Summary: Kakashi thought he had already learned not to underestimate his little Genin...and then this happened.

A Kakashi POV of Orochimaru's Invasion. Some overlap with Chapters 33-34 of DoS.

Disclaimer: I own nothing here, neither Naruto nor Shikako nor Kakashi.

Beyond Expectations

Well now, Kakashi thought as he left Sasuke to his match against Gaara. What do we have here?

Shikako was wearing her full armament. If Kakashi hadn't known any better, then he might have thought she was leaving on a mission. More than that, he could see that she was on edge. Her narrowed eyes, the cautious way she was aware of her surroundings, of the entire arena. They told a story.

She was a little too ready for someone who was just there to spectate.

And her attitude was contagious. Kurenai's genin, seated next to her, were clearly feeling the tension. If she'd held true to form, Shikako wouldn't have outright told them what she was anticipating, but she would have brought the relevant oddities to their attention and let them work it out for themselves. Just as she had in the Land of Waves after all.

It was hard not to feel a little proud, but Kakashi exercised admirable restraint, as usual.

Orochimaru's "secret" invasion was due to begin any minute now, so he joined Gai in the aisle. They'd need to move when it hit, and Kakashi wasn't taking any chances with his genin's life.

Frustratingly, Shikako was the one who probably needed the least protection.

"What's up with Hinata?" the Yamanaka girl asked her.

"She had a flare up," Shikako replied lightly. "The ANBU back there, the one in the cat mask, healed her, but she hasn't woken up yet." As she spoke, she caught Kakashi's eye and subtly identified the ANBU as a potential enemy.

Briefly, Kakashi was reminded of the time she identified someone for him as Orochimaru.

"Hi, there," he drawled lazily as sent back a handsign of his own in acknowledgement. "Sorry about that. You must have been worried."

"Does this look like my worried face?" Shikako asked flatly. Kakashi mentally rated her anxiety a little higher. Shikako was usually better at deflecting than that.

He chuckled uneasily. "Mah, mah, don't be angry. I wasn't going to let Sasuke be disqualified." Much as I may have wanted to…

She huffed. "Please tell me that you at least saw Naruto's match. He did really well."

Did she just…? Kakashi's brain stuttered. "He beat Neji did he?"

She knew he was there the whole time? How! Was she really that good a chakra sensor? Sure, she'd demonstrated an eerily good ability to locate enemy ninja, but he'd been suppressing his presence using his best techniques.

It kind of stung a little that she'd caught him out anyway. He hadn't realized she was quite that good.

The match started, and the conversation- which had moved on without him- died down in anticipation.

Sasuke fought well, and he mostly kept his head, but even as he impressed the crowd around him with his speed Kakashi could already tell: It wasn't enough.

The Sand's jinchuuriki was a monster of an opponent. Even with his natural talents, and the best training Kakashi could come up with for him. It had never been very realistic to expect Sasuke to win.

No, the goal had merely been to enable his survival.

"What kind of training did you do, to get to that level in a month?" Gai asked him.

"Hmm?" Kakashi murmured, stalling for a moment. "Oh. Sasuke had copied Lee's taijutsu with his Sharingan, so I merely had him imagine Lee's movements…and then copy it."

That was an oversimplification of course, but Kakashi was hardly about to reveal the Sharingan's inner workings in a stadium full of enemies. Seeing that Gai, and perhaps more importantly Lee, was not going to be satisfied with that much, he continued.

"Sasuke mastered that taijutsu only because he knew Lee. Of course, he still had to work very hard to master it."

It truly was impressive, and Kakashi would feel a little irked too if someone could steal his life's training just by copying his movements.

That was, after all, Kakashi's specialty.

Fortunately for his Eternal Rival's pride, the price Sasuke paid in chakra was fairly evident. That level of speed wasn't something he could maintain anywhere near as long as Lee.

Which begged the question, of course, as to how Shikako had managed to pull it off.

