Akio slowly began regaining awareness of his surroundings. He sat up and rubbed his eyes and looked around at the clear white room. "Where am I?" he muttered
"Konoha's hospital" Kakashi answered and Akio turned towards the source of the sound. He saw Jiraya sitting on the opposite bed with bandages decorating him from head to toe yet was smiling at him like an idiot.
There was a blonde boy sitting in chair next to him with a look of curiosity on his face as he stared at Akio. He had whisker like marks on his cheeks and had icy blue eyes. Akio guessed him to be Naruto, the Kyyubi kid.
Finally, Kakashi was leaning on the wall next to the boy. He advanced towards Akio and handed him a glass of water
Akio muttered his thanks and gulped the whole thing down.
"Sorry about the trouble" Jiraya kept his idiotic grin in place
"It's fine" Akio replied with a small smile "Did you manage to kill Pein?"
"Actually you did" Jiraya answered smirking at Akio's surprised look "That mini ball of doom or whatever sort of destroyed his body from the inside as your chakra destroyed everything it contacted with"
Naruto's eyes widened in amazement. "That's AWESOME!" he yelled as he pumped a fist into the air
"This is a hospital" Kakashi said with a hint of annoyance in his voice
"Sorry sensei" Naruto held up his hands in defeat "Got excited that's all" and he proceeded to rub the back of his head, a habit he picked up from Kakashi and Shikamaru.
"You must be Naruto?" Akio smiled friendly
"Hai!" Naruto answered enthusiastically "I'm going to become Hokage one day and surpass all the previous ones"
"Do you have to say that every time you introduce yourself" Jiraya laughed
"I have to let people know they are in the presence of a great future Hokage" Naruto gleefully answered.
"And I thought Kakashi was a migraine" Akio mumbled loud enough for everybody to hear
Jiraya let out a bark of laughter while Kakashi glared at Akio and Naruto, as usual, was confused
"How was the training anyhow?" Jiraya asked
"What can I say…" Akio sighed as if in deep thought
"What training?" Naruto shouted "Tell me what's going on"
"Well you see, Naruto" Jiraya began "Kakashi is training under Akio and…"
"WAIT!" Naruto turned to Kakashi "You abandoned my training to go train yourself! No fair you're strong as it is I'm the one that needs training" he pointed an accusing finger at him
"Kakashi?" Akio asked in disbelief "Strong?" and he began laughing as if Naruto said some kind of joke
"It's not my fault you're insanely strong and almost everybody compared to you is weak" Kakashi grumbled
Naruto was shocked. Somebody actually said that his sensei, the Copy ninja, sharingan Kakashi, was weak??
"Seriously, Akio" Jiraya smiled "How is he?"
"I'm right here you know" Kakashi pointed out
Akio smiled as his laughter died out "Ah yes, he's… average"
"Average?" Kakashi was annoyed by the word used. He was used to being called a genius all his life and Akio comes by and considers him average. Well it is from Akio so he should regard it as a compliment
"Really?" Jiraya was amused
"Kakashi sensei is really smart" Naruto commented "Who do you think you are to say otherwise?"
Kakashi smiled at his student and chuckled. Naruto in turn turned around confused as to why.
"Naruto" Kakashi answered his unspoken question "Akio is stronger than Jiraya, being average in his book is actually being strong"
Naruto took a second to comprehend what was said to him than folded his arms "I still think he shows off"
Akio smiled at Naruto and was interested in his personality. He was defiantly exciting to be around.
The door opened as Tsunade and Sakura stepped inside.
"I see you're awake" Tsunade smiled.
Akio was shocked to see her looking exactly the same way she did around thirty years ago. "Let me guess" Akio said "Aging jutsu"
Tsunade nodded as she checked over some charts while Sakura stood next to Naruto and whispered "Is this Jiraya's friend?"
Naruto nodded "his name is Akio and he's been training Kakashi sensei"
"Really?" Sakura was surprised
"Yeah" Naruto replied seriously "He called sensei average"
"He must be really strong then" Sakura guessed
"Obviously" came Jiraya's reply as both teenagers jumped
"Having a conversation in a room full of skilled shinobi is not the best idea if you want it to be a secret" Akio commented "Although Kakashi isn't really that skilled"
"Now you're just messing with me" Kakashi glared at Akio
Akio smirked at him while Sakura stood there just as confused as Naruto was before
"Alright , can you leave so I can have a private discussion with Akio and Jiraya" Tsunade ordered
Naruto and Sakura nodded glad to escape this weird environment and were surprised to see Kakashi follow them out
"Sensei?" Sakura asked
Kakashi hnned as they exited the hospital. It was nice to be outside again. Children were running around with fake swords oblivious to the world around them
"Why didn't you stay?" she asked
"She clearly said she wanted to talk to Jiraya and Akio" Kakashi shrugged in response as they began walking towards the ramen shop
"Now that I think about it" Sakura thought "Tsunade sama, Jiraya sama and Akio sama must see Kakashi as a kid too. Jiraya and Tsunade were already in their late twenties when Kakashi was born. Akio must be very old as well considering he lived through the second shinobi war. The difference in their age is more than the difference between us and Kakashi sensei. Not to mention all of them are incredibly strong. And if Akio is training Kakashi sensei then he is probably incredibly skilled as well"
"Sakura!" Naruto waved his hands in front of her to gain her attention. That seemed to work because Sakura snapped back to reality "Are you alright?" Naruto asked loudly
"Oh sorry" she laughed nervously "Lost in my thoughts"
Naruto seemed to accept the answer and proceeded to talk about Ichiruka's menu. "For breakfast, Ichiruka has this ramen with ….
