Makoto looked at the Jounin piercingly for a minute, then sighed and stood aside, "Please come in, Kakashi-kun."

"Yamanaka-san."

Her eyes narrowed, "Unless you're a foolish Council Member attempting to take my children from me, I prefer not to be known by my husband's Clan name. My name is Makoto, you may even use Mako-kun if you'd prefer; enough of my friends do and I hold no shame over my tomboyish tendencies."

"Ah... Thank you, Makoto-sempai."

She smiled over her shoulder at him as she led the way to the dining room, "Now that one's a little out of date. I'm not a Jounin anymore, Kashi-kun."

"You aren't on the roster anymore, Makoto-sempai. I am intelligent enough to know the difference."

She closed her eyes, tilted her head, and stuck her tongue out. Hmm, so that was where Naruto got that from. "No wonder my daughter couldn't stop talking about you, you seem to see through everything, don't you, Kakashi-kun?" Sharp green eyes opened and zeroed in on him. Kakashi stilled at the sensation threatening to flatten him to the ground. It wasn't Killing Intent, but close; the feeling of a very capable, very powerful, very protective mother assessing if he was worthy of her child. "Why, exactly did you come here, Kakashi?" No suffix, she was getting serious.

Kakashi cleared his throat, "My- My record files appear to be woefully lacking on all members of my Genin team, and I was hoping you could help fill in some of the blanks, Makoto-sama."

The predatory glint in her eyes didn't leave, but it did abate some, and she dropped her gaze to the table to pour them both tea, handing him a cup with a smile that was, for all its gentility, a dangerous warning not to cross her. "You could not have come to a better source in the entire village. I know probably the most about all of this year's rookies out of anyone. I will endeavor to answer to the best of my ability- assuming the normally forbidden subjects remain just that; forbidden."

Kakashi took that as 'the first crack about my child being the Kyuubi, and you'll wish the tea had been acid by the time I'm through with you'. Coming from a Jounin kunoichi with over seven years experience on him and a talent for plants, he took the warning entirely seriously. He set the cup down on the table and cleared his throat again, "I like to think myself above such social blunders, Makoto-sama: my sensei taught me better than that." There, that should help a little. A reminder that Minato, Makoto's own team mate, had been his sensei and a gentle nudge to trust in what the blond had taught him.

A single slow nod was the response, and she took a sip from her own cup, "Then ask your questions."

Kakashi leaned back and let out a minute sigh of relief. He hated playing politics, especially against other shinobi. "I read that Naruto was unable to complete a simple Clone Jutsu, and yet she was able to summon roots for the purpose of trying to impale me during the Genin test."

Makoto didn't even bother trying to hide her smirk, and Kakashi twitched, "You've heard about the Mizuki incident, I presume?"

"Heard about, yes. But the report on it was sealed, and the only thing that remains is rumor. Though I have been able to substantiate the one claiming that a Genin was able to use the Shadow Clone Jutsu. She's quite talented with it."

The brunette nodded and wrapped her fingers around her cup, "She is. I can only tell you so much because there are clan secrets involved, but as I was the one who requested the file be sealed, I can tell you a bit more about the incident than common rumor. All you really need to know is that Naruto, not even a Genin yet, was able to infiltrate the Hokage's office, steal the Forbidden Scroll, and not only get away, but learn and master a B-Class forbidden Jutsu in the space of a few hours. Granted, she likely could not have found a Jutsu better suited to her unique situation to learn, but her accomplishments, and the child in question, shouldn't be underestimated."

Kakashi's only visible eye narrowed, "I see... And she defeated Mizuki? Can you tell me about that?"

Makoto's smile turned pained, "He told her. He told her and she froze because he kept hammering the fact home. He threw a dai shuriken at her and I reacted first as a mother rather than a kunoichi. If Iruka hadn't been there to help pull it out of my back, had I tried to remove it on my own, it would have severed my spinal cord. Even Jounin are only ever one mistake away from death."

"Then how did an Academy student take him down?"

