Bakakashi

After they had their talk, Kakashi exited the Hokage's office. I was out in the waiting area thinking of certain things that were prevalent in fanfiction, but were either not true or simply unmentioned.

'Civilians forming mobs to attack me and Rin. Never happened. Granted, it could be because I was never an idiot and actually went out when they celebrated the Kyuubis' defeat. Markets poisoning food: I honestly can't say. They might have, but either being an Uzumaki/Jinchuriki could make me show no symptoms of poisoning..'

The poisoning hypothesis got me thinking. If Uzumaki are known for strong vitality, long lives, large chakra reserves, and hyperactivity, would I still have such a strong healing factor as I do if I weren't a Jinchuriki?

'Maybe the healing factor was already there. Could be that having bijuu chakra coursing through me makes my body's healing factor work harder to heal. Muscles slightly tearing, healing, re-tearing and healing again makes stronger muscle. Could be how my healing works. Could it be taken higher? Accelerated healing turning into regeneration? No clue. And... There's Kakashi.'

Sensing Kakashi coming out of the office, I prepped for his arrival. Seconds later, he was right beside me. Giving me a look, he said only two words to me. "Follow me."

Not wasting a moment, I hopped out of the chair, following him as we walked to the training ground booked for us. The walk there was completely silent.

Was he that uncomfortable around me, or was he doing it on purpose? We got to the training ground after an awkward walk. It was flat, grassy, and had a few rocks spread around. Nothing exactly special.

Turning to Kakashi, I raised an eyebrow in question, wanting him to tell what he wanted or was doing. He looked at me, again, with no emotion.

"Tell me your name, likes, dislikes, and goals."

'Really? Mind games? Trying to overwhelm me? You're on, Baka.'

"Uzumaki Naruto, my sister, you, getting training done."

Kakashi blinked at that, suprised that I responded that quick.

"Why do you want to be trained?" he asked.

I took a deep breath before answering. "The Hokage won't always be there to protect me and Rin." I exhaled. "The civilians fear him more than they hate us. That may change eventually. I won't let my sister or myself be victims to cowards and idiots."

Kakashi was paying rapt attention to every word I said.

"And how do you think learning to fight earlier will help you?"

I gave him an "are you kidding" look, my eyes narrowed.

"I'd rather be able fight them off or hurt them enough to scare them than have jiji kill them. Idiots don't deserve to die for being idiots on one occasion. Better to break something than kill someone."

I could almost see the cogs moving in Kakashi's head.

'What is he thinking?'

"Many kids like you are all bark and no bite. They talk tough, but won't put effort into it. There's no shame in being that."

"Sounds like something a failure would say." I snorted.

'Oh dear, his is chakra sharpened.' I thought as his posture shifted a fraction and his chakra felt like it could cut glass.

"Is that so?, he asked, adopting a contemplative stance. "In that case, show me how much of a prodigy you are."

His stance shifted. It reminded me of when I've seen cats or dogs ready to charge their prey. It's the stance of a predator.

'Is he really expecting me to fight him?'

Realizing that he wasn't screwing with me, I put myself in a ready stance. Any of the muscle memory I had from amateur boxing and a bit of grappling left me when I was born in this body, but I still remembered the stances. Proper footwork meant balance and balance meant not getting your ass kicked.

Before I could even say "ready", he charged. One punch. One. Stinking. Punch. Was all I blocked.

Throwing a telegraphed haymaker, which I ducked, he reached out with jab from his left. I blocked it, at the cost of the impact pushing me on my back heel.

'God, I hate being small.'

The next thing I felt was a foot going into my ribs. The next, a gloved fist colliding with my face. Sadly, I did not lose consciousness in this one sided beat down. By the time he stopped, my eye was starting to swell, my left arm was sore, and I thought I had a busted lip.

Kakashi looked at me with a look of mock astonishment. "Remarkable." he cried. "Such a gem of talent. You blocked one love tap."

Spitting out some blood from where I bit the inside of my cheek at his feet, I looked at him with undisguised contempt.

'Why the hell did he do that? Make me think a beatdown is par for the course? Jokes on you, cyclops, that kunai and bullets hurt worse. You're gonna have to sever something to get something out of me.'

"Stop, you're gonna make me blush." I snarked back, feeling my busted lip heal and eye feel less swelled.

