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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Veritas vos liberavit
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When Kakashi reappeared again, he was some three hundred meters away from Shima. Upon re-materialization, Kakashi broke into a run. He raced past many an oblivious passerby— making a perilous jump that covered the six meter gap between two buildings at one point— barged into the Ninja Academy, and slid open a much-frequented classroom door.

Iruka was there, frozen where he'd been writing on the blackboard. There were some thirty plus kids in the classroom too, but Kakashi didn't care about them.

"Naruto—Plan—have to Stop!" he babbled.

Iruka studied Kakashi for a moment. Then he turned his glance back to his students.

"This Jounin has lost his mind. That means he's very dangerous, especially for you lot. So leave the classroom like you're on an emergency drill. Got that? Now GO!"

The students obediently lined up and left the classroom. Iruka closed the door behind them, and then turned to face Kakashi, legs apart, hands on hips, and face stern.

"Now, Kakashi-sensei, collect yourself. Then tell me the reason for disturbing my class in fifty seconds."

………Scary! Kakashi took a deep breath and started over. "Someone is trying to set the two of us up."

"Yes, I know that," Iruka said, very calmly. "I believe Naruto's been instructing Konohamaru and his group to set up 'accidental encounters' between you and me. He also made Gai-sensei ask me of your welfare. Is something similar happening to you?"

…Okay. So his previous explanation wasn't adequate. Kakashi tried again: "No. And you got it wrong. Naruto's not behind this plot, it's Hiruma. Heaven knows why, but the bastard wants us to be …" —Kakashi forced himself to say it— "…a couple…as in, romantically involved."

It took a while for Kakashi to figure out the extremely peculiar expression that spread across Iruka's face. Never had he seen someone look like a fish thrown across molten lava.

"…Explain," Iruka managed to strangle out.

Kakashi started with the facts: Hiruma agreed to help Naruto in his efforts to reconcile them without telling Naruto exactly how he was going to help. Then he iterated his (Naruto's) speculations: After learning Kakashi and Iruka had a spat, Hiruma convinced Konohamaru that matchmaking on behalf of Iruka-sensei would be the best prank ever; then he planted into Konohamaru's easily influenced mind that if one is matchmaking for a guy, but there are no good (enough) ladies available, then looking for a good man is the best alternative; then he suggested Kakashi as one of those suitable males for Iruka-sensei—

"—Okay. That explains Konohamaru," said Iruka, sounding more composed while still looking just as gobsmacked as before. "But how did you find out Naruto asked Hiruma for help?"

"Naruto told me."

"And Naruto told you willingly?"

Cue Eyes Demanding the Truth!

"…I kind of forced him," Kakashi confessed, despite his natural inclination to lie through his teeth.

"You forced him?" Iruka repeated, torn between admiration and outrage. Then he stopped. "Wait. You said nothing strange happened to you. And there wouldn't have been. Hiruma isn't stupid. But if that's the case, how did you figure out there was a plot brewing at all? Unless…"

Kakashi closed his eyes, hoping against hope…

"NARUTO TOLD YOU HE HAD A PLAN, DIDN'T HE?"

…Alas, his hopes were in vain. Truly and royally caught, Kakashi remained silent in his guilt. The Jounin's silence told Iruka all he wanted to know, and the result of that knowledge was terrible to behold.

"AND YOU LET HIM GO AHEAD!?" Iruka positively howled, "WHY!?"

"…I was curious," Kakashi explained, very lamely.

And that was it. Iruka snapped. Kakashi watched with morbid fascination as Iruka drew back his palm into a familiar stance. But rather than dodging the incoming Bato, Kakashi let Iruka have the shot. He deserved it, anyway…

I'm a fucking idiot, Kakashi decided as he sailed across the classroom. Then his head collided with the door and he blacked out.

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The first thing Kakashi noticed upon regaining consciousness was the smell of antiseptic and the sensation of his back pressing against a lumpy mattress. Now, if only Kakashi stopped there and didn't open his eyes to confirm whether he was in the Infirmary or not, he wouldn't have shot out of bed and landed in a crumpled heap head first. As it was, Kakashi's skull had to suffer twice. Worse, Iruka was there and saw the whole thing.

Sometimes, it really, really sucked to be him.

"You are the dumbest genius I know," Iruka declared as he put Kakashi back to bed.

