"Weird isn't it?" Shisui's whispered voice slightly echoed around the small clearing where three masked Shinobi could be seen seated around a small fire. Less noticeable was the ever so slightly effervescent glow of the seal array surrounding them. It both masked their presence from anybody who might stumble upon them while at the same time protecting them from somebody powerful enough to see through the barrier.
"What?" Naruto looked up from his meal of warmed rations; it definitely wasn't his favourite but there generally wasn't much option for food out on a mission, especially for ANBU. Unlike regular Shinobi of the hidden villages, ANBU weren't allowed to simply walk into other towns or villages in their uniforms and removal of their masks on duty was strictly prohibited.
"Well, when was the last time us three were sent on a mission together, especially without Inu-Taichou?" Itachi just nodded his head once, seeming more in thought that his two comrades.
"I don't know why you're complaining Tori; I thought you would be happy to have the team back together?" Shisui nodded slowly with a small smile behind his mask; in truth he was happy. Only seeing his friends in training and between missions had become too tiresome; he missed the thrill of working alongside his two best friends.
"Yeah, you're right; never mind." Naruto just smiled and returned to eating his food; never once removing his mask which never ceased to amaze Anko when he did it at home. It was a skill all ANBU learned at some point or another, purely for the convenience it afforded them. Even so, the redhead began to think about Shisui's words' it was true the three of them had never actually gone on a mission all together during their time in ANBU. To do so now, without their captain nonetheless, certainly was strange.
"We should get moving again." Itachi's calm voice interrupted both his musings and his dinner and with quite bit of grumbling from his Bird and Tiger-masked friends, the three of them packed their dinner, destroyed their presence in the clearing and shot off into the trees. Never once did they notice the set of steel grey eyes watching them from the shadows.
Deep in the Land of Rain there is a large field, famous for Shinobi as the place where the Fourth Kazekage, the fourth Hokage and the third Tsuchikage all met to discuss the end of the Third Shinobi war. It was a miserable place, barren and lifeless from the copious amount of blood spilled across its muddy ground. Rain poured ceaselessly from the darkened sky and not a single iota of healthy plant life could be spotted anywhere in sight.
It was here that Itachi, Shisui and Naruto all appeared via their typical methods of Shunshin. All three of them gazed around the place with a sigh, knowing full well the reputation of the land they were standing in. It wasn't long before they were joined by three more blurs which quickly resolved into men in similar attire to their own. They too wore the staple animal mask of a hidden village's ANBU as well as the grey body armour that marked them above regular Shinobi.
"Good, you arrived; we were beginning to think you Konoha dogs wouldn't show up." The blatant slur was completely ignored by the three stoic leaf ninja; instead Naruto simply opted to pull the large scroll of his back, planting it on the ground with a small thud.
"Do you have the prisoner?" His voice was cold and purely professional which elicited a grin from the leader of the opposing Shinobi, not that it went seen behind his mask.
"We had heard you leaf ninja were cold but to see it firsthand..." he made a tutting noise with his teeth after a small chuckle escaped his mouth.
"Do you have the prisoner?" Naruto's voice never wavered, maintaining the perfect emotionless edge all ANBU were trained to use in situations like these. The leader of the other Ninja simply sighed irritable before motioning to one of his companions.
"Yeah yeah, jeez." The man to his right disappeared for a moment before returning with a limp form slung across his shoulders like a shepherd might carry one of his flock. "There's your guy, happy? Now show us our man!" His voice hitched slightly at the end in irritation and obvious anger but none of the leaf Shinobi acted on it. Instead Naruto simply unfurled the overly large scroll in one smooth motion, releasing the captive ninja inside with a burst of smoke. Before the slightly dazed man could do anything he had been grasped by Naruto and immediately had a Tanto held to his neck.
"W-What's going on?" The poor captive was too dazed to think clearly; one moment he had been in his cell, about to go to sleep, the next he was standing out in some Kami-forsaken field with the biting rain pouring down on him.
"Stay calm, we are trading you back to your forces in return for one of our own." The captive merely blinked in confusion again, his mind too muddled to properly take in the situation. The other ANBU seemed unfazed by the gleaming sword held to their comrade's throat; it was fairly standard procedure to keep the hostage from running.
