Kakashi: Perception

Kakashi wasn't quite sure what to make of his prospective genin team. True, Sasuke and Sakura were exactly as advertised, but Naruto...

… likes geisha? I didn't see that coming.

The blonde demon container was neither as loud or as idiotic as his profile had led the journin to believe. The supposed crush on Sakura was no more than mild sarcasm, well-concealed amusement and gentle mockery of her fangirl antics. The loud rivalry with Sasuke was closer to tacit cameraderie and what the hell was up with his request to help Sasuke kill Itachi? Had he really been friendly with some of chunnin in the military police when he was nine?

Kakashi was also surprised by Naruto's apparent familiarity with the Uzumaki clan and its history. There was very little information on former Uzushiogakure available in Konoha, for all that the villages had been allies and leaf ninja still wore the Uzu spiral on their clothes in honour of that alliance. Has Naruto been contacted by someone who knew the Uzumakis, or even another Uzumaki?

The copy-nin knew Naruto was his sensei's son; if the hair, eyes and ramen obsession didn't give it away, the quietly assessing way the boy had watched him throughout the introductions confirmed it. Sensei had always had an uncanny knack for reading him . That Namikaze Minato's girlfriend had been a loud-mouthed Uzumaki with a penchant for pranks -and nine months pregnant when the Kyuubi attacked- was the final nail in the coffin.

But what exactly had happened that night to force the Yondaime to seal the most terrible of the bijuu into his newborn son? And where, exactly, was Jiraya? The Toad Sage was supposed to be the boy's godfather, for heavens' sake!

And just how did I manage to completely forget the child's existence? He is sensei's son; how did I not remember him before entering ANBU, nor recognise him upon leaving it? ANBU Inu had on numerous occasions protected a young Uzumaki Naruto from angry civilians and the occasional mob; How did I miss it?

Kakashi idly shunted his empty glass across the bar top with one finger. Naruto was an enigma, an unpredictable mixture of both parents and a dash of something that was all his own; cheery loudmouth one minute, wickedly perceptive and empathetic the next. The journin hadn't missed his subtle interaction with the Uchiha. Was the idiot act a cover? The file mentioned his genin examination was sabotaged by Mizuki; did any of his earlier senseis attempt something similar?

That could be a serious problem. If the academy chunnin had deliberately left holes in Naruto's education and understanding of his ninja duties the boy would be a danger to himself and his team. To hold a grudge against a child for something he is not responsible for; is this what my precious village has stooped to?

He would have to discuss the possibility of Naruto's education being flawed with the Sandaime even if failed the boy. The blonde had the instincts, aptitude and drive to make an excellent ninja and despite his loud façade he was surprisingly good at remaining under the radar. Neither of his team-mates seemed to even be aware that the jinchuuriki was a year older than they were or that he'd originally been supposed to graduate at ten. And probably would have graduated, had he been able to perform the clone jutsu.

Naruto's apartment, which Kakashi had a look at before going to collect his team, had also been a study in contradictions. It was surprisingly clean for a space occupied solely by a pre-teen boy and had a thriving population of potted plants scattered across every horizontal surface. However the only food in the cupboards had been instant ramen, the electricity had been cut off - the likely cause of the lumpy-sounding milk in the fridge - and the wardrobe had been not only populated by the expected bright orange jumpsuits but also dull grey kimono and hakama. The grey clothes indicated a good understanding of the principles and applications of stealth; it was likely that if Naruto covered his hair and whisker-marks and wore the grey outfit no-one would recognise him.

The simple blue and green woman's kimono and white obi were a touch disturbing, considering the person they belonged to had to be at least sixteen, but he'd heard about Naruto's newly infamous centrefold technique. Has he been using the henge around the village?

The journin sighed. While he owed Obito for his eye, he knew the long dead Uchiha would have felt a greater kinship for Naruto than for Sasuke, despite belonging to the same clan as the latter. Not only that, but while he owed Obito a great deal he owed Sensei more. Especially considering he'd ignored Naruto's existence until now. Baring in mind that Minato-sensei had wanted Kakashi to be a big brother to the child he and Kushina were expecting, the journin had a lot of catching up to do.

But what do I do? I don't know how to teach genin; I was five when I was one and I learned everything by myself.

"Hey, Kakashi! Fail your latest team yet?" Genma leaned against the bar to his right, ever-present senbon protruding from his mouth.

I'm testing them tomorrow morning, Kakashi said, wondering absently what had caused the slight change in the tokubetsu journin's demeanour in the past few months. Genma was a little less tense and slightly more lively. No less alert and aware of his surroundings, just more at peace with himself.

