Kakashi shunshined to just outside the tower and then slinked into the large, round multitiered room under the Tower that served as the meeting room for things like this through one of the basement level windows at the top of the room. His fellow jounin, those who were assigned kids and those who were lucky to not be were all scattered around the low light room at different tiers and in little clusters chatting in whispers. The other teachers were all floor level and bunched together waiting on him. He gave a polite acknowledgment to the ANBU hidden in the wall next to the window and hopped down to join his comrades in child torture. Gai, long since equipped with a state of the art Kakashi-sensor, turned neatly and bellowed as cheerful a greeting as his powerful lungs could afford him while posing.
"YOSH! KAKASHI-KUN MY COOL RIVAL IN ARMS YOU FINALLY ARRIVE!" Dust floated down from the ceiling.
Kakashi just pulled his little orange book and walked past the 'youthful' instructor and greeted Asuma, and Kurenai with a lazy two-fingered salute. "Yo." Then he slumped against the wooden table with his nose in his book.
Gai buckled like someone had somehow managed to kick in one his iron-strong knees and howled like he'd lost a jumpsuit. "ALWAYS SO COOL AND COLLECTED MY YOUTHFUL FRIEND." The loud exclamation was accompanied by big crocodile tears and a clenched fist.
Asuma ignored Gai's wails about youth, long since used to his brand of insanity, but Kurenai was new to teaching and hadn't been exposed to as much Gai as Asuma had. She gave the Green Beast a weirded outlook for his over the top undignified wailing and looked to be hovering between scolding him for being so loud and comforting him for having to deal with Kakashi's Kakashi-ness all the time. Before anymore ninja brand weirdness could go down the Hokage shunshined in with his advisors at either shoulder and a small portion of his guard visible around him.
All the gathered shinobi went down on one knee and bowed their head to their leader.
"Stand shinobi, Sensei step forward and report the status of your teams when called." Sarutobi sat at the desk that doubled as the only real seat in the room with his advisors while two of the Hokage's Guard took up positions in front and to either side of the desk. The rest had already melted into the shadows to join their fellows. The newbies were almost good enough to disappear from Kakashi's senses. Almost.
The first ten minutes of the reports were from previous Senseis' reporting the 'go-no-go' status of which teams were ready to go on to the chuunin or jounin exams as necessary, or requesting a pass for the year, or getting permission to contract help from other instructors for various specialties. Only some requested the dissolution of their teams for reason related to 'stagnation of growth' otherwise known as: 'they've peaked send them to admin to do paperwork'. An unfortunate but sometimes popular reason to dissolve a team.
Finally came the time that everyone had been waiting for: the new Senseis' of the genin batch for the graduation year. Everyone wanted to see how many of the new teams passed and which Academy students had passed to become real shinobi. Konoha hadn't had a graduating class this big since before the Third Shinobi War and especially not since the Kyuubi Attack. And with more than half the class being heirs to major clans in the village it was no wonder that Kakashi could sense spies for the clans and various big players in the village in the room with them. More importantly, he could feel their eyes on him specifically.
Everyone knew the Jinchuriki was a part of the graduating class this year, and they knew she had been put under his wing. Not to mention he had the 'honor' of teaching the Last Uchiha. Kakashi knew many were jealous that he'd been pulled from ANBU rotation only to teach the Jinchuriki and Uchiha. They'd tried putting him into Sensei rotation after the War was over, his own Sensei wanting him to move on and find something new to live for that didn't involve as much death but Kakashi proved stubborn to opening up to the students and went into ANBU with Kushina's blessing. She told her husband 'he'll find new people one-day Nato-koi just give him time' patted Kakashi on the head and went back to making clothes for a then still in the womb Naruto.
"Maito Gai, Sensei of Team 9 of last year. Status?"
"YOSH HOKAGE-SAMA MY TEAM LEARNS WELL AND I'M STOKING THEIR WILL OF FIRE HIGH!"
