In the end, they each decided that simplicity was the best way to go.
There wasn't any need for some convoluted plot; their teacher already knew they had the ability to pull that off if it was neccesary, and that wasn't what this test was about to begin with. What they needed was to be showy while also being stealthy and, with Naruto on the team, that was actually fairly possible.
And so, after a few minutes of hashing it out, they made their way back towards the clearing, not bothering to hide their approach. These bodies were clumsy and Kakashi was a jounin. Even if they tried, it was doubtful they'd be able to sneak up on him. At least, not until he was sufficiently distracted.
Sakura made the first move, leaping from a tree branch and bringing her fist down onto the ground with all the chakra-enhanced strength that she could. Instantly, it buckled outward, breaking apart easily from the force. Kakashi, long used to such moves, simply used the momentum to jump and avoid it, landing gracefully on two feet once more after everything had settled.
And then had to immediately dodge, as Naruto bore down on him with a rasengan, his eyes a clear indication that he was utilizing Sage Mode. And again as Sasuke bombarded him with a Phoenix Flower Jutsu. And again as Sakura volleyed a handful of shuriken at him.
Soon enough, all three of them were coming after him, back to back to back, trying their best not to give him a moment of rest. Their jutsu repertoire really was admirable, had been even when they'd been older. Now, though, it was likely to turn a whole hell of a lot of heads. Not even most high chunin knew so many, and here were three seemingly pre-genin, throwing them out like they were no big deal. Even Sakura, though she stuck more to the outer edges, trying to distract him with precisely aimed kunia and shuriken more than with jutsu, likely in an effort to save her energy for the right time to use another hard punch.
It was going about how Kakashi had figured it would. They were miles, miles ahead of their peers when it came to chakra control and application, and both Sasuke and Naruto likely were physically, as well.
But he could see that they were already tiring, already faltering. The only one still going strong was Naruto, but he'd always been a chakra and stamina freak, and Sage Mode had only made him that much more durable. But even so, they all only had the bodies of barely trained kids. They wouldn't last much longer.
And then suddenly the clearing was flooded with blond, everywhere, giving Sasuke and Sakura a chance to step back and catch their breath. Kakashi approved of the tactic, even as he cut through the horde like butter, but if he were a true enemy it never would've worked. Would've likely backfired, drawing attention to weakness instead of away from it.
He debated, for a moment, going over to his other two students to prove a point, but ultimately decided against it. They probably already knew it just as well as he did.
As he dispelled one of the last groups of clones, their eyes having returned to Naruto's usual bright blue, he felt a slight shift in the air behind him, the only warning he got before a Fūton: Great Breakthrough was directed his way. Not even a second later, Sasuke had taken his chance to add a Grand Fireball. Usually, that attack was fairly useless, unwieldy and slow enough to easily dodge, but added to the boost of a wind jutsu and backed by both boy's chakra, it turned the clearing into a mini inferno that even Kakashi barely avoided the reach of.
Just as his feet touched down upon a clear chunk up uprooted earth, a hand was shooting up from the ground towards him at lightening speeds and zeroing in on the bells attached at his hip.
Kakashi could've dodged again, if this had been a real mission or if he'd been taking things more seriously. But he could see the way Sasuke was panting and grimacing, his limbs trembling with faint aftershocks from the Raiton jutsus he'd used earlier. Sakura, below him, was heaving for breath and clearly struggling to find the strength to dig herself out of the Doton jutsu she was using. Naruto could likely go on, especially if he'd left another clone somewhere to gather more nature chakra, but he'd probably be going on alone until his teammates restored their energy.
In the face of that, Kakashi decided to let them have this victory. It'd probably be the last, for a while, until they trained up more endurance. And the three were likely to be extremely frustrated and disappointed in their performance already, no need to rub that in further by denying them this one thing.
And so he let Sakura's hand snag on the bells and didn't fight as she tugged them away. He could see the distaste on her face (none of them appreciated being given a handicap, competitive as they were) but also the faint pride. She probably hadn't expected to do as well as she had, given the shape she was in.