She gave him a wry look, "Did I not just say it was my own foolishness that nearly cost me my life? And I am a Jounin. Mizuki was a Chuunin, he had a grudge, and he severely underestimated his opponent. According to Naru-chan, she frustrated him, playing to his anger and hatred of her to distract him, throwing Shadow Clones to disorient and infuriate him further, and raised the grass from the ground to something like two meters high. By the time he realized the danger, she was able to simply bind him in place."

"Rope Escape Jutsu?"

"Didn't get the chance, Naruto sealed his chakra."

"Fuinjutsu?"

Makoto shook her head, "You understand I can only explain this in the vaguest of terms because it involved Kino Clan secrets." Kakashi nodded and she went on, "In laymen's terms, she ran her own chakra through Mizuki's body, disrupting his own chakra pathways and forcing his chakra to follow the path hers burned through his chakra network. All his chakra would have followed the new path, and then she pooled it all in one spot and linked it into the ground to drain away like rainwater. It's a very advanced Clan Jutsu, on a smaller scale than what we usually do for the village."

"I don't understand... How can she have such prodigious chakra control and still not pull off a simple Clone?"

Makoto smiled and crossed her free hand over the other that was holding her teacup by the rim, resting her chin on them, "Ah, but that's the thing: Naruto is absolutely abysmal at chakra control. But if chakra manipulation is what you're looking for, you'll find none better."

Kakashi blinked, raising his hands in a full-body shrug, "Makoto-sama, if anything, you've only enshrouded the matter further instead of clearing it up."

She tossed her head back and let out a rich, earthy laugh, "Sorry about that." She put her cup down and leaned forward, "Let me try to explain is less nebulous terms. Naruto has truly massive reserves of chakra, to such a point that it cripples her Jutsu abilities. You and I and Inoichi all together still couldn't match her chakra pool."

Kakashi's eye widened, "That's..."

"Ridiculous? Utterly. But it's also true. To help her with it, I trained her in my clan techniques, which require either exact chakra control, or massive quantities to make up for it. Naruto has the latter. With this exercise, Naruto has been handling her chakra near-constantly, channeling and playing with it. And she's very good at that, but that isn't 'control' in the way that shinobi are taught control. Naruto is young, and like the young, she's lacking truly fine motor control. To Naruto, her own reserves are like a giant can of spraypaint that she can hold, and as I'm sure you've seen some of her more... eclectic pranks, you know she's very gifted with that and can create gorgeous and detailed murals- on a large scale. But asking her to practice standard chakra control is like giving her a brush with a single bristle and asking her to paint Shogi tiles."

"I see..."

"If you want pure chakra manipulation, Naruto is your kunoichi, but if control is what you need, you're looking at the wrong blonde. Ino-chan is the best out of the graduating class with chakra control, followed swiftly by Sakura, who's a bit better at academics than Ino-chan."

"I'm concerned about the exact how of Naruto managed to subdue Mizuki. For instance, will she be able to train to use this technique reliably?"

"Ah- no, I'm afraid that there was a very specific set of circumstances that allowed her to do it in the first place."

"Such as?"

"Mizuki made the mistake of asking Naruto to meet him in the Chakra Forest. Naruto's technique would normally be a great blow to a shinobi due to the blow that forcing your own chakra into another's coils normally causes, but that's all it would do, as she'll have a great deal of training necessary still to do that reliably without completely rupturing whoever's system she tries it on and killing them. It was only because Naruto was using a kind of Kino clan training that is only possible here in Konoha that she was able to manage the necessary control, and only the very specific location of the Chakra Forest's Nexus that allowed her to Drain Seal him."

"Nexus?" Kakashi asked.

"A nexus is... a place where several lines of energy meet. The Chakra Forest has one of these as well as a very few other spots of power around the village, and it was only because of this that Naruto managed what she did. Outside of both the forest and the village, however..."

Kakashi nodded, "Chakra system rupture."

"Chakra system rupture." Makoto confirmed.

He hummed in acknowledgement, then moved on to another line of questions. "Naruto managed to layer Jutsu like it was nothing. She Transformed Shadow Clones that Sakura then Substituted for the bells. Aside from not even being possible, these Genin have an inherent feel for team work on a level I've never even seen before. Naruto and Sasuke used a combination Jutsu. There are Jounin that can't do that. There's something vital I'm missing about them all. With this kind of ability, they should have graduated long ago."