"…Still coming together, that's good Gai-san." Sarutobi was an old hand at speaking Gai. "Now for the newest batch of potential genin teams. Team 10, sensei: Sarutobi Asuma, probationary genin: Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Choji, status?"
Asuma, newly reintegrated as an active duty Konoha shinobi in the past year after a stint on the Daimyo's protection squad and some time on border patrol which was the nice way of saying he pitched a hissy at his father the Hokage, left, and the old man didn't have the heart to mark his son as a deserter. Though not a single body or face in the crowd of shinobi and spies sent by others were dumb enough to let it show in front of their leader Kakashi knew many felt that letting Asuma have a genin team, a high honor only given to talented shinobi that were getting old in ninja terms, after just returning to his home village was a clear sign of favoritism from the old monkey. Not one of them was ever going to say anything where he or his guard could hear, they were ninja, not fish market wives, gossiping only happened in secret rooms and behind false doors with plenty of alcohol and traps.
"Team 10 passed not without some difficulties Oto-sama, they've taken the teamwork their names imply for granted and will have to work on becoming one unit, but I expect they will make good progress over the year." The Sarutobis sighed out twin clouds of smoke from pipe and cigarette respectively and Asuma stepped back into line.
"Thank you, now for Team 8. Sensei: Yuhi Kurenai, probationary genin: Inuzuka Kiba, Huuya Hinata, and Aburame Shino. Status?"
Kurenai hid her nerves well but Kakashi could see it in her too straight back. "Team 8 passes Hokage-sama. There are some over and lack of confidence issues to work out but overall, I believe they'll all grow strong together." She gave a respectful bow and ducked back into the cover of her fellow shinobi.
"Very good news Kurenai, now for Team 7. Sensei: Hatake Kakashi, potential genin: Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura. Well, Kakashi? Do you have a team this year or no?" Sarutobi asked.
Everyone in the crowd tensed. This was what they'd all been waiting for the whole time. Would Kakashi pass the 'last' Uchiha? Would he pass the 'demon girl'? Would the 'Dead Last' of the year drag her teammates down and be cast out later? How did the two most-watched genins of the year fare during Kakashi's nearly impossible Bell Test? The room was instantly abuzz, no one started whispering to each other because they were very professional assassins for hire but Kakashi knew there would be wild speculation about what he was about to say later. He ignored the feeling of every eye in the room focused on him and finally raised his head from his perverted orange book to look his commander in the face.
"Pass Hokage-sama." There weren't any audible gasps, but it was near thing. Before he put his nose back in his book Kakashi caught several shinobi slipping out early, no doubt going to tell the incredible news. Hatake Kakashi finally had a genin team. And the last loyal Uchiha and the Jinchuriki were on it. Kakashi felt one of the Hokage's Nara guards slip into his shadow and didn't fight when he was puppeteered into pressing his index finger against the spine of his book in rapid code, then he was free, and the Nara was back at their leader's side in seconds.
Sarutobi nodded and marked the pass down in the new file on team seven. "We now know the status of our genin this year. If their sensei requests help or mentorship on behalf of their genin from fellow shinobi I expect you all to show your Will of Fire and do your very best to raise these genins into fine examples of Konoha's values together. Remember: it is through teamwork that wars are won. Dismissed." As one the room full of trained warriors disappeared to gossip and drink.
Kakashi appeared silently in the receiving room of the Sarutobi compound. As soon as he was done removing his shoes and settling them into the rack Biwako Sarutobi, Hiruzen's wife was there kneeling gracefully with her handmaidens at her side. One was already offering him a bowl and cloth to wash his feet and the other approached softly to take his vest and weapon pouches as he removed them, a sign of respect to his leader and his home.
"My honored husband is waiting for you in the tearoom Kakashi-chan, allow me to lead you." She gave a perfectly polite kneeling bow, turned on her toes, and rose in the same smooth motion.
