Hatake Kakashi had not had a good couple of months. In between the council sending him and his genin team (minus Naruto) on mission after mission, he himself had been sent on high ranked missions, several of them. It was almost as though the third thought he would seek out Naruto and attempt to teach him during his off time. That thought caused a snort of amusement to escape Kakashi, causing Sakura to look curiously at him.
As if he would be that stupid!
He had left a training regime for Naruto to follow, along with several techniques for his favorite blond in a hidden place, and made sure that Naruto had gotten the hint to look for it before he left.
He looked at the two genin in walking back to the village in front of him. 'At least these two have gotten better.' He thought,, the only compensation for what he had been forced to do.
Sasuke, while still an arrogant imbecile, had had most of the overwhelming arrogance knocked out of him in a near-death encounter. Even his awakening of the Sharingan did not return that arrogance. The way he was now was a cocky child who was mostly sure of his power, and Kakashi was forced to admit that the boy was quite skilled, easily low chunin. Kakashi still didn't like him, but at least he was better now.
On the other hand, Sasuke's increased skills turned out to be a problem for Sakura. While Kakashi had been able to force her to learn chakra control, she still showed no interest in increasing her shinobi skills. Sure, she was a budding medic thanks to his continued hounding, but in the middle of a battle? She forgot all she learned and screeched encouragement to Sasuke.
Okay, perhaps he was being a bit judgmental. She no longer did that. She had to begin with though! Well, she no longer screeched encouragement, though if Sasuke got as much as a scratch she screamed his name, and not in a good way either. She was typically useless in the actual fight as well, but at least he had given her the ability to patch the other two up afterwards. Sasuke seemed to need it quite a bit, as every fight he got in he seemed to get injured somehow.
Granted, the boy had a habit of picking fights with those stronger than him, but still!
Because of all this, it was with no small amount of relief that Kakashi saw the gates and remembered the date, just three days away from the Chunin exams. No more missions! Time to relax with his beloved Icha Icha, and make sure that Naruto was not having any last minute problems. Kakashi was feeling somewhat guilty, but his guilt was assuaged when he remembered that he had left instructions for the Rasengan so Naruto could learn about it.
He nodded to Kotetsu and Izumo, the eternal chunin gate guards, and dismissed his two genin, shunshinning to the Kage's office to deliver his report.
~Break~
Naruto knew something was going to happen as soon as he got up that morning, still in recovery from the extreme training he had gone through. He had been summoned to the Hokage's office by an ANBU, and it made him uneasy. He armed himself, ready for war, and summoned his familiar, Takami, and with the young hawk providing cover from above he left. He smiled a little as he remembered how the two met.
Takami had been incredibly curious as to why there were a bunch of humans on the mountain of the hawks, and had approached the closest clone. Through the young hawk's stubbornness, he had made friends with Naruto and was now Naruto's preferred summon. Already the two's collaboration jutsu were more powerful than most of the other hawks, and Takami was always training to make them even stronger.
He entered the office and saw a face, well, mask, which he had not seen for several months. Kakashi was there, and he seemed oddly serious.
Kakashi watched with no small amount of horror as he saw Naruto walk in. The blond had changed a great deal in just a few months.
A few inches taller now, he wore the same clothes, except now his Haori had a hawk on each shoulder along with the Kyuubi on the back. However, what really caught attention were the scars on him. The first thing was the vertical scar over his left eye, the eyelid revealing the full scar when he blinked. Fortunately it seemed the eye itself was not damaged, so that was some small amount of luck. Another scar started at his neck and trailed down into his shirt, cutting off view of it, and a third was horizontal on his neck, right where his larynx was supposed to be.
He observed the several smaller scars on the boys hands, and came to the rather obvious conclusion that he had been attacked during the time Kakashi was away. Guilt crashed through him as he saw the caution the boy was displaying, not even bothering to hide the fact that he knew that ANBU were there as everyone else did as he walked over to a wall and leaned against it, gloved right hand on the hilt of his ninjato.
The only thing that briefly relived it was the nod the blond gave him, but Kakashi sunk right back into the guilt, worrying Naruto slightly. However, before Naruto could find out what was wrong, the Third started speaking.