Makoto set her cup down and stood up, "You're right about that: you are missing something. Come with me and I'll show you precisely what it is." Kakashi followed as she led the way to Naruto's room and opened the door. The surprise on Kakashi's face, hidden as it was, was entirely worth it. The Study Night Nine, now Konoha's Rookie Nine were all cuddled up in Naruto's large bed like one massive huddle of puppies.

Naruto was curled up like a fox, her back pressed to Ino's, face buried between Sasuke's shoulders as she used his back for a pillow, the Uchiha's hand wrapped securely around her ankle. Ino and Sakura were curled in together so that their bodies almost made a heart. Hinata had her feet pressed to the bottoms of Naruto's, face leaned into Shino's chest with Kiba on the other side, twitching and muttering in his sleep with Akamaru right next to him doing the same. Shikamaru had started out with his arms crossed and leaned against the headboard- until Naruto had grabbed his leg and pulled him down; he still had his arms crossed, his shirt bunched up around his chest. Chouji sprawled out, head resting on Shino's thigh, one hand on Ino's shoulder and the other on an unopened bag of chips.

Makoto pulled the gaping Jounin away and closed the door, "That's what you're missing, Kakashi. You aren't dealing with three ambiguously talented students, you've come up against three crafty children who have the entirety of Konoha's most brilliant of the generation to fall back on. Every stupid or impossible thing that Naruto or Kiba suggest, which adults would simply ignore, find fertile ground in the minds of the geniuses and prodigies of the generation. When Naruto complains about having lots of chakra but no control, and Sakura complains about the opposite, and Kiba suggests sharing it to fix the problem, Shikamaru and Sasuke listen, Hinata offers to watch and help, Ino adds in parts of theory she's heard practicing Yamanaka techniques, Shino and his Kikaichu provide safety to suck out the chakra before it reacts dangerously...

"What you have is not three students, but one-third of a unit already at least four years strong. Take a look, that in there is the Will of Fire, that is what it really is to be Leaf Shinobi."

Kakashi was silent as they returned and sat at the table again. Makoto watched as his shoulders began shaking, subtly at first, then harder, until he eventually fell back laughing. It took several minutes for him to get control of himself, and when he did, he had to wipe a tear of mirth from his eye, "How did you do it, Makoto-sama?"

She lifted her cup once again and smiled into it, "I did nothing but impart my daughters with what it is to be Leaf-Nin. The Yamanaka value our bonds and friendships higher than all else. I introduced my children to those of my friends, but then I simply sat back and let Naruto's natural charisma lead the way. Naruto wouldn't let Sakura and Ino abandon their friendship, and now, years later, it is stronger than ever. When the Uchiha massacre happened, Sasuke was here, and Naruto didn't let him pull away from his friends in the wake of his loss. She dragged him to every Study Night bodily until he began coming on his own again."

Kakashi nodded and smiled behind his mask, "So then, tell me about this new variation of the Replacement Jutsu."

Makoto smirked at him, "Well, I can only tell you what I heard about it second-hand." When he motioned her to go on, she began.

It was Sakura who first brought it up in one of their Study Sessions: "Is it possible to use a Replacement Jutsu with something that isn't the user?"

Everyone else stopped, and, as a group, looked towards first Shikamaru, then Sasuke. Shika blinked, then tilted his head and said something that would have shocked any adult in hearing range: "I don't know."

Heads immediately swung towards Sasuke. The Uchiha didn't flinch at being the center of their stares like he had when he first started coming to Study Night. He closed his eyes, obviously rifling through the storage scroll that was his mind. When he finally blinked open his eyes, it was with hesitation, "I'm... not sure. I've never heard of anything like that before."

"Where did you even come up with it, Sakura?"

The pinkette did shift uncomfortably as everyone looked at her, "Well... it just came to me. It's just a thought, but... The basis of a Substitution is for a shinobi to swap their body with another person or thing, to get away from a situation. So I just thought... would it be possible to switch something with something else instead of the person-to-something, in order to get someone or something away from a situation. ...Am I making any sense?"

