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Six years.
Six long, tedious, painfully obnoxious years. And not one Genin team had graduated his requirements to pass. What was so hard about a little bit of teamwork!
Every year he sent back a trio of the brats, Kakashi was met with derision from his fellow Jonin, and avid disdain from the woman of his dreams. To her, he was a cold-hearted jerk that liked nothing more than tormenting small children for his enjoyment. She hated him. And he knew this for a fact because she'd told him to his face.
"I can't believe they let someone like you be a Jonin sensei," Kagome snorted, flipping her braided black hair over her shoulder as she passed by him in the market. He stopped her by pulling on her elbow, nearly upsetting the handful of things she was carrying. Her little brother Souta halted as well, staring over at them with wide eyes.
"Really? And what is so wrong about that? It's my duty, as a seasoned shinobi of the village, to pass on my knowledge to the next generation," Kakashi replied smoothly, smiling gently beneath the face mask he wore.
"You don't even like kids. It's obvious by how Naru-chan was treated," the girl countered, blue eyes glaring defiantly up at him. "I hate people that neglect the innocent."
He was thunderstruck. She... hated him?
Leaning back in his chair at the tavern he and the other Jonin sensei usually met at, he eyed the rest of his group as they complained about their pipsqueaks.
"So, Kakashi. How did your team fare? Any better than last year?" Sarutobi Asuma asked, turning a smirk to the 26 year old Jonin. The silver-haired man sighed and ran his finger around the rim of his third beer glass.
"Nope. They were sent back. I barely said go before they were at eachother's throats for those two bells." A scoff was heard behind him and he turned to acknowledge the woman that was seated in the next booth, blue eyes glowing with annoyance. Not that he hadn't known Kagome was there; he'd been aware of her very existence the moment she'd walked in with her older cousin, her best friend Sango, and her former teammate Inuyasha.
"And another aspiring generation of Genin bites the dust," the now medic of the Higurashi clan growled, ignoring the woman that set her tea down.
"Kagome, that's not nice," Miroku admonished in a light tone, "After all, if a unit can't work as a team, they might as well be dead."
"This is true," Sango piped up, nursing her tonic and vodka with a sigh, "After all, look at how Sesshomaru's team turned out."
"Tch! That's because Sesshomaru is an almighty asshole that don't know when to give up control," Inuyasha countered, "That and he hated Jakotsu and Naraku. They barely made Chunin before they broke up." The silver-haired Taisho boy snickered at that. "Hah. Broke up."
"Don't be stupid, Inuyasha. I can understand Jakotsu because he was obssessed with Sesshomaru, but Naraku isn't half bad." Kagome seemed genuine about her words.
"Not to you, maybe, and that's because he's been panting over you and Kikyo since we were in diapers, but to the rest of us 'plebians' we mean nothing."
"Gee, Inuyasha, I didn't know you knew the word plebian," Kagome joked, smirking as her best friend huffed and crossed his arms. Kakashi willed his heart to slow down a little when he saw that saucy tilt to her lips.
"Well, the kids weren't exactly excited about working together anyway, so they have some more time to figure out if they really have what it takes to be shinobi," the Copy-nin shrugged, sauntering over to their table and leaning on it with one arm. "You can't really think me that cruel for sparing their lives?"
"I think you're cruel for not giving them a chance," the Higurashi girl snapped, crossing her arms defiantly.
"What would it take to make you see that I'm not as evil as you seem to think," the older nin looked her straight in the eye with complete sincerity. Inuyasha's silvery ears flickered and laid down on his crown, a growl starting to rumble in his chest. He knew that Hatake held affections for Kagome, but if he so much as suggested something to set her off...
She stared him down for a moment, realizing he was being serious, and thought. Then, she smiled. It was a look that sent his heart racing and his palms sweating. It made him short of breath and supress the urge to start shaking, because it was not a pretty smile.
It was the smile she had given him right before she'd decked him across the head for pissing her off. It was a smile that induced unadultered fear.
It was That Look.
"Well... If you want to prove that to me, then you have to give your next team, regardless if they pass your little test or not, a chance to prove themselves."
Kakashi blinked his only visible eye slowly. 'That's it? That's really all I have to do?'
"... All right. I don't think that will be a problem," the Hatake prodigy agreed, holding out a hand to her. Kagome tilted her head to the side in an undeniably cute way before taking his hand and shaking it. She expected him to let go right away.
Instead, he held on to it for far longer than he should have, elicting a flush from the girl as she snatched it back from him.
"I guess we'll find out in a few months, because the next group is graduating soon." With that, the silver-haired Jonin walked off, trying his damnest not to bounce in glee.
He could do that. He could make this next team into the best thing that had ever come out of Konohagakure since the Fourth Hokage.
He had to, if he wanted to get anywhere with Kagome.
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