A Different Perspective
by Book of Changes
Rating: M for Language
Main Cast: Kakashi, Iruka, Naruto
Summary: (AU) Kakashi prepared himself for the worst when he was saddled with the Kyuubi no gaki, a.k.a. Naruto. He did not, however, expect this.
Disclaimer: This story is based on situations and characters created and owned by Masashi Kishimoto, and various publishers including but not limited to TV Tokyo.
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Hook, Line, Sinker
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For Team Kakashi, time passed quickly after Hiruma's ambushes ceased, and the rookie Genin got used to the missions and Kakashi's training methods ("Keh." "What training methods?" "Hasn't anyone told you there's a difference between instruction and psychological torture?"). Once the alternating cycle of training and duty-calls settled down to a regular routine, the hours were noted in blocks and days were counted in clusters. And before they knew it, New Years was at hand. ("It's already the end of December? What the feck happened to NOVEMBER?")
Not that the upcoming holiday meant much. Team Kakashi worked/trained until the last day of December, and stopped only because their training area(s) got snowed in. Even so, the family-less three parts of Team Seven unanimously rejected the lone family person's pleas for R&R. ("Humph." "It's too late to request R&R." "This is better than working overtime at Kurita-san's catering.") Her earnest invitations to join her family get-together were also repeatedly ignored. Then she decided enough was enough, and just dragged the boys by the scruff of their mufflers. Kakashi might have been dragged off too, but he teleported away before Sakura could reach for his flack jacket.
Well that's one disaster averted, thought Kakashi as he watched Sakura politely shove her teammates inside her house at a safe distance. But now my plans are shot. He'd been looking forward to seeing (and tasting) Naruto's holiday cooking this year, so much so that he had preordered Rai-no- Kuni's famous Kaminari o-Sake two weeks prior as a peace offering. Now the good sake was going to waste.
Or was it? He wasn't planning to give the sake to Naruto (heaven forbid!). It was Iruka's present. So he might as well give it to him. Maybe pick up some takeout while he was at it. He had a tab to pay anyway. (As Naruto kept reminding him, complete with records. Seriously, if his Ninja career fell through, Naruto could always be an accountant…Sheeeyeah.)
Kakashi went through a mental list of restaurants, and somewhere in the recesses of his mind the name 'Ichiraku' surfaced, followed by a vague recollection that eating there was one of Iruka-sensei's favorite pastimes. Though Kakashi had never been there, let alone tasted the food, the association was enough to convince him that that was the place to go.
He was pleased at what he found. Ichiraku was just a small out-door Ramen stand, but the food was clean and the prices were cheap. They even had a popular looking holiday special, so he ordered two of those.
"Maido! Oh, and I put some free Gyoza (fried dumplings), too. Enjoy!"
"Thanks, old man."
Kakashi left Ichiraku with a bag of takeout dangling on his left wrist, and feeling strangely elated. It was as if he turned into a kid (which he'd never been) expecting presents. The strange elation persisted throughout his trek towards Iruka's apartment. Then, about two blocks away, Kakashi stopped short, suddenly realizing he didn't know whether Iruka was home or not.
And there was no reason why he should be. It was nearly eight in the evening— the New Years parties must have started by now, and Iruka seemed like the sort of person who'd be invited everywhere and by everyone. Unless he was staying at home for Naruto, which was another thing the young teacher would do. But no, Naruto said he was going to help out Kurita and Musashi this evening, and he would have told Iruka that. Without Naruto, what reason did Iruka have to stay at home? He sincerely doubted 'because Kakashi might drop by to mooch off my food' could be one of them.
Kakashi thought for a moment. It wouldn't hurt to check to see if Iruka was there or not. He was only two blocks away from Iruka's apartment after all, and if Iruka weren't there …well then, Kakashi would have something to eat tomorrow morning that wasn't from the administration canteen.
I shouldn't be this distraught about that prospect. Likewise, he shouldn't have been so nervous while covering the two remaining blocks. He shouldn't have been so ridiculously happy when he found the lights in Iruka's apartment were on either. He also shouldn't have been so…skippy…when he climbed the steps. And he sure as hell shouldn't have been so anticipatory when he rang the bell.
