Author's Note: Umm… hi everybody! This isn't my first story, but this is my first Naruto fic, so sorry if the characters seem OC to you. This story takes place after the characters first met Gaara, but before Sakura cut her hair.
Thanx to Kanemoshi for beta-ing my story!
On wit da story!
It's Not Gray!
Hatake Kakashi, man of a thousand jutsus, rocked back in forth in an insane asylum, hyperventilating. It had taken a lot to get him there; he had to be sedated thrice to get him to pass out, and even then, the ANBU members had to come escort him. Extra padding was added onto the walls, the doors were double-locked, and they even installed some special chidori-proof material. Needless to say, the other patients were jealous. They hadn't something like this since that 'Silence of the Lambs' guy decided to visit. But how exactly did he get this one-way ticket to crazy town? Well, it all started two days ago…
Two Days Ago
It was another normal day for Team Seven. They used the usual training ground, and everyone was doing their usual stuff. Naruto was acting stupid, Sasuke was trying to act moody and cool, and Sakura was almost drowning in the pool she made drooling after Sasuke. They weren't training yet… why you ask? Because their beloved Kakashi-sensei wasn't there yet, that's why. He was late… again, for the three-hundredth and sixty-seventh time. After the fourth time he had been late, Naruto had decided to keep a log of how many times he had been late, out of sheer boredom.
"Yo."
Sakura was the first one to greet the jounin with the usual "You're late!" Sasuke just rolled his eyes and went back to looking at his fingernails.
"Sorry… this leprechaun had offered me this pot of gold, and…" He was going to continue, but the glare from Sakura had gotten more dangerous, and he decided not the say any more. "Anyway… today we're going to hone your ninja skills."
"That's what we always do." Sasuke said from his darkened corner.
Kakashi stared at the Uchiha sitting under the creepily shaded tree, while his hair blew in the wind. The problem? There was no wind. 'That kid really scares me…' "Uh, yeah… anyway, we're going to play a nice game of freeze tag!"
This caused Naruto to jump out his seat. "Tag! You mean that game where you get a bunch of people, and that one person is it, and the rest of the people run, and when the 'it' person touches somebody, the person tagged has to stay in that same spot?"
"…Yeah, that pretty much sums it up!" Kakashi said with his smiley eye. "But, this type of freeze tag is different. In this version, you can use anything you need to keep from getting caught. Your goal is to be either the last person to be caught, or to be the closet to that tree over there." He pointed to the giant tree with vines hanging on it. "Any questions?"
"Ooh! Ooh! Oooooooooooh!"
Kakashi sighed. "Yes Naruto?"
"I wanna be 'it'!"
"Well that's too bad, because I'm going to be 'it.'" Kakashi said. "I'm always 'it.'"
"Aww man…" Naruto sulked.
"So, are ya'll ready?" Kakashi asked. A chorus of 'yes' replied back. "Good. Oh, and I also forgot to tell you guys this… but you can also try to get your teammates caught before you do. Begin!"
The three rookie-nin ran off into the woods. 'Well, this should be fun.' Kakashi thought as he hurried after them.
Sakura was the first to be caught. Her hair got tangled up in a group of branches, and no matter what she did, it wouldn't untangle. Most likely, it was because of the syrup that Sasuke had placed there. He knew that having waffles for breakfast would somehow save the day. At first, Sakura though that she had a chance. She was hidden behind some leaves, so she thought Kakashi could never find her. Unfortunately, he smelled the syrup, and, found Sakura.
Sasuke was, surprisingly, the second to be caught. This was Naruto's fault. The blonde rookie-nin had sneaked up behind him and whispered "Itachi." All Kakashi had to do was follow the loud shouts of "I'm shall smite you!" and "I'm an avenger!" to catch him.
Naruto was still running in the woods. The large tree was only twenty feet in front of him. 'All I need to do is touch that tree, and it'll prove that I'm better than Sasuke!' Suddenly, he heard a faint rustling, and took off.
'Damn leaves.' Kakashi thought as he ran after Naruto. He had almost caught him, when he slowed down. 'What the… what just happened?' Next thing he knew, Naruto was jumping on the tree branch, just centimeters from falling off.
"I did it! Oh yeah! Bragging rights!"
Back at the clearing, Sakura said,
"Kakashi-sensei, how couldn't you have caught Naruto?"
Sasuke gave her a 'you shouldn't be saying anything because you were the first one caught' look, but said nothing. No, talking would mess up his cool.
"I don't know… something happened, and I just slowed down." Kakashi said nonchalantly, reading his Icha Icha Paradise. Jin had just walked in the door to find Mei cheating on him with his best friend, and he wanted to find out what happened.
"Ha! I knew it! You're old!" Naruto shouted. "Your gray hair should've been the first clue!"