Kakashi stared out me as if he just realized something. I could see him eye smiling behind his mask. "It's going to be fun breaking that wit of yours."

///////////////////

That first week was torture. Every day at six, I woke up, ate a quick breakfast, had leftovers in the fridge for Rin, dragged my ass to the training ground to have it kicked by "Inu". The taste of blood in my mouth, the deep ache from physical exertion, and the ache of my abused forearms trying to block strikes from a man who has made killing a profession for nearly 15 years.

In short, I was having the time of my life.

Every time that I was thrown about the training ground, every kick, every bruise, brought me closer to my ultimate goal.

Become a Kage level Shinobi.

Kakashi was getting irritated. He realized that you couldn't get someone to give up when they were desperate to train. He then switched to mental games.

He took my training out into the woods for a mixture of educating me of different toxic plants to avoid, or edible ones if I was caught out with no supplies.

The other portion was tracking and evasion. I was to play the role of prey, and him hunter. I fared much better in this at first, being a sensor, up until he suppressed his chakra. The bastard used Genjutsu for this training. Everytime I couldn't call out his presence, I'd get hit with one, and a pretty bad one at that.

I had to learn to track him. If I botched it, I got a Genjutsu hit. I realized after the third day that the torture/training being done was probably so the Hokage would know for certain whether I was serious about adopting an accelerated learning regimen. I could wait till the Academy, or have a leg up on the other students. I needed that leg up for my plans.

After the first week, Kakashi laid off on much of the Genjutsu part when I made a mistake, probably from me passing some mind test. After showing I wouldn't break from something as elementary as getting mentally electrocuted or copious amounts of being hunted by this worlds apex predator(Shinobi), we moved to the theory and chakra control parts.

I had wondered whether Kakashi was really a lazy teacher, or just a garbage genin instructor. At this point, I was leaning towards the latter. The man could not dumb down a theory discussion, even if his life depended on it. If I wasn't a reincarnated adult, who technically had more life experience than Kakashi, as well as a better understanding of what chakra can and can't do than the average six year old, I wouldn't have understood what the hell he was saying.

It was irritating how little progress was made, yet it took more focus to follow and comprehend the man then it was to try and track the bastard.

Sadly, this training was causing unforseen issues. Rin was like me. No matter how well I could hide it, the initial training with Genjutsu left me pale and shaking. She could see me as I would walk back home late at night. She would berate me for my recklessness, demanding to know who would dare hurt her brother. It never failed to make all the pain seem worth it. Someone cared whether I hurt or not. Someone would be there when my body was fatigued, my mind wrung, to put me back together.

The things I was permitted to teach and show her was limited to chakra exercises and the katas I had picked up from Kakashi using those movements to push me on the ground. The lessons with her on theory and control were much better than mine with Kakashi. I knew how to talk to Rin. Kakashi didn't know how to do that with me. The first conversation with Rin ended up being a very good one.

(Flashback)

/////////////////////

"Why do I use a rock again?" Rin asked.

This was getting to be aggravating for me. It took me finding it out myself, Kakashi was useless for this, to use a rock or other dense object for Rin's and my own chakra control. Our chakra was too damn dense, with the added bonus of having chakra reserves close to Kakashi's in size... At six years old.

With dense chakra, I'd end up making leaves explode. I couldn't know what I was doing wrong if crap would blow up everytime I channelled chakra into it. That's when I thought of the idea of starting with heavy and dense objects. It's easier for a giant to lift a boulder than it is for him to ice sculpt with human sized tools. Start big and work our way back.

It worked well enough for me. After a week of hardeffort, I could make a leaf stick to me for a couple seconds before it ignited from a chakra overload. Rin needed a little more explanation though.

"We have really strong chakra, Rin." I said kindly. "Just like mom."

Bringing up our mother never failed to bring happiness to Rin. With the help of Hiruzen, we discovered our mother was Uzumaki Kushina. It did Rin good to see that she had our mother's eyes, and her face. She was disappointed that we could not find out who our father was, but was content with knowing Mom's name.

"So, our chakra breaks things that are weak, and using strong things help us to grab it softer?"

That's my sister. I smiled.

"Yes, exactly. We need to know how to pull back on our strength. We can't dance until we learn to walk."

I used the dancing analogy because she loveddancing. "Feels like I'm flying" she says. She nodded towards me, getting what I'm saying.