"What's more interesting, though," Kakashi began, unable to resist pulling the sneaky Nara's leg. "Is that nine times out of ten, Shikako can still beat him in a race."

It was hard not to laugh at the reaction that inspired. Everyone else's surprise was nice, but Kakashi could practically feel Shikako grumbling. He enjoyed having a student who automatically rejected praise, rather than letting it go straight to her head.

"What?" She asked defensively. "You thought I was just going to take the month off or something?"

Which was an interesting point. Why exactly hadn't she done just that?

The Akimichi dragged him back into the conversation, but Kakashi made a note to consider the question again some time. The stadium was about to become too busy for such things.

Down in the arena, Sasuke tried using a water scroll to slow down Gaara's sand, but with limited success. Still the taijutsu itself wasn't enough. That much had always been clear. It was why Kakashi had taught him the Chidori.

Everyone oohed and awed appropriately.

...not to be taught lightly." Gai finished his disapproving explanation. It was ironic, coming from the man who taught his genin how to open chakra gates.

"Yeah, you're one to talk." Kakashi replied "Right Lee?"

That might have been a little petty. Fortunately, his own little genin came to his rescue.

"So it's like the Third Raikage's Hell Stab." She noted.

...Sometimes, she could be a little too observant. Then again, did he not want her to notice the invasion?

"No." Kakashi replied, deadpan. Gai chuckled.

The suspicious ANBU was on the move, and Kakashi carefully prepared himself. Everyone else had their eyes on the fight, which made it the perfect time for the enemy to spring their trap.

"Blood! It's my blood!"

It was a cry to set your teeth on edge, and despite himself, Kakashi's eyes were drawn to the center of the arena.

Sasuke had actually landed a hit. Kakashi was mildly impressed. That would be the limit though.

And feathers fell through the air.

Kakashi went straight for the ANBU, sharingan unleashed. Intelligence looked to be right in that the enemy were essentially in uniform, which made the one in disguise a priority.

That and the ridiculously powerful genjutsu they were broadcasting. Best to nip that in the bud.

If his body flicker surprised the spy, it didn't show. The enemy easily parried Kakashi's first two blows. That was fine though, as Kakashi still accomplished his main objective when the cat mask was sent flying.

"Kabuto," Kakashi hissed. Now he knew why Shikako had been suspicious, since she had met the man posing as a genin. His chakra was likely familiar to her.

"You catch on quickly," Kabuto smirked. "Let's see how you match up to your legendary skills."

And then they were fighting, captured by the familiar rhythm of combat. A dodge here, a replacement there. A quick wind technique on the sly. Feint with a shadow clone, catch a kunai and return it with two more.

Kabuto was a strong opponent. Challenging. Still, he didn't quite match up. Kakashi could almost certainly defeat him…if he wasn't conserving his strength for the rest of the battle.

Kabuto fell into one of Kakashi's layered genjutsu traps, providing him with enough of an opportunity to land a blow. The spy tumbled backwards, only sliding to a stop with the help of his free hand.

Unfortunately, Kakashi was too busy to follow through beset by multiple enemy chuunin.

"I see your legend isn't exaggerated, Kakashi." Kabuto spoke as Kakashi put down another enemy. There was grudging respect there, but also an undertone of arrogance. Kabuto clearly felt that he had the advantage for some reason.

And ok, yes, six—five now—more chuunin in the fight would make things easier for him, but the spy had to have realized Kakashi would have help eventually. Theirs was a chaotic battlefield, but the shinobi of the leaf were by no means losing.

"But I don't intend to be stopped here," Kabuto continued, his hand stretched forth as he reached for—Kakashi's mind almost stuttered as he identified the medic-nin's target. It was Shikako, her eyes wide in surprise.

For the first time that day, Kakashi was afraid, his blood chilled. He had to-

"Kai!" Suddenly, Shikako was a blur, and Kabuto flew across the stands, shock wiping the smirk off his face.

In his rage and fury, Kakashi managed to finish off the remainder of his opponents. He hesitated for a moment, torn, and then Gai followed after Kabuto with a slew of taijutsu blows.

