him with such an odd look. It was a mixture of surprise, wonder, confusion and something else that Naruto could put his finger on. The blond was puzzled by the reaction though. Kakashi must have been friends with Inu right? That or they must have had a mutual friend.

In a way, it made Naruto feel better that Kakashi was his sensei.

"Yes he was." Kakashi-sensei echoed. "He was a good ninja," he agreed, an amused but sad look in his eyes as he once again stared out of the window.

They stood there for a moment in a comfortable silence – though the atmosphere was somewhat bleak – before Naruto decided to distract his sensei. He didn't like to see the man with such a distant look in his eye. He didn't like seeing anyone being sad. So with the brightest smile that he could manage, he turned towards the drawer and took out a big and sharp knife.

"So Sensei, which horrible veggie can I kill- err I mean chop into pieces?"

~ The next day ~

Naruto rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he entered his small kitchen, determined to eat something else than those veggies that Kakashi had forced him to eat yesterday.

'Well, they weren't that bad.' Naruto had to admit. 'But they weren't good either.'

Nowhere near the range of the heavenly taste of Ramen, that was for sure.

Yawning one last time, he went to retrieve a cup. He sighed sadly as he remembered having dropped his favourite one. It was one of the oldest cups that he possessed and one of his most treasured ones. It had been a gift from Inu on his birthday. Feeling down, he moved to open up the cupboard that contained other cups. He never got that far though, as his eye caught something standing on the middle of the counter.

The cup.

It was exactly the same cup that had been broken yesterday.

Fully intact.

Skipping a step, Naruto nearly hit the corner of the table. He didn't care though as he carefully picked up the cup that had been broken yesterday. Carefully inspecting the outside for any cracks, he couldn't find anything amiss. It was exactly identical to the cup that Inu had once given him a long time ago.

As he went to inspect the inside, he saw a small folded paper placed in the item.

Far too curious for his own good, he quickly folded it open and read the two sentences that were written within.

"Try to be more aware next time. Some things can't be repaired after they break."

There was no name written down, but Naruto was sure that it was Kakashi-sensei that had written it.

Awesome!

Glancing from the paper to his favourite cup in front of him, Naruto couldn't help but smile brightly. He had thought that the cup had been lost. He had no clue how Kakashi-sensei had done it and couldn't help but wonder. Still, he would be more careful from now on. So, as he cautiously picked up the cup, his eye flickered to the closed window of the kitchen, before he put it back into the cupboard and closed it.

Safe.

The next day, much to Naruto's disappointment, no matter how much he pestered the man, Baka-sensei wouldn't tell him how he had fixed it.

"Is it like a super-glue no jutsu?" he asked, ignoring the questioning glances that his teammates shot him.

The Jounin actually seemed surprised by the suggestion, before he chuckled. It was the perfect 'I-know-something-that-you-don't-and-you-amuse-me- by-trying-to-figure-it-out'-chuckle, which caused Naruto to pout in annoyance.

"That's a secret." Kakashi-sensei told him instead.

"You can tell me! Please?"

"Then it wouldn't be a secret anymore, would it?"

Naruto crossed his arms in a rather rebellious way and frowned.

Kakashi watched it all with a very amused glint in his eyes.

'Maybe I'm enjoying this a little too much,' he pondered. 'Ah well,' he mentally shrugged, adding it to the short list of the advantages of being a Jounin sensei.

Pulling out his favourite book, he moved around his student. But not without gently slapping him the blond's head with his book though.

"Now don't start brooding, that is Sasuke's job."

That seemed to do the trick.

"Am not!"

"Sensei." Sasuke objected dryly from the other side of the training field, having finished sparring with Sakura.

"Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke doesn't brood." Sakura protested.

Kakashi just curved his eye into his familiar eye-laugh.

Maybe being a sensei wasn't that bad after all.

~ Couple of weeks later ~

The ex-ANBU captain leaned against the windowsill as he waited for the Hokage to finish the last of his paperwork and come to business. Being pretty good at reading the older man's body language, Kakashi knew very well when he was allowed to slouch like a lazy person and when he needed to channel his ninja-persona – standing alert and all that.

There had been no such indication to stand alert in the man's body language, just a slight frown that indicated annoyance instead of problems.

Kakashi let his eye wander over the stone faces that were clearly visible from the large windows. They almost automatically came to rest on the figure of the man that he had respected for the many years that he had taught him. He would never forget Minato-sensei, the great generous ninja that he had been.

It had been such a waste for him to die.

It had been such a waste for Naruto to grow up without them.

"So you are thinking about letting them enter the Chuunin Exams?" Hokage-sama asked Kakashi suddenly, who snapped to attention almost immediately.

"Yes. It will be a good experience for them."

"Do you think they will make the finals?" The old man questioned him, putting his pipe to his lips as he looked at the man questioningly.

"I think that Sasuke might make the final rounds, but his sense of teamwork is not good enough to make Chuunin yet. I'm sure that the supervisors will have to consider that." Kakashi added, knowing that every sensei would be questioned about their opinions of the students as well.

