AN: Beta'd as of 7/21/18
Genin. What a nightmare.
That was Kakashi Hatake's thought as he made his way towards the Hokage tower. His hair was singed slightly at the edges from the giant wind-aided fireball the boys had thrown at him (and wasn't that surprising, genin using elemental affinitineties), and his pants also had some soot on them from the exploding tags the Haruno girl had set off. No genin team had even come close to what those three had managed today. Not with the strategizing, the skill, or the teamwork. And he had been thoroughly humiliated by it. On top of that, he hadn't even had a chance to read his favorite book, Icha Icha, so that had been a blow. All in all, he smelled like smoke and had the disposition of a cat dunked in water - which is to say, very sour.
But it hadn't all been bad. The three hadn't scoffed at what he'd told them about teamwork. They'd taken it in with serious expressions, like it was the most important thing to being a ninja.
He reflected back on that conversation.
"Do you know what this stone is?" He asked, walking up to the memorial stone. Instinct drove his eye to search out a familiar name. Obito Uchiha.
"It's a memorial," the Haruno girl spoke up. "For all the Shinobi killed in the line of duty."
Kakashi nodded. "That's correct." Shooting them a quick glance, he was pleased to find that all of them had either relatively somber or pensive looks on their faces. Good, at least they had respect for the fallen.
"The names of my best friend and sensei are carved into this stone," he went on to say, missing Naruto's flinch and Sasuke's narrowed eyes. "They died fighting for this village, and for the beliefs they held."
He turned around to face them. "Do you know what it is?"
The three shared a cautious look before shaking their heads.
"In the Shinobi world, those who break the rules are considered scum. But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." He glanced down at Obito's name again. "I learned that lesson the hard way. But you three will know it well by the time I'm done with you."
A strong wind blew through the clearing, and for a long moment the only audible sound was that of leaves rustling in the morning breeze.
"Alright." With a glance back, Kakashi noted that it was Naruto. "But you didn't need to tell me that. Because I'll never abandon my friends no matter what. I'll always protect my precious people, even if it kills me, y'know!"
The look he gave was hard and determined. For a second, Kakashi saw Obito in him, the way he looked right before going back for Rin. It was unwavering, and more than he would have ever expected from a fresh genin.
"I'm glad," was all he could reply with.
Kakashi was snapped out of his memory when he suddenly found himself before the Hokage tower. Right, he had to report that they'd passed.
Because they'd beaten him – him, Kakashi of the Sharingan, the Copy-Cat Ninja. Kakashi of a thousand jutsu. They'd beaten him – with tricks.
Grumpily he way his way up the tower, glowering all the while at anyone who made eye contact with him, before stepping into the Hokage's office.
"Team 5 failed, Lord Hokage," one of the jōnin sensei reported. Ah, they had already started, then. Kakashi sidled in and took his place towards the back of the room. Hiruzen nodded at the jonin's account and wrote something down on a scroll before dismissing the man and going on to the next one.
"Team 6 did not pass," the next jōnin reported, with a slightly frustrated expression on his face. Oh boy, what had his team done to earn such a reaction, Kakashi wondered. Probably nothing worse than his own, he figured.
"Alright," Hiruzen said, jotting that down as well. "You are dismissed, Munōna-san*," the Hokage said to the jōnin. Munōna gave a quick nod before retreating back. Now everyone's eyes were on Kakashi.
Oh, right. They were going in numerical order.
Not moving from his spot, Kakashi gave a shrug and simply said, "Pass."
He could have heard a senbon drop, it was so quiet.
"Pass?" Kurenai echoed, her shocked expression mirrored by the majority of the jōnin in the room, all staring at him with wide eyes and partly open mouths.
"Maa," Kakashi shrugged again. "I figured it was time to change things up." No one had to know he had nearly been set on fire. And like hell he was going to let his comrades know he was beaten by a bunch of pre-teens! He would like to save his dignity, thank you very much.
"Well, that is a pleasant surprise, Kakashi," Hiruzen smiled.
Kakashi only hummed in reply.
"Well then," Hiruzen continued. "Kurenai, team 8?"
Kakashi tuned the rest out, far more interested in finishing his book.
After being dismissed by the Hokage, Kakashi and the rest of the jōnin soon found themselves all filing out of the office. Kakashi however lagged behind as he hated crowds. Once he deemed it clear enough, he exited the office with his nose in a book.
Only to run headlong into a chunin.
