Chapter 5

The boys stood about twenty feet from each other near the Academy as a bliss of wind blew across the empty field. Since it was a Saturday, not many people were around.

"You ready, kiddo?" The Jounin asked as if he were playing hide-and-seek with a child.

"Whenever you are," came the cold reply.

'Perhaps I should scare him a bit first," Kakashi smiled evilly and formed several seals quickly. "Shadow Replication!" Immediately, dozens of Kakashi's clones surrounded Itachi.

"Would you like to surrender?" All clones were in sync, underestimating the Genin. Just as the Jounin was waiting for the boy to pee in his pants, Itachi formed the exact same seals as fast as Kakashi had done. "Shadow Replication!" The older boy could only stare, shocked as the kid's clones appear in front of each of his. He could never have guessed that a 7-year-old child would be able to know the forbidden jutsu. Even if he did, he should not have enough chakra. Itachi began to attack his opponent's clones, but they blocked. After several exchange of fists and kunai's, all clones vanished, leaving the two original participants of the battle on the field.

Kakashi studied the boy, confused. He squinted and saw a glimpse of red in the boy's eyes. Dumbfounded, the Jounin finally realized, "Sharingan, the advanced bloodline of the Unchiha family. No wonder you were able to perform the forbidden jutsu."

"That's right," Itachi responded mysteriously, wiping some sweat off his face. "But the Sharingan does not only copy, old man." A corner of his lips went up slightly. Kakashi furrowed his eyebrows, wondering what else Sharingan could do. He knew that they are famous for copying the enemy's jutsu, but he wasn't sure what else it could do.

"Whatever," The teenager muttered. "Taijutsu is Sharingan's worst enemy. If you do not have the stamina and the physical training, even if your Sharingan can copy, your body cannot." As the last word left his lips, Kakashi dashed forward, attempting to use Taijutsu to win the 'spar'.

Suddenly, the older boy froze midway. He could not move. Some sort of force was draining out his energy. He was also having trouble to breath as if he was being tortured. The sight of his opponent faded away as darkness emerged. He felt as if he was dying.

Vaguely, he heard Yukiko's voice. The force disappeared and he collapsed, although still conscious. Kakashi panted as he looked up. Yukiko was standing tall in front of him, facing Itachi.

"What do you think you are doing, Itachi?! Picking fights in school is not enough that you have to pick fights outside too?" She yelled furiously at the boy as he slowly fell to his knees too, tired out. Sharingan and the Shadow Replication Technique have drained out all his chakra. Yukiko sighed, shaking her head as Sasuke ran toward his brother with great concern, "Oni-san!! You ok?"

"Sharingan is not a toy, Itachi. It's a dangerous weapon. Ya hear me?" Yukiko continued her lecture. "You are grounded until further notice." She turned toward the other ninja and bent down. Holding the Jounin in her arms, she asked, "Hey, Kakashi! You alright?"

The boy closed his eyes and grunted. Then he shifted himself into a comfortable position against her chest. Yukiko frowned and dropped him on the the hard ground with a dusty 'thud'.

"Oww!" He moaned in pain, too tired to rub his head.

"Pervert," she mumbled, but she knew that he was really drained out by the Sharingan. The Chuunin grabbed his left arm and put it around her shoulder to help him up. "Let's get you home."

When they finally stood up, Yukiko turned to her cousins. Sasuke was offering his brother his lollipop, trying to make him feel better. She asked, "Can you get up, Itachi?" As a reply, the trouble-maker stood up shakily as Sasuke watched in concern. "Oni-san."

'Impressive,' Kakashi thought.

"Well then, you two get home now and stay out of trouble," Yukiko ordered and started walking her friend home. "You are such a baka. Fighting with a Uchiha."

He raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me, you think I can't beat a Uchiha?"

"Well, not when we have the Sharingan!" She shouted.

"How would I know a seven-year-old would possess the Sharingan?" He protested. The Chuunin remained silent. It was unexpected for a child at such age to have already discovered the Sharingan bloodline. Usually, Uchihas discover their Sharingan ability in their teens, if ever. Yukiko herself was surprised that Itachi was already able to mentally torture an opponent's mind, although he had only discovered his Sharingan a month ago. If she hadn't countered his attack with her own Sharingan in time, the person next to her might've died already.

"Umm...I'm sor-" Kakashi was about to apologize for the incident earlier when a voice interrupted. "Yukiko!!"

She turned her head around and smiled widely. "Iruka!"

The boy with a black ponytail smiled warmly at them until he saw the I-am-dying expression on Kakashi's face. "What happened?"

"This is Kakashi, a Jounin who was defeated by my 7-year-old cousin," she told her friend.

"O-oh."

"Hey, Itachi had the Sharingan! I underestimated him, ok?" he yelled and pouted. He didn't like Yukiko putting him down, especially in front of other males. It was as if she thought this Iruka guy was a lot better than himself. "Who are you?"

"Pardon his rudeness, Iruka," Yukiko smiled and introduced him. "This is Iruka, my teammate from my Genin years."

"Nice meeting you, Kakashi! You are the famous Kakashi, right?" He offered his hand, which the Jounin did not take.

"..."

"I don't have the energy to put my hand out. Consider shaken," Kakashi finally said coolly.

"Where are you going, Iruka?" she changed the topic with a fake smile to stop the akwardness.

"I'm heading to Naruto's place. I bought him some cup ramen!" his warm smiled reappeared as he held up the plastic bag in which contained the cup ramen. She frowned, "You shouldn't be feeding a 3-year-old cup ramen. It's not healthy."

"I know, I know, but he seems to love it," Iruka rubbed the back of his head as he smiled sheepishly.

'Stupid puppy face,' Kakashi thought bitterly.

"Since we are heading the same way, would you like me to help?" The Chuunin was already putting the Jounin's right arm around his shoulder without waiting for a reply.

"Thanks, Iruka! That's very nice of you." Yukiko thanked him as Kakashi snorted.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Please review. Coming up, Kakashi confesses to Yukiko...or attempts to...