"How many times to I have to tell you it's not healthy to only eat ramen" Sakura scolded
"It's the best" Naruto answered "How can you not have ramen?"
"I think we'll manage without ramen for a few days" Kakashi answered as they stepped into the stand
"More like months" Sakura added
Naruto fell down from his chair "No ramen…. For a month?"
Sakura shook her head in dismay and ordered some miso ramen.
"So how's your training, Kakashi sensei?" Sakura asked no longer able to hide her curiosity
"Just like any other" Kakashi answered
"DAMN IT! Sensei never gives a good answer" Inner Sakura yelled
"But if it's from somebody as strong as ero senin he must be teaching you something cool" Naruto answered his mouth dripping with noodles
"Close your mouth when you speak!!" Sakura hit him on the head. When they turned around Kakashi had already finished his meal
"I guess" Kakashi shrugged as he pushed the bowl away from him
"How about we go to our training field and spar a little?" Naruto suggested as he continued to eat his fifth bowl
"That sounds great!" Sakura nodded in acceptance and they turned to Kakashi to get his answer
"Um.. well" Kakashi thought about it. He wanted to go to Jiraya and ask him about his plans. Then again a little spar wouldn't hurt.
"Alright" he finally answered
"How's Jiraya sama" asked the old man as he handed Kakashi the bill how sighed at the amount of money he owed him
"He's fine" Naruto answered as he jumped down from his chair and rubbed his stomach "Nothing stops him!"
"KAKASHI!!" A chunin yelled as he made his way around the crowd
Kakashi paid the bill and waiting from the chunin to catch his breath
"Saratobi Asuma" the chunin finally said "is dead"
Everybody's eyes widened at the news
"No way" Sakura whispered already feeling sorry for her rival, Ino
"All jounins are too meet in Tsunade sama's office" the chunin reported and jumped away
Images of his smoking idiot of a friend filled him up with dread and he remembered the first time he met him
FLASHBACK
A five year old Kakashi was sitting outside the Hokage's office waiting for his father to finish his discussion. His dad had promised him to take him out for dinner and Kakashi always looked forward to spend time with his father since he is always away on missions
"What are you doing here kid?" a brown haired kid asked as he pointed at Kakashi. He looked to be older than himself by only two years or so
"You're a kid as well, idiot" Kakashi replied
The kid seemed unfazed "I'm the son of the Hokage, Saratobi Asuma" he announced proudly
"Hatake Kakashi" Kakashi replied as Asuma sat down next to him
"The white fang's your father?" he asked
"Doesn't the silver hair give it away?" Kakashi asked annoyed
Asuma laughed "What are you doing here anyways?"
"I'm waiting for my dad to finish his meeting" Kakashi answered "It's been an hour and a half"
"I'm waiting for dad as well" Asuma stated "He's always busy, it's so unfair"
"I know what you mean" Kakashi mumbled
"Guess that's the price to pay to having are parents such strong shinobi in the middle of a war" Asuma sighed as he joined his hand at the back of his head and laid back
A shinobi with black short hair passed them as he went down the corridor. He seemed shocked to see two little kids sitting in front of the Hokage's office. The smoke from his cigarette lingered in the halls
Kakashi started coughing while Asuma took in the smell
"Isn't it cool?" he asked "Smoking I mean"
"Cool?" Kakashi asked in disbelief "I think it's unhealthy and suffocating"
"Nah" Asuma answered in his laid back attitude "I think it cool. Once I'm fifteen I'm going to buy some"
"Why wait till fifteen?" Kakashi asked
"Because there is an age limitation" Asuma replied nonchalantly "Besides its not cool on a seven year old now is it?"
"You're weird" Kakashi replied
"You're the one with silver hair and a mask" Asuma retorted "DO you have a deformed face or something?"
"No I don't" Kakashi shook his head "It makes me more terrifying as a ninja"
"You should take the forehead protector off by the way" Asuma advised "People nowadays don't take kindly to kids plying ninjas"
"I'm not playing" Kakashi growled "I'm a genin"
Asuma started laughing uncontrollably "You..." he pointed at Kakashi while rubbing away a tear "a ninja?"
"Age doesn't determine skill!" Kakashi shouted annoyed. He hated the fact that people over underestimated him because of his age
"Whatever you say" Asuma held up his hands in defeat while sniggering
"I'll prove it" Kakashi was unconvinced of Asuma's acceptance
"Create five bunshin and I'll believe ya" Asuma smiled
Kakashi didn't waste time to perform the seal "Bunshin jutsu. After the smoke cleared, seven replicas of a cute silver haired seven year old were smirking
"No way" Asuma stared in awe
"Now you believe me?" Kakashi grinned
"Hai" Asuma smiled returning to his normal self as the bunshins disappeared once more
"Asuma…" Kakashi thoughts trailed as he left for Tsunade's office