AN: I'm so sorry for the very late update guys ;A; I had a row with my parents last week and I didn't have much time focusing on the chapter. Anyway as an apology I made this chapter long and long as in 15K+ words, so bear with my eccentricities I need to squeeze ten snippets in this. Also, wow! Twenty plus reviews!? I'm in heaven O_o

Robert Sage= Jiraiya
Samantha Glass= Tsunade
Maru= Orochimaru
Sherry Blossom= Sakura
Might Daimon= Might Dai
Harold Chequer= Asuma
Sophie Zanne= Anko
Krista Scarlet= Kurenai
Shizu Nekato= Shizune
Enma Nadel= Genma
Tobias Uchiha= Obito
Yan Li= Rock Lee
Arma Diez= Ten2x
Reyn Honora= Rin

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.


Snippet 21: List (Thirteen Months)

Harry Hennison snapped out of his internal musings when his older twin pulled his earphones out. Turning on his right, he saw the frown on his brother's features and blinked in bafflement. Henry was calm and would rarely resort to any physical way of warranting a person's attention, so Harry is very concerned what pushed his brother to do that.

"Brother?" he asked, raising a brow.

"The List came out." Henry said in a flat tone and held out his FlatPad.

'The List' was, well...a list, that contained all the top students in each year and other commendable achievers. It was one of the things that they always looked forward to see on the first day of class. Ever since they started in Elementary, their names would always be in that list. They maintained their record to be always within the top three and so their prowess in academic excellence had grown fame. It was this reason why they were mostly chosen to enter the interschool competitions and they had, more than often, won first place.

However, that achievement was small compared to what their target was. Every five years the school would present the public of the most accomplished students within that timeline. This held more importance than winning a competition, since the List would be available to the public.

It was a way for the school to show that their 'products' are 'high-grade', some would say that this was a breach of privacy, but to the students it was a chance for them to 'advertise' themselves. While finding a job is not a difficulty in this era- due to connections- there were rare cases that big companies or organizations sought future employees that already fit in their description.

Take Nara Shika for example. Son of the owner of the CustomBot Industries, a company that customizes bots and other technology, they were also said to be partners with the FireLeaf Robotic Corporations. But back to Nara, the teen was currently a second year highschool, a genius and had won numerous Chess competitions. The teen held the title of Grand Champion in Chess in their city, and because of that, his name was written on The List.

Only a month after The List was available to the public, the EyeSecure Federation (kinda like the FBI) had caught his name and made an impromptu visit. No one was sure what had happened but rumors -or the fact- said that Nara Shika had manage to reserve a spot on one of their departments and would be immediately trained after he graduated High School.

That, was one of the many reasons why Harry and Henry set their goal to be in that List. The doors of opportunities would be open for them and the key, was for their name to be on that list.

Harry scrolled through the names, pass through the list of top tens and into The List. There were only three categories; Academic, Sports and Sui Generis. The first two were self explanatory, having twenty names at most, but the latter category would rarely appear and only has ten or sometimes five names in them.

Sui Generis, were mostly composed of geniuses of their own right, from different subjects and up until to the talents they had. The information for them were small but notable nonetheless.

He was about to touch the list for the Academics when Henry shook his head.

"We're not on the list." Henry muttered.

"Oh." Harry offered with a tone of disappointment. "Then why did you prompt me?"

"I want you to see this." his older twin said and touched the S.G. List.

Harry blinked and looked at the three names, when he saw the last one he quickly understood why his brother was in bad mood.

"That brat is in the list?" he seethed as he read the 'superfluous' yet short description of Kakashi H.

It is one thing to be trumped up by genius but everything is different when a traditionalist trumped them. For years the sought to be in that list and here come a traditionalist who only had- finished only one school year- managed to get his name in. The fact that the masked kid was only seven and in middle school wasn't recalled by his mind.

"This is preposterous." Harry added with a sneer.

"Indeed it is." Henry said just as darkly. "First the prank and then this!?"

"They were innocent, brother." Harry mulled as he shivered at the memory of having such colorful hair, being blond didn't helped them from washing away the residues.

"I beg to differ, it was definitely Hatake who pranked us." his twin replied and clenched his fist. "That was an insult enough, but taking our rightful place in that list is an outrage."

"Should we do anything about this?" he asked.

"Unfortunately, we have nothing against him..." Henry sighed and suddenly his lips held a smirk "But that doesn't mean we can't put anything against him."

"...Are you implying that..." he trailed off as something clicked in his mind.

"Yes."


Snippet 22: Mechanic? (Fourteen months)

Kakashi sniffed the air as he let the bells hit softly against the door. The ringing sound was familiar in his ears, but the bursting odor of grease and oil mingling with the smell of paperbacks were new. He looked at the counter and saw that it was empty, he shrugged at the lack of the snake sannin's counterpart and moved directly towards his favorite isle.

The sight of the smut challenged his perseverance, though he manage to temper it in, after he remembered a certain someone's literature. Who knew that Jiraiya's love for that romance lived on with his counterpart? It honestly surprised him that Robert was writing, the technique was new and somewhat odd, but Kakashi pegged it as being translated and as far as he compared, the plot was nearly similar.

He was nearly an hour in the isle and Maru was nowhere to be seen, strange. The red haired man would always come out minutes after the bell rang.

Curiosity bugged him more than his love for novellas and Kakashi decided that it was time to snoop around. The shop is the only place he had gone in and even with a year long of knowing the man, Kakashi only knew that Maru was the owner of this shop and had some other job if the dirty attire has anything to say. Though Kakashi has no idea what it is.

Dropping his selection- not the rated ones mind you- as he passed the counter and pushed the back door open. He had thought that he would be greeted by the dark dank place that Orochimaru used to theme his space, but thankfully that trait was not passed over in this world.

The hallway that greeted him were...well, homey. It was a stark contrast than what he had expected and Kakashi was really liking Maru by the second as he saw the pictures on the wall and the figurines on some of the cabinets.

He heard a clatter of metals down the hallway, breaking the comfortable silence. A string of curses echoed after and Kakashi gave an amuse snort when he recognized the owner of the voice. He turned right on the corner and saw an opened door that showed a garage of sorts, small machineries and other work tools were scatted everywhere.

The second he exited the house, he saw the lower half of Maru's body poking out underneath of a car, and by the look of the dents and rusts on the vehicle, Kakashi knew that it was an old version of the cars he saw in the city. A screech of metal sounded and he saw a metal tube of sorts being pushed out just beside the man's thigh.

"...Stupid customer...didn't fucking told me about that..." a low grumbled sounded from the man.

Kakashi tilted his head at the side in amusement and heard a squeaking sound from under the car, soon followed by another batch of complaints. A similar sound of metal being dragged out followed seconds after as another object was pushed out, this time it was a box with a lot of wires peeking out from it's exterior.

"Maa, so you work with cars ne, Maru?" Kakashi commented.

"Yes and all other-"

Kakashi winced in sympathy as he heard the familiar sound of head hitting a metal. A very colorful and detailed curses followed as he watch Maru flail his legs on the floor. After seconds of struggling, the man slid out of his hiding, nursing his head as he glared at him.

"Yo." he greeted with an eye-smile.

"Yo, yourself." Maru muttered. "A warning would be appreciated, kid."

"Maa, you're preoccupied." Kakashi shrugged and watched as the man stood up, smudging grease on his clothes carelessly as he tried to clean his hand.

"Preoccupied my-" Maru stopped before he could said the word, instead the man sighed. "So, I see that you're back to school." the man said and gestured at his uniform with a look.

"Yep." Kakashi nodded as he scanned the tools and displays by the table, his mind began to whirl with ideas as he saw the machineries and cutting tools in the -admittedly- wide garage. "I'm back being a regular customer. Though, I never thought of you being a Mechanic."

"Was the attire not enough of a clue?" Maru deadpanned.

"Nope, it was more of a homeless guy- or something along that line." Kakashi chuckled and ducked away from the thrown wench.

"Brat." Maru grumbled.

"Maa, but really I'm surprised to know your side job...or was it the other way around?" he asked tilted his head at the side and saw a lot of scrap metals by the opening.

"Doesn't matter." the man huffed as he retied his hair. "As long as it put food in my stomach."

"Point." Kakashi agreed and inspected the small scraps on one of the tables and inspected the material.

"Let's get back to the shop, I expected you the day before yesterday but you didn't appear." Maru started, stretching his limbs as he walked toward the door. "Now that I think of it, you're pretty early today."

"Schedule." Kakashi answered, his P.E. Was thankfully still in the TTh days but unfortunately it was scheduled in the afternoon. That forced him to visit the pack during the mornings and his training would be sadly cut short since he still needs to attend the class lest his bunshin would be popped by something as unexpected as being hit by a ball.

The only day he could fully train and try out all his theories in ninjutsu was during Saturdays.

Kakashi didn't like it one bit, but it was the only thing he could adjust. Bunshins and physical activities dos not equate into something beneficial on his part.

"Wait...you're not skipping classes to visit the shop are you?" Maru asked raising a speculative eyebrow.

"I got proxies, don't worry about it." Kakashi eye-smiled at the confused expression.

"That's not allowed." Maru chided as he crossed his arms.

"Nobody complained." he replied with a shrug. "It's okay...I guess." he added thoughtfully, there wasn't anything in the school page regarding about leaving a bunshin, so he was pretty sure, he's not breaking a rule.

An exasperated sigh was the only thing Maru replied.

"Anyway, Maru." Kakashi called before the could enter back in the house. "You're not this busy on this time of the day are you?"

Maru wore a musing look on his face and made a small shake with his head. "Nah, I usually make my repairs on the afternoons. This guy here," the man kicked the tire of the vehicle. "Is the only job I had for the week."

Kakashi tilted his head at the side and couldn't help but ask. "How much does a repair cost?"

Maru shrugged. "Small appliances cost at least 10-20 dollars at most. But if something as large as this would cost 50."

