Kakashi simultaneously dodged Noboru's punch directed at his face and Yuiko's kick toward his shin. As he twisted through the air he couldn't help but feel roused at their teamwork. The Formations textbook at the academy didn't have a lot of formations based on two-man teams, considering they usually only came into play if you lost a team member. But it appeared that the pair had still memorized them all and were using them at their best capacity to try to distract Kakashi in one way or another. It was almost cruel that Kakashi was already aware of all the formations and how to counter them. Having two-, three-, or even four-on-one training battles was common in the Anbu Black Ops. Naturally, Kakashi excelled in them all. He wasn't limited to only taijutsu in those, though, so he found that this challenge that he had made for himself was beginning to be particularly amusing.

"Weapons Creation Jutsu: Singing Shield!"

Here we go, Kakashi thought.

Noboru Takahashi, 13 years old. Transferred from Kagayaku Hōseki village. Grew up in a wealthy merchant family, but began shinobi training at the age of 8 after his village was affected by the second shinobi war. His ninjutsu is quite unique — he is able to create material objects out of chakra. Many shinobi use chakra-enabled weapons, but very few can create them out of thin air using only chakra energy. This gives him the advantage of having an almost unlimited variety of weapons available for any combat situation. On the other hand, this technique can be more than a little draining on his chakra reserves.

Noboru shot toward Kakashi, his large shield raised at his face. Kakashi crossed his arms and blocked the blow, causing the shield to emit a loud, gong-like 'clang.' Yuiko suddenly appeared from under the shield and leapt upward. Kakashi suspected that this would be their tactic, considering the size of the shield, but he was impressed nonetheless. He moved his left arm to block her fist, but found that her hand was moving through it.

Yuiko Uzumaki (no close relation to Kushina Uzumaki), 13 years old. Her file didn't include much on her past beyond the fact that she traveled with her grandfather prior to coming to live in Konoha three months ago, soon after his death. She is considered to be proficient in fūinjutsu (sealing jutsu), a trademark of the Uzumaki clan. She also possesses a unique skill whereby she can 'phase' through other objects by merging her chakra with the chakra of the other object. This is easier with inanimate objects, and much more challenging with living creatures. It becomes even more demanding if her opponent creates a barrier by varying the flow of chakra through their body. In the end, she can only phase through an object for a short amount of time before reaching her limit.

Kakashi whipped his head back, kicking off Noboru's shield to land a few feet back. He was astonished to find that he was actually enjoying himself. He hadn't had this much fun in combat since —

Obito. Rin.

He stood and watched the two of them running toward him. Obito adjusting his goggles. Rin smiling from ear to ear. They leapt up in the air as they came closer. In almost slow motion, Kakashi watched as their feet connected with his chest and he was thrown back.

—

"He's dead. He's dead, right? We killed him. I can't believe this. I mean, I thought it was a trap for sure. He just stood there! I thought he was going to move, or grab us, or something!"

"He's okay. He just got the wind-chakra knocked out of him. That's what my grandfather used to say. Look."

Kakashi stirred and opened his eye. Yuiko and Noboru were crouched on either side of his vision, looking down at him as he lay in the grass.

Noboru let out a huge sigh of relief and fell back into the grass himself. "You scared the crap out of me! For a minute I thought that maybe you really were pulling our leg about being a jōnin. What the hell was that anyway?"

Kakashi used his elbows to push himself up into a sitting position. He studied the concern on their faces. Their expression was different than Minato's; they didn't pity him. They didn't see him as anything less than he used to be.

Am I really doing this?

Kakashi reached up to move his headband away from his left eye. Noboru's mouth opened at the sight of his sharingan

"Why didn't you do that before?! I would have believed you about you being the jōnin if you had showed me that …" Noboru pouted.

Yuiko chuckled as she regarded Noboru with a smile. Kakashi replaced his headband and stood up. The other two followed suit.

"Your training starts tomorrow at seven. Don't be late."

A smile grew on Noboru's face as the realization hit him. "Aww yeah, I knew we could do it! This is awesome! We're gonna be team ... uh, what was your name again?"

.

.

"I'm impressed. Everything seemed to go quite smoothly," the Hokage said.

Kakashi nodded in agreement. For once it was taking every ounce of his will to appear calm and collected. The awards ceremony was only an hour away, which is why he was surprised when he received a summons from the Hokage.

Minato reclined at his desk, lazily turning the pages on the proctor's notes concerning the Chūnin Exams.

He's honestly just playing with me at this point.

Almost as if he heard him, Minato looked up from the book and grinned. "I think it's pretty obvious that they passed, don't you?"

Kakashi sighed in relief. His team had worked hard over the past few months, and their progress had been exponential. During the one-on-one combat in the second half, both Yuiko and Noboru placed within the top five.

Noboru's arsenal of weapons seemed to be growing larger every day. Any time he met an opponent using a new tool, he had a perfected copy of it at his fingertips within hours. In his last battle of the exams, he had the upper hand up until he ran out of chakra. Noboru had a tendency to be overconfident in his abilities and push himself too far if he couldn't take down an opponent right away. Even so, he was still in good spirits at the end of his match.

Yuiko had almost placed first in the final round of one-on-one combat. During her first match she was able to use her phasing jutsu to ensure that her adversary couldn't land a single blow. Between that and her taijutsu she was nearly unstoppable. But there were still opponents who were able to figure out a workaround to her jutsu: She ended up losing to a member of the Hyūga clan who figured out that fluctuating the flow of chakra through their body blocked her from phasing through them. From there Yuiko had resorted to taking unnecessary risks to try to regain her advantage. She had a habit of attacking recklessly when she felt cornered — a practice that Kakashi had tried tirelessly to wean her from before the exam. Despite her improvements, she wasted her remaining chakra on some hasty seals that her opponent was able to break and was taken down. He hoped that the news of making Chūnin would brighten her mood a little since she had a tendency to brood over her failures for longer than necessary.

"So, what now?"

"Huh?"

Kakashi blinked, not realizing how much he had allowed his mind to wander. Minato was smiling at him expectantly from the other side of the desk.

"I mean, what is it you'd like to do now? Your mission has been completed. With flying colors, I might add."

Kakashi looked down at his feet. He frankly hadn't given it much thought. Going back to the Anbu was the most logical choice, considering his skills. But when he visualized putting the mask back on, all he could think of was being smothered in darkness, unable to breathe.

"I don't want to impose …" Minato said slyly.

Kakashi looked up as his former sensei spoke.

"But I think you've formed a pretty strong team. I personally would like for you to stay on as the team captain since I know I could utilize your group in various missions. However, I'm also aware that you have no obligation to do so if you wish to return to the Anbu."

Kakashi sighed, crossing his arms.

"Well, if you insist ..." he said in a reluctant tone. "They have a long way to go, anyway. I don't think they'd be able to get much farther in their training without me."

Minato laughed, forcing a smile out of Kakashi.