"Okay. So, when can I train with you?" She asked for perhaps the hundredth time.

I groaned at the same question she asked every day.

I almost prefer Kakashi.

(End Flashback)

///////////////////////

After three weeks of near mind breaking training, Hiruzen requested I talk with him about it. With the lazy mutt escorting me, I let my thoughts drift as we walked to the Tower.

My taijutsu training is coming along pretty well, but my chakra is messed up in its growth curve. It'll take half my time keeping up with my reserve growth to keep it under control.

I was disappointed at this realization. All the chakra exercises did was make me feel like I was trying to stop a flood with a bucket. It was a depressing day when I found out how futile my most desired training was.

Looks like we're here. I thought as we arrived outside Hiruzen's office.

Stepping inside, I saw the old man, sat at his desk as usual, smile on his face. "Inu, Naruto, how is your day?"

Inu offered a shrug of his shoulders, not having really a good or bad day as of this point. I looked at Hiruzen, false smile plastered on my face.

"I'm having a good one, the training is real good."

God that sounded bad.

Sarutobi just nodded, pulling his pipe out and packing it with tobacco. "You can be truthful about your opinion, Naruto." he said, lighting his pipe with some fire chakra at the tip of his index.

I let my shoulders sag at his noticing. Of course he knew.

"It's no use." I said, none of the metal in my voice that I usually had, "Most of the chakra training will be pointless in a year. The book you gave me last week showed me." I finished, my voice empty.

The book was something that took the wind out of my sails. It stressed how some, but not all, children between the ages of four and ten had high chances of experiencing spikes in chakra capacity and that it was not recommended to try and teach them advanced control techniques during peacetime.

As Jinchuriki, Rin and I fell in that category.

Too much time would need to be dedicated to control techniques instead of fleshing out the childs education in other matters. Wartime was another story entirely, fleshing out of non combat related education was put on the back burner.

Our chakra growth would be far more stable after age ten, where it would be steadier. Certain clans were exceptions to that, namely the Hyuga, who had constant stable growth through childhood into adulthood before stopping at full maturity.

I can't even dispute this because the Slug Princess herself wrote this.

Hiruzen exhaled a puff of smoke, looking at me closer. "Do you understand why I gave you that book?" he asked, leaning in closer.

I think I knew why. "To show I could have avoided wasting my time and getting myself frustrated from my chakra control being terrible."

"And how would you have avoided it, hmmnn?" he asked, not taking his eyes off me.

I looked back at him with a sense of guilt. "If I had trusted you when you said I should wait."

I had been advised by the old man to focus on taijutsu training, even after I wanted to focus on chakra control so I could make Kage bunshin for training.

Hiruzen gave me a small smile, dipping his head forward in acknowledgement. "I know you want to be strong for your sister and yourself, Naruto. It is a noble thing to be strong for others. But you shouldn't charge head on into something because you know you can deal with it. Many of my teammates would have been killed had they followed me into a situation that I was better equipped to deal with than they were. How many people do you know can heal as quickly as you?"

I didn't answer. I couldn't answer. The realization of what I could have done if it wasn't pointed out to me was a chilling one.

'What use is being the strongest when everyone who would follow me into hell is dead?'

Hiruzen looked at me with sympathy. "Your chakra control training is at an end. You ended any of my doubts about your dedication to getting stronger when you refused to back down, even after it got difficult. I'll drop off some better theory books for you to study before the Academy. Inu will still train you in taijutsu. You've made excellent progress, Naruto-kun, but please remember this," He leaned forward out of his seat, "This time, you lost a couple weeks. The next time, you could lose something far worse if you're reckless."

Remembering the Genjutsu, I stiffened. If I'm dead, nobody will know about the Akatsuki. No one to warn the village of the dangers.

No one to protect Rin.

I nodded my understanding to Hiruzen.

"I know, jiji." my voice was quiet as I replied.

"Now, why don't you head back home and wash up. I'll be by with some more books for you." He then lifted up a letter he was holding, "I need to finish this letter to one of my acquaintances."

Understanding that he needed time to finish the tasks a Kage needed to do, I turned to leave.

But before I did, I gave a final parting shot. "Later, old man. See-ya, jiji."

I could hear Sarutobi's laugh even with the door closed.