"Alright! We'll release your Shinobi at the same moment you release ours!" All he got was a curt nod from Naruto who was more focused on keeping his blade no more than an inch from his captive's throat; when the man gulped he could feel the razor-sharp steel brush his neck. There was a moment of silence between the two groups before the ninja carrying the Leaf hostage began to walk forward at the same time Naruto did, still maintaining that inch of breathing room at all times. There was a moment when the ever-present noise of the rain seemed to dull for a moment as the two men passed one another.
"NOW!" Before anybody could blink the ninja walking forward raised his hand, simultaneously dropping the Leaf hostage on his shoulder. Naruto could do nothing as his Tanto was wrenched from his hand by an unseen force; the moment of confusion and hesitation was all it took for the enemy Shinobi to grab their hostage in one hand, throw him back towards their group and slash through the leaf hostage's throat in one fell swoop.
Naruto could only stare at the spray of crimson arcing through the air for a single second before he was forced to suddenly jump backwards to avoid meeting the same fate. He landed back between his comrades who had both taken ready stances, their individual Sharingan flaring behind their masks. He adopted a similar pose as they all glared at the group of enemy ninja in front of them; all of whom were now smirking in a mocking fashion behind their masks.
"What are you doing? Don't you know this could mean war between Konoha and Iwa?" Shisui's voice rang out clearly across the field, despite the pounding rain muffling everything else. Even now the three could only watch the steadily growing pool of blood beneath their comrade.
"Hah, finally got you to break those cool and collected masks did we? Whatever, it's not like anybody is going to find out about this once you three are all dead." Naruto settled back into his fighting stance; the oldest amongst the Iwa ninja immediately recognised it, his eyes swelling in eager fright.
"I know that stance! But that should be impossible- only one other man ever fought using that style-" He stared excitedly under his mask as his companions glared at him and Naruto strangely. "So, you're the damn flash's brat. Am I right?" He chuckled dryly behind his mask as he made a motion with his hand. "Oh, that just makes this all the better. Oh, I can't wait to make you scream my name." Immediately they were surrounded on all sides as ten more Iwa ANBU suddenly appeared from where they had been hiding underground. All of them just seemed to stare at the redhead incredulously, not quite believing they were really facing against the fourth's legacy.
"Guys, what do we do, we're good but not that good." Shisui's voice was hushed so their opponents couldn't hear them.
Before any of them could reply the leader of the Iwa ANBU called out, "Hey! If you think we're just going to stand here and let you plan, then you sure do think us fools!" Immediately the back-up squadron of Iwa Shinobi leapt into action, rushing forward to cordon off the Leaf group before they could escape. Suddenly, all three of them became locked into a flurry as they were all ganged up on by at least four different ninja. Grey and black blurs filled the air, earth techniques slamming into the ground as Naruto, Shisui and Itachi duck and span.
Quickly the already muddy and desolate battlefield was transformed into a compacted war-zone as earth was uprooted and large gashes and trenches appeared across the ground. Naruto had managed to snatch one of the Tantos from an enemy ninja's back and was using it to deflect Kunai that seemed to come from everywhere around him. Normally he would have spared a glance at his comrades but he was sure he would only get hit if that happened.
He suddenly pivoted on one foot, only to slip slightly on the muddy ground; the slight stumble cost him as he felt the large slash from on his arm. He stifled a cry of pain as he jumped to the side, avoiding a more lethal gash that might have taken his head off. His grinning opponent didn't relent though, he just rushed forward again, intent on being the one who took out the Fourth Hokage's son. Meanwhile one of his companions was rushing through hand seals at an impossible pace.
"Earth release: Mudslide jutsu!" The already unforgiving terrain under his feet became a soupy quagmire and his feet were immediately taken out from under him, slimy flows threatening to bury him in neck-deep. It was only by sheer reflex he reached out with a hand, grabbing onto a nearby stretch of reasonable solid ground and using Chakra to anchor himself before pulling up. At the same moment he lashed out with his leg, catching one of the other ANBU who had been trying to get close and take him out with a long katana.
He landed back on solid ground but not without a wince, he had used his injured arm to soften his fall and was paying the price for it. His eyes widened as he suddenly dropped to the floor, narrowly avoiding the gleaming blade that passed inches over head. Using his momentum he rolled before springing back up, pulling his hands together painfully to quickly flash through hand seals in a moment of respite.
