Just a reminder - ages:
Anko = 12 Kakashi = 14.5 Ibiki = 15 Ebisu = 16 Genma = 17
Aoba = 18 Raido = 19 Jiraiya = 38 Hokage = 56
Kakashi awoke later than usual the next morning, his back stiff from where Anko had jumped him. He took advantage of the rare opportunity to bathe in the sweet silence, stretching his lanky limbs as his mind lazily rebooted. It was a nice change to just lie there, without a hungry infant calling for breakfast or a teammate nudging him awake to help break down camp. After a few minutes his stomach decided to voice it's complaints, however, so Kakashi forced himself up and went in search of something to placate it.
Most of the others from Konoha had already gone about their activities for the morning: Anko and Ibiki off to warm up together for the big event, and the three teenage jounin trailing along after the Sandaime for some sort of formal breakfast for the political leaders. Jiraiya and Ebisu were the only two still around, the former scribbling down something at the table while the latter was deeply engrossed in the scroll he was studying.
"It's about time you showed yourself," Jiraiya commented with a laugh, "I was about to come in and dump a pail of water on your head. The show starts in half an hour, so you better hurry and get dressed."
"What, no time for breakfast?"
"Should have thought of that before sleeping two hours later than everyone else," Ebisu grumbled under his breath.
"There will be food stalls on the way to the arena," Jiraiya replied, bouncing a crumpled up sheet of paper off the grumpy genin's head, "Hop to it now; the sooner we leave the sooner you can eat, and I want to get some decent seats."
Twenty minutes later they filed into the stadium, the two jounin helping Ebisu to navigate the stairs on his crutches. Kakashi watched out of the corner of his eye as the older boy settled into his seat, fussing petulantly with his sunglasses.
"Is he always this grouchy?" Kakashi whispered to the man at his side.
"A moody teenager with a broken leg who thinks he's getting shown up by younger peers after making a big fuss back home about how this was his time to shine?" Jiraiya snorted. "Frankly, I'm just glad that he's limiting himself to being sarcastic and passive-aggressive."
Kakashi shook his head and looked down onto the arena floor, watching with growing curiosity as the contestants filed in. Of the eight genin lined up on the field, it was surprisingly the two that he recognized that held his attention. Ibiki was leading a much too short Anko, the girl barely looking older than 7 and clinging to the older boy's arm as if she feared being swept away should she break contact.
"It was Ibiki's idea," Jiraiya commented, following Kakashi's gaze. "She was already one of the younger genin to enter, so he suggested that if she shave off a few years and play up the scared kid angle then strangers might think that she made it through on the efforts of her team. They might go easier on her, or at least underestimate her enough to let her take the upper hand."
"Being a kid never did me any favors."
"You didn't have the advantage of anonymity. With this new system most of the competition doesn't know who she is, they don't realized that she's using henge no jutsu. Not all genin are suspicious enough yet to question appearances by default, or callous enough to go full force against a child."
The spectators watched as most of the teenagers left the field, only Anko and an older boy from the Iwa team remaining behind for the first match. Kakashi had to give the girl credit for staying so deeply committed to her character; if he didn't know any better he would swear that she was about to wet herself. The genin from Iwa regarded her with bored eyes, clearly dissatisfied that he had drawn such a trivial opponent. He charged her as soon as the proctor started the match, looking to finish quickly rather than taking the more cautious approach by pulling back to get a sense of what he was up against.
Anko vanished in a puff of smoke as his blow landed, revealing a log left in her place. She popped up again behind him as small snakes erupting from her sleeves to tangle around the shinobi's legs, their fangs sinking into the flesh of his ankles as their bodies hindered his movements. The older boy struggled to free himself, but his movements began to turn sluggish, lacking some of the grace and control of his initial attack. Anko crouched down near his head; Kakashi couldn't make out what she was saying, but a moment later the shinobi surrendered. Jiraiya chuckled at the pride evident on the girl's face after her quick victory. At a signal from Anko he nodded and handed a small vial to Kakashi.
"Take the anti-venom down to the medics, would you? I've never been a fan of using poison, but it does force a quick resolution against the less competent."
Kakashi sighed, taking the vial and heading toward the stairs. It figured, just when he got comfortable he had to get up again. He was starting to suspect that the real reason he'd been allowed to stay behind was to be Jiraiya's errand boy. Most of the civilian spectators ignored him, too preoccupied as the next match began. A few of the Iwa shinobi watched him subtly, either recognizing him by sight or reputation. He had a lot of experience ignoring unwanted attention by now, so he simply stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked around for the infirmary.
The Iwa genin was already inside, holding his stomach as sweat dripped down his face. Kakashi left the anti-venom and quickly escaped just as the boy started retching. Outside he saw that the other shinobi from the Iwa team had pulled Anko aside, speaking intently with her. She still had the henge up even though she'd dropped the scared kid act, and it irked Kakashi to see the girl being bullied by someone twice her size.
"Anything wrong here?" The older boy looked up as Kakashi casually strolled up to them.
"We were just discussing some of your friend's tactics."
"The idiot jumped in head first without any intel – in the real world that will get you killed. She did him a favor by teaching him that lesson with a safety net." The Iwa nin narrowed his eyes at Kakashi's blunt remark, irritated at being rebuked by a stranger several years his junior. Anko's gaze darted back and forth between the two, intrigued by this new development.
"What makes you such an expert? Looks to me like you didn't even make it this far."
"Didn't enter, I've been a jounin for a little under a year and a half now," he offered his hand to the stranger. "Hatake Kakashi."
The Iwa nin started visibly at the name, eyes widening a fraction and deadening as the recognition hit him.
"You murdered my brother."
Ice flooded Kakashi's veins. He slowly lowered his hand, studying the eyes of the young man before him. He'd been so caught up dealing with the reminders of his own grief recently that he hadn't even thought to consider how many people here might hold a similar grudge against him - with just as much reason. Many enemies had died by his hand in battle, more than he liked to think about, but that was the life of a warrior, the life he had been raised for. To hear someone call him a murderer cut him to the core, especially so soon after being confronted by the traits he shared with a man he considered a monster.
"War is hell. A lot of us lost family," Kakashi dropped his head, letting out a long breath that he hadn't realized he was holding. "It might not mean much to you, but I am sorry. For whatever it's worth."
With a parting nod to Anko, Kakashi quietly walked back to the inn where their party was staying. He couldn't deal with those few glares. Before they had just been abstract faces, hating him for being an enemy; now all he saw were victims of circumstance, people like him who had suffered enough without having to see a living reminder of their pain.
(A/N) Sorry it took me so long to get this up, I've been really busy with school. I'll have a break in December, so I should be able to update more consistently then. Chapter 9 (back in Konoha) is half done, and I hope to get it up soon as well. I'm too tired to beta this myself right now, but if anyone finds any typos you can feel free to PM any corrections. This chapter ended up a little different than I anticipated, but I'm just thrilled to push through my writer's block.
I'd love to know a little more about who my readers are, so if anyone wants to humor the author, I've got an age/gender poll on my profile. Thank you to the 5 who've already voted. The more returning readers I know I have, the guiltier I feel when I can't update regularly - so it's a good way to motivate me to write. Thanks for sticking with me, and for being so patient. Enjoy!