"Please do Sarutobi-sama." He bowed, deeper than she did and followed. Her handmaidens, his clothes already disappeared to somewhere to be given back as he left, flanked him easily. Kakashi submitted to all of the showy politeness quietly. He remembered well that Biwako and her handmaidens used to be Konoha's very best and most effective seduction and assassination squad, all three of the women who were guiding him soundlessly down the halls of the mansion had forgotten more about killing then he could hope to know. Hiruzen was a lucky man.
"How did my little princess do on your test Kakashi-chan?" Biwako was most assuredly not leading him directly to the Meeting Tea-room but Kakashi tried not to be so nervous about being alone in the home territory of some of the world's best silent killers.
"She did well Sarutobi-sama, she tried to cleave my head open and dosed me with a mild poison." Biwako gave an amused hum and the maidens at his side giggled like bells.
"That child always did hate losing even though she's too clever to be tricked most days." She sighed fondly. Then the air shifted and Biwako turned her head just slightly but not enough to look at Kakashi over her shoulder she was ninja royalty and royalty doesn't turn its head for a soldier and the handmaidens closed in at his sides, a pair of beautiful threats "Does she look well? What are your thoughts on the other two? Will they grow well or try to spread root rot to my lovely flower?" The silent threat was that the Uchiha and the civilian would be 'plucked' before they could drag Naruto down with them. Kakashi fully agreed.
"The Princess looks well Sarutobi-sama, she's hiding behind a mask, but I believe with the proper tools I can pry it off and help her bloom into her full potential. The other two need to be pruned and fertilized but I don't believe they should be uprooted just yet, give me time Sarutobi-sama." He bowed his head respectfully.
Biwako hummed at him and faced fully forward again, "You shall have time Kakashi-chan but I would watch the black poplar tree you've been given, from what I've seen they tend to overgrow and choke out other plant growth in our soil." Uchiha Sasuke would be under even closer watch now that he'd made it into the real ninja corps, with the entirety of his family tending towards being traitors the higher command of the village wouldn't be too quick to trust the boy with their long memory and even longer grudges. Kakashi knew working through the boy's inherited problems and the shadows that followed him was possibly going to be even more difficult than getting Naruto to show a human even a shade of her true face. But he owed it to his teammate and his sensei to do everything to help them succeed.
Finally, they came to a halt in the endless hallways of beautifully painted paper sliding doors before one that was painted to show a field of snow, undisturbed, and perfectly fluffy. Kakashi felt his skin prickle just at the sight of the scenery. Snow was terrible, it muffled the sound of enemies coming, the snow itself showed every movement, and you never knew what could be hiding under deep snowfall. Things, lives, and battles were lost in the snow and Kakashi hated it with a passion.
Biwako kneeled smoothly and bowed her head, one, two, three heartbeats, and then she was sliding the door open and ushering him inside with her ever-present, effortless grace. Kakashi stopped just inside the door and kneeled. Three more heartbeats passed before Sarutobi's voice came from deeper in the room and bid him "Enter" Kakashi obeyed and carefully shuffled in on the balls of his feet. He knew that while he looked graceful to someone unexperienced that Biwako and any Geisha worth her charcoal would sneer at his awkward movements. He had no idea how the hell Geisha shuffled so delicately and made it look so damn easy, he was jealous but not enough to submit to the absolute torture of Shinobi level Geisha training. He felt truly for his fellow kunoichi that went through it, even Anko a true blue badass of a kunoichi hated Geisha training. And Anko loved anything that involved seduction and assassination.
"Please sit normally Kakashi-kun, this conversation won't be quick." Kakashi straightened and sat more comfortably with his legs folded under him. He accepted the tea that was set as his elbow and sipped on it as Biwako and her handmaidens settled around them in a triangle and with an ease born of long practice erected a three-point pyramid privacy seal using the scrolls they always carried. The pyramid privacy seal was usually only used when the Hokage wanted to have private conversations stay private above all else. As the seal settled into place around them the world was muffled with a brief 'pop!' and fuzzed-out of focus to his eyes. Only those within the seal line would be able to see out and those trying to see in would get only silence unable to even read their target's lips.