"Alright!" Naruto cheered, though not quite as enthusiastically as he might've had it been a true victory. Sasuke, standing beside him, only grunted.
"Nicely done," Kakashi praised as he stooped to give Sakura a hand out of the dirt she was still fairly encased in. The one he'd thought was Sakura, now revealed as a henged clone, saluted him cheekily from where it still lingered on the edge of the clearing before dispelling. "It was a good plan, to distract a stronger opponent with big attacks while your teammate sneaks up on them. Granted, it wouldn't have worked if Sakura didn't have such precise control over her chakra. The fact that Naruto was practically leaking the stuff helped to mask her approach, as well. And neither of you made it obvious that you were trying to herd me into position, either."
"I had to break the ground first," Sakura admitted with a wince as she attempted to dust herself off. A futile effort, really, but he applauded her determination. "I didn't have the strength to move through solid earth, even if I had enough chakra to perform the Doton technique."
"My clones barely lasted a second," Naruto sighed. "I can coordinate with them way better now but without good taijutsu to back them up, they're pretty much worthless in a fight, besides being distractions."
Sasuke was scowling, staring down at his twitching fingers as if they'd betrayed him. "I couldn't put a lot of power into my Raiton jutsus. I can barely feel my arms at all. This body is so weak."
Silence descended upon them as the Uchiha spit the last word like a curse. Because he wasn't wrong and they all knew it.
"We have a lot of work to do," Kakashi finally announced, eyeing each of them. His students met his stare solemnly. "Obviously, our first priority is going to be working you three into shape. By the time we meet up tomorrow, I'll have your training planned out, because you're all at different levels right now. It's going to be the training from hell. What Gai puts his team through will look like a dream in comparison."
None of them argued, didn't even look like they wanted to.
Instead, Sakura said, "I can help by healing us at the end of every day, replacing and repairing our muscle fibers then instead of waiting a few days for it to really kick in. I can't do it for long; it wouldn't be very healthy for our bodies if I did. I can probably do it for a month at a time, while taking a month in-between to let it build naturally. Though, I'd say I shouldn't do it for more than three or four months overall."
Everyone took a second to ponder that. Kakashi knew how best to train to build muscle, of course, but he didn't know the medical specifics. And he'd definitely never heard of anything like that before. Though, maybe that wasn't so surprising, given Sakura was the one suggesting it.
"Kurama says he can do that for me," Naruto interjected, gaze unfocused as his attention was clearly turned inward. "He says it'll be a good way to help me get stronger quicker while also introducing his chakra to my body in small doses. It'll take a while to build up enough immunity to even try for a single tail without really messing myself up, apparently. He wants to take any chance he can get to combine our chakra."
"We can also add weights," Sasuke suggested, face twisted into a grimace as he admitted, "it worked well for Lee."
"Yeah, Bushy Brows has always been super fast, even when we first met him! He totally kicked Teme's ass without even breaking a sweat!"
Sasuke growled, swinging out a fist that Naruto neatly spun away from with a challenging smirk. Before either of them could attack again, or worse, devolve into rolling around in the dirt like untrained puppies, Sakura stalked forward and planted herself firmly between them, the set of her face just daring them to try and move her.
"Usually, for our age group, weights aren't the best idea, actually. They can seriously hinder our growth and even be counterproductive. But if we're also reinforcing ourselves with chakra while we wear them, the damage should be negligible. And it'll help our bodies build up more of a tolerance to using jutsu, too. We have the chakra and control, right now, and the knowledge of how to use it. But beyond the Academy Three and Sasuke's Grand Fireball, our bodies haven't had to use a lot of chakra. That's why we tired out so much quicker. Our coils are being stretched further than they ever have before."
Naruto said nothing to this, since it was clear that fight had barely taken anything out of him, where the use of chakra was concerned. Even without being accustomed to the Kyuubi's chakra, he still had Uzumaki reserves, which meant that his coils were almost always stretched wide. He literally had no reference to the way his teammates must be feeling.