"Wind release: Gale Shuriken jutsu." All around him the wind coalesced into ten rotating blades of wind that immediately dispersed outwards with a blast of pressurized air. Most of his opponents dodged out of the way which caused Naruto to smirk behind his mask before leaping back from another precise attack, his hands never straying from the dog seal. The cries of pain rang out through the large battleground as the wind shuriken suddenly turned around mid-air, embedding themselves into three of Naruto's attackers. Unfortunately for him, they didn't hit any vital spots but at least now he wasn't the only one with an injury, their flesh torn and mangled along the outside of their legs and arms, impeding movement with pounding agony.
"Damn you Namikaze brat! Earth style: Devouring Earth Jutsu!" Suddenly the ground shook as large boulders ripped themselves from the earth, forming into an enormous maw that quickly tried to eat Naruto. He jumped away but the jutsu simply followed after him, clamping down around his body with a sickening crunch. One of the Iwa ANBU sighed in relief, glad that their fight was over relatively quickly. The sigh died in his mouth as they all heard a strange pulsating sound from behind them.
"Rasengan!" Before anybody could react Naruto suddenly appeared in their midst with a glowing sphere of blue energy. He slammed it into one of his faceless opponents, the sound of skin being torn and bones being grinded into dust echoing in everybody's ears. There was a moment of calm as Naruto stood there, panting from how fast he had to substitute with a seal-less shadow clone to pull that off.
"So you really are the fourth's kid." Naruto didn't answer as he looked at the man, simply dropping into a fighting stance and ignoring the pain in his arm.
Itachi wasn't faring much better; while his Sharingan allowed him to quite easily predict their movements and act accordingly, their sheer numbers were causing him problems. While one would attack from the front and draw his attention, another would attack him from a blind spot effectively countering the advantages the Sharingan gave him. While he had two of them under Genjutsu it proved difficult to do the same with their comrades as it took a lot of concentration to keep even that much up while fighting at the same time.
To make matters worse, every so often one would break off and free their friends by pulsing Chakra through their systems. Itachi was hard pressed to just keep ahead of his opponents and he couldn't even spare a passing thought to his friends, knowing they would have to just deal with it right now. He blocked another Tanto strike with his own before melting into a flock of crows, quickly encircling his attacker before having to break off to avoid his companion.
His normally stoic face was marred by a look of pure concentration he only ever took in his most heated spars with Naruto. Behind his mask his three-tomoe Sharingan spun erratically as he attempted to predict every one of his enemies' movements only to be blind sighted once again. He grunted in pain as he felt a slash through the back of his leg before he spun, lashing out with his blade to return the favour only to see his opponent jump away.
On reflex, he suddenly dropped to the ground, gulping slightly as an enormous ball of flame roared over his head. The heat alone made him sweat beneath his armour before it was swept away by the all encompassing rain. He dashed back to his feet, jumping away from another well-coordinated attack before racing through hand seals of his own.
"You call that a fireball? Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!" he finished with the Tiger seal and breathed out, expelling a concentrated stream of fire which quickly grew into an enormous sphere of pure flame, well over three times his own height. He sent it careening forward, digging out a small trench of earth in its wake. Three of his opponents all dodged out of the way, one of them getting slightly singed by his slow reaction. Their Genjutsu-controlled comrade wasn't so lucky; he took the Jutsu directly, his body being incinerated instantly.
Itachi panted slightly as he regained his breath, using the momentary pause in the fighting to once again eye up his opponents who only glared back with undisguised hatred.
"You'll pay for that Konoha scum!" Itachi did not respond as he rushed forward, Tanto gleaming in the weak light.
Shisui was just barely having an easier time, any time an enemy would get close enough to do damage he would disappear in a surging tornado of leaves, only to reappear right behind one of their unsuspecting comrades. Already his opponents were covered in light bruises and various cuts that were slowly eating at their stamina. That wasn't to say Shisui was fine either, he was really exerting himself to keep up with so many highly-skilled opponents, his muscles protesting after several awkward, hurried maneuvers. They had quickly caught onto his abilities and were now keeping their distance, launching long-range jutsu at him from where he couldn't reach them easily.
He seemed to have drawn the short end of the stick as he found himself facing against the leader of the enemy ANBU group; the red patch on his mask identifying him as an ANBU captain. The fight was dragging on and as time passed Shisui felt more and more of his energy draining away while his opponents seemed hardly phased. He vanished again, hoping to surprise his opponent as he reappeared in mid-air, a usually impossible stunt using the Shunshin.
