"Oi!"
Kakashi glanced over his shoulder and found Guy running, full-speed, at him. The Jounin's eye widened as he realized his self-proclaimed rival was going too fast and soon found himself laying on the floor along with him as he'd run right into him.
"K-Kakashi" Guy stuttered, his eyes blank as tried gaining his bearings. Villagers walked by as if nothing happened, only casting them amused glances, they were used to seeing the two causing a ruckus around the village.
"Hn...Guy...Baka" Kakashi mumbled, trying to make his sight stop spinning.
The two slowly, and eventually, sat up, rubbing their pained heads.
Guy looked down and noticed a bunch of vegetables and other food items lying on the floor around them "Ehh? What kind of person would leave perfectly good, healthy, food on the dirty floor like this? Tch!" Guy mumbled, to himself mostly.
Kakashi looked at him with a deadpan stare until it caught the green leaf's attention "It's my groceries...I was carrying them in this bag before you ran into me" Kakashi stated, holding up a torn brown bag with an irk mark growing on his forehead.
Guy rubbed the back of his neck and sheepishly chuckled. He quickly picked up all the ingredients and ran off, only to come back not a moment later with another brown bag.
Kakashi sighed, no point in staying mad at the man as he'd returned his groceries to him and started patting him down of all the dust covering his body.
Eventually, Kakashi had to slap his hands away as Guy didn't seem to realize, in that innocent mind of his, just where his hands were heading.
Without another word, the copycat nin sauntered away with his groceries in hand, once again.
"H-Hey!" Guy called again, this time running up to his side a little slower.
Kakashi ignored the man's presence and watched the clouds above his head, leisurely drifting as they overlooked all the events happening on the ground. The Jounin sometimes wished he could just drop everything and leave, live a life with no responsibilities, but then he'd realize that he actually liked being responsible for something; his students, for example.
"Oi! Are you listening to me?" Guy pulled the silver-haired male from his thoughts as he stepped into view.
"Hm? You still here?" Kakashi questioned, his cool tone throwing the eccentric man off his game.
"Tch!" Guy clicked his tongue and jumped back with a dramatic flare before pointing, heatedly, at his rival who simply watched him with a bored expression "I challenge you!" Guy roared, hyped up and filled with neverending energy.
Kakashi simply kept staring at Guy until the green spandex-wearing male cracked, his face twisting with curiosity and impatience "What'do you say, my eternal rival?" Guy smirked, his teeth shining in the sun. Kakashi wondered if that was a medical condition or if the man had false, glass-like, teeth since they weren't meant to shine like that.
"No" Kakashi said, he didn't really have the time for a competition with Guy anyway. His students needed training and since he'd been training with Sasuke and Naruto with Jiraiya - he needed to find someone that could train his female student soon.
Guy frowned and opened his mouth to throw back a retort to try and hype him up as well but was interrupted before he could even begin by Asuma and Kurenai walking over to the two.
"Ohayo!" The two chorused together with friendly smiles. Of course, Guy returned the gesture while Kakashi simply stared at them. He wondered if they'd act as if nothing happened the day before. Even so, he wasn't one to join in with drama among friends - He'd rather be training.
"Hm? Kakashi?" Kurenai softly called his name, successfully gaining his attention.
The Jounin just stared at the two with no emotion in his eye, he wouldn't give them the satisfaction of knowing their actions actually had an effect on him.
"Would you mind if we speak with you?" Asuma continued on for Kurenai, who gave him a soft glare for finishing for her when she could have done it just as well.
"Alone?" Kurenai added, glancing at Guy.
Kakashi tilted his head, he felt curious and cautious at the same time. Would they try to get him alone and then attack or was his mind just jumping to attention because of his experiences in the past?
Asuma took what he could from the Jounin and the tilt of his head was seen as a, perhaps hesitant, yes. The bearded-male looked over at their spandex-wearing friend and nervously chuckled as Guy remained completely oblivious to the hint for him to leave. Instead, he stared back at the trio with wide and innocent-like eyes.
"See you around, Guy" Kakashi addressed the man, who simply gave a wide grin "Until next time, Kakashi!" He basically yelled and ran off.
Asuma sweatdropped at the so-called 'Beast of Konoha' but shook his head and regained his focus.
"Listen, Kakashi..." Asuma started but trailed off, unsure of where he was going with that. Perhaps he just wanted to make sure he had the indifferent man's attention for once.
Kakashi sighed and waited for someone to speak up, he was sure to be late now and Sasuke would most probably throw a little fit at thinking he'd forgotten about the boy.
And people thought Naruto was sensitive...
"We just wanted to...Apologize" Kurenai stepped up and looked him directly in the eye as she spoke.
Kakashi's eye widened, out of everything - That was the last thing he expected from them.
"Apologize?" The Jounin mumbled to himself as if hearing it again would make it sound more real.
"Hai" Kurenai stated and Kakashi could see in her, in both their, eyes that they meant it.
