"Naruto?"
The young eyes looked straight in his own. Kakashi found that no matter how different the shape was, the cerulean blue would always feel like a stab to his gut. Luckily, the eyes soon curved in small crescents, effectively saving Kakashi from more pain.
"Hehe, sorry sensei. I was spacing off."
"Hmm, indeed." Kakashi acknowledged "Care to tell me why?"
He already regretted asking when the eyes returned to their normal size. They were like deep, ever forgiving pools and he felt like drowning in them.
"It's nothing! I just... really admire you, sensei!"
Sakura looked up in surprise at the honest tone. Kakashi wanted to look away, but he could not.
Honestly, this is just cruel.
"Why is that?" He instead asked, now wondering what kind of things Naruto had found out about him. It wasn't as if he really minded but it was at least fair to know what was known about him. For all he knew, and if he counted the amount of times that karma was on his side, the kid could have discovered some painful truths about him. What if he found out about sensei?
The boy grinned sheepishly and scratched his cheek. "No real reason. I just discovered how awesome you are'ttebayo!"
Kakashi felt his fear die out and instead exasperation came up "How did you discover that?" Tell me a reason, a story or a name!
"I heard from Chi that, according to your file, you are a genius and used to be a captai-mmpff!"
Damn Ibiki. Letting kids read my file. Kakashi pulled his hand off Naruto's lips. There was no need to say it out loud when there was a potential psychopath around them.
Sakura seemed doubtful, probably thinking of the many qualities of a Jonin he lacked. Sasuke's interest looked piqued. Just as Kakashi had feared.
"Maa, not that much." Please don't become like those people.
"No but seriously! When did you become a Jonin, sensei?!" Naruto could no longer contain the stars in his eyes. He looked ready to ask for a picture and an autograph.
Kakashi internally groaned in despair "I got promoted on the field. We were in war back then."
"But how old?" Sakura piped up.
"...14 or something." More like eleven and a half.
"Wow." Naruto's voice was laced with admiration. Sakura was more composed, but her eyes were wide. Sasuke was scowling again.
"Like I said, it was war time and a lot of people got promoted early. It is nothing special." Please stop looking at me like that. Don't look at me in admiration with his eyes. God knows I don't deserve it.
"Still, your nickname is the man with a thousand jutsu!" Naruto bellowed.
Copied. They are copied. Kakashi's eye scanned the awed expressions of all his students. Even Sasuke had a hint of shock on his face.
"That does not mean a thing." Not when you are the last of your team and family. "Now get going. You guys still have five laps to run before lunch. We will get a mission afterwards."
"I want to become Jonin too! I'll become one super fast and I'll definitely surpass you, 'Kashi-sensei! Believe it!" The blond declared in his usual (loud) fashion.
"Huh?" What did you just call me?
His question fell on to deaf ears as Naruto was already up and running at a speed no one could possibly keep up with unless they were an Uzumaki. Sakura send him a smile and started running too, already given up on asking Sasuke to join her and going at half the speed of her teammate. Sasuke looked at him for an uncomfortable amount of time before taking off as well.
Kakashi rubbed his eye and went to read in the shadow of a large tree. It was always best to distract yourself before the memories became too much.
During lunch~
The boys were pretty much inhaling their food. Sakura took modest bites (he was glad to see her eat proper nutrients and protein) and he was already finished. It bugged him that neither one of the kids seemed openly curious about his unmasked face. They gave an occasional twitch and peek, but didn't really try like he had expected them to.
It made him nervous.
"Alright, once we're-"
A scream tore through the air. If it wasn't for his fine tuned senses, Kakashi would have shot up with a kunai ready. However, he was always alert on foreign chakra signatures and he could not detect a single one at the moment. He had sensed a huge chakra spike right before and thus he concluded that it must have been a Genin who was training too rigorously. His three students were on high alert, Naruto had already formed the seal for his shadow clones. The lunch boxes laid forgotten on the ground.
I should teach him on not revealing his trump cards so soon. And I have to teach them how to sense chakra.
Maa, I have so much work to do...
"Calm down. It was from the training ground next to us. I highly doubt that it was an enemy shinobi."
They did not look any calmer. Kakashi sighed "Then how about we go there and you can see for yourself?"
His proposal was accepted and soon the team was on the move. The passed the forest and entered a field, all still very careful and tense.
