Will of Fire: Kakashi Hatake

Chapter 6

Akira was awoken the next morning by a loud banging noise. She woke with a start, confused at the sunlight shining in her eyes. She rubbed her eyes, trying to get the sleep out of them that fogged her vision. She laid her head back down on the pillow and pulled the blanket up over her face. She had gotten a decent night's sleep for once, and didn't care to wake up so soon.

The banging sounded again. Akira groaned. It sounded like it was coming from her window. She uncovered her head and glared at the sun. She sat up and rubbed her eyes again. When she looked over to investigate the source of the noise, she wasn't surprised to see a grinning Somaru right outside her window.

"Wake up sleepy head!" He yelled through the window.

"What the hell, Somaru?" Akira threw off her blanket and climbed out of bed. She crossed the room to her window and threw it open. "What are you doing here?"

"It's time for training! We only have a month until finals, don't you want to get a head start? Plus, they will be announcing the matchups in a few hours, let's go!"

Akira rolled her eyes. "Okay, I'll meet you downstairs in ten." She shut the window and turned away.

She glanced at her watch on her bedside table. She was surprised to see that it read seven in the morning. She had really slept that late?

Akira rushed through her morning routine, and was downstairs with two minutes to spare. Somaru and Yuhi were waiting.

"You guys are up early," Akira said, stifling a yawn.

"And you slept in." Yuhi deadpanned. Then she broke out into a grin. "Let's go train!"

They made their way through the market place, heading towards training ground three as usual. Somaru and Yuhi were bickering with each other about who would get who in the final rounds, while Akira hung a few steps back from them lost in thought. She went over the potential opponents she knew of, those being the other team of leaf ninja that had made it through to the finals as well. Those three she knew well, being that they had been in the same class as her and their teams had gone on joint missions together a couple times. She knew their attack styles, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. It was the sand team that she didn't know anything about. And it wasn't as if she had seen them in action in the forest either.

Somaru and Yuhi suddenly stopped their conversation and started whispering to each other. Akira raised her head, and eyebrow raised. Yuhi was blushing a bit, staring at someone in the distance. Akira didn't have to look to know who she was staring at. She could sense his chakra from here.

"It's Kakashi!" Yuhi whispered excitedly.

Somaru rolled his eyes. "So?"

"Maybe he will stop and congratulate us!"

"I doubt it," Somaru grumbled. Akira could sense his frustration.

Kakashi walked past Somaru and Yuhi without saying a word. When he saw Akira behind them, he made eye contact with her and took his left hand out of his pocket. Akira stared up at him with big eyes as he reached out and ruffled her hair, messing up her ponytail. He continued on his way without so much as saying a word or even smiling. But Akira had gotten the message. Good job.

She reached up to fix her hair but stopped when she saw the looks on Somaru and Yuhi's faces. Their jaws had dropped open and their eyes were wide.

"You know Kakashi?" Yuhi asked, stunned.

Akira finished fixing her ponytail. She put her hands back in her pockets. "Yeah, I know him."

"How do you know him? He's way older than you!"