"We were wrong to go against you, especially when you haven't said one word about how we train our genin. We should've minded our own business and we should be training our students to be like yours" Asuma explained further.
"Your Team has created quite the name for itself in Konoha and is spreading to other Villages. If we hadn't been so blinded by jealousy...Perhaps we could've told you how well of a job you've been doing earlier" Kurenai smiled.
Kakashi didn't know what to make of the two. First, they hated him and were ready to attack him had he not submitted to their anger first and now they wanted to play nice while praising him for basically torturing his students?
He'd never understand people.
"Arigato" Kakashi smiled anyway. He didn't want to fight with them and whether or not he'd like to admit it - they were his friends.
Asuma and Kurenai seemed surprised that he'd forgiven them so easily but weren't about to complain as they returned his smile with their own.
"Are you feeling prepared for the final phase of the Chuunin Exams?" Asuma asked, changing the topic to avoid an awkward silence.
"Hai, I have no doubt they'll pass" Kakashi responded with a nod of his head.
"Ehh...I wish I could be that confident in my students" Kurenai sighed, closing her eyes with disappointment in herself.
Asuma nodded alongside her, clearly showing he felt the same.
"Hm..." Kakashi hummed, wondering if the thought that suddenly crossed his mind was worth trying out.
The two before him stared, curiously, at him.
"Why don't I let Sakura train with your teams?" Kakashi suggested.
Kurenai, looking almost excited, suddenly heaved a sigh and crossed her arms while Asuma gave a nervous smile.
"Err...She's not exactly...up to par with your boys is she?" Asuma muttered, trying his best not to offend.
Though the copycat nin didn't feel any offense as he saw taking insults personally, a waste of time.
"She is my weakest student" Kakashi said with a smile. He knew the girl was a force to be reckoned with and could easily overpower the boys when it came to punching things but she lacked the speed and stamina the boys had, which is why she was classed as his weakest student.
"O-Oh...You...don't seem to have a problem with that?" Kurenai stuttered, surprise showing on her face.
"Hm...She's trying, that's all I can ask for" Kakashi simply stated though that was far from the truth. He was pushing her to catch up to the boys harder than the three genin were used to. Sasuke and Naruto always helped where they could but in the end, she was the one that needed to take her body's limit to the next level.
"I see..." Asuma almost grumbled. He felt the silver-haired male was lending his weakest student to them because he thought their teams were even weaker than her. He wanted so badly to set the man straight but refrained himself from doing as he simply nodded his head in acceptance. He'd simply set her aside to read those medical books he sees her read all the time.
Kurenai thought along the same lines but, like Asuma, kept her mouth shut as they'd just made up with their long-time friend.
"Send her over to our usual training ground, Kurenai and I are working together for a while" Asuma smirked.
"Will do" Kakashi nodded before walking off without another word which startled the two as they thought he'd at least say goodbye.
The two sighed, tired, before glancing at each other and continuing on with their day.
Kakashi, on the other hand, shifted his groceries in his hand, the bag was starting to become annoying to carry for so long. He almost fist-bumped the air when he saw the clan house appear in the distance, finally getting to go home.
The man walked as he usually would toward the house, though he suddenly halted as his feet carried him past a house that had a box sitting outside with the owner and a large dog next to it.
Kakashi wondered if his mind was playing tricks on him but as his feet took him back to the box and he read the sign that said 'Puppies for Sale'. The man's eye lit up, a sparkle that only came out when he felt he was having a moment with his students or if he saw dogs.
Kakashi bent down, smiling at the owner as he did so - not that the old man could see underneath his mask - and looked in the box.
A full litter of different colored puppies looked up at him with, in Kakashi's opinion, the cutest little eyes he'd ever seen.
Konoha's most talented ninjutsu shinobi almost squealed as he let the little pups sniff his hand before they started licking his fingers.
He lifted one up to his chest, standing straight, as he looked the puppy in the eyes. It gave a cute little bark which melted the Jounin's heart right then and there.
A sudden throat being cleared tore him from his happy place as he looked down at the seated old man with a confused look in his eye.
"Sorry, sonny. They've all already been sold to the Inuzuka clan" He spoke, a slight bit of hesitation noticeable in his tone.
Kakashi turned back to the puppy with the saddest eyes he could make and slowly put the, still barking, pup back in the box.
He straightened up and looked down at the lot before picking up his groceries and continuing his walk toward the clan house.
Kakashi tried his best to block the feeling of rejection and hurt as he walked away from the puppies that, he swore, barked for him to come back.
As the Jounin opened the door and walked toward the kitchen, he didn't seem to notice his charges littered around the living room - staring at him with confused expressions on their faces.
Kakashi remained silent as he put away all the contents of the brown bag before throwing the bag, itself, away.
He turned around and found himself unable to move as two little arms had wrapped around his waist.
Kakashi's eye widened in surprise and looked down to find his pink-haired student refusing to let go. His eye softened at the gesture, she could clearly see how troubled he was, though he quickly became more shocked than before as the boys on his team, blushes covering their cheeks, slowly walked over and wrapped themselves around their teammate as well as himself.
