16. Apologies for the lateness, I have a paper in 6 hours, so pardon! Shouldn't be filling my head with Naruto at this time… Only gonna be able to recall Naruto trivia during the exam ah well. But enjoy:


Teamwork is the point of the survival exercise.

Honestly, he's not sure if he wants to pass this team.

The pressure on him to pass the Uchiha heir, fail the demon, keep the Haruno trader alive is large, but nothing that he can't handle.

Inwardly, he can't really bear the pain when he looks into his sensei's blue eyes, the sadness when he sees Weasel's brother, and this civilian with pink hair.

Maybe he's surprised, then, when he declares that the test has started, and it's not Naruto-kun. (not Naruto, no, you don't deserve to call him that, shouldn't call him that you know what's in him, no you know you've broken those promises and he should hate you.)

"Ah, how hasty, Sakura-chan."

Because the girl lunges for him, and her killing intent is almost palpable.

Infusing his own kunai with chakra, he brings it up to the meet the blade she charges at him with.

Sparks scatter, and she's thrown back.

Maybe it's with spite, guilt and hope that they'd trust him, that he wants to show them how strong he is.

Just a brief distortion in the air, and his kunai slashes at it.

From her spot on the ground, the child cries out.

Kakashi arches his eyebrow, "You have a really delayed reaction. I don't think you should be a ninja. You might end up killing your teammates."

There's a change in the air, and looking into her green eyes, it's just that spark of accusation.

Naruto and Sasuke rush over, kunai in hand, taking up positions by Sakura's side.

"You were late."


"So hopelessly late."


And then, it hits him.

His eyes flicker to Sasuke, then to the child.

Her fists clench.

"I won't trust you. Because if you're late, you'll get us killed the next time."

Still surprised that she can tell it was him, he replies in a casual tone, not showing recognition.

Shrugging while doing so, "Well, at least now I know who has the worst temper."

Naruto pulls Sakura back.

"What's wrong, Sakura-chan?"

Sasuke hms in agreement, "It's not like you to be this hostile, Sakura-chan."

He gives them an eye smile, "But she's got a good fighting attitude. I might just like you."

As it was, their solidarity was a show of teamwork that he would have passed other teams for.

Then the children step back, and nod at each other.

"Mass Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

His vision is filled by orange, and it becomes near impossible to track where the actual three are.

"Transformation Justu!"

It becomes worse when the clones henge into copies of Sasuke and Sakura as well.

Deciding that it would be best to watch from a distance, he swaps out with a clone of his own, perching himself on a nearby tree.

Watching, he notes when his clone is immobilised, and a Naruto clone has its hands stretched out.

This same clone yells, "Sasuke-chan!"

Another Naruto clone releases its transformation.

If he takes the effort to sense, he can pick out the different chakra signatures, but in that mass of clones, the transformation really did work.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

He blinks.

A prodigy indeed. His academy files never said anything of the sort.

Engulfed by flames, he orders his clone to release, pulling back the remnants of chakra, the faintest memory of burning imprinted.

"It's a clone."

Green eyes swing over to meet his.


Mentally, he's ticking off the strengths of this team.

Ability to use jutsu while under henge, more than sufficient chakra capacity, determination, and strong teamwork.

Outwardly, he lists off their weaknesses, because he realises, that in this kind of team, he has no place.

"You all are hard-headed, hot-tempered, careless and weak."

And he smiles.

"Pass. I'll see you here tomorrow, at 7 for your first training."

Hoping, that maybe, he can earn a place with these children.

Sakura is thoroughly unimpressed.


"Hatake Kakashi-san?"

He raises his fingers in greeting.

"That's me."

The young medic passes him slim files, before turning to assist another patient.

"Hey, sorry, I think you've got the wrong ones. I wanted the full files."

His lips purse.

"I apologise, Hatake-san, you do not have the clearance for the full files. I have already given you the limit you can draw out as a Jonin-sensei. Either Hokage-sama or the person in question must personally sanction you for the full files."

