First Meeting

"That teacher is really a headache. It's already been two and a half hours, and he still hasn't shown up. Are all the Jonin in Konoha so bad at keeping time?" Naruto shouted as he paced around the empty classroom.

"Not necessarily. Look at the Jonin leading the other teams—they all arrived right on time. It's only our teacher who's the exception..." Uchiha Sasuke said, rubbing his chin.

"You've just reminded me. I heard people talking about Konoha's king of tardiness at Konoha Hospital earlier: Kakashi Hatake. I'm not sure if it's him, but judging by the fact that he's late, he's almost certainly our Jonin leader this time." Nanfeng frowned, looking troubled.

Kakashi was a sharp one. They'd have to be even more careful around him, and they'd need to show off a little more of their talent. Otherwise, if he grew suspicious and secretly reported them to Hiruzen Sarutobi, that would be a problem.

"No way. I'm going to teach this guy a lesson he won't forget. Sasuke, do you have anything on you for setting traps? Shuriken, kunai, that sort of thing?" Naruto said viciously. How dare this guy waste their precious training time? He was simply unforgivable!

"You know you can't use Explosive Tags in a room this small. Should I say you've Grown Up?" Sasuke rolled his eyes, but obediently pulled a pile of trap-making supplies from his scroll.

Steel Wire, shuriken, kunai, Senbon Launchers, and all sorts of other things were scattered across the floor. Seeing this, Nanfeng grew interested too and joined them in setting traps.

An hour later, the three of them wiped the sweat from their brows. Naruto and Sasuke hadn't been especially good at trap-making; they'd only learned the basics from their textbooks. After Nanfeng improved their work, though, the traps had a more practical feel.

"Now we just wait for that guy to show up. Remember to keep your expressions under control," Nanfeng reminded them. He didn't want the two brats' poor acting to give away the traps and make the whole thing awkward!

Not long after he finished speaking, the door opened. A twenty-six-year-old man with white hair and a black mask over his face walked into the classroom. Sure enough, it was their Jonin leader, Kakashi Hatake.

Seeing the three of them sitting quietly in the classroom, Kakashi looked a little surprised. They hadn't met before, but the fact that they'd waited so patiently for so long gave him a decent first impression of them.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Kakashi Hatake, your Jonin leader..." Before he could finish, Kakashi sensed something wrong beneath his feet. A faint springing sound came from the air on his left.

Drawing on years of experience fighting for his life, Kakashi quickly turned his head and dodged the attack. But as soon as he moved, another mechanism sprang up from the other side of his feet!

Three kunai shot toward him in a triangular formation. The trap was simple, but even a Chunin without much combat experience might have fallen for it!

Who was responsible? Naruto and Sasuke clearly couldn't have made a trap like this. Nanfeng? Not only was he exceptionally talented in Medical Ninjutsu, he also had his own ideas about setting traps.

"Don't you think you've gone a little too far?" Kakashi drew a kunai from his Ninja Tool Pouch and swiftly deflected the incoming attack. Before the three of them could answer, a swarm of Senbon shot at him from behind.

"Damn it, how many Senbon Launchers did you set up?" Kakashi was getting a little frustrated. In the end, he quickly formed hand seals and used Earth Wall to alter the surroundings, forcibly breaking their chain of traps.

But the classroom was left in complete disarray. By the time they'd cleaned up, it was already afternoon.

The four of them stood on the Rooftop, staring at one another. None of them seemed inclined to speak first.

Apparently bothered by the awkward atmosphere, Kakashi rubbed his temples. Fighting down the urge to kill someone, he finally spoke:

"Well, it's our first meeting. You left me with a decent impression this afternoon, but now... you're just three annoying brats!"

"You're a creepy white-haired teacher yourself! The three of us don't think much of you either. What kind of ninja shows up three and a half hours late?" Naruto shouted, unable to hold back any longer.

"Ahem. Don't get hung up on the little details. Your teacher just lost his way on the road of life..." Kakashi coughed a couple of times, awkwardly covering his embarrassment.

"Anyway, after what just happened, we've gotten to know each other a little. Let's introduce ourselves. Tell us about your interests and dreams," Kakashi continued. "I'll go first. I'm Kakashi Hatake. You know my name already. I don't know what my dream is. I have all sorts of interests. That's it."

What was that? In the end, all they'd learned was his name. But Nanfeng's description of him as Konoha's king of tardiness had already been firmly etched into Sasuke and Naruto's minds!

"My name is Akiya Nanfeng. My interest is protecting everyone, my hobby is training, and my dream is to keep everyone safe and become a powerful Medical Ninja." Nanfeng smiled and picked up where Kakashi had left off.

Protecting everyone? That was a fine dream. Someone like him would surely make a dependable teammate!

Just those words alone greatly improved Nanfeng's image in Kakashi's eyes.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. My interest is training. My dream is to kill that man and restore the Uchiha Clan's glory. As for my current goal... I guess it's to master some Ninjutsu I haven't gotten the hang of yet." Sasuke frowned. When he brought up his clan's past, a hint of cruelty inevitably appeared in his eyes.

What had happened to the Uchiha back then...? Itachi Uchiha. No wonder...

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. My dream is to become Hokage. I like training with Nanfeng and Sasuke and eating Ichiraku Ramen. I hope that one day, I can become a light in everyone's heart." Facing the setting sun, Naruto smiled warmly. Kakashi couldn't help staring at him, momentarily stunned.

"He really is just like his teacher. The same warm smile. He's a worthy Successor of the Will of Fire..." Kakashi's eyes held a deep, hidden fondness, but it appeared for only a moment!

"That's all for today. Tomorrow, we'll start taking on missions for real. Meet me at the Training Ground at nine in the morning."