Once they were standing outside, the young jounin stared silently at the small boy standing beside him.

His student.

That's it, you can't escape anymore.

When his stomach grumbled loudly, he gave a sheepish smile.

"Hey, do you mind stopping for something to eat? I didn't have time to grab any lunch…"

That was a complete lie. He had been so nervous that he hadn't managed to swallow anything for breakfast or lunch. There was no way Kakashi could know.

"'kay," the boy shrugged.

They walked to one of Kayaku's favourite restaurants—he'd tried them all—and sat down at a small table a little way away from the others. When asked what they wanted to order, Kayaku chose a portion of his favourite ramen dish without even looking at the menu and some tea.

"What do you want?" he then asked Kakashi.

"Err, I'm OK."

"That's not what I asked."

"I don't need anything."

Kayaku smiled. "I know you don't, but do you want anything?"

"I'm not hungry, honest."

"Do you like tea?"

"Yes, but I'm not thirsty."

Kayaku sighed and the waiter left.

Once they were alone again, he considered his student once more. He knew that most shinobi who wore masks did so in order to protect their identity, to a certain extent, but he really found it unsettling for a five-year old to do so. This wasn't a mission and they weren't enemies. He was the boy's sensei. Surely, he should be one of the few people Kakashi wouldn't feel obliged to hide from. Shouldn't he?

The young boy was still and silent, his eyes locked on an invisible spot on the wooden table. This was supposed to be some sort of informal talk—which Kayaku had thought would help—and the boy didn't look relaxed at all.

"I was thinking," Kayaku started, "about something you said earlier on. You said you wanted to test me. Honestly, I can't see what in my reaction qualifies as passing that test…"

Kakashi looked even more uneasy and shifted a little. "You're not…like the others," he said quietly. "You could have reacted differently; you could have shouted, told me off for my bad manners, mentioned my mother—"

Kayaku frowned. "Your mother? Why would I do that?"

"I don't know," Kakashi replied with a small shrug. "Some people do. They say it doesn't excuse my behaviour."

Kayaku was about to protest when the waiter brought his order so he remained quiet for a few more seconds. He stared longingly at the bowl in front of him, doing his best not to jump avidly on it. Kakashi was talking and he could feel this was important and shouldn't be missed, even for the best ramen in town.

"When did…your mother die?" he ventured, expecting the boy to snap at him and tell him it was none of his business again.

The answer came almost instantly.

"Three years ago. But I don't remember; Father told me."

Kayaku leaned over the table. Kakashi was only two when his mother died. He couldn't have a single memory of her.

"Well I would never say anything like that."

"I said you were different."

It puzzled Kayaku not to be able to see the expression on the boy's face. All he could see were his eyes and Kakashi wasn't letting anything show.

"I'm sorry I reacted the way I did. It can't have given you a very good impression… I promise I'm better than that," he said with a chuckle.

"I didn't give you a good impression either. I had to make it up because I…I didn't want any other jounin to look after me."

"What do you mean?"

"I know a lot about you, Sensei. Father told me."

Kayaku froze for a second. "Your father talked about me?"

"Oh yes! After the Third said he'd decided you'd be my sensei, Father talked about you a lot."

Kayaku felt himself blushing.

White Fang Hatake Sakumo, talking about me?

"He said you were without a doubt on your way to become one of the best shinobi from Konoha. As well as being the youngest jounin in a long time, which is quite an achievement," he said, clearly reciting his father's words. "He also said people had started calling you…Yellow Flash? Is that true?"

This time, Kayaku clearly felt the flush spreading across his cheeks. Especially because of the way Kakashi was now looking at him; it was almost a look of admiration and he couldn't take it.

Jiraiya had been the first to use that stupid nickname and it had unfortunately caught on. The young man had always thought nicknames like that were for legendary heroes—such as Kakashi's father or the three Sannin—not some seventeen-year old boy proving to be faster than the average shinobi.

"Well, yes…" he answered, scratching his head uncomfortably. "But I wouldn't take too much notice if I were you."

"I'm sure they have very good reasons to," said Kakashi.

Kayaku couldn't help smiling when he realised the boy had just echoed some of his own words.

"You also asked about my mask and I was very rude."

"Nah, that's all right! It probably is none of my business."

"Not, it's not right. You're my sensei and I've got to answer your questions. It's part of the rules."

Kayaku started feeling uneasy again. It wasn't right for a five-year old to start talking about rules.

"Kakashi, really, it's—"

"It's a tradition," the young boy interrupted. "To wear that mask."

"In your family?"

Kakashi nodded. "We can start wearing it when we becoming shinobi."

"So that's why your father wears one too?"

Again, Kakashi nodded.

"Well thank you very much for telling me, Kakashi-kun."

Without warning, Kakashi's gaze became an intent glare. Kayaku swallowed hard.

"Maybe we'll leave it at Kakashi, yeah?" he said sheepishly.

The meal didn't take long, considering the fact that he was starving and that Kakashi was far from talkative. After he'd finally paid, the young jounin stood up and stretched. He remembered the conversation with Jiraiya about starting off team spirit and bell training the following day and shrugged.

That was all right for regular teams.

"So…" he said with a grin. "I've heard from you how great you supposedly are, but why don't we make our way to the training grounds so you can show me, eh?"

The expression in Kakashi's eyes changed almost instantly and Kayaku recognised the flame of excitement burning in them. The five-year old child suddenly seemed to have come to life as he stood up at once and almost ran to the door. And from the way the fabric of his mask had appeared to tighten across his lips, Kayaku guessed the boy might actually have been smiling.

Several hours later, unharmed but very much impressed, the young jounin-turned-sensei slowly made his way back to his apartment. When he got there, he didn't even bother to take his vest of shoes off and collapsed on his bed. The day had partly been a disaster and he knew he'd probably just been set his biggest challenge so far. And considering all the things he'd been through since graduating from the academy himself, that was indeed a daunting prospect…

But there was no way he would have it any differently now.

THE END