In the end even Kakashi felt relieved that his instinct was correct. The scream had belonged to Hyuuga Hinata who was now being consoled by Kurenai. Chi stood there, calling out apologies and such. The kids relaxed. Naruto narrowed his eyes at his friend and shouted accusingly.
"Oi! What the hell did you do, bastard?!"
Chi did not look very surprised at their arrival, but huffed nonetheless "Shut up! I used too much chakra, that's all."
"How did that make Hinata scream?" He questioned.
Sakura looked at him "Hinata is a Hyuuga. They can see chakra with their eyes." Duhh.
"That's right. It is one of Konoha's most praised dojutsu. Chi released a large amount of chakra before and it almost blinded her." Kurenai walked to them. Chi was flailing about while Hinata smiled gently and tried to calm her down.
Kakashi almost snorted. Blinding a Byakugan. That is pretty impressive. Kurenai glared at him as if she could read his mind. She probably could.
"I was trying to teach her a simple genjutsu, but she has too much chakra." She sighed. Kakashi could understand her pain. After all, he had a stamina monster in his team as well. Since when did Ketsueki have such large reserves? He remembered a couple of them constantly having to drink blood to compensate for their weak endurance.
Team 10 gathered, the two remaining from the bushes with ten clones of Chi in tow, and they all decided to have some lunch together. Team 7 had forgotten their lunch at their training ground but Naruto created some clones to go and fetch them. They all plopped down on the ground and immediately, the Genin started chatting amongst themselves. The Jonin decided to go for a walk.
"So, what happened?" Kakashi questioned once they were out of hearing range. "I know she tried a genjutsu, but how did she mess it up?"
Kurenai send him a look that showed that she had already given up. "It's not that hard to understand and it can be helped but it is going to take a very long while and a dedicated teacher. She blows through massive amounts of chakra without realizing it and that is why she can't create a genjutsu."
Kakashi nodded "Naruto is the same. Too much chakra, no control."
"Oh, but she has some degree of control. It is just that she can not mold it enough to create an illusion."
"Hmm. What are you trying to teach her?"
"Demonic illusion: Hell viewing technique." She bit her lip. "I thought it might aid her in her natural abilities."
"Did you show her what it does?" Kakashi looked at his friend.
"I wanted to. I just didn't want to scare her more than Ibiki had done." She frowned.
"Hmm..." I don't think the test was the scariest thing she had ever seen...
"He asked me about her, you know." Kurenai shook her head "He has no clue how to treat those girls."
She glared at him pointedly. And neither do you.
Kakashi was very sure he heard that unsaid message. I'm not that bad, am I?
His mind wandered to the time where he made them walk on water. Sakura fell down at first and when she got back up and started walking on the water, her clothes were clinging to her body. It had been a warm day and she had worn a thin, pink dress. When it got wet, it became almost see-through.
He himself was a grown man and didn't even spare her a second glance, but Sasuke had turned away stiffly and Naruto blushed a deep shade of red. It was only when Sakura looked over at him to show how far she had gotten, that she realized the state of her teammates.
What followed was a thorough beating for Naruto, awkward mutterings to Sasuke and a torn up Icha Icha for him. Kakashi still didn't know how she managed to get her hands on it, but he blamed the female instinct to lash out where it hurt. He was actually glad that the boys reacted normally.
Boys as in Sasuke.
He had figured that, after achieving his great goal of killing his brother, the Uchiha clan would die out anyway because the kid would never find girls interesting enough to bother with a romantic relationship. He probably didn't even know how babies were made.
You must give them the talk. Iruka's voice cut through his mind.
Kakashi shuddered.
All in all, it turned out to be a good training with lasting results. Sakura practiced until she could spar comfortably on the water and that in turn encouraged the boys to get the technique done fast. She also started wearing some thicker clothes, though Kakashi found them unnecessary as she still lacked anything to actually hide. He didn't mention that out loud though.
"Forget it Kakashi, you are as socially capable as Gai."
The copy-cat nearly tripped over his feet. Kurenai rolled her eyes.
"Isn't that too much?" I mean, I am not wearing spandex.
"Nope." She stopped stared dead in his eyes. The red was unnerving, he found.
"Your students may admire you, but you forget that two of them are severely deprived of love." She pressed her finger against his chest and Kakashi couldn't help but expect her to stab him with it.