He quickly equated the numbers in his head and Kakashi was surprised at how low the man's income was. It was more surprising that Maru didn't stoop as low as his sannin counterpart had.

A bright light flashed in his mind as an idea popped up. Kakashi smiled as the plans began to click in place. If he would get this right, then both of them could benefit.

"Maa, Maru...how do you like having another set on income?"

The man quirked an eyebrow. "...And that is?"

"How does having an apprentice sounds in your ears?"


Snippet 23: Bet (Fifteen Months)

"I have an announcement." Tobias grinned as he entered their club room with the blond president just a feet behind. Naruto's giddy expression was infectious.

"You kno-" the glasses wearing teacher was cut off as Naruto pulled the man's collar.

"I'll tell them." the blond pressed.

Tobias knocked Naruto's head with his knuckled and huffed. "Have it you're way." he muttered grumpily as he flumped on the cushioned floor.

The members seeing the act, followed suit. Tobias was at the center with Arma and Sherry sitting a few inches behind him, Sasuke, Itachi and Li were the ones next and the formation had come out in a triangular pattern. With Naruto standing at the front, it was like seeing a class was about to start.

It was this sight that Kakashi first saw as he entered the room. He was late by ten minutes, seeing as he took the stairs...again. Oddly enough his little habit had spread in the school and more than once Kakashi saw some students using the stairs- mostly to go down though. Still the line 'pulling a Hatake' was used more than 'using the stairs'.

Needless to say, Kakashi was slightly annoyed at his infamy- well, the name that is.

But back to the point, the second he entered the room, Kakashi found himself being nudge by Naruto and with a little pull from Obito's counterpart made himself comfortable on the place beside the man.

His relationship with his club TIC's were...platonic at most. When he saw glimpses of Tobias and Reyn on the corridor, there was always this impulse to tease the two but that impulse was always stopped by the reality before him. No one remembered him here, it was in those moments that Kakashi was reminded that he was just a student for those two, not a teammate.

It was sad, but on a positive side, there were moments that he had been babied by two the adults and while it was disconcerting, it was the only way he could tease back the two without making it awkward on his side.

"Good, we're complete." Naruto nodded to himself and pulled out his FlatPad and after seconds a hologram appeared before them. "As you remembered last year, our club had entered the mixed martial arts competition and won in some categories."

The hologram shifted into a list with numerical placements on them. Only four of the members in their club had manage to win a place. Naruto had won silver along with Sasuke, the latter in a different category and Sherry manage to get a bronze. Unsurprisingly, Li won gold.

It was the first time that Kakashi saw the official result and he was proud of the accomplishments of the four. But Kakashi knew that they had it easy because only four schools had entered this competition. Martial Arts were rarely held in the spotlight even in interschool meets, it was due to the lack of competitors, the fact was justified this year since they didn't even manage to get a recruit.

"The board of interschool competitions had announced a the new category to be added MMAC this year." Naruto added. "However this is just on experimental stage and the feedback would be the only thing that would determine if the category would be officially approved or not."

"The only thing that the martial arts interschool meet didn't had were the kid's category." Sasuke drawled and by the looks of Naruto's fuming appearance that was supposed to be the surprise.

"But would they really allow it?" Sherry asked in worry.

"Yeah." Naruto muttered while giving Sasuke a stink eye. "Competitors of ages 7-12 would be allowed, the board had already adjusted the rules so the kids would only get bruises when the fight is done."

"Itachi won't enter." Sasuke promptly announced and Kakashi saw Itachi look at his older brother in ire. "It was hard enough to get the approval of my father for him to join this club, but allowing Itachi to join?"

"Yeah, your old man won't like it." Naruto grumbled as he crossed his arms. "But we have another kid in here."

Kakashi was bemused at the attention. He knew that Naruto wanted to boost their club name and maybe get a batch of recruits but Kakashi honestly had no plans of entering. It was one thing having his name be in the school list- he was still annoyed that the principal didn't told him that it would be publicized this year- but letting his features appear on the TV?

No thank you.

He already crossed enough lines to have his life be known to the enemies -by shinobi standards- but having his face be shot in full view was just pushing it.

"No."

"What!?" Naruto exclaimed. "I though you would like to join."

"Maa, Naruto, I don't like getting publicity."

"But- bro, think of the recruits!" Naruto whined. "We'll be graduating next year and only you three would be the only ones left, dattebayo."

Kakashi mulled out at the thought. Naruto did have a point with the four of them gone, Arma would the one likely to take the mantle of being a leader leaving him and Itachi. But he won't give his approval despite how drastic the situation is- actually it wasn't, Naruto and the others still had two years, enough time to recruit new blood.

"Maa, we don't need publicity to get recruits, Naruto." Kakashi offered.

"Tell that to our new members." the blond muttered beneath his breath.

"No matter how much you beg, I won't enter." he said with a note of finality and watched as Naruto continued to ramble quietly while crossing his arms like a petulant child. If Kakashi was in his thirty year old body, the situation would be so similar to the private training he had with Naruto.

The boy was so childish, even his counterpart seemed to have the trait.

"Saa, Naruto. If Kakashi decided he don't want to enter, then he won't." Tobias commented lightening up the growing dark mood with a cheery tone. "Besides, the recruitment is technically still going all throughout the school year."

"Yeah...but I thought the club would have at least three recruits by now, 'ttebayo." Naruto mumbled morosely.

Seeing the downed expression from his once student, Kakashi didn't have to think twice about the words he was about to say. In a new world or not, he was still Team 7's sensei and even if they don't know the real him, Kakashi would always lend a helping hand.

"Maa, if you want more club members I could help." he offered in a drawl. "But not through the competition." he added in an afterthought.

Naruto blinked and tilted his head at the side. "How would you do that? You didn't even helped us in the recruitment week."

Kakashi gave an eye-smile as he remembered the chaotic first week of school. Even with the majority of the members voting for a new color, the duo of orange addicts easily ignored their opinions and pulled out their orange neon tent- again. Their booth was honestly an eyesore and Kakashi's deduction of no recruits came out true. It was a loss at the beginning and instead of drawling out speeches, he spent the club hour sparing against Itachi.

"I'm better when it comes to one-on-one persuasion rather than doing speeches...I had enough of that during my term..." He muttered the last part softly as he remembered the speeches he had given when he was still the sixth. Not that he hates the job, but he wasn't one for straining his vocal chords in front of a crowd, despite that little setback, Kakashi did a good job in his term.

"And I'm pretty sure that I could persuade students to join our club without the help of our theme color." Kakashi added.

"I heard sarcasm." Naruto deadpanned.

"It was intended." he replied with an eye-smile when he saw the growing tick on the blond's head.

"See? I told you two that we should change our theme." Sherry seethed behind him.

"But Sherry-" Naruto started.

"-Everybody loves orange." Tobias finished.

"Blue." Sasuke offered with a smirk.

"Green." Li added.

"White." Arma piped.

"Red." Itachi joined in after getting the hint.

"Pink." Sherry announced.

"Silver." Kakashi shrugged.

"Heard that Naruto?" Sasuke said with a teasing note. "None of us loves orange like the two of you. So let's make a bet shall we?"

Kakashi felt the warning signals at the back of his head blaring in alarm, he eyed Sasuke who gave him a pointed look. He could feel his brows tick in annoyance when the image of the shinobi one interlapped with it's counterpart before his eyes. If his guts spoke true then he really won't like what the older Uchiha would say.

"Ugh...here we go again." Sherry whispered in exasperation.

"Maa...should I be alarmed?" he asked in whisper as he leaned back to the pair of the girls behind them.

"Just flow with it, brother knows what he's doing." Itachi intoned leaning over pass the two females.

Kakashi blinked. "That's what the question is for."

"...Oh."

"What is it?" Naruto loudly asked, cutting off their whispered conversation.

"If Kakashi recruited at least two students within the year, then he got to choose the official color theme of our club." Sasuke said with a smirked."If not, then he'll enter the competition, it's a win-win situation for the both of you."

...Huh, it was reasonable...But...

"Am I the only one that's going to do something?" Kakashi asked pointedly as he crossed his arms, he's going to be the only one doing the work.

"Well," Tobias started with a thoughtful look on his face. "The first deal can be applied to all of the members."

"It's good." Sherry agreed and made a mischievous smile. "Although I think putting up another prize would seal it."

Naruto and Tobias looked at each other, a silent conversation running in the short silence. Moments later, the blond huffed in annoyance.

"Fine, but if I got the most recruits by the end of the year then orange will remain as our theme." Naruto announced. "You're ganging up on our favorite color."

Tobias made a sympathetic sound, being the TIC of the club, he could only manage the important details.

"And the prize?" Li asked with hidden excitement.

"An outing." Tobias mused out. "Where and when would be discussed on the next school year since our number is undetermined."

"Deal." Sasuke said, standing up and held a hand face down in front of him.

Sherry soon followed and laid a hand atop the raven, Li and Arma followed suit with amused looks in their features. Itachi was seconds away and Naruto eagerly laid his hand above theirs. By the time that Tobias placed his hand above the members, a circular formation was made. That left him the only one out of the gathering.

"Come on Kakashi, this is a team project for the club." Tobias said.

Kakashi stared at the layered hand and felt some semblance of longing, he didn't know why he was feeling it, but the image of his generation of Team 7 seemed to hover at the side. He stood up from his place and walked near them, he gently placed his hand on the very top.

"Deal."


Snippet 24: Halloween 2 (Sixteen months)

"What are you wearing?" Sophie asked as she pointed at his attire.

"It's something I came up with." Kakashi answered with a shrug and glanced down on his uniform- well ANBU uniform to be precise.

It was Halloween again and Kakashi had already planned out his costume in the past month. He had manage to squeeze out some time in his hectic schedule.

The apprenticeship he had with Maru is going well, enough that he could secretly make the first batch of his kunais. Maru seemed to be pleased with his progress and maybe the additional fifty bucks in his pocket during their session had widened the man's smile by an inch. Maru might not be well versed with lectures and such but he was really good in hands-on activities.

