"Excuse me, Hokage-sama, but what do you mean I will be taking the Hatake brat as an apprentice?"
"Exactly like what I said. Kakashi-kun is a genius like you and Minato-kun, the only people suited to train him are the both of you. I don't think I need to explain what just happened to Sakumo a few days ago. I don't know if you know this, but Sakumo's death had hit Kakashi hard. I don't want to see a budding sapling wilting because Konoha isn't there to give him the support when he needs it."
"Then just hoist him off to Mina-"
The Hokage then began to list off reasons using the fingers on his hand.
"First off, you are a Yamanaka." The Hokage stated plainly as he then began to tick off the list of reasons he had drew up in his head. "You understand the workings of the mind way better than what Minato-kun can. Secondly, like I said, you are a genius. Only a genius can help train a genius. Thirdly, you are free right now since you are temporarily on medical rest, unlike Minato who is still busy with his own duties. Fourthly, it is high time you start getting a genin team of your own. Fifthly,-"
"Ok, ok. I get it." The Yamanaka in question waved her hands in front of her to cut off Hiruzen's speech, much to his amusement. He may be the Hokage, but sitting in the office the entire day doing paperwork can be very mind-numbing. Things like these are his daily dose of entertainment.
If only there wasn't the threat of a war brewing outside right now, it will be perfect.
"I still think Minato is better suited to train Kakashi. I shouldn't be the one training Kakashi."
"And why not?" The aged Hokage asked curiously as he leaned forward as he propped his right elbow on the table and rest his chin on the back of his right hand. "Do tell."
"It's just… It's just not right!" Inori threw her hands up in exasperation. "And how am I supposed to take care of a – how old is he again?" Inori went through Kakashi's file before continuing her speech. "Five? I know he is a genius, but five?" Inori threw down the file and dragged an exasperated palm across her face.
"No offence, Hokage-sama, but taking care of a five-year-old? Have you seen me? I am a selfish person with a questionable moral compass and here you are asking me to take care of an impressionable five-year-old? This is a bad idea. And in case your age has caught up to you and muddled your mind, I am only fourteen this year, way too young to be training genins."
"Minato is only a year older than you. This isn't a valid reason to decline and you know it." Hiruzen retorted as he took a puff from his pipe. "And yes, I know you are a little selfish, but people are inherently selfish creatures. You are selfish, but you are fiercely loyal to your friends and family. The Will of Fire burns brightly in you no matter how you try to deny it."
"Can you please reconsider your decision and assign the little brat to Minato? Please? Pleeeeaaassee?" Inori said as she put her palms together in a pleading manner and whined. If he hadn't mastered the art of maintaining his poker face no matter the circumstances, Hiruzen might have burst out laughing at Yamanaka Inori's actions.
Inori never whined.
"My decision is final." Hiruzen spoke in a serious tone that brook no argument, shutting Inori up immediately although it was with great reluctance. "You will take Kakashi on as your apprentice and when he is old enough to be on a genin team, you will take on another two students and lead a genin team of your own. Until then, you only have Kakashi to take care of."
"I'm so doomed. The world is doomed." Inori muttered as she buried her face in her hands. "We are so screwed."
"Don't exaggerate things, my dear grand-student." Hiruzen said lazily as he tossed Kakashi's file at Inori, who caught it on reflex. "You will be fine."
"If the world got destroyed by some crazy rabbit goddess because of this, I hold the rights to say 'I told you so'." Inori shot back as she made to leave the room. "Urgh. Jiraiya-sensei will be laughing at me the moment he hears about this, I can already imagine it."
Hiruzen didn't bother to hide the smile that stretched from one ear to another as Inori made to exit the room. Inori had always been one of the funnier ones to mess with when he is bored. Her reactions are always unexpected and hilarious in the weird sort of way.
The perks of being a Hokage.
Hiruzen collected his thoughts and prepared himself to attend another meeting that will take place in about half an hour later. It is a pity that Sakumo had chosen to end his life, but there's nothing to be done about it now. They have to focus on the present.
War might be coming.
I stared down at the silver-haired brat as he stared back up at me.
"So, you are Kakashi."
"I am starting to doubt that you are my new jonin sensei if you can't even recognise your own student. The shinobi rules states that-"
"None of your sass here." I replied with a hint of annoyance to my voice and pulled at Kakashi's ear, making him squirm as a result. "If there's one thing that you are going to learn while you are my student, I don't follow the rules. The rules follow me."