There were no surprises waiting for him behind the door. That is to say, Kakashi didn't see anything he hadn't witnessed before. The apartment was the same, with its overflowing bookcases, useless trinkets taking up space, broken kites and terrible photos' taped on the walls. Iruka gave him no surprises either, opening the door and smiling at Kakashi the same old way. But despite the predictability of it all, Kakashi always managed to become breathless when he came here.
"Ah, Kakashi-san, good evening!" said Iruka, smiling. "Training ran late again?"
Kakashi scratched his head, "Something like that."
Iruka's smiled grew wider. "I see." He looked beyond Kakashi. "Where's Naruto?"
Kakashi's stomach did a back flip for reasons he couldn't fathom. "The evil Holiday Spirits took over Sakura, and she kidnapped her teammates?"
Iruka laughed, "Oh, what a tragedy! Well, come on in and let this place be a refuge for your appropriately holiday-jaded spirit."
Kakashi chuckled, and as he stepped in he felt a hitherto unrecognized tension that ran up his spine leave as if a healing hand soothed it away.
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As it turned out, Kakashi's original holiday plans weren't shot completely to hell. Naruto had PLANNED AHEAD and stacked a great deal of food in Iruka's kitchen, so his beloved teacher would survive a village-wide snow in if need be. The problem was the little bugger prepared far too much, so much that Iruka had to turn down all his party invitations to give away wherever he could and eat whatever was left.
"I guess he was thinking about the potential visitors to my house," Iruka said. "And I did have quite a few of those. But I'm going to die of ruptured intestine if I eat all these leftovers."
Since Kakashi was too noble to let Iruka die such an inglorious death, and it wouldn't do if all the good food went to waste, he volunteered to help. Iruka was amused at his choice of words and said so.
The remainder of Naruto's holiday cooking consisted entirely of non-traditional, experimental dishes (Iruka couldn't find the heartlessness to give away things he hadn't tried himself). Though neither Kakashi nor Iruka were particularly adventurous when it came to food, they had fun picking out the most delectable-looking items that came with the least amount of warnings. 'Fondue Bourguignon' was one success they were proud of, and 'Guatemoli de Rice' was a misjudgment they Never Wished To Repeat Again. For dessert, they decided to try something called 'Saru Pān'. It required no preparation two domestically challenged people couldn't handle, and the label sounded far more innocuous than 'Akuma-no-meshi'.
…And they spent the rest of the evening mourning their futile efforts to STOP eating what had to be the most addictive, UN-nutritious food in existence.
"Do you suppose he mislabeled it?" Kakashi asked as he reached for another helping of Saru Pān, all the while weakly commanding himself to stop.
"I think the name is right," Iruka replied, shakily, after downing his own helping with a shot of Kaminari o-Sake. (The stuff tasted even better this way. Thus they were doomed beyond redemption.) "I'm not sure about the warning, though."
Once there were no more addictive substances to mourn over, Kakashi and Iruka settled around the kotatsu to lounge and digest. That was when Kakashi started sneezing every ten minutes. At first, Kakashi thought it was an unacknowledged cold striking back with a vengeance, but then he remembered the three nin-pups he'd left to fend for themselves.
"They must be talking about you," Iruka murmured.
"Ah— achoo!— most likely," Kakashi sniffled. "Actually, I'm surprised they only started just now."
"Hmm…" Iruka looked at Kakashi through sleepy eyes. "So, how are they doing? Is Naruto getting along with his teammates?"
It might have been the Sake addling his brain, or the effects of Saru Pān abuse, or the sheer Iruka-ness of his surroundings, or just receiving the full blast of a drunken Iruka looking at him like that, but Kakashi opted for a short progress report rather than his customary "they're doing okay."
"The teamwork is fine." And I have Naruto to thank for that. "Naruto has definite management skills." He has the kind of leadership acumen you need in a work environment, but can't expect from twelve-year-old brats just yet. "He gets the team moving and takes care of the other two." Of course, Sasuke would rather kill himself than admit that. And Sakura is still under the illusion she's taking care of him.
Iruka blinked sleepily, and for one moment Kakashi thought he was going to smash his face on the kotatsu and snore. Then Iruka's face lit up with more pride and happiness than Kakashi's sake-addled senses could possibly handle. My eyes… My brain…!