"Ah, Naruto, you're just in time. I called you here because of the chunin exams taking place in three days. You are intending to participate I hope?" Naruto's eyes focused on the aged Fire Shadow, noticing the malicious glint in his eye that clearly said 'do this or suffer.' Knowing that he had no choice in the matter, he nodded.
"Good. Now, I trust that you are quite willing to look out for your teammates during this turbulent time." Another poorly veiled message. 'Look after the Uchiha or I will see to it that you regret it.' Another nod was the man's answer, causing him to frown slightly. He looked towards Kakashi, expecting the man to reprimand Naruto on his lack of respect, but the masked jonin was conveniently reading his little orange book at the moment, seemingly dead to the world. In truth the man was worried that Naruto was unable to speak, seeing as he had usually at least answered the man before.
A sigh preceded Naruto's dismissal, followed swiftly by Kakashis. The silver haired man swiftly caught up to his favorite student, before bombarding him with questions to a slight, amused gleam in Naruto's eye.
"Naruto, what happened to you? How did you get those scars? Can you speak? Oh, please tell me you can still speak…Naruto?!" The blond boy raised a hand to calm the older man, unintentionally increasing his anxiety until he spoke.
"I'm fine Kakashi." Relieved, but still curious, the man continued to ply him with questions as the two walked to a popular barbeque restaurant. A slight smirk lit Naruto's features as he took the opportunity to eat out for the first time in his life.
"I will answer all your questions Kakashi, but first you need to pay for a lunch for us." Once again relieved, but also slightly irritated at the condition, Kakashi nearly dragged Naruto into the restaurant, nearly killing the man who tried to kick them out with his glare alone. They ordered, and as soon as the waiter stumbled away, scared out of ten years of life, Kakashi leveled that formidable glare on Naruto.
"Explain."
That one word was filled with everything Kakashi was feeling, frustration, fear, guilt, and a great deal of irritation. Naruto was once again amused as he realized that despite Kakashi's lazy, I-care-for-nothing attitude, when something happened to someone he cared for, he was a mother hen. He decided to put the man out of his misery by giving him a judiciously edited summary of his time away from the man.
"I spent this entire time training. Needless to say, I am quite a bit stronger. I have developed many techniques and mastered the others, learned the special jutsu that you left me, and I have nearly finished it." That took Kakashi's entire mind off of what he had previously been focused on to stare incredulously at the blond in front of him. The boy nodded in conformation.
"Beyond that, there was really just a lot of elemental training." Kakashi's eye hardened, looking at the boy with a very stern glare.
"And how did you get those scars?" A slight smirk crossed the boys face before he answered.
"The one over my eye was a blade; I barely managed to dodge it enough to keep my eye. The one over my neck was a wind jutsu. I would have died if not for the Kyuubi. The one on my torso was a day I got tortured, and they attempted to carve my lungs out. Why they needed to slit my stomach down the middle I have no idea." Kakashi was staring, horrified, at the boy.
"I'm just screwing with you Kakashi. The three were actually training accidents where I tried to manipulate a jutsu I wasn't ready for." The horror lessened, but he was still curious as to what jutsu could do that sort of damage, but realized that Naruto would tell him if he wanted to.
The two finished their meal, Naruto taking great pleasure in sitting where every customer could see him, causing most of the civilians to leave the restaurant.
After the meal the two headed to a training ground, Kakashi wanting to test just how far Naruto had come, stopping only to get Kakashi's ANBU-issue Tanto, so that he would be a bit better off against Naruto's ninjato.
~Break~
A light wind blew across a clearing, tousling the blond hair of a boy, standing in a ready position, left arm partially extended in front of him and right hand resting on the hilt of his ninjato. Across from him was a silver haired man, tanto out and held in his right hand, left hand clenched at his side.
As though an invisible force said "Go!" the pair vanished, clangs and grunts ringing through the clearing.
Naruto blocked a slash from Kakashi; easily running his blade down the older man's and nearly removing a finger, stopped only by the swift disengagement. The boy went on the offensive, several lightning quick slashes pushing back the inferior swordsmen, and he kept the momentum.