Kakashi may grow to be a Hokage-level shinobi one day, but right now he is just a five-year-old brat. A brat that the freaking monkey of a Hokage had ordered me to take care of. Canon is doomed. This world is doomed. What is the world of Naruto going to be without Kakashi being Minato's student and then he being Naruto's teacher?
I just screwed this world up. My presence alone had somehow screwed this world upside down.
Kakashi nursed his ear as I folded my arms across my chest and tapped a foot on the floor in an irregular rhythm. Well, all things considered, this isn't the worst outcome.
"You live alone?"
"Yes, sensei. Obviously." Kakashi deadpanned.
"Well, lead the way."
Kakashi tilted his head to a side, similar to how a dog does it. If I were a lesser woman, I may have cooed over how cute Kakashi look. Thankfully, I have strong mental defences.
"Lead the way?"
"To wherever you stay. As your sensei, I need to know what kind of living conditions you are living in. What are you waiting for? Move it."
Kakashi just turned and walked away as I followed. This brat doesn't have anyone to teach him manners. I am going to have my job cut out for me.
I should have just remained dead. Why the hell am I even reincarnated here? To save the world or something? That is Naruto's job, not mine. Who even brought me here in the first place? Can I request a refund and remain dead?
I soon reached the small apartment that Kakashi is living in. It is located in the shinobi district of Konoha. It is also where many clanless shinobis live. I know that there is a Hatake clan compound somewhere, but Kakashi had probably moved out to avoid recalling the nasty memories of the day his father committed suicide.
I threw Kakashi a few storage scrolls, and I can see him scrunching up his face in confusion despite the mask over it.
"Five minutes. Pack everything you have into these scrolls of yours. You are moving in to stay with me."
Kakashi's head shot up immediately.
"Sensei! I am not-"
"Yes, you are." I narrowed my eyes and purposely let my chakra out a little to increase the pressure around us. "A shinobi must always follow their commander's instructions. Sounds familiar to you?"
"Shinobi rule number two." Kakashi lowered his head in defeat.
I don't like doing this to Kakashi either, but the Kakashi now is a stickler for the rules. It is easier to get him to cooperate with this method for now. I will wean him off these stupid rules when we are more familiar with each other.
Kakashi's shinobi upbringing had never been more apparent when he did manage to pack all his stuffs in the storage scrolls I brought for him in less than five minutes. He stood before me in his shinobi attire at attention the moment he is done.
Did I mention that his cuteness increases with how serious he tries to be? It is like watching a child trying to act like a mature adult. Chibi Kakashi is adorable.
We walked out of his apartment and I found the landlady. I terminated the apartment's contract for Kakashi and paid for any extras that need to be paid due to the early termination. Kakashi didn't look happy at the arrangement, but he didn't say anything.
"I will lead the way. Try to keep up."
With that, I dashed off to the rooftops with Kakashi immediately trailing behind. I kept my pace such that I am always a fixed distance in front of him no matter how he tried to increase his speed to match mine. This is a good chance to find out more about his current physical abilities.
We soon reached the Yamanaka compound and I caught Kakashi, who nearly stumbled on his feet the moment he landed and wheezed for air. He tried to straighten himself, but nearly toppled instead.
"Not too bad for a five-year-old. Come on, I will show you around."
I grabbed the brat and threw him on my shoulder as I walked into the clan compound. The guards on duty today greeted me as I returned the greeting to them.
"Your genin student, Inori-sama?"
"Yep. Cute, ain't he? Just like a puppy."
The guards laughed at my comment as Kakashi squirmed indignantly in my arms. I ignored him as I navigated through the compound and found my house. The lights are on, my older brother must have just returned home.
"Nii-san! The brat is here!"
I called out the moment I pushed open the front door and deposit Kakashi on the floor like a sack of flour. I can imagine the scowl on his face behind his mask as he stood up on his feet and straighten his shirt.
"Oh, how do you do, Kakashi-kun?" Inoichi said as he walked out to greet us and ruffled Kakashi's hair good-naturedly. Kakashi didn't seem to like it if his glare is any indication.
Good. More things I can do to annoy him.