Kakashi finds it a pity.

If the silver haired boy had just been female, he would have gotten away with this.

"Ah, I understand. Thank you for your help."

The medic gives him a sharp, vaguely disapproving nod, before turning on his heel.

He learns very little more about his new team.

Blood types, allergies, specialities, academy records.

No medical records, no timeline.

No notes, notable mentions.

He presses the bell to request for his file.

Instead, when the medic comes back, he returns the files of his team.

"Can I ask, can I prevent members of my team from accessing my public file?"

Because it's with this hideous suspicion that he goes about life.

The look on the medic's face is openly disapproving.

"Medic Haruno can override your commands for public files. If you so wish, I can still block her off from your medical records. She will only be able to see the equivalent of her file which you saw."

Kakashi doesn't activate the block.

How much can my medical history help her anyway?


"Man what's our sensei's problem? He's late, by an hour, again!"

Sasuke sighs, tossing a bun at Naruto.

"Eat, Naruto, and don't think about our sensei."

"He's chronically late, I wouldn't be too bothered about it, Naruto-kun. Senpai told me a bit more about sensei."

Sakura has an informant who knows far more than someone of his standing should know.

Maybe, if he was a bit more cautious, he would have known how much of a security risk his kouhai was to him.

"Really? Tell us, Sakura-chan! What's with his funny hair, and covered eye, and lateness and laziness?"

"His hair is genetic. Hatake-sensei is the son of Konoha's White Fang, Hatake Sakumo. He's got a transplanted Sharingan from a teammate who was KIA. Laziness is likely a coping mechanism. I don't know about the lateness, but it's one of his characteristics."

Probably due to trauma considering his father committed suicide and he killed his remaining teammate.

"Maa, it's not nice to gossip about people, Sakura…"

They turn around to face their instructor.

Her eyes narrow.

If he cannot trust us, I see no reason to trust him.

He has access to our data.

I will take as much of his as I can.

"You're late! Are we going to do training today, sensei? Or mission? A mission? Like capturing a missing-nin or something else that's cool?"

Naruto has always been good at diffusing situations, and their sensei gladly takes the talking point.

"Which would you all rather do? Go on a mission or train?"

Silent communication passes between their eyes, but he can't understand one bit.

"Train."

Figures. Monosyllabic Uchiha answers.


He starts Naruto on chakra control exercises, telling him to use shadow clones to help, explaining the effect of them.

"After you released all the clones you made during the test, did you feel anything?"

Naruto may be slightly dense, but clearly, the techniques side-effects are not unknown to him.

"My head hurt a bit. And I remembered you kicking me. The clone I mean. Your clone kicking my clone."

His nose scrunches up, as he thinks harder.

"Or was that just you kicking one clone? And your clone kicking the others?"

He thinks harder still, before shaking his head, "No, no, I'm just confusing myself. Get on with the training sensei, what about my clones? Hey I bet you were going to just let me ramble and then 'forget' about training!"

Kakashi chooses to give another of his eye smiles.

"I wouldn't dream of doing that to my precious genin. How many shadow clones can you make?"

As Naruto opens his mouth, ready to shout his prowess to the world, he raises a hand.

"Make 10 for today. Only make more if any of them pop accidentally. If not, by the end of today, you'll have a bad headache."

The blond pumps his fist in the air, before making a badly mangled clone seal and even more enthusiastic blonds pop into existence.

Inwardly, the jonin shrugs.

There are times for everything

He's not bad at reading emotions, if he could say so himself.

And right now, Naruto doesn't trust me any more than a random civilian off the road would.

He can't exactly bring up the possibility to the village's Jinchuuriki that someone hated him enough to sabotage him.

That doesn't mean he won't go to the Academy to interview Naruto's former teachers.

If anything, that becomes an even more pressing thing to deal with.


"Is the Great Fireball Technique the only Fire style technique you can do, Sasuke?"

The Uchiha boy gives him a cool look, nodding briefly.