"Ah, Kakashi," the chunin exclaimed, startled. "I'm surprised to see you here."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. In front of him stood Iruka, the academy sensei, holding an armful of scrolls that he had, undoubtedly, been bringing to the Hokage. "Well, all jōnin sensei were required to meet here," he stated. "Why would it be a surprise to see me?"
Iruka's face took on a reddish hue, and the chunin scratched back of his neck nervously. A habit Kakashi noted that Naruto had as well. "Well, you do have a reputation… for being late. No offense."
Kakashi merely rolled his eye. "Maa, reputations can often be misleading. Now, if you'll excuse me." He made to move around the chunin, but was stopped when the younger man piped up.
"Naruto's team," he said, halting Kakashi in his tracks. "Did they pass your exam?" His tone was anxious. After all, Kakashi had never once passed a genin team in his six years of being on the sensei roster.
But this team...
Slowly, Kakashi turned around and leveled Iruka with a terrifyingly dangerous glint to his eye that rivaled his sharingan, and said in a harrowing voice, "You taught monsters, Iruka. Monsters."
Iruka could only blink, stunned.
"So… does that mean…?" He trailed off, ready to flee if need be. He was certain Kakashi was half a second away from releasing some major Killing Intent.
"They passed," the jōnin finally let out, causing Iruka to let out a big sigh of relief. "But if they try to set me on fire again, I will personally deliver their bodies to you, because you were their academy sensei, and thus, to blame."
Iruka was gaping like a fish, unable to even process a coherent thought.
Kakashi, seeing his chance to escape, gave the chunin a respectful nod before stuffing his hands in his pockets and turning down the hallway. "Good day, Iruka."
Iruka was left by himself to wonder just what exactly his students had done to garner this kind of response. To be honest, he was a little scared to find out.
Kushina Uzumaki.
There it was, his mother's name. It was carved neatly into the memorial stone right next to his father's. It felt like only yesterday he met her in his mindscape and she had told him about his dad and the night he was born. The image of her beautiful smiling face was still fresh in his mind, so seeing her name carved into the memorial for fallen soldiers was like a slap to the face.
After Kakashi had given them his speech about teamwork and he'd made his proclamation, they had all left to go their separate ways. Naruto had stayed behind with the lie that he'd just do some training when the reality was he had wanted to see if he could find his parents' names on the obelisk. He wasn't entirely sure why he felt the need to though. Maybe it was for closure, or to finally pay his respects, as he hadn't ever done so before. Whatever it was, he'd felt he'd needed to, so here he was.
Unconsciously, his fingers traced his mom's name, fitting themselves into the grooves of ridges of the kanji.
"Hey mom," he whispered. It was so quiet he could barely hear it, so he knew that if anyone was eavesdropping they would have heard nothing. His mind slowly turned to the last things she said to him before her chakra disappeared. He had never gotten the chance to reply then, so he should now. But first...
"Dad says hi," he continued. "Or at least I think he does. We were kinda busy, so it kinda slipped our minds, y'know." Silence. "Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I eat my vegetables, or I will be, and that I love taking baths, so you don't need to worry about that. I made lots'a friends, but things are kinda complicated right now so we're not exactly friends yet." Tears started pricking unbidden at his eyes, and he told himself the pain in his throat was just an oncoming cough. "You were right about Pervy Sage though," he laughed. "But I handled him fine, I think. And I haven't even touched alcohol yet. Besides, I've seen what it does to grownups. I don't think that'd be fun." He swiped at his eyes, sniffing so as not to let his nose run. "School was pretty hard, but I graduated, so that's good. Although it did take me three tries."
The name stared blankly back at him. Because that's all it was. A name. A name carved into a rock with so many others names of people who'd died in the line of duty.
Naruto sniffed hard again, whipping away the now free flowing tears. "I wish you were here, mom," he choked out. "You and dad. You guys'd know what to do, cuz I don't. I don't have a goddamn idea what I'm doing. But I have to because the world is depending on it." Now he was sobbing, the events of the past few days finally catching up to him. "I mean, it's not like I can let Kaguya out again, or the Jūbi. But what can I do about it? I'm just a stupid genin. And now everyone who was dead is alive, and people who were my friends don't even know me- God. What am I supposed to do? I don't know what to do!"
At the last sentence, he curled his knees up into his chest, sobbing hard into them. His hands were fisted in the fabric of his pants, so tight his knuckles had turned white.
"I don't know what to do," he sobbed. Then, in a whisper, "I don't know what to do."
The wind rustling through the trees was all the response he got.
AN: *Munōna means incompetent in Japanese. So I like to believe that that jōnin is just an incompetent teacher and also why he failed his genin squad.
Also, check out this chapters art on my AO3version!
