AN: Thanks for your answers about the filters thingy, I saw some clever method of search.
Kakashi stealthily approached training ground seven like he did every day since his last discussion with the Hokage. The jounin hid in a tree overlooking the clearing and just watched as Naruto was animatedly discussing something with Shino Aburame, heir of the Aburame clan. The blond was decked in a new set of clothes: black pants with a mesh lining tapped below the knee and tucked in black sandals, a burnt orange shirt with long, wide sleeve hiding a mesh shirt and a black, sleeveless coat tailored the same way a chuunin manchira was. Naruto had a large smile on his face that reduced his blue eyes to slit as he seemingly endeavoured to talk the Aburame's ears off.
Kakashi's uncovered eye narrowed. Even from afar, he could see the clear marks of chakra burns on the blond's hands, the signs of intensive use of unmastered ninjutsu. The Hatake observed the two boys intently as, after a minute, Naruto said something about moulding chakra in a quartered fashion and transposing it through a mirror-type manipulation before he ran through hand signs.
In front of Kakashi's eyes, the blond slowly became invisible.
The jounin gaped just as a deafening shout of triumph nearly made him fall out of his tree.
Less than six months with the Hokage and the boy had recreated an unconventional Hiding Camouflage Jutsu. Kakashi knew it wasn't the one created by Jiraiya of the Sannin and taught to the ANBUs and jounins of Konoha because Kakashi knew this version.
No, what Naruto had used was an entirely personal creation.
Kakashi felt pride and regrets fight it out in the pit of his stomach. What if the blond had been taught properly at the Academy? What if he had done his duty as jounin sensei properly? Would the kid have invented more jutsu already?
Kakashi heard Shino congratulate Naruto warmly. Aburame didn't do warm, they were all cold logic and no emotion.
The two boys then proceeded to sit down and, after a quick pause to drink, Naruto unsealed several books in the time Shino fished in a satchel for several scrolls. Kakashi felt a smile tug at his lips under his mask as the two genins started to compare notes on chakra-genotype interactions, phenotype and selective breeding.
Apparently, the Aburame boy was attempting to develop his first personal breed of ninchuu, with the help of Naruto. Kakashi wasn't sure the blond understood the significance of it: it was an immense honour to be initiated to the secrets of a clan, even if partially.
For another three hours, the Hatake just silently listened, moving only the bare minimum to avoid a muscle cramp. Unaware of his presence, the boys below bantered back and forth about things that, frankly, should have been beyond them. Honestly, Naruto seemed to learn much more than he was contributing but it was clear Shino was enjoying himself, sharing his passion with someone.
What kind of thirteen-year-old is that knowledgeable about genetic theory?
Eventually, Shino stored his books away, shook Naruto's hand and excused himself, invoking a lunch with his team and extending an invitation for the blond to join in. Naruto smiled brightly but declined, pretexting some more experiments he wanted to conduct.
The Aburame departed and Naruto was left alone, Kakashi still silently observing the blond from his rooster in the three.
The lone boy fished in his pack for a bunch of unmarked, half-sized tags. Kakashi immediately recognised low-grade chakra paper, typically used to work on one's fuinjutsu. Curiously, he watched Naruto spread some paper in front of him before he appeared to focus hard. Slowly, the blond went through several hand signs, including a few so exotic that even a ninjutsu specialist like Kakashi had seen them maybe twice in his life.
Incredibly slowly, the little pieces of paper folded in on themselves, as if an invisible hand were making origamis out of them. Before Kakashi could even breath, Naruto found himself surrounded by five butterflies made of paper, happily fluttering around the blond.
Fascinated, Kakashi could not resist lifting his headband. As the light hit his left eye, he felt chakra being pumped greedily by the orb. Immediately, the world slowed down as the three black tomoe swirled in the red sea of his transplanted Sharingan.
A minuscule seal, trapping a complex chakra construct vaguely similar to the Shadow Clone's structure, was keeping the butterfly aloft and animated.
When had the kid developed that? When had he become so good with seals? Kakashi felt his heartbeat accelerate as overwhelming regrets assaulted him. He was missing out; he should have shared such a moment with Naruto, he should have guided the blond to it and felt pride at his side when he finally achieved it. Instead, Naruto was alone, with no one to share his success with.