/////////////////////

Kakashi gave a look to Hiruzen, requesting that he stop laughing. After calming down, his Hokage fixed him with a look of curiosity. "What exactly was the physical training you put him through?"

Kakashi knew that either the Hokage would be aggravated at him, or proud that Naruto had gotten through it. "Modified Anbu training." he said simply, wishing to make it quick, like pulling off a band aid.

Shit. was Kakashi's thought when he saw Hiruzen's look changed to irritation.

"What?" he asked, his tone slightly clipped.

Aggravated at me, it is.

"I didn't start on it right away." he said quickly, not wanting for there to be any misunderstanding, "I did what you wanted me to do, be physically harsh until he called it quits. He didn't call it."

"I do not doubt that you took a very 'loose' definition of when I gave the orders for you to teach him." The Hokage's eyes had a steely glint to them. "Tell me precisely what you taught him and how you did so.

Kakashi didn't want to tell him everything, so he gave most of the story, leaving a few parts out.

(Flashback)

/////////////////////

'This little bastard is just like I was.'

Every day, Kakashi would train him. Every day, he'd get back up. Kakashi would call him weak, seeing it worked to get a rise out of the kid. He never expected his Sensei's son to respond with one word.

"Failure."

Every time Kakashi failed to keep him down. Every time Kakashi would hit him with a Genjutsu and have him break out of it, he would call him that word Every. Single. Time.

"Failure."

The tone of voice. The little sneering grin. The condescension behind it. It was exactly the tone Kakashi addressed people his age when he was younger. The boy was a younger Kakashi, with Minatos' face.

He could have dealt with it on most days. But most days, he didn't decide to visit his father's grave, Kushinas', and the memorial. Thinking back, he shouldn't have today.

They had finished an exchange. Naruto was getting better. His taijutsu skills were excellent for someone with only a few weeks training. And even with some blood coming his nose after he missed a block, he still grinned like he was winning.

"Couldn't keep me down, failure."

He hated how much this boy acted like him. Being in the short mood he was in, Kakashi tried something.

"How can you expect to protect your sister when you can't even protect yourself?" Kakashi didn't like using her name if he could avoid it. Too many memories.

That got him.

The sheer look of hatred on Naruto's face was something he didn't expect from a six year old.

'If he can't deal with someone talking about killing his sister, how can he hope to keep a steady head in combat when they do this type of talk?'

Enemy ninja did this all the time. Mind games could end up making an opponent slip up for just that onetime needed to prevail. Stronger Shinobi had been killed by such things.

Naruto's anger slowly morphed into what looked like a predatory grin. "I wouldn't trust your sight, Cyclops."

Kakashi had to fight the urge to roll his eye at the rather weak display of trash talk. But that was to be expected from a six year old.

"Really," Kakashi asked, a look of disappointment on his face, "that's the best you could come up with?"

"Nope," the boy responded, malicious grin still in place. "It's not really true. Is it? I know you've got a second eye under wraps."

Kakashi stiffened. How does he know that? Sensor? Is his sensing that good?

"Not sure what you're talking about." he said, trying to play it off.

"Liar." Naruto growled. The boy hated liars. "I can feel that eye under your patch. It's not yours."

Kakashi was going to say something, but was cut off by Naruto.

"You probably took it from somebody. Probably a fallen enemy. But that eye feels like the Uchiha police's. That's an Uchiha eye."

Kakashi was getting worried at how well the boy's deductive skills were.

'If he can sniff this out, what else could he discover? Minato?'

"You didn't take that from an enemy. You took it from an ally... Or was it a friend?"

Kakashi could see the memory going through his head. Rocks coming down. A shout of warning. The gnawing ache in his ruined eye.

"Don't." he said, barely a whisper.

Kakashi felt he owed Minato the effort to train Naruto, even if every moment felt torturous to him emotionally. He would have preferred the Hokage send Itachi to train him. But the village was becoming wary of the Uchiha, sadly, and it would have made things worse

"It was a friend. Only a friend would let you get close enough. Did he feel betrayed? Did he scream as you ripped his eye out? Did he, friend killer?" Naruto practically demanded, his eyes narrowed in accusation.

'That term. Friend killer. Failure. Obito dead. Killed by my arrogance. Rin. "K-kakashi". The light fading from her eyes as my Chidori made its way through her heart. Obito's eye preserving it in my mind. My nightmares. The blood never coming off.'