He had already covered a quarter of his ninjutsu book, a lot of his theories had worked out well but mastering them would take months. The pack on the other hand had surprisingly allowed him to join in their hunt, it was one of his happiest moments- though, their hunt soon became a contest on who could catch most food.

In the end, he and pup tied with ten preys while Elana manage to get thirteen.

His progress in the club project was on hold for now. Kakashi wasn't worried that he would loose since the others had also taken a slow pace in their recruitment.

But back to the attire, the garment were made by Sherry after she saw a glimpse of his sketch. Ever the designer, Sherry eagerly asked him if she could make the uniform. Despite the hesitancy on his part, Kakashi agreed and found out that Sherry could make a really good stitchwork.

The sleeveless skin tight garment had a quality that reminded him of the original one. The pants and matching sandal were of high quality and the white armor -if his guess was right- was a customized flak. The gloves were the ones he really liked since Sherry took up his suggestion of adding the claws and the plating by the elbows. Though, the mask was his favorite, Kakashi didn't know where Sherry manage to get a ceramic mask but the creation of it were flawless.

"Let me rephrase that." Sophie said as she adjusted the witch hat on her head. "What are you posing as?"

"An assassin...?" Kakashi answered unsurely, saying that he's an ANBU would make no sense.

"Wearing white?" Iruka asked, raising a brow. "Don't you need blood to that costume?"

"Maa, it would be embarrassing to see an assassin with blood on their body." Kakashi mused. "The skill of an AN- assassin is based on how clean the kill was." he added while hiding a chuckle as he watched his friends stepped back an inch, the additional distance would be useless since they're in the elevator.

"That's my opinion anyway." he thoughtfully added and placed the ceramic dog mask over his face.

"I admit, the mask looks scary." Iruka commented after he took a good look on his overall appearance.

Kakashi kept his silence and just stared at the two who began to get nervous by the second. Ah, if the school allows sword then his ensemble would be complete and intimidating. When the lift landed on their floor did Kakashi decided to answer.

"It is and it's Halloween costumes, needs to be scary." he said in a cheery note as he exited the elevator.

"Don't do that next time, Kakashi, that gave the shivers." Sophie complained.

"I'll try." Kakashi replied as the three of them walked towards the entrance of the highschool gym.

"Oh, I never heard what your booth if going to do this year." Iruka asked as he adjusted the strap on his red stained straight jacket. Kakashi was really curious where the brunet got that.

"Magic show. It was Itachi's idea." Kakashi hummed.

"Like the cards?" Sophie asked, raising a brow.

"Aa."

It took them five minutes to find the Taijutsu booth. Along the way, Kakashi was amused to see other students giving him a lot of space when was walking, the 'eyeless' illusion of his mask seemed to intimidate the students.

He tilted his head at the side as he saw the flashy set up of their stage. Fortunately, their background was black with the 'magical' theme on the sides curtesy of the hologram projectors. Draping at the sides were black curtains, closing all but three sides of their performance area. There were a lot of students mingling by the sides, seemingly waiting for the show to start.

Kakashi saw a timer at the bottom right projector. Ten minutes, enough time to hear the summary of their plan. He gestured at his guests to follow him to the back room. When the flap of their tent was opened, he immediately felt the air of nervousness, it was so thick that Kakashi was reminded of the chunnin exams.

"Yo." he greeted using a scratchy voice.

It did the trick of snapping them out of their funk, Naruto had taken it to the next level as he let out a frightened shriek.

"K-Kakashi don't do that!" Naruto reprimanded as he rubbed his arms. "I thought that you were a ghost."

Kakashi gave a chuckle and took off the ceramic mask. "Maa, it's funny since your costume is one."

Naruto wore something that resembles a ghost, black billowy dress and a simple mask that has the image of a forlorn screaming expression. (The killer in the 'Scream' movie.) honestly it was not frightening and was more of a comical one.

"Hey, It's a murderer's costume, not a ghost...besides I hate ghosts, 'ttebayo." Naruto grumbled.

"If you're on the lines of murderer, Kakashi has a much better costume." Iruka said.

"Don't start you two, we're going to start the show in minutes." Sherry warned as she sat on the chair, fiddling at the glittering and fathered mask on her lap. Her red masquerade ball gown was shiny, Kakashi bet that the girl had spent a lot of work in detailing the layers.

"Then stop being un-youthful." a calm voice in the corner said.

Quick as a flash, Iruka and Sophie was suddenly behind him, hiding from the owner of the voice.

If they're basing on scary factor, Li took the first place. The Chinese descent had wore an Oni costume, black overalls designed like the ones worn by the olden warriors. A blood red mask with a grotesque feature, complete with horns and the fangs, he was facing them in a very Li like manner.

"Keep calm and relax." Li added.

"Could you please stop wearing that mask?" Sasuke asked grumpily. "Itachi will get nightmares."

The raven haired teen was pushing down a Cordobes on Itachi's head, blocking the view of his younger brother. Sasuke was wearing black cape and under it were a black billowy shirt that was tucked in a black pants, paired with silver lined boots and leather gloves. The Uchiha's upper face was covered by a bandanna that has two holes for the eyes.

Itachi on the other hand wore a similar attire as his brother but instead of the bandanna, it was a white porcelain mask with a thin mustache lining above the lips and a thin strip of goatee. The mask's expression was smiling, it was eerie to be honest.

"...Very well." Li relented and took off his mask, a chorus of relieved sighs echoed in the small room.

"Thank goodness." Arma muttered as she shifted the carnival mask she was wearing in it's proper place.

If Sherry's costume was glittery and elegant, then Arma was flamboyant and grand. Layers upon layers of white cloths was arrange in a way that it had added volume to her lower body, frills and feathers puffed out on her sleeves and neck. She was wearing a feminine mask with detailed design near the eyes.

Just one look at Arma and you're already facing a carnival.

The flap suddenly opened and revealed Tobias. Comparing to the rest of the members, the man's outfit was the simplest. A black tuxedo and a grinning bone white mask shifted at the side of his head.

"Alright guys, we're on in three." Tobias cheerily announced.

The members eagerly wore their masks, amusingly Naruto and Arma did not look at Li's direction. The nervous air was long gone as the teens began to hype up in their place.

Kakashi glanced at Sophie when the girl pulled his armor.

"Your club Halloween theme is Masks?" she asked.

"Aa." Kakashi nodded with an eye-smile. "We didn't agree on an exact category though."

"You're going to be the oddest bunch of magicians I'll ever see." Iruka laughed.

Kakashi paused and glanced back at his club, well, the brunet has a point. "Maa, you better get outside, the front view is good place to observe the show."

"Sure." Sophie excitedly agreed and pulled Iruka out of the back room.

"Kakashi." Tobias called him as the man held out a small container before him. "You know what to do."

"Heh, this is going to be one heck of a magic show, dattebayo!"


Snippet 25: Magic (Sixteen Months)

"You know I've never seen magic in personal." Iruka spoke as they made themselves comfortable at the front part of the stage. "All I saw were those video clips that manage to survive in the third war."

"Ditto." Sophie replied with an giddy smile. "I bet they did their research."

"Uhuh, though I never saw their props in the back room." Iruka mused as he tried to remember seeing any magic box in the room earlier.

"My attention was at Li." Sophie grumbled.

"That too, but I'm surprised that their booth manage to gather this crowd." he added and glanced at the towering highschool students at their back.

"There's no orange." Sophie laughed.

"Quiet!" A student hissed at the crowd as the holograms blinked out of existence, covering the whole stage in darkness. "It's starting."

The audience was immediately hushed and they waited...and waited. A minute had passed and no one appeared on the stage.

"What's taking them so long?" a girl behind them whispered.

"Ladies and gentlemen..." a disembodied voice announced, startling the audience at the scratchy and eerie voice. A small silhouette was distinguished in the darkness, there was no sound of the footfall, giving the figure the illusion of someone gliding in the air.

Suddenly a mask appeared in the middle of the stage, surprising some of the audience. The animal themed mask was a dead give away that the figure was Kakashi's. Though, Iruka was confused how the white armor didn't appear in the darkness.

"...Sorry I'm late."

Iruka was sure that some of the students would shout complain but a set of red patterned eyes immediately discouraged anyone who had the plan. Iruka was admittedly freaked out when the eyes stared at him as if Kakashi was planning on a killing spree.

"Welcome... To our magic show."

A burst of light blinded the audience and when they got their bearings Kakashi was nowhere to be seen. Entering at the side of the stage, a very eccentric masked murderer wheeled out a trolley with a large black box on top of it. Naruto turned the trolley around showing the small dimensions of the box.

When the goofy masked blond finished the rotation, he stepped before the crowd, getting all the attention. Iruka had expected that he would see a magic trick, not an immediate exit.

"That was it?" An incredulous voice asked.

It wasn't, suddenly a tanned feminine hand stretched out from the box starting on cue with the background music. It was followed by a torso, Iruka recognized the costume as Sherry's. With dramatic hand gestures, Sherry slowly stood up from the box a mischievous smile on her lips as the same red patterned eyes showed amusement. It was amazing to see that she manage to fit in inside the box with that amount of volume on her dress.

She held a finger before her lips silencing the slow claps of the crowd. The masked girl jumped down from her perch and held a hand on top of the box and tapped it with her knuckles. Iruka didn't believe what he saw when a hat rose up from the black box, soon a mustached mask followed, red eyes gazed at them in a somewhat sleepy trance.

Itachi raised his arms as he was woken up from his sleep. He paused midway when his cloak was tugged, the act was defying physics when Itachi plucked out a bigger hat inside the box. A larger gloved hand rose up from the box and in a sudden hurry, the small figure of Itachi jumped out of the box, landing with a front roll on the ground, the hat still in his hand.

