As the infamous Uchiha's Giant Fire Ball launched itself forward at him, Kakashi Hatake couldn't say he was surprised. A talent that may one day rival his brother, that was how Shisui Uchiha put it and whoever received the praise from him couldn't be taken lightly. Fire Jutsu in general was a medium-range combat style favoring aerial effect and injuring the opponent over fatality...well, except for this fire technique which Madara Uchiha had put his mind to for a guaranteed kill.
Not something I can complain about either. By the record, It was he who told them to take the bells with the intention to kill.
"Impressive. But too predictable."
The white-haired Jonin muttered and leapt aside effortlessly. The spot he chose to land had been arranged beforehand, not too close to the shade of the treeline but not too far either. He needed to test the sharpness of Shikamaru's Ninjutsu since the boy had proven he didn't only inherit his father's look but also the sharpness of his mind. Seeing through the breakfast trick and bringing two additional bento boxes was a sign of a great tactician in the making if he wasn't one already. However, Kakashi wondered if the Nara boy had yet figured out why he dragged his feet and had the test begin when the sun was about to reach the highest point of the day.You are not the only shogi player here, Shikamaru.
From the corner of his eye, a shadowy tongue grew out from the shade of an Ash tree and slithered toward him like a snake. The Jonin didn't bother to react. Silently he observed as the shadowy tongue failed to reach his heel.
Approximately three point two meters. So my deduction isn't baseless after all. The Nara clansmen protected the limitation of their Shadow Binding Technique with zeal for half of the advantages would be gone if the range of the incoming attack was known to their opponent. Not enough zeal apparently or it was just Kakashi's fault for being an observant prick. He had been fighting alongside Shikaku long enough to notice whenever the Nara had to rely on shadows beside his own, the length would be determined by his chakra. Well, If the old man could manage 10 at his peak then it wasn't far-fetched to assume the son was one-third of his father.
"Almost got me." He said casually, hands deep in his pockets. The fireball went past him by 20 centimetres, travelling down the trail before exploding in a spectacular fashion. Burned tree branches and hot dirt were thrown in every direction. A big column of smoke rose from the crater, "But you must try harder to be deemed worthy as a shinobi."
The 'Try harder' part came at him in the form of a series of kicks and punches, fast and furious, Uchiha style. Kakashi might have well blocked all of them at ease and launched counter-attacks any time he wanted but as a compliment to Sasuke's effort, he acted like he was in more trouble than he actually was. Throwing a front kick and jumping backwards, the white-haired Jonin ended the violent exchange, denying the boy's attempt to grab one of the bells in the chaos.
"I see. Shisui has done a good job on you, " He remarked while massaging his chin. "But what are those swept kicks and low punches anyway? Did you specially train yourself to fight against someone taller than you?" His smile was visible even with a layer of mask standing between, "Someone stronger than you perhaps?"
Sasuke didn't answer or to be more precise, he didn't answer Kakashi with words. Weaving hand signs furiously, the Uchiha prepared another fireball to which Kakashi couldn't help but sigh. He had gone too far with this teasing and Sasuke should have known performing fourteen hand signs at a distance like this was a death sentence. Charging at the raven-haired prodigy with his real speed, a Jonin-level speed, Kakashi managed to grab his arm at the eighth sign and delivered a punch to his guts, knocking the air out of him :
"Ninja should maintain a cool head, idiot. Being easy to be provoked is the leeway to your death." Kakashi reminded Sasuke coldly as he wanted this lesson to take root in the boy's head. Twisting his hand to the right, he made the Uchiha prodigy let out a cry of pain. "See, a dislocated wrist is painful enough but your brother could have done worse."
A rabid look and a roar were all Sasuke could summon up before Kakashi landed a hand chop on the back of his head, knocking him unconscious. As he laid the boy to the ground, he heard Shikamaru's shouting among the trees.
"CHANGE OF PLAN, HINATA. HELP SASUKE, NOW!"