Ino nodded, "Yeah, I get it. Like, if a shinobi could swap a scroll from their target without having to sacrifice themself for the Jutsu." She glanced around the room, "So you'd want us to be able to, say, swap that flower vase, there, with... the picture on the dresser over there, from here, without us having to swap places with either or both of them, right?"

Sakura nodded, "Exactly." She paused, "...So is it even possible?"

Naruto, of course, was the one to put it in perspective for them, with a huge grin, "Well it's certainly not impossible if we manage to do it~"

Kakashi's eye widened, "They wanted to do it to prove that it wasn't impossible?"

"Not exactly. They had a reason for creating it, they just didn't know it was impossible because they rely so much on each other that they never told an adult, who would have said it couldn't be done. And because they didn't know it couldn't be done, they tried until they did it."

It was Hinata that helped figure out what the problem was. "Th-the chakra is wrong." Everyone, sweaty and tired from failure, looked her way. Naruto urged her on, though, and she swallowed nervously, "W-when someone uses the Replacement, they're swapping with something that has their chakra s-signature on it already."

Sakura smacked her forehead, "Of course! That's why people raise rabbits and carry scrolls with logs in them. No one just swaps with something around them, it has to be familiar."

Ino crossed her arms and blinked, "So... it really is impossible?"

Shikamaru sighed, "She didn't say that. She said we need a way to charge the thing with our chakra so it becomes 'familiar'."

Naruto looked down at her hands, then over at her sister and to the vase and picture in question. The vase was Ino's -Naruto had never touched it before- and the picture was Naru's -Ino had long since learned the hard way to never rearrange her sister's interior decorating- so they should both only have their own charka on the items. But... Naruto knew Ino's chakra, and Ino knew Naruto's, thanks to the training they'd both gotten from Kaachan in Kino ways.

"I would not normally be so lenient about sharing of Clan teachings and practices, but these children have been under my roof nearly every week for years. I've fed them, tended their scrapes and injuries, been the adult to which they've run when they needed advice while here. They're practically family as it is."

"Sounds like a very... unique, dichotomy."

The brunette Jounin smiled at him, "Oh, it is. It very much is. And if you're brave enough to stay through breakfast, you'll get a uniquely intimate view of it that may help your training methods for your team."

"Oh, I couldn't possibly impose like that and invite myself to a meal."

"You misheard me. We're very informal here. It is not about you imposing yourself on us, it's you being brave enough to withstand the natural imposition the children are."

"They are children?"

Makoto stood, "They are nine genius Genin that you yourself have already been impressed by. I leave it to you to decide. I must start breakfast."

Kakashi wasn't sure what to make of that offer as his hostess retreated. He shrugged and lifted his cup. Surely they weren't that bad. He could handle being around his team and their friends for a free meal.

Kakashi wondered if he could still make a clean getaway as the children began to wake up minutes later.

"Oh my god! Sasuke, you drooled on me! Groooooosss!"

It was only thanks to his superior hearing that Kakashi was able to make out Sasuke's reply: "Hn. Uchiha don't drool."

"LIAR!" Kakashi could so vividly imagine the accusing finger Naruto pointed at her team mate, "One of those things is false, so which is it?! Either you aren't lying or you aren't an Uchiha!"

There was a moment of (blessed!) silence, "...Uh, Naru..."

"Yeah, I know what I said, shut up."

"Dobe."

"Teme! I said shut up! I know, I know: 'Open foot, insert mouth.' " Another beat, "Shut up. I swear-"

"Frequently."

"HIYA!"

There was a loud 'thud!' followed by a shout, "TROUBLESOME!" By what could only be the latest generation of Nara- with far more enthusiasm than Kakashi was familiar with. "Will you kindly get off of me?!"

"...Where did you come from, Shika?"

"How did you not notice him ducking?!"

"Naru! SHUT UP! It's too early!"

"Come on, Neechan, we're ninja now; get used to it."

"Get used to this!"

Kakashi watched in a mixture of amusement and horror as Sasuke Uchiha ducked from the room like he was sneaking below the notice of an A-Rank Missing-Nin. His opinion was revised as Naruto ran out and ducked behind him- blatantly using her team mate for cover as a pillow flew from the room behind her with enough force that, when it hit the living room table, it exploded and sent feathers everywhere.