"That's wonderful," Iruka half-whispered, eyes closing much longer than a blink. He jerked them opened again. "Sorry. I'm a bit tired."
"Then you should sleep." Any more drunken Iruka and my nerves will be done for.
Iruka shook his head. "No, I wanna stay up a bit more." (Damnit!) "What about their individual skills?"
Kakashi obligingly rattled off a disjointed summary of each Genin's progress. Sasuke doesn't need much instruction as he needs guidance; he's mastering jutsu at a rate of one D-class per month, one C-class per quarter. Sakura's progress is slow but steady; her quality is exceptional; she just needs to work on quantity. Naruto… Well, Naruto…
"Yes?"
Kakashi mentally slapped himself. Apparently his bout of thoughtful silence was too long, "Ah, suman." He thought some more. In the meanwhile, he started toying with a walnut lying on the kotatsu.
Kakashi wanted, oh so very much, his report on Naruto to be alike that of his other two students. Alas, if only Iruka asked him before the Sake, he might have come up with something. Or maybe sidestepped the question altogether. But the alcohol loosened his tongue and befuddled his brain. That was never a good combination.
"Naruto's school records being as they are, I first had to check where he really was. Thanks for those written tests, by the way."
Iruka nodded, murmuring 'it was nothing.' Kakashi wished Iruka would just fall asleep so he could spare him from his alcohol-induced blathering.
"Turns out he knows as much as Sakura." That's the good news. "He needs some help with his Taijutsu form, but I'm not too worried about that."
Iruka smiled. "What else did you find out?"
Kakashi had a feeling he should shut up, but his mouth now had a mind of its own. "He has access to a crazy amount of Chakra, but I expected that." Here comes the bad news. "In comparison, his Chakra-control is…" he couldn't continue; he got phantom frustration hives just thinking about it.
"Appalling?" Iruka suggested.
"Terrible," Kakashi agreed. "Just last week he tried a simple fire jutsu and—" he flapped a hand sideways— "Think 'rampaging flamethrower'."
Iruka winced. "I know what you mean. Any other kid would have been struggling to make their fire bigger. Naruto, on the other hand, has to keep his conflagrations down."
Kakashi shook his head. "I don't think he needs to keep his strength down as much as he needs more fine-tuning control." He has so much latent potential it almost hurts to see him unable to use it all. "I've been drilling him on various basic Chakra-control exercises for the last two months, but I've seen very little improvement. And it's not from his lack of trying." A sigh. "Frankly, I'm running out ideas."
"Hmm…" Iruka rested his head into his folded arms. Kakashi considered this a good sign, but then Iruka mumbled something that kicked his lax brain into high alert.
"Why don't you teach him Heavy Chakra…?"
Kakashi blinked. "That's an ultimate forbidden ninjutsu with a learning fatality rate of ninety-eight percent." You need top security clearance to even try— even I wasn't allowed to touch the subject.
"The basics aren't that risky," Iruka said in a soft voice. "I taught a little to Naruto. He did well."
Kakashi blinked again. "You know how to handle Heavy Chakra?"
"Mmmhmm," Iruka yawned. His eyes were almost closed.
Kakashi shook him. "Are you still teaching it?"
Iruka didn't open his eyes, but managed to mumble: "No. Stopped. Last Year. Couldn't continue."
"Why?"
"Naruto kept getting sick, and…"
"AND?" but before he could elaborate, Iruka fell into his long overdue, very untimely, drunken slumber.
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The first thing Kakashi did as soon as New Years morning dawned (and stopped beating his head against the kotatsu for his accursed timing) was treat Iruka's hangover from hell. Then he reminded Iruka of the conversation they had last night, only to discover Iruka remembered everything but mentioning the possibility of teaching Heavy Chakra. On top of that, Iruka was most reluctant to pursue the idea.
"It's beyond dangerous, it's suicidal," he snarked.
"You did it, and you're still alive," Kakashi pointed out.
Iruka was adamant. "I was young and stupid. God knows why I'm not dead yet." Then he fell back asleep wondering why he wasn't dead now.