Sherry and Itachi -along with the crowd- watched as the box moved, dangling precariously at the edge when a bandanna wearing teen rose up, stopping the box from falling. Sasuke acted in a grumpy way as he shifted the box back in the center of the trolley. The teen pursed his lips and in a very eccentric way exited the box.

In a sudden act of clumsiness, the teen fell from the trolley, taking the box along as his left leg was still inside it. There was a loud thump followed by a chorus of amusement from the audience.

"Sorry about that." Sasuke mumbled, eliciting some chuckles from the crowd.

He stood up, leg still inside the box. A huff was heard from the older raven, Sasuke pulled out his leg and kicked the box, letting it fall sideways and simultaneously showing the solid bottom of the box. Iruka was sure there was some sort of trick but when Sasuke kicked the bottom a very solid thump was sounded.

"How?" A student whispered behind them.

The box flew in the air and disappeared through the curtain.

"Hat." Sasuke demanded and held up a hand to his brother.

Itachi obediently placed the large hat on top of the open digit leaving three inches of air in between. The raven genius shook the hat and an exact replica of the headwear dropped on the hand.

"...All of it." the older Uchiha intoned.

"Sure."

Iruka counted as replicas after replicas of the hat dropped down on Sasuke's hand, it was amazing and confusing to see that the thickness didn't change. Ten replicas was the total amount that Iruka counted.

"Ten?" Sophie asked in bafflement. "How the heck did they squeeze that amount of copies into one hat?"

"I dunno." he helpfully supplied.

Sasuke patted hat, straightened the feather piece and placed it back on his head.

"Hey! The hat moved!" A student hollered from the back and Iruka quickly directed his gaze back on the oldest Uchiha.

Indeed the hat had seemingly shifted on the bandanna wearing teen.

"You forgot to pull out Oni." Sherry exasperatedly said and plucked out the headwear.

The crowd watched as the girl dug her hand...and a quarter of her arm inside the shallow top. Sophie knowing who 'Oni' was, quickly hid behind him muttering words of complaints beneath her breath.

"Who's Oni?" a whispered voice asked.

"V help me a bit." Sherry called and moments later Itachi had half of his arm inside the hat.

"I got the horn." Itachi murmured making the student lean closer to the stage in curiosity.

"I got the other one." Sherry muttered. "On three."

Sophie, in a bout of mischief started the countdown. "Three!"

"Two!" the front part of the audience followed.

Iruka braced himself.

"One!"

Exactly the second that the last number was shouted, Sherry and Itachi pulled out the horrifying mask of Li. The crowd let out shrieks and shouts of alarm, the loudness seemed to surprise three trio on the stage and they unceremoniously dropped the hat, and consequently the attached mask on the opening of the headwear.

As if in cue the lights shut down and the music died, drowning the stage with silenced darkness once again while leaving the lone eerily glowing Oni mask at the center. A lot of the crowd stepped away when a pair of glowing red patterned eyes snapped open behind the eyeholes.

"I thought that this is magic show?" a female voice squeaked.

Iruka watched in mild fascination as the now embodied mask grew a body from out of nowhere. The silhouette of the limbs had seemingly rose up from the floor.

A lone spotlight flashed from above centering the frightening figure of the masked Li. The red patterned eyes seemingly gazed at them without any emotion.

Oni gestured at the side and another spotlight lit up, this time centering a figure that Iruka recognized as Arma's, the carnival themed girl made dramatical gestures at the cue of the new background music. Despite the volume of her dress, Iruka could see the elegance in each movement.

Arma spun in her place, walking around the still figure of Oni and putting the attention to the contrast in their attires. With the female wearing a white themed dress and a black warrior suit for Oni, Iruka was reminded of the angels and demons.

Another spin and the white figure Arma disappeared in the darkness behind.

"A warning to the audience."

Iruka shivered when the soft and calm voice of Li had turned into a harsh and deep one.

"Do not be alarmed on what you are going to see."

And with that the spotlight died, draping the stage with darkness once again and seconds later the light went back, this time it was focused on the spiked platform in the middle of the stage. The crowd murmured their deductions as four silhouettes shifted in the darkness and when they stepped into the light. Their identity was revealed.

Sasuke and Naruto joined the duo...as assistants it seemed. Li pulled out an apple from behind his back and dropped it on the largest spike in the center, showing that the metals were indeed sharp as the fruit easily slid down on it.

Iruka watched as Li guided Arma towards the platform, the girl was moving as if she was in a trance and when Li slightly pushed the girl backwards, Arma fell. Just in time to caught by Naruto and Sasuke, the two lifted the girl horizontally and moved her body onto the platform.

"Are they going to skew her!?" Sophie gasped.

"Shh." Iruka chided.

Ever so slowly, Sasuke and Naruto dropped the girl's body on the largest spike, Li was gesturing dramatically at the background and with a snap of his fingers. The pair moved away leaving an amazingly un-skewed Arma on the platform, her back was straight as if she was lying on a bed.

Li took the center of attention as he stepped on the platform and gently nudged the girl. Arma spun in place un-bothered by the spike poking her back. When the girl made a full three hundred sixty degree turn, the crowd began to clap, some were still whispering their speculations on why the wasn't skewered yet .

The magician seemed pleased by the response and bowed- however, Arma suddenly jerked in her place and in a blink of an eye her body dropped through the spike. The clapping promptly died, replaced by shrieks of alarm and fright as the upper part of the spike protruded from the torso of the girl.

Li snapped up in attention and looked at the now lifeless body of Arma, he shook his head, calmly ignoring the shouts of the crowd and gestured the two males to pull out the girl and made a hushing sign before his mask. It took a lot of seconds for the commotion to die out, though it was by the comment that there was no blood that silenced the crowd.

All attention was directed at the now awake Arma, who currently gestured frantically while pointing at the spike in her torso. Li in a weird fashion calmed the female when he waved his hand in front of her. With the now still form of the female, Sasuke and Naruto took hold of her shoulders and feet respectively. Gently they pulled up the girl while Li had once again made dramatic gestures by the front.

Iruka definitely heard relieved sighs behind him when Li ended his performance by presenting an unharmed Arma before the audience.

It was Itachi's turn next, his performance was centered on card magic tricks. Iruka was sure that Sophie loved that since she was one of the audience that was called on stage. The raven haired genius had seemingly mastered the art of finding the chosen card out of fifty two.

Iruka definitely liked the guessing magic, wherein Itachi showed the crowd the numbered part of the cards and began announcing the hidden shapes and numbers without any hitch.

The next act was performed by Naruto and their TIC. Their performance was filled with magics related to the sleight of hand. Objects, ranging from balls to handkerchiefs, coins and other 'classics', however they made it into a humorous performance as Naruto and Obito acted as if they were pranking one another.

Sometime in their show, Sherry and Sasuke joined in with the males during a coordinated juggle. The girl mischievously threw objects along with the balls that were originally the ones that Naruto and Tobias were juggling. Purses, shoes and even phones were thrown in the fray. From the original number of six balls being juggled, it turned into fourteen miscellaneous objects.

However with little vengeance, Naruto and Tobias manage to drag the two new arrivals into their act, accelerating their pace and throwing new patterns as they threw objects one after another. It was a contest to see who can keep up, students had began betting as none of the four had yet to make a mistake.

Well, that was until one of the balls fell on the floor. Their ending was turned into a mess as their patterns went out of their control. The exit was hasty. because instead of catching the objects, the three teens and one man dodged them and ran out of the stage, leaving the crown in an uproar os amusement.

And the final act was made by Kakashi.

Shift.

Kakashi stood idly in the center of the stage, his performance was just a shy of hair away of having his skills being found out, though he couldn't help but test out the results of his ninjutsu training. However, Kakashi only limited it to the academy three.

It was a good thing that they had decided to keep their performance a secret from one another- although they could borrow a member if they need a hand. Tobias, Naruto, Itachi, Sasuke and Sherry had immediately formed a group, while Li and Arma paired without any complaints, that only left him as the odd magician. Arma did asked him if he would like to join them, but his mind had already bud out ideas and it would only work out if he's doing it alone.

The secrecy had benefited them in one way or another, since no one knows how did they do the trick and Kakashi had taken full advantage of that.

Glancing at the scattered objects by the stage, Kakashi sighed loudly letting the audience hear it, he tilted his head forward and crossed his arms.

"Maa, what a mess..." he started with a light note. "...I sure need a hand to clean this up."

"I'm here lil' bro." Naruto's torso suddenly burst from the curtains surprising the audience since the white of his mask was the only thing that distinguished the costumed blond from the curtains.

"No. I got this." Kakashi said with a chiding tone and shooed the blond, a bout of laughter was heard as the proclaimed 'murderer' sank back dejectedly.

He would have eye-smiled but the porcelain mask won't justify his expression.

Kakashi kept his silence as he waited for the noise to lessen, he stared at the crowd intimidating them until he was sure he could hear a pin drop. He moved his arms in front of him and saw the crowd raise their brows.

The infamous hand sign of the seventh was formed before him and with puffs of smoke, three exact replicas of him stood right at his flank. Jaws hit the ground at the reveal, Kakashi and his clones chuckled at the reaction.

"Holograms?" Iruka asked a few feet before him, Kakashi cocked his head in amusement.

It wasn't, the clones he made was the result of using the new version of the Kage Bunshin. Instead of having a solid clone, Kakashi adjusted the technique so that the solidity of its appearance would become transparent, but the density of it would never change. To sum it up, his version of the Kage Bunshin would produce a clone that would look like a hologram projection but still have the ability to touch objects.

One such example was picking up things.

Like what his copies were doing right now. The crowd was aloud with whispered speculations and questions of confusions, though most of the students had seemed to enjoy watching the clones do their work.

His act was more of a weapon performance than magic tricks. So without a word took out a handful of blunt yet pointy kunais out of the containment seal he placed on his bare shoulder.

When the puff of smoke dissipated, Kakashi presented the still unsharpened weapons before the crowd, not that know it.