Naruto peeked over Sasuke's back towards the doorway. She quickly put her hands into the Cross Seal and made a six-man squad of Shadow Clones silently. She then had half of them transform into pillows and pointed dramatically to the room, "Second Wave, ATTACK!"

The clones ran back into the room. Kakashi stared in wonder. He, honestly, could not have moved if his life depended on it. He watched, astonished, as Sasuke -whom Naruto had apparently tried to tackle to the ground less than five minutes prior- worked in perfect silent camaraderie with Naruto and strung ninja wire across the door way near the bottom.

The sounds of Shadow Clones exploding came from the other room which quickly filled with smoke that even billowed back out into the living room. Then there was a shout of: "Byakugan!"

Naruto crafted another pair of clones to stand just outside and to the right of the doorway, armed with pillows.

Kakashi started and tore his gaze away from the chaos to see Shino Aburame calmly sit at the table. He blinked and glanced back over at Naruto and Sasuke's traps, "How...?"

"I climbed out the window and went around."

His attention was dragged back to the show as Kiba attempted to run from the room- tripping spectacularly on the ninja wire. The clones diverted imminent disaster: one going into a slide to put the pillow out for Kiba to face-plant in and saving him from a nasty collision with the floor, the other jumping up and catching the small dog that had been on Kiba's head and been sent flying from the momentum.

The wire was pulled from its anchoring points, but Kiba grabbed the pillow and rolled to the side, immediately sitting up and going to work unwrapping it from his ankles. The pillowless clone dispelled itself, creating more smoke cover, and Kakashi got to see Sasuke, the prideful Uchiha (that didn't drool), armed with the pillow that had caught Akamaru as he took up the post next to the doorway. The next one coming through was in perfect position to get a pillow to the face.

And they would have, had they not (over)reacted so perfectly. Feathers exploded everywhere with a shout of: "Rotation!" Sasuke and Naruto both sent opposite directions. Byakugan active, Hinata smirked as she walked through the feather-strewn room and sat calmly next to Shino.

Shikamaru was next, trench-crawling out of the room, eyes warily flicking to Naruto and Sasuke's groaning forms. He was not able to avoid the pillow to the head that Kiba threw, finally free of the wire.

Sakura and Ino ran from the room, both armed with pillows, and Shikamaru sighed before disappearing in a poof of smoke, a sharp yelp sounding as he Substituted with Kiba just in time for the Inuzuka to take the brunt of the twin hits with a great 'FWUP' of sound.

Kiba was visibly dizzy when both girls pulled their fluffy weapons of hell away with confused looks, shaking his head so hard Kakashi was certain he heard the boy's brain rattle inside his skull from a room away. Shikamaru gave a small, closed-eyed, satisfied smirk as he walked across the threshold to the dining room (home base?) and sat down across from Hinata with a nod Shino's way.

Kiba scowled as Akamaru barked from between his team mates. He shot forward and let out a strangled sound as a length of ninja wire caught him across the chest, his feet going out from under him and his head connecting solidly with the wooden floor.

Naruto, Sasuke, Ino, and Sakura all stood above him, armed to the teeth with pillows and evil grins. The animalistic teen curled up in a ball, "Uncle! Uncle!"

The quartet, robbed of their surrendering prey, eyed each other warily. Naruto and Sasuke both dropped and kicked out for Ino and Sakura's legs at the same time. The kunoichi jumped over it perfectly and came down with a new fountain of feathers on their targets- which dispersed with twin poofs of smoke.

The real Sasuke and Naruto waved -well, Naruto waved- from their positions on the opposite side of the table, Sasuke smirking victoriously and Naruto beaming happily. Chouji was the last one to emerge- and Kakashi saw the reason for his lack of rush as he munched from a bag of chips.

Naruto made a couple clones that started cleaning up the mess of real feathers that hadn't poofed away like her transformed clones had.

Ino sat down with a huff that turned into an enormous yawn, "Morning..."