Seeing that he wouldn't be able to persuade Iruka anytime soon, Kakashi went to get the necessary security clearance. Three harassed administrative staff members and fifty plus pages of forms later, Kakashi learned he needed final approval from Konoha's sole Heavy Chakra expert: Umino Iruka. Thus bureaucracy emerged victorious, and Kakashi left contemplating the pros and cons of using methods that skirted the boundaries of legality and common sense.
But what finally persuaded Iruka to teach Team Seven (and its instructor) Heavy Chakra even took Kakashi by surprise.
It came in the form of an orange-clad Genin. When Kakashi came back to Iruka's apartment later that day, it was Naruto who opened the door for him. Iruka was where Kakashi last left him: at the kotatsu, sleeping with his head resting on the surface.
"Ohayo, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said in hushed undertones. He beckoned Kakashi to follow him inside. Bewildered and curious, Kakashi did so.
"You mentioned Heavy Chakra in front of Iruka-sensei, didn't you?" the boy said once they were inside the kitchen.
Kakashi blinked. "How did you know that?"
"Iruka-sensei shouting: 'You can tell Kakashi "NO!" ' out of the blue kinda gave it away." Naruto shook his head. "Really, sensei, what were you thinking? Asking him favors before he's had his morning coffee…?"
"That was stupid of me," Kakashi agreed. Make that beyond stupid. Someone kick me…please?
"No arguments here," said Naruto, not unkindly. Then the boy changed his tone: "May I make an offer?"
Kakashi was used to Naruto's habit of switching subjects without warning. "What kind of offer?" he asked on beat.
"I'll convince Iruka-sensei to teach you Heavy Chakra," Naruto said. "You might have to share lessons with us— meaning me, Sakura-chan, and Sasuke— but you won't mind, would you?"
Kakashi was intrigued, and very amused. "No." The brat is trying to bargain with me. Awwww… "What do you want?"
"I need high-quality Java beans for Iruka-sensei. There's no way I can afford it, so you can either buy the stuff yourself or fork over the necessary funds to me."
As if I'd give you money. "I'll get it," said Kakashi. "What should I buy?"
"La Minita Tarrazú. It's super expensive stuff, but really popular, so you'll have to hurry." Naruto pulled out a card from his inner pocket. "This is Iruka-sensei's membership card at Kohi-no-Jutsu. They'll give you a special discount if you show it at the counter."
Kakashi took the card. "What else?"
"I need permission slips for some restricted materials in the Konoha Ninja Library." Naruto wrote down it down in his agenda book, and tore off the sheet for Kakashi. "Here's the list."
Kakashi read it through. "You have to be a registered medical ninja to get some of these."
"Can you get them for me?"
"I'll see what I can do." Kakashi looked at the boy curiously. "What do you want them for?"
"I have a theory I want to confirm," said Naruto. "Don't worry. I'm not going to do anything stupid."
"You better not." Though I doubt there's anything you'd be able to do with brain anatomy textbooks except for using them as pillows. "Is this all?"
"Just one more thing," Naruto held up his forefinger. "Tomorrow, Sasuke and Sakura-chan are going to offer you a free breakfast deal in exchange for coming on time. Do me a favor and take it."
"That's a lot to ask," Especially if this is their idea of a cunning plan.
"Aw, c'mon, it's free food! Sasuke-bastard's paying," Naruto winked. "And I'm cooking."
That's a more tempting offer. "You do realize this deal only stands if you can convince Iruka-sensei."
Naruto snorted. "Do you think I'd make an offer I couldn't keep? I learned better than that." He flapped a hand. "Even if I can't hold up my part of the deal, you'll still have a bag of Iruka-sensei's favorite coffee. You can always use it to get back to his good graces, you know." True. "Speaking of which, shouldn't you be getting the coffee?"
"Ah, of course," And Kakashi quietly vanished in a puff of smoke.
He reappeared in front of Kohi-no-jutsu, Konoha's premiere coffee retailer. Just as he was about to enter the shop, Kakashi realized what just happened.
That little BASTARD! He made me go buy the coffee myself, deliberately kept asking for things I'd grant with or without a bargain, and tacked on the free breakfast deal in the end so I'd say 'yes' out of reflex!
What was more, he swallowed it all, hook, line and sinker!
Kakashi didn't know whether to laugh at Naruto's sneakiness or cry at his lapse of stupidity.
