"Where is the Wonderboy, anyway?"

Leaning against the side of the wall, Hatake Kakashi tilts his head, lips pursed beneath his mask. The nickname is… less than ideal. But he's only got himself to blame for that, he supposes. No, wait, he'd been too influenced by Naruto. So, it's his most-unpredictable student that's at fault for this one. And maybe the thought of Obito (the old Obito, the one he'd idolised) and Rin had impacted things too.

How was he supposed to know this society would differ from Konoha? Oh, he's a genius, but he'd banked a little too much on the people here following the same thought-process as the upper-echelons as Konoha. While the Hero Association may be very similar to how to old elders acted… the ones who ultimately gave out the hero licences weren't.

'Not until you're eighteen'. A novel experience for someone who'd become a ninja at five.

Upon awakening in this world in a newly orphaned body that'd been the spitting image of his last one, Kakashi had looked for what his future could be. Here there were no ninjas, murder of all kinds was frowned upon (a startling thought for a life-long assassin), and heroes were idolised to the point it was a full-time job. It'd been like Naruto had taken up residency on his shoulders the second it'd clicked, whispering a constant 'do it do it do it' in that raspy, foxy tone of his.

So, Kakashi had looked into it. He needed to graduate through the schooling system. Fair enough; he'd powered through both elementary and middle school in his first year, finishing the curriculum half a year before he turned five. Only… only the government hadn't known what to do with him. Not a clue. Apparently, there had been (and still was) an age-limit on enrolling in hero courses due to the sheer demands it placed upon its students (once again, a novelty for him). He'd been turned away, told to come back when he was a little older. Maybe to put some time into completing a high-school education.

By the age of seven, Kakashi had a degree in mathematics and cognitive science.

They still wouldn't let him join up. However, by that point, they seemed to realize ignoring him or redirecting him wasn't going to solve their problem. He'd been handed off to the Hero Association for what they'd titled 'pre-hero course training' and that was that.

To say he was highly over qualified for the UA Hero Course would be an understatement at this point.

Oh well. At least this dimension also had pornographic literature too. Even if there was no Icha Icha, some of the books weren't that far off.

"Hatake-kun, why are you hiding in the corridor?" Blinking the sole eye he allows the world to see, Kakashi turns his attention to the little… rodent that will be his acting superior. Headmaster. Whatever.

"Maa, they're having fun gossiping and I crossed a black cat on my way here; best to not tempt fate, nee?" The look he gets from this comment is glorious.

"Inside. Now."

"Maa, maa. Whatever you say, Nezu-dono."

.

.

He's a brat. That's Shota's first thought. Hatake Kakashi is something of an urban myth among the long-serving staff of UA. It's not that he's the first underaged kid to apply for the hero course, nor is he the first underaged kid to do so with his middle school degree to back him up. He is, however, the first under five to have done so. The first to come with an extensive resume from five different martial artists which had pretty much amounted to 'we don't have anything to teach the kid'. The first to go away, slaughter the high school curriculum and gain two degrees within a time that's unheard of among children not blessed with powerful intelligence-based quirks. A natural genius so blatantly brilliant that it's unnatural.

It's a bloody good thing the kid wants to be a hero and not a villain. After all, there's no age limit on becoming one of them.

None of that changes the fact the kid has the most ridiculous excuses, that he walks around reading porn in broad daylight. It doesn't change the fact he's three hours late.

"Where have you been." Shota seethes, watching the kid snap his book shut and pocket it. What small slither of his face he allows people to see (a single grey eye and the patch of skin that surrounds it) is near unreadable.

"Maa, I was helping a little old lady carry her groceries, but then she realised she'd forgotten her pickled onions, so I went back to the store to pick them up, but then the store was out, so I had to go further afield, which is when a villain decided-"

"Stop. Talking." Hatake's mouth snaps shut, his visible eye closing in an irritating curve of happiness and hands buried in deep pockets. His whole posture screams relaxed. If Shota hadn't seen him slaughter the entire set of graduating third years, he might have been fooled by the kid's non-threatening body-language. But no, the Hero Association have thrown their weight behind this kid, proclaimed him the next All Might. They'd been quick to drop Hawks as their golden-boy once it became apparent just how very… good this kid is. He wonders if the winged hero holds any bitterness towards Hatake.

"Just get inside and do what you've been told to do."

"Assessing potential students, right?" Cocking his head to a side, Hatake runs a hand through his hair, changing his mind at the last moment to rub at the back of his skull. "Maa, are you sure I'm the right guy for the job?"

"You've been trying to enter the hero course for a decade," Shota stresses, his eyes finding the skeletal form of All Might hunched over a monitor as they walk into the observation room, "you must have some idea of what we're looking for by now."

"But what if I only care for the traits I think a hero should have, not the government mandated ones?" God, Shota is praying this brat isn't in his class. If there is any mercy in the world, he'll be spared this brat's presence.

The fact he walks along beside him now seems to indicate this won't be the case.

"I don't care. You don't get the final say anyway." Hatake hums, fingers itching towards the pocket he'd stashed the porn in and Shota levels him with a look that promises death if he completes that action. Still, Hatake hesitates for a second before holding his hands up in surrender.