Sakura sat next to her, and Ino immediately put her to use as a personal pillow, resting her head on Sakura's shoulder. Other calls of 'morning' sounded out around the table, intermixed with grunts from the less sociable teens, and mere nods from Sasuke and Shino.

Naruto yawned massively and thumped her head onto Sasuke's shoulder. He gave her an irritated look before shrugging her off so her head hit the table. She turned just enough to pin him with a storm blue glare and they spent the next two minutes solid holding a staring contest before the Uchiha finally huffed and looked away. Naruto grinned and sat up, nudging closer to him. He ignored her staunchly, which only made the blonde wiggle closer until they were pressed tightly together and try to tickle him with her elbow.

Kakashi was shocked to see the dark-haired boy's lips twitching as he obviously fought a smile. Naruto apparently considered that enough of a victory and finally turned away to the rest of the group with a grin, "So what happened to everyone else yesterday?"

Ino looked away, "I don't want to think about it. Shikamaru! You tell."

The dark-haired boy heaved a great sigh, "We were all wrong. None of our guesses were anywhere close to the true mark. The test was about working together, but not in the showing of our clan techniques, just in team work itself."

Naruto pushed up from the table and every eye turned to her, "Wait! You mean... we didn't have to beat Kakashi-sensei to pass?!" She turned to the Jounin at the table and all the others' gazes followed loyally.

Kakashi eye-smiled at them, "That's right. The key to passing was teamwork. You didn't have to beat me, and you didn't have to get the bells. Though I really was quite impressed with the effort."

Naruto fell back completely and plunged her hands into her hair, "Aaaargh! What a waste of effort! We came up with all those plans and all we had to do was show that we worked together?!" This was why she hated school so much! She sat up and huffed, leaning heavily into Sasuke's side, "So did everyone else cheat to get the bells, too?"

Ino blinked, "What bells?"

Shikamaru shrugged, "Asuma tied me, Ino, and Choiji together by our arms and legs and then ordered us to beat him."

Kiba scowled, "You guys had it easy. Kurenai-sensei used this smog-stuff on Akamaru an' me, this special blindfold for Hinata, and this Aburame-approved stuff on Shino to make his Kikaichu useless and then ordered us to track her down and score a hit."

"What was that about b-bells, Naruto-chan?" Hinata asked.

The golden blonde wove her fingers together behind her head and closed her eyes as she leaned back, "Ah, he had two bells and ordered us to take them from him. We each tried, thinking it was a mission about trying to obtain the objective when enemies were aiming for the same goal. We all got our asses kicked. Then we decided we were gonna get the bells, rules or not, and attacked together." Her smile took up most of her face, "We beat 'im, too~"

Kakashi sweatdropped, "Naruto... surely you realize I wasn't fighting at my best since I was just testing you guys."

She flapped her hand at him nonchalantly, "Yeah, yeah, we know all about your Ninken, Kakashi-sensei. We had plans for them, too, but you never brought them out."

The Jounin went rigid, "You what? How do you know about them?"

One storm blue eye opened and she grinned at him, "I really don't feel like telling you that."

Okay, he kind of deserved that after the brush-off he'd given his team during introductions...

Ino facepalmed at her sister's disrespect, Kiba snickered, and Shikamaru just sighed. But Kakashi didn't miss the smirk on Sasuke's lips, or how Sakura covered her mouth with her hand to hide her smile.

"Naruto, I'm your Jounin sensei now, I need to know what skills you already have if I'm going to teach you more."

Her cheeks puffed out at him, both eyes opened, then she pouted and looked away, "Yeah, whatever. Kiba said he'd seen you in the Inuzuka Clinic, and Akamaru's spoken with Pakkun before." Her eyes widened and she thumped herself on the head before reaching behind her into one of her ninja pouches and pulling out a phial of black... something, and setting it on the table in front of Shino, "That's right! I completely forgot to give you your bugs back, Shino-kun. Sorry. But thanks for letting me borrow 'em."

Kakashi blinked, "Bugs?"

And Naruto's grin was back as easy as that, "Yep~! Shino let us have some chakra-modified ninja fleas to deal with your Ninken in combination with some... er, other stuff we had planned."

"That's-"

"Cheating, duh. Ninja~"

He sighed, "Just what have I gotten myself into...?"

