Apprentice Part 1
Kakashi is almost six, about to graduate from the Academy. Minato is sixteen and has his own house. Kushina just joined the ANBU and crashes at his place whenever she is not on mission. Minato opted to sign up for a Genin team instead.
(MINATO)
"Don't do that!" Minato shouted from where he stood pulverizing a wooden post.
In a blur of yellow, he knocked Kakashi to the ground, ruining the boy's focus, and the jutsu he was attempting.
"I said you could train in my backyard, not try and kill yourself!"
"I was trying to make up a jutsu to impress the Academy! You messed me up!"
"I saved your life, little brat, that combination of hand seals alongside your lack of control would have sapped all of your Chakra in an instant!"
"You always make up your own jutsus! Why can't I?" Kakashi shot to his feet.
"Because I know what I'm doing! From what just happened, you don't! Let me see your notes so I can show you what happened so you don't do it again."
"Notes?"
"Yes, the notes you took mapping out exactly what you were going to try before you actually tried it."
"You don't take notes!"
Minato rubbed his temples. "Come on inside, let me show you something."
Kakashi followed the Jōnin into the house and down the hall to a large closet filled with scrolls. Minato grabbed two and a pencil from the shelf before motioning for Kakashi to follow him into the main room. Minato spread the two scrolls on the coffee table, one blank and the other covered with hand-drawn diagrams and notes, before kneeling down with his back to the front door. Kakashi knelt beside him, curious.
Minato pointed to the top scroll with the end of the pencil, "These are my notes when I developed my first jutsu. On this side of the scroll," Minato pointed to the far right and moved his hand as he explained each part of the scroll, "I wrote down exactly what I wanted the jutsu to accomplish. In this case, it was a net of wind that would slow down an opponent. The first thing I had to do was figure out the hand seals. I didn't need the hand seals to focus or control my chakra, but I decided to use them anyways to be safe. The next section is a summary of my notes on the twelve basic hand seals and the first sequence I thought might work and why. I wrote down exactly what I thought would happen and why, drew a diagram to map out what should happen and why. My first try didn't work, so I wrote down what actually happened and why, including the diagram of what I did with my Chakra. You can read this to see how many trials it took for me to figure out how to do it." Minato pointed to a section towards the end of the scroll, "And that is what I made the jutsu accomplish in the end. You can trace exactly what I did and why I did it throughout the entire process. I didn't do all this because I liked writing things down, I did it so I would fully understand what I was attempting. The first step to mastering a jutsu is to understand the jutsu. It's the first step to countering one too. I thought if I could get enough experience in making jutsus, when I saw a jutsu I didn't know, it would be easier to figure out and counter. I was somewhat right. Does all that make sense?"
Kakashi frowned as he leaned over the papers and started to follow Minato's train of thought on the paper. "You're saying I have to do all this to make a jutsu?"
"If you want to continue training in my backyard you do."
Kakashi snatched the pencil off the table and started to map out the jutsu he wanted to make. Minato watched passively, asking pointed questions as to why Kakashi wrote certain things. In return, Kakashi asked his own questions, which Minato answered clearly and concisely.
"You should have taken up teaching, Minato-kun."
Kakashi and Minato spun around in surprise at the unexpected voice from the doorway. On instinct, Minato pulled out two kunai and held them up to deflect an oncoming strike. Kakashi's reaction was not as instantaneous, but he still spun around, surprised.
"Relax, Minato-kun," Sakumo said, holding up his empty hands.
Minato lowered his weapons, but did not put them away. "It's not very polite to sneak up on people and eavesdrop."
"You're normally much more aware of your surroundings when you leave your security seals off. Anyways, I just wanted to know if Kakashi was staying here for dinner or not."
"You don't have to worry about me," Kakashi grumbled. "I'm almost a ninja!"
"You're still only five, Kakashi," Minato placated. "It doesn't matter how strong or smart you are. You don't have any experience and you spend more time learning about being a shinobi than learning how to take care of yourself. He's going to worry about you no matter what. Are you going to go home for dinner or stay here?"
"I'll stay here."
"Is that fine with you, Minato-kun?"
"Its fine, Kushina already said she'd cook tonight, so we won't starve."
"Come home before dark, Kakashi, you have to go to the Academy tomorrow," Sakumo said before he left, closing the door behind him.
"Speaking of the Academy, have you done your homework yet?"
"The homework's dumb."
"That doesn't change the fact you have to do it. Not more jutsu developing until you finish." Minato rolled up the scrolls and placed them on a shelf barely out of Kakashi's reach.
Disgruntled, Kakashi retrieved his homework while Minato settled on the couch, reading. An hour later, Minato stood up for seemingly no reason at all and walked to the front door. Still reading, he opened the door to reveal Kushina, in her ANBU uniform, reaching for the doorknob. "It's creepy when you do that."
"Are you making ramen tonight?" Minato asked as he sat back down on the couch, wrinkling his nose at the smell of blood on her uniform.
"No, I'm making fried roach legs," she answered sarcastically. "Hi, Kakashi-kun."
The Hatake boy did not even acknowledge her presence as he continued to work. "This math is pointless!" He exploded a few seconds later.
"It is, until you have to start making traps. Then you'll wish you learned it. Trust me, I'm speaking from experience," Minato responded and closed his book, moving to sit on the floor across from Kakashi. "What don't you understand?"