What is up my dudes, we are back with chapter five! This story is currently sitting at 56 follows and 34 favorites, YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! I am so very thankful for the support this fic has gotten since I started it, because it has been an absolute blast to write.
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Please continue to review and ENJOY CHAPTER 5
"Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!"
Kakashi yelled out as a barrier of mud flew up in front of him in just enough time to block a volley of shuriken thrown at him from an unseen opponent.
After hearing the thuds signifying the projectiles impact against his barrier he cut his chakra to the technique and whipped around just in time to block a devastating round-house meant for his head.
"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"
The sender of said kick belted out at the top of his lungs as his foot connected with the silver haired Jounin's guard.
"AH Kakashi, you saw through my distraction. As expected from my glorious rival."
Konoha's Savage Green Beast, Might Guy called out as he flipped away from his failed attack and flashed his opponent with a blinding grin.
Foregoing a response the former Anbu rushed after the green clad taijutsu master and engaged him with a flurry of strikes.
The initial jab was blocked, as was the follow up cross, but a suprise leg sweep managed to catch the bushy browed man off guard and knock him to his back.
He wasn't down for long though as before Kakashi moved to capitalize on his advantage the other man had already performed an intricate flip back to his feet and struck out at his cycloptic opponent with a vicious uppercut.
The blow just barely grazed the fabric covering the jounin's chin as he immediately leaned his head back to avoid what would've been a match ending hit.
Not finished with his assault, Guy pushed forward hands and feet moving too fast for the average man to see as he tested all of his opponents defenses.
After trading blows for a few minutes his perseverance paid off as Kakashi was just a hair too slow in blocking a sharp front kick aimed at his chest and was sent skidding back across the ground.
The Green Beast leapt forward and pinned the man to the ground with his foot, kunai in hand before calling out.
"Looks like another win for me, my hip friend" he paused for a moment as if in thought.
"That brings us to 35 wins for me and 37 wins for you."
" MY YOUTH IS CATCHING UP!" he then yelled as he thrust his unoccupied fist into the air.
His crows about the "power of youth" were cut short as he suddenly heard the bored voice of his rival ring out.
"You sure about that?" .
What confused the man though was that the voice did not come from beneath him, but from directly behind him.
It was then that he felt the pressure of cold steel against his neck.
He glanced back and there was Kakashi standing behind him with one hand in his pocket, and the other holding a Kunai poised to strike his jugular.
The "Kakashi" beneath him disappeared in a puff of smoke revealing itself to be a shadow clone.
The Taijutsu specialist was dumbfounded. "When did he replace himself with a clone?" he thought with bewilderment.
"It was when I caught you with that leg sweep" The silver haired man stated seemingly able to read his opponent's mind.
"So I guess that makes us 38 to 34 in my favor." he added in an uncaring tone that only served to rile up his beaten rival.
"AAAH KAKASHI! You may have taken a victory this time but next time I will-" he was then interrupted by the elder Hatake
"Yeah yeah, I know youth and all that." the silver haired man then called out to their observer.
"Oy, Naruto come over here."
The young blonde rushed over, applying a burst of chakra to his legs for increased speed, showcasing just how much he had improved over the past year and a half.
The boy was now six and would be starting the Ninja academy in a few days along with all of his agemates.
Part of Kakashi had wanted the boy to skip the academy all together and just keep him as his apprentice.
He would've personally trained him for the next few years and then had him take the genin exam to become an official ninja.
The man had eventually decided against it citing that while Kakashi would be able to teach him more if he had him full time, Naruto would miss out on creating the bonds that would carry him through the rest of his time in the shinobi corps.
That, and since the academy had reformed its curriculum due to the uncertainty on the horizon, it wouldn't be a complete waste of time for him to be there.
Kakashi couldn't help but admire how much his son had grown in such a short time, not just physically but skill level as well.
Naruto had grown a few inches and was now just above waist level on Kakashi in height. He was dressed much like his father in dark pants and a black shirt with a vest over it, though while Kakashi's flak was green Naruto's was a bright orange that he had absolutely insisted that his father let him have.
The man had relented though he had made it very clear that once Naruto became an actual shinobi and started taking missions there would be no neon colors in his outfit, something which the blonde had reluctantly agreed to.
Though Kakshi had to admit the black and orange did look quite good on him.
As far as skill, the jounin was confident his son could defeat an average genin at this point given the right circumstances.
The last year and a half had been a whirlwind of training, and Naruto was not the only one who had been improving.
Everyday after Kakashi had gotten his son situated with that day's training he would leave a shadow clone to assist him and travel to another part of the grounds to improve his own skills.