In the end Kakashi laughed, and bought La Minita Tarrazú as he promised. The stuff was expensive, even with a discount, but now that he knew how masterfully he had been duped, he wanted to see whatever else Naruto had up his sleeve.
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He was not disappointed.
From Iruka's small apartment veranda on which he staked out, Kakashi watched Naruto brew coffee like a professional: he left the kitchen door wide open, so the sound of the working coffee machine would summon Iruka's wandering soul, and the aroma would raise him from the dead. Once Iruka was back in the land of living (but not yet fully operational), Naruto acted like the best nurse-maid a coffee addict could hope for— pouring cup after cup of top-class coffee without saying a word until the caffeine finally hit the young teacher's system.
The moment Iruka had enough wits to say 'arigato', Naruto was on the hunt.
"You still look terrible, Iruka-sensei. Did you drink yesterday?" Naruto made a disapproving noise. "You shouldn't do that. I know you don't handle alcohol well."
Iruka rubbed his temples ruefully. "Sorry. I'll be more careful next time." Then he smiled at Naruto. "How was Sakura-chan's get-together? Did you have a good time?"
"It was okay, I guess," said Naruto, scratching a temple. "I don't think Sakura-chan's parents expected me to come, but they let me in. They kept staring at me funny, though. Oh, do you know what was funny? They served the stuff I made at Kurita-san's cater for dinner! I wanted to mention it, but Sakura-chan told me to shut up."
Something in Iruka's eyes flickered, but his encouraging smile did not falter. Naruto, apparently oblivious to the flicker (and Kakashi doubted that), blabbered on.
"I wanted to help out with the cleaning after dinner, but Sakura-chan's mum told me not to bother. So I played with Sakura-chan's cousins instead. They all had to leave early, though. I kept company with Sasuke after they left," here Naruto sighed heavily. "Things were getting really cozy, when out of the blue Sasuke said he had enough of this holiday bullshit and left. That's all fine and good, but he dragged me off too. I barely had enough time to say good bye to Sakura-chan's parents!"
At this point, Kakashi could almost see the waves of distress rolling off of Iruka. The effects of the distress ripple were as deadly as Iruka eating cake in public, and Kakashi had to dredge out every ounce of his willpower to stop himself from barging into the apartment in a bout of unnecessary protectiveness. Having said that, he could NOT understand how Naruto was unaffected, so close to the source, face-to-face.
"Sakura-chan followed, of course," Naruto continued, looking supremely calm in the mist of such a terrible force field. "We walked around the town a little bit. Then I figured, since Sasuke would probably spend the night walking around brooding and Sakura would cry if this went on, I should take them to Kurita-san's party and cheer 'em up. It worked, I think, but then Hiruma-san got them drunk." Iruka immediately stopped the distress waves in order to decorate the kotatsu with spittle-coffee. Naruto giggled, but not at him. "Sasuke needs to get drunk more often. He talked more last night than he did for the last four years!"
Iruka coughed by-way of a reprimand. Again, Naruto just laughed it off, while Kakashi tried to recuperate from his forty-second exposure to Iruka's Distress Shockwave Pulsar.
"Ne, ne, Iruka-sensei, is it true Sasuke has a bloodline limit? Like the Hyuuga-clan?"
Kakashi's eye bulged. Oh gawd… Sasuke really did get drunk last night!
"…I hoped you were lying when you said Hiruma got him drunk," Iruka muttered. Naruto twittered mischievously. "To answer your question: yes, he does. A member of the Uchiha clan can develop the Sharingan."
"Heh…" Naruto sounded genuinely interested. "I also heard this eye can see through all Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu. How does it do that?"
Kakashi smiled, despite himself. He must be one chatty drunk, Sasuke-no-yatsu…
Iruka smiled. "Well, the Sharingan gives you further insight," he said, "insomuch that you can actually see the flow and movement of Chakra. So the Sharingan will let you see what's actually going on when you perform a jutsu."
"Wicked," Naruto said, as he scribbled on his ever-present agenda book. "What about the copying and movement prediction ability?" he asked.
Kakashi stopped his bark of laughter just in time. Hell, Sasuke must have told him everything!
Iruka must have had similar thoughts because his face was unnaturally straight, while his eyes were dancing with suppressed mirth. "I'm not quite sure how it works, but I'm told the Sharingan imprints movements, and the movement that will follow, into your brain."