"I would like three volunteers from the audiences." he announced and hands rose up in the air.

There were too many for his liking.

"They will become my targets for my act." he added and half of the hands went down.

Still too many.

"I cannot fully assure you that you will be unharmed." Kakashi finally said. "The worst thing would happen is having one of this lodged in your skull."

The air was empty before he could finish his sentence.

"Maa, no one?" he asked in a petulant voice tilted his head when he saw three hands rising in the air. "Ah, courageous volunteers! Please join me in the stage." he said and gestured at the costumed teens to move forward.

The three male volunteers ambled their way through the crowd and Kakashi guided them on their marks, near the back of the stage. He pulled out a blindfold and tied it in front of his mask, he turned to the audience and waved.

"Tell me if I hit them." he quipped.

He heard murmurs from the crowd and ignored it as he twirled the kunais in his hand and was about to throw one when he paused. Cutting off the gasps from the females in the crowd.

"...Ah...right targets." he said in an apologetic note and touched the other seal on his shoulder.

A puff of smoke and three apples appeared in his hand. He threw it towards his front and he knew that the volunteers caught the fruit when he didn't hear it falling on the floor.

"On your head please."

He can't see whether the three followed his request or not.

Kakashi counted three seconds and when the time is up, he began twirling the weapons in his hands without a pause. He could feel the tension from the crowd as he spun the weapon. A chorus of gasps was heard when Kakashi intentionally loosened his hold on one of the kunais, making it fly high up in the air.

"Ah...how clumsy of me." he said and jumped high up in the air.

Kakashi would really like to see what the reactions were, when he heard a mixture of awe and alarm coming from the crowd.

One swift kick and a swipe of his arm. Three kunais flew in the air with a speed faster than what an eye could see. He heard three soft thumps of the kunais slicing the fruit and sinking on the floor.

He noiselessly landed on the ground and plucked off the blindfold. The sight that greeted him were only confusion.

"...I did hit the apples...didn't I?"

"We...didn't see you hitting it." Iruka helpfully answered by the front.

"Maa, that's the trick." he answered as he unsealed another set of kunai. He walked forward to the edge of the stage and crouched before the crowd. He spun the weapons in his hands and saw most of the students leaned forward in their place to observe.

Kakashi was amused to see the awed gazes from the crowd. Back in his old life, this little trick was as normal as taking the elevator.

"Sophie ." he called, snapping the girl from her observation. "Could you please get the blindfold?"

"Sure" the girl piped.

"Can someone from the crowd throw it in front of one the volunteers on stage?" he asked and the baseball wearing college student at the back raising a hand.

He remembered that teen as the one chasing after the costumed Baymax a year ago.

"Name?" he asked as the boy gave a cheery smile.

"Tadashi."

"Ah, Tadashi-san, which of the three do you want me to strap on the floor?"

"The guy in the middle."

Kakashi nodded and faced the crowd. "Don't. Blink."

"Ready when you are." Tadashi said.

Kakashi hummed as he continued to spin the kunais. "...Now!"

A flick of his wrist was all it took for the kunai to immediately snag one end of the flying cloth. When the weapon landed by the feet of the middle volunteer Kakashi, with another swift throw hit the other end of the cloth. The blindfold was long enough that with the force of the kunai, made it wrap around the calves of the volunteer. It spun twice before the kunai lodged on the floor, 'pinning' the volunteer on the floor.

"Whoa." the college student blurted out.

"Neat huh." Kakashi offered.

The clapping was thundrous and Kakashi gave dramatic bow.

"Please applaud for our fearless volunteers." Kakashi said and gestured at the three men to step up. "Or in other words... myself."

On cue, the volunteers were surrounded by puffs of smoke revealing the 'hologram' clones he made earlier. There was a moment of silence as the students let the revelation sink in.

"When the hell did that happened!?" a voice asked, summarizing what the crowd was thinking.

"Magic."


AN: Okay, this is just a short breather you guys, stretch up in your seat and let your eyes wander away from the screen for a minute.

Done?

But before we get back to the next five snippets I would like to thank the following for giving me their votes and reviews^^ If your name wasn't here, then it's on the last AN at the bottom.

Silvercrises, Guest 1, IchiraukRamen Inc, Allisondasher, WindWhistle21, Guest 2, anonymous, Myroleran, Yungsun, Elise, stars who shine in the darkness, Xeraphina Laurentia.

Thank you for reviewing ^^

Additional... can anyone guess who's masked character that canons are portraying, or what event they are dressed at?

As for the votes^^ you'll see what name got the majority vote on the next snippet.


Snippet 26: Name 2 (Eighteen Months)

"Fang?" Kakashi tilted his head at the side, looking at the grown pup as it ate the kill they made earlier.

Kakashi on the other hand was cooking by the fire he made. It was the last day of shool before the holidays would start, a two week break scheduled at the last month of the year and Kakashi intended to enjoy the Saturday instead of boring himself in his advance class in technology.

The name just came up in his mind when he saw the pinkish teeth of the young canine.

Elana made a gruff sound of disapproval.

"Hmm, Yuki?" he prompted.

The young wolf itself snorted and splashed him blood from one of the innards he was eating. Kakashi ducked, letting the red drops flew harmlessly over his head.

"Okay, not Yuki." he chuckled. "What about Gin?"

The white canine tilted his head in an act of contemplation. The wolf jerked his head silently saying to give another name.

"Kokuo, it's the name of the five tailed beast in my past life." he mused. Elana seemingly nodded at the name but her pup snorted.

"...Arashi...?" Kakashi whispered, he was grinning triumphantly when the white wolf's ears perked up in attention.

"Arashi, how about that?" he asked and smiled when he saw the tail wagging. "It means storm."

The now name Arashi, barked happily and leaped towards him, finally approving the name.

"Arashi! No, don't- lick me."

Kakashi sighed and brushed off the blood colored saliva off of his cheek.

"You know that the smell won't come off."

The white wolf just lolled his tongue out impishly.


Snippet 27: Holidays (Eighteen Months)

He breathed out and watched as the warm air from his lungs, clouded before his eyes. This is his third winter holiday that he experienced and Kakashi doesn't have any positive thoughts about the weather, he doesn't have any negative thoughts about it either.

It's just that Konoha rarely has this amount of snow being dumped in their streets, his village was hot yet cool at the same time, the right temperature to enjoy a day.

Kakashi just wished that he was back in their home and not having his butt freezing in an open air mall.

"Mom, why can't we just order online?" he asked as he snuggled at the lengthy red scarf he wore, along with the layered jackets, thick pants, black boots and a pair navy fingerless gloves, he looked like he really fit in with the weather.

"Aw, don't be such a grinch Kashi-chan. I remembered you being so excited seeing the snow." Tamashi said as she leaned closer to the window that displayed a lot of possible gifts.

"Maa, but that's...two years ago and it's cold." he said and shivered.

"Mou, but don't you feel invigorated to buy gifts to your siblings?" his mother said, referring to the older kids he befriended. "Which reminds me, you didn't bought anything yet."

"I do...but I could do without the natural freezer..." his muttering trailed off when his eyes caught something.

The object was far from what other people would have bought but Kakashi had a very distinct feeling that a certain someone would really need it.

"Maa, please just buy something lighter, Kashi." Sakumo complained as his arms lugged around the bags that doesn't hover.

His father had turned into their bag holder after Shiro and Kuro were forced to return to their house in order to drop off the gifts that his mother bought. Kakashi was lucky that the only thing he was doing was holding was a pair of bags.

"...Sorry, dad." he eye-smiled and entered the shop.

A mechanized theme was the sight that greeted him and despite the amount of gadgets that would have distracted him, Kakashi made a beeline towards one of the displays at the back. Using the hologram directions, he quickly found the isle where the object in the window was displayed. Tamashi was just a few feet behind him and Kakashi assumed that Sakumo took a breather.

"Customized tool kit?" Tamashi asked.

"Aa, a friend of mine would really like having this in his shop." he explained.

His mother made a thoughtful look and rose a brow. "I didn't know anyone needing this."

"The owner of the book shop." he added.

"Oh, that Maru guy..." Tamashi mused and smiled. "How nice of you."

"Maa, I'm just being gracious, we bought a lot of books from him. So, I think this would be a right repayment." he said and he could feel the prideful vibe that his mother is exuding.

"Hmm, maybe we could invitee him to the party." Tamashi spoke.

"I'll ask him." he replied and watched as his mother gestured at the stationed bot, she talked to it for a while and seconds later they walked out of the store with a new gift. His father was lucky as the gift he bought can be hovered.

Despite the amount of shops in the area, Kakashi took a lot of time picking out the gifts that he would give. It took him at fifteen minutes to buy the right present. Sakumo had once commented that he was worse than his mother when it comes to buying things.

Kakashi didn't pity his father when Tamashi added a heavier set of gifts to her husband for that comment.

The last gifts he bought were for his parents, it was hard finding an exact situation for him to create a clone, but he finally managed it.

When they reached their home, a mountain range of gifts greeted them. Kakashi was surprised to note that the gifts that the bots dropped off earlier were already wrapped- holidays was the only event that the city had allowed mass production of paper products. That only leaves the ones that didn't have any covers where the gifts that they brought.

"Well, unto our stations!" Tamashi cheered. "Let's see who could make a creative design before dinner starts."

Scissors, tapes and ribbons in hand, Kakashi knew that he won't make a very 'creative' wrapping since the only thing he could wrap were bandages.


Holiday Party


Maru shifted uneasily in his seat as he watched the window give a grand view of the first sector. This is one of those rare times that he would visit this area so he could buy the parts he needed, however, this is his first time coming in the sector because of an invitation. It would be also his first time interacting with his age group in this sector.

He just hoped that his faded purple dress shirt, paired with cleanest jacket he could find and his father's pants and footwear, would make him presentable enough. He glanced at his fingers and sighed when the grease were not fully clean out, on second thought, maybe his character would be presentable enough.