Kakashi was already on the run, not even five minutes into the fight, barely blocking a series of slashes, a thrust nicking his side. Running chakra through his body for a burst of speed, he managed to palm the ground and kick Naruto into the air, appearing underneath the now flying boy and preparing to stab him.
Only to find his blade clashing with nothing as foot planted itself onto his face, the spinning boy recovering far faster than Kakashi had thought the two landing on the ground and swiftly continuing the fight, neither side allowing the other to have a moment's breath.
Kakashi's blade met Naruto's, the sparks proving a good backdrop for their dance of death. Blade met blade, again and again, the pair slashing and stabbing at each other in movements to fast for the normal eye to see. The two blades clashed again, unlike the others this became a test of strength, the pair holding each other at bay in a blade lock. Kakashi eye smiled at the blond before grunting out.
"You've…improved quite a…bit…Naruto. However…Kai!" The man had taken the moment to form a one-handed seal and releasing the weight seals on him, the new speed allowing him to knee Naruto in the gut, but the Naruto he kicked burst into Sakura petals at the same time a kick connected with his face.
Flipping around, Kakashi removed his forehead protector, revealing the famous Sharingan as he landed. "Very nice Naruto, you've gotten quite a bit better. However, there's no way that this is it. Show me more." He urged, his desire for a good fight coming out. Naruto smirked, kneeling and stabbing his blade into the ground, removing a set of anklets and bracelets before putting them on the ground. "Let's go, Hatake!"
The fight, already intense, kicked up to kage level.
A stab rocketed towards Naruto at the same time as a fist flew towards his head, naruto shifting into a sideways stance as his hand hit the flat of Kakashi's blade and his head leaned forward just enough to miss the fist, elbowing Kakashi in the ribs, the man's own momentum causing several ribs to crack.
Kakashi's outstretched hand grabbed the side of Naruto's head, slamming it into the ground hard enough to leave a dent in the ground. A palm hit the ground, Naruto continuing the battle despite the ringing in his ears and he slammed his heel into Kakashi's cheek, using the momentum to flip into the air, using the moment to use the first jutsu of the battle with a muttered "Doton: Ryuusha no jutsu! (Quicksand skill)"
A pool of quicksand appeared underneath Kakashi's stumbling feet, around four feet in diameter, even as Naruto slammed his foot onto Kakashi's braced arms, flipping back off just in time to avoid the retaliatory slash from the Tanto, but the damage was done, as Kakashi was nearly up to his calves in the quicksand.
He looked down after creating a shadow clone that took Naruto's attention, using an earth jutsu to meld right down into the quicksand, reappearing on the side of the patch of sand. He smirked at Naruto, who had easily defeated the clone.
"You want make this a jutsu fight? Well then…" his smirk turned evil. "Let's do it. Raiton: Jiten Rakou Dangan! (Spinning lightning shot)" A ball of lightning formed on his hand, spinning lightly as the electricity crackled around Kakashi's entire body, only his own lightning chakra protecting him from it. He threw it at Naruto at high speeds, the bolts already striking near Naruto.
"Katon: Goenkyu! (Blaze Ball)" A fiery ball the size of a meteor blasted from Naruto's mouth, obliterating the lightning jutsu and carrying on towards Kakashi, who leaped over it. A grin cracked across Naruto's face.
"Right where I want you."
Kakashi had no time to react as Naruto said "Geppou! (moon walk)" and with a blue wave exiting his feat he leapt into the air, moving as fast as he did on the ground, reaching Kakashi in just a second, slicing into his arm while grabbing the other one and whirling the man underneath him. "It's over."
He somersaulted in mid-air, giving Kakashi's stomach an incredibly powerful heel drop, slamming the older man into the ground with the sound of cracking bone, right before an incredibly loud "BOOM!" rushed through the clearing.
He landed lightly on the ground, facing away from the crater and towards the woods, watching as an injured Kakashi walked out. The older man eye-smiled at him, before saying "I think that's quite enough Naruto. If this keeps going any further we'll wind up actually hurting each other, and that will not do either of us any good, seeing as neither of us were at full strength to begin with. I think we can call this a draw." Naruto smiled at him, the first one Kakashi had seen, before nodding.
The pair gathered up their equipment, talking and laughing, heading off to bond over the course of the day and the night.