"You're late."

Amane was starting off strong, then.

Kakashi leaned against the doorway languidly, lazily eyeing us with his one exposed eye.

"I am," he said, surprisingly soft voice puncturing the air and cracking it like brittle glass.

No poor excuse to cover his lateness. No playful cheeky smile through his mask. No faux-jovial personality. No porn to speak of. I could tell instantly that this was not the Kakashi that I knew from the series.

He mimicked Obito hollowly, rather than embracing the mask in its entirety. This was not the Kakashi that had years to work through life outside the regulation and blackness of the ANBU. This was not the clownish and jovial one that had years to get over his issues.

This was a Kakashi that was either emerging out of ANBU or had been discharged very recently. There was a fair chance that we were the first genin team that he had been assigned, the first of many that he would fail. No doubt, seeing children like this brought up unpleasant memories of his own past.

We were imperfect, twisted mirrors of his own team. Misaki was Rin, somewhat of a peacekeeper and friendly, but meek and lacking in both confidence and effort. Amane was Obito's relative, but unlike him, she had already embraced her clan's characteristic prickly personality. And I was the prodigy, graduating in a single year. Kakashi himself, but strange and foreign. The resemblances were shallow and only surface level, but it was enough.

"My first impression of you..." Kakashi said, his lone eye making sweeps of us, "Is that you're all a bunch of idiots."

We stared at him in open shock for a moment. Never had an authority figure been so insulting and informal. We had all had weird or nasty instructors at the Academy, but none like this. No adult had ever spoken this way.

"We will converge on the roof in five minutes," Kakashi continued, glaring at us and cutting icily through the air with every word, "Make certain that you are on time."

And then he vanished.

The three of us looked at each other for a moment, exchanging incredulous and strange glances. I knew that something to this effect would happen, but I hadn't expected him to be so icy.

After a moment of indecision, we all got up and began running out of the classroom, heading for the stairs. I could have climbed out of the window and walked up the wall to the roof, but I refrained from doing so to remain the group and not be isolated.

The climb to the rooftop was silent.

And when we arrived, we were greeted to the sight of Kakashi, leaning against the railing with his arms crossed.

"We will introduce ourselves. Name, likes, dislikes, and dreams for the future."

Part of me, that childish rebellious nature that still remained, was tempted to talk back to him. But I restrained myself. There was no need to provoke an already rather annoyed-looking superior.

"I will go first," Kakashi said, his gaze imperious, "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have very few likes, many dislikes, and several hobbies. I don't have a particular dream for my future."

We stood in stony silence.

"Uchiha," he nodded at Amane, "Go first."

She scowled, "My name is Uchiha Amane. I like my fire jutsu, and I dislike annoying people and tangled ninja wire. My dream for the future is to become a strong kunoichi and bring pride to my clan."

Kakashi levelled a painfully neutral look at her, then turned to Misaki, nodding at her in turn.

"Um. My name is Nakamura Misaki," she stuttered. She then hashed out the same introduction that she had given me just before, with the addition of: "My dream for the future is to become a strong ninja and become a jounin."

Finally, Kakashi's gaze was directed towards me.

"My name is Hyuuga Haruka..." I blandly said, proceeding to, as Misaki had done, use the same introduction that I had given out previously just with the addition of a dream, "... and my dream for the future is to become strong. And make changes in the world for good."

Kakashi leaned back, settling his arms on the railing behind him as I finished my introduction. He gave no sign of approval or disapproval for any of us. Apathetic and disinterested, he was barely present at all.

"A secondary test will be conducted in order to determine whether or not you are truly fit to be my students." Kakashi rattled off blandly, "We will meet tomorrow at Training Ground 7 at 0600 hours. I suggest you not eat breakfast; you may throw up."

He took one more sweeping glance at the three of us, his frosty expression immediately silencing whatever protestations that we had, leaving them to die in our throats.

And then he vanished in a clean Shunshin, leaving us on the rooftop.

I did not like this Kakashi. This bitter, grief-stricken, and hollow man was both sad and supremely irritating.