While Naruto worked on basic chakra control Kakashi worked on improving chakra shape manipulation. And when Naruto worked on his physical skills like taijutsu, kenjutsu, and shurikenjutsu, his father was routinely challenging fellow Jounin and a few of his old Anbu peers to spars.
The result was rapid improvement for the blonde, and the elder Hatake getting into the best shape of his life.
He had taken Shikaku's warning to heart, if turmoil truly was on the horizon Kakashi knew he had to make sure he and his son were both as prepared as possible.
About six months into the new training regimen, Kakashi met with The Hokage and the two shared a very long and very "coded" conversation about the progress the copy ninja and his son had been making.
The main goal of the conversation was Kakashi seeking the older man's permission to teach his son a kinjutsu.
The forbidden technique was the Shadow Clone Jutsu, which in the hands of someone like Naruto could be wielded as a truly terrifying weapon.
The boy was only five at that point and his chakra reserves already dwarfed his father's. This meant that the boy had the potential to spawn an army of clones which alone would make him formidable, but that wasn't Kakashi's main drive for wanting to teach it to the boy.
No, the true reason was the justu's second, and less known ability. The justu was able to share information and experience between the clones and the user. That combined with the massive amounts of clones his son could make would speed up training tenfold.
Of course there were drawbacks to the idea which the Hokage was quick to point out.
That much mental stress could be extremely damaging to a person, especially one so young as Naruto whose brain was still developing. If he were to use too many clones, or have them dispel at incorrect intervals it could cause permanent brain damage, and possibly even death.
After much debate the solution was finally reached that Naruto would learn the technique, but not until his sixth birthday, and after mastering the technique he would only be allowed to use no more than five clones at a time for his accelerated training until he had graduated the academy.
Kakashi was pleased with the outcome, and was extremely grateful to the old man for his advice on how to handle the situation with his son. It was comforting to know that as long as The Third lived he could be counted on to look after Naruto.
For the remaining time before the blonde's sixth birthday Kakashi had drilled Chakra control exercises, one after the other into his son's head.
Every moment that was not spent eating, sleeping, or spending time with his friends the boy was maintaining some sort of training technique.
He stuck leaves to his body while he sparred with his father in taijutsu. He would practice throwing projectiles on the run while learning tree climbing.
Even during his book studies he spun leaves on his fingertips.
Of course it wasn't easy at first.
It literally took him months to perfect each exercise, and even more time after that to be able to perform them while actively doing other training.
When the boy had gotten frustrated at his difficult time, Kakashi had sat him down and explained what the issue was.
Naruto simply had too much chakra.
Because there was so much energy swirling around inside of him, instead of trying to direct a gentle stream like most people he was having to wrestle a raging river.
Upon hearing that the blonde was relieved that in his words "he didn't just suck", and he threw himself even harder into his practice.
Kakashi was just glad he didn't ask why his reserves were so large. The man wasn't exactly sure how he could explain that without getting into some pretty unsavory territory.
He had already had to enact a "No training shirtless" rule so the blonde wouldn't accidentally glimpse his seal while practicing, and his explanation for that had been rather weak.
The silver haired man had told him that he always needed to practice in "field conditions", and since he would always be fully clothed on missions he needed to be fully clothed to train.
Luckily, while Naruto was very smart for his age, he was still five and he had bought the lie easily enough.
At the end of it all Kakashi once again found himself marveling at his son's will power. Through all the hurdles he had to cross through and all the setbacks that had popped up over the months he simply refused to give up until he mastered every technique given to him.
The man was thankful for the boy's perseverance, he would definitely need every bit of that determination in the coming years.
Eventually October tenth rolled around signifying the blondes sixth birthday, and the jounin had finally gifted his son with the small scroll containing the instructions for the shadow clone jutsu.
Thanks to all of his hard work in preparation for this day he took to the technique like a fish to water and very quickly became proficient in it in just a few hours.
The blonde now used the jutsu daily as evidenced by the five identical blondes at the other end of the training ground all attempting to perform a passable Earth wall like Kakashi had exhibited during the spar.
It was a useful jutsu to know and with the help of the clones Naruto seemed to be making good progress on it. If he continued at his current pace he should have it down by the time he started the academy next week.
Seeing his son arrive before him he shook himself out of his musings and addressed the now waiting blonde.
" Son, where did Guy make his mistake?" the man asked, testing the masked blonde's observational skills.
The boy in question placed a hand to his covered chin in thought for a moment before answering.
"Uuuh he took his eyes off of you when you caught him with that leg sweep." he said hesitantly.
At seeing his father's encouraging nod he continued.
"Instead of popping back up and immediately engaging you he did that fancy backflip and then went on the offensive which gave you time to replace yourself with a clone when he was mid-flip." he finished feeling more confident.