"Right, we'll focus on that first," Kakashi announced. "You can train however you'd like tonight, just don't overdo it. You'll need your energy tomorrow. We'll meet at the gate bright and early to do warm-up laps around the village. Then, we'll work on taijutsu until about noon. Break for lunch and then D-ranks until dinner. Then more laps and taijutsu before we head home for the night. Every day will start with laps. I might adjust our schedules day to day, but until you've gotten to a point that I'm happy with, all of our effort is going to be strictly physical conditioning. If you want to train something else, do it on your own time but don't let it affect what you do with us. Got it?"
They all nodded. They each had things they wanted to brush their skills up on separately, of course, but they could see the logic of making this their priority.
Naruto, at least, knew that he'd be able to set his clones to work on transcribing his fuuinjutsu notebooks, since they wouldn't be much help at all with getting into shape. It wasn't like any muscle they gained could be reabsorbed the way their chakra and knowledge could, after all. Besides, those notebooks were important and, as tedious as it could be sometimes, it was also kinda fun, especially since he was catching things he'd missed the first time around or, more often, getting inspired for more and more ideas. He'd already blown through two notebooks already, one of old notes and the other full of new theories.
The box of battered notebooks he'd received after the war, after his parentage had been acknowledged, had been true treasures to him. They'd each been full of his parent's thoughts, sometimes written with careful, looping script and sometimes scratched out in a hurried, almost frenzied scrawl, like if the words weren't put down onto paper fast enough they'd be lost forever. It had made Naruto feel closer to them than he ever had before, had resulted in him carrying at least one around with him everywhere, re-reading them over and over almost obsessively until he'd had them all pretty much memorized, to the point where people had actually begun jokingly comparing him to Kakashi-sensei.
Of course, they'd been full of advanced theories, written by two of the greatest fuuinjutsu users in Konoha at the time, one of whom was an Uzumaki who'd spent the first few years of her life living in Uzushio. Memorizing them hadn't meant they'd made a lick of sense to him, and that had been frustrating, because he wanted to know just what it was his father and mother were saying.
Which had led him to begging Tsunade and Kakashi and anyone else who had even a vague interest in the art to train him. Most had been more than happy to, Hero of the Fourth War as he was, and while that had made him a little uncomfortable it hadn't stopped him from taking all the help he could get.
Those notebooks were locked away, right now, stored with the rest of his parent's belongings in a vault in the Hokage Tower and out of his reach. He missed them like an ache, missed that connection to his parents, no matter how small it was. Copying what had been written within onto new notebooks wasn't the same, not by a long shot, but it was something, at least.
And these hands really were unused to the smooth, sweeping motions of seal-making, now. It was something he desperately wanted to rectify and hopefully his clones would be able to cover it. He very much doubted he'd have the energy to do it himself for a while, if they were going to be training as hard as he hoped they would.
"Anyway," Kakashi smiled down at them, hands stuffed into his pockets and slouching once more, "you lot pass, obviously. We won't be able to start taking missions until tomorrow, after the paperwork is filed to declare us a team. So, the rest of the afternoon is yours. I've got a meeting with the Hokage to get to."
All three of them lunged forward, grabbing a solid hold of his arms before he could shunshin away, and he paused to blink bemusedly down at their determined, glaring little faces. "Did I forget something?"
"First," Naruto informed him gravely, not loosening his grip even as Kakashi made no move to break free, "we're getting ramen."
.
.
Sasuke had never much cared what the majority of the village thought of him.
When he'd been younger, he'd been more concerned about his family, his father's, opinion. Later, others had only been an annoying distraction, taking his attention away for useless things like pity and empty praise. He hadn't wanted their apologies that something so horrible had happened to his clan. Hadn't wanted them to fall over themselves to fawn at him. Hadn't wanted their compliments or encouragements.
