I DO NOT OWN NARUTO.

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Hiruzen-sama liked to think he was a patient man. Correction: He KNEW he was a patient man. However, there was one particular ANBU captain who constantly made him second guess his sagely composure on a near frequent basis.

"Sorry I'm late."

Hiruzen sighed loudly at the voice before him, sensing the presence a fraction of a second before he spoke.

"If you were truly sorry, Kakashi, it wouldn't happen so often."

There was a moment of silence before a light 'hmm' ghosted the air.

Hiruzen made a show of sighing again. He looked up just above the brim of his hat to see Kakashi smiling brightly at him, his hands clasped tightly behind his back, yet his posture was lax and slightly slouched.

"Fine. I have something very important to discuss with you." He continued, not bothering to scald the young shinobi. He was far beyond the age where lectures would do anything for him. Hiruzen flipped a folder out in front of him with a twist of his wrist, barely holding it past his desk. "Or, rather...I have a very important person to discuss."

Kakashi raised an elegant eyebrow and stepped forward to accept the folder, leaning heavily on his right leg as he slowly flipped through the documents with interest. "Hmm...barely a chuunin?"

"Yes, but do not let that deceive you." Hiruzen rumbled, leaning back in his chair. "I want him in ANBU. More specifically, I want him in your squad."

Kakashi glanced up at the Hokage, but said nothing.

"He has a very special gift that he needs to learn how to control, and I want you to teach him."

It was obvious Kakashi had an issue with this, and as was his personality, he spoke up promptly.

"Forgive me, Hokage-sama...but isn't the point of ANBU to have trained and skilled shinobi? It seems dangerous to put someone in the black ops specifically to be trained."

Not to mention a total headache for Kakashi, but he wasn't going to say that.

Unfortunately for him, Hiruzen could read him like a wide-open Itcha Itcha.

"Of course. However, he is extremely skilled, and already has forty 'b' rank, fifteen 'a' rank and a plethora of 'c' and 'd' rank missions under his belt, despite passing the chuunin exam only last week."

Kakashi couldn't help the interested 'maa' that slipped through his lips at that. A genin accomplishing that many missions was certainly rare, if not unheard of.

"So. Why do you need me to train him?"

Hiruzen couldn't help his grin. "Read page 5, please."

Kakashi looked lazily unimpressed at having to work for his information when Hiruzen was right there to tell it to him, but he did as he was told. His eyebrows spiked right where the Hokage expected them to.

"...Mokuton?" The copy-nin gasped, staring at Hiruzen like he was totally fucking with him.

"Yes, the Mokuton. It is no easy feat to master such a technique, as I'm sure you are aware. He has already come so far, but I want him to get that little extra push that would hone his skills to the point where the Council wouldn't be terrified to pass him as a Jounin."

Kakashi leaned back at that, getting the distinct impression there was a lot more to this story, and Hiruzen was having a grand time letting him in on it as slowly as possible. He had half a mind to stay silent until the Hokage explained himself, but he sighed in his way and bit the bullet.

"Why would the council hesitate in the first place?"

Hiruzen's teeth clacked shut over his pipe as he stared at Kakashi with intense seriousness.

"This is the reason why I want you to train him, Kakashi."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

As the grand doors to the Hokage's chambers slammed shut behind him, Kakashi stared at the manila envelope with a mixture of curiosity, excitement and dread. So, his new kouhai was the sole survivor of a batch of Orochimaru's legendary experiments. That HAD to take its tole on someone, yet Hiruzen had assured him his charge remembered very little of his lab-rat existence and had an extremely good attitude about the whole situation. There was only one slight issue he may have to deal with.

I always refer to his mokuton as a gift, which visibly upsets him. He does not consider his powers to be his; which, theoretically, he is not wrong about. However, that attitude holds him back from truly mastering his bloodline limit. One of the things you will have to show him is not to be ashamed of what he's been granted.

Kakashi found himself sighing for the eight thousandth time that afternoon. As intriguing as this whole situation was, he couldn't have been less excited at the prospect of having someone on his ANBU team who needed to be coddled. The missions they went on were extremely dangerous, and only the best were chosen for a reason. This boy seemed talented, and the mokuton was sure to be an asset, but Kakashi barely had the energy or time to worry about bringing someone up to ANBU level while on ANBU level missions. It just seemed ludicrous.

The copy-nin shuffled back to his quarters dejectedly, but found himself stopping short a few meters away when he noticed a figure he didn't recognize poised on the wall outside of his teams doors.