"I was not taught anymore other than our clan's trademark."

"Do you know your elemental affinity?"

Clan children always have an edge over non-clan children.

"Lightning. But I have a minor fire affinity on the side. Otou-sama said it was because of the clan practices."

He sidesteps the minefield on purpose, because he has no right to meddle in the child's past.

Not yet, at any rate.

"That's good, because I have a lightning affinity as well."

Mentally, he cycles through his list of lightning techniques, barely pausing at the stray thought of, shouldn't you start him with moulding lightning chakra first?

Reflectively, he then wonders, why not teach him a fire technique? Are you trying to separate him from the legacy of his clan?

"Sasuke, would you rather I teach you a lightning or fire technique?"

The dark eyed child doesn't stop a moment to think, "Lightning please."

He tacks on, "Sensei," afterward.

Kakashi can almost hear the unspoken, I'll learn my clan's fire techniques through our heirloom scrolls. I'd appreciate it if you don't attempt to copy them.

Because that had been what Itachi once said.

He smiles, "The technique I'm going to teach you can kill people, so it's up to you to control it. Lightning can paralyze, burn, and fry."

Only mouthing the words, he pulses a gentle charge in his student's direction, watching as he jerks away in surprise.

"I can't feel my arm…"

He nods, before wagging his fingers at a nearby tree stump.

This time, he actually forms the seals.

"Lightning Style: Electromagnetic Murder."

With a crack, the wave rips itself from his palms, striking straight through the log.

Sasuke pays rapt attention, only murmuring lightly.

"And that was what was used on me...?"


Kakashi has heard only good things of the Haruno child.

A precious, few, good things.

Does her work, helps her friends, pays attention in class.

-mostly.

"Sakura-chan."

And unlike Naruto whom he's watched over quietly all this while, and Sasuke whom he knew through Itachi, he doesn't know this pink haired, green eyed, almost boy who was more than ready to kill him.

"Yes, sensei?"

The confidence with which she carries herself isn't the kind to get people killed, just her.

"I'm curious."

Her eyes meet his easily, and he takes the time to try and understand why she looks at him like he's a monster.

"May I ask about what?"

They're playing a game, he hesitates to call this training, of stalling and trying to make the other show their cards first.

"What do you want me to teach you, Sakura-chan?"

It's an open-ended question, Kakashi can tell that she's surprised.

"What do you think I should learn, sensei?"

He takes a detour, "From your academy reports, I understand that you're leaning towards a medic specialisation. Thus Sakura-chan you, will be playing a purely support-type role in our team. Your hand-to-hand, and projectile skills being entirely negligible, I want to know if there's anything else you can do."

The girl appears to think.

She comes to the same conclusion as him.

"There's nothing more of value I can add to our assault-type team, sensei."

Sakura is a civilian, and he will admit that he's being harsh.

"Your intellect and chakra control makes you a genjutsu type. You're good at sensing and breaking illusions, and telling when chakra has been tampered with. I'm guessing that's how you knew that it was a clone in the fire?"


Sakura doesn't know what she can say to defend herself, frankly, because she still isn't sure whether telling him about her chains is okay.

I know that was clone, because I couldn't feel the fire licking at my skin.

The pause is just too long, and his eye sharpens.

He kneels down to her eye level, waving a hand in front of her face.

She pretends to snap out it, shaking her head lightly, "Sorry sensei. I knew because I couldn't see a shadow in the fire anymore."

And that's perfectly feasible as well.

Sakura doesn't have all that many skills to offer.

She's not strong or fast, nor does she have a lot of chakra.

"You still have good chakra control though. So that could offset your naturally smaller chakra reserves."

He flings a kunai, and she ducks.

"You have good reflexes."

Ah, didn't he say I was slow?

"I think you should learn…"

Anticipation curls itself.

Maybe it's dread...?

He claps sharply and she startles, falling over herself trying to get away, chains launching themselves upwards to protect her.