"Sasuke lost his family and thus a constant source of affection in his life. Naruto has no clue what those things are. You are supposed to be the rock for them to rely on. And don't you dare ignore the girl. She deserves attention too. Attention from someone who can understand the world of shinobi, not her civilian parents. "
"Mmm, I try." I can't do it.
"No, you don't."
The conversation died out. Both Jonin had nothing left to say. Kurenai may have thought that her remark was offhanded and harsh, but she shrugged it off. She knew that Kakashi needed the kids as much as they needed him.
Together with Asuma and Gai, she had asked the Hokage to relief him of his ANBU-status. They had done it to save his kind personality from succumbing completely to the darkness. Now he has a chance to fill his life again and they sure as hell weren't letting him fail.
Before either realized it, they returned to the group of Genin. The kids were laying in the grass, occasionally Naruto would shout something and Kiba would retort. The rest couldn't be bothered. Neither failed to notice the peculiar glance Sakura would send Chi's way every now and then.
"Alright, time to get back to our training again." Kakashi clapped and saluted his colleague.
The genjutsu mistress nodded "Yes, we should get started again as well."
Naruto grumbled but got up anyway. Sakura looked at the female Jonin with a strange look of curiosity in her emerald eyes.
"Kurenai-sensei?"
Said lady turned to her and Kakashi had to admit that she looked a hell of a lot more child-friendly than he did. Sakura even managed to take the wordless cue and ask her, but Kakashi blamed it on the fact that Kurenai had her face uncovered while he only had one eye.
"Ehm, you are good with genjutsu, right?"
Kurenai smiled fondly "I'd like to believe that I am capable, yes."
Kakashi wanted to groan and tell Sakura that she was possibly the best genjutsu specialist in Konoha, but he felt small jolt in his foot. When he looked down, he saw a senbon sticking out of his toe. It was a tiny one, one that only a Jonin could control. He took the hint and remained impassive, hoping that none of the students had seen it. They probably hadn't.
"Eh, what do you need for genjutsu?"
"Well, you need some creativity and good chakra control."
Sakura has excellent chakra control, she could become the genjutsu specialist of Team 7, he automatically recalled from her file before the world seemed to stop. Kakashi felt like introducing his apparently thick skull to a tree, repeatedly. Why o why had he not thought of this? She had even been the one to create the illusion during the test.
Even better: a medic.
A brick wall sounded more reasonable now. He felt another jolt in his foot and this time a thicker senbon stuck out of his toe. He narrowed his eye and discovered the tiny tag that read 'poison'. He deserved it.
Sakura's eyes lit up but to her teacher's horror, she send him a short look. In that brief moment, he could see a ton of emotion flash in her eyes but only one remained above the others. His toe was numb.
Why does she feel guilty?
"I tried genjutsu before, and I liked it. Could you perhaps teach me some more?" Sakura spoke quick and looked down at her sandals.
"Well, if it doesn't interfere with your own training. I would like to teach you about genjutsu." Kurenai gave him a look and he looked at his student. He couldn't feel his foot anymore.
"I think that's a great idea, as long as you combine it with our training." He gave her his trademark eye-smile and was glad to see the girl relax. He shifted his weight and tried to shake some life back in his limp leg.
Naruto grinned and threw his arm around his friend "That's awesome, Sakura-chan!" Of course he forgot to say that in his inside voice.
"You're too loud!" She cried and pushed him away. Naruto pouted and got laughed at by Kiba. Hinata shyly smiled at the blond. Shino and Sasuke stood in silence. Chi rubbed her head and gave a lopsided smile. The group dissolved in the friendly banter but, by then they had to separate again. Kakashi and Kurenai wordlessly agreed to talk about this at the bar and bid each other a good afternoon.
After Kakashi demanded that she gave him the antidote because he really couldn't supervise the kids paralyzed and what if there was an enemy on their path? She rolled her eyes at him and stabbed him again. This time in the softest part of his thigh where it hurt the most and Kakashi barely managed to keep from squeaking. His students never looked back to see it and only Hinata saw from the other team. She hid her smile behind her hands. Kakashi was mortified.
It was time to do some chores- Ahem, D-rank missions.
