Kakashi was furious. Actually, livid was the more correct term. To learn that one of his Genin was taught secret ANBU signs, a secret even within the shadow ranks, was enough to trigger his protective instincts to almost full capacity.
Sakura was smart, extremely so, and he's not going to lie that all this time having her be a normal, albeit naive, Kunoichi relieved him from a great amount of stress. He knows what genius Ninja children end up like in the village he promised to protect, and he would never wish that upon the little girl who smiled brighter than the sun.
His fingers around Atsuya's collar tightened, and the moment he shunshined in a alley well hidden from everyone's eyes at this hour of the day, he didn't hesitate to throw the man against the wall. A kunai was quickly pointed at the old man's throat, and Kakashi's eyes narrowed into a fierce glare when he caught sight of Atsuya's amused grin.
"Got a little tense over there, ne Kakashi-kun?" The old man chuckled with mirth.
Kakashi didn't find it funny.
"What do you think you're doing?" Gone was the lax Jounin-sensei that almost everyone got used to. Kakashi hasn't felt this alerted since his ANBU years, and he can't say he was enjoying it or was feeling nostalgic either.
"No brat, what do you think you're doing? You got me pinned on the wall like some type of rag. Have some mercy on this old man, will you?"
"Why does my student know these type of signs?" He demanded an explanation, having zero tolerance for any bullshit right at this moment. "What did you teach her? Why?"
Atsuya's green eyes grew serious, his plump russet lips lilting up to a scowl. "I get you're the kid's Genin-sensei, but don't you think you're overstepping your boundaries, Soldier?"
Kakashi felt the wild urge to snap his neck here and there, but he squished it quickly down. He let his former Captain go, but he never got his eyes away from him. The sharingan, on view and spinning lazy, only emphasized the dire seriousness of the situation.
Atsuya frowned, leaning on the wall behind him and relaxed. "Damn kid, ya' got attached to these misfits already? The time away from the corps has made you soft."
"Sakura is not like me, Miyamoto." The silver-haired man got straight to the point, voice firm and unwieldy.
"Yeah, yeah, you think I don't know that?" He chuckled, a mischievous gleam entering his eyes.
"Sometimes I think... that pink brat is so much better. If only with the right train-"
"-Stop right there before I rip your tongue off." Kakashi snapped with a glare.
Atsuya eyed him critically, taking in the sight of the tense adult before him. The Hatake was radiating off Killing Intent so much so that he could feel the chakra of the Shinobi around the perimeter grow uneasy. He couldn't blame them, it wasn't exactly a common occurrence when you get to feel the Copy-nin's K.I inside the village for that matter.
The Hatake brat lost it for real.
"Calm down before people misunderstood. We aren't alone, ya'know?"
Kakashi regarded him with open disdain, before he willed himself to calm down. His students are going to experience the full Shinobi course. They will not be like him, not like the children who got field promoted into ANBU during wartimes. They live in times of peace.
He constantly reminded himself that.
"You aren't sponsoring her." He stated firmly.
"No," Atsuya admitted. "But I acknowledge that out of everyone, if there is one who is going to get out of ANBU unscathed, it will be that pink horror."
"No."
At the blatant refusal, the Miyamoto scowled. "Please, you can't tell me you can't see her potential?"
Kakashi's lips pursed behind the mask. "She fainted seconds after I put her into a weak Hell-viewing Genjutsu. How is Sakura even considered for a place at the shadow ranks?"
The old man shook his head. "You're forgetting that the girl needs conditioning. With the right guidance, I'm sure she will surpass your expectations. After all, she was only a six-years-old hellion when she proved me the true extent of her intelligence."
Kakashi knew, she had the sharpest mind on the team after all. She knew how to sweet-talk, she knew how to play with words, how to solve a almost impossible puzzle after some pondering. She had impeccable manners for even a clan born kid like Uchiha Sasuke lacked. This was a part of her personality that she seemed to shed when she's around Team Seven.
"She has a long way to go," Hatake's fighting spirit was slowly dismissed, a calculating gleam entering his dark eye.
Atsuya shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest and getting more comfortable against the bricks. "You're looking down on her." He noted.
"I'm looking out for her." Kakashi corrected.