He was an Uchiha, of course he was stronger, smarter, better. He had a solid goal and a ruthless determination to reach it, so of course he was leagues above his classmates, who toiled their days away by sleeping or pranking or gossiping.
Eyes had followed him around everywhere, after that night, always full of pity for his circumstance or envy and admiration for his bloodline, and he'd hated it, had largely ignored it, because it was useless to him.
He wasn't oblivious, though. Just as he'd felt the eyes on him, he'd always noticed the eyes on Naruto. Because it was so similar and yet so different, the way everything seemed to be between them.
Where he was greeted with bright smiles and sad eyes, Naruto got glares and hard, unforgiving faces. Where almost everyone was eager to please the moment he asked for anything, Naruto was ignored, shunned, chased away.
The blond had always ignored it, too, had put on large grins and had yelled and laughed unabashedly, had payed the ugly looks and the muttered insults little mind, to the point where most of their classmates had dismissed the treatment without thought. Naruto was a prankster, after all, was always misbehaving, it was no wonder everyone hated him. And if it had actually been going on all along, before they'd ever entered the Academy and before Naruto had ever played a prank on anyone, well, he'd always been annoying, right?
Wrong, so wrong, and no one in their age group had ever even bothered to look passed that. Had seen his smile in the face of other's contempt and had written it off. He didn't think most had clued into it even after they'd learned about Naruto's jinchuuriki status. Honestly, Sasuke wouldn't be surprised if they hadn't; their classmates had each grown into strong shinobi, in their own right, but they hadn't gained much of Sasuke's respect even before they'd been sent back, despite his teammate's exasperated attempts to socialize him. The only one who'd even come close was Shikamaru.
Though, he'd written it off, too, at this age, hadn't he? Ignored it even as he'd noticed it, forced himself not to care because what did it matter? It had nothing to do with him, wouldn't make him stronger, wouldn't get him any closer to his revenge, and so it was just as useless as everything else.
Now, though, he was letting himself notice it. He was feeling the hatred, the dislike, the annoyance and contempt and a hundred other ugly things, all directed solidly at the blond walking at his side. The blond who was clearly having a hard time keeping his head high under the weight of it.
Sasuke watched out of the corner of his eye as Naruto's grin stretched ever wider, bordering on completely manic, and had to resist the urge to snarl.
These people, they had no idea what they were even doing right now. He'd seen Naruto stand strong and proud against so many forces, from Orochimaru to Kaguya, and not be cowed in the least. And yet, just a few minutes of walking down the main road of Konoha, the place that was supposed to be his home, and he was looking smaller than Sasuke had ever seen him, even as his spine was kept rigidly straight.
Sasuke turned to meet the stares with a glare of his own and couldn't help but feel a little satisfied when they flinched back and away from him, one by one. He'd ignored it last time, had done nothing to stop them or to help his teammate, but he'd be damned if he let it go on this time around. The only one who deserved those looks was him, after all he'd done, after what he'd already been planning to do at this age.
Naruto deserved their respect, their admiration, their allegiance. He had never, not ever, deserved their hate.
Sasuke would never let himself be willfully blind to that again.
The street was growing steadily more quiet, filled with an intense unease, and it wasn't until he heard Kakashi pointedly clear his throat behind them that he realized it was because he'd begun leaking a healthy dose of Killing Intent to match his heated glare. If the way Sakura twitched guiltily from the other side of Naruto was any indication, he hadn't been the only one to do so, either.
"Maa, that's not very fair, picking on defenseless civilians like that," their teacher commented idly, seemingly not even glancing up from his book. His heart clearly wasn't in the reprimand, however, as he was surreptitiously sending out warning stares of his own.
Sasuke only scoffed and grumbled, "They're lucky that's all they're getting."
Naruto was laughing, though, a true laugh, and his shoulders had already lost a lot of their tension. "It'll be fine," he chirped brightly. "Besides, we're here!"
