When Kakashi asked for a spar with Katsu after hearing about the teen's weakness in the area multiple times, he expected various scenarios. Bad habits, low physical strength, or an incompatible fighting style to name a few. Instead, Kakashi found himself having one of the simplest spars in his recent memory.

Kakashi delivered a series of punches and when Katsu halted in place to stop them, he spun around him and kicked him in the back, making his opponent stagger forward. He remained at the ready as opposed to following up, allowing Katsu a chance to rebalance.

It's not that Katsu was a complete novice to taijutsu. Some of the moves he executed highlighted hours of practice. Sure, he wasn't the strongest, but Kakashi himself did not have a strong build either, even as an adult. No, the problem wasn't with learning taijutsu techniques. Katsu had another glaring issue.

Kakashi easily saw the roundhouse kick, blocking it with a two-arm guard easily. He followed up with a sweep and then an upward kick aimed at where the teen had jumped. Katsu effectively used a cross-block to avoid the attack. However, Katsu left a wide gap in his defense as he landed. Kakashi exploited the hole in the defense, delivering a strong elbow thrust to the gut. The teen staggered back with a labored cough as sweat dripped down his face.

Knowing it was pointless to continue, Kakashi relaxed his stance, signaling the end of the spar. Katsu gratefully plopped down on the floor with a grunt, gently massaging his gut with his left hand as he tried to control his labored breathing. The light rise and fall of Kakashi's chest a sharp contrast to the exhausted older ninja.

No. The main weakness in Katsu's taijutsu wasn't a lack of training or raw strength. The teen clearly had difficulty reading fast-paced close-range movements. Every time Kakashi would execute a series of attacks or counter above a certain speed, Katsu would show a delayed reaction time. This made it hard for him to keep up with higher level taijutsu exchanges. When Kakashi slowed down, the teen was able to hold his guard. No wonder he focused his energy on long distance. If anything, he has good self-awareness; I'll give him that at least.

If Kakashi was being honest, Naruto Sakura and Sasuke showed faster reaction times when they were still fresh genin. Sasuke was, as usual, ahead of his peer group, needing only to learn more advanced techniques while improving his speed and strength at the same time. Naruto had amazing stamina and reflexes, but the technique of a civilian brawler. Sakura had perfect technique but lacked stamina and strength until Tsunade got a hold of her. So yes, even as fresh genin, Kakashi saw more potential in his three kids than Katsu. At least in taijutsu.

Kakashi frowned as he went to fetch his water bottle, I thought they were exaggerating, but Katsu really is terrible at taijutsu. He grabbed one of the water bottles and tossed it to him. In milliseconds, Katsu had it opened and was drinking greedily.

Still, it wasn't hopeless. Katsu was probably never going to be the strongest taijutsu fighter. But if he worked on his speed, he could slowly build the experience to make up for his slow reaction time. It would take time, but at least he wouldn't face imminent danger every time a high-ranking chunin-level ninja got too close. He had the technique, he just needed to learn when and how to use it properly.

While Kakashi was reflecting on the spar, Katsu had regained his breath. "I told you I wouldn't be a useful taijutsu partner." Those words erased whatever praise Kakashi was reluctantly giving him. What truly aggravated Kakashi was not the weak taijutsu skills, rather, Katsu clearly knew he was weak in taijutsu and didn't seem to care at all. Katsu was in his teens and has been fighting on the frontlines; he had no excuse to be this cavalier.

Kakashi crossed his arms, "You made the right choice in focusing on long-distance. However, if someone comes in close it could be disastrous." Kakashi was never one to pull back punches.

Katsu gave a resigned shrug, as if to say, 'It is what it is'.

Kakashi pinched the bridge of his masked nose in frustration. Did Katsu really have no idea how dangerous his weakness in taijutsu was? He tried a different approach. "You may have slow reflexes, but it's not hopeless. If you worked on your speed, you'd be better able to dodge attacks even if you're slow to see them coming. Then, as you start having higher level taijutsu spars, you'll gain the experience to make up for your reflexes."

Katsu lazily patted Kakashi on the shoulder in reassurance, "Between Taichi and Banri's close quarter skills, and my techniques in keeping the enemy away, it's not easy for anyone to come close."

"Don't patronize me." Kakashi lightly pushed Katsu's hands away. "That does not reduce the odds to zero."