And here it is, the surprise of the day, Kakashi thought as he watched Hinata Hyuga jumping out of the bush nearby and charging at him with her Byakugan activated. Four shurikens and a kunai he threw out as her first test which Hinata passed easily by deflecting them one by one with her Gentle Fists. He could use some D-rank Ninjutsu to halt her advance too but this time, he would allow the Hyuga girl to engage him in Taijutusu, her speciality. A storm of chakra-enhancing strikes began its assault on the white-haired Jonin, so fierce it forced him to treat the exchange with more seriousness. He dodged her low kick and sweeping kicks rather easily but as for the chain of fast strikes thrown at his face, Kakashi had to block and deflect with his arms and hands, groaning whenever her fingers managed to damage his chakra channels. However, as he had expected, this was just a distraction nothing more.
"Juken: Heart Seeker," Hinata yelled, five fingers forming into a claw and launching at Kakashi's left chest.
Damn... She really takes the whole ' Intention to kill' too seriously, doesn't she?
It was totally out of the blue when the Hyuga was the first to try to take the bell after Kakashi explained the conditions of the survival exercise. Their rooftop conversation, though awkward and brief, still managed to tell the Jonin what he could expect from his to-be students. An avenger who might well sell his soul to exact vengeance on his brother; a genius whose laziness could only be traced back to his intelligence, and a Hyuga disgrace who...? Well, all she said was she wanted to be useful but with what happened so far, Kakashi really wondered which part in that he had misinterpreted.
And there is no malice in her ferocity either, Kakashi thought as he calmly intercepted the fatal strike with one of Gai's 'Anti-Juken' techniques before pushing her back with a spin kick, But what is this emotion I feel? Fear? Fear of what?
"Calm down Hinata, your Sasuke is not dead yet. I just put him to sleep." He gave her an eye smile. "But I guess it couldn't be held. I heard the boy was popular at the Academy."
Confusion flashed across her face before she realized what he meant and blushes began to emerge on her cheeks. For an almost murderess, she still managed to look cute even with all those veins around her eyes, "Sensei...I..I'm sorry. But..but...It's not what you think."
"Of course not, but I wouldn't discourage any bonds besides comradeship in the team."
He was a Shinobi thrice stronger than Obito but in the end, the Uchiha was a man ten times better, all thanks to Rin. A Hyuga and an Uchiha would be an odd couple and if it happened under my watch then...Good grief, Hiashi would give him hell for even thinking about it. They then again engaged in close-quarter- combat. This time, it was Kakashi going on the offensive. Gai's Taijutsu might be too much for Hinata to handle so he stuck back to Academy basic Taijutsu, but no matter how lenient he tried to be, she remained a Genin and he was still Kakashi of the Sharingan, Chunin by eight, Jonin by twelve. Though resilient and brave, the Hyuga heiress quickly lost the initiative and the whole exchange became a delayed defeat for her.
This can't be the limitation of his ability, It was strange to see Shikaku's boy moving his pieces forward separately instead of using them in a combined attack, making things harder for Kakashi. Of course, it wouldn't change the result that much for no way he would lose to two fresh Genin, but it was always the right strategy to pull off. Punching harder than usual, he made Hinata drop to one knee with a bruised chin, blood dripping from her lips. Defiant, she planned a counter-strike aiming at Kakashi's hip but that was as far as things could go. He pinned her down to the ground and locked her arm in a way that if she wanted to break free, she had to break the same arm in the process. Getting the future leader of team 7 to unveil his endgame wouldn't be easy, Kakashi knew, so a certain level of provocation must be applied, Now show me your cards Shikamaru.
Suddenly, he felt his body was as stiff as stone, his arms limp and heavy. Contrary to his wishes, his body moved to release Hinata and as he stood up, he felt as much disconformtable as wearing someone else's clothes.
