Crimson Gaze

The training ground was too quiet.  

No birds. No wind. Just the faint hum of cicadas and the weight of a stare boring into my back like a kunai waiting to be thrown.  

I didn’t turn around.  

“You’re late,” I said.  

A chuckle, low and lazy. “Mm. The road of life is long.”  

I finally glanced over my shoulder.  

Kakashi Hatake leaned against a tree, his hitai-ate slanted over one eye, that damned orange book cracked open in his hand. Like he hadn’t just materialized out of nowhere. Like this was all some boring chore.  

Perfect.

He snapped the book shut. “So. You’re my new problem.”  

I raised an eyebrow. “Problem?”  

“Prodigies are always problems.” His visible eye curved into a crescent. “Especially Uchiha ones.”  

I smirked. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”  

Kakashi sighed, tucking the book into his vest. “Let’s see if you’re as good as your file says.”  

Then—  

He moved. 

No warning. No hand signs. Just a blur of silver and the whisper of a blade slicing toward my ribs.  

I twisted, letting the kunai graze my shirt as I drove my elbow toward his gut.  

He vanished before impact.  

Behind me.

I dropped into a sweep kick—he leapt over it—and my hands were already weaving.  

“Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!”

A dozen ember-streaked projectiles erupted from my lips, arcing toward him in a deadly bloom.  

Kakashi didn’t dodge.  

He met the flames with a single hand sign.  

“Water Style: Water Wall.” 

A torrential surge crashed between us, steam hissing as fire and water canceled out.  

Through the mist, his voice: “Not bad.”  

Then he was inside my guard, knee driving toward my stomach.  

I barely managed to pivot, taking the hit on my thigh instead. The force still sent me skidding back.  

Fast. Faster than he should be without the Sharingan. This was the monster who became a Jonin as a child. This was the prodigy that had been taught by the Fourth Hokage.

I grinned, shaking out my leg and using some basic healing jutsu on it. “You’re holding back.”  

“Observant,” he drawled. “But you’re not ready for me to give it my all. Even if you have been training with Gai.”  

Challenge accepted.

I lunged—not at him, but at his shadow. My hands flashed.  

“Shadow Possession Jutsu!”

Or at least, that’s what I wanted him to think.  

Kakashi’s eye narrowed—just for a fraction—before he realized there were no shadows here. Nor was there any way I'd be pulling out the use of another clan's hidden technique so brazenly. 

By then, it was too late.  

My real trap snapped shut.  

“Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld!”

The ground beneath him liquefied into grasping mud. Kakashi’s foot sank—  

—and he let it, tilting his head. “Hm. Nice trick, though I'd suggest saying the name of a jutsu that isn't a clan technique instead, makes it easier to believe.”  

Then he dissolved into a log.   

His voice came from the treeline. “Alright, that’s enough.”  

Kakashi reappeared, hands in his pockets. “You fight like someone who’s already seen war.”  

I wiped sweat from my brow. “Is that a pass?”  

“It’s an observation.” His eye flicked to my hands—to the faint tremor in my fingers I hadn’t quite masked. “You’re hiding something.”  

Damn it.  

I forced a smirk. “Aren’t we all, sensei?”  

Silence. Then—  

“True.” He shrugged. “Most prodigies are a little weird. Just don’t make it my problem.”  

I exhaled. Close.  

Kakashi turned away, already pulling out his book. “Meet here tomorrow. Same time. And Kagami?”  

I paused. “Yeah?”  

His eye crinkled. “Try not to set the trees on fire.”  

As he Body Flickered away, I let my grin fade.  

He knew. Not everything—but enough.  

Good.  

Because the best lies are the ones wrapped in truth.  

And Kakashi Hatake?  

He’d just become the perfect cover.  

---

The mission desk clerk blinked at us, her gaze flicking between Kakashi's bored slouch and my freshly minted genin headband.  

"A C-rank?" she repeated. "For a first mission?"  

Kakashi flipped a page in his book. "Maa, the Hokage approved it. Something about exceptional talent." His visible eye curved into a crescent. "Or maybe he just likes me."  

The clerk sighed, stamping the scroll. "Fine. Escort the merchant caravan to Tanzaku Gai. Bandit activity's been reported along the route."  

I smirked. Perfect.  

Bandits meant bloodshed.  

Bloodshed meant opportunity.  

— 

They attacked at dusk—five men with stolen chakra blades and the stench of cheap sake.  