Kakashi's gaze hardened. The jounin slapped himself hard, lowered his headband on his Sharingan, cutting the eye's greedy consumption of his chakra and jumped from his three before he could stop himself once more.
"Hello, Naruto." Kakashi greeted after a deep breath, startling the blond mildly.
"Kakashi-san?!" His concentration shaken by the surprise, Naruto's butterflies fluttered one last time and fell, inert.
Kakashi smiled nervously behind his mask and scratched the back of his head. "How…" The jounin swallowed thickly. "How would you like to learn kenjutsu from me?" Kakashi offered.
Naruto seemed struck with incomprehension for three whole seconds before he cocked an eyebrow at the jounin. "You? Teaching me?" He asked in a sceptical drawl, pointing at Kakashi then at him.
Kakashi felt shame well up inside of him.
"No offence, Kakashi-san, but you were my jounin sensei and you never offered to teach me anything. Why now?" Naruto asked, piercing the white-haired man with two azure eyes that were hard as diamonds.
Kakashi sighed. "May I sit down?"
Naruto frowned for a second then waved to a spot in front of him. "Sure."
The jounin breathed in deeply and sat, his one visible eye searching for something in the soil for almost a minute before he met Naruto's gaze.
"I'm truly sorry," said the man suddenly, surprising Naruto. "I… I projected my fears on you and like a coward, I refused to face them and made you pay for them. If you allow me to, I would like to make it up to you. In any way I can."
"What fears?"
Kakashi breathed deeply before he recounted the disastrous experiences of his own youth. The suicide of his father, the death of his teammates, the sacrifice of his sensei.
At the end of his tale, he felt lighter somehow while Naruto simply had a frown marring his face. "I see," said the blond simply.
Naruto had to repress the urge to scream at Kakashi. The people of Konoha projected their fears of the Kyuubi on him and condemned him to loneliness. Kakashi's fears were different but the process and result were the same. The blond breathed deeply and forced his thoughts and feelings to settle down. He had done the same with Shino, assuming the boy wouldn't want to befriend him. As someone forced into a lonely existence, that wasn't acceptable.
What he had been deprived of, what he couldn't get. What he did have, what he could obtain. What mattered, what didn't. Kakashi had had his opportunity, had squandered it and now he wanted a new one. Naruto had granted it to the Hokage. The chance to do better, to live by the Will of Fire.
The blond frowned. "Did you offer that to Sakura? To Sasuke? Where are they anyway? They are still your students, right?"
Kakashi shook his head. "No. Team Seven was disbanded. I… I never should have been given a team." The man snorted. "Heck this team should have never been made, to begin with."
"What happened to them?"
"I got Sasuke the help he needed."
"What?"
"He is in the care of Inoichi Yamanaka. Sasuke wasn't doing well, Naruto. His mind was damaged when he witnessed the murder of his family. As in, physically impacted by an attack of the assassin."
Naruto's mouth formed a small "o" and the blond nodded. "'S that why he was such a bastard all the time?"
Kakashi smiled crookedly under his mask. "Yes. Yes, that was why."
"I see. Sakura?"
"She… Has been told some important things. She has to come to a decision but it's a decision she has to reach alone."
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Right. And she has anyone counselling her or sharing advice with her?" The blond waved his hand. "Whatever. You were supposed to be the sensei of us three, Kakashi-san and you allowed your fears to get the better of you. Shinobi are those who conceal but they are also those who endure." Naruto said with a hard voice.
Kakashi looked down in shame.
Naruto poked the man's forehead protector, startling Kakashi, and pushed his head up until the jounin was forced to look him in the eyes. "You can't teach just me. That'd be unfair and I despise," the blond spat the word with such venom, Kakashi thought for a second the ground would melt, "unfairness." The boy gave a small smile to the jounin. "Round up Sasuke and Sakura and come back here. Then I'll learn something from you."
Something got stuck in the jounin' s throat and he could only nod.
Naruto shooed him away. "Alright, now hop to it, I've butterflies to make fly."
Kakashi nodded enthusiastically and scrambled on his feet.
"Oh, and Kakashi-san."
The jounin stopped in his tracks and turned to face Naruto, who winked. "No more spying, okay?"
Kakashi scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. Had he been that sloppy? He chose to give the boy an eye-smile before he flickered away.
AN: ninchuu as in nin(ja) bugs. It is the same "chuu" as in kikaichuu.
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