"Your room is that one." I said as I pointed to a room on the far side of the house. "My room is next to yours and the one upstairs belongs to Nii-san. Don't ever enter the room we blockaded on the second floor. It belongs to our parents."
Kakashi voiced out his confusion.
"Why would you blockade your parents' room?"
"Because they are no longer here." I replied simply. "They just passed away and neither Nii-san nor I have the mental strength right now to go through their belongings. We will eventually clear the room, but not now."
Kakashi looked very uncomfortable at the information I dumped onto him.
"Hey, it's alright." I said as I ruffled his hair. "I may not have planned to take care of a brat, but you are mine now. If there's anything you need, come find me. Nii-san is now the Clan Head of the Yamanaka clan, so don't worry about anyone from our clan talking shit about you if that is what you are scared of. We will set them straight for you."
"Ri-chan has a good track record for making life hard for those who were stupid enough to mess with her." Inoichi said with a grin. "You are in good hands. Come on, dinner's ready."
The three of us made our way to the living room where Inoichi had done up a simple meal to welcome Kakashi into the house.
The moment it was confirmed that Kakashi would be my apprentice, I had discussed long and hard with Inoichi on how to care for a kid with mental trauma. We both agreed that it is easier to care for him if he is staying with us. The progress will be slow, but it is easier for us to help with the problems that he is facing. There's no way I will leave a five-year-old kid to live by himself no matter how mature he is. Canon character or not, Kakashi is only a five-year-old. I am not leaving him to fend for himself.
I always have a soft spot for kids.
I left Kakashi to unpack his stuffs in his room as I helped Inoichi wash the dishes.
"So, thoughts about being a sensei?"
"No freaking clue on what to do." I replied honestly. "I guess I will just focus on getting us to be familiar with each other for now. I need to see for myself the extent of his problems before deciding on what to do. I will probably need to consult you on a lot of things, psychology has never been my strong suit even if it is our clan's forte."
"Feel free to do so." My brother reassured me as he dried the dishes and put them back nicely to where they should belong. "You know that I am always here for you."
"You are too nice to me, Nii-san."
"You are my little sister and we are all we have left. Who else am I going to care about if I don't care for you?"
"Your future daughter is going to be so spoiled."
"I'm not even seeing anyone yet. And who knows? I may get a son instead."
"I'm betting that it will be a girl."
"And the winner of the bet will get…?"
"A personal weapon custom made for them."
"That will cost the loser a bomb. Still, deal."
Kakashi emerged from his room just as we finished the dishes. He stood at rapt attention before talking to me as if he is giving me a sitrep.
"Sensei, I have finished unpacking my stuffs."
"Take a break for today." I said as I gave a yawn. "Enjoy while you can. I will make your training a living hell starting from tomorrow."
Kakashi stood rooted to the ground, looking as if he has no idea what to do. I gave him a curious look.
"Well, don't you have a hobby? Go do whatever you like to do in your free time."
"I usually train in my free time." Kakashi admitted. "Sensei, may I know if there are any training grounds in the compound that I am allowed to use?"
Both Inoichi and I turned to look at each other. Kakashi's problem is even bigger than we thought it would be. How can someone have no hobby?
"First of all, you need to get a hobby outside of training." I said with my hands on my hips. "If you have nothing better to do in your free time other than training, then help me out in the greenhouse where our clansmen grow our poisonous plants. You can learn new knowledge while meeting new people, so it won't be a waste of your time."
The two of us dragged the unwilling Hatake kid along. Our little party drew the curious stares of our clansmen as Inoichi greeted them all with polite nods of his head. Our clan had known that I will be bringing Kakashi into the compound to live with us due to his unique circumstances. Most of our clan were sympathetic to his plight even if not all of them can agree with Sakumo's decision to put the well-being of his comrades over his mission. Thankfully, most of us were at least open-minded enough to not judge the children by the sins of their parents even if they disagreed with Sakumo's decision.
It is hard to say whether what Sakumo did was right or wrong. You can argue from the viewpoint that the good of the majority outweighs the minority, or you can also argue that we should always try to save our comrades no matter what. I don't want to judge Sakumo since I don't have all the facts regarding that botched up mission. There's no point to it anyway, he's already dead. I don't know why there are still shinobis who are still talking about this issue and trying to pin the blame on him. Don't they know the meaning of respecting the dead?