If this was to be his trainee, he supposed 'boy' was an unfair label to tag him as. He looked to be barely younger than Kakashi, almost as tall, and with a fair bit of muscle build to him. Frankly, he probably looked older than Kakashi to most people. The copy-nin was always being told he looked young for his age.

He took a deep breath and continued to walk forward, catching the attention of his young charge. The brunette glanced up at him, his eyes surprisingly large and almond shaped. When he locked eyes with Kakashi, the copy-nin couldn't help but be taken aback by the blatant innocence that radiated from his unique features.

"Maaa." Kakashi started lazily, shaking off his rather unexpected first impression as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "And who might you be?"

"My codename is Tenzou, Senpai." He responded obediently, bowing crisply. "You are my captain, are you not?"

Kakashi hmmed and gestured for Tenzou to rise, which he promptly did.

My. At least he's disciplined; that will make my job a lot easier.

"You can call me Kakashi. My codename is Hound." The copy-nin responded, which seemed to grant a light blush to Tenzou's cheeks which Kakashi found hesitatingly endearing.

"Ah...well...if you insist. I was told to go only by my code name; does that not apply to everyone?"

Kakashi shrugged lazily. "I suppose. I tend to bend the rules a little though, Tenzou. As long as you refer to me as 'Hound' outside of headquarters, there's no problem."

The mokuton user was slightly conflicted as to what he should do with that information, but he decided to listen to his Senpai's instructions.

"Yes, Kakashi-senpai."

The Copy-nin couldn't help a smirk at this kouhai's unwavering obedience. "Well, why don't I introduce you to the rest of the team?"

As Kakashi stepped forward to open the door, he noticed Tenzou's crisp posture wavered, his face contorting slightly.

Nervous? How quaint.

As soon as the door was open, a flurry of voiced bombarded them, causing Tenzou to jump slightly and stare impossibly wide-eyed into the room.

"Fuck right OFF, fuckface! You keep hogging the damned bathroom after EVERY training session! SHITBALLS!"

"Cease your incessant wining, you pompous airbag! These gracious locks require GROOMING!"

"Gai, seriously? I have WAY more hair than you-"

"-Ehem."

Both shinobi whirled around at the slight clearing of the throat coming from the doors they did not know were opened.

"Oh. Hey, Kakashi. Who's that?" The One With Way More Hair asked, his hands going to his hips.

"Genma. Gai. This is our new teammate; code name "Tenzou"."

"PPPFFTTT." Genma snorted as he slid right up to the two newcomers with far more grace than you'd expect from someone who said 'fuckface' and 'shitballs'. "No one goes by code names at headquarters. What's your real name, bud?"

Tenzou swallowed lightly, than immediately tried to shrug off his hesitation. "Ah. Well...I was given strict orders not to release my name. I'm sorry, I don't want to be rude-"

"Wooooow, really? Heh, are you a celebrity?" Genma jeered, his senbon bobbing around his large smile. Before Tenzou could answer, the one called Gai roughly shoved Genma out of the way and jabbed his large hand out at the startled chuunin.

"Do not listen to him, my clearly youthful friend with many secrets. It is a shinobi's prerogative to conceal however much of himself he wants. My name is Gai; codename 'Green'. Welcome to our team! However, I must say I am surprised. We were not told to be expecting a replacement."

At this, Gai raised an eyebrow at Kakashi, who shrugged so minutely it looked more like a hiccough.

"Hiruzen-sama just told me not ten minutes ago."

"Ah." Gai supplied, rounding a blinding grin on Tenzou. "Well, no matter. The more the merrier!"

Tenzou gave Gai the same crisp, professional bow he had given Kakashi. "Thank you, Gai-san. I will give every moment my all, and I assure you I will be a valuable member of the team, no matter what I have to do to perform to your sta...n...dards..."

Tenzou trailed off, slightly terrified. Gai had literal waterfalls of tears flowing steadily out of his eyes, and was sniffling back loud sobs, nearly wracked to silence with hiccoughs.

"Such..." he gulped, wiping away tears.

"Youthful..." he sniffled, pulling himself up to his full height.

"SPIRIT!" he bellowed, leaping into the air, tumbling around in a staggering amount of summer salts before landing on his knees with his arms outstretched to the monumentally confused new addition to his team.

Gai panted, waiting for Tenzou to respond. The mokuton user's jaw was practically unhinged. He stared at his new teammate before finally collecting himself enough to stammer out coherent words.

"Ah...I...yes?"