Once the seal was settled Sarutobi started them off. "Is the Uchiha boy salvageable? His evals aren't very inspiring to his future, and he's shown a steady disinclination to making any kind of deep connection with anyone in the village. If this behavior continues, he's sure to Desert and we can't have two active Sharigans disloyal and free." He asked.
"The Uchiha is a slave to his trauma he practically bathes in the blood of his fallen family. Getting him to let go of the ghosts he's dragging behind him and move on will be priority with him. But he has a surface connection with Naruto already, they know the other has suffered so hopefully I can get him to look past the orders his brother laid down on him and get him to trust again." Kakashi gave his honest assessment.
Sarutobi removed a scroll from his simple yakuta, it was black and small made to fit in a hidden pocket. "If you are captured and it looks like you won't make it out or the boy does get swayed to another side, I want you to use this." And he gave it to Kakashi. "It will seal the boy's eyes permanently whether they're active or not. And if he's dead and someone tries to take his body the seal will flash boil his brain if someone who's not briefed on how to handle his body properly tried to cut him open." Kakashi took the scroll with a bow and hid it away on his person, he would carry it until the day he either died in action or Sasuke himself proved devoted enough to Konoha to carry the responsibility himself. Just like Minato did for him until his sensei deemed him ready to make the decision himself. On several missions, he'd come very close to using his scroll and sealing away his eye so that an enemy couldn't force him to betray his village in death.
"And Naruto? Do you think she could learn to trust again? We visit but she keeps too much beneath the surface for us to see a true face. She has to reconnect with something that's not one of her animals or a plant. Uzumaki's aren't made to be alone and living a lie constantly is sure to be taking a toll on her mentally." Sarutobi looked all his years and then some thinking about his honorary granddaughter and the life she led.
Kakashi sighed in response, "She's a very good liar I'll give her that but she was the first to reach out to the other two and get them to try and act like a team. She even came up with a plan that let all of them show some of their skill sets and netted them a pass along the way. She can still reach out and now all I need to do is reach back and pull. She'll be great and I'm going to make a team that can support her beautifully." He vowed.
"That's good to hear Kakashi-kun, I worried about sending her to the orphanage and then that, that Monster getting its hands on her ruined her trust in humans forever. If she can still reach out even if it's because your test forced her too that's a good sign for the future. If she can reach out, she can trust again, and that's all the sign I need to keep reaching in return." Reassured of Naruto's metal state Sarutobi let a bit of the tension in his shoulders go, but the burden of a village would be with him until his death. He removed another scroll from his robe. This one nearly made Kakashi gasp as he recognized it. This one was red with gold detailing along the side and held closed with a pieced of carved sea glass.
"The Uzumaki Demon Chakra Eaters." Kakashi breathed in shock.
"Yes, Kakashi." Sarutobi handed the scroll over and Kakashi took it with far more reverence than he had the previous one. "The Demon Eaters are to be used only if Naruto looks like she's going to be overtaken by the demon. They'll put her to sleep and immobilize her in minutes." Kakashi held the scroll in careful hands, the first and last time he'd seen this scroll was in the hands of Kushina herself.
It was the night before she and Minato were going to be married and she asked him to walk her down the aisle as her little brother. Only an Uzumaki was allowed to even look at the sacred scroll and it was her way of showing him he'd have family in her no matter what. The scroll was one of the few surviving relics from the long burned down Temple of Nine; a monastery devoted to the Kyuubi that once rested at the base of the mountain that used to house the great demon before the Great Traitor Madara released it to try and destroy the Shodai. The First Kyuubi vessel Uzumaki Mito, the head Miko of the temple sacrificed her body to reseal the demon within her own body and became the first human to hold a demon in them. Until she did it demons were sealed in objects, not humans. The scroll contained restraints made of 'demon eating' metal; the metal was made using a long-lost method by the head priest for Mito herself at her request. A grim wedding present to her husband the Shodai Hokage to assure him both of her control over the demon in her stomach and the safety of his fledgling village.
