AN: I have a newfound respect for writers that can squeeze out anywhere close to 5k words, and this is only a bit over 2k. I'll try to update every Sunday but no promises. I admittedly released the first chapter in the spur-of-the-moment decision. Normally, I religiously lurk through any form of media. Chapter lengths in the future will probably be 2–4k at most.

If I do miss an update, there won't be any compensation. That makes this sound like way too much like a job than the hobby that it is and would just kill any motivation to write. That said, I might do double releases if my backlog gets big enough and the story permits it.

On a different side, I am usually way too embarrassed about proofreading my own work—even schoolwork. But that was not an issue here and hopefully, won't be a concern for future chapters. I appreciate everyone's support, thank you.

To Gordon's Ramsay: I appreciate the feedback. The last 'chapter' was supposed to be a prologue, so this chapter might feel like the rest of the first chapter. That being said, I'll focus more on that after this sort of prologue arc.

Exit Sage Left

Naruto's First Impact

The clearing Naruto was heading towards was one he frequented as a child. Old targets hung from the trees. Little imprints and markings on the wood from the force of the rocks he threw. A little further past the hanging targets was the makeshift fire pit where he first met the Old Man. Off to the right was a stream where some small fish swam through.

The area was fairly isolated. The fish being too small nor bountiful enough for any fisherman to come and bother. So the place remained undeveloped with the woods far too dense for traders to come through.

It had been a few years since Naruto had last visited this place. He was surprised to see that the rocks forming the fire pit were still set. Many of the targets had deteriorated and fallen down. The few that remained were covered in mold.

Like any Konoha shinobi, Naruto knew the woods like the back of his hand as it was one of the few hands-on drills. It was one of the few classes Naruto enjoyed, which was a blessing considering you either passed or failed. 'A shinobi that get lost in his own home has no right being a shinobi.' Naruto couldn't but agree with the words.

It's like getting lost on the way to your own bathroom.

The mental image of being caught with his pants down by an enemy only added weight to the lesson.

Naruto had known these woods—especially well. He had memorized the route to pin each and every target. However, it was to dismay when he found out much of that effort had gone to waste. 'Practice by yourself without supervision only solidifies your errors.'

When Naruto had asked Iruka to explain the words further, he got...

"If you mess up and no one tells you how to fix a mess up, but you keep practicing. Aren't you just practicing how to mess up?" The words came out slightly bitter.

How the hell, was he supposed to get someone to correct his errors?

When he asked that, Iruka had told him it was fine to practice stuff that he knew the gist of. Naruto's frustrations let themselves out in the form of a growl. Why's it all gotta be so complicated! It's one thing, but it's also the opposite at the same time?!

Huffing and deciding to set the words down for later, Naruto settled for a spot beside a tree and the fire pit. Choosing not to waste any more time, Naruto picked up a leaf and slapped it to his forehead—only for it to immediately fall to the ground. Scrunching his face, Naruto tried again and again.

"What the hell!" Naruto roared, "I swear I could this!"

While plopping himself down, Naruto went to scratch his forehead. It was itchy probably because some crunched up leaves got under his—

"—Oh!" Naruto then proceeded to take off his forehead protector.

"Heh, probably can't get it to stick with this thing on," Naruto said, glad that no one was around to see him mess up.

Looking down at the forehead protector brought back some memories. His eyes landing first on the leaf imprint, 'the Konoha sign originates from this training.' He could barely recall the words.

As his eyes left the insignia, his eyes caught the many scratches on the rest of the metal plate. Yeah, Iruka was lecturing us for sleeping in class, that's when he told us. Another thought invaded Naruto's mind, 'You'll only be acknowledged as a great ninja if you have good concentration.' Naruto grinned to himself.

"Right! Let's do this!" Naruto cheered, tying his forehead protector around his neck, not wanting to accidentally lose it.

With his conviction renewed? Started? Powered up! With his conviction powered up, Naruto smacked the leaf straight to his forehead.

A few hours had passed...

Naruto had slowly, but steadily kept the leaf on his forehead for longer and longer periods. His best was eight minutes. Certainly, better than the one-minute minimum in the Academy, but a far cry from the true extent of his awesomeness. He was about five minutes into his current attempt when his mind began to wander.