Without another word, the blond dashed forward in excitement and didn't waste any time in pulling himself onto a stool. By the time the rest of them had caught up, he'd placed an order and was already prattling away, much to the chef's fond amusement.
" - and then Sasuke-Teme sent a big fireball and Sakura-chan was like pow! Right up outta the ground and got the bells! It was so cool, ojisan! And we all passed and we're on Team 7 now!"
"Congratulations!" The chef and his daughter both cheered, completely sincere, and Sasuke felt his irritation slip away, at least for the moment. He'd never seen these two be anything but kind to Naruto and he knew the blond loved them both dearly for it. "In that case, first bowl is on the house for all of you!"
"Really?!" Naruto was practically vibrating in joy, as if the offer of free ramen wasn't a normal occurrence when the blond was around. "Thanks!"
Sasuke and Sakura took seats on either side of him, scooting away just far enough that they wouldn't be in danger of flailing limbs (when Naruto got into his story-reenactments, that was a very real danger) while Kakashi took the seat at the far corner, slouching as he stared into the depths of his wallet despondently.
Sasuke had absolutely no sympathy for the man. He was the only one that had any real money right now, if you didn't count the monthly stipends he and Naruto had been given due to their status as orphans or the inheritances that Sasuke hadn't ever touched. He was literally the only one capable of treating them, at the moment, and he could act the poor victim all he wanted but there was no way he was hurting for money with his mission history.
The least he could do, as their teacher, was take them out to lunch. And honestly, ramen was the cheapest option they could've picked. He should save his complaining for later, when Sakura somehow coerced him into paying for dinner, too.
They each ordered their usuals, long-used to the menu of Ichiraku, and then Sakura was pulling out her (frankly intimidating) medical text and Naruto was pulling out his fuuinjutsu notes, neither of them paying any attention to the way Kakashi was eyeing them disapprovingly and sighing in exasperation. Really, what did he expect? For none of them to work on what they favored simply because it wasn't what their Academy selves would do?
Sasuke could get away with it, easily. He was a prodigy in the eyes of the village, and it would surprise absolutely no one if he grew rapidly under the tutelage of a jounin, especially one of Kakashi's caliber. Sakura could probably mostly get away with it, too, since she'd always been book-smart with a talent for chakra control. It was really only Naruto that would turn heads and cause suspicion.
He was the Dead Last and had truly been pretty horrible the last time around, not even really knowing how to take advantage of his own strengths. But he'd grown rapidly, too, then, even when he'd still been neglected for Sasuke himself. (Something he knew Kakashi still felt guilty over, and good. Even with the Council breathing down his neck, even with their so-called similarities and Sasuke's so-called genius, he never should've prioritized one student above another. Naruto and Sakura had long forgiven him for it and as the only unwounded party Sasuke really should let it go. But if there was one thing the Uchiha specialized in above all else, it was holding a grudge, no matter how hard he tried not to.)
But despite what most people thought, Naruto could lie. Naruto was a magnificent liar. He'd have to be, after the way he'd grown up. And he hadn't let that go, even after he'd become the Elemental Nation's Hero he'd still known how to wield a smile like a shield, to hide so many things behind a grin and act the fool. Even alternatively, he could lie with cold certainty, with a straight, serious face that left no doubt in his words. Sasuke had seen it, time and time again, on missions and in the face of random civilians.
The crux was that Naruto couldn't lie to those that knew him, truly knew him, the way they did, or Iruka or Tsunade or Shikamaru had, in the future. But now it was only Team 7 that would be able to spot the tells, because as much as the Sandaime and Iruka cared for Naruto in this time, they didn't know him anymore. Hadn't even known the younger Naruto, not really, hadn't been able to spend enough time with him, yet, to claim such a thing.
Naruto would lie through his teeth with a smile, when they asked about his new clothes and his new interests and skills. He'd feel terribly guilty about it, would pepper half-truths to soften the blow to himself, but he'd do it, easily, and he wouldn't be doubted because nobody would ever expect him to lie convincingly to anyone, let alone the ones most precious to him.