Katsu rolled his eyes and began walking away, giving his back to Kakashi. "No ninja can work on everything. If I waste time improving my speed, I increase the chances of someone coming in close. By working on long-distance fighting, I will keep reducing that chance."

"That's now how it works," Kakashi rubbed his temple as he felt an ache coming from the foolishness of Katsu's line of thinking. "Taijutsu is the foundation for every ninja. It's not like saying I can't cast genjutsu. No ninja will survive for long if they don't work on taijutsu." Kakashi wanted to wring Katsu's neck and shout in his ear to work on his taijutsu.

Katsu turned to Kakashi, and for the first time since they started sparing, true agitation showed on his face. "Maybe that's not how it works in genius land, but not all of us are prodigies. Not all of us can work on honing many skills."

Aaaaand there it was. It always came back to that.

Genius. Prodigy. There was a special brand of solitude that only another genius could understand.

Even when someone knew how much Kakashi trained and studied, they only became more dejected, feeling they could never catch up. It was a defeatist attitude that Kakashi despised. Look at Jiraya, Gai, Naruto and Sakura to name a few. None of these people were great from the start. They had to work hard to build the skills suited to their strengths and weaknesses. If they had just thrown their hands up in the air and decided that they were fated to be at a certain skill level, where would Konoha be?

Kakashi started Katsu dead in the eye, refusing to avert his gaze from the teen's harsh glare. "My friend, Gai, can't do ninjutsu. He's constantly getting better and can match me in a spar even when ninjutsu isn't off the table. You don't have to write off your taijutsu. Your bow skills are the best I've seen, but even if you improve your skills ten-fold, you still can't make jonin if your taijutsu is weak."

Katsu startled. He then threw his head back and laughed. "Jonin? Me?" It wasn't a malicious laugh, rather one twinged with incredulity and slight self-loathing. Katsu's laugh reduced to a fake chuckle. "Kakashi-kun, look, I appreciate the sentiment but… I'm not jonin material."

Knowing it was futile to convince Katsu at this moment, Kakashi shook his head and began to walk away. As he passed, he heard Katsu sigh. He grabbed the doorhandle, paused and glanced back over his shoulder. 'With your bow skills, you could be," he said, and walked out.

He filed inside the commander food hall tiredly with the rest, all consumed with their own thoughts. The war was escalating. Right after the large battle at the Grass Gate, another significant special operation with dire consequences was now being launched. Worse still, his students were now being deployed to the outposts and taking on bigger roles in the war.

Minato grabbed a tray, too distracted to appreciate the different flavors of okonomiyaki the civilians have prepared for them as a special treat. He made a beeline to a table in the far corner to dissuade others from joining him. They had discussed the plan ad nauseum, and the last thing he wanted was another run through with commentary on everyone's thoughts. Every person wants a say, but they rarely add anything new.

His thoughts drifted to Kushina. He hadn't been able to see her much lately and was looking forward to some downtime after this deployment to catch up. However, it appears that he's going to have to remain here for a bit longer. Even so, he was excited to finally see the tide turn in Konoha's favor. Moreover, he was proud to contribute so much to Konoha's safety. It's what he had worked so hard to achieve; the strength to protect his comrades.

He hoped that the next skirmish would succeed and maybe, just maybe, they could end the war before his students lost their innocence. Well, it was a bit too late for Kakashi, but Obito and Rin were still so young and innocent. He didn't want the reality of war to change them.

Then again, Rin had just been at the center of healing so many wounded. He didn't know how many patients she may have lost, but Rin was so sensitive. He knew every loss would weigh heavily on her heart. Part of him didn't want to see Rin; not sure of what he would find in his student's eyes. He hoped that no matter what horrors she was witnessing, that Rin would retain her kindness and ability to see the best in people. Kakashi came under his command already hardened, and he wasn't ready to see another student growing up too fast.

"If you frown this much, you're going to get wrinkles before you reach thirty," a ninja he didn't know joked as he joined him on the table.

Minato fought back a scowl. "Can I help you?" he asked, doing his best to mask his annoyance.

The tall black-haired ninja leaned back confidently as he prepared a bite, "Not really." The man began eating without a care in the world, humming a cheery tone to himself. Part of Minato wanted to ask him to leave, but another part didn't want to be rude. He decided to ignore the man and went in for another bite. Fortunately for Minato, the man wasn't talkative and similarly ignored Minato. He hastened to finish his food before the man so that he could leave before the man decided to start a conversation. Unfortunately, that wasn't to be.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" the man questioned as Minato wolfed down his food.