Her sensei only gives her an eye smile.

"Did I startle you? Maa, Sakura-chan, you're still young. There's still time for you to grow. Like Naruto-kun who's working on his chakra control, Sasuke-kun is working on his elemental affinity. These things are already here. For now, concentrate on your medical studies. New things can always come later."

It's this kind of half-assery that she's faced with, that causes her to doubt the male in front of her.

In turn, he's both self-assured and foolish, fragile and gentle at the same time, that Sakura doesn't quite know how to deal with him.

Is he apologetic or apathetic?

Skilled or simply faking it?

She doesn't know.

He coaches her kindly, setting genjutsu around her, teaching her subtle flaws in illusions.

"Naruto-kun lacks finesse, Sasuke-kun has yet to activate his Sharingan. Right now, you, Sakura-kun, will be our resident Genjutsu sensor."

Her senses are woozy, mental train of thought slowed.

"For now…" "-kun"

Almost drunk, a laugh bubbles its way up her throat.

By now, she must have broken through a multitude of genjutsu, and the sun is setting.

The golden glow is warm, comforting.

Her eyes slide shut, before his voice breaks her out of it.

Gentle.

"Sometimes, it's not about whether you know it's a genjutsu or not, Sakura-chan. If you are to break a genjutsu, you must first want to. The best genjutsu are the hardest to break, not because of the strength of the caster, but because of the belief its victims have."

Aih, to trust or not to trust.

She blinks sleepily at him, chains lazily batting at the chakra web they can feel, breaking the fine net.

The sun is about to set.

"Sensei?"

He hums, fingers forming seals.

"How much should I be able to trust you?"

"Theoretically with your life."

An alarm clock goes on in the distance.

He gives her another eye smile.

"Looks like training's over for the day."


Naruto's clone capacity doubles.

Sasuke's able to make an area of contact numb.

Sakura's genjutsu breaking ability increases.

Kakashi learns the most.

Naruto likes being trusted to do things.

Sasuke wants his improvement recognised.

Sakura needs assurance that she's doing things right.

Naruto learns that sensei's sensei was his hero.

Sasuke learns that sensei's friend saw Shisui-nii as his hero.

Sakura learns that sensei's father had been his hero.

Because they are in turn, people with many things to share, but like to keep to themselves.

"Keeping a secret always comes with emotional and mental turmoil. Given the chance to blurt it all out, everyone would do so."

Maybe even more than Yuurei, Kakashi knows this best.

Yuurei who is happily on the edge of forgetting and Kakashi stuck in a vicious cycle of his own mistakes.

"In our ninja world those who break the rules are considered trash. But people who abandon their comrades... People like that are worse than scum."

Unlike Naruto, who has only ever seen the brightest side on ninjas, their ability to protect, Kakashi has been the most depraved, the kind of ninja that placed the missions in terms of its worth - lives of people and the credit he could to bring to himself.

"Some days I wonder if Obito can see out of this eye."

And for Sasuke who has only ever placed the Sharingan as another tool of his clan's strength, it's an entirely foreign concept for that red eye to mean anything more than just power. Yet, every day that he uses this eye, Kakashi wonders if Obito would approve of him now.

"Good job for training today, Team 7. I'll meet you here tomorrow again, at the same time. Then, we'll see what we should do tomorrow."


Because the days fly, and Sakura wonders why he puts her so at ease when she knows his lateness has killed.

Kakashi can't explain many things, he doesn't make that much of an effort, his team hates his lateness, but, who doesn't?

The sun is warm on their skin.

Fondly, that's how she thinks of his lateness, ah, but what a change in emotion.

Like Naruto's enthusiasm, to some is an endless cheer, and to others and obnoxious energy.

Curled up underneath the trees, sunlight filtering prettily through the green leaves.

Sakura relishes the time sensei takes to find his way back into the road of life, his team naps in a little pile-tumble-knot-thing of limbs.

He walks into the training grounds muttering his own sleepy apologies, having only woken five minutes ago.