"YES!" Gai shouted, leaping up, which caused Tenzou to snap to attention rightly, as if about to go on a march. He clearly had no idea what he had just gotten himself into.

Kakashi and Genma watched with open amusement before lightly glancing at each other, deciding simultaneously to save the poor chuunin from any further stress.

"Gai." Kakashi called lightly. "Let's give Tenzou a moment to move himself in."

"RIGHT!"

Tenzou had only a second to shoot Kakashi an incredibly thankful expression before he was shoved into the room by Gai. Genma snickered and plucked his senbon from his lips.

"So. What's the deal? Why a newbie so suddenly?"

Kakashi looked like he was considering what to say before he responded. "He's a bit of a special case. Hiruzen-sama has...entrusted him to my care."

Genma quirked an eyebrow in response. "To your care? What's that supposed to mean? Speak not-Kakashiese."

The copy-nin looked slightly put out, but he continued. "He is apparently skilled, but has a very unique, very powerful bloodline limit that he needs help mastering."

Genma looked like he was going to put up the same argument Kakashi had, so the copy-nin silenced him with a lightly lifted open palm. "I'll explain everything to you and Gai later. For now, let's make sure he survives the first night. Gai is always the most excitable the first night."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Tenzou shakily went about setting up his meagre belongings into his new dresser and night stand. Looking around, he could see his fellow ANBU owned very little as well. Kakashi had settled onto his bed, a bright orange book cracked open that he immediately immersed himself into. Tenzou found that rather strange, but he decided to withhold judgement. 'Gai' had finally relaxed enough to ease off of Tenzou and go about his business, to which the mokuton user was eternally grateful. He wasn't exactly the most socially experienced creature in the village, so being welcomed to what he thought would be an intensely professional environment with sobs, tears and bear hugs threw him off his game considerably. He had intended to give the absolute picture perfect first impression, but was certain he had just come off as easily startled and slightly lost. Withholding a sigh, he noticed Genma emerging from the much coveted bathroom with a large plume of steam laying in his wake. The jounin had nothing but a towel around his waist, and Tenzou supposed these men were quite close and comfortable with each other.

"BUM-TIME!" was all the warning Tenzou got as his shoulder was promptly covered in sopping wet material and a very naked Genma was standing resolutely before him.

"I honestly just feel so constricted in clothing. Where did I put my kunai?"

The brunette wandered over to his bed, which was directly across from Tenzou's, and bent full over to look under his mattress for said weapons of substantial destruction.

Tenzou could not help staring open mouthed, wide eyed, and mind blown at his shameless teammate. Of all the things he had expected from ANBU, literally everything he had experienced was not one of them. He felt his shoulder continue to dampen and remembered to remove the towel from the side of his offended body. He stood there, the cloth draped over just one of his fingers, entirely uncertain as to what to do.

He cleared his throat. "Genma..."

The other shinobi whirled around, his shoulder length hair spinning, a knowing grin planted firmly on his cheeky lips.

"What's that, my friend?"

"Your. Your towel."

"Ah!" leaning forward, he snatched the named object from Tenzou's outstretched finger. To the mokuton users dismay, he proceeded to take two steps closer to Tenzou as he flung the towel over his right shoulder.

"You know, this is a safe haven of non-judgment and comfort. Please, feel free to also remove your clothes if you feel so inclined."

"NOTHANKS" Tenzou squeaked quickly, blushing considerably at the large grin his outburst produced from Genma. He cleared his throat and attempted to look much more secure with himself. "Sorry, I mean...I had no intentions of disrobing any time soon."

"Really? I mean, it's so much more liberating to-"

"-Genma."

The room instantly went silent. Tenzou had basically forgotten his captain was even there, he was so quiet and unassuming behind his suspiciously orange little book. If he was honest with himself, Tenzou was actually annoyed at the way his senpai was basically ignoring him and leaving him to his own devices and unfortunately, those of his teammates. Now, however, he looked the part of the stern, experienced ANBU leader. His eyes were slightly hard over his reading material, and his tone had left no room for disobedience.

While Tenzou was stunned silent, Genma merely shrugged and sighed. "Fine, fine. Sorry. I'll leave the poor guy alone."

With that, he flopped down on his bed, lightly tossing the towel around his waist in a half-assed attempt at decency. He grinned ferally at Kakashi and crossed one leg on top of his thigh, revealing his under-workings only to his captain whose bed was directly behind his. Kakashi rolled his eyes heavily and adjusted himself so his direct line of sight was far away from Genma's presented package.