"Don't antagonise, got it." He snaps off a mock salute that makes Shota want to snap his neck. Figuratively. The brat.

Hatake saunters into the room, dropping into the chair before the monitors. He makes sure to roll his shoulders back into the cushioned material, fingers drumming against the arms as he waits for the show to start.

"So, this is the wonderboy, is it?" Hizashi muses, squatting down to stare right into Hatake's face. Hatake stares right back before he giggles, fanning his face and looking away.

"Maa, I'm flattered, but the age gap." The absolute shit.

Hizashi full out squawks, Nemuri breaks out into hysterics and All Might just looks utterly flustered. Ridiculous. The Hero Association's 'Wonderboy' is a little fucker and they're gonna have to build a tolerance up to his little tricks quick. Otherwise he'll spend the majority of his time at UA pushing all their buttons.

"I told you to shut up, Hatake."

"Mmm." The boy makes no sound other than that low confirmation, but the amused curve of eye indicates he feels his work is already done here.

God, these next three years cannot pass quick enough.

.

.

"Maa, I'm not really supposed to be doing this," Kakashi muses, scratching as his chin as he remains seated on the captured criminal. Technically he's not broken the law, he hasn't used a quirk, after all. But the police are still gonna be prickly about it. As they have been for the other three-hundred and sixty-two incidents like this that he's been involved in. Hey, it's not his job they're slow on the uptake and poor at patrolling. Honestly, they've had these quirks popping up for generations and they're nowhere near the brutal efficiency that Konoha had. Then again, Konoha had carte blanche on all things that happened in the walls and if they civilians didn't like it… well, they had to lump it. Things are different here, there's far more… freedoms in certain areas. And still they wouldn't let him tear through the hero-course as he has done everything else. Ridiculous.

"Hatake. Why am I not surprised." Tanema, having finished climbing out of his cruiser, folds his arms and stares down at his seated form. Kakashi only grins back.

"Maa, citizen's arrest. No quirks were used, barring the detainee's, of course. I have my first day of school today but, being on the hero course, I of course couldn't ignore a call for help. To do so would be un-heroic, nee?"

"Just… just get going. I'll be by with the usual forms for you to fill in later."

"Ja-nee, thanks, Tanema-kun!"

"I'm thirty years your senior, brat!" Kakashi ignores him, hopping off the downed criminal and offering the woman he'd helped a little salute. She stares but then so do a lot of people. It's his face or, rather, how much of it he has covered.

Giving a little wave, Kakashi plants both hands in his pockets and continues his slow meander down the street, the road awash with traffic and pedestrians. Yes, he did have a class to get to. And now that it's been approximately forty-five minutes since school started, he can show.

Got to be early for the first day, no?

.

The look that Aizawa shoots him as he strolls out onto the open field does, in no way, look appropriately appreciative of his early status. In fact, judging by the ugly death glare and snarl, Kakashi would even go so far as to say the man's upset with him. Huh. Clearly the Hero Commission hadn't gotten around to telling the UA staff about his little... quirks (hehehe). That, or they'd assumed he'd be respectful enough to acknowledge school times. Which, ha. They've made him wait long enough; now, it's their turn.

"Hatake. Nice of you to join us."

Nineteen heads of various colours (and species, Kakashi's amused to notice) swivel around to take him in. With the slight scuffs on his trousers and blazer, tie nowhere in sight and his mask pulled up and over his face, Kakashi rather gets the feeling they're very much unimpressed. One of the students (glasses and engine legs; someone with connections to Team Idaten given his face) makes a noise rather like a tea kettle. While Kakashi would love to peg him as the Gai of the class… well, there will only ever be on Gai in his mind.

That doesn't mean he won't wind the kid up for the entertainment value.

"-sheer disrespect afforded to this institution-"

Kakashi zones out of his words, inspecting the array of students that will be his classmates (he's in Aizawa's class; isn't his teacher so lucky to have such a wonderful, prodigal student, nee?) as they continue to stare at him in blatant disbelief.

"-Sensei! If Hatake-san has missed the vast majority of his quirk assessment tests, does that mean he shall score last?" Quirk assessment test? Oh! It must be just like the bell test, only without any bells in sight. And nearly seven times the number of students to a single teacher. Ouch. Kakashi would hate to be in his shoes. Another good thing about this world; you won't be forced into teaching by a benevolent dictator who is 'only doing this for your own good I swear to Hashirama, Kakashi, if you don't pass this lot then-'

"As much as I would love to throw Hatake out on his ass, I'm not allowed to expel the kid that has held the entrance exam record for the past decade."

There's a momentary pause as the rest of the students absorb that information; he can almost see the cogs in their brains whirling as they look him over and absorb the word 'decade'.

"Dec- wait, Aizawa-sensei, that can't be-"

"It is right. I checked. Don't let his attitude fool you; this brat shattered the entrance exam record before he turned six. It's only because of child labour laws that the Hero Commission didn't shove him through UA and spit him out in a pint-sized hero costume."

They goggle. They're teenagers, it's what they do best.

Behind the mask, Kakashi grins, offering them a jaunty wave in greeting.

That's when the ashy blond explodes.