Sarutobi let Kakashi have a second and then straightened donning the mask of Hokage like a shroud. "Hatake Kakashi, ANBU of Konoha, Jounin sensei to team seven. By entrusting you with this scroll I hereby entrust you with the safety of the Jinchuriki Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, last of the pureblooded Uzumaki, princess of the lost village of Uzushio. Should you ever fear for her life or capture by an enemy do you swear to do all and more in your power to ensure she comes back Konoha alive? Swear even at the risk of your own life you will use the famed technique of your sensei the Honorable Yondaime Hokage and the Nidaime the Hiraishin to teleport her home?" He asked pulling the final bombshell out of his yakuta, one of Minato's custom kunai marked with the seals of the jutsu that made him infamous. Kakashi took the kunai with trembling hands.
"I swear Hokage-sama I will protect and guide Naruto-hime with all that I have and lay down my life if we are ever captured with no escape. She will learn and grow under my watch until she can take this burden on her shoulders and bare it with pride." Kakashi bowed fully with his head to the floor gripping the kunai so hard he nicked his hand on the blade. Naruto would grow and learn what real happiness was he swore to the spirits of her parents. He feared what would happen to him in the afterlife once Minato and Kushina got a hold of him if he dared think otherwise.
They both took a moment to let the ghosts in the room haunt and cling to them before both men took deep breaths and shook them off. Kakashi stared at the scroll and kunai in his hands, both priceless in their meaning to him and their shared history. "How do I do this Sarutobi?" the words tumbled from Kakashi before he could pull them back and soon more joined them as his leader's wizened eyes took him in solemnly. "How do I guide her as he would have? She's so tiny. So many have done wrong by her and I can't, I just can't be one more mistake in her path. Naruto is going to be great regardless of what I do but I want to do all I can to make sure that road is as smooth as possible. If, if they were still here, she'd probably already have the hat by now or something equally impossible and brilliant. How do I not burn myself on her fire or accidentally smother her flames? I want to see her so burn bright she burns the rot out of this country single-handedly. Please guide me Sarutobi." Kakashi begged.
Sarutobi gave him a small heartbroken smile. "You think it was easy to raise Jiraiya and Tsunade and Orochimaru into the shinobi they are today? Yes, one has gone …astray but all three are nearly unmatched in skill and ability. And then teach your sensei when he came under my arm? I am the only Kage to have a repeat term Kakashi. Ever. Most Kage are replaced by their successor and dead by my age or die fat and happy long after their successors have picked out their successors. Being unique in our line of work will get you killed or hunted or both or the third silent killer: we make mistakes. I have made many over my time Kakashi. Most of them have to do with either your sensei or his daughter it seems like recently. My mistakes with the Uchiha lead to one of them ripping the Kyuubi of Kushina's stomach and turning it on the village. Now Naruto's parents are dead. A Biju resides in her stomach and when it came time for secrets to remain secret if only to give her the slimmest chance of a normal life ignorance and fear turned her village against her.
"Naruto should be showered in the finest of kimono and never have to put her feet on the ground. Instead, they force rotted meat and spoiled milk on her! They spit on the closet thing Konoha has had to an actual princess since Mito herself! If there ever was a time I wished more desperately that I truly could use the power of my title to crush the rot in my home it's when I have to stand over my medic-nin so that they don't try and stop a five-year-old's heart on the operating table. Naruto has suffered in ways I think are unique even among the general tragedy of jinchuriki. I'm amazed she's as loyal as she is now truly. She believes in the Hi no Ishi and she is loyal to me as her Hokage and her Hiru-jiji, and she has human connections beyond shinobi too. I am grateful she has managed to find good here. Some days I wake up so choked by the poison in the air I fear it might finally kill me and then there she is. Naruto, who has suffered, is suffering, and though it pains this old man to think it probably will continue to suffer. Still here in the place that hates her all but for sport. Still finding the good and nurturing it with her love and attention. That knowledge is all that keeps me going some days, but few could ask for better motivation I feel.