Maru glanced at the screen of his phone, showing an exact and very detailed instructions on how to get to the party's venue. Honestly, he was surprised to even receive such message. He was anxious to see what the boy's parent would react after knowing that he was living in the low sector, but feeling this kind of anxiety is much better than spending the holiday alone while staring out of the bookstore.

The train zoomed through the opening of the biggest building in the city and Maru took the time to calm his nerves down. When the train slowed to a stop, he took a hasty exit, garnering odd looks from the people in the sector. Maru felt a bit insulted at that.

Just because he wore second hands doesn't mean they could just judge him off the bat.

He huffed as he entered an empty lift. The program quickly took note of his destination and began to ascend in silence. As the floors pass through in front of him, Maru was in a daze, vehicles of all shapes and sizes was presented before his eyes and he couldn't stop the inner mechanic in him to cease the ogling he was doing.

The 'show' ended shorty after the lift reached the upper floor and minutes later, he was already on the floor. Following the instructions in his phone, Maru quickly passed through the corridors.

Kakashi said that they had rented a lounge in the building- since the people were too many to fit in their home. Said lounge was just right up ahead.

Maru slowed his pace and glanced at the parcel wrapped gift he brought. He hoped that the kid would like his gift it was a trilogy of the Lord of the Rings.

Breathing out a lungful of air, Maru gathered his determination and walked forward.

The door swiftly opened for him and he was quickly bombarded with the sound of laughters and shouts. The noise had lessened his confidence, but with the added sight of the other well dressed guests, Maru's confidence just died.

It was killed twice when a group of teens directed their gazes at him, the sudden silence from the group had made the other people follow suit.

Maru could feel the growing tension in the air and he couldn't help but feel like an outcast in the setting.

"Yo, welcome Maru." a young voice greeted, killing the tension in just three words. "You're just in time, we're about to start eating."

Turning his head at the right, Maru saw Kakashi dressed in a plain white sweater, black pants and blue sandals. He had thought that he would see the face of the boy but the surgical mask Kakashi always wore was exchanged with a thick red scarf that covered half of his face.

"Kakashi." Maru sighed slightly relieved to see the boy. "Uh...Happy Holidays...?"

It took him seconds to held the parcel in front of him.

The silver haired kid eyed his gift with some sort of expectation. Maru knew what it was and waited in bated breath as the boy walked towards him. The crowd had seemingly returned to their own world.

"...Are you finally giving me one?" the boy whispered.

"No." he replied in exasperation.

"Aw."

"So, this is the mysterious owner of our favorite store." a woman said as she joined their conversation.

Maru eyed the female and he could see some similarities when he glanced at Kakashi.

"Yes, you're son was a very...interesting customer." he said. "I'm Maru by the way."

"Hatake Tamashi, his mother." the woman smiled as she ruffled the silver locks of the seven year old kid beside her. "Thank you for going in this party. Oh, and could you place the gifts under the tree? We'll be having an exchange gift later this evening."

"Sure." Maru smiled, finding the woman's character very pleasing.

He was guided by Kakashi towards the mashed-up decorated tree. If he was blunt, he would actually say that it was mess, orange ribbons, fans, mini volley balls, dog cut outs and oddly, cupcakes, along with other glittering decorations.

"You like it?" Kakashi asked with an eye-smile. "My friends and I did all the work."

"It's unique..." he said blandly and he was about to put his gift when he noticed something. "Where am I going to put this?"

He questioned as he eyed the numerous gifts under the tree and the ones at the back where it was stacked, creating a wall like structure that towered over the tree.

"Anywhere." Kakashi shrugged.

"If you say so." Maru murmured and placed his parcel on top of one oddly wrapped box.

"Dinner's ready everyone! Get your plates!" a man's voice shouted and Maru could easily identify him as Kakshi's father.

Maru had expected that the event would be awkward- though the food was great- but he was wrong.

"Ah, so you're selling First Generation Creations?" a blond man asked curiously, his face perfectly controlled even when the red haired woman and a younger look alike teen was doing an eating contest beside him.

"Yes, books to be precise." he replied after gulping down his wine.

"Do they sell a lot?" a young female questioned she was smiling with a flushed face, Maru assumed that the man with orange rimmed glasses- her boyfriend perhaps- had said something to her earlier.

"Unfortunately, no. I have another job doing repairs on appliances and sometimes machineries." Maru answered and internally winced when he opened a route for someone to ask where he lived.

"Oh, that means you're a hard worker then." the female smiled.

He blinked at the reply finding it unexpected. "Ah...thanks."

Fortunately, the spotlight shifted to the contest eating duo. The younger blond was gulping down loads of water as the red head laughed boisterously.

As the dinner went on Maru got the gist of the names of the people. The blond man was Minato and the younger blond copy of him was his son, Naruto, the red head was the man's wife who was named Kurizia .

The couple earlier were Tobias and Reyn. Soon, he found himself being acquainted with a lot of guests, the Uminos, Uchihas -though the patriarch was nowhere to be seen-, Zannes, and Blossoms to name the few. There were a lot of names that he couldn't remember and he decided to take a breather.

Excusing himself, Maru walked towards the balcony, the cold would do him good for a while.

The sight that the lounge balcony offered was something he would vividly remember. The towering buildings stood majestically, lighting up like the stars and the drifting snow had just added something eerily beautiful to the scene.

"Ah, can't take much of the chaos, can you?" a woman's voice snapped him out of his daze.

Looking back, Maru saw a brunette walking idly towards him while holding a glass of wine. She was wearing a green long sleeved turtle neck and black pants that was tucked in a knee length boots. Her hair was tied at the base of her neck in a neat bun while green eyes looked at him with curiosity behind those thinly rimmed glasses. Not only that, but the female's figure was something he would greatly appreciate.

"...No." Maru answered after he -let's be blunt- checked out the female. His pause made the woman smile. "My sector is a quiet one, though I guess you also don't like the chaos since you're here."

The woman scoffed. "Hardly, I can tolerate any intensity of chaos- it's part of my job description. I just want to get out of that pervert's eyes." She muttered darkly as she pointed at the tall white haired man that was being reprimanded by the Hatake matriarch.

"Oh..." Maru could only offer, he pursed his lips when the awkwardness began to appear. "You know him then?"

"College classmates." she said in a deadpan. "I knew him long before that and his tendency of pervertedness is way worse than facing a whole building of students."

"Ah."

"I'm Samantha by the way." she smiled as she leaned over the railings.

"Maru." he introduced. "Hmm, your job is teaching right?" he asked pulling out a subject from the woman's words earlier.

"University Principal." she corrected ruefully.

"No wonder..." Maru mused out with a chuckle. "You must have the patience of a saint."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Samantha replied and sipped her wine.

"You... must be close to Kakashi ne?" he asked.

"You could say that, the boy is as mature as an adult but when he's with his friends he acts like his own age. It's that reason why he was often called to my office." she said in exasperation. "Though, I am surprised that I was invited in this party."

"Ditto." he chuckled. "It's my first time being invited in a party."

"Really?" Samantha asked in disbelief.

"Yep."

"Hah, well, I think you'll be invited more than once in the future so you better get used to it." she said with a promising smile and took another sip.

Maru couldn't help himself from staring at the features of the female before him. The woman was indeed beautiful, but the feeling that he was experiencing when he looked at the brunette is not attraction -...okay there's a small one- but something akin to recognition.

It was odd since this was his first time seeing Samantha.

"Exchange Gifts! Everyone gather!"

Shift.

Kakashi chose one of his gifts from his stack and looked at the name he tagged in it. He was the last one to give his presents to everyone since he was the youngest in the room. Kakashi didn't know that it was done by age.

"Maa, since I think you're all excited to open your presents. I'll just hand out mine without all those sappy comments, besides Naruto gave us enough drama for the night." he started and elicited some laughter from their guests.

Kurizia -Kushina's counterpart- was teasing the red blush that her son had gotten.

The blond had pulled out short speeches before he would give his of the time Naruto told anecdotes -exaggerated ones- and sometimes sad ones. Nevertheless the fact was, Naruto was a really good story teller.

Although, to be honest if he was going to speak to each receiver of his gifts, Kakashi knew that his facade would be broke. When the guests arrived one after another, he was surprised and alarmed at the same time, after he realized who they were.

He knew more than half of the people in the room and it overwhelmed him especially when he realized that the three generations of Team 7 were gathered in one place. There were times that he struggled to control his emotions as well as his reactions to each of them, but he managed it...in a way. It was only pure shinobi stubbornness and a little reminisce of his ANBU missions- the very traumatic ones- that helped distract him form the current situation he was in. The latter might be a bit over the top, but it was better than turning into an emotional sap during the party.

However, he knew that after the event he won't get any sleep tonight.

"Hmm, Iruka." he said and the brunet quickly took his gift.

"Sherry."

"Naruto..."

And the names went on, when his last gift was given to his parents. The younger teens couldn't contain their excitement and began ripping off the wrappers. Even the adults held some of the emotion, although they showed it in a mild manner...well except for one- Robert to be precise.

"A frog purse!?" Naruto's voice boomed.

"It's a toad." Kakashi corrected idly as he gently pried off the tapes on the first gift he got.


Snippet 28: Recruits (Nineteen months)

"Maa, don't be shy Tenrou." Kakashi said in amusement as he guided the two of his recruits into the club room.

He manage to meet Tenzou's counterpart in one of his walks in the stairs. The man -boy- had changed, the dark brown hair had turned into a reddish brown, he was as short as Sophie and the only thing that Tenrou had in similarity with Tenzou was the large half lidded eyes that stared more rather than looking.

Knowing the kid was easy since the first grader was so shy and admittedly adorable- he felt like he was back in his old ANBU days when he was Tenzou's squad leader. Nevertheless, due to the boy's timidness, Tenrou haven't got the chance to visit the club recruitment and being a helpful sempai, Kakashi asked the boy if he would like to try out his club.

