How he became the person he is
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 11:
The next morning, all that could be seen from the youngest genin's bed was his shining and messy hair. Tomoko slid open the screen slide and reached Kakashi's bed and pulled his quilt, which he had over his head. He looked like every little kid in the world, who can't wake up in the morning. He created a bump between his two silver eyebrows, with his eyes still shut, and showing his discomfort. It was unusual of Kakashi to do so, and Tomoko decided that she would wake him up like she used to when Kakashi was still a baby. She reached his arms and sat him up. Then she embraced him, and carried him like the baby he was supposed to be.
"Mom, let me down. Did anyone come?" asked Kakashi when she was opening the bathroom door.
"I thought you forgot about the chuunin exam." Tomoko smiled. "Not yet. Are you worried?"
"Nah. Just wondering when it is." Kakashi scratched the back of his head and yawned. "Is dad home?"
"Yes. He came back late, last night. He had an S rank mission." Kakashi smiled. He really respected Sakumo. Everyone in the village knew about him. To come back from an S rank mission as if it was nothing... who would even think about that?
"Get ready for breakfast, Kakashi." Tomoko knew what Kakashi was smiling at, and she smiled too.
Kakashi closed the door, and Tomoko headed to the kitchen. He still had to use a chair to reach the sink. He was a kid, after all. Him being able to run a hundred meters in less than what someone could imagine, didn't change the fact that he was short. He often got frustrated at his height, but who would he blame for being short at his age? He just had to cope with it.
When Kakashi entered the kitchen, Tomoko was preparing the table. It looked like Sakumo had woken up as well.
"A messenger just came by, Kakashi. The 2nd exam begins at 2 in training ground #1." Tomoko had given up from keeping Kakashi away from ninja's stuff. She thought that it was pointless to stop him from something he would eventually become.
"Heh. I told you mom. I passed the first one." Kakashi sat in his place and waited for his parents to join him in the table.
When Sakumo walked in and raised his eyebrows, Kakashi nodded, and his father ruffled his hair with a big smile. Although he was a very busy man, Sakumo knew about all the things that Kakashi did.
"So, when is it?" he asked.
"Today at two." Kakashi smiled.
"Good luck, son!"
"Thanks, dad."
"So, you think you are ready for whatever the exam is?" asked Sakumo, as Tomoko sat down as well.
"Sure. I've been practicing some jutsus. Heh. If the first one was written, the second one must be the real thing. Right?"
"I guess, Kakashi." Sakumo smiled at his son's clever point. "Don't underestimate any of the other genins, though, Kakashi. You have to remember that they are all older than you and they have completed a lot more missions than you. It could not only make you fail the test, but you might even get hurt. Alright?"
"Yes."
"Oh, and don't forget that if you don't pass it this time, your next try will be in seven years." Sakumo wanted to encourage Kakashi to do his best so that he could pass it this time.
"I know that, dad." Kakashi smiled. "I'll be in the dojo. I'm gonna practice a little more. Thanks for the food, mom." Kakashi got up.
"I'm leaving right after breakfast. I have a special mission today. See you at night, maybe." Kakashi nodded, and left.
Kakashi was once again practicing the hand seals of the jutsus he knew. Of course, without using his chakra. At around 1, Arashi arrived. He headed to the dojo after hearing from Tomoko that Kakashi was in the dojo.
"Kakashi, you should be resting." He said as he was entering. The little genin was surprised to see him. Kakashi didn't have his mask on, but it didn't matter, since Arashi had seen his face a lot of times.
"Ne, just to make sure. I was about to leave."
"I came to take you."
"How come?"
"I was invited. Get ready, Kakashi." Arashi smiled.
Kakashi still didn't understand what his sensei meant by being "invited", but he went to his room and dressed up in his usual training clothes and put his mask on.
"Good luck, Kakashi." said Tomoko. She reached Kakashi's mask and after pulling it down, she kissed him in the cheek. Kakashi blushed, and put his mask back right away.
"Mom!" he complained. Arashi laughed and ruffled his student's hair.
"See you, Tomoko-san."
"Bye, Arashi-kun." He bowed and walked away. Kakashi didn't look pleased after the kiss, but waved at his mom, and followed Arashi.
"Sensei. What did you mean when you said you were invited?" asked Kakashi as they headed to the place.
"To the second exam." Arashi thought that now it was okay for him to tell Kakashi about the exam. "It is going to be a tournament. There are going to be judges, and you are to fight your opponent." he smiled.
"How come you know about the second exam, sensei?"
