A/N: Thank you Veloren and fermontie for pointing out the spelling/grammar errors on the last chapter. Feel free to continue doing so (and that applies to everyone who wants to).
Chapter 14: Tests
Kenji Yamada was an unremarkable boy. He was probably one of those kids who you would have to look twice on the Academy photograph just to make sure he was really there. He was what one would call nondescript.
He had brown hair (like a third of the class), average height, and really, he was dressed in common, standard shinobi-ware. He was not in any clans. His grades themselves never made it past average. Kenji, frankly, did not stand out. He was practically invisible to the class; he was someone who you'd normally only talk to in the mornings when you gave your classmates their courtesy 'Good morning'.
One minute he was here, blink, and the next he was gone. And no questions raised because his presence hadn't even properly registered in anyone's minds.
No one seemed to notice how Kenji seemed to be that extra face in their class who skipped out on all the exams their Chunin teacher gave them, or mysteriously disappeared whenever they had taijutsu practice.
That was not to say Kenji was stupid. No, he was a brilliant boy.
Why, Kenji could've easily been top of the class and taken shinobi of the year! But grades weren't important to him. Heck, he wasn't even officially registered in the class. All he was here for was a test – a challenge, and no one was any wiser, the little Chunin teacher included.
Kenji Yamada was just another face in the crowd, too drab and plain for anyone to notice – in fact, he was remarkably similar to other fleeting figures who'd cropped up in unusual rotations within the last months. Kagaru Shinto, Shime Tarou, Miru Okaname, Kiru Nagame, to name a few. They'd done everything from slipping into the crowd to tailing shinobi of various ranks.
All without anyone being any wiser (with the occasional too-close-for-comforts, of course).
And that was how Kakashi knew that his skills were still up to par (well, stealth at least), despite his physical appearance. Oh the uses of Shadow Clones and Henges.
Kenji was Kakashi's last experiment, slipped into the Academy like he'd always belonged there.
In fact, it was almost odd being in that place after Kakashi had refused his acceptance into the institution. Sure the Jounin-turned-boy swore off the Academy, but that didn't mean he wasn't still training on his own. The Academy took too much time and patience. The painfully slow, step-wise procedure of becoming a great ninja was not something Kakashi could suffer through again.
He was a Jounin; he'd been in Anbu; heck, he'd been temporary Hokage. There was only so much he would take from the coddling he knew the adults would put upon him. And don't get him started on all the whole 'you're too young' spew that Kakashi knew he would be receiving. Even when he was thirteen and receiving his rank as Jounin, they never stopped. He would never get anything done that way.
Plus, now he could spend as much time as he wanted with his dad. It was a win-win situation if you asked him.
There was no reason why he needed to be an official shinobi of Konoha. There was no reason to be acknowledged as a prodigy. The adults would only restrain him - watch him more closely. Kakashi didn't need that.
But don't mistake that as staying away from the action, oh no. Kakashi was more than happy, more than willing to risk it all for Konoha and his friends. He could not, and would not watch his home fall into destruction once again.
And so, with this test labeled as a success, Kakashi knew he was ready to step up his game.
Pakkun was right. He was being too lazy; sometimes determination alone was not able to change things. He needed to act. Especially if he was going to obtain that ideal future he was so looking forward to.