"Stay back," Kakashi said, already moving.  

I didn't listen.  

The first bandit died with my kunai in his throat before he could blink. The second screamed as my fireball engulfed him. The third—  

—Kakashi's hand clamped on my wrist, yanking me back just as a poisoned senbon whizzed past my eye.  

"I said stay back."  

I wrenched free. "I had it handled."  

His eye darkened. "You're eight."  

"And you're wasting time."  

The remaining bandits fled. Kakashi didn't chase them.  

But I saw the way his fingers twitched toward a hidden blade.  

He's not just evaluating my skills.  

He was evaluating my mind.  

—

Tanzaku Gai stank of perfume and sweat. The merchant bowed, thanking us—until his eyes landed on the clan symbol on my clothes. Then his smile froze.  

"U-Uchiha, huh? Heard your clan's moving up in the world."  

Kakashi's hand settled on my shoulder. "We'll take our payment now."  

Later, in a dingy inn room, he tossed the coin pouch onto the bed. "You noticed it too."  

I didn't pretend to misunderstand. "The way he looked at me? Yeah."  

"It's not just him." Kakashi leaned against the wall. "The Hyūga are doubling their patrols. The Ino-Shika-Chō heirs aren't leaving the compound without escorts. And the civilians..." He trailed off.  

I grinned. "Let them whisper."  

Fugaku's impending Hokage nomination was a quake through Konoha's foundations—and the aftershocks were delicious.  

—

Hiashi's teacup cracked in his grip. "An Uchiha as Hokage? This is an insult to our lineage."  

Hizashi resisted the urge to look at the Uchiha compound. "Maybe we can push for an alliance. Marry Hinata to one of the Uchiha. There's that Sasuke boy right, the younger brother to the heir? They're in the same class, so we tell her to befriend him.”

Hiashi glared at his brother, “I planned for Hinata to marry one of the elders' sons to ensure she had a strong husband.” Hizashi held his tongue

—

Inoichi's fingers drummed on the table. "We adapt. We have survived worse."  

Shikaku sighed, staring at the shogi board. "Fugaku's no fool. But his clan..."  

Chōza cracked a peanut. "Just means we train harder."  

—

The bald elder slammed his fist down. "First the Nine-Tails, now this? That clan's cursed!"  

The Hokage's voice cut through the room: "Enough. I have named him my successor. That is final!”

Silence fell.  

— 

We made it back to Konoha by midnight. The gates loomed ahead, torches casting long shadows.  

Kakashi stopped me with a hand. "One last thing."  

I tensed.  

He reached into his vest—and pulled out a mission scroll stamped B-rank.  

"You fight like a jōnin," he said flatly. "So we're skipping the games."  

I took the scroll. Missing-nin. Fire Country border. Suspected Iwa spy.  

Kakashi turned away. "Rest up. We leave at dawn."  

As he vanished into the dark, I let my true smile surface.  

Oh, sensei...  

You have no idea what you've just unleashed.  

—

Kakashi handed me the B-rank scroll without preamble. "No more training wheels."  

The forest swallowed us whole, the Iwa spy's trail vanishing into the undergrowth. For normal shinobi, it would have been impossible. My Sharingan traced every broken twig, every disturbed leaf, every molecule of chakra left clinging to bark.  

When I finally struck, it was with the precision of a surgeon, my time poring over medical texts coming in handy. My knee between his shoulder blades, my genjutsu slithering into his nervous system before he could scream. The stolen scroll tumbled from his grasp as I flipped him onto his back.  

"Let's talk," I said pleasantly, watching his pupils dilate with terror.  

The Sharingan made interrogation an art form. No crude tools, no messy screams - just the inexorable pressure of my will against his mind. I learned everything: Iwa's new fortifications, River Country's secret tunnels, three Konoha traitors' names. His whimpers turned to ragged sobs as I peeled back each layer of resistance.  

"You're not incompetent," I observed clinically as he trembled at my feet. "Just unfortunate." The clean snap of his neck echoed through the silent woods.  

Kakashi materialized beside me as I stood. "Efficient," he remarked, eye tracing the corpse's unnaturally angled head.  

"He wasn't worth the paperwork." I wiped my hands on the grass, feeling the weight of his gaze. Not disapproval - something more dangerous. Recognition.  