Grateful to his eternal rival for the reprieve, Kakashi took a moment to regain his composure. Shikako was fine. Now he needed to make sure that she, and the rest of his genin, stayed that way. That dazed look on her face wasn't likely to help matters.

"Shikako!" He said cheerily as he landed in a crouch beside her. "No time to be woolgathering."

He looked her over as she replied automatically. Shikako was breathing lightly but evenly, eyes flickering to and fro as she observed the battle around them. There was blood, not her own, spattered lightly on her arms and jacket.

This kind of combat would be new to her, but she seemed to be holding up well.

"Listen carefully," Kakashi said as he casually took in the battlefield with the ease of long practice. "I have a mission for you. This is an A-rank mission." Kakashi knew she would understand what he meant by that, since the Land of Waves had turned into an A-rank mission and she could hardly have forgotten what that was like. This would be dangerous.

Of course, this girl had faced down Orochimaru and survived. Kakashi was increasingly confident that his Genin could handle themselves.

"Sasuke is chasing Gaara and the other Sand ninja. There is no time. I suspect many Sound and Sand shinobi have already infiltrated this village." Suspect, in this case, being a polite fiction to cover for the fact that he wasn't authorized to pass this information on to her earlier. Shikako nodded.

"Sasuke will need backup, but he's also going to be a target. Take who you need and go after Sasuke. You'll be limited to the Genin; we can't spare any fighters."

That was the closest Kakashi could come to ordering the girl to rein Sasuke in. The boy clearly couldn't think straight if he was chasing three enemies after a match like he had just fought. Thankfully, Kakashi knew Orochimaru was otherwise occupied, so they wouldn't be facing him a second time just yet. Hopefully never again if the Hokage managed to kill the bastard.

Shikako froze, her breath catching.

"Shikako!" Kakashi barked urgently. "There is no time to waste." Speaking of which…he slammed his hand on the ground, issuing forth the familiar summons.

"Pakkun here will track down Sasuke by scent."

Whether by his voice or the sudden appearance of Pakkun, Shikako had clearly broken past whatever had her freeze up in fear. Her fingers formed a circle, as Kakashi was used to seeing whenever the girl thought hard.

Parkin waited for a moment, but it wasn't like they had much time for Shikako to think.

"You wanna shake? My paws are so soft and supple," Pakkun said, waving a paw at the girl. Shikako, clearly charmed, caught his paw gently and shook, a bemused smile on her face.

"You I like." Pakkun announced.

"Got it?" Kakashi asked her, absently flinging a Kunai to disrupt an enemy.

"Track Sasuke. Protect him. Stop Gaara," She reiterated. "Gaara has Temari and Kankurou with him…" Her voice trailed off, clearly thinking about the issue at hand. Kakashi concealed a sigh of relief. Shikako could handle herself, as she had so aptly proven with Kabuto, and with her protecting Sasuke (and likely Naruto as well) all of his genin would be safe.

"Got it." Shikako confirmed.

"There's an opening in the back wall." Kakashi replied. "Get ready. I'll cover you."

Shikako nodded, then immediately rushed in the opposite direction. What was she…oh, the sleeping genin in the stands. That was actually a good idea.

Kakashi observed carefully as she gathered up her fellow genin, but before too long he was dragged into combat by a particularly fierce group of enemy chuunin, and he lost sight of them.

It was some time before Kakashi managed to slip away from his duties. The ill-fated invasion had ultimately been crushed in a matter of hours, but that still created a host of problems that Kakashi had to help solve.

There were times for casual tardiness, and this was not it.

Still, even Shinobi must sleep eventually. Kakashi had finally joined the off-duty shift, and on the way out he managed to get his hands on a mission report that he had heard tell of in passing. One might even have thought he was listening for it.

It wasn't actually a mission report, of course. It was the amalgamation of the nine or so mission reports that the rookie genin had all turned in earlier that day. Reports covering their fight with a giant sand monster, something that couldn't be overlooked even amidst the present chaos.

