Chapter Text
“With all the respect, Hatake, I don’t think my students are mature enough to take the chuunin exam this year.” The vein in my forehead throbs, wanting to burst, but I use all my willpower to keep my tone civil.
“With all the respect, Iruka sensei, they’re not your students anymore. They’re mine. And I do what I want with them. I think that they’re ready, but even if they aren’t it will be a good challenge for them. They’re taking part in the chuunin exam, whether you want them to or not.”
Hatake eyes me coolly from under that hooded lid of his, his shoulders in that perpetual slouch that makes everyone think he’s a lazy slob. Everyone who doesn’t know his reputation as a cold-hearted killer, that is. And since the beginning of this discussion he’s been doing his very best to rile me up.
Sometimes I wonder if he gets some kind of weird kick out of it, messing with a simple chuunin teacher. Or just messing with me in particular. I don’t think he does this to anyone else.
As usual, my pulse wants to go haywire in his presence, so I have to resort to dirty shinobi tricks to keep everything at steady levels. Dirty enough they even work against him, genius that he is. Thank fuck he at least hasn’t caught wind of my actual feelings towards him; I don’t care how attracted I am to him, he’s still a piece of scum. Why do I always have to gravitate towards the fucking worst is beyond me. At least with him, it’s apparent. With Mizuki it wasn’t.
My blood pressure spikes, anxiety for my students and fury towards their shitty teacher reaching an all times high; throwing my stupid attraction to the mix, it’s quite a volatile emotional cocktail. I don’t care what Hatake says, before they were his students they were mine. And they always will be. I’m not about to let Naruto and his teammates get hurt if I can help it.
“They’ve barely been genin for, what, half a year? Less? And you’re seriously thinking of throwing them to the wolves?” I point an accusing finger at him. “What happens if they die, Hatake? The Kazekage’s son is participating this year, and that kid is a psychopath. Do you know how many people he has killed?” Hushed murmurs of unease erupt around me, but I keep my eyes focused on Hatake.
“A shinobi’s life is dangerous, Iruka sensei. They need to learn that,” he says, still unperturbed.
There’s a difference between learning life is dangerous and fucking dying, Hatake. At thirteen.
But I don’t say any of this out loud. He wouldn’t care. Of course he wouldn’t fucking care. This is friend-killer Kakashi after all. What did I really expect, that he would somehow listen to reason?
Fuck. I need to play my cards right. If I start raging with no logical arguments, I’ll only get dismissed. You’re a teacher, Umino. Take a few deep breaths and pull yourself together. You can engage in critical debate.
Inhale. Exhale. My eyes locked with Hatake’s, refusing to back down. Inhale. Exhale.
Fuck. Again.
I can’t. I fucking can’t. All I see in front of me is Hatake’s mocking stare and his mocking slouch and his mocking attitude, making it difficult to think clearly. This is getting me nowhere.
Taking another deep breath to try to calm myself, I turn towards the Hokage. He’s my last hope. If I can’t engage in critical debate, I’ll try to appeal to our leader’s kindness. “Hokage-sama, please,” I plead, my voice raw with emotion. “They were also my students, and they always will be. They’ve barely been out of the academy; I don’t want them to get hurt. Could we at least arrange for a mini test to judge if they’re ready for this?”
The Sandaime regards me with that compassionate gaze of his, and thank the kami I think I’m getting through to him. He knows how much I care. Unlike ice prince sociopath Hatake over there, apparently.
From what Naruto has told me, Hatake has only taught them how to walk on trees and nothing else for the entire fucking time he’s supposed to have been training them. He shouldn’t even be calling himself a sensei, yet he still wants them to take the chuunin exam?
Hell, I could do better than that. As a matter of fact, I am. I’ve taken to at least helping out Naruto with his shuriken and taijutsu skills in the evenings when he has the time. He’s making a decent progress already. I even taught him a simple barrier or two and the very basics of sealing techniques. Prudent, considering what he has inside of him. This month, we’re also going to tackle walking on water.
Take that, Sharingan no Kakashi, you useless fucking genius. Bested by a mere chuunin as a sensei, how does that feel?
“I agree with Iruka,” the Sandaime says, and I almost faint with relief. Yes. At least we won’t be sending my students blindly in the dark like sheep to the slaughter. I do fear for their safety, with that Kazekage kid among the participants. Not only is he a psychopath, but he’s also a jinchuuriki like Naruto, which makes him even more dangerous. “We’ll organise a small test in advance to ascertain if your team is ready for the exam, Kakashi. I’ll let Iruka take care of the details.”
I bow almost all the way to the floor, my knees weak. “Thank you, Hokage-sama,” I say, not giving a fuck that my voice is trembling, “Thank you. I’ll get on it, right away.” When I get up, I have to use chakra to prevent my limbs from shaking, adrenaline still stirring up a storm inside me.
Hatake’s dark gaze is on me, unfathomable as always. “Fine,” is all he says. Not like he has an option in the matter, now that the Hokage has spoken.
I give him the most cursory of nods I can get away with without being labelled as rude and excuse myself from the meeting. I have a test to plan.
The rest of the day passes in a blur while I go through details, devising a course of action. The best way to lure Naruto is by going after someone he cares about, so I’m going to have someone from my team henge as Konohamaru. Naruto treats that kid as his little brother, so it’s the best bait option. Pretend abduction, that’s my angle. I’ll henge as one of the goons after ‘Konohamaru’, Naruto will rush to his little brother’s rescue, and we’ll see how well he performs. Hopefully he’ll remember what I’ve taught him.
It’s not long before my ‘strike team’ is ready. With the Hokage’s permission, I’ve gathered a few fellow chuunin volunteers for this. Of course it has to be other chuunin, the whole point is to see if my students are near that level yet. If we used jounin or Anbu, the entire exercise would be moot.
As soon as we take our places on the rooftops, I pray for the best. Let the test begin.