Kakashi gave the boy a thumbs up.
"Awesome, you covered almost everything, but there is one thing you missed."
At his son's raised brow the elder Hatake turned to his long time friend and asked.
"Guy would you mind explaining?"
The green clad man was ecstatic that his rival was asking him to help impart wisdom onto his young son so he instantly accepted the spotlight.
"Aah yes, young Naruto my last mistake was that I grew cocky in my apparent advantage, and did not observe my surroundings."
He shook his fst in the air and large tears began to cascade down his face as he continued.
"My arrogance overshadowed my youth and I assumed your father to be beaten, even when he gave no sign of surrender, and on top of that I did not notice his approach from the rear."
The strange man then bowed to the boy
"I'm sorry to have been such an un-youthful example to you Naruto please forgive me!"
Naruto, who was more than used to the odd man's antics at this point just patted the top of his head before responding in an encouraging tone.
"It's ok Uncle Guy, I still think you're super youthful!"
The eccentric jounin was now crying tears of joy as he heard the affectionate nickname his rival's son had given him.
He had been calling the man "Uncle" for several months now as Guy had become a regular part of his and his father's training regimens, and even some of their leisure time.
When he wasn't fighting with Kakashi he would often observe and offer tips to naruto while he practiced his taijutsu, and had even sparred with the boy a few times.
Kakashi seeing that his friend was going to work himself up into another tirade of youth quickly cut in.
"Thank you Guy, that was exactly it." He then turned to Naruto.
"Never assume your enemy to be beaten until they are dead or can no longer move at all, and even then maintain full awareness of your surroundings."
He paused drawing himself up to his full height before continuing.
"Deception is a shinobi's bread and butter, remember that or it could very easily be you who winds up on the end of a blade."
Naruto nodded raptly soaking up every word that came out of his father's mouth.
The elder Hatake then turned to his fellow jounin.
"Thanks for the help today Guy, same time tomorrow?"
The man in question struck his signature nice guy pose with a blinding grin and a raised thumb before responding.
"Of course my esteemed rival. Tomorrow will be my victory, just wait and see."
He then flipped into a handstand before continuing.
"Now in order to make up for my loss today I shall now take thirty laps around Konoha on my hands." he exclaimed before shooting off surprisingly quickly given his position.
Kakashi just shook his head as he watched the strange man go before addressing Naruto.
"I think it's about time we head home there is something I've been meaning to give you, and since you're about to start the academy I think now is the time." he said as he ruffled his son's hair.
The boy shook off his father's hand and looked up at him with wide eyes.
"Give me something? Like a present?" he asked excitedly, practically bouncing up and down.
Kakashi chuckled before answering.
"Something like that," he paused and glanced over at the clones still practicing before continuing.
"Go ahead and have them dispel one at a time and then I want you to show me how far you've come on that jutsu." he ordered
Naruto Responded with a salute and a "Yes sir!" before following his father's command.
Once the last clone had been dispelled the young Hatake took a moment to gather his thoughts before running through the proper hand signs and slamming his palms on the ground in front of him while crying out.
"Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!"
Kakashi observed with interest as a small yet sturdy wall shot out of the ground between them. It looked to be about five feet high three feet wide and roughly a half a foot thick.
He nodded in approval before voicing his thoughts.
"Fantastic son, this is great progress. It's a little too thin to stop chakra enhanced weapons, but this should hold up against most low level non-lightning jutsu."
He paused as his son preened at the praise.
"A few more days of the clone method and you should have this down pat."
The masked blonde just gave his father a look that screamed " Yeah I know I'm awesome" before he grabbed the man's hand and started to drag him out of the training grounds.
"Alright alright now lets get home so you can give me my present." he chirped excitedly
After a quick, though not quick enough in Naruto's opinion, walk back to their apartment Kakashi and his son were now seated in their living room.
In front of Kakashi sat a small nondescript scroll that looked as if it had been around for a long time. Kakashi then flew through a couple of hand signs before biting his thumb and slamming his hand on the coffee table.
Suddenly a puff of smoke appeared and once it cleared in its place was Pakkun, the leader of Kakshi's ninja hounds.
The small pug was brown in color and wore a blue vest with a face on it across his back and a Leaf headband atop his head.
"Yo Kakashi," the dog stated in a voice much too deep for his small body before turning to the blonde
"S'up Pup. How can I be of assistance."
Kakashi waved at the small dog and in a serious tone just said "It's time."
Pakkun glanced at Naruto before looking back to the elder Hatake and questioning,
"It's time? Like "time" time?" he asked in a grave voice
Kakashi only nodded in response.
Suddenly a grin broke out over the pug's small features.
