Kakashi: Only You're Left!

The team assignments were over.

The supervising jōnin arrived one after another, taking their respective students and leaving.

The classroom gradually emptied, until only the three members of Team 7 remained.

Time ticked by, from early morning until the sun climbed high, from eager anticipation to gnawing hunger.

"What's the deal! Why isn't that jōnin teacher here yet?"

Naruto was the first to lose patience, irritably grabbing at his blond hair: "Ahhh! I'm starving!"

Sasuke remained silent, leaning against the wall, but beneath his tightly shut eyelids, his brows were slightly furrowed.

Clearly, he was very dissatisfied with this teacher he'd never met.

Yao was calmer. Expect Kakashi, the chronic latecomer, to show up early?

Only if the sun rose in the west!

Until noon.

The sun had begun to tilt westward when Kakashi finally strolled in.

Silver-white spiky hair, a black mask covering most of his face, and that signature dead-fish eye.

"Yo, everyone, morning!"

Kakashi greeted them with a tone that lacked any real sincerity.

"Morning my ass! Are you kidding me? It's already noon!"

Naruto instantly bristled: "You're way too late! We've been waiting for hours!"

"Mm, mm..."

Kakashi scratched his head, his exposed right eye curving into a crescent:

"Sorry, sorry. I got lost on the path of life."

Yao: "..."

Naruto: "￣□￣｜｜"

"Enough chit-chat!"

Kakashi paid no attention to his students' resentment, clapping his hands: "Anyway, follow me for now!"

Before long, he led the three to the school rooftop.

The midday sun was a bit glaring, a gentle breeze blowing, offering a view overlooking most of Konoha.

"Nice to meet you. First, let's introduce ourselves!"

Kakashi leaned back against the railing, speaking lazily:

"Tell me what you like, what you hate, your future dreams, hobbies, stuff like that..."

"Alright, start with that guy with the blond hair."

Naruto pushed up his forehead protector, full of energy, his voice loud:

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! What I like is barbecue!"

"What I hate is the ten minutes waiting for the barbecue to cook! My future dream is to become Hokage! To have everyone in the village acknowledge me!"

Kakashi gave a noncommittal "mm," his gaze shifting to Sasuke.

"Uchiha Sasuke!"

Sasuke said coldly: "Nothing special I hate, nothing worth mentioning I like!"

"As for my dream..."

A flicker of hatred passed through Sasuke's eyes: "To kill that guy!"

Kakashi's exposed right eye twitched slightly, as if Sasuke's answer didn't surprise him.

Finally, Kakashi's gaze landed on Yao.

Yao wore a gentle smile, his tone relaxed: "My name is Uchiha Yao."

"I like good food, especially Ichiraku Ramen and the Akimichi clan's barbecue. As for what I hate..."

Yao paused, his gaze meaningful as he looked at Kakashi: "I hate people who are always late and don't keep time."

"And people who use lame excuses even when they're late!"

"..."

The skin beneath Kakashi's mask twitched slightly, a hint of barely perceptible embarrassment flashing across his face.

He cleared his throat dryly, changing the subject: "Mm, what about your dream?"

Yao's smile didn't waver, even growing brighter:

"My dream is to marry ten or eight beautiful wives in the future, spread the family line, and rebuild the Uchiha Clan!"

The scene fell into dead silence.

Naruto's jaw dropped. After a long moment, he murmured, "T-ten wives? Yo... you're amazing!"

"Idiot!"

Sasuke turned his head away in disgust, unwilling to acknowledge that this guy was his twin brother.

Kakashi pressed a hand to his forehead, feeling his blood pressure spike. This kid... he seemed so bright and cheerful.

Who knew his dream was... so... so ambitious?

Rebuilding the Uchiha Clan? Was this how you rebuilt the Uchiha Clan?

But then again.

The Uchiha Clan only had two people left now. No, three.

To rebuild the Uchiha, it did seem like marrying more and having more kids was the way to go, huh?

Rebuilding the Uchiha?

That was just a front, of course.

Yo's real dream was to become the most powerful existence in the ninja world!

To stand above everything! To surpass the legendary Sage of Six Paths, and even those Otsutsuki from beyond the stars!

Yo knew that Konoha was dangerous, and the ninja world was even more dangerous!

Pain's attack on Konoha, the Fourth Shinobi World War, Six Paths Obito, Six Paths Madara, Otsutsuki Kaguya...

To survive, he had to become strong enough.

Kakashi looked at Yo, then at the hate-filled Uchiha Sasuke, and the boisterous Jinchuriki.

He suddenly felt that the Third Hokage had given him a huge headache.

After the introductions, Kakashi led the three off the rooftop and to a training ground on the edge of the village.

The training ground was fairly open, with a few battered wooden posts.

Kakashi pulled two bells tied to strings from his ninja tool pouch, jangling them between his fingers, and said:

"This afternoon's exercise is bell-grabbing!"

"Before noon, take these two bells from me."

"Anyone who doesn't get a bell doesn't get lunch."

"Only two bells? Then one of us is definitely going hungry!" Naruto immediately complained.

"That's right!"

Kakashi said casually, "That means at least one person will be eliminated, fail the mission, and... go back to the Ninja Academy."

"What?"

Naruto and Sasuke's expressions changed at the same time. Go back to the Ninja Academy?

They'd finally graduated. If they had to go back, they'd be laughed to death!

"The rules are simple!"

Kakashi tied the bells to his waist and said lazily, "Come at me with the intent to kill! Otherwise... you might lose your lives."

With that, Kakashi pulled out a copy of Make-Out Paradise, leisurely flipped it open, and started reading with great interest.

"Watch this!"

Naruto split into several Shadow Clones and charged forward with a yell.

"Uzumaki Naruto Barrage!"

Kakashi didn't even lift his eyelids. He simply sidestepped, lifted a leg, swung an arm, and blocked.

"Bam! Bam! Bam!"

Naruto's Shadow Clones, along with his real body, flew back even faster, landing clumsily on the ground.

"How is that possible?" Naruto lay on the ground, unable to believe it.

Kakashi-sensei was way too strong. Way stronger than that Mizuki guy!

Sasuke's eyes sharpened. In an instant, he flung out several shuriken at tricky angles, cutting off Kakashi's escape routes.

At the same time, he moved quickly himself, looking for an opening to attack.

Kakashi still had his eyes on his little book. His head and body moved in tiny, almost precognitive shifts, and all the shuriken flew past him.

"Your shuriken throwing is decent, but your intent is too obvious!"

Before the words faded, Kakashi's figure suddenly blurred: "Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!"

"Pfft!"

Naruto, who had just gotten up from the ground, didn't have time to react.

He felt the ground give way beneath him, and his whole body was pulled underground, leaving only his head sticking out.

"Second one..."

Kakashi's voice rang out behind Sasuke like a ghost.

Sasuke's pupils contracted sharply. Without even time to turn his head, he instinctively rolled forward.

"Too slow!"

Kakashi's knife-hand had already lightly chopped down on the back of his neck.

Sasuke's vision went black, and he collapsed limply.

In an instant.

Two down.

Done with that, Kakashi turned his gaze to Uchiha Yao.

"Only you left now!"

Kakashi's tone was lazy.