"Shadow possession completed," Said Shikamaru as he emerged from the treeline where Sasuke's fireball landed. His hands were holding the rat sign and a victorious smile flashed across his lips. The white-haired Jonin raised an eyebrow at the thin black line connecting their shadows. A very long one at that. He had been caught but how? "You surely didn't make this easy for me, Sensei."
"Using your teammate to distract me is something I expected. After all, you are Shikaku's son." Admitted Kakashi, "However, even he would be impressed by the power of your Shadow Possession. You also manage to get me underestimating it"
"Nah, the old man is way better than me," Shikamaru lazily said. Tilting his head to the left and looking at the ground, he made Kakashi do the same. The white-haired Jonin smiled. Besides their shadows and the treelines, there was a remaining of another type of shadow, a cloudy floating type, "With the right timing, I can increase my range by double. Of course, I wanted to wait until the wind blew east and the smoke had the entire area covered so you would have no means to escape but Sasuke fell to your taunt like an idiot."
"So that Fireball was never meant to hit me?"
Shikamaru snorted, "You act like Sasuke was capable of doing so. It's the only way to create a giant column of smoke without you suspecting it. Any other fire jutsu or me trying to make a fire would be more obvious than you being late on purpose. "
Very clever. Not only did he convince these two to work together, devise a strategy to defeat an opponent who overpowered them, but also made adjustments when the plan didn't go his way. It was a quality of a Chunin and soon, Kakashi would see Shikamaru yawning and complaining in the Jonin's quarter.
"Well, all of you deserved praise for your effort but sadly, I only have two bells." Said Kakashi with fake remorse, "I guess with Sasuke lying unconscious over there, they should go to you two."
A mixture of reluctance and shame was written all over Hinata's face as she looked at the Nara boy for instruction, " What...what should we do now? I can't...I can't..."
"Nobody goes back to the Academy Hinata, although I wished the opposite." Shikamaru cut her off. He then gave Kakashi an I-know-everything- look before sighing, "Can we get over this now, sensei? It already passed my lunchtime."
"Of course."
With only that, the Jonin disappeared in a puff of smoke, having both Shikamaru and Hinata instinctively jump backwards. Lifting himself off the canopy, Kakashi or the original Kakashi in this case made a cat-like landing right behind two unsuspected Genin and tapped their shoulders. The Hyuga gave out a cute mouse-like squeak, and almost fainted, while Shikamaru groaned like an old man. Coincidentally or uncoincidentally, in the distance, rang the alarm bell Kakashi had set, signalling the end of the Survival Exercise.
"A shadow clone. Should have seen through that," Shikamaru murmured, "These bells are not meant to be taken from the beginning."
"You should be proud of yourself, no one ever comes closer to taking them than you guys."
After Hinata woke Sasuke up with her smelling salt, the four of them strolled back to the original training field for their lunch. For the first time since Kakashi took up the bell test tradition, no one was tied to the wooden pole which itself was an...inconvenience. He only brought two bento boxes as he intended to carry out the second part of the exercise in the afternoon before Shikamaru robbed him of all the fun. He was confident that his students found no trouble sharing their food by now, but the solution to this problem came in the way he least expected. Sasuke lost his appetite after learning he lost to Kakashi's clone and gave his lunch to Shikamaru.
Even I wasn't that much of a sore loser when Minato-sensei showed me I was just a child, prodigy or not.
The Uchiha was going to give him a lot of headaches in the coming days. Kakashi had been a jerk to both Obito and Rin after his father's death and he could see the same bitterness coming out of Sasuke. Had only I been more competent and you lived through that day, Obito, He thought sadly, You are the better teacher these guys deserve.
"Alright, from tomorrow, Team 7 will begin its first official mission," Declared Kakashi triumphantly with a thumb up before being blue-balled by the cold reception from the introverted trio. Hinata somehow was scared by the prospect, acting like a snail withdrawing into its shell; Sasuke kept on brooding and Shikamaru clearly wanted nothing more than to go home, "Before we leave, I have something to ask you guys. Are any of you close to Naruko Uzumaki?"