I don't know how things will turn out in the future now that I am the one saddled with Kakashi instead of Minato, but he is a kid that was entrusted to me by the Hokage himself. I am going to do the best I can in raising him.
Canon can go and screw itself since it decided to screw with me. I wonder what Kushina and Mikoto will say the moment they learned that I have a brat to take care of? Kushina will probably try to coo over him. Mikoto will probably just egg Kushina on to see Kakashi's reactions if she finds them to be hilarious.
To quote Shikaku, how troublesome.
Inori-sensei is many things.
She can be quiet and yet loud, impatient yet calm, annoying yet pleasant, she can be very loving yet extremely cold.
She is a ball of contradictions whose sole purpose is to drive him crazy and up the wall with how hard she is to understand. There's no rhyme or reason to what she did. She just does whatever she feels like.
Still, Kakashi is grateful that Inori-sensei is his sensei. She had pulled him out of his depressed funk that he had gotten himself into ever since his father committed suicide. He doesn't think that he had totally forgave his father for what he did, but he doesn't hate him now.
How could he? No matter what, he was his father. He is still angry at him, but after looking at himself, he realised that he never truly hated him. Right now, he just wants to understand. Just what drove his father to do what he did? Why did he forsake his mission for the sake of his comrades?
Inori-sensei had said that he will understand the moment he is good enough to lead a team on his own and that there's no point in fussing over it. Kakashi can only accept that explanation for now.
Four years had passed since he had become Inori-sensei's apprentice. He had soon found out not long after Inori-sensei took him in, that she is a genius like him, and that it was the main reason she was chosen by the Hokage to be his sensei.
Inori-sensei had worked him to the ground when it comes to taijutsu and genjutsu. Her ninjutsu techniques are mainly limited to her clan techniques, but she was a great help in searching for suitable ninjutsus for him to learn and explain to him the theory behind it. It is not that Inori-sensei is an incapable shinobi for not being able to use most ninjutsus. The truth is far from it, since she is one of the strongest jonins in her generation despite her young age. She is just physically incapable of using common ninjutsus that most shinobis are able to use.
Kakashi had thought that he had heard it wrongly too when Inori-sensei had explained to him that she is unable to utilise the common elemental ninjutsus.
Inori-sensei is born with a heavy imbalance of spiritual energy dominating her physical one. The imbalance is so huge that the doctors were baffled as to how she had survived as an infant since her spiritual energy is so large that it dwarfed her physical energy. From a scientific standpoint, she shouldn't be alive.
Yet, here she is.
The imbalance had created problems for her in learning the shinobi arts. Chakra is a manifestation of energy that comes from the moulding of both spiritual and physical energy. You need both to create chakra. Due to how little Inori-sensei's physical energy is as compared to her spiritual side, there is a limit to the number of jutsus she can use before she tires herself out since her physical energy always runs out prematurely. The small amount of physical energy that she has is her limiting factor in producing the amount of chakra she can realistically mold. She will likely never to be able to use the higher level jutsus which are more chakra intensive, although she did manage to learn how to use the Kage Bunshin. According to sensei, that jutsu is just too useful to not learn, even if two clones is all she can manage.
The problem that her energy imbalance brought about is not just limited to her jutsu repertoire. It affected her usage of her clan's techniques too.
Inori-sensei is incapable of using the more delicate Yamanka clan techniques. Using even the basic Mind Body Switch Technique, a basic clan technique that every Yamanaka shinobi will need to know, is impossible for her.
Maybe that is not the right way to phrase it. She is capable in using it, but it will not yield the same results as compared to her clansmen.
The amount of spiritual energy that Inori-sensei possess is so huge that it makes it impossible for her to properly mind switch with her target. She had told him that she had gotten the technique down on her first try when she was about six years old, but instead of switching minds with the lab rat, she obliterated the rat's mind with the force equivalent to a sledgehammer. She is just unable to control the huge amount of spiritual energy and use it with the precision of a scalpel that is needed for the Mind Body Switch Technique. Her control over her spiritual energy had grown good enough to perform most of her clan's techniques but using the more delicate ones are definitely still impossible for her unless she wants to render her target a braindead one.
However, that is what makes her a scary opponent to face as well.