"I'm a genius, remember?" Arashi let out a small laugh at his own joke. "I was in a special case. Because of the so called youngest-genin-ever. Besides, it is what the second part of the exam usually is."
"Isn't that considered cheating?"
"Oh, so you think you cheated? Then I should tell Hokage-sama to fail you, huh?" Arashi enjoyed playing around with the little kid.
"Never mind, sensei." Arashi just ruffled Kakashi's hair.
After twenty minutes of walk, Kakashi stood in front of a huge building. Arashi told him that it was inside the building, and that it was one of the few training grounds in Konoha that could only be used on certain occasions. Kakashi had never been inside before, but passed by it almost every day. When they entered, Kakashi saw that many genins from yesterday were already there. He looked around and noticed that the place was a gymnasium, and there was a second floor around the borders of the building. He saw the Hokage sitting behind a table, and some other people as well in the second floor.
"Normally, the last chuunin exam is the same one. We used to hold it in the stadium, and the tournament was for everyone in the village to see, but due to the war that is going on, Hokage-sama wanted it to be simple." Arashi explained.
"So, just the ones up there and you are watching?"
"Yes."
"Well, let's get this going." It was Kaito. Arashi grasped Kakashi in the shoulder and muttered "Good luck." He disappeared in a puff, and reappeared in the second floor. "First of all, congratulations to you all for passing the first part of the chuunin exam. The second exam consists of a tournament. They are one-on-one matches. Today, we'll have the first two rounds, and tomorrow, the third round, the semifinals, and the final. You have to get a number from this box, and your opponent will be decided. There are 30 of you. Please come up when I call your name."
Kaito began calling out names, and one by one, the genins got their numbers. Kaito wrote their names down, according to their numbers. Kakashi was one of the last ones, and he got number 15. His opponent was someone called Tanaka Kisho. He looked up to where his sensei was, and he received that big smile of Arashi's in return.
"Well, that's it. Before we start, any questions?" A boy raised his hand, and Kaito nodded.
"Will the winner be the only one to become a chuunin?"
"No, the judges, including Hokage-sama and some of the top officials of our village will be judging your skills and your qualities to become chuunins. The chances of all of you becoming chuunins are the same as that of none of you becoming chuunins. Even if you lose in your first match, you can become a chuunin. But, you have to be able to show yourselves capable of being chuunins. " Some of the genins murmured to those standing beside them. "We're starting now. A match ends when one of the two can't go on, or when one gives up. No killing is allowed. If something like that happens, you will be disqualified. The first two, Yamashina Kimi and Shimizu Miya stay here. The rest of you, watch upstairs." The named genins stayed there, and Kakashi and the others moved upstairs. He saw Jiraiya-sama sitting next to Sandaime-sama, and all the other senseis sitting in one place.
Kaito shouted "1st match! Yamashina Kimi vs. Shimizu miya. Start!", and the two girls began their fight. Kakashi was watching, thinking that they were very skilled to be girls. At the end, both were knocked out, and Kaito disqualified both of them. The next matches went on, and Kakashi saw how some of the genins were actually really good. He also saw a Byakugan user. Finally, Kakashi's turn came, and he went downstairs. Kakashi saw a boy coming down from the opposite side.
"Well, you two, ready?" Kaito asked.
Both boys nodded. Kakashi noticed that his opponent was at least two feet taller than him. He didn't look older than his sensei, but it was visible that he was in his early teens.
"I'm not going to have mercy on you, just because you are a little kid." said Kisho.
"Good to hear." snapped Kakashi.
"8th match! Hatake Kakashi vs. Tanaka Kisho. Start!"
Kakashi attacked first. He went with all his intent to harm the boy and tried to kick him in the stomach. Kisho dodged it and punched Kakashi in the chest. Kakashi was too small compared to him, and Kakashi's arms and legs were too short. It was easier for Kisho to attack. Kakashi rolled a few feet and got up in a jump. 'That was stupid... damn... I should have figured out that using taijutsu on him wouldn't be easy...' thought Kakashi as he rubbed where he was it. Kisho was running towards him, while he made 3 bunshin. Kakashi threw 3 shurikens at the bunshins, and made a bunshin of his. Kisho's bunshin were gone, and Kakashi's bunshin appeared behind Kisho and grabbed his arms. The real Kakashi had already jumped high and was now coming down with his hands clenched together in a fist. Kakashi hit his opponent right in the top of his head, but disappeared in a puff, and Kakashi saw a kunai flying on his direction. He saw it just in time to avoid it from hitting his nose, but he still got a cut on his right cheek, right above his mask and below his eye. Fortunately it was just a superficial cut.