My Byakugan activated and I scanned the area in search of both of the girls, but an impossibly swift flicker of movement from behind me forced me to divert my attention there anyway. Kakashi moved!

I made a scrambling, stumbled half tumble of a dodge in a desperate but successful evasion of his first strike.

"You are unfit to study under me."

I coated my hands in chakra for the Gentle Fist. With my Byakugan active, I could easily pick out Kakashi's miniscule tenketsu. With a snarl, my sandals dug into the dirt and I leapt gracefully forward to close the distance between us.

"I am competent, I can tell you that much. I am supremely competent. You and I are cut of the same cloth. Graduating in a single year, you of all people should be able to understand this."

Kakashi, in a single swift movement, caught both my wrists, deftly avoiding the chakra, with just his left hand, leaving his right in his pocket.

"You are correct in that. I do understand."

The jounin jerked out his hand, still holding my wrists. He pulled me off of the ground and into the air, letting go just in time to swing and slam me into the trunk of a nearby tree.

"Most of all, I understand that you are not fit to be here. Just as many before you were not fit to be here. You understand not what it means to be a ninja of Konoha."

Groaning, I picked myself up and dusted myself off. Once more, I coated my hands in chakra. This time, however, I ran up the trunk of a tree, nearly invisible light blue trailing my hands. I dropped down on Kakashi from the branches.

"That's a load of crap and you know it. I've lots of things to do. There are people I need to save! If you fail me now--!"

Kakashi sidestepped my attack, shoving me aside.

He then stood entirely still, watching me critically. I stood unstably on wobbling legs as I caught my breath. Why was Kakashi allowing this breath of air for me? Why was he just standing there?

I rushed once more towards him, hands raised and feet positioned in the Gentle Fist. My normally blank expression was twisted in annoyance as I rushed Kakashi for the bells.

He stepped to the side and in one smooth motion, kicked me.

Stop trying.

Once more, I ran to him, hands raised. And once more I was hit aside. Kakashi never made a move for me. He stood still and silent, waiting for my next move and only attacked as a counter.

You're wasting your time. Stop trying.

Again and again, I rushed at the jounin. He hadn't moved from the spot, never once making the attack, always on the defensive. He was taking it easy on me, and I couldn't--!

"Why are you here?" Kakashi asked.

Once more, he stood still, not moving as he looked upon me with clear apathy and boredom apparent in his expression.

I gave him no answer, choosing to charge him once more for the bells.

Again, he kicked me. He hadn't even bothered to take his hands out of his pockets.

"Why are you here?" Kakashi repeated.

"Because you are!" I snarled at him.

"Why are you here," Kakashi asked once more, "Instead of finding your teammates?"

I was in the process of running to him when he said that, and I skidded on the dirt, looking at him with horror, an electrical sort of shock running through my system.

"You expressed an understanding that this test was to be an assessment of your ability to work together," Kakashi drawled out, "So why is it that you're here, with me?"

You had forgotten.

"Why is it that you are attempting to engage a clearly superior foe who has given you ample time to run away and find help? Why is it that you stubbornly insist on doing things yourself?"

They wouldn't cooperate. You have to understand--

"I was watching, you know," Kakashi tapped his chin and looked on at me with something that perhaps approached a cruel amusement, "Not once did you attempt to connect meaningfully to your team before the exam. And it was only after it had started that you suggested that you work together."

Not my fault! I can't--

"I know exactly what you did, what your intentions were," Kakashi went on and on, laying it all out before me, "Your team was only a means of passing a test. Teamwork was not a connection between people, but a means to an end. When that option didn't feel particularly favourable, you decided to go on your own. You attempted to best me, even after I had given you time to escape and find your team. You disregarded them."

Kakashi had given me much time to move and act upon his words, but I was frozen to the spot. Whether it was because it was instinct on my part, or perhaps when he talked, Kakashi demanded that you listened.

"This test is not one of teamwork, as you had hypothesised," Kakashi said, "It was one of the Will of Fire. Simply working with your team is not enough. Acceptance and connection. You've failed just as much as they have."

Kakashi's fist collided with my face and I was sent flying through the trees.