His plan failed though as he was forced to twist his body in mid-air to avoid a hail of Shuriken and kunai before he could even think about attacking the ANBU captain. He was forced back again, doing his best to dodge or deflect the weapons being sent his way. Every so often one would get past his defences, nicking his leg or scraping across his arm-guards. He stood back, panting with his Tanto held in front of him in a cross-guard, wondering why his assailants had suddenly stopped. The answer became quickly obvious as the rest of the Iwa ninja reappeared, throwing the tired and bloodied forms of Naruto and Itachi down on the ground in front of them.
"Surrender Konoha trash or your friends will die." Shisui's eyes widened behind his mask; he never would have thought his friends would be captured. In fact Shisui had always considered himself the weakest of the three, always trailing behind Naruto and Itachi in skill. To see them so defeated and helpless, it was paralyzing; the Uchiha could only gulp as he stood there, motionless.
"Didn't you hear me? I said surrender or we'll cut their throats!" As if to put that point across his friends were suddenly wrenched into kneeling positions, blades poised in front of their necks ready to end their lives. Shisui didn't know what to do; if he ran in his exhausted condition he would never get away before they caught him, plus he would never be able to live with himself. If he surrendered then they would all be taken captive and most likely tortured for any information they had. ANBU procedures dictated he should kill himself in this situation but they would still get Naruto and Itachi.
He stood there, trembling slightly with frustration and rage as his knuckles turned white from gripping his tanto too hard. He didn't know what to do, his mind raced at a mile a minute and his Sharingan spun wildly, unconsciously reshaping into a shape reminiscent of a four-pronged Shuriken. The enemy ANBU captain just smirked behind his mask, revelling in the indecision and pure fear of his enemy.
"Kotoamatsukami." It was barely a whisper, completely inaudible beneath the roar of the pouring rain smothering the field. However beneath his mask the enemy captain's eyes suddenly dilated, his body becoming unresponsive for a single moment before he returned to normal. His hand suddenly shot up, shocking the rest of his squad as he motioned for the two Leaf ANBU to be released.
"Let them go!" The other Iwa ninja only looked on in shock, none of them moving for a moment before the captain rounded on them angrily. "Didn't you hear me? I said release them!" A man to his left looked between his commander and the two prisoners who seemed equally amazed.
"But Taichou..." His voice was as unsure as the rest of them felt.
"But nothing, this is a direct order. We have what we came for now release them!" After a moment of indecision Itachi and Naruto were hesitantly released. The two quickly used the opportunity to race across to Shisui who continued to stare at the enemy captain with a level glare. "We're done here." He made another motion and the entire squad raced off back towards their own country.
"What the hell?" Naruto was just as confused as he stood there, watching the enemy ninja retreat from sight steadily. His concentration was wrecked though as Shisui suddenly wilted where he stood, swaying slightly before falling backwards. Naruto and Itachi caught him quickly and gently lowered him to the mud-covered ground before removing his mask. It was fleeting but both saw his Sharingan shift back from its strange pattern to the normal tri-tomoe design. As Shisui lost consciousness both his friends shared an uneasy look between them.
Later on, after the trio passed back into the safety of their own borders with Shisui and Naruto carrying an unconscious Shisui and the dead body of the captive they had been sent to retrieve, they made camp in a small out of the way clearing. After they got a fire going and had some food the two sat around the flickering flames in silence. Shisui lay off to one side with a blanket thrown over him for warmth while the body of the former-prisoner was sealed into the large scroll Naruto had brought.
"Taka what do you..." The stoic Uchiha raised a hand to motion for Naruto to be quiet. The raven-haired boy continued to stare into the dancing flames, the light reflecting off his Sharingan as they rotated lazily.
"I don't know Tora; I've never seen anything like it before." He sighed heavily before sitting back, using his forearms to prop up his body against the damp ground.
"He wouldn't keep this from us right?" Itachi shook his head slowly; it was really unlike Shisui to keep secrets from them, of any kind. It was an unspoken bond of trust between the three friends, they told each other everything. Naruto had already revealed he was the Jinchuuriki of the nine-tails; at first he was met with silence before Shisui managed to crack a joke about Naruto's stamina suddenly making sense.
"No, I'm sure he doesn't know any more about this than we do." Even though he sounded confident, inside he was pondering those words with unease.
"But what about that thing, he just looked at the guy and it was like he was controlling him." Itachi sighed as he leant back forwards, this time propping an arm on his knee.