The three kids exchanged hesitant and uneasy glares which told Kakashi a lot without saying anything. Sensei's daughter doesn't have many friends.
"Why do you want to know about Naruko?" Surprisingly, it was Sasuke who asked.
"Curiosity mostly. When I heard she was left without a team, I asked the Hokage to let her join mine but he refused. I guess there must be something special about the girl that I don't know."
Most of that was true but he let out the part where he almost raised his voice in front of the Hokage for turning down the request. Thrice he had denied Kakashi's responsibility to Minato's baby girl. Twice he had sound reason but this time he did not. The path to a great Ninja is never easy, The Hokage said, If it meant hardship then hardship she must endure.
And this was what he meant by 'Hardship'. No friends to back her up; No teacher to guide her hand; Limping through the empty schoolyard like she was the last of her kind; Washing dishes and bowls at a Ramen shop till nearly midnight before returning to her run-down apartment; Last night, she fell asleep with her door unlocked and the stove on so Kakashi had to intervene and realize what a failure he was. He failed to protect Rin and Obito. He failed to protect his sensei and Kushina and now he failed to protect their child.
Hiding in the shadow of the room, he wanted nothing more than to wake Naruko up, telling her that he was sorry, that her parents loved her and he would be her teacher. But Kakashi was a Shinobi of the Leaf, he had his order and thus he left as soon as the morning came.
"Naruko is...nice." Hinata admitted with difficulty, "But..my father, L-lord Hisashi doesn't want her to be around me. He said she is dangerous but I..I don't know why he thought like that."
"Perhaps, he was afraid she would drag you into one of her pranks." Sasuke remarked, "She is always a troublemaker. Doing pranks and messing things up for no reason besides she was bored. I told her that she should focus more on training instead and how the mischief would come back to haunt her someday. By the look of it, I was right."
Kakashi sighed, "Doesn't she have any friends?"
"A pink-haired girl called Sakura." He shrugged, "And Ino Yamanaka. They are a trio."
"Were a trio. Thank to a certain someone." Shikamaru added and gave his teammate a dirty look, to which the Uchiha responded with a frown, "If it hadn't been for those two, she could have quit the Academy a couple of years ago. Can't blame her really. I probably would do the same if the teachers kept trying to sabotage my studies one way or another." What Shikamaru got from Kakashi was a hard look but as for his teammates, shock and horror, "Please don't tell me I'm the only one with eyes here."
"No, It can't be." Hinata shook her head, "Iruka-sensei wouldn't..."
"Not Iruka. The man treats her like his own sister but others unfortunately treat her like a plague. Didn't you ever notice that Takamaru-sensei only gave Naruko one go in every Shuriken practice and said she had done a good job although she only managed to hit 6 out of 10 targets? They all hate Naruko but they conceal their hatred very well so no one can put the blame on them. Koki-sensei ignored her questions while we were learning Group Basic Tactic and then went on promising he would give her answers after class which he never did. Even having her sparring with Sasuke in Taijutsu matches is a part of their twisted treatment."
"What was wrong about that? She is the only one who could provide me some challenge." The Uchiha argued, "None of you would be able to stand against me in a minute."
"And you are notorious for going overboard when fists are thrown. How many times did you send Naruko to the medical room exactly?" The realization brought a hint of shame to Sasuke. The boy remained quiet as Shikamaru continued, "Yes, that was why they gave her to you, to serve as your personal punching bag and to spare other students the injuries which they had to explain to their parents."
"If you knew she was mistreated then why not file a report?" The Jonin asked, cold rage rising in his cord.
"I told my father but he advised me to let it be. You would only make things worse for the girl, he told me." Once again Shikamaru gave him that piercing I-know-everything- look, "It's not fair but I guess special people often end up with special treatment, whether it's positive or negative to them. Am I wrong, Kakashi-sensei?"