He wasn't the only one, now Kakashi considered it. Anko had been slightly less erratic in public of late and the copy-nin was sure he'd seen Ibiki looking less breathe-loudly-and-die recently.

"Who'd you get?" Genma asked.

"Haruno, Uchiha and Uzumaki."

"Uzumaki? Kid's got skills, painting the hokage monument without ANBU noticing. Or admitting they noticed, at least. I'm sure at least one of the latest batch has a sense of humour."

Kakashi blinked. "That was Naruto?"

Genma shook his head. "If I didn't know you had a very pretty girlfriend to distract you I'd think you lived under a rock. Yes, that was Naruto. He managed to evade all attempts to capture him for three hours, too; the ANBU were extremely peeved. Their captain is increasing training and modifying patrol schedules since if a twelve-year-old can get through security then it needs serious improvement." Genma paused, senbon twitching. "What's the kid like?"

"... Confusing. What kind of twelve-year-old likes geisha?"

"One with good taste?" Genma offered, chuckling. "Kid really said that?"

"Likes ramen and geisha, wants to be hokage," Kakashi confirmed. "Smarter than he acts, too."

"I knew that," the other man said dismissively, "those pranks of his are genius. Did you know he put blue dye in the ANBU showers once?"

Kakashi's only visible eye widened. "Naruto did what?"

The next morning, two hours after he had said he would meet his team, Kakashi watched his three prospective students from the cover of one of the many trees surrounding training ground seven. Sakura, pink hair flowing loosely to her waist, fidgeted in irritation and shot fawning stares at the last Uchiha. Sasuke sat perfectly still, watching Naruto like an Aburame faced with a brand new species of insect.

Naruto looked completely different to the day before. Wearing one of the grey outfits Kakashi had seen in his wardrobe with the outline of the Uzu spiral painted on the back in white and the hakama taped securely around his ankles, the blond was meditating in an oddly contorted position. A bokken lay on the grass beside him, looking suspiciously well-used. Has someone taught the boy kenjutsu?

Kakashi remembered exactly how scary Uzumaki Kushina -nicknamed Akashi, Red Death- had been with a sword. That scar still aches when it snows. And that was just a 'friendly' spar.

Judging by the jinchuuriki's relatively relaxed demeanour, Kakashi surmised that the boy had eaten breakfast and realised that the journin was unlikely to arrive on time. Sakura clearly hadn't eaten breakfast. Probably skipped dinner last night too, in the guise of 'dieting' he reflected distastefully, and expected me to be on time today.

Sasuke looked grumpy but resigned; the last Uchiha was not in the least surprised by the journin's tardiness -though he clearly found it irritating- which with his relaxed posture suggested that he, too, had eaten recently.

So, two out of three. Coincidence or collaboration? Kakashi mused, then shrugged. I'll find out later. He shunshined of to the far side of the memorial stone, conveniently out of sight of the three genin. It had been a while since he'd had a chat with Obito and Sensei.

After another hour he strolled over to where his prospective students were waiting, a pair of bells jingling merrily at his hip.

"Hello you three!" he called out cheerfully.

"Your late, sensei!" the pink haired girl shouted irately.

"I'm so sorry, I had to help a little old lady with her groceries," Kakashi lied blandly.

"He was three hours late yesterday, Sakura-chan. Why would he be on time today?" Naruto asked mildly, unfolding himself and climbing to his feet, chakra slow and oddly thick. The blonde stretched, eyelids fluttering and granting the copy-nin a brief glimpse of scarlet. Then the jinchuuriki dropped his arms and opened his eyes, revealing sky-blue irises achingly similar to Minato-sensei's.

I did not just imagine that. What was he doing? Does the hokage know he can tap into the power of the Kyuubi with such ease?

He's giving me a headache and he isn't even my student yet.

"Well, I'm here now. Your test is to collect one of these bells" -he flicked the bells hanging from his belt- "before noon, when this alarm will ring," he brandished the alarm clock.

"It's already after eleven, sensei," Sasuke bit out. The journin shrugged.

"Tough."

"Sensei, there are only two bells," Sakura ventured. "That's not enough for all of us."

"Then only two of you will pass, won't they?" Kakashi said pleasantly, setting the timer down on one of the three stumps lined up in the small clearing, "But in order to succeed in this exercise, you must come at me with the intent to kill."

The feral glee that filled Naruto's usually friendly features at this particular instruction made the journin unexpectedly nervous. What did I ever do to him to merit such a reaction?