"There are others?"

"Of course there are," Iruka inspected the huge lump on the back of Kakashi's head. Then he checked Kakashi's right eyeball. "It doesn't look like you're suffering brain damage," he said.

"Yippee," Kakashi grumbled as looked around, glaring at his surroundings. "Since when did the Academy stash weapons in the Infirmary?"

"Since last week. It's only temporary though. We'll move all the weapons once the old armory is fixed."

"Oh. Well. It would be nicer if you didn't hang swords on the ceiling, sharp-end down."

"Where is the fun in that?" Iruka said cheerfully. Then, on a more somber tone, he said: "But enough joking. We have a problem to address."

"Yes," Kakashi said morosely. "What are we going to do? You know how Hiruma is like. He's going to hound us until he get what he wants."

"Perhaps if we figure out his real objective, we'll know what to do," Iruka suggested.

"Good idea." Kakashi started thinking. "Is there a chance Hiruma is doing Naruto a favor?"

Iruka firmly shook his head. "Hiruma never does anything for free."

"…True," Kakashi sighed. "So, Naruto must have offered Hiruma a deal. Since he doesn't have any collateral, it must have been some kind of service."

Iruka clutched his head. "What kind of deal can a twelve-year-old Genin offer to THE most infamous underground boss of Niiminjin?"

Kakashi had a lot of ideas, but he didn't have the heart to voice them. "Whatever it is, I'm sure Naruto will tell us if we just ask."

"You think?" Iruka said dubiously. "Well, I guess it won't hurt to try. I'll ask him when he comes to the Missions Office this evening."

"I can ask him now. I know where he is." Kakashi started to get up.

Iruka pushed him back down. "Later," he said, with a voice and eyes that brooked no rebellion. "Knowing what kind of deal Naruto offered to Hiruma can only help us so much. We need to know what Hiruma has in store for us to counteract properly."

"You mean you want to make a backup plan in case we can't overturn Naruto's offer," Kakashi clarified.

"Yes." Glare, Iruka version.

"…Fine," Kakashi started thinking again. It was interesting, from a scientific point of view, that his brain was still functional despite the Influence. "I guess it all hangs on whether or not Hiruma is serious about turning us into a… an item."

"You think this matchmaking campaign might be a fluke to get us to talk?" Iruka asked, looking skeptical.

"It's possible," Kakashi argued. "that Hiruma is using Konohamaru as our primary matchmaker substantiates this idea. Certainly no one would take our predicament seriously if a nine-year-old is leading the matchmaking campaign. If anything, they'd reprimand the nine-year-old for having deviant ideas."

Iruka nodded. "You have a point. But…your theory doesn't explain Gai-sensei."

D'oh! Kakashi couldn't believe he forgot about Gai. But, "I doubt anyone would willingly manipulate Gai for their own purposes. But either way, we won't know for sure until Gai starts talking about the Spirit of Youth and Forgiveness and Love and whatever, and by then it would be too late."

Iruka nodded wordlessly. Both of them sat in silence, thinking.

Then Iruka's face lit up.

"You know, Kakashi-san, we might want to experiment."

Kakashi's ears perked. "What do you have in mind?"

"If Hiruma's plan ends with our reconciliation, then our visible show of reconciliation should end all efforts to 'bring us together'," Iruka said. "We don't have to be too obvious. You can just come over for dinner as usual, and Naruto can inform Hiruma."

Kakashi nodded, relieved in more ways than he could say. "And if the plan ends with a … liaison forming between you and me, then we can make contingency plans."

"One that doesn't involve assassinating civilians," Iruka added.

Damn it. I wanted to murder Hiruma. "Of course," Then Kakashi remembered they were in the middle of giving each other the silent treatment. "Eh, do you mind pretending?"

Iruka looked very amused. "I won't be pretending."

Kakashi blinked. "You're not angry at me?"

"I haven't been angry at you since the day of the meeting."

That shocked Kakashi. "But—"

"You've been preparing them ever since you came back from Wave Country, haven't you?" Iruka intercepted. "All those extra mission shifts you signed up for the last month, really, I should have seen it coming. Still, it would have been nice if you warned me before the meeting."

Kakashi just stared at Iruka. No way. No way was he getting off this easily.