Whoa. Looks like Jin would have to wait a minute before laying the smack down on his friend. "My hair is not gray. It is silver."
"Riiight." Naruto said. "You don't have to deny it Kakashi-sensei. That's what happens when you get old."
"I'm not old." Kakashi said, trying to return to his book.
"Yes you arrrreee…." Naruto teased.
"No I'm not." Kakashi said calmly.
"Then how old are you?" Naruto demanded.
"Old enough to kick your ass." Kakashi said in an annoyed tone.
"… Point taken." Naruto said. He knew he was on thin ice already, but he couldn't help but mumble, "It's not my fault your hair is gray."
"It's not gray! It's silver!"
"Gray, silver, what's the difference?" Naruto asked.
"Gray is the hair color for old people, like the hokage." Kakashi explained. "Silver is my hair color, the color that just adds onto my hotness."
"Psh, sure, whatever you say." Naruto scoffed, walking off.
"It's true!" Kakashi shouted.
"Yeah right." Naruto said. "And if it IS silver…"
"It is!" Kakashi shouted, annoyed.
"…It's probably not even your natural hair color."
Uh-oh. Sakura knew how crazy she got when people said her hair color wasn't natural, and decided that now would be the perfect time to run. So, somehow remembering how to use her legs, she quickly, yet silently… ran for her life. Sasuke, however, didn't know what it was like for people to say his hair color wasn't natural, nor did he notice the crazed look in his sensei's eyes. All he saw was a bright flash of light…
"CHIDORI!"
Scene Change
"Stupid Naruto… saying my hair color isn't natural…"
A very miffed Kakashi walked down the streets of Konoha. He was heading for the ramen shop. Usually, Naruto would be at that ramen shop… but Kakashi knew that he wouldn't be there today…
"So, what do you want? We've got a special on curry ramen today." The old man behind the counter said.
"Eh… just give me the usual." Kakashi said, not really in the mood to talk.
"Fine." The old man said. "One teriyaki chicken ramen coming right up, my gray-haired friend."
Kakashi's eye twitched. That twitch moved down to his arms, which moved down to his legs, until finally, he looked like he was having a full-blown seizure.
"Order up… whoa! Are you okay?" The old man asked, holding a steaming bowl of ramen.
The twitching stopped, and Kakashi slowly looked up. With a dangerous look in his eyes, and a tone to match, he said, "My hair is not gray."
The old man chuckled lightly, and placed the bowl down. "Oh, is that what's bothering you? Listen, I remember when I started to lose my hair, I'd always say, 'it's not falling out, it's thinning.' But you just have to face the facts that when you get old, your becomes gray…"
"MY HAIR IS NOT GRAY! IT IS SILVER! S-I-L-V-E-R!"
The old man looked startled, as did the customers around him. One of those customers just happened to be Iruka, who just watched in horror, as the man he loved… erm, admired… uh, looked up to… went crazy. Just as the ramen shop owner was about to say something, Kakashi continued,
"AND DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT IT'S NOT MY NORMAL HAIR COLOR, BECAUSE IT IS! I DON'T PUT THOSE AIR POLLUTING CHEMICALS IN MY HAIR, AND I NEVER WILL!"
"Oookay, now's the time to take you away somewhere." Iruka said, walking up to the heavily panting jounin. "I'll just take him off your hands for now, all right, okay, good? Bye!" He pulled the jounin off without even listening to the old man's protests.
"But wait… he didn't even pay for the ramen!"
Scene Change
"What is wrong with you, losing your temper like that in public?" Iruka scolded. "You looked like you were about to go postal on that guy! You're supposed to maintain control over yourself at all times!"
"He called my hair gray, Iruka." Kakashi rasped. "My hair isn't gray. It's not. It's not…"
"Uh, okay…" Iruka said, feeling like he should run away without a thought of looking back. "But that still doesn't mean you can act like a drunken idiot in public!"
"Iruka, do you think my hair is gray?" Kakashi asked, ignoring everything the chuunin had just said.
"Well of course!" Iruka answered. "Anyone can tell that your hair is gray."
"My… hair… is… not… gray!" Kakashi said, breaking into tears. "It's silver!"
"Oh, okay, it's silver!" Iruka said. "Just, please… stop crying… the other jounin are looking at us…"
When Iruka said, 'other jounin', he meant 'just about every jounin in Konoha', because they were all staring at the two, with amused looks on their faces. Some were even beginning to pull out their cameras.
"I will not stop crying!" Kakashi shouted, jumbo waterfalls rolling down his cheeks. Master Gai would've been proud. "These people keep calling my hair gray! And it's not gray, Iruka! It's… it's… silver!" On the word 'silver', Kakashi pulled Iruka into a giant hug, and, to put it lightly, cried all over the poor man. It made Kakashi feel kind of better… but all Iruka noticed, instead of the tear stains, was the flash of many cameras going off.