The talk with Iruka-sensei went really well.

Like one of the best conversations he ever had with anyone.

He didn't yell.

There wasn't even the usual annoyance in his tone.

Was it something he did differently?

He was calmer. He listened. He made sure that he didn't interrupt him.

That never worked before. Why now? He knew why now...

Would it work with Kakashi-sensei? There wasn't any of the usual annoyance in his tone or gaze like with other people.

Maybe...

Maybe, it was worth a try...

Naruto opened his eyes to the fluttering leaf in his lap. The morning dew pervading his senses. Birds chirping all around. The soft pitter-patter of the stream flowing nearby reaching his ears.

"—Ah, shit! My neck!" disrupted the otherwise peaceful environment. The exclamation was followed by the gurgle of his stomach.

"Man! Did I really forget to eat?"

Normally, Naruto would run home to get some instant noodles, but he actually felt a bit too drained to do that. In fact, the only thing he ate yesterday was what Satsuki fed him. 'I could probably catch some fish and pick some berries.' He could have made mushroom stew, but the last time he tried that was when he was with the Old Man. And that didn't exactly work out for either of their stomachs. 'Not to mention stews take forever to make.'

About half an hour later, Naruto had his own personal feast to himself. Several of the small fish and a handful of wild Konoha berries. He was about halfway through his third fish when his eyes wandered up to the sky.

"—Shit!"

Quickly kicking dirt up to put the fire out. And fixing the forehead protector back to his forehead. Naruto made his way to the training ground, realizing that it must have been noon if the sun was any indication. 'I hope today; isn't the day Kakashi decides to show up on time!'

Kakashi could feel his amusement flare in his nostrils.

He'd finished his business at the Memorial Stone and was now watching the newly minted genin team chat. Shifting slightly to find a comfortable position to watch, he absentmindedly wondered how long it would take for his genin to notice him. His mind slowly going back to his visit to the memorial stone.

At the memorial stone, Kakashi had been gathering his resolve. Making sure his facade would not crack around Minato-sensei's and Kushina's son. It had been every bit as difficult to look at him as he thought it would. Whether it was the hair, the eyes, or even the way he flailed his arms. Naruto was their son. The warmth of his eyes made him long for the past. The fire in his eyes brought back the fun and painful memories.

Kakashi was brought out of his musings when he felt Satsuki's gaze on him. The Uchiha's annoyance was glaringly obvious. Sakura was still chastising Naruto for being late, and Naruto was eating up the attention.

Enough dilly-dallying... Kakashi mentally reprimanded as he made his way down. It was bad that Naruto and Sakura couldn't feel the direction of their teammate's focus. They would need to know how to take a hint if this team was ever going to be successful.

… Something was off.

Kakashi had rounded up his team, and they were going to run through some D-ranks. Knowing that the D-ranks would teach them to swallow their pride and work together.

But Naruto...

Naruto was quiet. Way quieter than he'd ever heard the boy, and even more so than what Iruka said. Not to mention, Naruto's gaze hadn't left him since he revealed himself. The few times he had, it was to aggravate the Uchiha or get the pinkette's attention on him. It felt like his movements were being studied, almost like he was being judged.

Kakashi felt a wave of guilt. He failed his father. He failed his clan. He failed his team. He failed his sensei. No doubt, he'd fail the last thing that even vaguely resembled family...

No...

Another look at Naruto showed that his gaze wasn't judgmental. His father's eyes were icier and more electrifying. No doubt, his would be similar. Naruto's eyes right now showed more... curiosity? It looked the same as Minato-sensei's.

It somehow hurt, even more, knowing Naruto could not only look but also act like his father when he wanted to. Just what did he do that earned that look from his sensei's son?

Should I ask him...? No, if he really is like Kushina, he'll avoid the question altogether and just stop staring. I won't get an answer. My best bet would probably be Iruka.

With a plan set, Kakashi returned to the present.

Iruka enjoyed lunch outside. It was a rather normal day at the Academy, and he had a rather normal sandwich in hand.

There were was a nice isolated set of stone benches that weren't too far from the Academy. He remembered this spot. It was the same place he first expressed his doubts about teaching Naruto to... Kakashi of all people. He briefly wondered if it was just a coincidence that Kakashi had been there to guide him on teaching Naruto, and the fact, that Kakashi was now the one teaching Naruto. However, before he could complete the thought.