Knowing that they had made it out alive was enough at first, but Kakashi was interested to learn how his little students had managed to defeat a Jinchuuriki, even with help.

The rumors of giant toads had placed the "blame" at Jiraiya's feet, funnily enough. Given that he had been busy fighting off that giant snake summons on the village wall at the time...we'll it wasn't hurting his reputation any for people to suspect that he had been in two places at once.

Kakashi wandered through the damaged portions of the village, quiet and empty. Without meaning to, he found himself standing before the memorial stone. True dark had fallen, so that he could hardly read the names without chakra. Still, it felt...right to be there.

More than a few names were going to be added in the coming days.

Sighing at the morbid thoughts, Kakashi split the seal, perusing the report that had been headed to the village elders. It was a summation of events added together by the staff at the Tower, clearly intended to highlight the important points for the interim leadership following the Hokage's death.

For all that, the bulk of the report was as Kakashi had expected, familiar with Shikako's style as he was. Her peculiar humility was unquestionably factual. So much so that one might even miss the part where she neutralized a pursuing force of nine Chuunin with a single seal. Thankfully, that same humility forced the girl to acknowledge her accomplishments as well as her failures. Anything less wouldn't be a complete report, and the Nara girl didn't seem capable of "anything less".

It was a style well suited to delivering an objective view of events, which inevitably made it favorable for the purposes of a summary. Kakashi had overheard the staff at the Tower once, babbling excitedly about the way she made that ridiculous A-Rank mission easy to understand.

It probably helped that Kakashi submitted his report several weeks late on principle.

From her account, Kakashi managed to put together a vague picture of events. They pursued Gaara and his siblings, separating into teams in order to take them down without injury or death on either side.

Troublesome.

When Kakashi had sent Shikako off after Sasuke, he honestly hadn't expected them to win. He had assumed that Shikako would recognize an untenable situation and lead a successful retreat, something that he knew Sasuke wouldn't see as an option with his tunnel vision.

The boy had chased after a Jinchuuriki and two additional enemies whilst verging on chakra exhaustion. He clearly did not understand the purpose of a retreat.

But apparently Kakashi hadn't put enough faith in his other genin. Shikako managed to put together a team and a successful plan in a paltry few minutes. She demonstrated extraordinary leadership, and clear strategic thinking. In the midst of combat no less. And Naruto…

Kakashi snorted. Naturo managed to take down Konoha's premier jyuuken prodigy and the Sand's Jinchuuriki in a single day. He had already far exceeded expectations when one looked to his rank in the Academy.

By all reports—and it really was all reports: the other seven accounts agreed with Shikako—Naruto defeated a weakly manifested form of Shukaku.

Alone.

Kakashi had a hard time restraining the feelings of pride swelling within. Then again...there was always a second opinion. A dash of blood and a puff of smoke summoned forth Kakashi's old friend and the only member of the mission yet to give a report: Pakkun.

"Kakashi." Pakkun's gravelly voice greeted him. "I expected you hours ago."

"Mah, mah, we just wiped out an invasion force." Kakashi spread his hands apologetically, pocketing the mission scroll as he did so. "You know how it is."

"Hmph." Pakkun snorted. "Your Genin seemed to have things well in hand. You couldn't handle something so simple?"

"They did, didn't they." Kakashi confirmed cheerily, before growing serious. "I wanted to hear about that from you actually. How did they do?" Pakkun grumbled thoughtfully, settling against the ground before looking back up to Kakashi, a sharp gleam in his eye.

"The Nara girl was a good choice." Pakkun confirmed. "The others trusted her, and her plan worked. One without the other and they'd have all died."

Well...it hadn't been an A-ranked mission for nothing. Kakashi never liked hearing that a mission had strayed so close to failure, but such was the life of a ninja. That Shikako managed to walk such a fine line so well was part of the reason Kakashi had grown so fond of the girl. She'd regularly come through in a tough situation.

"And the others?"