Scene Change
The next day, there was no training for team seven. Sakura was visiting Naruto and Sasuke in the hospital. They weren't injured, but they sure as hell were traumatized. Kakashi was strolling through a forest setting, when suddenly…
"YOOOSSSSSSHHHHH!"
'Dammit.' Kakashi thought. It was Maito Gai and his student, Rock Lee.
"Ah, look! It is Kakashi, my eternal rival for life!" Gai said. "What brings you to our training grounds?"
"Your training grounds?" Kakashi questioned.
"Yes, our training grounds!" Gai shouted, doing a good guy pose. "This is where we train!"
"Oh, well… sorry to disturb you…" Kakashi said, staring at the man in green spandex.
"Master Gai, are we going back to training?" Rock Lee said. "We need to train as hard as we can to improve our youth, and work on our strong, muscular, and youthful bodies!"
"Yes, Rock Lee, but first… we must do something even more youthful." Gai said.
"More youthful than training?" Rock Lee asked.
"Yes." Gai said. "We must… hug in the sunset."
Kakashi looked around as the once forest setting turned into a mountain setting with a sunset in the background.
Waterfalls flowed down Lee's cheeks. "Master Gai!"
"Lee!"
"Master Gai!"
"Lee!"
"Master Gai?"
"Lee!"
"Master Gai…"
"Lee!"
"No, seriously Master Gai… your fly is unzipped, and with all do respect, I'm not hugging you unless you zip that thing up." Lee stated.
Kakashi's eye twitched as the sunset background returned to the forest setting. He really did not need to see that…
Gai zipped up his spandex and cleared his throat. "Yes, well… we can hug later."
"Maybe Neji and TenTen will want to join us in our youthful bonding!" Rock Lee suggested.
"What an excellent idea Lee!" Gai said. "Let us share the power of youth with everyone!" Both struck a good guy pose.
Kakashi rolled his eyes. Why was this old guy, who was NOT youthful, talking about youth so much? And why did they have to strike those good guy poses?
"We shall return to training… but first, I must challenge my gray haired rival to a challenge!" Gai shouted.
"What did you just say?" Kakashi said through clenched teeth.
"Erm… that before training, I must challenge my rival…" Gai began, but was cut off by Kakashi.
"How did you describe your rival?" Kakashi said, eyes flashing red every few seconds.
"Err… gray haired…" Gai said, becoming more scared by the minute.
Rock Lee could've sworn he felt the ground shake, but he decided to ignore that feeling. Instead, he turned his attention to the darkened sky and strong gusts of wind."
"My hair is not gray." Kakashi seethed. "It is silver."
Lightning flashed across the sky. At this point, Rock Lee was gone.
"B-B-But… i-it looks g-gray…" Gai stuttered, which would've made Hinata look like the smoothest talking shinobi in Konoha.
"I don't care." Kakashi seethed. "If you or anyone else ever calls my hair gray again, I will hurt you… what the… Gaara, what're you doing here?"
Gai turned around. Sure enough, Gaara was standing right there, with a bag of popcorn in his hand.
"I heard that someone was about to get killed, so I came over." He replied casually.
"More importantly, where did you come from?" Gai asked.
"The darkness."
"Wha… get outta here!" Kakashi shouted.
Gaara just smirked and faded back into the shadows.
"Now, back to business…" Kakashi said with a smirk. "Any last words, Gai?"
Gai gulped as Kakashi's shadow descended upon him. "Why, yes I do… hurting men in green spandex is not youthful!"
Scene Change
The rest, as they say, is history. When help came, they could see a crazed Kakashi beating the crap out of Master Gai, shouting, "Do you think my hair is gray now?", and laughing like a maniac. It took them an hour to pull Kakashi off him, and as for the sedating, you already know about that. It had been two days since that incident, and now, Kakashi was about to be let out the asylum.
"Kakashi… we've decided to let you out now." It was Tsunade. "Come on… let's take you to the big hall now…"
The big hall was where all patients reported to before they were let out. They had to make sure they had the right patient, since last time one of them and cut off another's face and glued it on theirs…
As Kakashi followed Tsunade to the hall, he could hear a jounin reading his name.
"Hatake Kakashi… jounin of Konoha… age, twenty-six… height, five' eleven… hair color, gray…"
Moral of the Story: Every year, a jounin is driven crazy because people keep calling their hair the wrong color. Please, listen to that jounin when he says "My hair is not gray," because it isn't. It is silver.
End
Well… that's it! What did ya'll think? Please people… no flames.
R&R pleez!