"It's about damn time Kakashi. We have been waiting on this forever, you know one year for you is like seven for us!"
Kakashi laughed, breaking his forced stoic demeanor and responded with "I know, I know."
Naruto watched all this with his now unmasked mouth hanging open in confusion before bursting out with.
"Can someone PLEASE tell me what it's time for?"
This of course only caused the other two occupants of the room to laugh harder at the boy's expense.
Naruto just sat there and grumbled with his arms crossed until his father finally took pity on him and explained.
"It's time son, for you to sign the family summoning contract with my Ninken."
Naruto's cerulean eyes immediately lit up at the thought of being able to summon his father's dogs.
"Really? Like you're not joking or anything?"
His father shook his head with an indulging smile on his face.
The blonde then jumped across the table and wrapped his arms around his father's neck while repeatedly yelling "Thankyou thankyou thankyou" tight into his ear.
The silver haired man cringed at the volume before prying the boy off of him and setting him down in front of the now unrolled scroll.
"You're welcome bud, but you should really be thanking Pakkun. He and the other dogs are the ones allowing you to summon them."
Naruto turned to the small pug and picked him up and began scratching him behind his small ears.
"Yeah, Thank you Pakkun you're the best, and your paws are super soft." he added knowing the dog's pride in his paws.
The dog smiled, always happy to have his soft and supple paw pads complimented before answering the boy.
"Think nothing of it Pup, you're part of the pack same as your dad, so it's your birthright to summon us."
With the thanks out of the way Kakashi then addressed his son once again.
"All you've got to do is prick each finger and place your hand onto the scroll while channeling a bit of chakra to make it official."
Naruto quickly did just that pulling out one of his kunai and using the tip to cut each finger pad before placing his hand where his father had designated.
Once the boy finished Pakkun nodded.
"It's done, Now all you've gotta do is summon one of us to see who will be your familiar."
Naruto's face scrunched up as he asked "Familiar? What does that mean?"
Kakashi took over to help explain the concept to the confused blonde.
"A familiar is sort of like your go to summons. They will basically be your partner as your chakra will be more connected with theirs than the rest of the packs."
Pakkun then interjected.
"Now that's not to say that you wouldn't be able to summon the rest of us, or that you wouldn't be able to work as well with us. Your familiar is really just the dog you will have the easiest time summoning and who has a chakra most complimentary to yours."
Naruto nodded, now beginning to understand what his father and Pakkun were saying.
Once Kakashi saw that his son was on track with everything they had said he began to show him the hand signs for the technique. After a few attempts Naruto memorized the correct sequence.
"Now son, summoning is a chunin level technique. It requires a lot of chakra and solid control to pull off, now you have improved a lot over the past two years but it may not be as easy as it looks."
The young blonde nodded and with a determined look on his face ran through the sequence before slamming his still bleeding hand on the ground in front of him.
"Summoning Jutsu"
Just like before when his father had performed the technique there was a puff of smoke, but unlike his father's version Naruto's attempt did not end with a puppy sitting in front of him.
"See I told you bud, you may have to give it a couple tries." Kakashi said, encouraging his son to try again.
And try again the boy did, several times in fact, but each time he was met with the same disappointing results.
"UGH I don't get it! Why can't I get anybody?"
Kakashi and Pakkun just watched patiently, offering advice after each failed summoning.
Finally after over twenty attempts a very frustrated and slightly tired Naruto channeled an ungodly amount of chakra into his hand and slammed it down before being knocked onto his but by the force of the energy.
If one had been paying close attention to his eyes at the moment of impact they would have seen the normally blue orbs bleed to a bloody red for just a moment before instantly returning to their normal cerulean.
The boy then looked up and as the smoke cleared he saw the fruits of his labor, Bull the massive black bulldog sat before him on his haunches with his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he stared down at his summoner with a happy look in his dark eyes.
Naruto instantly jumped up and hugged the dog's neck, being careful to avoid stabbing himself on his spike collar.
"Yes! Finally I did it." he exclaimed before pulling away and looking the large dog in the eyes.
"Looks like you're my familiar Bull, this is so awesome.
Bull, being the only ninja hound in the pack who couldn't speak just, let out a deep booming bark in response before licking the young boys whiskered cheeks.
Kakashi watched the scene unfold with a soft smile on his face as his son rejoiced in his success.
"Bull is a good match for the boy." Pakkun said to the man, pausing to inspect his foot before continuing.
"He's the physically strongest in the pack, and will have no problem using that strength to tear down anyone who would do him harm." Kakashi nodded in agreement with the Pug's statement before adding.
"It also helps that he absolutely adores Naruto as well."
The Sharingan user couldn't think of a better partner for his son.
