Chapter Two: The Dojo

Browsing through Shelby's bookshelf, Kakashi spied several Japanese novels and a Japanese-English dictionary. He picked it up off the shelf and sat on the couch to page through. After a while he pulled a book written in English off the shelf as well. Noon watched him suspiciously. He coulkn't possibly learn an entirely new language in a matter of hours! But then, she mused, he probably had nothing better to do. When Shelby returned, she immediately noticed Kakashi in the corner, reading a book in English. "I thought you didn't understand English?"she mentioned. He replied in Japanese."I learn quickly, but it's not as though I can speak it yet." Shelby nodded in understanding, amazed at the strange man's abilities. What else could he be capable of? And more importantly, she thought, where did he come from?

Seemingly oblivious to her scrutiny, Kakashi continued reading the book. Although at first he only understood a few words here and there, now he could read about half the page without any difficulty. "Besides," he said to himself, "in such a cramped village I doubt there's any good place for me to keep my skills up without killing something."

Shelby, wanting to be polite to her guest, however strange, decided to help him occupy his time. "If you want I can teach you how to play chess or something," she offered. He glanced up from his book. Shelby blushed, feeling embarrased for no reason. "I mean, you don't have to, but I just thought you might like to do something else for a change," she managed. Still expressionless, he nodded, secretly relieve for an escape from the monotony filling his day.

Once she pointed out the basics of the game, Kakashi grasped its concept easily. Although Shelby's coworkers often praised her for her chess skills, Kakashi was able to beat her easily, amazing her yet again. When he had defeated her five times in less than half an hour, she was forced to resign.

"I give up!" she excaimed laughing. "You're way too good!" Smiling beneath his mask, Kakashi thought of his "rival", Gai. "If only he had given up so easily," Kakashi chuckled mentally. In some ways he missed that man.

Shelby noticed Kakashi's expression become more distant, probably thinking of wherever he had come from. Determined not to let her guest fall into depression, Shelby changed the subject to him. "So, what's it like where you're from?" Shelby asked as unexpectedly as she could, intending to suprise him out of his reverie.

It worked.

Kakashi thought about it for a moment. "Interesting," he said, finally deciding that was the best word to use for his experiences. Shelby raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

Kakashi shrugged, "Obviously I can't say much about the village for security reasons. . ." Shelby's eyebrow went higher. ". . .but there's this one kid who's forever causing trouble." Kakashi smiled fondly at the memory of some of his Naruto's antics. "It's very eventful having him as my student." Shelby became intrigued at this.

"Student? You're a teacher?" Eyeing his outfit, she added, "You sure don't seem like the type."

Not seeing any harm in it, Kakashi felt compelled to add, "It's a ninja school."

Shelby was taken off guard by Kakashi's unpredictable nature. The silver-haired stranger, usually so secretive, suddenly announced that he was a ninja. Shelby would be in shock for a long time, but she had to admit - it made sense. Kakashi was watching her face with an amused expression. That guy's enjoying this, Shelby noticed with irritation.

"So a ninja, huh? What's that mean? Like, what can you do?" Shelby asked, interested.

"Lots of things, I guess, but it's easier to show that kind of stuff than to explain it," Kakashi reiterated, rubbing the back of his head thoughtfully. "And besides, some techniques can't be used too close to a village without killing someone." Curiousity piqued, Shelby rushed to put on her coat. "What are you waiting for? Let's go! I know the perfect place. " Before he could protest, Shelby was out the door and halfway to her car. Sighing, Kakashi reluctantly followed.

-----

"Here we are! Vic's dojo, training grounds of many highly skilled karate specialists." Turning off the car, Shelby glanced back at Kakashi and grinned. "Let's see how you do." Kakashi tried to object politely, but without effect. Finally he gave in. "Can't be helped, I guess," he murmured wearily. Shelby's grin grew still wider. "Come on, it'll be fun!" she called, almost racing to the intrance in her excitement. In spite of himself, Kakashi smiled at her antics. The people here sure are stramge, he thought as he followed her through the door.

---

About twenty men were in the middle of various sparring matches. Each group had from three to five people in it, and some of them were using weapons - sticks, staffs, and the like. Kakashi observed them for a moment. Then, shaking his head with feigned disapointment, he remarked to Shelby in English, "They aren't worth my time. Even if all of them came at me at once the would still be unable to beat me." Shelby looked at the nin, suprised to hear him speaking English, but the men ware more interested in what the cocky, masked stranger had said. One of the men called out, "What maked you think that you can take us on, old man?"

"Old man?" Kakashi repeated, confused. He glanced at Shelby, who pointed at his white hair in explanation. Kakashi laughed. "I'm not as old as you may think," he said, wondering to himself, I don't really look that old, do I?

Gesturing expansively, Kakashi continued, "But I meant what I said about taking all of you on without a problem." A few of the younger guys were eager to take him on. "Sounds good to me!" said the man who had spoken earlier. Kakashi walked to one side of the floor, stating calmly, "I hope you're walls aren't as hard as thay look or most of you will likely leave here with something broken." The men lined up on the opposite side of the school, some faces showing their desire to beat him to a pulp. "Whenever you're ready, I'll explain the rules."

"Rules? What rules? Why do we need rules?" yelled some of them angrily, tightly gripping their weapons.

"Since you are the ones who want to fight me, I figured I could set the rules. Otherwise I may decide to walk out of here without defeating you." Kakashi pulled a pair of bells from his pocket. Thankfully he had been carrying those around when he had been taken from Konoha. "All you have to do is take one of these bells from me. Sound good?"

"Whatever, let's just get on with it!" returned the man furiously.

Kakashi nodded in confirmation, nonchalantly pulling out his book. Catching the title, Shelby blushed profusely.

"Go!" shouted one of the men, and the fight began.

Several men rushed Kakashi all at once, coordinating their attacs in an impressive display. Still reading his book, Kakahi dodged every attack so fast that no one could see him move. The bells jingled constantly, taunting the opponents. Kakashi noticed some of the more experienced members standing back, waiting for the right moment to strike. Good, a strategy. At least someone is fighting intelligently, Kakashi thought with satisfaction, just barely avoiding an attack to his face. This was one of those times where he could really use the sharingan, but he wasn't about to show it to these people. Suddenly a hand shot out from behind him and grabbed his hitaiate, ripping it off. Kakashi berated himself for being so careless. He really needed to pay more attention in these fights.

---

Shelby gasped as she saw the scar bisecting Kakashi's left eye. Where in the world had he gotten that? Stupid, she chided herself, he's a ninja - no doubt he was injured on a mission or something. Staring at Kakashi more intently than she had before, Shelby wondered, "Is that the reason he hides his face?"

---

Kakashi jumped out of the men's reach, still keeping his left eye closed. "I suppose I could just take my hitaiate back from you, but that would ruin the fight, so instead I'll use..." he slowly opened his hidden eye. "Sharingan!"

---

Shelby stared in astonishment. She had never seen an eye like that before. Suddenly Kakashi went on the offensive, devastating any opponent who was unlucky enough to be in his path, weaponless or not. With each blow he seemed to move faster than before, until all Shelby could see was a vague blur. He probably would have gone faster still - if he hadn't run out of opponents. Plucking his hitaiate from a man's twitching fingers, Kakashi tied it around his head and slipped it back down to its familiar position, stating calmly, "You were right, Shelby; that was fun."

She could only stare in awe.