Kakashi could relax. He should've learned by now that so long as Uzumaki Naruto was around, even when things were at their worst, they'd always turn out fine in the end, somehow.
He might've done it the hard way, but Sasuke had finally accepted that. He wouldn't turn his back on that faith ever again.
.
.
"Team 7?"
"Pass."
Absolute silence greeted his proclamation and Kakashi manfully resisted the urge to drop a senbon, simply to hear how loudly it would echo. Instead, he lifted his eyes from the pages in front of him to meet the incredulous stares that were being directed his way.
Really, was it that much of a surprise? Sure, he'd never taken a team before, but he'd also never been presented with a team like this. Even back when they'd been unrefined and untrained, they'd each had potential. If they hadn't, he never would've passed them, regardless of what the Council wanted.
The Hokage cleared his throat, trying to draw attention back to the matter at hand. "Right. Team 8?"
The list went on, more fail than pass, as was usual. A class of over thirty hopefuls and, out of all of them, only nine would be continuing on with their career. Some would go back to the Academy, some would head to the hospital to train as medics and some would be forever lost within the Genin Corps. Others still would give up entirely, would abandon their prospects as shinobi and instead devote themselves to some civilian trade.
It was how things went, how they'd gone for a while now, but Kakashi couldn't help but look around at all those who'd passed in his generation, all those who'd passed in the generation directly after. Couldn't help but wonder just what had happened, for the average of graduating teams to fall so sharply. It wasn't wartime anymore, the way it had been for them as children, but that shouldn't have made that much of a difference, surely?
Maybe he could get Naruto or Sakura to ask Iruka about it. Their goal was to stop things from getting as bad as they had before, to make it so the Fourth War hopefully wouldn't become an issue, and he knew that Naruto would still be striving towards peace in any way that he could. But there would always be missions, would always be people who needed a shinobi to protect them, and failing to train genin-hopefuls to the fullest extent they could was just stupidity.
Kakashi resisted the urge to sigh and rub at his temples, the way he'd always seen Tsunade do when she was especially frustrated. Apparently he'd been infected with a Hokage's way of thinking after all, even if he'd never received the title itself.
"Kakashi, a word."
He glanced up, meeting the Sandaime's amused gaze with a shrug, completely unrepentant for his obvious lack of attention. He already knew who'd passed, after all, and even if he hadn't it wouldn't have been any concern of his. If the new genin had been anything to brag about, he'd hear about them eventually.
In the past, he'd heard about them for the first time during the Chunin Exam nominations. That spoke clearly enough of their skills at this stage.
"Hokage-sama," Kakashi inclined his head as the last of his comrades slipped out of the room, closing the door behind them, and then he waited.
"Your team," the Sandaime began, just as Kakashi had known he would, "they passed on their own merits?"
As if the old man had expected anything less. "Of course. If they hadn't, they would have failed."
Sarutobi nodded, unsurprised, and clearly chose not to waste his breath on outlining the necessity, again, of both Sasuke and Naruto passing the test and being trained, no matter what. At this point such a thing would be rather superfluous. "And, in your opinion, how did they do?"
"They did well," Kakashi admitted after a moment. He couldn't quite remember what answers he'd given, last time, and didn't want to give too much away now, either. A mix of past and present would probably be the best way to go, here. "There was tension, as their files mentioned, but they were all fairly determined to pass. Enough to work together. Their plan was well put-together. They each have potential."
"Good, good," the Sandaime sighed, looking like a huge weight had just been lifted away from him. "That's good."
"Mm." Kakashi agreed absently before stating, "Sakura seems to have found a mention of the Uzumaki clan on one of her library escapades. She mentioned it to Naruto, who's completely run with it. Apparently, his newest goal is to become a Fuuinjutsu Master."
The Hokage stared at him, truly surprised for once, before his eyes softened with old regrets and long-buried grief. In that moment, he looked every year his age and Kakashi hoped that this time around he'd survive, would live long enough to pass his hat onto Tsunade and finally rest for a while, the way he'd been meant to thirteen years ago.