"Yo!"

And much like the devil, Kakashi had appeared.

"And good afternoon to you too, Kakashi," Iruka warmly greeted, catching sight of the man sitting on the same tree branch from years back, orange book in hand.

"How have you been? Naruto isn't causing you any issues now, is he?" Iruka's tone was full of mirth.

"Oh well, I've been around," Kakashi elusively answered.

"As for Naruto, he's about as much as I expected him to be, but..." Kakashi stopped himself short to let himself jump down from the tree branch.

Iruka raised an eyebrow prompting Kakashi to continue, "today, he's been awfully quieter than usual."

Iruka chuckled at that. He never thought he'd see the day where 'Naruto' and 'quiet' were in a sentence without a 'not' separating them. Iruka looked down at his lunch and—

"—Wait a minute, it's the middle of the day. Shouldn't you be doing a mission with them right now?"

"Mah Mah Iruka, they're doing D-ranks, probably out catching Tora right now," Kakashi supplied, "besides, I left a shadow clone to watch them."

I should probably be more concerned that he's shirking off his responsibilities, but it's not really my place. And besides, Naruto seems content with him now, so it isn't like complaining would do any good.

"I was wondering if you knew anything about Naruto's sudden shift in personality" Kakashi cut Iruka off from any further musing.

"I can't imagine any reason why," Iruka leaned back into his seat, "but we did have a chat about you and the other members of your genin squad yesterday."

At this point, Iruka had closed his eyes and smirked, believing he had sensitive information on the Great Copycat Ninja: Kakashi. His voice adopted a teasing tone, "You made quite the impression, you know?"

"Naruto came bursting in, rambling about how cool you are. And how much he wanted to impress you. Heck, he came in specifically asking for tips on how to impress you." Iruka spoke like he was implying Kakashi was getting soft, continuing with, "I would have thought, he would say something about one-upping Satsuki or impressing Sakura."

Taking Kakashi's silence as permission to continue, "you know for all he hollers on about the Fourth Hokage."

Knowing who Kakashi apprenticed under, Iruka figured he could embarrass the man with what he said next, "he probably couldn't recite a single quote of his. Yet, he seemed to be able to recite everything you said with no difficulty whatsoever."

There was a deafening silence

With his eyes still closed, Iruka couldn't help but feel a bit awkward. At first, he thought the man would have made some quip back at this point. There was one other reaction he expected, though. Perhaps, the one-eyed man may have stopped listening long ago; instead, favoring to read his little orange book. Deciding to have a peek, Iruka couldn't help but widen his eyes.

It was only there for a fraction of a second, but there was a glint in Kakashi's eye. But before Iruka could confirm what he was seeing, Kakashi had spun around. The scraping of his shoes disrupting any thoughts Iruka had.

"Mah, thanks for the information, Iruka," Kakashi said, hand waving away more than just Iruka. "If I have any more questions about my genin, then I'll be sure to ask you."

Kakashi had flickered away before Iruka could even acknowledge what he said. The stunned Iruka went back to nibbling away at his sandwich, wondering...

It was just a coincidence... right?

AN: Iruka and Naruto are my lovable idiots. If you haven't noticed I really like that trope, and Naruto 'maturing' will be centered around reflecting on his successes as a lovable idiot, so that his successes are less accidental and more intentional.

I'm not sure I did Kakashi right, maybe he'd only get glossy-eyed or he'd be able to suppress expression completely.

These discussion topics forward are spoilers by the way.

I'm also not sure if I'll do anything with Iruka's suspicions, that was kinda done in the spur of the moment. I mean if you guys want detective Iruka to discover Naruto's heritage maybe, but I was thinking of having Naruto somehow retroactively view this conversation. That and Kakashi's growth/actions forward were going to be all the relevance this conversation has.

I will not be bashing anyone in this fic, and I will bend over backward to justify everyone's actions. That includes Danzo and Hiruzen. Something about several plot points involving scapegoats and the negative results really drives me away from the plot device. 'Cuz ain't like the entire point is that it's shinobi system's fault?