Ch. 3: Serious Meetings
"Ohayo, Obito-san," murmured Sharingan Kakashi, as he knelt beside the memorial stone that commemorated all those who had died for Konoha's sake. "It seems I'm back here again."
The silver-haired jounin bent down to gently brush away bits of dirt that had crusted around the lower end of the square stone's edge. "I was supposed to meet my students a little while ago. I waited inside the classroom for them, but couldn't think of what to say, so I left before they came. He's one of them you know."
Kakashi sighed. No matter how hard he tried, he could never get over his nervousness at meeting students. Perhaps it was the way they always looked at him, eyes full of nervous excitement. Or perhaps it was the thought that he was expected to mould three children into true deadly ninja. Not that he had actually passed any before. But HE was one of them, this time.
"I wonder if he'll be anything like you. Ma. He looks like you, you know." Closing his eyes, Kakashi leaned his head back facing the sky.
--------- 19 years ago ---------
"Ohayo, Kakashi-kun right?"
The little black-clad ninja nodded off-handedly to the older man, eyes wandering about the simply furnished room. The furniture was plain but solid and well-worn, simple colors that young Kakashi found appealing. It spoke of a man who lived life comfortably but not indulgently. The type that Kakashi had come to admire. . .perhaps, this teacher wouldn't be so bad. He certainly couldn't be worse than that Jiraiya or all the other idiots Hokage kept making him work with over the years. Then again. . .
"Ma...then, I guess I should introduce myself better, seeing as how we'll be working together a lot from now on, ne?"
Kakashi simply nodded in reply, once again, this time staring at the man himself. Physically, he was thin and tall. The wiry strong type, but broad in the shoulders so his body looked a little unfinished. He was also very blond, hair styled a bit similar to Kakashi's own actually. Personally, Kakashi thought that his own hair looked a lot cooler, but the older man's was definitely just as spiky. Young too. Younger than any of his past "teachers."
"Well, let's see. My name is Obito Naruhiko, but you can just call me Obito-san, or better yet sensei. But I won't ask you to call me that unless you want to."
Kakashi's eyebrows rose a little at that. "Why?"
"Ha, so the silent one knows how to talk, eh?" grinned Obito, laughing gently. "I think you will call me teacher when you feel I am a teacher to you."
Ah, Kakashi thought, as he grimaced under his mask. So he was another one of those types. He'd had a lot of adults try different 'tactics' on him, trying to manage or mould him into what they thought was appropriate. This one had been tried quite often, actually, The whole reverse-psychology theory based on the belief that if they didn't ask him to do something he'd do it. The idiots. Hatake Kakashi wasn't considered a genius-nin for no reason. He glared at the older man. "Right. Obito-SAN."
The blond man continued to smile gently, but his eyes glinted with suppressed laughter and maybe a little something else. "Ma. . .Kakashi- kun. . . you're so, how to put this? Serious. You should really take life more lightly, or you'll grow old too fast."
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Kakashi felt his eyes grow hot. . .from the sunlight on his eyelids, he told himself. He knew no answers would come from Obito-san now, but it was somehow always comforting to bring his questions here: as if the man were still there listening to his problems, challenging Kakashi with that devilish smile. Kakashi rose, turning. He straightened his vest and pants, flicking away a weed that had stuck to one of his sleeves. "Well, I guess I should go before it's too late. The test will determine fate, right? But I promise not to be too serious. Rest well, sensei."
With hardly a sound, the jounin disappeared from before the memorial site. Suddenly he appeared again on a nearby rooftop, moving like the wind toward the Ninja Academy classrooms. He couldn't keep the new batch waiting forever, after all. That chuunin teacher would throw another fit. What was his name? Iruna? Irusha? He was a jounin, dammit, why couldn't he remember a simple name? Kakashi sighed once again as he approached his assigned classroom. Haruno, Uchiha, and, yes, Uzumaki. Uzumaki Naruto. Kakashi shook his head slightly, hoping to gain focus on the present. That name was definitely throwing him out of sorts.