"Does he know? About his parents?"
"Not yet," Kakashi lied easily. "But I'd like to tell him about his mother, at least."
Sarutobi's gaze slid past him and to the wall, landing solidly on the portrait of the man that had been his successor. For a moment, he said nothing, clearly lost in his own thoughts, before he took a deep pull from his pipe and exhaled a long trail of smoke.
"Yes," he finally decided. "Only a select few knew that Minato and Kushina were together and those that did know fully well who Naruto's parents are. But be careful, Kakashi. The boy is young, has barely made genin and has already been forced to carry one secret too large for his small shoulders. Knowledge of who his father is must not get out, not until he can defend himself properly."
Kakashi very firmly kept his opinions to himself, the way he'd almost always done on this matter, after he'd been so viciously shut down the first few times around. He hadn't had the energy to fight for Naruto in the beginning, the way that he should've, too lost in a cloud of grief after losing the last two people who'd ever meant anything to him. He'd expected Jiraiya to fight tooth and nail for his godson, to not stop until the baby was in his care, and had let himself fade into ANBU instead, never once even considering the other man's own loss.
He'd only realized the extent of his mistake years later, when he'd been assigned to a five-year-old Naruto's ANBU guard after the child had been kicked out of the orphanage and left to live on his own, the way no kid his age should be forced to. By that time the damage had been done, the decisions had all been made, and Kakashi had been barred from so much as speaking to the boy. He'd been made a regular on his guard, for awhile, likely the Sandaime's idea of kindness, before it had become too much and he'd started to request out-of-village missions once more.
He'd been a coward and he knew it. Even after he'd been told the team assignments, all he'd wanted was to fail them immediately so that he'd never have to look at Naruto again, would never have to face the very embodiment of his mistakes. He'd looked at that blond hair, those blue eyes, and had seen nothing but Minato-sensei. Had looked at that large grin, had heard that unrestrained laughter, and had seen Kushina. Had looked at the way Naruto would fail, over and over, and would get up again every time, would never give up, placed everyone else before himself, and had seen Obito.
It had been so hard, to look at him and not react, to not fall to his knees and beg forgiveness, to not run away as far as he possibly could. He'd gotten so used to hiding away, burying his pain down deep, first with missions and later with his quirks, and he'd continued to shy away, even once he'd become the teacher of Team 7, using the excuse of having to focus on Sasuke like a shield.
He'd been a coward then, had always been a coward, and he would spend the rest of his life trying to make up for that, regardless of the fact that Naruto and Sakura had both already forgiven him.
But he was still just a jounin. An elite, maybe, someone who was already in consideration for the hat, but still just a jounin. He couldn't argue, here, couldn't fight back against this decision. Doing so would only result in punishment, would only make things harder for all of them, and in the end it would be a wasted effort. Naruto already knew who his father was, after all, and while Kakashi wanted him to be able to publicly claim it with pride he also knew that wasn't what truly mattered to the boy, not as much as the simple knowledge that he'd had parents that had genuinely loved him.
And so all he responded with was a, "If you say so, sir," and let his tone speak for itself.
The Sandaime's eyes cut to him quickly, sharpening instantly, and this man might be old but he was still a Kage, one that had seen multiple wars, one who'd earned the title of God of Shinobi. His presence alone was enough to cow most people, even most jounin, but Kakashi had faced down Uchiha Madara, had faced down a literal god, and met his stare evenly.
"What," Sarutobi rumbled out after a moment, eyes narrowing in stern disapproval, "are you implying, soldier?"
"Nothing at all, sir," Kakashi replied blandly even as his posture straightened almost without thought, his heels snapping together. It took a bit of control not to go into an ANBU-regulation bow, honestly, and that was incredible. The Sandaime had always had Kakashi's respect, even when he hadn't approved of the man's choices, and this was only further proving how much he deserved it.