Kakashi made 3 more bunshins, and all four Kakashis ran towards Kisho. Kisho threw some kunais, but Kakashi and his three bunshin managed to dodge them. He was sure that this one was the real Kisho. Kakashi's bunshin held his opponent's arms and legs, and the real Kakashi kicked him on the head, and punched him in the stomach a few times. Kakashi's bunshin disappeared, and Kisho fell on his knees. Kakashi thought that that was it, but Kisho grasped his two feet and made him fall on his back. Then, Kisho tried to punch him in the face, but the silver-haired little kid rolled to his right, and decided that he would use a jutsu. He began forming the hand seals of the Kekkai Doroutoumu. Kakashi disappeared, and reappeared behind Kisho, and finalized his jutsu. The next thing, Kisho was trying to get out of the hole he was in. He couldn't even use his arms. Kisho didn't have another choice, and said "I give up."
"Winner, Hatake Kakashi!" Kaito shouted, and everyone in the building was mumbling and clapping. Kakashi helped his opponent out of the hole, and Kisho responded with a small "Thanks."
Jiraiya smirked, and Arashi thought, 'Nice, Kakashi!', and smiled.
The next matches passed by a little slower, since the opponents were all similarly skilled. When the first round was done, there were fourteen genins left.
Kakashi won the second round in a little harder way than the first one, and he did get a few more cuts. He managed to win without using any jutsu, though. He knocked out his opponent justwith taijutsu. The next three matches were won by Yamaguchi Shouta, Shimizu Emiko, and Matsuki Yuki.
"Well, the other three rounds are going to take place at the same time, here, tomorrow. Those of you who lost today will receive a message sometime this week, concerning your score on today's match. You're dismissed." Kaito concluded.
"Good job, Kakashi." said Arashi as he reached him, and ruffled his hair. "Wasn't expecting anything less from you." he smiled. Kakashi smiled in response.
"I'm going home, sensei. See you tomorrow." Arashi nodded, and Kakashi went out the door. Arashi went to his sensei, who was sitting on his seat, writing down something. Some of the other judges were talking.
"What did you think, sensei?" Jiraiya closed a book, and Arashi realized that it was the book where his sensei kept his notes.
"Very good. For a six year-old to beat two genins twice his age." He laughed.
"Heh, I guess that was the hard part of it. Trying to beat people two feet taller than him. It's good that he got to spar with me, though. At least he knew what to expect."
"Well, yeah."
"Any chances of him becoming chuunin?" asked Arashi stealthly.
"Don't know. All the judges are deciding together. He still needs to show something..." Jiraiya glanced over the corner of his eye at his student. Arashi just gave a confused smile.
"Jiraiya! We're moving to the conference room. Now. No exceptions." It was one of the councils, Mitokado Homura.
"Coming, old man." Responded Jiraiya, lazily. He ruffled Arashi's hair, and smiled at him. "See ya, boy."
After that, Arashi went to his usual training place, and practiced some jutsus. He didn't really have a lot of time to do so since he started training Kakashi, but he thought that his job was really rewarding. He felt proud to be the teacher of the child prodigy.
After dinner that night, Kakashi told Sakumo about his matches, and Sakumo listened to his son, very attentively. Tomoko was changing Kakashi's band-aids, and she was scolding him for not being more careful.
"But, mom! These are not even injuries..." His voice became sheepish as he saw Tomoko's smiling glare. The people who know, know that when the nicest people get angry, it is much worse than anyone else in the world getting angry. It was one of the reasons why Sakumo never said anything that could make Tomoko really angry. Whenever he could, of course. Kakashi knew that his mom was really scary when she was mad, but being the kid that he was, he tried to prove his point. "Besides, these cuts are usual when I'm training with Arashi-sen..." Sakumo just stopped Kakashi from continuing by placing his hand in his son's mouth. Kakashi looked up, and saw that his father was smiling at Tomoko, and she was closing the first-aid box.
"I'll be careful next time, mom." Kakashi said, looking at Tomoko sheepishly. She stared at him for a few seconds, and said, "Good." and she smiled the way she usually did. Sakumo let out a sigh, and winked at Kakashi, who smiled in return.
A/N:
Well... that took a little longer than usual... sorry about that! I started summer school, and is nothing I would do rather than writing... heh Besides, I couldn't think on how to make the second part of the exam pass a little faster... I was kinda stuck;
Thanks, reviewers!
MingShun: sorry about the haha's! I didn't notice how often I used them... heh thanks for the remark! I did revise and edit those parts.
HanaTenshiHimeko: Thanks for reviewing!(once again!) lol