"I really don't know, but..." he trailed off as he stared into the flames, unsure of how to proceed; while it was true they didn't keep secrets what he was about to say was something dangerous to the clan.
"But what?" Itachi looked around, gazing at Naruto softly behind his mask before returning his gaze to the flames.
"I think it was the Mangekyo Sharingan." Naruto blinked owlishly at his friend before his gaze drifted to Shisui's unconscious body.
"The what?" Itachi shrugged slowly, never tearing his gaze away from the fire, captivated by the randomly dancing wisps of orange.
"I don't know all the details, it's a legend even among the Uchiha clan but it's said to be a stage above even the fully evolved Sharingan, only unlocked by Madara Uchiha himself. Nobody alive today even knows what it does but beyond that, what he did... I have no idea." Naruto sighed as he looked at his friend's body again.
"I don't know how we're going to explain this to the Hokage, or Lord Danzo." Itachi's gaze steeled for a moment as he finally looked away from the fire and towards his red-headed friend.
"We tell them everything; that is our duty." Naruto glanced around in shock, only hidden thanks to his mask.
"But if word gets out that Shisui has that kind of power..." he wasn't allowed to finish as Itachi cut him off again.
"We are ANBU, tools of the village, and it is our duty to report everything to our superior and the Hokage." Naruto sighed as he looked up at the sky, noting how out here on the outskirts of the country the stars shined more clearly.
"Right." He spared one last worried look at his friend before getting up to grab his sleeping bag; he had a feeling it would be a long night.
It turned out that Naruto's fears seemed unfounded; by the time they returned to the village Shisui was awake and had confirmed he had no idea what happened. One moment he was stressing over what to do and couldn't decide and the next a word just seemed to appear in his mind. Apparently he seemed to leave his body and found himself looking through the eyes of the enemy captain. While he couldn't control the man directly he just thought about not wanting his friends to be hurt and the man just acted on his own.
When they gave their mission report to the Hokage he was saddened by the loss of one of the Shinobi of his village. However, he couldn't risk a war with Iwa, both countries weren't exactly strong at the moment, Iwa after losing the Third Shinobi war and Konoha due to the Kyuubi attack. He was willing to look past it considering Naruto and Itachi had taken out two of the assailants and while Hiruzen generally wasn't a fan of the 'eye for an eye' way of thinking, it was what was best for the village.
When they finally got onto the end of the fight and Shisui's abilities the aged Hokage seemed incredibly interested by the apparent new ability the young Uchiha possessed. However no matter how hard he tried he couldn't demonstrate it, he couldn't even activate his Mangekyo willingly; he just didn't know how. In the end the Hokage simply told him that if that ever changed he was to inform him immediately as such an ability should be analysed if possible. Even so, being part of the Sharingan, the Uchiha would find a way to make sure such a rare and powerful ability would not become common knowledge and avoid it being studied if possible.
Currently Naruto was wandering through the village in his civilian clothes, an orange sleeveless hoodie with a navy T-shirt underneath and beige cargo shorts. He was mulling over what Itachi told him back in that clearing, about the village being more important than their own feelings; at least that was what Naruto took from it. For some reason he particularly disliked the idea that ANBU, or even Shinobi for that matter, were simply tools for the village.
While he would gladly die for his home and its people, that wasn't because he was some disposable weapon. He would do such a thing to protect the people he cared about because he never wanted to see his friends like Itachi, Shisui or Anko get hurt. He continued to think about it as he walked rather aimlessly through he packed streets, never noticing as he turned off into a quieter district, almost walking straight into somebody in the process.
"Oh sorry about that." He looked up sheepishly only to blink for a moment as he saw a familiar shock of silver hair that he just couldn't quite place.
"Oh that's no problem Tora." Instantly Naruto was holding a Kunai out in front of him as he dropped into a fighting stance on reflex.
"How do you know my codename?" The tall man simply laughed jovially and waved a hand dismissively which allowed the redhead a chance to take him in properly. He wore a mask covering most of his face while his headband was pulled over one eye, only revealing one which looked at him rather lazily.
"Now now, Tora, I'm surprised you don't recognise me after all this time." Naruto blinked again, noting that the voice sounded incredibly familiar as he lowered the kunai.
"Taichou?" The man just raised a hand and made a quick peace sign with what Naruto could only describe as an eye-smile.
"Yo." Naruto completely put his kunai away, now confident that this man was in fact his captain. "You can call me Kakashi Hatake if you want." Naruto just blinked, very confused at the moment at his captain's actions.
