Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Kakashi looked around the small apartment curiously. It was tidier than he’d expected after so many years listening to a few of his fellows complain about the Uzumaki twins. It also looked lived-in, unlike his own apartment that he only used as a pit-stop between missions.
“So this is Akira’s and Naruto’s house?” he muttered.
“Yes, it is.”
“It’s tidier than I expected for two children living alone.”
“Akira-kun likes to have everything in its place. A trait, I believe, inherited from his father.”
Kakashi hummed. Yes, Minato-sensei was always rather meticulous.
“What about Naruto?”
“Ah, well, suffice to say this place would probably look very different without his brother’s influence.” Diplomatically answered the Hokage.
Kakashi took a closer look around the place, curious. He hadn’t been allowed to be part of this, of their lives, and even though it hurt, he was glad to finally get to see how they’d done by themselves.
He noticed that aside from being tidy and clean, the apartment was looking a little rundown, with crude repairs on a few items of furniture. Sadly, that wasn’t unexpected.
“The plants?” he asked as he absently counted the high number of them strewn all over the place, managing not to look out of place even in the strangest spots.
“Naruto’s. It’s a hobby of his.”
Kakashi hummed again, eyeing the healthy looking potted salvia on top of a rickety bookshelf. Strangely enough, the books weren’t in any particular order and that picked his interest. Walking closer, he perused the titles until he found something interesting.
Amongst a bunch of children story books, there were a few that he recognised as the standard Academy course-books. Curiously, he reached out for one and flipped it open at a random page.
A diagram on kunai throwing greeted him, with the margins full of hand-written notes and clarifications. Turning a few more pages revealed the whole book to be covered in the same scrawled writing.
“And the books?”
“Those are Akira’s. he loves to read; he was the one who taught Naruto.”
“He taught Naruto?” repeated Kakashi. “Who taught him?”
“Himself.”
“Akira taught himself how to read?” asked Kakashi, eyes narrowed.
At the man’s nod, the jōnin looked back down at the book in his hand before he put it back in its place.
Akira’s grades, like Naruto’s had been below average. Their teachers hadn’t rated them as being too intelligent either. And yet…
‘Being underestimated could be a great asset to him. His chances are already looking higher than his brother’s, if I do pass a team this year.’
“Well, I’ve made them wait long enough, I believe. Time to meet them.”
“Use the door for once, Kakashi-kun. No need for them to pick up your habits so soon.”
HPNHPNHPNHPN
“He’s late.”
It was around the twentieth time or so that the blond complained about their sensei’s tardiness, so nobody bothered with an actual answer. With a huff, he got up and went to check the door.
Akira tracked his moves, bored out of his mind after hours waiting in the classroom. The other teams had been picked up by their jōnin instructors within the first half-hour after the lunch break.
Since he’d been warned they would be tested by their jōnin-sensei, he hadn’t brought a book with him. Something he dearly regretted.
“What are you doing, Naruto?” screeched Sakura shaking him out of his musings. “Naruto!”
The blond bundle of energy had decided to set a prank for their jōnin-sensei by trapping the door.
“That’s what he gets for being late.” Said the child after a quick look at his brother to check he wasn’t complaining.
Akira didn’t. He’d never complained about Naruto’s pranks, even helping out with a fair number of them. The redhead had only stopped him a handful of times, when he believed a prank went too far and could end up hurting someone.
“You’re going to get us in trouble. You shouldn’t be doing that.” Lectured Sakura, hands at her hips.
“Our sensei’s a jōnin, an elite ninja. You think that’ll work?” muttered Sasuke.
Of course, Sakura lost no time in agreeing with him.
And then someone actually walked in and an eraser fell on top of their head.
“You were saying?” directed Naruto at the Uchiha, his pleasure at proving him wrong greater than at catching their sensei with such a silly prank.
“I’m sorry, sensei. I told him not to do it, but he didn’t want to listen…”
Akira tuned out her diatribe in favour of observing the man. Their sensei, apparently.
He had spiky silver hair swept off to the side as if defying gravity and pale skin. Not much of his face was visible, a mask covering most of his face and his hitai-ate pulled down to cover his left eye. A lone dark eye peered down at them from his right side.
As for clothes, they were pretty standard: deep blue pants and long-sleeeved shirt, a green flack jacket over it. He also wore sandals, a weapon’s pouch on his right leg and a pair of fingerless gloves with metal plates.
The man bent down and picked up the eraser before staring at them.
“How should I say this…? My first impression of this team is… you’re a bunch of morons.”
Akira was still wondering why the man had let the eraser hit him, as he obviously must have.
“Meet me at the roof.”
His eyes narrowed at the spot the man had occupied a moment before, the smoke clearing. It’d been a clone.
“Race you!” shouted Naruto.
And he took off.