The walk back to Konoha passed in silence, the trees casting long shadows across our path. Fugaku's impending inauguration loomed over the village like a gathering storm, whispers of Uchiha supremacy following us through the gates. Somewhere in the distance, a flash of orange ducked into an alley - Naruto, no doubt causing his usual chaos.  

As we passed the Hokage Tower, I caught Hiruzen's hollow stare through the window. His fingers twitched toward a seal before stilling, the Geas forcing his compliance even now. It was intriguing how he tried to resist but only another Uchiha, or someone possessing a Sharingan of their own and having a level of proficiency with it could resist my Geas.

I'd had a reason for not revealing to him that Danzo planned for the Uchiha massacre. If I did so, then many among the village might begin fearing that the same could happen to that, damaging the fragile trust between clans even more. It might also lead some of Danzo’s roots to come after me, since I'd stated in the room of Anbu that I had sensitive information, something that any ninja worth their salt could figure out probably related to my clan.

I smiled back, adjusting my headband as Kakashi's hand came down heavy on my shoulder. "Tomorrow," he said, voice carefully neutral, "we will discuss proper interrogation protocols."  

The game continued.  

—

Konoha Intelligence Dossier: Field Observation Report  

Subject: Uchiha Kagami  

Rank: Genin (Provisional Field Promotion to Chunin Recommended)  

Reporting Officer: Hatake Kakashi, Jounin Commander  

Classification: Eyes Only (Hokage's Personal Review)  

---  

Operational Summary:

Subject has completed seven consecutive missions without sustaining injury or requiring backup. Performance exceeds standard jonin operational parameters in the following categories: tactical analysis, threat neutralization efficiency, and mission adaptability. Psychological evaluation remains ongoing with concerning indicators noted below.  

---  

Combat Assessment: 

- Taijutsu: High proficiency with noted Nara-style feints incorporated into Uchiha close-quarters combat. Favors disarming strikes over lethal force when permitted.  

- Ninjutsu: Fire Release techniques demonstrate abnormal chakra density for his age. Suspected self-training in advanced Wind Release to augment flames.  

- Genjutsu: Application shows disturbing creativity. During interrogation of Iwa operative (see Mission Report 4471-AC), the subject maintained a three-layer illusion matrix for 27 minutes without visible strain. 

Behavioral Observations: 

1. Emotional Regulation: Displays flattened affect during and after lethal engagements. No observable distress following first confirmed kill (bandit elimination, Mission 4462-B). When questioned, responded: "Statistics suggested 89% probability he'd reoffend if left alive."  

2. Social Integration: Avoids peer interaction outside mandatory team exercises. Only observed engaging voluntarily with Uchiha Sasuke (supervised training sessions) and Uchiha Shisui (clan-related matters).  

3. Decision-Making Patterns: Consistently prioritizes mission parameters over personal safety. During escort detail (Mission 4468-C), abandoned defensive position to eliminate sniper threat despite explicit orders to maintain guard post.  

Psychological Concerns:  

- Demonstrates hyper-rational cost-benefit analysis atypical for age cohort. In debriefing, referred to civilian casualties as "acceptable attrition" when discussing optimal fireball trajectories in urban environments.  

- Shows no interest in standard genin socialization rituals (D-rank mission complaining, Ichiraku Ramen gatherings, etc.). When pressed, stated: "I'm here to become stronger, not make friends."  

- Observed practicing hand signs during funeral services for fallen shinobi. Justified as "maximizing time efficiency."  

Recommended Actions:

1. Immediate psychological evaluation by Yamanaka specialists (discreetly). [Denied.]

2. Continued paired operations with this officer to monitor development.  

3. Restrict access to A-rank missions until emotional maturity benchmarks are met. [Denied.]

Personal Addendum (Hokage's Eyes Only): 

The kid's a natural predator wearing a child's skin. He calculates angles of attack faster than most ANBU, treats human lives like shogi pieces, and looks at the Hokage Monument like he's already planning how to carve his own face there. I'd say he's exactly what Konoha needs if I trusted him not to burn the village down for "logical reasons." Keep him close, or put him down. There won't be a middle ground with this one.  

Signed:

Hatake Kakashi  

Jounin Commander, Team 7  

---  

Addendum - Hokage's Handwritten Note: 

File restricted to Hokage and ANBU Commander. No copies to Council. Monitoring approved per Article 12 of Shadow Operations Protocol. Gods help us all.  

End Report.

—