Ever since he had brought Naruto home Kakashi had been calling the dogs to help look after him, and none of them had taken to the task as quickly and as seriously as Bull had.
The large dog loved the boy from the moment they met, and had even growled at Kakashi once when he had popped the boy's hand for playing with the jounin's kunai after he had been repeatedly told not to.
"Great job bud, I knew you could do it!" he said jovially, addressing his son who seemed to have forgotten he was even there.
"Dad!" the boy exclaimed before rushing to the older man
"I did it, I got Bull." The blonde paused as he gestured back towards the Ninken.
"He's HUGE, we are gonna be an awesome team! I bet one day we'll even be better than you and Pakkun." He said teasingly to his father before turning to the small pug and adding.
"No offense."
The small dog just grinned in response
"None taken Naruto, Bull is a fine Ninken," he then nudged the boy with his head before adding
"Just don't forget to summon the rest of us sometime too, the others have been waiting for you to sign the contract for a long time and can't wait to work with you."
The whiskered blonde nodded vigorously while saying "Of Course, I'd never forget about the rest of you guys. I'm gonna be the best summoner you've ever had."
"Well you've got a long way to go before you can take my place as "top dog" son." Kakashi interjected, shamelessly using a terrible canine pun.
Before Naruto could defend his claim the pug interrupted.
"Your father is right."
He caught the blonde's eye with a grave look on his face.
"You are just a pup, and there is much you do not know. You will need time and training before you can work with us to our fullest extent."
His small face then morphed into a softer expression before adding. "But I have the utmost confidence that one day you will surpass even your father's lofty reputation, and become a truly splendid shinobi. And we will be by your side every step of the way."
He nodded at Bull and the larger dog walked over before they both bowed before the youngest Hatake.
"Welcome to the pack Naruto, we expect great things from you."
And just like that they disappeared in a puff of smoke back to their home.
Naruto just stood there for a moment slightly in awe of the respect the summons had just given him before he felt his father's hand come to rest on his shoulder.
"He's right you know." he said, causing his son to look up at him before he continued.
"I truly believe that you have the potential to become a better shinobi than I could ever dream of being."
Naruto's eyes shone with unshed tears as the warmth of Pakkun and his father's praises washed over him.
Kakashi then continued
"But you will never reach that potential if you don't keep up your studies, sooooo Math Time." The silver mad stated in a cheerful tone.
All affection and happiness vanished from the jinchuriki as he heard those dreaded words.
"But Daaaad-" he was cut off by the older man
"No buts, your lessons are just as important as your jutsu. What do I always say?"
Naruto's expression turned sour as he parroted the words his father repeated literally every time he tried to worm his way out of lessons.
"A dumb shinobi is a dead shinobi."
The jounin patted his head once as he nodded in agreement.
"Exactly now lets do some algebra."
The youngest Hatake's groans could be heard halfway across the village.
The rest of the week passed by in a blur as Naruto spent all of his time either perfecting his Earth Wall, or summoning various members of the ninken pack.
Just as Kakashi had predicted the blonde jinchuriki was able to produce a perfect Earthen Barrier before the weekend ended. It was able to withstand all of the low level jutsu Kakashi threw at it, and even a few of the higher tier techniques before it was destroyed.
His summoning had improved as well with the boy now being able to summon a dog on eight out of ten attempts, though six of those times it would be Bull.
Eventually though his freedom came to an end, and Naruto found himself being woken up by his father at six am sharp on Monday to get ready for his first day at the academy.
As the two Hatakes sat at the small table in their kitchen to share breakfast the older of the two couldn't help but question the mindset of the blonde across from him.
"How you doing bud, it's your first day, are you nervous?"
The currently unmasked boy just shrugged in response before adding.
"Na, not really. Choji and Shika agreed to meet up outside the front gate before everything starts so we can all go in together."
Kakashi nodded relieved that his son was handling the new situation so well.
"So I guess that means you don't want me to walk you to your classroom then, huh?" he asked in a slightly dejected tone.
Naruto quickly shook his head in the negative.
"No way dad that would be super lame, besides I'm not a baby anymore I dont need you to hold my hand."
The young boy's words seemed to cause a rain cloud to form over Kakashi's head as he began to sulk and started mumbling to himself about how his baby boy didn't need him anymore, and the woes of being a parent.
The blonde, seeing his father getting worked up into one of his moods quickly finished his food and pulled his mask up to cover his face.
"Alright Dad, thanks for breakfast, but I gotta go If I wanna meet my friends so see ya later."
And just like that he was gone having taken a chakra enhanced leap out of the open kitchen window.
