On a warm spring day, the silver haired Jonin was escorted down the hallway of the school to the awaiting room. That same day, students who had graduated to the level of Genin were assigned to their Jonin teachers, and every single one had left. The school figured this would be a good time to introduce Kakashi to his new student.
"Basically, we don't know much about Neko Clan members," the proctor confessed as he came to a door, adding a nervous laugh, "I only heard my grandfather mention them in his war stories; about how he was stationed in their home, Kaze, and how beautiful the women were. Anyway, we want you to teach her using any method your comfortable with. We'll send any lesson date and times you want to start to her family." By that he means her mother, obviously, Kakashi said to himself, referring back to the clipboard that said her father had been killed.
"Thank you," Kakashi said, reaching for the door handle, "This should be a good experience for the both of us."
"Oh, and be careful," the proctor said over his shoulder, quickly walking away down the hall, "She likes to play pranks."
Kakashi stopped mid-door-opening to listen to this bit of advice echo through his head. Be calm, he told himself, Kids can sense fear, and god knows what else these cat girls are capable of. You've dealt with the most powerful ninja in all the land; you can deal with a little seven year old kitten, what's the big deal? Everyone's probably making this a bigger deal than it ought to be. You can handle this.
Drawing in a breath of cool air, he slowly turned the door handle, listening to the door open with a creak, preparing himself for anything to come.
When he opened the door, he only saw a spic and span classroom…that was empty. He turned his head to the left, then to the right. Nothing. Was he in the wrong room? He craned his head back to read the numbers on the door. Room 28. No, he was in the right room. The room was in silence, except for a few birds singing outside. Kakashi sighed in relief, but was still confused of the where-a-bouts of his student.
Suddenly, he caught the scent of something familiar. The scent of…tuna? His ears became alert as he picked up the sound of someone breathing softly…from above him. Slowly, he looked upwards to meet the crimson eyes of his student, hanging off the ceiling upside down and staring at him in the face.
"Hah!" the student laughed, her fangs showing.
"Good god!" Kakashi suddenly yelled, as his shock caused him to lose his footing.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself on the ground, only one second after the encounter. He heard the soft sound of his student jumping from the ceiling. She ran into his view and fell onto the floor, staring at him in the face with her large eyes.
"Are you Kakashi sensei?" she asked brightly, her ears pointed in excitement, "I'm Kira! Nice to meet you!"
Kakashi stared back at this girl, watching her ears twitch and her tail sway back and forth, her smile never budging.
What the hell have I gotten myself into? He thought to himself.
The air was cool and calm, as was the pleasant blue sky. Kakashi had took to taking their lesson outdoors, seeing that it was what he usually did with his cells, and because there were sharp objects in the room and he didn't want to take any chances with this hyper cat-child. He usually had three kids in a group, consisting of two boys and one girl. But now he had one kid that had as much energy as all three kids put together.
Kakashi stared back at his student. She was still, waiting obediently for him to speak, but her ears and tail moved constantly, picking up sounds and twitching in excitement.
"Well then," Kakashi said kindly, trying to make friends with the child, "Why don't you tell me a little about yourself?" This was what he usually did with his students, so he thought sticking to the usual plan would suffice for now. Kira raised her head slightly.
"Me?" she asked, pointing a finger to herself. Kakashi smiled and nodded. He had to admit, she was really cute. Suddenly, Kira wrinkled her nose and laughed. Kakashi was confused, but decided to keep quiet, figuring she would explain herself.
"I don't need to tell you anything about me," Kira laughed, shuffling her feet on the stone pavement steps she was sitting on, "That clipboard you have says everything you need to know about me." Kakashi was startled when she realized she was right.
Smart, he thought curtly.
"Well, that's true," Kakashi said, "But it can't tell me what you like, or what you don't like. What do you like?" Kira drew in her breath, but leaned back and shut her eyes.
"My mom said I shouldn't tell strangers anything about me, especially men," she stated, as though she was programmed to say this, which she probably was, "And you're a complete stranger to me. So why don't you tell me something about yourself?" Kakashi sighed. They were right; she did not put her trust in just anyone. He decided to just say what he always said.
"Okay, I'll start," he said light-heartedly, "My name is Kakashi Hatake, and I'm the kind of person who doesn't feel like talking about his likes and dislikes to you. My dreams for the future are none of your business…but besides that, I have lots of hobbies." He ended the sentence there. Kira cocked her head, her ears pointed, but only smiled with a satisfied laugh.
"Okay, now will you tell me something about yourself?" Kakashi asked hopefully.
"Sure!" Kira smiled, "My name's Kira Koneko. I like lots and lots of things, and there's not much I don't like. I haven't thought much about my dreams, and I like doing almost everything, so I really don't know what my hobbies are."
Kakashi stared at her. Was she serious? Why was she being so smart? Did she really not trust him? How much longer would it take for her to give a simple bit of information about herself to him? But looking back at her with her big grin on her face, he decided that it would take time, and he was willing to wait…for now.
"Good enough," he sighed, "Now, we can start the lesson. Come back tomorrow, and don't eat breakfast before you come."
"Why?" Kira asked, jumping up as Kakashi prepared to leave.
"Standard rules," Kakashi said while continuing towards the stairs, "Just show up tomorrow."
"Yay! Lesson!" Kira exclaimed happily, bounding upward and running over to the stairs from which they came up. Kakashi merely sighed. She definitely was different from his other students during the introductions, but how would she handle her first assignment?