"Naruto needs me to protect her. She needs her Iruka-sensei to show her how shinobi should be strong. She needs her ramen vendors to show her human kindness. Now she needs you to show her she can trust a human again. I know you will rise to this challenge because not only does she need you but because you've never allowed yourself to fail when its something you care about." Sarutobi placed one withered hand on Kakashi's shoulder. Kakashi tightened his grip on the kunai and scroll in his hands and sat up straighter. He would be the greatest Sensei to all three of the brats under his care and make all of them truly great or make them hate him trying.
"I will make them magnificent Hokage-sama." He bowed fully once again and Sarutobi pulsed his chakra to signal his wife to break the barrier around them. In short order, Kakashi had bowed one final time to his leader and was lead out of the bowls of the Sarutobi home and was once again in his vest with weapons back in their rightful places. Another slightly deeper bow to Biwako and Kakashi was on the rooftops and heading for the bar where he knew his peers were waiting to interrogate him on his genins performance and having to teach for once in his life. Kakashi ducked into the usual bar he met the other sensei in and located them by sound alone. Someone must have let Asuma order plum wine that always made the other man a loud but happy drunk.
As he sat at the empty chair left for him Kakashi wrapped himself around the sake he'd be pretending to drink for the night in as a lazy a manner as he could. The other's all stared at him in silence for a minute all but Gai glaring at him. Then they broke, Asuma and Kurenai cussing him out under their breath as they handed Gai money as he laughed at a volume that people could probably hear on the street.
"I told you, my friends! Kakashi-kun was gifted the honor of students who's youth burns bright this year!" He boasted newly acquired money disappearing somewhere into his skintight bodysuit. Translation: I knew he'd pass any team as long as Naruto was on it. Suckers.
"Shut the fuck up Gai." Asuma moped into his wine. "Anyway Hatake, how did those kids scrape by your test? You usually send your hopefuls straight back into the Academy crying their eyes out. Did you give them a hint this time or something?"
"A hint? Like Hatake-san ever would!" Kurenai scoffed.
"Well, how else do you explain them passing? I got my genin talking about their class and the kid and the Uchiha always fight like cats and dogs and according to Ino she and Haruno are 'rivals for Sasuke's love' so she'd just fold to the Uchiha's pressure. And Choji said that the kid attended detention more than she did lessons and failed more tests than Shikamaru. And Shikamaru sleeps through tests!" Asuma gestured at Kurenai.
"Haruno-san was top Kunoichi and Uchiha-sama was Rookie of the Year. They could have worked together to uncover the truth of the Bell Test and convinced Uzumaki to work with them long enough to pass!" Kurenai rolled her eyes and tossed her silky black curls over her shoulder at her on-again-off-again lover.
"Wrong." Was all Kakshi offered as commentary. Gai stayed surprisingly silent for once and nursed his beer with a smug air only Kakashi knew him well enough to pick up on. The Green Beast knew that Kakashi had been practically ordered by the Hokage's advisors to pass the Uchiha or Apprentice him. Gai knew Kakashi would turn traitor before teaching the Uchiha over his sensei's daughter and nothing anyone said would stop him from being in her life even the tiniest bit now that she was part of the Shinobi Corps.
Kurenai glared at the silver-haired man. "What do you mean wrong? How are we wrong? What, did Uchiha-sama rope both of the girls into working with him? Did he do it alone and gave them bells in the end? Or did you not test them all and just pass them because the Nobles expected you too?" She postulated throwing theories at him like kunai already done with his habit of being obnoxious for his entertainment.