It's peaceful, and quiet, his team is sleeping, no one jumps out at him to scold him.

Because over time their rough edges smoothened out, and there's little needless friction.

Sasuke can't claim to not love his team, even if sensei is still a suspicious secretive ninja that is woefully strong.

Painting fences and catching cats, babysitting children with a penchant for sharp scissors and arts and craft with poisonous berries.


Birthday parties with swirly designs, just a quiet celebration as the village mourns again.

It's in poor taste, they realise, to have invited him, but sensei comes anyway.

He swings in through the window as Shikamaru points out their own faux pas.

"Wasn't today the day that Yondaime-sama passed?"

Naruto is at the head of the table, brandishing the cake knife.

Cutting deftly into the cake, basking in everyone's restrained cheers.

He's pleasantly surprised, the layered sponge hides red bean swirls, Sakura was always fond of symbolism.

"Maa, you all cut the cake without me? I'm hurt!"

And Naruto's face lights up, even as the room quietens at sensei's sudden presence.

Him, being the only tall person amongst a gaggle of teens.

Chouji diligently offers Naruto plates and forks, serving the cake out.

Ino whispers her specific cake slice size, she's on a diet.

But in that moment, Naruto beams, and oh, Kakashi's heart clenches.

Plain brown wrapping paper crinkles behind his back.

He makes his way past Shino and Kiba, past the Nara heir, giving his team eye smiles.

Dips his head in acknowledgement of the Hyuga heiress who greets him formally, thanks the Akimichi boy for the offered cake.

Face to face with his sensei's child, he… is almost at a loss.

But, you know, he smiles.

"Happy Birthday, Naruto."

And so, maybe, just maybe, he could make up for everything and anything like this, if he just let himself reach out and hold onto-

"Ne sensei, you're being creepy."

Kakashi draws back, embarrassed, before he eye smiles.

"I can't stay for long," oh what a liar, "But, I got you a present."

The way blue eyes snap up to meet his, hand running though blond hair, murmuring, "You didn't have to..."

"It's by my favourite author, and the main character's name is the same as yours. I thought maybe you'd like to read it."

Calculated thought went into it, and maybe, he just hoped Naruto would understand.

"Eeee sensei! How could you give me a book?!"

He pats Naruto's head, even as Sasuke jabs him in the side, and Sakura only laughs.

"Well, if not, what should I do? Shall I get you all a C-rank mission?"

The room goes quiet.

Ah right, all the genin teams are here.

Naruto bounces in enthusiasm, "What shall we do? Escort a princess? Fight in a war? Save a kingdom?"

It lands a slight bit too close to home, so he eye smiles.

"Pack for an… eh… a few weeks' trip? I'll see what I can get… Umino-san's gonna be mad at me."


Purposely vague, there's this uncertainty with all that comes in life.

Uncertainty is something all ninja fear.

Iruka isn't so sure someone like Hatake-san can be trusted with genin he now regrets allowing to graduate.

"You mother them too much. That way, they'll never grow."

And so, his reply tone is a tad too sharp.

"They can't grow if they're dead."

Hokage-sama intervenes.

"Well, if you insist, Kakashi-kun. Here's a C-ranked escort mission to the Land of Waves. Shouldn't be anything Team 7 can't handle."

Gently, Hatake-san is shooed out.

Iruka half turns to his Hokage, intending on protesting, but Lord Hokage only smiles.

"Have some trust in a jonin's capabilities, Iruka-kun. I trust Kakashi-kun."


I hope no one's too confused, but I wanted to get back to plot. Don't get me wrong, I love writing fillers, because I believe during plot, story takes centre stage.

I tend to use fillers as character development areas, this chapter was mainly to show the changing dynamic. To show the relationship between Lateness-Symbolism-Trust-Eyes.

Lastly, I hope, if you're the kind to dislike fillers, these aren't too filler-ish for you :)

Wave Arc next...

Yours,

Kayo.