Like a lost puppy the boy eagerly agreed, Kakashi knew much that the boy had agreed because he didn't have any friends but Kakashi would remedy that. He manage to 'humanize' Tenzou, so how hard would it be to turn Tenrou into outgoing child?

His other recruit was Yuna, a very problematic black haired girl that spent more detentions than what he could imagine. She was in second year middle school -his math classmate actually-, a hot headed girl who solved -made- a lot problems with her fists. Though, it was more surprising when he realized that it was Yuugao's counterpart.

Kakashi met her in the 'amuse'ment park. The day where Gai had promised him that he would finally beat his score. The boy didn't got the chance to hit the punching bag since Yuna was there first, already pounding the bag with vigor, the girl had actually reached the four hundredth mark, leaving Gai's three hundred and ninety-seven on the third place.

From there it was series of contest within the three of them and by the end of the day Kakashi got another high score of four hundred and fifty eight while Yuna, with just her power alone, got four hundred and twenty, leaving Gai in the third place with four hundred and ten points.

Somehow along the way, Kakashi had manage to reel in the Yuna without the girl knowing about it and as of now, she was grumbling darkly behind him. Tenrou was inching closer by the second as she began to curse.

"Kashi...she's scary." Tenrou whispered as he grabbed his sleeves.

"Maa, she's just mad at me." he replied in a calm tone and got an affirmative grunt from the girl.

"I've got a detention, brat." Yuna muttered. "Teach's gonna be mad at me."

"I'll talk with Sir Tobias, I'm sure he could persuade with Sir Spiel about excusing you, they're in the same department." he replied.

"Whatever." she scoffed while rolling her eyes.

"Hmm, were here." he announced as the club of the door opened.

Kakashi blinked when he saw a lot of eerily familiar faces looking at them.

"What are you looking at!?" Yuna snapped. "Especially you blondie."

Naruto stepped up and looked at his recruits. "Really Kakashi? You picked the wildest girl that I met via punch in the face."

"Ah, you two know each other?" Kakashi asked in amusement- he'll need to know that story for another time- and the two nodded in a resigned manner. "Though, you're the one to talk, you picked the wildest teen in your year." he retorted and gestured at Gaara's counterpart.

If his guess was right, then the pale darkly eye-shadowed red haired dude slouching by the corner was indeed Gaara. The boy wore the school uniform but there were a lot of accessories on his arms and neck, there was also a trio of connected piercings on the right ear. All in all, Kakashi got the 'bad boy' vibe from the once Kazekage.

"Heh, point. Gaara lost a bet with me." the blond grinned and Gaara scoffed. "And it seems you lost our bet too, you only got one recruit."

Kakashi tilted his head at the side and saw an empty space. He gave a soft chuckle when he felt the clothes on his back being crumpled by a shivering hand.

"Maa, I actually won." he said with an eye-smile he stepped at the side, allowing Tenrou's body to be seen. "He's my second recruit."

"...Dammit."

"Aww! He's so cute!" Sherry and a red haired girl squealed as the two ran up towards Tenrou.

The younger boy stilled and hid behind him again. Kakashi sighed exasperatedly, Tenrou might be a year younger than him but his timidness made him look like a three year old.

"Hey, little guy." Sherry started softly with a smile, crouching along with her female friend. "What's your name."

Kakashi looked at Tenrou and made an encouraging gesture at him. It took the boy three seconds to release his hold on Kakashi's shirt and another two for him to take a step near the girls.

"Ya...Yamato T-tenrou." the boy whispered.

The red haired girl hummed. "I'm Yna Yamaka."

Kakashi blinked when he saw the pale blue eyes of the girl. Is she Ino's counterpart?

"And she's Sherry Blossom." Yna said and pointed a thumb at the owner of the name.

"Cherry?" Tenrou repeated with tilt of his head.

"It's...Sherry actually." the highlighted brunette corrected.

"Cherry." the boy said again with an accomplished smile. Yna laughed at the error.

"Well...Cherry it is." Sherry sighed and ruffled the locks of the youngest recruit.

"Hoo, I see a lot of new faces here." Tobias loudly announced as he entered, pulling Sasuke inside.

However, the teen had another human attached on his arm. It was a raven haired girl with a rather well endowed body, her hair was curliest thing he had ever seen, though it actually complemented her due to her dark skin tone. She was in her own world with that glazed look in her eyes.

"Pfft." Naruto snorted. "Sasuke, are you that desperate!?"

"No, I was actually planning to come without any recruits." Sasuke muttered darkly and glared at their TIC. "But a certain idiot blurted it out in the hallway...and the rest is history."

Naruto laughed, it was infectious that even when a minute had passed half of the gathered recruits were still heaving their intake of air. Kakashi could easily see that the Uchiha's charm manage to get him fan girls yet again. The fact that he could see the resemblance of the curly haired girl with Karin had just solidified his thought that Sasuke would always have a crazy girl after him.

"Could we please start?" Sasuke said in a pleading voice. "I'm loosing oxygen in my arm."

Complying with the Uchiha's request in sympathy, Tobias began the man started by confirming the winners of the bet, Kakashi had won against Naruto which means that he won't be competing in the interschool meet, while Li won their TIC's challenge.

The Chinese descent had brought three recruits: Sai, Hector (Haku's counterpart) and Kendreich Chequer (Asuma's cousin and Konohamaru's counterpart). The squinty eyed teen had already planned out the theme of their club and Sherry had quickly took the lists as she directed a smug grin at Naruto.

No more Orange.

Sherry, had brought her girl best friend Yno, who was also an aspiring fashionista. Sasuke had resignedly allowed his stalker and proclaimed number one fan girl, Karin to join the club. Aside from Gaara, Naruto had also brought his cousin Nagase, a senior in high school and also Nagato's counterpart.

Arma on the other hand brought her boyfriend, Kakashi was dumbfounded to see Neji's counterpart being so sweet to the tomboyish girl. Edward Hennison was the older cousin of Henry and Harry, which confounded Kakashi since Neji's parents were his cousins. He didn't trouble himself more on how weird that relationship was. But on a positive note, Ed was not as bigot as his cousins when it comes to traditionalists.

Lastly, Itachi had -in a very mysterious manner- befriended a very tall middle school student named Kisame. It was really an odd coincidence that the pair was reunited.

After finalizing the application and an embarrassing repeat of the speech of the trio. The Taijutsu Club had finally gotten the new members they were looking for, with an additional eleven members, the club now had a total of eighteen members. It was a big leap from their measly seven and with a plan for the outing hovering over their thoughts.

Kakashi couldn't help but be excited.


Snippet 29: Valentines (Twenty Months)

He ran up the stairs, taking two steps at a time as he glanced at his back. He could hear the high pitch noises behind him and he seethed a curse. He was sweaty and not to mention cranky as he heard the persistent footsteps of his chasers.

He hated this day of the year.

"Sasuke-kuun! Please slow down!"

He really hates Valentines Day.

"Yeah! We just want to give you our love!"

Sasuke shivered at the proclamation and he doubled his effort. Two more floors and he could hide in the club room. The only safe haven he could think of in this cage of female hormones.

The elevators were a deathtrap and the only thing that he could use was to pull a Hatake.

Suddenly the door on the next floor opened, revealing another batch of his classmates, their faces were flushed from their search.

"Sasuke!" all the girls squealed.

He would really give anything to have a device that would easily teleport him. Unfortunately, that would not be created for a long time, so that left him to use the more creative way of escaping the girls.

Sasuke glanced at the railings and prayed that his stupidity would save him this time. He jumped over the railings, eliciting horrified gasps from the girls. He quickly took hold of the railings parallel to one he jumped from and hefted his body, totally skipping the landing where the new batch had entered seconds earlier.

It was a good thing that the girls were still in shock, it gave him enough time to have a running start.

The door quickly opened for him and Sasuke peeked his head out. It was clear. He sighed and began to jog on the hallways, mindful of the couples 'dating' in the hallways. On the last corner, Sasuke stopped dead. His breathing was heavy and haggard as he subtly peeked.

Karin.

The bushy haired girl was guarding the door like a hungry wolf and Sasuke scrunched up his nose in disgust at the sight of a basketful of sweets beside the girl. Of course, she would know where he's going to hide. Ever since the girl joined in with their club, Sasuke had lost his peace.

Though it was amusing to see his little brother defending him during their sparing sessions.

He tiredly leaned on the wall, the thought of resigning to his fate sparked in his mind. He made a good record though, three years in middle school of escaping the fan girls. It was scary to know how dangerous those hormones were.

Although, it was true that he dated in past but with the amount of harassment his date had walked through during their relationship, Sasuke had decided that he would forgo his love life for now.

"Psst!"

Sasuke cocked his head at the side and saw silver hair peeking over the Principal's elevator.

"Kakashi!?" he asked in confusion. Why was the second youngest member of their club in here?

"Come here." the masked boy said urgently with a gesture.

Sasuke blinked, but he easily complied when he heard the thunderous footsteps of his personal club. The glass door swiftly opened and he quickly stuck himself out of the glass opening. He watched as Kakashi pushed the button open and only when the lift started to move did he finally released his sigh.

"Thanks. What are you doing here anyways?" he asked with raised brow.

"Hiding..." the boy whispered.

"You have your own club?" Sasuke asked in bemusement.

"Nah, just two very persistent elementary classmates." Kakashi replied vaguely.

"Names?"

"Sophie and Iruka."

"Okay...I didn't expect the second one."

"Wha- oh, no, no." the boy shook his head. "I kinda locked them up in a supply closet for two hours."

Sasuke chuckled at the prank. "So that's why you're going to the principal's office, to hide?"

Kakashi made an eye-smile and pulled a parcel wrapped gift. "That, and I was turned into a delivery boy."

"Who's that from?"

"Maru."

"The owner of the book shop?"

"Aa." the boy nodded. "He got hots for our principal."

