A/N: the website doesn't bump stories to the most recently updated list when they're updated within 24 hours, which is what I did yesterday, so if you rely on that, be sure to check out the last two chapters! :)
As for this chapter, please excuse my pseudo-psychology mumbo jumbo. I did googling and wikipedia-ing, but I won't pretend the stuff here has any accuracy. Any psychologists/psychology students? :P
Sitting cross-legged on the floor in Kakashi's room, Snake sips her iced tea from a straw. She's wearing a body that she'd straight up told Kakashi wasn't her own. Not that it isn't obvious enough since she looks about six years old, with light-brown hair falling in loose waves all the way to her waist, an impractical length for a shinobi. Her mask is secured at an angle on her head, like a particularly fashionable hat. "So," she says, popping the straw out of her mouth irreverently. "Let's play a game."
Kakashi squints at her incredulously as Sakumo and Rin look on with interest. "You told me I had to read all these books for a test," he says, slapping his open hand on the pile of texts that he had stacked up beside him. While Snake had left for a month-long mission, Kakashi had dutifully used any spare moment he had between guard duty, patrols, training and solo missions to go through the readings he had been assigned.
The content ranged from anatomy charts to method acting, though most of it centered about psychology. There were hardly any overtly shinobi-related subjects. For the two ghosts peeking over his shoulder, it was an interesting change of pace.
His captain gives him a cheeky grin. "And our game shall be that test. A practical test."
"Is that why you're a kid right now?"
She smirks, an all-too-sly expression on a child's face. "Yep! Let's do some preparation first. Name the Big Five personality traits*."
"Openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism." Kakashi does it rapidly and with ease.
"Good, good. Let's look at the sub-traits under extraversion... Hmm, assertiveness. Out of 1 to 5, what do you score?"
Kakashi eyebrow jumps. "4.7?"
"Nah, that's Danzou-sama levels."
"4, then."
Snake makes a sound of agreement. "And for warmth?"
The silver-haired teen hesitates for a moment. "2, for strangers."
"I feel like you're treating me like a stranger." Kakashi rolls his eyes at Snake's pouting. "But luckily under agreeableness, the sub-trait for compliance seems to be pretty high!" she quips.
"Is there a point to all this?"
"Uh oh, that's a 3.8 hostility!" Snake grins at Kakashi's hissed "senpai!" but relents and answers the teen. "I'll be using the Big Five indicators to describe personality types to you, and the easiest way for you to get a feel of the scale is to analyse yourself using it. But more importantly, you need to know yourself from inside out before you can begin to consciously alter your behaviour." She claps her hands. "Alright, last one: neuroticism. Under the sub-traits of self-consciousness and vulnerability, how much would you score?"
Discomfort flits across Kakashi's expression before it is quickly hidden. "Relatively high, I suppose... a 4?" It's a surprisingly honest answer; one which tugs at Sakumo's heart. As a child, Kakashi had always been keenly aware of his difference in intellect. That awareness had manifested as impatience with his peers, but also the way he hid himself behind a mask and kept others at arm's length. Even now, things aren't much different.
Snake nods, giving a "hmm". "I suppose you tend to rely on your seniority as a jounin or team commander to keep your team in line during missions? I see. When you get back from missions, do you have moods swings? Like uncontrollable bursts of anger or sudden bouts of depression?" Three sets of eyes focus on Kakashi in varying degrees of concern.
"Uh, no?" Kakashi is on the verge of squirming.
"I won't set Yamanakas on you, dear."
"I'm just a bit twitchy. And I don't really sleep well," Kakashi admits, averting his eyes to the tiled floor.
"Of course," Snake says gently. "Don't shy away from looking directly at your psyche. This goes for your subconsciousness as well — your nightmares. With all the theory that you have already learnt, I'm sure you can understand what is going on. Be brutally honest with yourself, but be strictly objective and don't put yourself down. Only then you can take control and start changing the things you want." She leans back, taking a casual sip of her iced tea. "So what's troubling you, Hound-kun?"
Kakashi laces his fingers, tapping his thumbs as he falters visibly. "Survivor's guilt," he finally says, his voice no louder than a whisper. "Mainly."
The older ANBU sets down her drink with a rattling of ice cubes, leaning forward with a wan smile. "Alright, I won't pry further." Kakashi's shoulders slump with relief. "If you ever want to talk, I'll be here and there's always counselling."
At Kakashi's nod, Snake switches back to training mode. She takes out a slip of paper from her pocket and hands it to Kakashi. "Here are the personality scores of the character I want you to act as today. For everything under extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism, the scores are the opposite of what I estimated to be yours. So where where you score 2 for warmth, this character will score 4."
Grimacing, Kakashi inclines his head. "Understood. So I'll just act the exact opposite of how I will usually act? This character sounds obnoxious."
Laughing, Snake stands up. "It's the easiest for now. Later on we'll try tweaking each aspect of the Big Five to help you develop a more nuanced grasp of your reactions. For the practical "test", we'll be going out to the marketplace. I'll steal something from a stall and get caught, and you'll try to smooth-talk me free. Oh, and one more thing." She flicks her hair over her shoulder, a mischievous smirk curling her lips. "You'll be acting as my father, so Henge into someone appropriate."
* It's something like the Myers-Briggs personality indicator, which I'm sure a lot of you have done.
A/N: Snake isn't giving Kakashi therapy. She's just making sure he's sufficiently in touch with himself to do a good job acting.
Next, Snake will evaluate Kakashi's Henge!