Naruto tilted his head. "Maybe it's like photographic memory combined with eagle vision."
"It might be," Iruka said, face still straight, "But no one knows for sure."
"I'm sure it is," Naruto insisted. "When I shift Heavy Chakra towards my eyes, everything starts to…"
Iruka's reaction to Naruto's last (as far as Kakashi was concerned, innocuous) comment was best described as: 'BANG, CLASH, GORAAAAAAAAA!'
"NARUTO! I TOLD YOU NOT TO TRY ANYTHING ON YOUR OWN!" Iruka roared.
…Scary! "Eeep!"
"IT'S DANGEROUS! I SHOWED YOU WHAT HAPPENED TO THE IDIOTS WHO WORKED WITHOUT SUPERVISION! DO YOU WANT TO DIE?"
"…But you said I had to find out what fits me—"
"THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!" Iruka bellowed. "DAMNIT, HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU? HEAVY CHAKRA IS THE MOST FORBIDDEN NINJA ART IN KONOHA! FOR A GOOD REASON! SO NEVER. DO IT. ALONE!"
Totally scary! "… eep."
The tirade lasted a few more minutes. In the face of this attack, even Naruto of the Iron Senses appeared powerless. Kakashi had no time or right to milk satisfaction from this observation, however, as he cowered before a sonic attack that wasn't even aimed at him.
Finally Iruka drew in a deep, calming breath. "Takuu," he sighed at normal volume. "Why did you have to go ahead and try out on your own? Now I have to continue those lessons!"
Naruto laughed, and got his head bopped for it. Kakashi, who wasn't following the logic at all, waited for Iruka to explain why.
But Iruka didn't. Instead, he asked Naruto when he had spare time for the next three weeks or so.
"I'm not sure," Naruto said, looking at his agenda book. "Weekday mornings I have to report in for team training, and evenings I have to deliver newspapers. On weekends I have to sleep in before I cover lunch and dinner shift at Kurita-san's." He looked at Iruka. "I might be able to do it after delivering papers, but you have to cover evening shift at the Missions office this month, don't you?"
"Yes," said Iruka, glowering down at his own agenda book. "This is going to be a problem…" He pondered over it. Naruto watched him think, blinking owlishly.
Finally Iruka looked up. "Okay, how about this: I'll ask Kakashi if he's interested in taking me on as a guest trainer. He'll agree if I mention Heavy Chakra. You'll have to share lessons with Sasuke and Sakura, but you won't mind, would you?"
Naruto pulled a face, but didn't say anything. Meanwhile, Kakashi struggled to keep his eye in its socket. Ohmygawd he actually pulled it off…
"It'll have to be in the mornings, too," Iruka went on. "The Academy is on winter break, but I have continued education courses to attend in the afternoons…"
"That's fine," Naruto said. "We decided to have team breakfasts from now on. Naturally, I'm the designated cook. This way I won't have to cook twice."
"Team breakfasts, huh? That's nice." Iruka grinned. "Maybe that will encourage Kakashi to come on time."
"I doubt it," said Naruto, but he had to be more optimistic than he let on.
You little bastard, Kakashi thought, just as he slipped away. But I have to hand it to you, you completely, totally, trapped me.
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The scheduled events of New Years day and the morning after happened like clockwork. Iruka proposed the guest trainer idea when Kakashi dropped in for dinner, bearing another peace offering (coffee of course, Sumatra this time). Kakashi agreed. Next morning, after Kakashi showed up three hours late to the team meeting, Sakura proposed the free breakfast deal in exchange for coming early. Kakashi pretended to ponder over the deal before he agreed. Then he waited for his Genin to react.
Sasuke looked grimly smug. Just as I thought, the free breakfast deal was his cunning plan. Lo and behold, Sakura was giving him adoring looks. Probably agreed the moment he said it. Now my principle target: Naruto held that indulgent air older people reserved for ignorant youngsters at play. He also picked up on Kakashi's scrutiny, and when he did, easily met Kakashi's eye, and shrugged.
You little bastard, Kakashi thought fondly, after Naruto looked away. Don't think there won't be any repercussions. And there would be. Kakashi made sure of that. Bwahahahaha…
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TBC
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