"No, they did it all together and all of them had their little contributions. It was an impressive display of teamwork." Kakashi elaborated. "For genin." He amended with a pretend sip of sake.
"But how did they earn a pass from you, you're a serial team dodger at this point! You've been on the Jonin Sensei roster since you stepped back from ANBU and you've failed everyone that was assigned you! How did these three genin. Arguably a disaster in the making get a pass from you, a well-known asshole?" Asuma growled hands gesturing more as he got deeper in his glass. Kakashi was about to give them more bullshit when Gai gave him a little disapproving hum knowing full well only Kakashi could pick it up with his enhanced hearing. Pouting a bit behind his mask at his fun being ruined Kakashi gave in if only to poke holes in his colleges' beliefs and brag about his lovely new pup. Pups. He was in charge of three genin and no matter how tempting it was to fail the other two and keep Naruto he would be fair and teach them equally.
For like a month or something.
"The reason they passed was the 'Dead last'" Kakashi clarified in a deadpan. Asuma and Kurenai both nearly shouted 'huh!' at him out loud but kept it professional at the last second. Though Asuma did choke on his drink a little. "Naruto-chan was the only reason they passed or even got close. She remembered me from my rotation on Hokage-sama's guard. Used the fact that all the Tower chuunin are used to seeing her running little errands for Hokage-sama to sneak into the team records to see who had been assigned to me in the past. Then interrogated my former hopefuls under henge to gather more recent intel on me. And then rallied her uncooperative teammates into working with her long enough to past my test. They ambushed, poisoned, and tried to murder me. Her skills in trap setting and the henge no jutsu were pivotal to them winning. Naruto is the only reason they passed." Kakashi declared with finality to the near wide-eyed silence of his comrades.
The other three all sat and tried to process what seemed almost like actual passion coming from Kakashi, usually characterized as a lazy bastard by most who knew him for more than ten minutes. After a few breaths, it was Gai that found words. Loud words.
"YOSH KAKASHI-KUN YOUR WILL OF FIRE BURNS BRIGHT TONIGHT! TRULY THERE IS NO BETTER FUEL TO LIGHT A FLAME THEN THE PASSION OF TEACHING AND GUIDING OUT BEAUTIFUL YOUTH TO THEIR TRUE POTENTIAL! I FEEL SO IMPASSIONED BY YOUR ETHUSIAM I CHALLENGE YOU TO A MANLY COMPETITON! WHO SO EVER CAN CLIMB TO THE TOP OF THE BARRIER WALL AND CIRCLE IT TWENTY TIMES WHILE DOING CARTWHEELS SHALL BE THE WINNER!" Gai roared near spitting fire as he jumped up nearly upsetting the table and spilling everyone's drinks.
"Maa, maa Gai-sensei I have to decline your challenge tonight I have to start teaching my new adorable genin in the morning and I want to be well-rested." Kakashi waved off the 'manly challenge' with one hand the other bringing his sake up for another pretend sip.
Gai ate it up slamming a hand on the table snapping a chunk off with ease. "YOSH KAKASHI-KUN I TOO AM MOST EAGAR TO GUIDE THE FLEDGLING EMBERS OF MY STUDENTS TO FULL YOUTHFUL FIRES! I WILL COMPLETE THE CHALLENGE BY MYSELF AND BRING A NEW ONE TO YOU LATER! I WISH YOU TO BEST OF LUCK I TRAINING AND GUIDING YOUR NEW STUDENTS TO THEIR FULL POTENTIAL OF YOUTH!" Came the final deafening roar before the Green Beast was slamming back his drink and racing out of the bar after tossing down enough ryo to pay for himself, broken table, and all. Those left behind slammed their drinks back to trying to recover from the green spandex-clad hurricane.
When Asuma looked back to Kakashi after draining his glass he found the copy nin gone and a few ryo coins in his place.
"God damn ninjas." The Sarutobi mumbled signaling the bartender with a gusty sigh.