"You're sabotaging her training because instead of seeing a kid who needs a good instructor to teach her how to be a good kunoichi, you're only see the ghost of her."
Kakashi froze, his eye widening and before he knew it, Atsuya had taken him my his flak jacket and pinned him roughly to the wall, the bricks behind him shattering and creating dust clouds around their two figures.
"You better wake the fuck up!" Kakashi's former ANBU-Captain, hissed vehemently.
CHACK!
Atsuya hissed when the back of a kunai hit him right at the side of his head and the Hatake was tagged away from him in a instant.
Six kunais were instantly positioned into various parts of his body. Two pointed at his neck, two on his groin, and another two directly above one of his eye.
Flashes of pink, yellow and black greeted the two adults vision. Sakuta, Naruto and Sasuke respectively scowling with unconcealed hatred up at him.
"Don't threaten Kaka-sensei, dattebayo!!" Naruto exclaimed in rage.
"Hn." Sasuke grunted in agreement, as stoic as ever.
.
.
.
.
Sakura felt like crying. For some reason, seeing her sensei and Grandpa Atsuya at each other's throat was enough to make her extremely upset. Her gut twisted with anxiety as she pressed the kunai firmer on his throat, the angry shouting of her blond teammate fuelling her own rage.
"We went against Zabuza for our sensei, 'ttebayo!" Naruto exclaimed. "Don't touch him!"
"Naruto!" Kakashi-sensei scolded, placing a hand on his shoulder, the other coming to close gently around her wrist. "That's enough."
"It isn't," Sasuke scoffed, but retreated his kunai from Atsuya's eyes. "This is a civilian territory. The street was in panic before we came here."
And wasn't that the understatement of the century? Civilians who lived in a military village may be even more paranoid than a Shinobi (or maybe that's a small exaggeration on her part.) That's because they are absolutely defenceless, and the only thing they have is their senses and their vision. It was always encouraged for civilians to learn some basic self-defence and chakra signaling in case of someone attacking them.
So feeling the Killing Intent in the air sent all of them into frenzy. They started walking faster, pulling their kods closer or hosting them up in their arms, enter random shops for protection and looking worriedly outside the window.
Sakura was beyond upset; Oh no, she was absolutely aggrieved with the two men. She hasn't felt this mad for anyone who isn't her parents or Ino, so this was a surprise to herself as well.
After Sasuke uttered these words, the heavy sensations were instantly lifted from the atmosphere, causing the rosette to sigh in relief. Still, when even Naruto retailed and put the kunai down, she held hers on his neck, just about the artery, and looked fiercely up at his eyes.
Atsuya was no longer amused. The way they moved was a far cry from being a good, functional and coordinated team, but the will to 'protect' Hatake spoke miles about their personality.
Still arrogant.
Still soft.
Still protective.
Still pure.
And that in Miyamoto's eyes, were definitely not to be taken as a compliment or flattery.
"Sakura," Kakashi-sensei cautioned sharply. "Retreat."
Her sensei was asking, he was commanding it.
The rosette pursed her lips, and did as he said. However, with a sudden surge of menace and a tinge of resentment, when she withdraw her weapons she pressed the kunai deeper into the skin of his throat and dragged it towards her. She nicked his skin and a single drop of blood from the cut started trailing down his neck.
Atsuya wanted to laugh, because right in front of him was what exactly he was talking about.
And glancing at the way the silver-haired man tensed, he realised that too.
For the girl, unassumed and doll-like, with deceiving green eyes and pink hair that all matched to create a individual as the emblem of spring; had just warned him to behave himself.
Arrogant.
Atsuya's eyes gleamed.
And Sakura turned her back to him, walking towards Naruto who tagged the rosette quickly out if the alley.
author's note:
i'm sorry for the late update! i haven't found the inspiration to write the next chapter which is why i'm taking it easy! i enjoy writing this story but i don't want to view this as a responsibility rather than something i enjoy doing.
i think Team 7 was a little OOC in this. i tried to convey the fact that while sasuke and naruto still don't get along, they indeed grew more protective of each other in their own way. and the genin seeing their sensei being threatened wasn't exactly something they liked to see either.
they're all in for a scolding LMAOO XD
- A.