Sasuke chuckled. It wasn't everyday that you could see someone this bold, the woman was strict and most of the time serious. Only Naruto and Kakashi seemed to pull out the humor in her.

A comfortable silence soon followed them and Sasuke perked up when he realized something.

"Hey, isn't it the other way around?" he asked and watched as Kakashi blinked.

"That girls gives the guys sweets?" the masked boy answered with a question.

A nod was his reply.

"Maa, does it matter?" Kakashi murmured. "I mean, the moot point for Valentines is that it's the day for a person to proclaim their liking for someone. Gender doesn't actually matter in this type of relationship."

"...Point." Sasuke conceded just in time for the lift to stop.

The two of them quickly exited the elevator and walked towards the principal's office. Sasuke was surprised to see Naruto, being his persistent bratty self as he pushed a rather decorated gift towards Miss Glass.

"Come on, Pres. Just take it!" Naruto persuaded. "Rob would not stop badgering me until you open it."

"Yo." Kakashi greeted snapping the out of their bantering.

"Ah, Kakashi, Sasuke." the woman greeted with a strained smile, it was obvious that she was holding her temper. "What are you doing here."

"He's hiding form his fan club." the masked kid bluntly answered and Sasuke could his brow tick at the way the boy said it.

"Figures." the blond snorted.

Sasuke couldn't help but scoff at the remark. "At least I have girls coming after me." a smirk appeared in his face as Naruto's face reddened.

"Why you-"

Shift.

Samantha sighed as the blond teen was fully distracted. Maybe she could allow the Uchiha to hide in her office until the lunch break ends.

"Here."

She blinked when she saw a gift on the table, the masked kid gave an eye-smile as he gestured for her to open it. Curious than ever, she took the gift and read the name of the sender.

Maru

Her lips curved into a small smile and she quickly opened it. As she expected it was a book, entitled 'The Notebook', she was never one for being an avid reader but something in her spoke volumes when she read the summary.

"Tell him my thanks." she said softly.

Kakashi eye-smiled.

"Oi, pres, how could you open Kakashi's gift first?" Naruto complained and went back to stand before her desk.

Samantha sighed exasperatedly. "Kakashi's better at persuading."

"But...could you just accept the gift, 'ttebayo?" the blond whined.

"Fine." she resignedly said and pulled the gift closer to her. "What is it anyway?"

"..."

Samantha could only shake her head in bemusement, the sudden timidness of the blond could only mean one thing.

"Could you please repeat that?"

"Rob's printed edition of his Icha Icha..."

Samantha blinked and plastered a hand on her face. "Tell him that I rather receive chocolates than read his smut."

Though, she couldn't help but feel annoyed yet flattered at Rob's gesture. The man was a great writer ever since she knew him. He would write stories during their college years and Samantha was only one who read his work. Robert never showed his works to his friends, so she really was flattered to know that the man risked his profile so that she could read his book.

Samantha wished that it wasn't the smut genre.

"Maa, if you don't want it...can I have it?"

The three of them looked at Kakashi as if the boy had grown two heads.

"No."


Snippet 30: Help (Twenty-one Months)

"Kashi."

Kakashi tilted his head at the side when he heard Tenrou softly called him. The boy had lost his timidness in every club meeting they had, having Naruto, Sherry and Yna around him gave him enough boost for him to be open around them. Sophie and Iruka helped along after he introduced the boy to his elementary friends.

Though, the boy always got his shyness back whenever he was facing either, Gaara, Yuna or Kisame. Kakashi coulnd't really fault the first grader, since the three teens were intimidating on their own right.

Speaking of the recruits, the eleven new members had seemingly flowed within their club. Although their sparing had more than once had gone way too heated. Yuna and Gaara, while still in the beginners, had went into an all out brawl, forgoing their katas. Even facing against a girl, Gaara didn't gave any mercy and the same goes fo Yuna, the girl had attacked the eye-shadowed boy in the jewels.

Kakashi wince along with the men when the girl successfully kicked Gaara in the groins, ending the match in a one hit kill. Tobias and Li had decided then and there that the two won't have sparing sessions for a while.

Kisame on the other hand was the epitome of green, he was clumsy and stiff in his forms and his progress was slow but as the months passed by and with more practice, Kisame would be a fearsome opponent in the future.

Yna was just so much like Ino, the girl was...to girly -hesitant- when sparring sessions came up. She was always pitted against Sherry who would always end their bout with a body lock. But when it comes to doing katas, her elegance could be clearly seen.

Karin was worse, she might be the only female that Yna would defeat without any problem. The crush she had with Sasuke was a distraction -really an understatement-. But after Sherry gave her a pep talk the girl had began to improve, that is when Sasuke was not in the room.

Edward, had always been paired with Arma, the girl had taken up to herself that she would train her boyfriend, although Li had more than once intervened when their spar had become 'heated'.

Kendreich -or Ken for short- was a very energetic teen, so much like his counterpart, Konohamaru. The boy was by far the fastest learner in the recruits. By next year, the boy's sparring session against Naruto and Sasuke would be a sight to see.

Nagase and Sai on the other hand were the most silent recruits they ever had. The former didn't do much of the sparring since he didn't like it, instead Li let him focus on the Katas and meditation. The squinty eyed boy wasn't bothered much by it since Nagase would graduate next year.

Sai, was once in the Art club but something happened that made him leave. Kakashi didn't know what it was, but the boy seemed regretful despite the facade of happiness was always plastered in his face, the topic was rarely spoken and for privacy's sake ,Kakashi didn't dug into it. The teen had some practice in the Martial Arts which could be clearly seen during his spar against Sasuke.

The artist had also become close to the female fashionistas due to his skill.

Haku's counterpart, Hector, was much like Nagato, he didn't spar and had only done Katas. Even then, he was a loud guy once he opened his mouth.

And lastly the youngest recruit they had was now their little brother, taking Kakashi's place. Tenrou was just like a the clumsy little brother that would annoy you but you'll never hate. He always butchered their names no matter how many times they corrected him.

Like what happened to 'Cherry', Kakashi became 'Kashi', Naruto became 'Naru', Tobias became Sir 'Tobi', Yuna became 'Yu', Nagato became 'Naga', Kisame had turned into 'Ame', and lastly and Kakashi's most favorite. Sasuke's name turned into 'Uke'.

The room was echoing with laughter on that day.

The only ones that Tenrou didn't butcher was Yna's, Arma's, Ed's and Ken's name. Karin on the other hand didn't gave up and pestered the boy until Tenrou could say her complete name instead of 'Kar'.

Since, he was the youngest, Li decided that Tenrou would be not joining any spars until he's grown older, leaving to boy to only join in their Katas and meditation.

"Aa." he said as he rose an eyebrow.

"Can you tutor me?" the boy asked. "Naru always said you're a genius..."

"Sure." Kakashi shrugged.

"Oh, what's this about tutoring?" a chirpy voice asked, looking back Kakashi saw Sophie who was dragging a haggard Iruka.

"Yo." he greeted with a wave. "Tenrou asked me to tutor him."

"Hello." the boy greeted and got hair ruffles from the pair.

"Oh, by the way, guess what?" Sophie giddily asked.

Kakashi tilted his head and perked up when he saw Iruka's beaming smile. "You won?"

"Yep." the brunette confirmed.

This week was the end of the interschool meet and the Volleyball team had once again retained their champion title. He would have liked to see it in personal but the finals was unfortunately scheduled on a school day.

"Maa, congrats then." Kakashi eye-smiled.

"Oh, and I heard Miss Reyn that she'll put you in the reserve roster next year." Iruka announced.

"What? Why?" he asked, honestly surprised.

"That, I have no idea." Iruka shrugged.

Kakashi was actually getting concerned, if he's going to be in the reserve team then his time in Taijutsu club would be cut short.

"Ah, don't worry about it." the brunet said and patted his shoulder.

They two of them were actually the same height right now, a little blessing to Kakashi since Iruka didn't had the leverage to ruffle his head.

"If you say so." Kakashi sighed, he'll worry about it in the next school year.

"So...about that tutorial...can we join?" Iruka asked. "I didn't have enough time to study since game took much of my time."

Kakashi mused at the thought. "Okay, but you're going to treat me when the exams are over."

The three elementary students looked one another and in unison, nodded in agreement.

"Sure."

"Maa, you better have heavy pockets when the school year ends." Kakashi eye-smiled.


Replies first!

juman1994: Summer is two months and a half long, I just equated it to three, hehe^^ The outing is on the first month, reunion with Gai on the second and last half was the Moving up^^

aria-sama: He's here^^ I'm glad that you reminded me of Tenzou.

GaaraTheFifthKazekage: I'll make more family fluff on the next chapter and I might take up your suggestion, though I'm going to tweak it a bit.

Esparia: I took your suggestion about Maru^^ as for the henge it's going to be too easy for him and beside it seems that Kakashi like to pester Maru about his hobby.

The Shifting: The grading system was just made up, I have no idea how K+12 works so i was just winging it, :P Minato had really tiny window here, sorry for that. Although in the next chapter I might focus on him.

Fairy Law: Glad you like that snippet, hehe ^^ thank you for reviewing.

Collegegirl: It's magic, hehe^^ as for the sannins, your review gave an idea and it somehow turned into a messed up love triangle between the two. I won't go much in the animal aspects in the next two chapters but I'm putting up explanation when the plotline went back after these snippets^^

Asalea: Thanks for the kiss^^

Hollow Mashiro: dude I forgot your reply ;A; Anyway, thank you for the suggestions and I'm really amazed at how varied it is. The wolves, won't be much in the spotlight until the snippets are done, the trip would come out on chapter 30 and the 'dark side' of this world would come up along with the wolves. I'm really shocked on how close you are on hitting the marks on the plot line^^


AN: So what's your favorite snippet? Was it the Magic or the Holidays? Please drop your reviews XD and also I'm accepting summer snippets again~ Love ya lots.