Tenzou stood stock still, obviously alarmed. He looked like he wanted to turn tail and run, and Kakashi could hardly blame him. He hadn't even really gotten a taste of Kakashi yet, and the jounin knew he could be an ass more often than not. He felt a slight pang of pity, but it was quickly phased out the longer he looked at Tenzou. The copy-nin could not get over the image the other shinobi presented. Especially now, his eyes were blown wide open, and as they were already quite large, it gave him a look of almost childlike innocence. His features radiated youth, and yet he had the hard, broad-shouldered body of a strong ninja. Kakashi could feel that he was staring, probably quite intimidatingly, at his poor new kouhai, but he figured the little tike needed to be toughened up a bit anyway.

"Come here, Tenzou."

The Mokuton user stiffened, his eyes darting slightly around the room to see the reactions of his insane teammates. Genma was totally engrossed in carving something into the handle of his kunai with his senbon, and Gai had disappeared into the bathroom long ago. He decided it was safe (ish) to follow instructions and approached his captain with as little hesitation as he could muster.

"Yes, Kakashi-senpai?"

"I'll warn you now; our team is quite unique compared to most ANBU squads."

Tenzou fought internally not to say something like 'No Shit'.

"As are my methods of leadership. It is best if you leave all preconceived notations at the door right now, or we're going to have a hard time with each other tomorrow during training."

Tenzou perked up at the sound of doing something productive and official. "I will follow your instructions accordingly, Kakashi-senpai. Please do not concern yourself."

Kakashi was silent for one chilling moment, where Tenzou was certain his gaze pierced directly through his flesh and dug its claws into his immortal soul. He was proud he didn't gulp.

"Oh. I'm sure you know how to follow instructions, Tenzou-kouhai." Kakashi practically purred. "You do seem so obedient."

Tenzou had absolutely no idea if that was an insult or if it was supposed to be some kind of twisted compliment. He merely shuffled slightly on the spot in response. He felt like playing word games with Kakashi was probably the last thing anyone wanted to attempt to do.

He was pretty bang on.

"I expect you on the field at 8am sharp. You can spend the rest of the night however you wish."

With that, Kakashi lifted his book half an inch higher and dove back into its mysterious pages without so much as a 'have fun'. Tenzou stood there awkwardly for a few seconds as his mind scrambled to arrange itself.

"Ah...Senpai..."

Kakashi flicked his eyes up in response. Once again, Tenzou had to resist the urge to gulp.

"I...well, I really just arrived at headquarters when you met me at the door. I'm not quite sure...well, I don't know what one does in ANBU..." Tenzou desperately hoped Kakashi would just give him a break with the too-cool-for-school attitude and offer to give him a tour or something. ANYTHING, really.

It looked, to Tenzou's abject horror, like Kakashi was considering the same thing. To torture or not to torture, that was the question. Tenzou just looked so...edible. That was really the right word, sadly. No wonder Genma had a go at him, it was just too easy and way too much fun. His facial expressions were just so comically naive and glowing with confusion that it begged one to keep pushing him further.

However, Kakashi was a dutiful son of a bitch if he wasn't a kind one, and he knew he needed to keep at least some semblance of order and captain-like grace if he wanted his kouhai to take him seriously and not bolt as soon as they were asleep.

"Genma. Put some clothes on and show Tenzou around."

The sigh of utter relief could not be contained in Tenzou's body, and Kakashi mercilessly decided to pretend he didn't hear it.

Genma shrugged. "Alright."

With that, the shameless shinobi rolled over, popped off his bed and sauntered over to his dresser. He barely even looked in the drawers as he pulled out the standard issue ANBU sleeveless shirt and pants. Genma proceeded to dress himself across from Tenzou, who found staring down at an uncaring Kakashi was far less uncomfortable than watching Genma dress.

"This way, bud." he heard from over his shoulder, and turned to see Genma cocking his head toward the door. He flicked a small glance at Kakashi and found he hadn't budged an inch. Interestingly, he also noted he hadn't turned a single page in at least five minutes He stored that information away for future reference and followed Genma out of the crowded room.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OKAY! Hope ya'll liked so far. I started watching the Anime interactions between Kakashi and Tenzou again and just got SO inspired I decided to write ANOTHER ANBU 'origins' fic about them. I just have so many different (hopefully) ideas of where to go with it. Also, they are flicking ADORABLE. Like, damnit.

Anyway, let me know what you think! I did not beta read this at all so im sure its packed full of errors.