". . .are you doing, Naruto!" The high-pitched shout penetrated into Kakashi's thoughts, causing him to pause outside the door of his assigned team's classroom. Discreetly concealing himself up against the wall, Kakashi watched as a young blonde boy peeped his head out the door before wedging an eraser between door and frame. Uzumaki Naruto, ka? Kakashi found himself wondering. Quite interesting, really.
"Nihihi. That's what you get for being late," snickered a voice, followed by the sounds of moving furniture.
"I'm not involved." The female voice from earlier, but this time less shrill. Haruno Sakura, definitely.
Like I'm really going to fall for something so simple, thought Kakashi to himself, about to grab the eraser and open the door.
"Like a Jounin is going to fall for such a simple booby trap. . . pft," cut a deeply sarcastic voice. Kakashi winced a little at hearing his own thoughts said aloud so coldly. That would be the Uchiha child, he decided. Kakashi wondered if he had ever sounded so cold to Obito-san as a child. Perhaps playing along a little wouldn't be such a bad idea. Have a little fun with life, right?
Throwing the door open wide, the jounin walked in, letting the eraser fall onto his head with a puff that sprinkled his fair hair with white chalk.
"Gyahahahaha! You fell for it!!" shouted the blond boy, bouncing and pointing at him. Kakashi's ears twitched slightly in pain at the noise. The only thing louder than the kid's voice was the kid's brilliantly orange jumpsuit.
"I'm so sorry Sensei, I tried to stop him but Naruto. . ." a girl to his side began to say, blushing as pink as her hair. Kakashi ignored the rest of the apology. Something was a little off about the entire thing. He sensed a certain lack of, how to put it. . .sincerity. Intriguingly enough, this was actually a bit more disconcerting than the black-haired child glaring death at him.
"My first impression is. . . Hmm. . . How can I say this. . .?" Kakashi said after a moment of silence. Putting his hand on his chin, the jounin looked up at the ceiling in seeming contemplation. The kids simmered down then, looking at him with apprehension thick enough to cut through. They were nervous, especially the one in the blue for all that he tried to hide it. Well, no reason not to tease them a bit. "I don't like you guys!!"
The three children's faces froze in stunned masks. Yes, thought, Kakashi. Obito-sensei was right, life is much better when you have fun.
"Ohayo, Obito-san," murmured Sharingan Kakashi, as he knelt beside the memorial stone that commemorated all those who had died for Konoha's sake. "It seems I'm back here again."
The silver-haired jounin bent down to gently brush away bits of dirt that had crusted around the lower end of the square stone's edge. "I was supposed to meet my students a little while ago. I waited inside the classroom for them, but couldn't think of what to say, so I left before they came. He's one of them you know."
Kakashi sighed. No matter how hard he tried, he could never get over his nervousness at meeting students. Perhaps it was the way they always looked at him, eyes full of nervous excitement. Or perhaps it was the thought that he was expected to mould three children into true deadly ninja. Not that he had actually passed any before. But HE was one of them, this time.
"I wonder if he'll be anything like you. Ma. He looks like you, you know." Closing his eyes, Kakashi leaned his head back facing the sky.
--------- 19 years ago ---------
"Ohayo, Kakashi-kun right?"
The little black-clad ninja nodded off-handedly to the older man, eyes wandering about the simply furnished room. The furniture was plain but solid and well-worn, simple colors that young Kakashi found appealing. It spoke of a man who lived life comfortably but not indulgently. The type that Kakashi had come to admire. . .perhaps, this teacher wouldn't be so bad. He certainly couldn't be worse than that Jiraiya or all the other idiots Hokage kept making him work with over the years. Then again. . .
"Ma...then, I guess I should introduce myself better, seeing as how we'll be working together a lot from now on, ne?"
Kakashi simply nodded in reply, once again, this time staring at the man himself. Physically, he was thin and tall. The wiry strong type, but broad in the shoulders so his body looked a little unfinished. He was also very blond, hair styled a bit similar to Kakashi's own actually. Personally, Kakashi thought that his own hair looked a lot cooler, but the older man's was definitely just as spiky. Young too. Younger than any of his past "teachers."
"Well, let's see. My name is Obito Naruhiko, but you can just call me Obito-san, or better yet sensei. But I won't ask you to call me that unless you want to."
Kakashi's eyebrows rose a little at that. "Why?"