"When do we start sensei?" the jinchuuriki asked eagerly, fang-like canines bared and chakra roiling.

"Start... now!"

Sasuke and Sakura vanished into the trees. Naruto charged, all three of him. Shocked by the abrupt appearance of the kage bunshin, Kakashi dodged a jab, sidestepped a punch and crouched to avoid a kick, pulling out his little orange book as he rose back up again. The Narutos froze, chakra suddenly poised predatorially.

"Is that... Icha Icha?" The blonde on the right hissed.

"It is," the one in the middle confirmed grimly. "He's a pervert."

The eyes of the left hand Naruto flared bloody crimson with slitted pupils, revealing that this one was the original. "KILL HIM!" he snarled, swiping suddenly razor-sharp nails at the journin and ripping through sleeve and skin.

Kakashi found himself having to put the book away again and take the fight with Naruto much more seriously as the jinchuuriki tore into him with bloodthirsty abandon, summoning more clones by the dozen. Some of the newcomers threw kunai or shuriken while others tried to crowd him, clutching at his legs and arms. The half-berserk red-eyed blonde stayed firmly on the journin's tail, kawarimi-ing with various clones to avoid blows and using his claws to great effect on the copy-nin's clothing and skin. Kakashi would have just escaped to test one of the others had he not been afraid of what Naruto would do in this state without a clear target to focus on. He would probably try to hunt down the journin, maybe even tearing through his would-be team-mates in his crazed fury.

Kakashi's journin vest had just foiled a particularly vicious and accurate attempted disembowelment when the journin decided that enough was enough and started fighting offensively, knocking clones away like ninepins. He'd just pinned the red-eyed boy to the ground when his eyes reverted to blue and he bared his teeth in triumph:

"Boom."

Kakashi barely kawarimi-ed away in time to avoid severe burns. As it was his shredded clothing was badly singed and any exposed skin had minor flash burns. The brat knows bunshin bakuha? Why the hell wasn't that in his file? It bloody well should have been!

"Look what I found, sensei," came the low growl from halfway up the tree behind him. Kakashi turned to see Naruto perched on a branch about ten feet up, a silvery bell dancing between the fingers of his left hand. The red eyes narrowed, glaring down at him.

"I don't care though. This is personal now." The bell vanished inside his sleeve. "I absolutely loathe perverts." The whisker-marks on the blond's face had widened, giving him a crazed, feral look.

"Maa, what did I ever do to you?" Kakashi stalled, debating internally whether to uncover his sharingan. Pros, it will probably enable me to knock the boy out without seriously harming him; cons, I'll never hear the end of it when the other journin find out I had to use it against a genin. Never mind that he's the container of the most dangerous bijuu in existence.

Naruto growled again, claws carving deep gashes across the branch he was crouching on. "I've been raised by geisha since I was six. They taught me the things most kids learn from their parents. They were like sisters to me. Then when I was eleven a pervert attacked and tried to rape a maiko I cared about. So I killed the bastard."

Kakashi went completely still. This hadn't been in Naruto's file. None of it had, making the damn thing about as useful as a chocolate kunai. Naruto had had his first kill shortly after failing his first graduation exam and his academy teachers had completely missed the signs. Nobody knew.

Those crazed red eyes bore into Kakashi and the journin experienced a flashback to the one and only time he'd ever seen his sensei truly, furiously angry. Narrowed eyes, check, Suffocatingly high KI, check, absolute focus of the offender, check, Body relaxed and poised to strike -screw it- Kakashi yanked his hitai-ite off his sharingan and dove out of the way just in time to avoid a bubbling, scarlet chakra coated claw to the face.

"DIE!" the jinchuuriki roared, his speed scarily close to journin level.

The copy-nin ducked, turned and weaved at top speed until he was able to hammer down on a pressure point on the boys neck, burning his hand on the corrosive chakra coating the genin's skin. Naruto dropped like a rock, red chakra vanishing like it had never been there. Kakashi poked the boy with his foot to make sure he wasn't faking then heaved the blond over his shoulder and carried him back to the three posts and the timer. He set the boy down on the ground, covered his sharingan again, retrieved the bell from the blond's sleeve and wandered off to where the other two genin where lurking.

I think I'll have to pass them if only for Naruto's sake. I wouldn't trust any other journin to keep him safe and train him properly after that little display.

I'll have to find something else to read, though.

A/N: And that's the bell test. Poor Kakashi; so poorly informed on his most unpredictable student. This is an early update to celebrate the beginning of 2011, so Happy New Year, everyone!