"I need to resume class," Iruka said, changing the subject. "Let's talk more over dinner. In the meantime, why don't you go find Naruto?"

Kakashi nodded wordlessly, too drunk on mental vertigo to speak. But he was not so far gone as to forget he had publicly humiliated Iruka. Surely he had to pay the price for that. Whatever it was, Kakashi hoped it would be within his ability to provide.

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Kakashi hoped to recover from his mental vertigo once he left the Academy. Kakashi also expected his hopes to be dashed, slaughtered and brutalized once Naruto re-entered the picture.

In this case, Kakashi's expectations came true.

When Kakashi returned to the Shima District, he found Naruto cooking in the Sanitarium kitchens. The sight of the Genin working so quietly and obediently had disturbed Kakashi so much, he almost set himself on fire as he backed away and walked into a stove.

"You know, most adults like kids who are quiet and obedient," Naruto said, once he stopped laughing at his teacher.

"I am not one of those sad, sad adults," said Kakashi with dignity. "Speaking of which, if you do that meek-boy act in front of me one more time I'm punting you over Hell's Gate."

Naruto grinned.

"This doesn't mean you're banned from using manners," Kakashi was quick to add. "As a matter of fact, I liked your polite speech. Why don't you keep it?"

As expected, that horrified Naruto. "Hell, NOOOOO!" he howled.

"Oh, come on now, it can't be that bad," Kakashi chided, only half-seriously.

"It so can be that bad!" Naruto shouted. "It's awkward and weird and I'll sound like an old man!"

"And what's so wrong about that?"

"…You motherfucker, you want me to curse every other goddamn sentence, don't you?!"

Kakashi beamed. Thus satisfied at knowing Naruto was still the loud, irritatingly cute, rude-as-all-hell runt he knew, Kakashi went for the hunt in peace.

"What did you offer Hiruma in exchange for the plan?"

Naruto started at the question tossed out of the blue, and didn't recover quickly enough to hide his alarm. "I didn't offer Hiruma-san a deal," he said defensively.

He's trying to use Machiavellian logic against me. Awww… "What did he demand from you, then?"

Naruto scowled up at Kakashi. Kakashi glared down at Naruto…Deadlock.

This time, Naruto was the one who looked away. "I have to sing."

Kakashi lifted an eyebrow. "That's it?"

"Of course that's not just it," Naruto snarled. "I have to sing on a stage, before an audience, in front of a panel of goddamn judges!"

"Ah." Kakashi withheld his sadistic laughter. "So you have to participate in a singing contest."

"Audition," Naruto corrected.

Kakashi chuckled. "Whatever. I'm sure you'll be fine. It's not as if you can accept any offers while you're still a Genin."

"Yeah, that makes me feel sooo much better." Naruto crossed his arms and glared at Kakashi. "What about you? Do you have a counter plan, or are you just going to kill Hiruma-san and be done with it?"

"I did consider killing Hiruma. But," Kakashi sighed mournfully. "Seemingly law-abiding civilians are off-limits, even if they're underground overlords. So I'll be cooperating with Iruka-sensei instead."

A look of relief flashed across Naruto's face, followed by a visible sagging of shoulders. On the next look, Naruto's expression was as grouchy as ever.

"Finally," he grumped. "It took ya long enough."

Then he turned his face away to hide his wide grin.

Just a little bastard pretending to be macho, Kakashi thought fondly. But perhaps that was to be expected. For all his rudeness and manipulative tendencies, Naruto was quite sensitive and empathetic. Why else would he go the extra mile and try to reconcile his teachers?

"Yosh, once I'm done here, we can go shopping!" said Naruto, all pumped up now.

"Shopping?" Kakashi repeated.

"Grocery shopping," Naruto confirmed.

Kakashi lifted his eyebrow. "You're going to go wearing that?"

"Why not? My hair's not going to uncurl until the day after tomorrow, and I get better deals when I go out like this."

"You might get caught," Kakashi pointed out. You're getting too comfortable in that getup…

"I know." Naruto looked up. "But you'll be there and make sure nothing bad happens, right?"

Then he smiled, wide-eyed and innocent.

……

………

Holy goddamn fucking SHIT! Since when did Naruto acquire Iruka's Angel Eyes? Fuck it all to hell! I thought only Iruka was capable of having them…!