"I have things to do," Minato said.

"There's time, you should enjoy the down moments or you'll burnout."

Minato nodded distractedly but didn't slow down.

"You okay kid?" the man's tone changed from playful to concerned.

Minato blinked twice at the familiar intonation of the word. He concentrated on the man's chakra and his eyes widened. He leaned in closer, "Sensei?" he whispered in confusion. He didn't know why his sensei was disguised but trusted the man enough to keep his disguise intact regardless.

"Took you long enough," he scoffed and tilted back leisurely in the chair.

"Why are you transformed?" Minato asked in a low voice.

Jiraya pouted. "It's great to see you in great health, sensei. So glad that you're here, sensei. It's been a while sensei, how are you?"

Minato chortled lightly, "Sorry, I have a lot on my mind. It's good to see you, Jiraya-sensei. But still, why are you in a Henge?" Leave it to Jiraya-sensei to always lift his mood.

"I decided to keep undercover so that there's less of a chance that Iwa would learn we're planning something. If word gets out that I'm here right after the Clash at the Grass Gate, they'll be more alert than they already are," Jiraya explained. "More importantly, why are you in such a sour mood? Fight with Kushina? Your boys get in a big fight?"

"No," Minato shook his head. He waved his chopsticks distractedly in the air, "If anything, Obito and Kakashi are getting along better than ever before. Who knows how long that will last though. I miss Kushina sure, but she's safe."

Jiraya raised an eyebrow, "Then why do you look like someone pinched your wallet? Does that have to do with your students finally venturing out on their own a bit?" Jiraya asked knowingly.

And of course, Jiraya could still read him like an open book. Minato nodded in acknowledgement as he played with his food. That still didn't explain how Jiraya knew his students were with him. "How'd you know they've been deployed?"

Jiraya twirled the chopsticks in clockwise motion, an arrogant smirk on his face, "I know everything."

Minato rolled his eyes and flicked a small piece of food on his sensei's red haroi. Although his clothes were transformed to look like a non-descript jonin of Konoha, his real clothes would still get dirty.

"Oi! This one's new!" Jiraya scowled and brushed away the crumbs. Minato smiled back mischievously and took another bite. Jiraya rested his head in his left palm and picked at his food dejectedly, "I swear I never get the respect I deserve," he muttered quietly.

Minato smiled fondly; Sensei never changes. Minato's cheer turned into slight worry as he recalled dinner with his students the previous night. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "About keeping your presence a secret. Those of us involved in the mission agreed to only share details on a need-to-know basis, but I kind of told Kakashi and Obito about you coming."

Jiraya groaned at the revelation. "Would they tell anyone?"

"Kakashi isn't the social type. Obito on the other hand…." Minato trailed of his speech, letting his sensei fill in the obvious blanks. "Don't worry, I'll let them know to keep quiet. More importantly, how is the situation in north?" Minato asked.

Jiraya sat up straight, his demeanor turning serious. "Quiet. With the death of the Raikage and many Iwa ninja, no new skirmishes have broken out. We've taken advantage of that by sending capture squads to Rice and Waterfall to detain some of the injured that were left behind. We expected the Mist to take advantage, but they've been unnaturally quiet. Actually, my original mission was to infiltrate the Land of Water to get some information. But then we received the missive about the bridge. Before I left, Orochimaru-teme managed to extract some extra information about it from one of the higher-profile prisoners."

"Anything useful?" Minato asked; food forgotten.

"How much do you know of the bridge's strategic value?" Jiraya asked.

"The map we found displayed patrol schedules around the area. Moreover, the patrol is not at the bridge but areas around it in a clear attempt to ensure its location remains secret. Lastly, the high number of ninja allocated for its defense made it a clear strategic point to target." Minato said.

Jiraya placed one hand under his chin in thought, "They have smaller bridges constructed using earth ninjutsu in the area, but they can only transport so much along those lines without the jutsu destabilizing. By building the Kannabi Bridge with reinforced materials, they were able to transport supplies more rapidly to the entire Iwa force. Still, it took them nine days to build without any enemy interference. Also, Kitsuchi, the Tsuchikage's son, was part of the construction," Jiraya summarized.

Minato tilted his head in annoyance at the new information, "So we should expect a big reception?"

"Add to that the big losses from their last two fights, a large number of their shinobi force probably retreated back to the outpost near the bridge," Jiraya said.