At the bar, that evening~
"-and he just won't stop sleeping and I can't even defeat him in a match of shogi and he is just too damn smart-"
Kakashi awkwardly patted the back of his friend. Genma rolled his eyes (it became a common thing around him these days) and pushed his hand away. He took a hold of Asuma's shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze. The tall Jonin was still wailing and only stopped when Genma pushed a full jug of beer in his hand.
The copy cat rose his eyebrow. So feeding someone drunk is allowed?
Genma read his eye perfectly and responded accordingly: "Shut up."
Kakashi, insulted, turned away to his other friends. The ladies were gathered in a corner with Kotetsu and Izumo, undoubtedly exchanging the latest gossip with each other. He could see Anko's eyes glittering and pitied the poor fellow they were talking about. In front of Kurenai was the schedule they had worked out for Sakura. He still couldn't believe his ignorance about that matter.
Gai was showing off his youthfulness to a drunk Ebisu and an uncomfortable Hayate. Kakashi didn't try to help. They had left him on his own against Gai way too often.
Ibiki was sulking in a corner.
This should be interesting.
He walked up to the man and plopped down on the chair opposite him. He saluted. "Yo."
Ibiki sighed "Hey."
"Trouble with the brats?"
The man's mood turned even darker "You have no idea."
Kakashi wasn't so sure. "Well, actua-"
"I just keep messing up!" Ibiki exclaimed and threw his hands up. It was then that Kakashi realized how strong the scent of alcohol was here. The head of T&I looked at him with glazed eyes.
"Maa, what happened?" Why are you turning more into an alcoholic with each passing week?
Ibiki lifted his glass to drink and shrugged at the same time. The liquid spilled over his hands. "No matter what I do, I always manage to hurt Chi and piss off Shinji." He didn't bother with the napkin Kakashi offered him.
"Hmm, does Chi know about her possible future in ANBU?" The copycat was slightly thrown off by the man.
Ibiki scoffed "No, and I don't want to get Chi in ANBU but I can't disobey my orders."
Kakashi could not recall a time where he had seen the tough and brute interrogator look more disheveled. It seemed that Anko had been right all along when she called him a giant teddy bear with a full body armor made of toughness, cruelty, scars and leather. He sighed, being a teacher was quite the challenge after all. Oh well, at least no one was after his kids.
My kids? My students. He corrected his thoughts. That was all they were to him, after all.
"You should really stop drinking that much, Ibiki."
Both Jonin shot up at the sound of Iruka. He had closed in on them whilst suppressing his chakra and at a time where both were lost in thoughts. Ibiki's lip twitched and Kakashi was once again grateful for his mask. Neither felt like confessing how much of a terrible teacher they were, especially not to the Chuunin who had entrusted the kids to them.
Iruka gave them a look-over and sat on the remaining chair. "Pray tell, how did Naruto ended up sleeping at the Inazuka compound, and why did I hear rumors about Chi pummeling down trees at training ground fifteen?"
Kakashi frowned "Naruto had a sleepover? That's nothing bad, right? It means that he made some friends."
Iruka shook his head "It is not that simple. Tsume-san found him near his apartment and brought him to her house."
The clan head herself? "Are you sure, Iruka? Did she tell you herself?"
The Chuunin grinned sheepishly "No, I overheard part of her conversation with Aburame-san at the mission desk. I was hoping that you knew more about it."
The Elite shook his head "No, unfortunately it seems that Naruto neglected to tell me. Or anything else from his personal life for that matter."
Ibiki tensed warily when Iruka's eyes turned dark. Luckily the man's anger was not directed at him. "That boy leads such a terrible life, it's no wonder he doesn't tell anyone anything. He's probably afraid that you might reject him too."
Kakashi tried to envision a sad Naruto and found that he could not even imagine it. The kid was always happy and bouncing, seemingly ignoring the malicious glares from the villagers. What a mask he created.
"Kakashi."
He looked up to meet the stern, solemn gaze of the teacher. "Take care of him."
"Hmm, he is my student after all." I failed him so many times already...
Iruka seemed to accept his spoken words and turned to the slouched Ibiki. "Well?"
"Hmff..."
"What about Chi and her recent destructiveness?"
Ibiki looked away "She's angry."
"Yes, I figured that much." Iruka agreed.
"I made her angry."
"I know that too."
Kakashi snorted. Ibiki send him a glare anyway and sighed, straightening up. A wave of chakra ran through his body and sobered him up.