The Hokage held his eye for a moment longer before nodding once, sharply, and letting his overwhelming aura drop away. "I'll leave their training in your hands, as is your right, but I'd like updates on their progress. If there's nothing else, you're dismissed."
Kakashi nodded, bowed his head, and then made for the door without another word as the Sandaime returned to looking at Minato's portrait on the wall, losing himself to his thoughts once more. The man had just as many regrets as Kakashi did, he knew, but they must weigh so much more. He wasn't just in charge of himself, or of an ANBU squad or a team of genin; he was responsible for every single person within the walls of the village and many more without. He was one of the highest powers in Fire Country, below only the Daimyō. His choices couldn't ever be easy and he'd likely done the best he could at the time and now could only live with whatever consequences had resulted.
In the face of that, Kakashi decided as he ambled in the direction of the barbecue restaurant, funding his student's stomachs every now and then was a small price to pay.
.
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A/N: Long author's note up ahead, sorry! It's mostly just some of my views and things I plan to address in this fic in the future, so feel free to skip it if you'd like, but the first part is kind of important.
I had a job interview yesterday and I've already heard back, it's looking extremely likely that I'll be hired (which is a relief, since I'm currently the brokest of bitches) but that means that updates will probably be... sporadic, from now on. Or, well, more so than they already are. I'm not going to abandon this fic, I promise, but it might take awhile between chapters, at least until I get more settled. I hope you guys can be understanding!
So, anyway, a guest left a long and very, very appreciated review (seriously, it made my day, thank you so much!) asking some questions and speculating about what I had planned for this story. Obviously, I can't let you guys know too much, otherwise it'd ruin the suspense, but there are some things I wanted to be clear about, especially in the face of this chapter:
1) I'm going to bring up a lot of things that bothered me about canon and some of those are going to be about the government and the Academy, how they work and the decisions made regarding both. But I wouldn't go as far as to say that this fic will be "political". I don't really have the greatest mind for politics, I only really pay attention to them to do my part in trying to keep the country from completely crashing and burning, and I've never found it a fun subject, even in fiction. I doubt that I'd be able to write such a thing well at all, really. So, it won't ever be the main focus. But it will be brought up.
2) I have a lot of respect for the Third Hokage. I like him as a character and I truly think that he cares for Naruto. I also think that a lot of his decisions are absolute bullshit, especially regarding Naruto and his upbringing, and I wish that they had been explained more in-depth so that we could have a better idea of why he did what he did. I'm going to be applying my own reasoning for that in this fic, because I do have a few theories. I also think that he never should've held onto the hat for so long (though this wasn't his fault at all, obviously, seeing as how his successor died and there really weren't that many other options, what with all of the most powerful shinobi dead, turned traitor or out of the village by that point, which I find to be extremely suspicious) and that his judgement was completely clouded when it came to Danzo (and his extremely suspicious behavior) and the other Elders. I'm not going to be overly harsh and I'm not going to bash his character but I will be taking a serious look at his choices.
3) I will be doing Outsider POV in this fic. It's a huge weakness of mine and it's a trope that I absolutely adore. I hope I'm able to do it justice.
4) I love Yamato and Sai and I very much do consider them members of Team 7. I haven't quite figured out what I'm going to do with them, yet, but I want to include them, definitely. No promises, but I'll be trying my hardest to work them in there somehow.
Anyway, there's chapter 5! Hope you all enjoyed it, and sorry if the fight in the beginning wasn't what you were hoping for. It was kind of inevitable, though. They have a bunch of jutsu but other than that, they're weak right now. They'll get better. Eventually.
Also, I'm sorry if there's any confusion with jutsu names. I like using the Japanese for the element (Katon instead of Fire Style, Doton instead of Earth Style, etc.) but I only remember the actual name in English, so I've kind of decided to just mash the two together lmao if enough people have a problem with this, I'll go back and pick one or the other, but hopefully it'll be fine.
As always, thanks for reading, and please follow, favorite or leave a review to tell me what you think!