Minato rubbed the back of his head in agitation, "I'm starting to think that taking only two squads to distract their forces while you sneak in with a one squad to destroy the bridge won't be enough."

Jiraya waved away his concern, "Too large a team and you'll be easily detected. I'm not worried about their numbers. I bet you they have their two jinchuriki on standby. They're cornered and a beast is most dangerous when cornered. It's more likely than not that we'll face them. That's the main concern really."

Minato dropped his head into the table with a groan. "Damn it. All this new information means another round of strategic meetings."

Jiraya barked out in laughter, "You're the one who wants to become Hokage. You do know that the position comes with daily meetings? Heads up, political meetings are ten times worse than battle strategy ones."

Minato lifted his head slightly to meet Jiraya's eyes, "Is it too late to change dreams?"

Jiraya placed a reassuring hand on Minato's shoulder, "Yup! But think of the bright side. We now have your Rasengan in our arsenal. If we manage to kill one of their jinchuriki that's it, Iwa will have no choice but to surrender."

Minato perked up at the thought and sat up straight again. "If that happens it would be the turnaround of ninja history. Imagine, going from the main force to losing the war in the span of three skirmishes?"

"It won't be easy," Jiraya cautioned. "Also don't forget there's still Cloud to deal with. True, they lost their Raikage but his replacement has already been trained. I don't need to tell you that. You fought him multiple times and none of you have ever gotten the full upper hand on the other."

Minato smiled thinking back to the small altercation, "I liked his younger brother."

Jiraya gave him a puzzled look, "The Eight Tail jinchuriki?"

"Yes," Minato confirmed. "He fights with his heart on his sleeve. Besides, even though A beat me to the title of Hokage, I've always seen him as an equal and I can tell it's the same for him. He may have a short temper, but I know that Sandaime-sama can come to an agreement with him."

Jiraya looked up at the ceiling, "If only more people were like you then maybe this war would be over by now. But it's not that simple." Jiraya always believed that if more ninja could open their hearts and truly see their enemy, then they would better understand one another and solve problems with diplomacy instead of war. Some would call Minato's feelings naivety, but to Jiraya it sparked hope. It was moments like these that made him believe Minato was the Child of Prophecy.

"Well, the war can't go on forever," Minato said. "Besides, if A refuses then I'll do my duty. I hope it doesn't come to it but with the proper strategy I can defeat A if you keep the Eight Tails jinchuriki occupied. Especially now that we know that the Massive Rasengan works against the Tailed Beast Bomb we have an advantage. They won't expect that."

Jiraya reached out his hand to smack Minato in the head. Minato easily evaded the lazy attempt and gave Jiraya a wounded look, "You're getting ahead of yourself, kid. First, we need to worry about surviving the Kannabi Bridge tomorrow."

"Yes sir," Minato said and gave his sensei a cheeky grin.

Jiraya rolled his eyes and looked around to see that the commander food hall had mostly emptied out during their talk. "I'll catch up with you later then. I want to check up on Tsunade before we finalize the plan."

Minato pushed his chair back, got up and grabbed his tray, "There's still many injured. She might be too busy."

Jiraya placed his empty tray on top of Minato's and quickly sauntered off with a wave, "I'm sure she has a few minutes to greet an old teammate!"

"I'm not your waiter," Minato complained, two empty trays in hand, as his sensei walked away. "Are you listening? Oi, Sensei!"

Kakashi walked out of the tower in a bad mood over his spar with Katsu. He was wondering how to take his mind off it, when, out the corner of his eye he spotted his sensei walking out of the commander food hall with a slightly irritated look on his face. In fact, the man was glaring at a tall black-haired ninja who was heading for the medical bay. That was weird. Minato was known to be very patient with everyone and rarely got agitated.

He observed the black-haired ninja more carefully and sensed something amiss, or rather, familiar? Confused, he closed his eyes and focused his senses. The man's chakra was mostly masked, which was odd in the middle of a friendly camp. Kakashi would have been worried about an infiltration, if it wasn't for Minato walking back to the tower. His sensei was a sensor and if he had any doubts, Minato would have followed the man.

Curious, Kakashi quietly trailed closer to the medical bay. Channeling chakra to his nose as he got closer, Kakashi finally connected the dots, Is that? He may have masked his chakra, but Kakashi was an expert tracker and was very familiar with this man's scent. There was no doubt about it, the man was definitely Jiraya.