The silver haired jounin just stared at the open frame where his son had just abruptly exited, before finishing his own breakfast and quickly heading out that same window after the boy to make sure he made it to school ok.
The logical side of Kakshi's mind said that Naruto was more than skilled enough to handle any would be danger that could befall him within the village walls on the short walk to the academy, but his parental side quickly told that side to shut up so he could see his baby's first day of school.
He caught up with his son just as he reached the road where the academy was located.
The man then watched as Naruto met up with his two friends Shikamaru and Choji, along with a third child. A girl by the looks of it, and was that pink hair?
"What an odd shade for a person, I wonder if it's natural?" he thought to himself as he saw a second girl walk up this one with platinum blonde hair.
"That one must be the Yamanaka heiress Naruto had complained about being too bossy when he had met her while at Choji's house." he mumbled before he felt a prickle on the back of his neck which caused him to quickly turn around, as a kunai materialized in his hand, and pin whoever had been sneaking up behind him to the wall.
"Geez Kakashi, not so rough you haven't even bought me dinner yet." stated the teasing voice of one Anko Mitarashi.
The father sighed internally as he took in the appearance of the special jounin. She was in her late teens, with black, almost violet hair and pupiless brown eyes. Her attire consisted of a mesh body suit that left little to the imagination, and a tan trench coat.
"What do you want Anko?" the man asked flatly, already exasperated with the woman despite her just arriving.
The snake user smiled innocently before answering.
"Can't a girl just check up on her old friend while he creepily watches a group of academy children?"
Kakashi released her and sighed, pinching the ridge of his nose before he triedly responded.
"First of all we aren't old friends, Second of all I'm not "creeping" on anyone today is my son's first day at the academy and I was just making sure he arrived safely, and third of all, if you don't remove that snake that is attempting to crawl up my pants leg I'm going to kill it."
The violet haired woman rolled her pupiless eyes in response before petulantly whining.
"Awww, you're no fun."
Now it was Kakashi's turn to roll his lone eye as he thankfully felt the snake vanish from his leg.
"I again ask, what do you want Anko"
Seeing that she couldn't get a rise out of him the T&I specialist stated her true reason for calling on her cycloptic colleague.
"Well if you must know, I was thinking you and I could get a spar in this morning. Since your brat started school today I figured you'd have some free time." the young woman stated nonchalantly as she buffed her nails on her tan trench coat.
Kakashi's initial reaction was to decline, but he stopped himself.
She did have a point. He didn't have anything to do today, and while not on his level the woman was no slouch. Plus with Naruto gone he was going to have a lot of free time now, so he needed to branch out and find new sparring partners to help fill the gaps.
He wasn't sure if he liked that or not.
Shaking himself from his melancholic thoughts he accepted her offer.
"Yeah sure, I could go for a spar today." he then gestured in the direction of the nearest training ground. "Lead the way."
Anko did a double take.
"Wait, did you actually say yes? She said surprise coloring her voice.
Kakashi just nodded slightly confused by her reaction.
"Yeah, I have the time so why not."
Anko quickly tried to cover up her surprise with bravado.
"Oh I just assumed you'd be too scared to face the awesomeness that is Anko Mitarashi, but since you accept it's your funeral."
The silver haired jounin just nodded in response before dryly adding
"Uh huh, I'll be sure to keep your "awesomeness" in mind while I'm wiping the floor with you."
Anko smirked at the cocky response
"We'll see cyclops, we'll see."
As the two older shinobi took off towards the nearest training ground, Konoha's next generation were starting their journey into the life of a ninja.
"I wonder who our teacher is going to be." Sakura Haruno asked her gathered friends as they walked into the academy building.
The pink haired girl was fidgeting nervously with the red ribbon she had tied up in her bubblegum locks, as her emerald eyes stayed glued to the sidewalk in front of her.
Being the only kid from a civilian family in the group she had the least idea of what to expect from the day ahead.
"Name Iruka Umino, Rank Chunin, specialization sensory techniques, and he is not currently listed in any bingo books. He also loves Ramen, and likes to read mystery novels in his spare time." Naruto rattled off assuredly which earned him bewildered looks from his surrounding friends.
"What? Do I have something on my mask?" the blonde asked confusedly while swiping at his face as his friends began staring at him.
"No you loser! How do you know all that?" belted out the loud voice of Ino Yamanaka, Sakura's best friend and a close family friend of Shikamaru and Choji.
"Oh, that." Naruto said bashfully as he scratched the back of his head before continuing.
"Dad found out that he was gonna be my teacher so as a stealth exercise he had me do a mock recon and information gathering mission on him." He paused and held his chin in thought before continuing.