"The black one, with the sharingan." Pakkun growled. "He lost focus."

Of course. Sasuke was far too invested in his "rivalry" with Gaara. That was why Kakashi had sent the rest of them after him in the first place.

"I expected that." Kakashi confirmed with a nod. "What about Naruto? I hear that he finished the fight?"

"That boy is a monster." Pakkun replied flatly. "Practically unstoppable, and reckless in the face of danger too. Although…" Pakkun allowed grudgingly. "He has a good head on his shoulders. Not the most strategic thinker, but he does well with a little direction."

"All as I expected." Kakashi mumbled. Which was true...except for Naruto. That boy regularly pulled surprises out of nowhere, and Kakashi was going to have words with Jirayai about signing the boy onto a summons contract without even warning his sensei. Still, none of that was the reason he had summoned Pakkun. "But what happened at the end? They let them go?"

And therein lay the trouble. When they won the fight and captured the Kazekage's three children, they had stepped beyond Kakashi's expectations...and his orders. Orders that might have protected them from censure in the event that they made the wrong choice. Likely the only reason the rookie genin weren't facing a backlash for their decision to let the Jinchuuriki go was due to the fact that they had succeeded beyond expectations in the first place.

They'd had a Jinchuuriki by the tail, and they let him go.

Granted, the boy had fled home with that tail between his legs, an ominous warning to those who sought Konoha's downfall. It wasn't exactly ideal however. Kakashi was hoping that Pakkun might provide a little insight that was missing from the report.

Even Shikako had glossed over that part of events.

Pakkun appeared to think over his reply, before nodding.

"Shikako did." Pakkun nodded. "They spent some time discussing their options, arguing even, but Shikako made the decision."

And wasn't that interesting. Shikako was ultimately responsible as the mission leader at the time, but Kakashi would not have thought to hear that she had actually made the decision herself. If anything, he figured that Naruto and the other's would have stayed her hand.

She had killed three enemies during the second exam after all, and Kakashi had yet to see any sign of remorse for that. not that he would have felt any remorse for it either, but he was a battle-hardened war veteran. Shikako was a twelve year old genin. Even with the situation as clear cut as it had been, he would have expected something different from the merciless slayer she had proved to be.

So to move from her decision then to letting their prisoners go...well it was an interesting leap.

True, the situations were markedly different. During the second exam she had been on her last legs, heavily injured from a fight with Orochimaru. Desperate. Whereas in this recent struggle she and her friends had succeeded without major injury. Defeating and even capturing their foes.

Perhaps the girl simply knew when to use deadly force, and when to leave it behind.

Kakashi gazed thoughtfully at the memorial stone as a light rain begin to set in around him. The light drizzle wetting the stone before him.

He had stolen the mission report in part to read it, but mostly because of the Hokage's death. There were elements among the village elders who were much less friendly to Naruto, and while Sasuke and Shikako had defenders of their own, there was no reason to let their mission report fall into the wrong hands. For the time being, it would be best to keep such...sensitive documents to himself. For safe keeping of course.

Kakashi would return it eventually...sometime after the new Hokage had been selected. He could hardly be blamed for wanting to read about his cute little genin after all, and...well...Kakashi was always late.

"And do you approve?" Kakashi asked his silent companion at last. Pakkun tilted his head in his best approximation of a shrug.

"It all worked out didn't it?" Pakkun asked, and Kakashi nodded to confirm. "And your genin made an interesting point."

"Oh?"

"Indeed. How did it go? 'The quality of mercy is not strained. It drops as the gentle rain from heaven, upon the place beneath. It is twice blest; it blesses he that gives and he that takes...'"

There was silence for a moment as Kakashi let the poetic lines sink in. The water falling from the sky felt like tears tracking their way down his mask.

"Mercy, huh." Kakashi mumbled, lost in thought. Pakkun didn't respond.

He didn't have to.

A/N: Alright, so the hardest part is finding a way to end these things. Hopefully this one wasn't too bad. Let me know what you think!