Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything to do with it.

Chapter 9: Understanding

During training one day, Kushina came to visit. She and Minato were already dating at this point in time. When they had first met her, Kakashi and Rin had tried to call her Uzumaki-san, but she had insisted that they call her Kushina, even threatening them if they forgot.

"I brought bento boxes for everyone!" she said. Everyone lit up at this, especially Minato, who loved Kushina's cooking. She was actually a pretty good cook. "However," she continued, "bentos cannot compare to ramen. After training, we should all go to Ichiraku!"

"Yeah!" Obito shouted in agreement, excited at the prospect.

Kakashi knew that while Naruto looked like his father, he really had a lot of his mother's personality traits. He found it kind of amusing that their love of ramen had been hereditary somehow. Soon after Kushina's arrival, Team Minato decided to have a lunch break. Kushina handed out the bentos.

"Thanks!" Obito cheered as his shoved food into his mouth. Rin smiled and thanked Kushina as well, much more politely than Obito had done.

"Thank you, Kushina," Kakashi said, doing his eye smile as he received one. He was getting ready to eat so fast that no one would see what his face looked like when he realized that everyone was staring at him. "Is something wrong?" Kakashi asked in confusion. Were they trying to see underneath his mask again?

"I didn't know that you knew how to smile!" Obito yelled, shocked. Rin was blushing and Minato was grinning.

Kushina smirked. "I didn't know how much you liked my cooking." Kakashi had just smiled reflexively, but he decided to play a joke on everyone now that he had.

"Of course I love Kushina's cooking," Kakashi said, smiling again, "but the reason I'm happy is that I'm here with everyone." Kakashi struggled to hold in his laughter at the aghast looks on their faces. Minato seemed to catch on that Kakashi was making fun of them first, and he shook his head in wonder before going back to his food. Throughout the rest of their lunch break, Kakashi's team kept shooting him what they thought were discrete glances, but he noticed every single one of them. Their reaction was too funny! After that, they all went back to training, and Kakashi knew that they were still wondering if he had hit his head that morning.

A few minutes later, a conversation between Obito and Kushina dissolved into a friendly argument, which then further dissolved into a spar.

"Don't give up until the very end!" Kushina yelled to Obito, grinning.

"Of course I won't!" Obito shouted back. Rin hovered near them, looking unsure as to whether she should stop this or not. She was probably afraid of Kushina's wrath. Kakashi and Minato watched as Kushina crushed Obito, who managed to last a bit longer than usual. Rin ran over to heal him afterwards, and Kushina smiled proudly, looking pleased at their progress as shinobi.

"I understand," Kakashi said suddenly. He felt the need to convey this to Minato somehow, but Minato just looked confused as to what he meant. Kakashi elaborated.

"I used to resent my father for the choices he made, but now…now I understand why he chose his teammates over the mission." Minato looked shocked. Kakashi knew that at this time, his father was a taboo topic for him. Minato must have not been expecting Kakashi to bring his father up with no prompting. It had taken years for Kakashi to understand this, and Obito's death had really brought it home.

Minato smiled. "I see," he said simply. Kakashi was kind of glad that Minato hadn't made a big deal out of it.

The moment was interrupted when an Anbu appeared. "Sandaime Hokage-sama requests the presence of Hatake Kakashi," he stated. Minato seemed worried, but Kakashi tried to reassure him.

"It'll be fine," Kakashi said. "I'll see you guys tomorrow." Minato nodded reluctantly, and Kakashi left with the Anbu. They ran in silence, and the Anbu vanished once Kakashi reached the Hokage's office. Kakashi knocked on the door.

"Come in," Sandaime called. As Kakashi walked in, Sandaime looked up from his paperwork. He seemed tired and worn out, most likely because of the war. Kakashi tried to remember exactly when Sandaime had stepped down and Minato became the Yondaime Hokage, but the exact day slipped his mind. He tried to stop that line of thought. It brought back memories of Minato's death and the day when the Sandaime had to become Hokage once again.

"You requested my presence, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked respectfully.

"Yes," Sandaime said. "I'm sure you are aware, but because of this war, we don't have enough capable shinobi. I know you are young. However, I also know that you are talented. For this reason, I have decided to promote you to jounin."

"I am honored that you chose me, Hokage-sama," Kakashi replied, bowing his head slightly. Kakashi had almost forgotten about being promoted to jounin this month because he was just used to being one. Becoming a jounin was much less of a spectacle that becoming a chuunin.

"Do you believe that your recent injury to your eye will affect your ability to complete missions?" Sandaime asked, sounding very serious.

"No, I do not believe that is the case," Kakashi answered. "I have trained until my injury did not affect me or my fighting ability, so there is no need to worry. I am fully capable."

Sandaime nodded to Kakashi. "Good. You are dismissed."

Kakashi walked out of the office and began to head towards his apartment, lost in thought. As Kakashi reflected on being a jounin, his blood ran cold as he remembered what mission was next.

The Kannabi Bridge Mission.