"Though for a sensor he didn't seem very impressive since he didn't notice a six year old tailing him for three days," He grinned beneath his mask "Or maybe I'm just that awesome"
This caused the two girl's, who did not know of the intense training that the Hatake's subjected themselves to, mouths to drop open.
Before they could question the blonde more, and make his morning even more troublesome Shikamaru cut in.
"Before you even ask, yes Naruto and his dad train a lot, and in many crazy ways, and no they do not see it as weird in the slightest. As a matter of fact I'd say he is probably the most prepared person our age in the entire village to start the academy."
Naruto blushed beneath his mask
"Aww thanks Shika, I'm glad to know you think I'm cool."
The Nara smirked before sarcastically responding
"I said prepared, not cool. Although troublesome is more like it."
As the boy's conversation devolved into light bickering Sakura couldn't help but consider the mysterious masked blonde beside her.
She didn't know much about him seeing as they had only met a few times when she was hanging out with Ino and he was with Shikamaru, but the little she did know she found confusing.
He could be a goofy moron one minute, and the next start explaining the finer points of chakra theory. And what was with the mask? She had literally never seen him without it, was he disfigured? Also what was up with all the training he did, she was pretty sure she had heard him say a few weeks ago that he had started using a sword at the age of four.
Who let a four year old use a sword?
These unanswered questions, along with several others, plagued the young girl's mind, and Sakura hated not knowing things.
She resolved to get to know the boy better to hopefully find the answers to those mysteries.
"Hey Pinky you ok?"
Sakura turned to scold whoever had called her that stupid nickname, but when she did she found herself inches away from a pair of bright blue eyes.
"Eeep!" she yelped as she stumbled back before her shock was replaced with anger at the owner of said eyes.
"Naruto you jerk, you can't just get in someone's personal space like that!" she screamed before quickly adding "And don't call me Pinky" as she swung a fist at the boy.
Her sloppy strike was easily dodged and with reflexes drilled into him from his numerous spars Naruto quickly grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back.
The sudden twisting of her arm brought tears to the young girl's eyes as she cried out in pain.
Naruto quickly realizing what he had done released her immediately and began spouting apologies.
"Sakura! I'm so so sorry, it was an accident it wasn't on purpose. Are you ok? Did I hurt you?"
Ino, who had been standing there in shock along with the other two boys quickly stepped forward and pulled Sakura away from the remorseful blonde.
"Of course she's not ok you jerk, you almost tore her arm off!" the blonde screamed exaggeratingly as she tried to comfort her still sniffling friend.
She then turned to the pink haired girl and in a much softer tone said.
"Come on Sakura let's go find the medical ninja on duty so they can check on your arm"
As the two girls turned to go into the academy Naruto made to follow, but was stopped by the ready hand of Shikamaru.
"Leave them be Naruto if you follow them now you'll only make things more troublesome." the young Nara drawled to his upset friend.
The boy had been on the receiving end of a few of Naruto's instinctual defensive moves since they became friends and he knew that while it definitely hurt, the blonde never did it on purpose. It was just a byproduct of the extensive training he had been put under by his father.
Seeing his friend was wallowing in his guilt he added.
"Come on man, let's get to class and then you can apologize again there once she's calmed down."
The masked blonde just nodded morosely and started walking inside quickly followed by his two friends, now Naruto starting to wish he had let his father walk him to school.
Upon arriving at their assigned classroom the boys entered to find that there was only one other person already seated.
It was a boy with black hair and dark eyes who seemed to be reading some sort of scroll as he sat by himself on the front row.
Naruto, who's guilt was momentarily replaced by a curiosity as to the new person's identity, quickly approached the boy and introduced himself.
"Hiya, I'm Naruto Hatake, and these are my two friends Choji and Shikamaru. Nice to meet you." the blonde greeted cheerfully
The black haired boy raised his eyes from his scroll that naruto now noticed was directions for what looked like a fire jutsu and looked at the blonde and his friends before responding in a much more reserved tone.
"Sasuke Uchiha." he stated before pausing in consideration for a moment then adding "Nice to meet you as well."
The boy then turned his attention back to his scroll leaving the other children to get the point that he didn't want to be disturbed as they shrugged and headed up the stairs to the back row of the desks.
"Well he seems like a barrel of laughs." Shikamaru sarcastically stated as they took their seats.
Naruto nodded before adding.
"Yeah, and did you see that scroll? That was at least a c-rank fire jutsu."
The blonde was excited, he hadn't expected there to be anyone in his class who would even be remotely close to his level, but if that kid was learning an advanced technique like that before ever starting the academy this might not be as boring as he thought.
The other two boys were surprised at his claim and looked to the young Uchiha with a new appraisal.