Jiraya appeared to be in a hurry, rapidly navigating through the crowd towards the medics at the door. The medics were stationed to prevent visitors from going inside the already crowded hospital, except for those close to ninja on their deathbed. Jiraya spoke briefly to the medics at the entrance and walked inside. It was child's play for Kakashi to use the chaos around him to slip inside and follow him, the medics at the door none-the-wiser.

As expected, he saw Jiraya walking up the stairs at the end which lead to Tsunade's office. He probably wants to visit Tsunade-sama without delay, Kakashi justified Jiraya's actions. Before he could consider abandoning his pursuit, a hand grabbed his shoulder.

Kakashi turned around to find his sensei peering down at him questioningly, "What are you doing?"

"Sensei," Kakashi greeted, pretending nothing was amiss. Internally he cursed, why was Minato here?

Minato narrowed his eyes in suspicion, "I was about to come find you and imagine my surprise when I saw you sneaking inside the medical bay. What's going on, Kakashi?"

"I'm the one who's confused, sensei. I saw you glaring at a man who I sensed was masking his chakra. He just went upstairs, who is he?" Kakashi turned the question around.

"So instead of asking me, you decided to what? Become a vigilante investigator?" Minato was unimpressed.

In hindsight, it would have been easier to have done so, but Kakashi preferred to deal with matters on his own. Seeing Minato upset at this small escapade made him wonder how angry his sensei would have been if he ever found out Kakashi broke into the Hokage library when investigating Danzo by himself. Not to mention the fact that he was dealing with time travel without telling anyone. Oh, if only his sensei knew.

If there was anyone he would tell, it would be his sensei or Jiraya. However, he couldn't trust that they wouldn't inform the Third. He respected the Third immensely. The Professor was the person who saw them through two wars and helped maintain the peace. Despite that, Kakashi did not always agree with the man's approach. Learning that Danzo orchestrated the Uchiha massacre, tried to get Kakashi himself to murder the Third and was still allowed to lead ROOT was something Kakashi could not fathom. No, he did not trust the Third to make the right decisions. Worse still if the Third told the council or Danzo or Orochimaru, Kakashi didn't trust any of Konoha's political figures. Really, he didn't trust himself to make the right decisions either, but as fate would have it, it was up to him.

"Ninja," Kakashi said.

"Kami help me," Minato muttered. He loved his students but there were times when they drove him crazy. Usually, he was patient and better at handling their antics, but his nerves were already frayed.

"Well then, who is he?" Kakashi crossed his arms before his sensei could start lecturing.

Minato sighed and unclasped one of the vest pockets to take out a piece of paper and a pencil. He jotted down some words and passed the paper to Kakashi.

It's Jiraya. Keep his presence a secret; safer. Tell Obito.

Done reading, Kakashi nodded and burned the paper.

"Satisfied?" Minato asked, his eyes still hardened. Knowing his sensei was still angry, Kakashi thought it was safer to leave as soon as possible. He nodded and planned to walk away but his legs refused to move.

Kakashi wasn't sure what made him stop. Maybe it was the injured ninja all around him. Maybe he didn't want to leave his sensei angry. Maybe it was the thought of keeping time travel a secret gnawing on him. Maybe it was his hatred for anything Kannabi related. Whatever the reason, Kakashi stared up at his sensei who was still clearly annoyed, "I don't know what you're doing but, whatever it is, come back safe, sensei."

Minato's eyes widened slightly and his eyes softened. He placed one hand on Kakashi's shoulder and squeezed lightly, "Everything is going to be alright; you don't have to worry."

Kakashi wished he could believe his sensei, but he lived the life of a ninja for too long. His sensei's platitudes were the same as the ones he gave Sakura the day Sasuke left, and Naruto followed him. He knew his words then barely comforted Sakura, but he didn't know what else to tell her. Being unable to alleviate her worries was just another reason why he failed as a sensei. Not wanting his sensei to have similar doubts, Kakashi made sure to relax his body posture before replying, "I'll hold you to that."

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay! I was traveling for a bit more than three weeks and the amount of work before and after that was waiting for me was enormous. I'm excited to release this chapter because right after it's finally time for the Kannabi Bridge. I wanted to have a small preview of Minato's POV as Kakashi won't be involved in the Kannabi mission. It's hard to write from other people's perspective so that's going to be a fun challenge. Anyway, happy reading!