"Sakura's chances of succeeding are too low in the one-on-one fights," he thought out loud. "Sasuke does have the biggest chance of going that far, but I've known Naruto to surprise me and I actually think that he somehow will manage to get that far."

"You put a lot of trust in that boy."

"Ever since he showed that sneaky ability to catch someone off guard and to prove him wrong…" Kakashi agreed. "Not to mention that he barely reached my hip at the time." He added, referring to his time as ANBU. That boy had caught him off guard and tickled him. That didn't change the fact that it could have been a kunai though. The Hokage who was aware of the story, nodded with a knowing smile.

The smile faded as he let out a deep sigh.

"The council practically insists that you train Sasuke-kun during the month in between the final round of the Chuunin exams."

The statement snapped Kakashi out of his thoughts, but he didn't feel surprised. It was a move that was very typical of the old tarts that wanted the best for the last of the Uchiha clan. Actually, he agreed that it was the best that he taught the Uchiha, seeing as he had the Sharingan himself.

Besides, Kakashi also felt responsible of the brooding young teenager. He had seen the wheels turning in the boy's head and he couldn't help be worried that he would be too late to make the Uchiha realise that revenge was not the path to take. He would have to keep a careful eye on the boy and this month would be the perfect opportunity.

Still, he couldn't help but feel annoyed by being practically ordered to do training one on one though.

"What about Naruto and Sakura?" He asked, just to confirm this fact.

"No." The annoyance in the Hokage's voice alone was enough for Kakashi to know that they had somehow been able to out-manoeuvre the old man.

"I see." Kakashi muttered.

What could he do to help Naruto now though?

Naruto may not give such an immediate bright impression, but he actually was a bright student once you knew how to motivate him. Of course, he had his faults as well, by being distracted very easy, bored very easily and often not truly comprehending things such as subtlety. It had also taken a lot of training to get rid of the most basic mistakes in his taijutsu and chakra control – what basics had he been taught at the academy? - over the time that he had been his student, but once the boy got something, he was like a sponge.

After subtly correcting his imperfections – the small mistakes that could kill a ninja – Kakashi had finally decided that Naruto was finally ready to develop something more. He could come far if he got the right help. Simply by correcting those small flaws had made the teen a lot stronger. Not in the obvious way, but more in a subtle way.

Kakashi believed that if he wanted to, Naruto could beat the Hyuuga, especially with the Kage Bunshin to back him up.

"I think I might know someone for Sakura... but what about Naruto should he pass?" He asked, knowing that there were not many ninja willing to teach his little Genin.

The Hokage, who had been eying him somewhat curiously, send him an approving look.

"He could be trained by Ebisu."

Kakashi's eye turned thoughtfully for a moment. "Those two don't get along very well."

"He could learn a lot from him chakra-wise."

The masked Jounin had to agree with that. The closet-pervert specialised in teaching skills like chakra-control. He was actually one of the most skilled trainers in Konoha. Kakashi was sure that Ebisu could even teach him something if he asked. Still…

"He is not the right teacher to get Naruto motivated properly."

The Hokage sighed. "There are not many people available, I'm afraid."

'Or willing…' Was left unsaid.

'Well…' Kakashi suddenly remembered. 'Maybe he would be able to teach him something… It probably wouldn't be that difficult to convince him. He usually doesn't want anyone to disrupt his research…but for his godson he will surely make an exception.'

Not that the man wouldn't try to get a favour out of him in return.

Though when it concerned his student's training… he might be willing to make such an offer.

Kakashi sighed mentally and glanced at the Hokage Monument once again. "Ma, Hokage-sama. I might have heard somewhere that a certain godfather might come back soon?"

The Hokage shot him a narrowed glance, which Kakashi met steadily. It wasn't a suspicious glance. The older man knew that Kakashi would never betray him or the Will of Fire. He was right, as Kakashi wouldn't. The fact that he had gotten the information though, showed him that he still kept in touch with his information network – like any rational war-hardened ninja would.

Seeing as the Jounin was sometimes a source of other more worrisome information as well, the Hokage was not that surprised by his knowledge.

So, instead of even trying to deny it, the Hokage sighed. "Yes, he will look at Naruto's seal at some point."

"So theoretically speaking…" Kakashi started, his mask hiding the amused smirk that was slowly slipping onto his face. "it might be possible that Ebisu would want to work on Naruto's chakra control."

It was the most logical next step after all.

"Which would probably be water walking, which requires water. This might possibly be near the bath house…" He didn't even have to mention that by 'bath house', he meant female side of the bath house. "which is coincidently also a good research spot for a certain author that we both know."

The Hokage gave him a pointed look, an imaginative sweat drop gliding down the side of his head.

Kakashi simply curved his eye into a smile. "You know what Hokage-sama, Ebisu-san would probably be a great idea."

"Really?" The elder drawled.

"I will look for him personally and give him some pointers where to work."

With a tiny nod of the Hokage that allowed him to leave, he disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind a somewhat bemused Hokage. The man sighed and pulled took another drag from his pipe, before glancing at a certain portrait hanging on the wall.

"Well, Minato. It is good to see him motivated again."

Kakashi may be a better teacher than he realised.

~End Chapter 4 ~

I hope you enjoyed!

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