The next people to enter the classroom were Ino and Sakura, the latter of whom was currently holding an ice pack on her shoulder.
They looked around the room for a place to sit, but when they saw Naruto the girls immediately turned their noses up and sat at the opposite end of the classroom which happened to be next to the still reading Sasuke.
Naruto wanted to rush down and start apologizing again, but he knew Shikamaru had been right earlier. He needed to let Sakura, and by extension Ino, calm down before approaching them again.
He just hoped this was something he could fix.
As the clock ticked closer to eight-thirty, the rest of the students trickled in followed shortly by a brown haired man with a scar across his nose who had been formerly identified by Naruto as Iruka Umino.
The teen seemed like a nice enough guy, but a little long winded if his introduction speech was anything to go by.
After he got his introductions out of the way he decided to call roll to make sure everyone had arrived.
Right after Sakura Haruno raised her uninjured arm and stated that she was present, the sensei then called out "Naruto Hatake"
As the name was read a pale girl sporting short blue hair in a bob cut with two bangs framing her face found her attention instantly shooting to the young man who responded with loud "Here"
"So that is the Hatake heir." Hinata Hyuga thought seriously as she took in his appearance.
After giving him a good once over she came to the conclusion that he must have been adopted because he looked absolutely nothing like his father. The boy's hair was a bright blonde while his father's was silver, and he sported deep blue eyes instead of his father's charcoal black.
Her thoughts were then brought back to her memories of the one eyed jounin who had saved her life, and in doing so prevented an international incident.
She had been three years old when a delegation from the cloud village came to visit her father under the guise of trade talks. That had of course been a ruse used to gain access to her family's compound to abduct someone with ability to use the Hyuga's famed doujustsu, the Byakugan.
In the middle of the night the cloud representative had snuck into her room and stolen her from her bed without alerting a single guard.
He had managed to make it outside of her compound's walls unnoticed and was headed out of the village which would have sealed her to a grim fate when he'd been stopped by a seventeen year old Kakashi Hatake.
The fight, if you could even call it that, was over quickly.
While skilled the man was no match for the famed copy nin, who was able to easily rescue Hinata and render the foreign shinobi unconscious in less than three moves.
He had then summoned a dog to go and alert her father while he sat with her and guarded the downed enemy.
They had spoken briefly in the few minutes they waited for her parents.
She remembered he had been surprisingly kind for someone whose reputation was so feared, even at the age of three she had heard whispers of the dreaded Copy Nin and his stolen sharingan. But this man seemed nothing like the rumors.
He had made sure she was okay, and tried to take her mind off the ordeal by speaking about his own son, whom he had been out buying dinner for when he found her. While he never mentioned his name specifically she could only assume based off his name and his similar taste in face coverings that the masked blonde sitting a few rows behind her was that son.
He has also told her how brave she had been, and how her father would be proud of her.
By the time her parents did arrive Hinata was already in much better spirits than anybody who had just been kidnapped should have been.
Her father had thanked the teen profusely and promised that should he ever require it, the Hyuga clan would come to his aid.
The jounin had simply brushed off the thanks with a "No problem" before stating that he could only imagine how terrified he would've been had it been his son.
That night Hinata had made a vow to herself. She would grow strong, and one day she would repay the debt that she owed the elder Hatake.
She threw herself into her training, with a fervor that impressed both her father and the clan's elders. She was now almost able to keep up with her cousin Neji who was a year her senior and widely considered a prodigy in their families Gentle Fist Style.
She would make sure that her debt to the famous jounin would be paid, and it seemed as if luck had smiled on her as it saw fit to put her in the same class as his heir.
She would definitely be watching this Naruto very closely.
It was then that her name was called and she stood up and in a quiet, but clear tone announced her presence.
She then quickly sat down as the classes focus shifted to the next student on the list.
While not a fan of attention she wasn't as painfully shy as she had been a few years prior, it had been slow going at first, but eventually with the help of her father's praises and her improving skills her once timid demeanor had been replaced with a quiet confidence.
She then glanced back and saw that the masked blonde who she had been contemplating a moment ago was now staring directly at her.
She offered a small nod which he quickly returned along with what she could only assume, based off of his eyes, was a smile considering she couldn't see the lower half of his face.
She found a slight heat rising in her cheeks despite herself, as a strange thought was suddenly born in her mind.
"Those eyes of his are really pretty."
She shook her head to rid herself of those weird musings as she tried to focus on the next student whose name was called, a Kiba Inuzuka, who had a small white puppy on his head of all places.
Though she tried to keep her attention on memorizing the new faces of her classmates, her mind couldn't help but be drawn back to the kind blue eyes and spiky blonde locks of the masked boy behind her.
She would be watching him very closely indeed.