Title: Planning Ahead

Words: 1,666

Characters: Kakashi, Hiruzen Sarutobi (Sandaime Hokage), Tenzo (Yamato), Yugao, Hayate, (others mentioned)

Timeline: A few months before Naruto turns 8, pre-Uchiha massacre.

Pairings: Yugao/Hayate mentioned


There wasn't much that could be said about Kakashi's most recent mission. It had been a success, yes, but in the end it hadn't really mattered. The client had flat out lied about a lot of the so-called facts they'd been given, and somehow Konoha's intelligence network hadn't figured it out in time. His team survived, however, so it hadn't gone completely fubar—even if killing their target successfully was going to lead to a lot more headaches and missions in the long run.

Tenzo glanced his way as the Hokage dismissed the majority of the team following the debriefing. Kakashi responded with a hand sign indicating he'd meet up at the usual place later. While he didn't have a lot of friends, the mokuton user had grown on him while he trained under him. They both had issues—vastly different ones considering Kakashi hadn't been experimented on by Orochimaru as an child—but they both had secrets, some of which overlapped.

Not long after joining ANBU, Tenzo had been inserted into Naruto's protection unit as a substitute. In part it was to provide more off days for the elder ANBU who had already stayed in the organization years past their contracts, but it was also to get Naruto used to Tenzo. There were very few people with the potential to aid in the suppression of a biju and Tenzo was one of only a few that the Sandaime and Jiraiya felt could be trusted. The Uchiha were oddly not among them. Not even the prodigy Itatchi, who was being considered for promotion to ANBU captain, had been pushed into the hodge podge team that made up the jinchuriki's guard.

When the rest of Kakashi's team was gone, the Hokage sighed. "Remove your mask please, Kakashi-kun."

He did so, suppressing the wince at the honorific. No matter his own status as ANBU captain and elite jounin, Kakashi always felt like a little kid around the Hokage. Granted he was just in his early twenties. "Hokage-sama?" he questioned, removing the Inu mask from his face.

Hiruzen leaned back in his chair and surveyed the younger man. Kakashi had been in ANBU since his former teacher made Hokage. When the Kyuubi had attacked Kakashi had still been in training, thus not accepted as a full ANBU. He had risen fast, faster than most originally thought he would through the ranks following the attack. The boy had lost a lot those few years, his team and surrogate family were all gone, lost to war and the dangers of the shinobi lifestyle. If he had to guess, Kakashi had originally joined ANBU in order to, eventually, join his sensei's guard detail. In the end he'd ended up protecting Naruto from time to time instead.

"Your ANBU contract will be up in four months," Hiruzen stated without preamble. "I need to know if you will be signing up for a third time or if you will be returning to regular jounin duties."

Kakashi blinked and frowned a little under his mask. Time had gotten away from him, he hadn't really thought about his contract. He'd signed the first upon finishing his training not long after the attack, opting for the four year terms that most avoided. The second he'd signed not long after first joining Naruto's guard as seeing the rambunctious blond for a while each month eased the pain from the loss of his surrogate family. It was also the only way he'd been able to spend time with the child.

"I plan to—"

"Naruto will be joining the academy for the spring semester, Kakashi," Hiruzen interrupted him. "He' ll be eight and considering the tutoring he's received from Umino Iruka and a few others over the years, it is unlikely that he'll have difficulty graduating on time . . . perhaps even earlier."

Oh. Oh. If Kakashi chose to renew his contract there was a distinct possibility he'd miss the chance to actually train Naruto, something he'd once—only sort of joking—promised Minato-sensei and Kushina he would do. He'd even let himself imagine it a few times while on guard duty as he watched the boy who was so much like his mother in personality and father in coloring run around.

"If I don't renew, won't I be put forward as a possible jounin sensei every six months?" Kakashi asked carefully.

Hiruzen quirked a smile and nodded, raising his pipe to his lips and lighting it. "Yes. You were taught by one of our greatest and have yet to take a team after being a jounin for nearly a decade. Between your age and skill level you are a prime candidate to be a jounin-sensei."

Kakashi winced, shifting his weight slightly. There really wasn't anything he could say or do to refute that fact that also wouldn't count against him to be eventually given Naruto's team.

"However . . . you are aware how teams are chosen and developed?"

"Yes . . . somewhat."

"Most of the teams that will be kept by jounin sensei's are already chosen prior to the secondary genin exams. It sounds harsh, but when twelve teams graduate only four will remain with the jounin sensei they are assigned."

Kakashi nodded, that was something he knew.

"Those teams are usually developed with certain paths in mind. Their senseis are chosen to not only aide in developing those, but also to compliment them. In Naruto's year there is an Inuzuka, an Aburame, and a main house Hyuuga. If graduation was tomorrow they would be paired together, likely with an Uchiha or genjutsu specialist in order to form a specialized tracking team, barring extremely clashing personalities. Your own team was a combat specialist team . . . much like your Minato's and my students."