"I don't know what to do. Kurenai advised me to spend some more time with them but I only made her more mad during the training."
"I think she meant quality time, not training. How about you take them out for dinner?" Iruka suggested amused.
"That would only be awkward."
"Have you even tried?" Iruka insisted, raising his eyebrows. He was rewarded with a guilty look from the tall man. The Chuunin sighed, it was as if all high ranked shinobi lost their common sense when dealing with fragile things like emotions. He shook his head in defeat and decided to change the topic.
"Anyhow, what have the kids learned until now?"
Ibiki saw the opportunity and took it, beating Kakashi. "Ryuya has been learning genjutsu with Cat while Shinji is taking kenjutsu lessons from Hayate. They are improving well. Shinji is working with me and I even managed to get Ryuya an apprenticeship with some of our spies."
Iruka choked a bit on that "Spy? That girl?"
Kakashi barely knew the girl but he had occasionally seen her around. She was tiny and somehow awoke the protectiveness of everyone around her. To make her into a spy could be very interesting.
"Yup! I am sure she can pull it off. She seems dedicated enough."
"It could work out great." Kakashi commented and Iruka nodded slowly, not entirely comfortable with the idea.
Ibiki gave him a dry look "She initially wanted to become Anko's apprentice."
"You did great. Please take good care of Ryuya." Iruka's eyes flitted over the infamous snake mistress in the corner. Kakashi could swear that he saw the Chuunin's aura grow dark. Honestly, who on earth would want Anko to become their master?
"What have you taught them personally?"
Ibiki coughed at the question. "Well, I am going to check their elemental affinities one of these days and they were all too eager to learn the Body Flicker so now they are flashing through the entire building." He sighed, unaware of the sudden light-bulb that went on in Kakashi's head.
The latter had little time to celebrate however, as both men turned to look at him. "Maa... I've ensured that they can walk on every surface I could find here." Kakashi drawled, paining his brain for something. He was sure that he had done some more work with them. Or did he?
"Jeez, all the brats can do that now." Ibiki grumbled good naturedly. At least that was what the copy cat hoped for, it was hard to tell with the man. "Your brats even won the race last Saturday."
"Yeah, aren't you a ninjutsu specialist?" Iruka questioned and said specialist felt a stab to his pride.
"... I am."
"Then what jutsu's have you taught them? They have great potential, especially Naruto. I mean, he can become a ninjutsu monster with his stamina and clones. I talked to him a while ago, it seems that he already figured out how to train with Shadow Clones. It gives him a great advantage."
"...I know." Holy cow. Oh sweet merciful mother. Oh my freaking Kami. Kakashi resolved to find a proper steel wall to bash his head against. It seemed that through his constant reminiscing of his past team, he had completely neglected to pass his famous skills down to his students. I am such an idiot.
"Kakashi? Are you alright?" Ibiki waved his hand in front of the sole eye. Iruka groaned and slapped his forehead. So much for a genius...
"Oi, Kakashi of the Thousand jutsu. Get your act together and start teaching, damn it. It doesn't look like you will get married to an unfortunate woman and have creepily skilled kids anytime soon, so your students are your only legacy. Put some effort in teaching, for crying out loud!" Iruka, as Ibiki recalled, always had zero mercy for anyone's pride and absolutely no problem in chewing his superiors out.
Said superiors were wincing on their spots. It took the masked man a few moments to register that the entirety of the bar (minus a near comatose Asuma) was listening in on their conversation. Kakashi could feel his remaining dignity escape through his toes and in between the gaps of the wooden floor. Might as well give it all up.
"I will."
Iruka jumped up and, despite being the taller one, Kakashi felt exactly five centimeters tall. A calloused finger pointed at his forehead. "You always say that! Make it happen Hatake!"
"Yes, sensei." The famed Elite Jonin cowered and wondered if this was how Iruka taught his class everyday. He thought of Naruto and felt a deeper respect growing for the loudmouth. From around him he could hear Anko snicker, but he got the last laugh when the teacher twirled around and faced her with a large vein popping out of his forehead.
"Don't think that I've forgotten about the changed file Mitarashi!"
Anko paled drastically and gulped. Iruka took a look at all the Jonin and launched in an incredibly detailed lecture as to why they were all hopeless and would never, ever get married (except for Kurenai and Asuma, of course).
No one dared to look up.