Naruto threw her arm around Sasuke and beamed at him, "Something wonderful, of course! That's a guarantee from Naruto Yamanaka, future-"

It was a chorus of nine voices that answered in perfect sync, "Hokage."

Naruto pouted at all of her friends, "You guys-"

"Suck." They answered.

Her hands once again found their way into her hair in frustration, "Gah! Stop that!"

Most of the others laughed at her, Sasuke smirking and Shino making no visible reaction due to his high-collared jacket. Makoto came back before Naruto could start up another round of excitement, setting food out on the table, and Kakashi was surprised when Naruto got up and went back into the kitchen to help her mother set out the rest of the spread.

Inoichi wasn't present, and Kakashi could understand. He'd not have been here himself if he hadn't taken on a team and been on standard duty. Naruto set out key dishes within easy reach of certain people and, softly chatting about everyday things- kunai practice, praising Hinata for finally mastering her Rotation, poking fun at Kiba and Akamaru's reactions to when she'd put the phial of fleas on the table (Kakashi noted that said container had disappeared since).

It was like one enormous family. Even Clans, usually made up of many families, rarely had such a warm and inviting atmosphere, rarely gathered like this, and he knew of no single family that had so many children as this in a single house. Even the infamously silent Sasuke Uchiha was making conversation, which really surprised Kakashi, given everything he'd read about the boy in his files. But he was beginning to realize he'd better toss those files completely and build his ideas about his team on his own assessments if he was looking for anything remotely accurate.

Chouji started in with starry eyes because of some dish or another and Naruto went off on a long tangent about how it was made, showing that her mother wasn't the only one in the house that could cook. And then she and Ino got into a well-intentioned debate about what plants to use as seasoning, Naruto mentioning something about a poisonous flower that had her sister's cheeks heating and shouting about 'one time!' that Kakashi figured to be an in-joke if the golden-blonde's teasing smile was anything to judge by.

The chatter abruptly cut off when Makoto placed down the last dish and took her own place at the table. All of them clapped their hands together and lowered their heads, Kakashi doing the same, "Itadakimasu."

Even the meal itself wasn't quiet as Naruto immediately began nattering with Kiba, elbowing Sasuke in the side for verification on something she'd seen. The Uchiha grunted but nodded just the same, his eyes on his place-setting. Kakashi was blatantly shocked when Chouji reached out for something on Naruto's plate and Sasuke casually reached over past Naruto and savagely stabbed the piece of sushi in question with an extra pair of chopsticks. Chouji's hand flinched and he wisely pulled it back. Naruto, completely oblivious to the attempted pilfering and subsequent defense of her breakfast, picked up the poor impaled piece of food and pulled it off the chopsticks, pausing in her talking only long enough to chew and swallow before continuing on. She handed the utensils back to Sasuke absently.

Does she ever breathe? Kakashi reached up to pull down his mask, he got a few curious glances, but none that stayed, the teens too interested in the breakfast conversation to pay attention. Well, that wasn't the reaction he usually got. There were Jounin he had known for years that would do just about anything to see behind the mask.

He wasn't sure if he should be proud or disappointed.

Kakashi finished his meal with his usual speed and replaced his mask, noticing that the children were nearly as fast. Do they just inhale their food?

The more he learned, the more he questioned. "I'm curious." Ino, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Shino looked at him- the others were too engrossed in Naruto and Kiba's argument. "None of you seemed the least bit concerned about my mask."

That apparently finally garnered Naruto's attention and the golden blonde shrugged, "Your face is yours. We've known Shino too long. I bet you even use a Genjutsu to hide your face while you eat, right?"

"I..." Kakashi cleared his throat, "I do, yes." Naruto beamed at him and went back to her argument with Kiba. He crossed his hands and sighed, "Team Seven." Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto all looked at him, "Meet me at Training Ground Three as soon as you're done here."

The blonde narrowed her eyes at him, " 'as soon as we're done' done, or 'three hours from now' done?"

Kakashi chuckled at them, "I think I've learned my lesson. Besides, I wouldn't want to be covered in chalk dust or soot when we receive our first mission from the Hokage, would I?"

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