Kakashi knew most of this. It was, seemingly quite unfair, as many teams that gained jounin sensei's included students with specialized abilities—most of the time this meant that they were clan heavy. There were notable exceptions, especially in later years as some of the clans dwindled and others grew. The non-clan shinobi population was also growing and families were passing—or had been prior to the Kyuubi attack—more and more techniques and fighting styles onto the younger generation.

"You want me to test the students that will study with the chunin," Kakashi guessed after a long moment. Those that ended up with chunin sensei studied more general fields until their specialization was found and developed or until a complimentary team could be organized. It was rather difficult to form teams out of twelve year olds that had a cohesive purpose, considering most children didn't spend much time outside of the academy practicing. The program for genins taught by chunins

"Yes," Hiruzen nodded, "You will also act as a temporary sensei from time to time for C rank missions . . . when you are not assigned higher ranking missions, of course."

He groaned inwardly, but he knew there was nothing he could do but accept. He wanted to teach Naruto, in some ways he needed to. If things had gone differently Kakashi would have basically been the boy's older brother. Right now, though, he was just a faceless guard. Considering Naruto's sensor abilities, Kakashi was very careful to avoid him when off duty.

Resolving himself, Kakashi straightened. "I will not be renewing my ANBU contract when it runs out in four months."

"As you wish." Hiruzen grew serious again. "I will be assigning Uchiha Itatchi to your squad starting in two days. You will be training him to take over your duties as ANBU captain, with the exception of your extra guard duty." Plucking two scrolls off his desk, he handed them to Kakashi. "You'll be taking Raion's place tomorrow . . . you have my permission to speak with your charge. It would be good for you to explain your prolonged absence from his awareness." He smiled again, "You'll also be on duty on the tenth, as usual."

"Understood." Kakashi bowed then, and replaced his mask as the Hokage dismissed him.


Kakashi found Tenzo and a few of their collegues—mostly ANBU—at their usual bar. There were a few places popular among the jounin and ANBU that allowed for them to be a tad less discrete about their position among the black ops. As long as masks and code names weren't mentioned it was all good, usually. Shinobi also knew when to stop asking questions and when to silence comrades that got a little too drunk.

Not one for doing a lot of talking, Kakashi sipped and spun his drink a little, staring idly at its surface as he listened to a jounin a table over tell a story about one of his genin teams recent D ranks. The conversation at his table was going in one ear and out the other until Tenzo tapped his shoulder.

He raised an eyebrow and set his glass flat on the table.

"What's up with you, Kakashi?" Yugao, a sub-captain asked. Kakashi had somehow missed her and Hayate showing up. Her boyfriend, a former ANBU who had contracted an illness (or poison) during a mission outside of Hi no Kuni that had scarred his lungs, had been discharged to the jounin ranks. He was still more than welcome among their circle, though.

Kakashi took a long moment before answering with a smile, his eye drifting shut, "I think I'll become a jounin sensei."

To say the bar, let alone his own table, was shocked would have been an understatement.

It also didn't surprise him that the next time Gai found him, his self-proclaimed eternal rival went into a rant on how he would take up Kakashi's "challenge" and become the best jounin-sensei he could as well. Kakashi wasn't really paying attention to what Gai would do if he failed . . . but he thought he caught something about water walking on his hands and Kirigakure in there somewhere.


Fin.


Note: Another shorty, but the next one will be a bit longer I think . . . I was going to include Naruto's conversation with Kakashi in this one, but sometimes you find a perfect ending and I thought this worked. Going over the training of genins was repetitive from future chapters, sorry, but I needed to flesh out the fact that Kakashi didn't fail those teams in order to get Naruto on his team . . . he was asked to in order to have him on his team. In other words the Hokage is going to make Kakashi interact some with kids to get at least a bit used to those that aren't Naruto.

I'm also flubbing the timeline here. In this AU the academy having two semesters with two graduating classes (or more some years . . . I figure starting with Narutos the following years may be slim on graduates and then have a boom four yearsish from then due to the attack) a year. The Uchiha massacre will take place the spring that Naruto starts at the academy in this AU and Sasuke will join his class in the fall after missing much of the spring semester having originally started in the fall before but missing most of the spring in recovery. This is off a bit, but then this is an AU.

The example given to Kakashi of team 8 is a hypothetical 'if the students were eligible to graduate now and were sorted into teams now.' It always bothered me in canon how few ninja it appeared graduated to protect not only Konoha but Fire country as a whole each year . . . they weren't training to replace and then some their numbers (ie couple needs to have two children or more to maintain a populations numbers.

Thanks again for reviewing/alerting! :3 The reviews were an especially nice treat!