Chapter Two

It was...harder than he expected it to be.

When he and Shikamaru had originally created the yarinaoshimasu technique their only concerns had been going back and preventing the deaths of their mentors, yet now that he'd finally used the jutsu, and not even for the original reasons it was created for, Naruto found himself full of conflicting emotions.

On one hand, his precious people we're all alive at this point in time. Not only that, they still retained a certain innocence that had been stripped from them by the war. None of them had yet had their first kiss let alone their first kill, nor had they been forced to see the horrors war could bring upon the land. They hadn't been tortured or beaten or even mutilated by the enemy and it was heart warming to see them this way. So innocent and alive.

On the other hand, it hurt. It was agonizing to see them and know that at this point in time they weren't even his friends yet. In fact, most of them stayed away from him or disliked him on account of the warnings from the elder generations and the pranks he loved to pull. They were his family,or at least they were in the future, and they couldn't even acknowledge his existence.

Naruto shook his head, inwardly scolding himself for his self-pitying thoughts. He was doing this to save their lives not to get them to like him. As long as they were alive he'd be okay...he had to be.

SASUNARUSASUNARUSASUNARUSASUNARU

Kakashi was late.

Three fucking fangirl-filled hours late.

Sasuke's eye twitched as Sakura rambled idly in his ear about one thing or another, pressing her underdeveloped chest against his arm in a manner she percieved as seductive. It was irritating and Naruto was no help, his blue eyes clouded as he stared off into space. The former Anbu glanced at his kage worriedly, wondering how he would take seeing Kakashi again. The man had been slaughtered by the Akatsuki, by Obito shortly before the appearence of Kaguya and it had almost shattered the younger man. It had taken the combined efforts of both Sasuke and Sakura just to help him through the ordeal.

He placed a hand on the blond's arm, fighting a concerned frown as the kage jolted and turned his captivating blue hues onto him.

"You okay?" He mouthed silently and his lover sent him a small smile.

"Not yet. I will be." He responded in kind and Sasuke smiled, before Sakura cut in.

"Don't concern yourself with that baka, Sasuke-kun. Naruto-baka leave Sasuke-kun alone."

Both boys sighed, perking up as the door to the classroom slid open to reveal their new (old) sensei. He stared at them for a moment, then eye-smiled.

"My first impression of you is...you're boring. Meet me on the roof."

Naruto snorted watching as the man disappeared in a swirl of leaves, then he stood sending his team mates a vivid grin.

"Guess we better get going."

SasuNaru***SasuNaru***SasuNaru***SasuNaru***

"Alright, let's start with introductions. Tell me your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams. Pinkie, you first."

Sakura blushed slightly.

"Ano, um can you do it first, sensei? So we know how its done?"

The silver haired man gave another eye-smile and Naruto fought not to smile at him. He could still remember with perfect clarity what the man had said the first time and knew it wouldn't be different this time around. His eyes dulled.

Then again why would it, this Kakashi wasn't the same Kakashi from the future. The one that sat with him by the fire and told him stories about his parents despite the war waging around him. The Kakashi that had backed him when he stood before the council and put Sasuke and in turn any Uchiha after him under the protection of the NAmikaze and Uzumaki clan names. This Kakashi wasn't that man, not yet, but he would be and that was almost enough for him to ignore the pain that lanced through his heart when the man spoke.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi. My likes are... My dislikes are... You're too young to know my hobbies. And my dreams are...well, no. You're too young for those too."

Sasuke snorted and rolled his eyes at the man, while Sakura scowled at him.

'All me learned was his name!' She thought angrily.

"Now, Pinkie. It's your turn."

She scowled deeper then sighed.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I like," She blushed and look at Sasuke who cringed. "My hobbies are...and my dream is to..." She squealed and leaned closer to Sasuke, her blush darkening. The Uchiha heir cringed away from her and Kakashi fought an amused chuckle.

"And your dislikes?"

She straightened and glared at the team blond. "INO-PIG AND NARUTO-BAKA!" To his surprise the vixen snorted and crossed his arms.

Curious. The boy's profile said he had a massive crush on the girl. The blond in front of him looked like he couldn't care less about her.

"Alright...Broody, your turn."

The raven hummed lowly. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. My likes are few. My dislike are plenty. My hobbies are my own and my dream," He paused then frowned thoughtfully. "My dream is to find the truth and help my precious person reach their dream."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, noting how Naruto sent the raven a unreadable glance. Another curiousity it seemed. Uchiha's profile had said he was arrogant and revenge obsessed yet the boy in front of him seemed almost humble. Then there was his 'precious person'. The academy senseis had written that he was often anti-social and spent most of his time alone. So just who was this precious person?

"Okay, Blondie, go."

The blonde grinned and Kakashi felt his heart clench.

The grin was fake.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo. I like ramen, my precious people, and training. I dislike snakes," Kakashi blinked at the amount of venom in the child's voice and his teammates flinched. "Traitor, and people that judge without knowing who they're judging. My dream is," His eyes softened and his grin shrank into a small gentle smile. "My dream is to become hokage so that I can protect those that are precious to me."

Precious people, that word again. Both of his male students had used that word in describing those close to them and he found himself wondering why. One thing was for certain, neither boy was who they seemed to be and somehow he would figure them out, after all after hearing those introductions he had no problem believing that just maybe this would be the team to break the streak. Just maybe this would be the one team he passed.

He watched as Sasuke sent Naruto a worried look and inwardly smiled

Yes, this would be THE team. He was sure of it.

"Alright, tomorrow we will have our first mission."

"What kind of mission, sensei?" Naruto asked, tilting his head.

"Survival training." He smirked darkly. "Out of every batch of genin that come out of the academy only 33.3 percent actually become genin. The academy test serves as a test to weed out the ones that were unable to even attempt the actual genin exam given by the assigned jounin."

Sakura scowled as did the boys. "So wait we did all of that for nothing?" She growled and Kakashi eye-smiled.

"Yep. Now meet me at Training ground Seven at 6am. I suggest you don't eat breakfast. You might throw up."

TBC...

A/N: Okay so honestly I don't think Kakashi gets enough credit in either the show or the some fanfics because both seem to overlook the fact that he is a genius and a very observant one too other wise he wouldn't have been one of the hokage's best anbu before becaoming Team 7's instructor. Anyways this sort've plays on that perspective that yes he is a genius and ye he does know how to look underneath the underneath. Anyway tell me what you think. ;-)