2. Sensei
Kakashi
Kakashi was not above admitting he needed a break, despite what his cute little kohai and his sensei may think. So when Minato suggested that he take a break from ANBU after almost thirteen years of service Kakashi had agreed. Team Ro would be fine without him. After all he'd been training Tenzo just for the eventuality of his being gone. Though when he started Kakashi assumed he'd only leave ANBU in a body bag. Fate, and Sensei, had a different opinion.
Adjusting back to the Regular Corps wasn't difficult, but it was very different. Kakashi was by no means shy, but he found himself more and more wanting to hide in the background. Interacting with his fellow shinobi, not to mention the civilians was overwhelming. Being in the open felt wrong and he couldn't rid himself of the instinctive need to watch from the shadows. As much as he hated to admit it Gai helped a lot in acclimatizing him back into the fold. His ridiculous challenges hadn't stopped just because of back-to-back missions in ANBU and it was a familiar comfort. It had still taken a year for Kakashi to start consistently going out in public. His biggest saving grace was Icha Icha. It allowed him to go out and get used to the presence of others without risk of someone approaching him. After all no one wanted to talk to the crazy Jounin reading porn in public.
Still even if he was adapting to the change he'd been reluctant to accept a Genin team when Minato had started to suggest it. The first two teams he tested didn't manage to pass his test, so he didn't have high hopes for the next group.
Kakashi should have known Minato was planning something.
This had to be revenge for not visiting since Naruto was still toddling around calling him "Kaka-nii".
It was like seeing a slightly distorted image of Team Minato at their very beginning. The loud brash child determined to be Hokage, his relatively normal best friend who looks after him, and the quiet distant one who did not want their teammates. The differences were glaring, instead of a cold prodigy it was a quiet pink haired kunoichi with more darkness in her eyes than a child born in peace should possess. The brash child was only half an orphan with a doting father to support him and his dream. And the normal one on the team was the second son of the Uchiha Clan Head.
It made his insides clench in the most painful ways.
It also made him more determined than ever to test their teamwork. Kakashi loved his team, but that dynamic hadn't worked. It had gotten Obito killed. It had gotten Rin taken. It had destroyed them. It didn't matter that this was Sensei's son, if Naruto and his team couldn't prove they could overcome it he wouldn't pass them.
From his hiding spot Kakashi observed them as the other teams slowly trailed out with their sensei. After the initial argument with Naruto, the girl seemed satisfied with separating herself from the two of them and looked deep in thought occasionally mouthing something, but never speaking out loud. It almost looked as if little Sakura was talking to herself. Naruto seemed content to ignore the girl and talk to Sasuke. Kakashi was sure the boy hadn't forgotten the girl by any means. The Uchiha appeared to be ignoring Naruto and seemed to become more and more agitated as time passed, giving the door increasingly hostile looks.
Kakashi supposed now was as good a time to meet his new Genin as any.
The first thing Kakashi noticed when he arrived in the hallway was that the door was slightly ajar. The eraser was a quick second. A very minor prank, specially for Naruto's standards. He could avoid it, but Kakashi felt an odd sort of warmness in his chest at the sight causing the twist of pain to loosen. It felt like nostalgia, but that wasn't quite right. There was nothing nostalgic about an eraser but somehow the sight of it made a sweet feeling go through him and made him feel oddly hopeful.
So on a whim Kakashi pushed the door open and walked right into it.
Naruto immediately started laughing. Sasuke looked disgruntled and unimpressed. Sakura looked at him with a suspicion rivaling his ANBU.
Kakashi came to a startling realization that he'd never had with the other teams.
He liked them.
. . .
It didn't get any better when they went to the roof for a little introduction. To put it quite frankly his brats were adorable. Though he should probably refrain from thinking of them as his until after they pass the test. No if they pass the test. Is this how Minato-sensei had felt when he first meet Team Minato? Did he realize Kakashi would feel like this?
Kakashi shook off the feeling and looked over his students more closely now that he had them in front of him.
Naruto may take after Minato in coloring, but that round face was definitely Kushina. The orange was eye catching but not nearly as bad as the old jumpsuit he used to wear was. Naruto had kept the orange pants, but his shirt was black with orange trimmings on the sleeves and up the middle. One both sides of the collar were uzushio swirls with a large one on the back Kakashi had spotted earlier. He was looking at him with eager blue eyes.
Sasuke was definitely less than impressed with his new sensei wearing an expression of utter disapproval that he must have picked up from Fugaku. The boy was dressed in all black the attire an imitation of the Konoha Police Force uniform. Kakashi could see the discrete uchiwa in a shuriken design on the shoulder of the long sleeves and a vest zipped up securely to the open collar was a close imitation to the flak jacket.
The girl was another matter entirely. Sakura seemed determined to hide. Her hair was long with bangs falling in her face, not a good thing for a shinobi. She wore a dark green vest over a plain long sleeve shirt and brown pants. The clothes were obviously civilian made also without the sturdy look of shinobi cloth. If not for the hitai-ate tied to her arm she would have looked more civilian than shinobi.
Despite the distinctly un-shinobi like attire, Sakura was the one who acted the least like a fresh faced Academy graduate. She watched him quietly and carefully behind her bangs, not drawing attention to herself seemingly to get a better feel for the situation. Even her chakra was muted, making her seem less like a threat to a superior foe.
Kakashi definitely liked them.
"Alright!" Kakashi said clapping and making the little Genin look at him expectantly. "We'll start with getting to know each other. I want each of you to tell me a little about yourself. Likes, dislikes, dreams and such."
Kakashi looked over the assembled group thoughtfully and pointed to Sasuke. "You first."
The Uchiha, predictably enough, did not look very happy.
"We already know each other Sensei," Kakashi didn't think he'd ever heard the word said with quite that much disapproval. "Shouldn't you introduce yourself first."
"*Oh...me? My name is Hatake Kakashi. I'm the kind of person who doesn't feel like talking about his likes or dislikes! My dreams for the future are none of your business...But anyway, I have lots of hobbies."
Icha Icha, talking to the dead, being late…Kakashi listed as he watched the boy fume. Kakashi couldn't hold back a smile which was a surprise in and of itself. A bit perturbed he gestured for the boy to begin. He did with an annoyed grunt.
"I'm Uchiha Sasuke. I enjoy my mother's food and training with my older brother. I dislike lateness. And I will be a member of the Police Force once I become a chunin. I don't really have any hobbies."
It continued like that quickly.
"My name is Namikaze Naruto! I like instant ramen, Tou-chan, Mikoto-oba-chan, Fugaku-oji-san, Itachi, and even Sasuke. When he's not being a bastard! I dislike the three minutes you have to wait for ramen! My dream is to become an even better Hokage than my Tou-chan! I guess my hobby would be pranks?"
"I am Haruno Sakura. I like puzzle games and I dislike bullies...I don't really have a dream. I suppose my hobby is reading."
Kakashi shouldn't have left feeling half as hopeful as he did, but there was something about the group of kids that made him feel lighter than he had in years. Maybe these three could be the ones Rin, Obito. As long as they got themselves together tomorrow.
Author's Note: There wasn't much action in this, but I wanted to use Kakashi to transfer from the sorting the the Bell Test. Plus it gave you guys a look at where he's at in his life right now. In canon Kakashi was only in ANBU ten years, but in this story he was in it longer due to the Uchiha Massacre not occurring.