"Ha, so the silent one knows how to talk, eh?" grinned Obito, laughing gently. "I think you will call me teacher when you feel I am a teacher to you."
Ah, Kakashi thought, as he grimaced under his mask. So he was another one of those types. He'd had a lot of adults try different 'tactics' on him, trying to manage or mould him into what they thought was appropriate. This one had been tried quite often, actually, The whole reverse-psychology theory based on the belief that if they didn't ask him to do something he'd do it. The idiots. Hatake Kakashi wasn't considered a genius-nin for no reason. He glared at the older man. "Right. Obito-SAN."
The blond man continued to smile gently, but his eyes glinted with suppressed laughter and maybe a little something else. "Ma. . .Kakashi- kun. . . you're so, how to put this? Serious. You should really take life more lightly, or you'll grow old too fast."
----------------------------------
Kakashi felt his eyes grow hot. . .from the sunlight on his eyelids, he told himself. He knew no answers would come from Obito-san now, but it was somehow always comforting to bring his questions here: as if the man were still there listening to his problems, challenging Kakashi with that devilish smile. Kakashi rose, turning. He straightened his vest and pants, flicking away a weed that had stuck to one of his sleeves. "Well, I guess I should go before it's too late. The test will determine fate, right? But I promise not to be too serious. Rest well, sensei."
With hardly a sound, the jounin disappeared from before the memorial site. Suddenly he appeared again on a nearby rooftop, moving like the wind toward the Ninja Academy classrooms. He couldn't keep the new batch waiting forever, after all. That chuunin teacher would throw another fit. What was his name? Iruna? Irusha? He was a jounin, dammit, why couldn't he remember a simple name? Kakashi sighed once again as he approached his assigned classroom. Haruno, Uchiha, and, yes, Uzumaki. Uzumaki Naruto. Kakashi shook his head slightly, hoping to gain focus on the present. That name was definitely throwing him out of sorts.
". . .are you doing, Naruto!" The high-pitched shout penetrated into Kakashi's thoughts, causing him to pause outside the door of his assigned team's classroom. Discreetly concealing himself up against the wall, Kakashi watched as a young blonde boy peeped his head out the door before wedging an eraser between door and frame. Uzumaki Naruto, ka? Kakashi found himself wondering. Quite interesting, really.
"Nihihi. That's what you get for being late," snickered a voice, followed by the sounds of moving furniture.
"I'm not involved." The female voice from earlier, but this time less shrill. Haruno Sakura, definitely.
Like I'm really going to fall for something so simple, thought Kakashi to himself, about to grab the eraser and open the door.
"Like a Jounin is going to fall for such a simple booby trap. . . pft," cut a deeply sarcastic voice. Kakashi winced a little at hearing his own thoughts said aloud so coldly. That would be the Uchiha child, he decided. Kakashi wondered if he had ever sounded so cold to Obito-san as a child. Perhaps playing along a little wouldn't be such a bad idea. Have a little fun with life, right?
Throwing the door open wide, the jounin walked in, letting the eraser fall onto his head with a puff that sprinkled his fair hair with white chalk.
"Gyahahahaha! You fell for it!!" shouted the blond boy, bouncing and pointing at him. Kakashi's ears twitched slightly in pain at the noise. The only thing louder than the kid's voice was the kid's brilliantly orange jumpsuit.
"I'm so sorry Sensei, I tried to stop him but Naruto. . ." a girl to his side began to say, blushing as pink as her hair. Kakashi ignored the rest of the apology. Something was a little off about the entire thing. He sensed a certain lack of, how to put it. . .sincerity. Intriguingly enough, this was actually a bit more disconcerting than the black-haired child glaring death at him.
"My first impression is. . . Hmm. . . How can I say this. . .?" Kakashi said after a moment of silence. Putting his hand on his chin, the jounin looked up at the ceiling in seeming contemplation. The kids simmered down then, looking at him with apprehension thick enough to cut through. They were nervous, especially the one in the blue for all that he tried to hide it. Well, no reason not to tease them a bit. "I don't like you guys!!"
The three children's faces froze in stunned masks. Yes, thought, Kakashi. Obito-sensei was right, life is much better when you have fun.