"Taichou, it is incredibly irregular to reveal your identity, even to comrades." Kakashi merely eye-smiled again and gave another dismissive wave.
"Maybe. But it won't matter for very long. I'm retiring from ANBU." If Naruto was surprised he didn't show it; after nearly seven years in ANBU and four of those as a captain he would have been more surprised if he hadn't retired sometime soon.
"That's sad to hear, Taichou. It was a privilege working with you and I hope our next captain is as competent and skilled." Naruto couldn't completely tell due to the mask but he could feel that Kakashi was grinning at him almost too happily.
"I'm so very glad you said that, Naruto." Once again Naruto wasn't surprised; while knowing his codename would be unusual his identity out of the mask and uniform wasn't exactly a secret. "I was actually looking for you." Naruto raised a solitary eyebrow for a moment, regarding his, now former, captain with intrigue.
"Oh? Why?" Kakashi beamed again, although the only outward sign was his eye curling up again in that strange way.
"You know I am your... father's former student, right?" Although he didn't like to dwell on that, he nodded curtly.
"Yes." Kakashi nodded witha small melancholic smile.
"Did he mention anything about me?" Naruto thought back hard to the years before.
"It's hard to recall. I guess he did a few times." Again Kakahi merely gave a small nod of understanding.
"And what did he say? You can't remember?" Naruto gave a small shake of his head.
"I'm afraid I can't."
"Hmm." Kakashi had a far away look for a moment, "Well, you've done your parents proud." He had the courtesy to blush slightly at that.
"Thanks, taichou."
"Kakashi, please." Naruto gave him a somewhat reluctant nod.
"Alright, Kakashi-san." He gave a more pleased nod with another of his seemingly trademark eye-smiles.
"You've done them proud. You're an excellent shinobi. With lots of room to grow, but still, excellent. For your age, there are few that are your peer."
"Itachi and Shisui." Naruto supplied, not liking the breech in ANBU policy, but feeling like his captain had something very important to explain. "Maybe some others, I don't know about."
"Yes. Both of your friends are unusually skilled for their age. It's tempting to think you're all time-travelers from the future." Naruto's brows rose high at that.
"Um, what?" The man simply laughed dismissively.
"Oh, nothing. Just, well you're too young. Newest Icha Icha came out. Anyway, my point is, you are skilled - and not just in combat. Tactics. Planning. Strategy. You are balanced; multi-faceted. You don't have many apparent weaknesses. All good traits. You also work well with just about anybody and you know how to think on your feet."
"Thank you again, Kakashi-san. But I don't follow."
"You will my replacement." His perfectly serene smile never broke as he said it and true to his ANBU training Naruto didn't even raise a brow.
"What? Why me?" It was a perfectly valid question, in Naruto's opinion there were a few people who might deserve the position over him, those with more experience and probably ability too.
"Because I decided it should be you. People look up to you and respect your decisions, you have no qualms ordering people but still take others' opinions into consideration and you have the power to protect your comrades." That time Naruto did blink, it was like he read it off a script.
"You certainly thought it through." Kakashi just smiled again, already looking like he was ready to take off, "Though I'm not convinced."
"It wasn't a decision I could make lightly." Naruto nodded at that, it was a position that took a great deal of responsibility and authority, just below the Jounin commander.
"What about Itachi?" Kakashi nodded for a moment, apparently in thought; although from what Naruto had gathered on his personality so far he may have simply been bored.
"I considered him, as well as many others... others who have many more years experience than you," he turned back to Naruto, the wandering and lazy gaze gone, replaced by a look of a man used to carrying the weight of command. "...but you have to trust that I have made the correct decision; if you start second guessing yourself now then maybe I didn't." Naruto met his gaze evenly for a moment before nodding curtly once, "Let's just say, you're like a certain someone I know. I know that you will succeed."
"Alright." And as if he had thrown a switch the other, lazier and carefree Kakashi was back with his eye-smile and everything.
"Good, it'll be official in a few days, see ya, Naruto." He quickly vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving a contemplative Naruto in his wake.
"Well that was strange." He shrugged it off and carried on walking, he would find out what Anko thought about all this. It was her opinion that he actually cared about, his own just wasn't enough. Despite all Kakashi's praise, he wasn't entirely convinced. He needed to get her perspective, the only other person who might be able to settle his doubts