She moved her stare to the clock mounted above the door. Their sensei was supposed to meet them two o'clock sharp and there were sixteen minutes left until his expected arrival. But the exact moment the hand struck 1:45 pm, the door snapped open to reveal Kakashi in his standard jounin attire.

"You're early, 'ttebayo!" Naruto exclaimed before he could stop himself. The man didn't even spare him a look as he walked to the center of the room.

"When you're on time, you're late. When you're early, you're on time. Consider that my first lesson to you," he said. Sakura crossed her arms over her midsection and leaned back against the other desk. Oh, he was going to be one of those, was he?

With one swift motion, he turned to face them with feet positioned to be perfectly aligned to the tip of his shoulders and hands clasped behind his back. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I will be the one to train you until your ascension to chuunin level and I expect you three to listen to what I say. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir!" Naruto and Sasuke both chorused. Kakashi looked at the sole student who refused an answer.

" Am I clear ?" he repeated, piercing black eyes boring into her. Sakura smiled.

"Yes. You are."

His gaze lingered on her a bit longer before he looked to regard them collectively.

"You each will introduce yourself. I've refused to read over any of your records to eliminate any possible bias towards you three. I don't even know your names," he began. Sakura didn't even blink. This was very new. "So what I will rely on are your first impressions. Say your likes, dislikes, goals—things of the sort. Don't make a mistake of yourselves. You. Start us off."

Sasuke sat up, a determined light in his expression befitting of an Uchiha. He was a boy nearly ten years old who sought not only to make his parents proud, but to become a shinobi even Itachi would be more than proud of. This was going to be his first step into that reality.

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke. I like training, tomatoes, and sitting by the lake in the morning. I don't like miso ramen—"

There was a betrayed gasp from Naruto.

"—but still, Naruto's one of my best friends. Even if he's a dobe most of the time. My other best friend is Sakura and she's cool because she's nice and invincible. And when I'm older, I want to be a shinobi just like my aniki."

Sakura swore Kakashi let a flicker of surprise show before he moved on to the next student. "Next."

Naruto sent Sasuke a scathing glare before grinning brilliantly.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I like all ramen 'cause I'm not a hater," he enunciated loudly, making sure Sasuke got an earful of it, "I also like Sakura-chan, Iruka-sensei, and sometimes Sasuke. My best friends are Sasuke and Sakura-chan too! There's also Chouji, Shika, Hinata, Shino, Kiba, Ino... anyway, I don't like bullies! And when I'm older, I..."

The blond fell into a thoughtful silence. Ever since meeting Sakura and Sasuke, he never really considered the future anymore. It was never the 'when I'm stronger, they'll see' like back then. Now, all he cared about was Iruka and all the friends he never imagined having.

He wanted to be Hokage because he wanted to be accepted. To be loved.

But he already had all of that.

"... I want to be a am-bass-a-door. To make peace," he smiled. Kakashi noticed the way Sakura's eyes widened as she fought the urge to whip her head to her right. A reaction he didn't quite expect from her, seeing that he was starting to expect some trouble with the unconventional vibes she was sending out. He looked at her fully.

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