Kakashi tosses me a kunai and I snatch the weapon out of the air deftly.
"I'm guessing you've tried out the Shadow Clone Jutsu," Kakashi says, not really a question.
He's right, I have. The very day I copied it from Naruto in fact, during his brawl with Sakura on The Academy rooftop.
It had been a rather surreal experience.
"Good," Kakashi says at my nod. "Make one."
It takes bare moments for my hands to flow through the signs for the jutsu, and when I'm done, with significantly less smoke than Naruto's generate (though nothing near the perfect smokelessness of Kakashi's), a shadow clone appears beside me.
The clone and I stare at each other for a beat, both of us taking a moment to adjust to suddenly having a perfect copy beside us.
And he is a perfect copy, indistinguishable in every way. In fact, the only reason I know that he's the clone at all is because he is standing right where I wanted the clone to be when he appeared.
Kakashi takes me and my clone in for a moment. "So weird," he says. "You could be twins."
My clone and I stare at the jōnin with identical looks of unamusement.
Kakashi smiles, pleased with himself.
"Anywho," he says, getting back on topic, "I imagine you don't need me to tell you that, between your sharingan and your natural talent, the best way to train you would be for me to just do things and have you copy them."
My clone and I nod, then we look at each other.
Hmm. Mimicking each other will become irritating soon.
"I'll keep my reactions to a minimum," my clone says.
Good.
I nod.
I was about to suggest the same.
We look back at Kakashi.
"You are one strange, little boy," Kakashi says.
Like he has any room to talk.
Ignoring Kakashi, I activate my sharingan, and my clone follows suit almost immediately after.
Kakashi sees the act for what it is, a clear sign of my desire to move things along.
Obligingly, Kakashi takes a combat stance.
My clone and I match him, bodies primed for combat.
Kakashi chuckles. "It's cute how serious the both of you look," he says, then charges at me.
The jōnin's first attack takes me by surprise, not because of how fast it is, but because of how slow.
I dodge at the last second, pulling back and wondering what game he's playing. Kakashi rolls his eye.
"What do look so surprised for?" he asks. "You do both remember this isn't a fight, right? It's training."
I blink.
Oh, right. After my last experience exchanging blows with Kakashi, I guess I just assumed…
I shake off the thought.
Kakashi charges again, and this time, my clone and I are ready for it.
——
Three hours later, I'm sweaty, a little winded, and have made more progress in one morning than many ninja can manage in two weeks.
"Good work," Kakashi says. "If you keep going at this pace I won't have anything left to teach you in a year."
He's exaggerating, but I don't bother to mention it. Instead, I say; "It's not just me. You're a good teacher."
It's true. The progress I've made this morning isn't just because of the sharingan, or the shadow clone, it's also because Kakashi is a genuinely good teacher.
Surprisingly so.
"You sound surprised," Kakashi says.
"I am," I agree. "You don't seem the type."
Between his overall attitude and how easy learning must have been for him as a prodigy, I hadn't expected him to be a good teacher.
Decent, maybe. But not a good one.
"I guess I was wrong," I say.
"You're not," Kakashi disagrees. "Not really. I'm not a good teacher. I just channel my sensei, The Fourth Hokage. He was a great teacher."
I stare at the jōnin for some seconds.
"That's the first personal detail about yourself that you've shared with me," I note. The fact that it is a detail that anyone who bothers to check could easily acquire goes unsaid.
"Well, I guess you're beginning to worm your way into my cold, dead heart," Kakashi quips.
'Or, you're trying to worm your way into mine,' I think but don't say.
"Come," Kakashi says, "let's join your teammates."
As though by agreement, our three pairs converge at the center of the training yard.
Naruto and Sakura look battered, covered in bruises head to toe, and though Sakura looks significantly more winded than either of us, Naruto looks worse off, with his pyjamas dirt-stained, ripped, and even singed in places.
Unsurprising really, considering the number of fire and lightning jutsu I'd caught Kakashi flinging at the boy during our own training.
Together again, Kakashi's two clones walk up to him and each place a hand on the jōnin's shoulders.
A look of concentration comes over Kakashi's face then, and slowly, the two shadow clones begin to fade.
It takes almost a dozen seconds, but eventually the two clones fade into nothingness and Kakashi takes a calming breath.
"Did you just absorb your clones?" Naruto asks.
'He had. He definitely had.'
Kakashi nods. "Hm-mhm."
"Will I be able to do that too?" Sakura asks with wide eyes full of possibilities.
Kakashi gives her a thumbs up. "Totally. Just give it time."
"Will I be able to do it too?" I ask.
My sharingan is off, so I hadn't truly seen what Kakashi did or how he did it, nor do I know if it's something that I could replicate.
If I could though…
Yes, a technique like that is much more beneficial for ninja like Sakura and Kakashi who have miniscule reserves, but that's no reason for people like me to not take advantage of it.
Kakashi observes me for a moment. "I don't know," he says finally. "The sharingan will help, but I don't think you have the chakra control to pull it off."
I nod. I'm a little irritated, but I understand. The sharingan is a useful and powerful tool true, but it is not a substitute for lack of ability.
Almost like he simply wants to feel included, Naruto asks: "Hey, will I be able to do it too?"
Kakashi, Sakura and I all look at him.
"No," we say in unison.
Naruto pouts.
Kakashi reaches into the pouch on his thigh and pulls out a scroll.
He tosses it to me.
I catch it, then open it.
"What's that?" Naruto asks.
"It's a mission," I say. "A C-rank."
"What!?" Naruto and Sakura ask, one significantly louder than the other, then they crowd in, trying to read the scroll too.
Apparently, some chief named Ichi Okinawa is having a celebration for his 80th birthday, and he's requesting ninja to handle security.
I roll my eyes. Security, yeah right. The mission scroll has some information on Chief Okinawa's village, Springtree, it has a population of less than five hundred people. 394 at last census to be accurate.
"Security?" Naruto asks reading through the scroll. "What are we securing him from?"
"Yeah, the mission doesn't say," Sakura says.
"That's because the only thing he likely needs protection from is his ego," I say.
My teammates look at me in confusion.
Surprisingly, Naruto gets it first.
"Oh, he doesn't need protection, he just wants ninja to show up at his birthday party and make him look cool." The blonde looks upset at that fact.
It's understandable really, both Naruto's irritation at this mission and the existence of the mission in the first place.
The Hidden Leaf has about 2,500 active duty ninja currently, meanwhile, The Land of Fire has a population of about fifteen million people. Considering that, unlike in Caleb's world, technology like televisions and the internet don't exist in my world, ninja are figures shrouded in great mystery and speculation for the average person.
The opportunity to meet one of us, or observe us in action, doesn't really come up for most people.
Honestly, despite my earlier statement about ego, it is very possible that this Chief is calling us to his little town more as a treat for his people, than as an opportunity to stroke his own ego.
"So, we're basically going there to be show ponies?" Sakura asks looking unsure of how to feel about it.
"Yep," Kakashi chirps. "Adorable ones too."
"But, what about all the cool missions?" Naruto says. "I wanna fight."
"And I want a peacock," Kakashi says unsympathetically, "but we don't always get what we want. Besides, are you really complaining about being invited to a birthday party ?"
Naruto looks like he very much wants to keep complaining, but Kakashi's words have struck a chord with the boy.
An inner battle rages within the boy for several seconds, until finally, he says in annoyance: "Quit manipulating me!" And folds his arms haughtily.
Kakashi looks much too pleased with himself.
I sigh. I guess we have our first mission.