Kakashi felt his chakra flare and he was immediately within arm's reach of Naruto, his hand on his shirt. Kakashi levelled a look of unmatched anger at this child that thought he was clever for probably overhearing some Chunin talk about the silver haired friend killer, or an Uchiha talking about the 'Eye thief'.

"Do not speak of things you know nothing about." He said coldly, but the anger in his voice was just as visible as if he were shouting.

His chakra kept shaking and he could see Naruto rapidly paling as he refused to let go of his shirt collar.

"I've met self assured kids like you," Kakashi kept speaking, the boy's red hair seeming to flash to a familiar silver in his vision, "They think they're the smartest in the world. They think they can do anything because they're smarter than others their age."

Kakashi didn't even know who he was talking to. Naruto, or himself.

"You'll get Rin killed by thinking you know better than everyone else." Kakashi felt his chakra slipping from his control as he kept visualizing his Sensei's son in front of him as a younger version of himself.

"Please." Naruto was almost white as a ghost, his entire body shaking. "Stop." He pushed on Kakashi's hand, causing the man to blink.

Kakashi took a shuddering breath and reigned in his chakra, letting go of Naruto's shirt.

The red haired Jinchuriki fell bonelessly to the ground, still shaking from the point blank contact from Kakashi's chakra.

"Cold." He heard Naruto whisper, his eyes looking at the ground.

'What have I done?' Kakashi thought in horror, rushing to the boy he had just frightened.

Shinobi he had been tasked with killing on ANBU missions had been nearly paralyzed from fear at how his chakra felt as he rushed at them. And he had just inadvertently done that to a six year old who had almost been killed just several weeks ago.

"Naruto." He said gently, getting on his knees to look more evenly at him. "It's alright. You're safe. It's ok."

Naruto slowly stopped shaking after a few minutes, but he didn't say anything.

'Please, say something.' Kakashi practically begged, horrified at what he had just done because of the memory that haunted his dreams.

"I want to go home." The words were quiet, but the boy's familiar blue eyes seemed to be cut from stone, a look his father had when he was angry or disappointed in Kakashi.

"Alright." Kakashi replied, fighting the urge to look away in shame.

Kakashi pulled Naruto up and the boy left the training ground, not looking back.

"I'm sorry." Kakashi whispered, his mask feeling like it was suffocating him.

Naruto paused for a moment, his right leg hovering off the ground slightly. His posture loosened and he kept walking.

Kakashi pulled his Hitai-ate up and disappeared in a swirl of leaves, needing to get to his apartment.

He arrived and practically threw the door open, tearing his face mask off and flinging his Hitai-ate to the right.

The ANBU member took in several gulps of air, trying to steady his breathing. He rushed to the sink in his kitchen and turned it on, cupping some water in his hands to splash his face.

'I can't do this.' He thought desperately, trying to fight the images burned in his head.

"I'm sorry, Sensei." He managed to push those words out with extreme force of will, "I'm so sorry."

He couldn't do it. He couldn't train his Sensei's son without seeing the person he hated most in the world shining through the boy's eyes.

The intellect. The harshness in his words. The borderline arrogance and impatience to get better.

The one that killed Obito and Rin.

(End Flashback)

//////////////////////

Kakashi was snapped out of his thoughts by the Hokage asking him a question.

"Was what you said everything that occurred?" The Hokage asked, his voice neutral.

It was, in fact, not everything told.

"Yes." Kakashi nodded, hoping the Hokage believed him.

He couldn't bring himself to tell his superior of the horrible memories that came up when he saw Naruto, or when he kept thinking of Naruto as just like he was. He'd only given a general explanation of the different theoretical things that students needed to know to Naruto.

The Hokage said nothing for several long moments, eventually sighing and reaching into his desk.

"This," He pulled out an orb that he sat down gently on the desk, his hand holding it in place, "Is something that was gifted to the Shodai. He used it, the Nidaime used it, and so have I."

Kakashi gazed at the ball not knowing it was for.

"It gives me the ability to see almost anything in the village." Hiruzen kept speaking, his voice starting to tighten, "You lied to me, Kakashi."

Realizing what had just been said, Kakashi put up his hands in a placating way.

"Hokage-sama." Kakashi began to say, but a raised hand and a flare of chakra from the Sandaime had him freezing.

