legacy | hatake kakashi

[ nine ] chūnin exam. [pt. 4]

                  NATSUMI HAD woken up on the third and final day of the stage. She sat up like she had never been asleep in the first place and acted as if she were awake the whole time but was massively confused when there was no one around. Kazuki had gone to watch a fight that he could sense nearby and Kiyoko went with him, leaving a clone in her wake because she wanted to go see the fight too once she heard it was Team Minato against Team Chōza (poor guys can't catch a break, got their stolen flag stolen from them on the final day!). The clone had started by checking the traps, missing Natsumi waking up by mere seconds.

Kiyoko could've sworn she made eye contact with the Hatake boy, but it looked like he had turned his nose up at her slightly and beat Gai to a pulp. She did NOT want to fight him, seeing how easily he pummelled Gai. The boy was a prodigy, and Kiyoko thought that he deserved that title more than she did. His fight style was cold and aggressive, every opening he saw he ruthlessly took it.

In a way, it was kind of inspiring to watch the grey haired boy. However, she felt for Gai-san as she watched him stubbornly stand back up again and struck his pose. Kiyoko had gathered from their brief interaction that Gai-san had the determination and work ethic that far surpassed anyone Kiyoko had ever met, which included Namikaze-san and the fact that it seemed like this skinny kid with slightly better fashion was crushing Gai-san.

Plus, it sucked even more because Kiyoko had made a bet with Kazuki that Gai would win and it wasn't looking like it would shape up that way much to her dismay.

Obito-kun and Rin-senpai had both been defeated, so their victory was riding on Kakashi, really. Kiyoko had sincerely hoped that Team Chōza would be able to secure a flag before the day was over.

Kiyoko gestured for them to go back to Natsumi as her clone as dispersed and alerted her to Natsumi waking up. She didn't tell Kazuki though, so it looked like she was just admitted defeat in lieu of their bet – which she was.

When they got far enough away, Kiyoko slapped some Ryō in his heads begrudgingly, it only being a matter of time before it made its way back into her hands again. They had made a bet on whether or not Natsumi would wake up before the stage would be finished and needless to say, Kiyoko won.

"That Hatake guy is insane," Kazuki shuddered, walking with his arms behind his head. He was glad they never had the pleasure of running into their team because the guy was a straight monster. Kazuki had also heard he was a stickler for the rules, similar to how Kiyoko was when they had first met but his was dialled to a thousand.

The young girl had at least been subtle about her views on shinobi, he had heard that Kakashi went around with a sour attitude and would often reprimand Obito for not wanting to die and that ninja were tools – or something.

Kiyoko nodded at Kazuki's words, "he's a serious prodigy." The word sounded foreign on her tongue. She never liked using that word, mainly because it was something that people attached to her, and she hated it. It felt as if all her hard work she had put into her skill gets erased when she is called a prodigy; like everything had came easy to her and she was some naturally strong shinobi.

"Like you," Kazuki complimented, nudging her arm playfully. Kiyoko's face turned sour. Had he just caught onto her thoughts and called her that to annoy her?

"I'm not a prodigy!" she denied, crossing her arms. She trained day in and day out as soon as she was able to; courtesy of her mother and father, who worried for her safety. Yamada's had been the target of a lot of enemies of Konoha who feared their power, much like the Uzumaki clan whom they were close to. It had been a dark day for the Yamada clan when they heard of the massacre of the entire nation.