Kakashi wasn't gonna answer that question. He wasn't allowed to discuss the matter and with a smart boy like Shikamaru, it was just a matter of time. With a sigh and wave of hand, he dismissed them, " 8:00 AM tomorrow at the Hokage building. We will carry out your first D-rank missions. Two if we have time."
After they left, he spent his time in front of the memorial, asking the departs what the right course of action was for those who remained. As always, they didn't answer him. They couldn't because they now were just names carved into the stone.
I hate to think about what you will say in this circumstance, Obito, Father. The energetic Uchiha wouldn't hesitate to call him worse than scum for leaving Naruko to the wolves all those years, but Sakumo The White Fang might just smile and give his shoulder an encouraging tap. The Hokage wasn't without a point, Kakashi knew. His involvement only made the connection between Naruko and Minato more obvious to the enemies who were already powerful and numerous even without the foes Kakashi himself had made over the years. Beside...Kakashi Hatake was never a child, not in the spiritual sense at least, so how the heck did he know about raising one, a girl above all of that?
"She must be a very special girl while alive." A feminine voice spoke behind him, gentle and caring, "Should I be jealous? Not many can make Kakashi forget his appointment."
It was all wrong. It wasn't Rin he was thinking about, she wasn't jealous and he didn't forget about his appointment with Asuma and Kurenai. Kakashi turned around and gave her an eye smile, "I'm just...lost in my thought, Harane."
Fair-skinned, slender, dark-haired and mysterious with a beauty spot beneath her left brown eye, Hanare could have been the daughter of some noble lord if gods hadn't chosen a Kunoichi life for her. A Jonin from Jōmae Village (Key Village), a vassal of the Leaf, owner of two chakra-enhanced Kodachi (Short swords), master of Jōmae infiltration technique and Water Release, capable enough to complete a few S-rank missions alone while managing to avoid being listed in the Bingo book, a luxury for Ninja of their calibre. Perhaps, the only flaw she had was falling in love with a man like Kakashi Hatake.
"Haven't you ever?" Her smile was as beautiful as the sky behind her, crimson-red as the sun drifted toward the mountain and low hills. When she wrapped her arm around his chest and leaned against his back, he could smell Lily of the Valley from her hair, "How are your students?"
"A teacher can't ask more. They are all exceptional."
"And yet you sound...disappointed. Is there something troubling you? Can I help?"
Can she help me? Yes, she totally could. Perhaps she was a too good option to be ignored but Kakashi wondered if it was a good idea. Doing so, he would violate every protocol for an ally ninja and lover Harane might be, she still pledged her loyalty to another village and another country, not to mention Naruko's secret on its own could drag her into danger. There would be a day when powerful men came for the beast inside her as they had done many times in the past and when that day came, Kakashi would gladly lay down his life to defend Naruko.
"If it was about that girl Naruko then I can look after her while you're unavailable," She said, "I know where she lived."
If it was someone else who managed to tail him in such a fashion, Kakashi's pride would be hurt but it was an infiltration specialist he chose to tangle with "You followed me yesterday? Why?"
"After you were back from that team breakdown meeting, you weren't yourselves. You men act the same when something troubles you." Hanare giggled, "At first I thought she was your unrecognized daughter and ready to give you a slap to the face. But then I realized she was too old for that. Who is she?"
"A daughter of a late friend," It was no lie but not the truth either, "She is my responsibility but I neglect it and you have seen the consequence. Today I learn that it is even worse than I imagined."
Her arms squeezed tighter, "Don't be too harsh to yourself. You have done what you could."
"I have done barely enough." He confessed sadly. Turning around, he gazed down at the woman, his expression hard, "It can be dangerous, Hanare. You should take great caution. If anyone..."
She put a finger on his lip, "No one. If I managed to tail Kakashi of the Sharingan undetected, no one would know."