"You will speak only when you are permitted to." Hiruzen said sharply, his chakra simmering just below the surface.

"Now," The Hokage set the orb back in his desk, steepling his fingers as he finished, "I'm going to tell you what I saw from the one training session where you nearly caused Naruto to pass out in terror from your chakra before I move on to the other training sessions I monitored."

Kakashi felt like a cornered mouse looking up at a particularly vicious cat licking its chomps.

"A six year old child, being a precocious boy, managed to discover the story of Hatake Kakashi," Hiruzen said, his dark eyes staying fixed to Kakashi's face, "And proceeds to say certain words to get a rise out of you. And you, an ANBU who has killed and been called horrific things in your career, react to it?"

"I," Kakashi tried to say, his shame clinging to him like a shroud, "I wasn't thinking straight."

"Not thinking straight?" Hiruzen said flatly, sounding unimpressed, "You paid your respects to the fallen and then thank their sacrifice by scaring a child, even if it were an accident?"

Kakashi desperately wanted to deny what was being said, but he couldn't defend the action he took.

"We will discuss that part in a short while," Hiruzen continued, "The other training sessions have my attention for another reason."

The Hokage's voice somehow got even colder.

"You were neglecting to tell Naruto of any errors he was making in chakra control exercises and rudimentary Jutsu. These are things even the most lax of teachers explain to their pupils. It wasn't an oversight. You were sabotaging his progress. As the Sandaime Hokage and your superior, I order you to tell me why."

Kakashi didn't know what to say. How could he? How could he say that he was haunted by seeing too many parallels between Naruto and himself at that age and wanted to prevent him from becoming a broken wreck by the time he was a teenager?

"He acts like I did," Kakashi replied quietly, "It's like looking into a mirror and I don't want him to become like me."

The Hokage looked unimpressed by his explanation, taking a deep breath before he responded.

"Naruto will not always be uneducated on these subjects. He will learn them in the future and what do you think will happen when he discovers that he was intentionally held back, hmnn?" Hiruzen asked, "What will he think of you when he and Rin learn of their father? What will he think of me when he discovers I selected you specifically to train him? He already detests the civilians. Through your selfishness, you could sever the strongest connection to the village that he has. Must I remind you of what is out there?" Hiruzen's voice remained cold and unforgiving, refusing to give a single ounce of mercy.

"Orochimaru," Hiruzen clenched his hand tightly as he said the name, "Would be more than open to welcoming an Uzumaki Jinchuriki as a pupil and tool against us. All he would have to do is offer the thing you are depriving Naruto of, and that is knowledge and trust."

"As punishment for lying to me," Hiruzen said, "You will be given a month of forced leave, will be taking no missions during that time, and will be speaking with a Yamanaka mind therapist twice a week about the deaths of your teammates and your Sensei."

Kakashi wanted to protest, but Hiruzen shot him down with a look.

"If you had told me you were incapable of handling his training after a few days, I would have understood," Hiruzen spoke softly now, "I would have simply accepted it and had Itachi or Shisui train him."

Kakashi could guess why they were the other two choices.

"I believed you would be the better choice out of three prodigies that can relate to Naruto because of the animosity between the Uchiha and certain parts of Konoha. I obviously didn't realize you were still not recovered from what you have experienced."

"I can't sit around and do nothing." Kakashi said desperately, "The ANBU and the mission is when I feel alive. I can't do nothing."

"You will if you don't want to be discharged from the Shinobi corps," Hiruzen replied simply, "If one month is too much for you, then you truly are more lost than I ever feared, Kakashi."

Kakashi wanted to refuse. He wanted to tell the Hokage he wasn't going to listen to his order, but he couldn't. He was so tired.

"I will follow your order, Hokage-sama." Kakashi said quietly, turning to leave.

"Kakashi," Hiruzen said, standing up from his chair, "I'm not angry that you lied to just me or Naruto. I'm disappointed. Disappointed that you lied to even yourself."

With that last statement searing itself in his head, Kakashi left the office.

////////////////////

Here's chapter six. Either next chapter or the following one will have the Academy in it. It depends upon what I want to add in. I didn't want the protag to be some type of monstrosity in power by the time he reaches the Academy. So that's why I added the little thing about "chakra growth spurts" in some children.