He told them to go to the roof. Then-

Ahh, shunshin. It was one of his favourite jutsus. It wasn't proper teleportation, not like the Hiraishin, but it was nearly as good as for short distances. Plus it looked impressive to people who didn't know what it was.

Can you teach me how to do that daddy?

"Let's introduce each other-say your name, likes, dislikes, dreams, et cetera."

Now, now, say hello to your new teammates!

He told them about himself first. Well, not really, but it was the thought that counted, didn't it? Telling them that he enjoyed fishing and that his ambition was to live to see thirty would only give them ammunition to use against him. It would not do well for them to start to like him.

I like training and I dislike suffering fools and my dream is to become a jounin by the time I'm fourteen

Sakura was a fan girl, and it disgusted him. He hated fan girls. Half of that hatred was caused by them rarely being competent, but the other half was because Kakashi had been…mobbed by them, when he was younger.

KAKASHI-KUN!

Okay, he was still mobbed by them, but not to the same degree. They somehow always seemed to focus on same kind of boy; silent and talented and with no emotions to spare. It didn't make much sense to him, but he wasn't very good with relationships. Or girls. Or people in general.

Here, it's my newest book! I think you'll like it.

Hopefully, the girl would grow out of that stage. If she didn't it was either death or…being relegated to messenger duty. The latter was only somewhat preferable to the former, at least to him.

You'll be working at the missions desk until you're fully recovered. You need to learn you can't do everything yourself.

Naruto was…interesting. Kakashi wondered why the boy was allowed to live alone; he seemed to have a bit of fixation on ramen, which was quite unhealthy…and quite cheap.

That stuff's gonna stunt your growth, you know. At least spring for instant udon!

He wondered who the blond's mother was. The Uzumaki clan, traditionally allied with the Senju, were almost entirely wiped out after the destruction of Uzushio. It could have just been a random name given to him, designed to imply he was the son of foreigners, but Uzumaki's tended to have red hair. Had Minato-sensei been hiding a girlfriend?

I'm just here to watch you lot, 'ttebane! Yeahh. Just…here to…watch. I swear, Namikaze-san!

Sasuke went last. Kakashi wasn't sure how, but he could tell that behind the boy's collected façade, there was a desperate child, clinging to slowly fading memories.

Why? Why? Why?

A child who pushed others away and rejected all in hopes of reaching an impossible goal. Kakashi had sparred with Uchiha Itachi (he presumed that was who Sasuke wanted to kill) in the past, and even at thirteen he had been difficult to beat. Now…it would be impossible, or at least close to it.

Unless...that was he really wanted, because he thought he should be dead. It was a scary thought, and reminded Kakashi why he had always tried to avoid Uchiha: they were incredibly, incredibly confusing and never had a clear motive for anything.

He told them about the survival exercise tomorrow and how only 33% percent of graduates actually became genin. It was true: some students had passed on book knowledge alone, some were far too brash and reckless to be good ninja, and some simply were unlucky enough to get a sensei who didn't want to be.

After giving them the rest of his little spiel, he Shunshin'd away, only to be confronted by a certain Green Beast.

"KAKASHI, MY TOO-HIP RIVAL! I HEARD YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN A GENIN TEAM!," shouted the man.

"Gai, will you please stop shouting? And yes. I have. Again."

In a slightly quieter voice he replied, "But Kakashi! Surely you can see the value of instructing the next generation of Konoha Ninja! The Flames of Youth will die out if we do nothing!"

He was going to come up with a sharp retort, but as soon as he opened his mouth a boy came running out of the woods. He had shiny black hair, a green spandex bodysuit, and orange leggings.

"Gai-sensei! I have completed 500 laps around Konoha on my hands!," said the mini-Gai.

Kakashi gaped. Gai had a son? That..what woman would…it was an impossible thought.

"Ahh, Lee! May I introduce you to my Eternal Rival, Hatake Kakashi! Kakashi, this is my youthful student, Rock Lee!"

"Hello, Hatake-san!," said the boy, giving a slight bow.

He could see now that although superficially he and Gai looked the same, they were clearly not related. That was a relief.

Then, two other genin came out of the woods. One a boy (probably) with pupiless eyes who was wobbling somewhat, as if he was dizzy, and a girl who was cleaning a wakizashi and muttering under her breath.

Gai started to introduce those two too, but Kakashi was already far away by that point. He was glad to know that even if the children he'd been made to teach were weird, it could be worse.

A/N: Not as long as the last chapter, I know, but it seemed like a good place to end. I wasn't going to continue this because I didn't think anybody would like it, but I saw that it had already got one review. Yay! No more musing over Kakashi's motives in my head!

If you're reading this several chapters on, you can thank BlueSkyKite for the story still being around.