𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐔𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐇𝐀 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋: 𝐤𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

(viii) limit

six months later

"what do you think?", might guy was sitting in a shop in the leaf village with a few other jonin

"he certainly seems more pleasant doesn't he?", kurenai remarked

"i told hokage-sama it would work if he had a subordinate to train", guy agreed

"that uchiha girl certainly shows a lot of promise", asuma said

"she passed the chunin exam at 8"

"that's commendable, considering people usually become genin at 11 or 12"

"kakashi was the same. so was itachi."

meanwhile on their usual training ground, y/n felt physically drained. kakashi had really pushed her to her physical limit in the past few months. it had definitely led to an increase in the amount of chakra she could use, but it wasn't pretty. he was still unsure on how to handle her mangekyou, since he himself couldn't control his very well.

"tired already?", the silver haired ninja asked

"no, definitely not", she exclaimed

the task was to climb up and down the nearby cliff for 48 hours straight. so far, it had been 39 hours and she was slowly reaching her limit.

kakashi sat at the bottom of the cliff, reading a book that no one should read in public. occasionally he would look up to see how she was doing but that was about it.

however, noticing she was getting tired, he paid more attention to her and decided to test her further. he climbed up to where she was, causing her to look at him.

"in case you're not tired," he took one of her hands, swiftly tying it behind her, "endure the rest of the hours climbing with just one hand"

y/n freaked out at this point because she was certain his task was impossible. but she nodded slowly. kakashi swiftly went down to where he was sitting and watched her. it was only a matter of time.

around 40 hours were over now and y/n shook as she climbed down for what must've easily been the 120th time. she'd finally reached her limit.

"do you want to stop?", kakashi asked

"n-no...", she said, but before she could turn around to climb up again, she began to fall down, unconscious.

in an instant, the copy ninja was at her side, untying her hand and preventing her from falling by holding her up. he carried her on his back, supporting her thighs by hooking his forearms around them as he began to walk back to the village.

the jonin that had been talking about the two sometime earlier looked at kakashi in surprise as he carried his student.

"what happened to her?", guy questioned

"just tired", he said, as she rested her head on his shoulder.

a few hours later y/n woke up to find herself in a house different from her own.

"where..", she wondered as her question was answered

"yo", a voice said, making her look up

"kakashi sensei- oh MY GOD the training-"

he handed a bowl of ramen to her. "eat"

she began to eat, disappointed that she didn't complete the training.

"it's very important for a shinobi to know when they should proceed and when they should retreat", he sat down next to her

she suddenly realised what he meant. "so when you tied one of my hands, that was a test?"

"yes it was. knowing your limit is a skill in itself y/n. remember that."

"yes sensei"

"you still held out longer than i thought", he smiled through his mask.

she returned the smile. kakashi was probably the closest thing to a friend that she'd had in years. technically he was her mentor but she had slowly begun to feel at ease around him. honestly, the same could be said for him because he had been otherwise distant from everyone else in the village.

"y/n..", he began

"hmm?"

"i think you should take the upcoming jonin exam."

y/n looked at him, shocked. she didn't feel like she should. she suddenly felt conscious of her abilities.

"it's only a suggestion of course", he added, "but i think you're more than ready."

"okay. i'll think about it."

"in case you agree, there are a few more things i want you to work on"

she nodded.

he patted her shoulder before leaving her to her thoughts.