Kakashi: You're the Only One Left!

The team assignments were over.

The Jōnin instructors arrived one after another and left with their respective students.

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

Minute by minute, they waited—from early morning until the sun was high in the sky, from hopeful anticipation until their stomachs were growling.

"What the heck? Why isn't our Jōnin instructor here yet?"

Naruto was the first to lose patience. He irritably tugged at his blond hair. "Aaaah! I'm starving!"

Sasuke still leaned silently against the wall, but beneath his tightly shut eyelids, his brows had drawn together slightly.

He was clearly very unhappy with this teacher he'd never even met.

Yo was relatively calm. Expecting Kakashi, the king of tardiness, to show up early?

That would happen only if the sun rose in the west!

It wasn't until noon.

The sun had started to sink westward before Kakashi finally sauntered in at a leisurely pace.

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

"Yo, everyone! Morning!"

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

"What do you mean, morning? Are you kidding? It's already noon!"

Naruto instantly flew into a rage. "You're way too late! We've been waiting for hours!"

"Now, now..."

Kakashi scratched his hair, the eye visible above his mask curving into a crescent.

"Sorry, sorry. I lost my way on the road of life."

Yo: "..."

Naruto: "￣□￣｜｜"

"Enough chit-chat!"

Kakashi paid no attention to his students' resentment and clapped his hands. "Anyway, come with me first!"

A little while later, he led the three of them up to the school rooftop.

The midday sun was a little glaring. A gentle breeze blew, and they could see across much of Konoha.

"Since we're meeting for the first time, let's start by introducing ourselves!"

Kakashi leaned against the railing and spoke with a lazy air.

"Tell me what you like, what you dislike, your dreams for the future, your hobbies, things like that..."

"Hmm, let's start with the guy with the golden hair."

Naruto straightened his forehead protector, full of enthusiasm, and spoke in a loud voice.

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

"What I hate is the ten minutes it takes for the barbecue to cook! My dream is to become Hokage and make everyone in the village acknowledge me!"

Kakashi gave a noncommittal "hm" and turned his gaze to Sasuke.

"Uchiha Sasuke!"

Sasuke wore a cool expression. "There's nothing in particular that I hate, and nothing worth mentioning that I like!"

"As for my dream..."

A trace of hatred flashed in Sasuke's eyes. "To kill that guy!"

Kakashi's visible eye shifted slightly, as though Sasuke's answer hadn't surprised him.

At last, Kakashi's gaze fell on Yo.

Yo wore a gentle smile and spoke in a relaxed tone. "My name is Uchiha Yao."

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

Yo paused and looked meaningfully at Kakashi. "I hate people who are always late and never punctual."

"And people who show up late and still like to make lousy excuses!"

"..."

The skin beneath Kakashi's mask twitched slightly, and a hint of barely noticeable embarrassment flashed across his face.

He cleared his throat and changed the subject. "Right. What's your dream?"

The smile on Yo's face didn't change. If anything, it grew even brighter.

"My dream is to marry eight or ten beautiful wives someday, have lots of children, and rebuild the Uchiha Clan!"

The scene fell silent.

Naruto's mouth fell open. After a long moment, he murmured, "E-eight wives? Yo... you're amazing!"

"Idiot!"

Sasuke turned away with a disgusted expression, unwilling to admit that this guy was his twin brother.

Kakashi pressed a hand to his forehead, feeling his blood pressure rise. This kid... He seemed sunny and cheerful.

Who would've thought his dream would be so... so ambitious?

Rebuild the Uchiha Clan? Was that how the Uchiha Clan was rebuilt?

But now that he thought about it...

There were only two Uchiha left. No, three.

If they wanted to rebuild the Uchiha Clan, maybe they really did need to marry more and have more kids, huh?

Rebuild the Uchiha Clan?

Of course, that was just something he said for appearances.

Yo's real dream was to become the most powerful being in the shinobi world!

To stand above all! To surpass the legendary Sage of Six Paths, and even the Otsutsuki who came from beyond the heavens!

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

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

To survive, he needed to become strong enough.

Kakashi looked at Yo, then at Uchiha Sasuke's face full of hatred, and at the Jinchuriki who couldn't stop chattering.

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

After the introductions, Kakashi led the three of them away from the rooftop to a training ground on the outskirts of the village.

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

Kakashi took two bells tied to strings from his ninja tool pouch and swung them around on his fingertips. "Today's lesson is to take the bells from me!"

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

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

"Only two bells? Doesn't that mean one of us is definitely going to go hungry?" Naruto immediately protested.

"Exactly!"

Kakashi said lightly, "Which means at least one of you will be eliminated, fail the mission, and then... go back to the Ninja Academy."

"What?"

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

After finally graduating, wouldn't they be laughed at if they went back to school?

"The rules are simple!"

Kakashi tied the bells to his waist and said lazily, "Come after them with the determination to kill me! Otherwise... you might end up dead."

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

"Take this!"

Naruto made several Shadow Clones and charged in, yelling.

"Uzumaki Naruto Barrage!"

Kakashi didn't even lift an eyelid. He simply leaned aside, raised a leg, swung an arm, and blocked.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Naruto's Shadow Clones and his real body were sent flying back even faster, crashing to the ground in a heap.

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

Teacher Kakashi was so strong—way stronger than that Mizuki guy!

Sasuke's gaze sharpened. He instantly flung out several Shuriken, their angles tricky, blocking Kakashi's escape routes.

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

Kakashi kept reading his little book. His head and body shifted in tiny movements as if he could see the future, and every Shuriken missed him by a hair.

"Not bad Shuriken throwing, but your intentions are too obvious!"

Before he'd finished speaking, Kakashi's figure suddenly blurred. "Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!"

"Pfft!"

Naruto had just climbed to his feet and hadn't had time to react.

He felt the ground disappear beneath him, and his whole body was dragged underground, leaving only his head sticking out.

"You're the second..."

Kakashi's voice sounded behind Sasuke like a ghost.

Sasuke's pupils shrank. He didn't have time to turn around and instinctively rolled forward.

"Too slow!"

Kakashi's hand struck lightly at the back of his neck.

Sasuke's vision went black, and he crumpled to the ground.

In an instant.

He'd taken out two of them!

When he was done, Kakashi turned to look at Uchiha Yao.

"You're the only one left!"

Kakashi's tone was lazy.