Damn it, this just wasn't his day.

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The rest of the afternoon progressed without an incident. That is to say, Naruto didn't get caught and Kakashi was not subject to the Influence again. But Kakashi's brain went on overdrive with questions that refused to be answered. By the time Naruto finished shopping and changed back to his regular orange outfit, there was figurative smoke coming out of Kakashi's ears.

Iruka picked up on Kakashi's clogged state of mind in one look.

"You look like you have a lot on your mind, Kakashi-san," he commented, as he let them in.

"I do have a lot of questions," said Kakashi.

Iruka smiled. "Let's start working on them, then."

So, while Naruto did unspeakable things inside Iruka's kitchen, Kakashi first reported Naruto's second identity to provide context. The discussion that followed answered a lot of questions Kakashi asked himself at one point or another, and then some.

"I am at a loss," Iruka said after Kakashi finished reporting. "On one hand, I want to praise Naruto for being so determined to do what is good. On the other hand, I want to pound some people senseless for forcing Naruto into using subterfuge in order to do what is good."

"Do the former. There are too many people to massacre to do the latter," said Kakashi.

"You're planning on taking care of the latter yourself, aren't you?" Iruka correctly guessed. Then he sighed. "Normally, I'd give you my blessings, but now I must ask you to refrain."

"Why?"

"Naruto suffers nervous breakdowns after someone avenges him behind his back."

A short pause fell between the two teachers.

"Okay," Kakashi said, putting aside his utter disbelief for the moment. "Disregarding the unlikelihood of Naruto of the Iron Senses having the capability of having nervous breakdowns, AND assuming he has the ability to figure out if someone avenged him behind his back, why would he have a nervous breakdown for such a reason?"

"I only have a hypothesis on the why," said Iruka. "But I assure you, Naruto is capable of having nervous breakdowns. He had one five days ago, as a matter of fact."

Kakashi didn't know that. "What happened?"

"Let's just say Lee and Gai-sensei witnessed injustice at the marketplace."

"…Oh," Kakashi shuddered. "So what is your hypothesis, sensei?"

Iruka started rubbing the back of his neck. "Ever since I failed to answer Sasuke's question on why he's having so much trouble learning Heavy Chakra, I've been reviewing the notes the previous Masters left behind. I haven't found anything on that yet, but I found something interesting."

"And that is?"

"According to the Third Master, those who have a sufficient amount of refined Heavy Chakra can either become hypersensitive receivers or transmitters of human emotions."

Kakashi blinked a good number of times. Then he took a deep, calming breath.

"Let me get this straight," Kakashi started. "You're suggesting Naruto might have gained the ability to perceive other people's emotions via Heavy Chakra."

Iruka nodded.

"So whenever someone avenges Naruto without his knowledge and he encounters the 'victim' afterwards, Naruto is able to feel the resentment and anger directed towards him. This bombardment of negative emotions is the cause of Naruto's nervous breakdowns."

Nod.

"And this is the real nature of Naruto's preternatural perception, and your ability to influence other people's emotions."

Nod.

Kakashi dropped his face into his hands. "So that's why he can do it too…"

"Who can do what too?" Iruka asked.

Kakashi told him of Naruto's acquisition of Iruka's Angel Eye (Technique) and his possible willful use.

"…So he can do it too," said Iruka, dazed. "The world trembles."

Kakashi nodded empathetically. "But it supports your theory."

"Yes," Iruka blushed. "It also explains your growing immunity against the Umino Effect."

"…The Umino Effect?" Kakashi repeated as his mind gleefully hijacked his brain to run over the full implications of the term. Then he noticed something. "Wait. You mean I'm well on my way to gain full immunity from the Influence like Naruto?"

"It's likely," Iruka confirmed.

Kakashi actually thanked God for a full second.

"Okay. So that explains one of Naruto's strange abilities," said Kakashi, a lot happier now. "But why does he have immunity against your influence, but powerless against the negative emotions emitted from other people?"

"Well, that's the hole in my theory…"

"DINNER'S READY!"

Thus the discussion was interrupted, and the counter measures were not discussed. But Kakashi figured, since it was a bit early in the game, and Naruto wouldn't be in the running once he entered the Chuunin exams, they could afford to wait and observe a little longer.

Kakashi had no idea how wrong he was.

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TBC
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