He stared down at the three with mixed emotions but the one that stood out the most was happiness. He smiled and patted each of the genin on the head, a show of affection he'd seen many fathers do to their kids.
The three looked up at him, he noticed they had a look in their eyes that revealed to him that this was the first time he'd seen pure innocence in their eyes.
Kakashi untangled their arms from him and moved to the couch where the genin previously sat in the living room. He sat down and brushed his hand over his face, taking off his Konoha headband and rubbing his eye as well.
The genin all glanced at each other before Sakura made the first move again and joined her Sensei on the couch, the boys following shortly after - though more hesitant.
Sakura, without any hesitance, cuddled up next to her Sensei. Her small hands gripped his vest as she closed her eyes and breathed out in peace.
Naruto watched the girl and followed her example. Kakashi didn't say or do anything to stop them from getting comfortable, he planned on being there for a while anyway. Training could wait until tomorrow...or maybe tonight.
The silver-haired wolf looked over at Sasuke and arched his eyebrow at the Uchiha. The genin blushed at being caught away from the group but looked down with a frown shortly after.
Sasuke wasn't sure what to do, he'd never even been this close with his real family.
The boy didn't have to think much into it as he suddenly found himself nestled behind Naruto, under Kakashi-Sensei's arm.
The Uchiha looked up at the man, insecurity showing from the deepest parts of his soul through his eyes but all the Jounin did was smile at him before laying his head back on the couch.
'Guess we're taking a nap' Sasuke thought to himself with a raised eyebrow as he looked at all the members of his team. 'I could get used to this...' The boy thought as he drifted off with the rest of them.
After nearly three hours of Team 7 snuggled up together on the large couch of their clan home, Sakura awoke with a small start.
Her nightmares, although mild now, still hadn't reseeded back into the darkest parts of her mind. The pinkette's sad green eyes trailed to her teammates and found herself smiling despite her own misery, she was content just being with them and soon felt that sadness deep within her fade away as the nightmare became forgotten.
She sighed and looked out a nearby window to see the sun starting to set. The birds chirped, calling their little ones back home and the streets that were filled with people just a few hours before were now starting to become bare as people moved toward the Village center. All the nightlife was in the center.
She felt a hand on her head and turned slightly to see her Sensei looking at her with a half-closed eye.
"Okay?" Kakashi asked, softly as to not wake the other two.
Sakura nodded and whispered back "Okay."
Kakashi removed his hand and let her snuggle up to his side again, the both of them watching the sunset outside in silence.
Once darkness took over the sky, Kakashi slightly shifted as his arm started to feel numb from Sasuke clutching, tightly, onto it.
He cleared his throat after getting comfortable again "Sakura..." He whispered.
She turned her head to look up at him with curious eyes "I forgot to tell you. You'll be training Asuma and Kurenai's team's tomorrow" He murmured, watching the reaction from the girl go from curious to angry almost instantly as she sat up.
Kakashi regretted telling her while she was laying on him as he suddenly felt a pang in his ribcage that made him lose his breath.
Silently groaning, Kakashi winced at the chakra filled punch "I-It's not like I want to send you over but they apologized today" Kakashi said, catching his breath and trying to explain further before she threw another punch at him "So, I felt bad because their team really sucks and- Oof!"
Kakashi was cut off as he took another blow to the ribs all the while crying internally, not that the genin would care if he cried outwardly.
"W-Why?" He stuttered, trying his best not to move too much as the boys slept through his pain.
Sakura glared at her Sensei and huffed, not saying a word as she plopped back down by his side and, what Kakashi would call it, angrily went back to sleep.
"Women..." Kakashi muttered with a roll of his eye though that same eye widened in surprise and pain as he felt another blow against his ribs.
"Hn..." Kakashi groaned and thought it best to keep his mouth shut from here on out and not tell her about him calling her his weakest student - not weakest in strength.
___
"Ohayo!" Ino yelled from afar, waving her hand enthusiastically in the air.
Sakura watched her from afar while walking toward her, her team, team 8 and their Sensei's stood behind the group - watching the encounter with skeptical eyes.
Sakura, herself, wondered if this would be a good idea since the last time she'd seen them was when they had been overcome with fear and their Sensei were ready to attack hers. Speaking of which, Sakura did that just this morning after she found out the baka had called her weak. She showed him weak, alright.
Meanwhile.
"Should we call for help?" Naruto questioned as he watched the blood drip from the unconscious Kakashi-Sensei's temple.
"Hn. Sakura did this, he probably deserved it" Sasuke stated but left to get the first aid kit.
Naruto squinted down at the silver-haired male and poked his cheek.
"Hn..." Kakashi groaned, weakly swatting the blonde's hand away.
Naruto flinched but otherwise kept poking his face.
While back with Sakura, she'd reached the two teams and smiled.
"Shall we begin?"