Inori-sensei can destroy her opponents with sheer spiritual force no matter how strong they are. Not in the literal sense, since her opponents will technically still be alive, but their mind will be dead. Inori-sensei can completely destroy her opponents' consciousness simply by blasting her spiritual energy at her target. It is a technique that is only made possible due to the amount of spiritual energy Inori-sensei has. The force from the spiritual blast rips her opponents' consciousness away from them, leaving their body as a mere husk of meat without a mind. It is a technique unique to her even among her clansmen since there is no one in Konoha, and possibly in the entire Elemental Nations, with spiritual energy as large as her.
It doesn't matter how strong you are since there's no known way to defend yourself against her technique. Not even the Yamanakas had devised a possible solution. Chakra absorption techniques won't work too since chakra is a mixture of both physical and spiritual energy. Inori-sensei's signature technique only requires pure spiritual energy in huge amount, physical energy isn't required. Unless her opponents are somehow able to absorb or block only spiritual energy, Inori-sensei's techniques is nigh undefendable against anyone on the receiving end of it.
That doesn't mean she is invincible. There are many ways to beat her, like taking her down even before she has the chance to use that unique jutsu. Namikaze Minato had demonstrated that the moment he finally mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique. However, not many can do that since Inori-sensei is by no means weak even without her unique jutsu to aid her. There are many things she can do with her clan techniques alone and that is not considering her repertoire of genjutsus. She is good at taijutsu too even if she is no master at it.
If it wasn't for the fact that her body's condition made it impossible for her to use most elemental ninjutsus, Inori-sensei would have been an extremely well-rounded shinobi.
Four years had passed in the blink of an eye. Inori-sensei had said that the both of them will be getting 'another two snot-nosed brats' tomorrow and then form a genin team together. She wasn't extremely keen on the idea too, but the Hokage had all but demanded it from her.
The threat of a war looming on the horizon is too large for anyone to ignore. Every shinobi village had tried to avoid another war so soon after the Second Shinobi World War but this time, it seems that a third war is inevitable. Konoha will need to produce shinobis as fast as possible. Academy students are being pushed out of the academy rapidly to meet Konoha's growing demand for more soldiers.
Inori-sensei had also increased his training to insane levels in an effort to keep him alive in the event war finally breaks out. Kakashi never complained once. He knew that she is doing this for his sake, because he is one of the few people that she truly cares about.
She doesn't want him to die.
The arrival of an imminent war aside, Kakashi wish she had told him who exactly will be joining them. She is keeping the identity of their two new teammates a secret from him for shit and giggles. He knows for a fact that the people joining will be close to his age group, so that means that they will be people that he had probably seen before in his short time at the academy before he graduated.
As long as the two people does not consist of that one annoying Uchiha and the person with that obnoxious green jumpsuit complete with thick eyebrows, he is fine with whoever got themselves stuck with him and Inori-sensei.
.
.
.
Crap, he just jinxed it, didn't he? The opposite of what he wished for always happens the moment he made such declarations in his head. Inori-sensei had said that it is Murphy's law at work, whoever Murphy is. What kind of people will name their child with the weird name of Murphy anyway? It is too damn hard to pronounce.
Whatever. He should probably just turn in early today and enjoy the remnants of peace he can before it all shatters tomorrow. Knowing his luck, he will probably get one of the two annoying people that is up there on the top of his blacklist. Which one of them is the lesser of the two evils?
Probably Obito. Kakashi would probably go jump off a building if he got Guy as a teammate. He cannot imagine facing the green jumpsuit and those thick wriggling eyebrows every single day they have to meet up as a team.
Kakashi shuddered at the thought. Yup, at least Obito's fashion choice is a lot more bearable than Guy's. He can deal with that.
He still cannot comprehend the thought of him sharing Inori-sensei with anyone else, but he guess he can try. Inori-sensei had always been his sensei. Not anyone else's, but his alone. That will change tomorrow and he doesn't like it one single bit.
Inori-sensei had always teased him for being a possessive little brat.
He admits he is a little possessive, but she is one of the few individuals that showed him genuine care when people were more concerned about smearing the Hatake name due to the actions of his father. She was the one that showed him that there is more to being a shinobi than a mindless tool. She made him human again.
It was because of what she did for him that he respects her so much despite her annoying and frustrating personality.
He will murder anyone that dares harm her. Painfully.
That is a promise.