Overcoming Failure

[Adaon]

A/N, this is based on one obscure reference in the series. That Kakashi had failed all his teams before Naruto's year. It is set in the third year that Kakashi was taking students, and I know that Kurenai was not a Jounin at that time. So I decided to use her character here.

Noticed I had this sitting around and never got to posting it here. Thanks to An for betaing it for me.

(rating, PG I guess)
~-~-~-~-~

"Kurenai-sensei."

"Shozo, you should be resting! Your exam is tomorrow."

"I will be soon?I just needed to speak to you for a moment."

"Alright, what is it?"

"Have you in any way found my performance at the academy to be sub-satisfactory?"

"Sub-satisfactory? You have been one of the top five students in the history of the academy. I don't know what Kakashi's reasoning was for failing you last time, but I'm positive he'll recognize your improvement."

"I'm not so sure."

"What do you mean?"

"After I failed, I wanted to know why, but Kakashi would not speak to me. So I spoke to some of his former students from the year before I graduated."

"And, what did you find out??

"He failed them for almost the same reason he failed me: for following his orders."

"You really think that's why he failed you?"

"I operated within the parameters he set, yet he accused me of failing my teammates. I don't think he offered a fair test."

"While that may be true, when out on missions-"

"I will be placed in difficult situations, and have to look out not just for myself, but my entire team. I am not ignorant of teamwork, and I dare to say I worked well with my teammates last year. But there is one key difference: on a mission I know to expect anything."

"You didn't expect anything from Kakashi?"

"I expected him to provide the parameters of the exercise then abide by them himself. I followed his orders. If he wanted me to operate outside the boundaries of a training mission, he should have instructed us to treat it as a true mission instead of an exercise."

"But knowing what you know now?"

"I still think he would fail me."

"You don't seem to have a high opinion of him."

"As a ninja, I have the highest regard for him, but I was the top student in my class, and was failed. The top student the year before me was failed and told the same thing I was:
?Don?t bother returning to the academy.?"

"But you did, and you impressed me. You've surpassed most of the students who have ever come through the academy."

"Yet that is worthless if the Jounin I'm assigned to is just going to fail me, regardless of my performance.

"When graduates are being assigned to a team, I know it's customary for the student to be assigned to the top available Jounin, but I would request a break in tradition."

"You want to be assigned to someone else."

"In the academy I surpassed all expectations placed on me. There is nothing else I can gain here. If I am told for a second time by a Jounin that I am not suited to be a ninja I see no alternative than to seek a different path for my life."

"You would probably surpass me as a ninja in 5 years. You have a natural talent I can do nothing but envy. You should not be discouraged over a rejection, even two. A ninja has to be willing to persevere."

"I never said I would quit being a ninja. I said I would have to seek an alternative path."

"You would go to another village?"

"If forced to, yes, I would. I have no desire for it, but I've had to prepare myself for the possibility that it is the only option that will be left to me a week from now."

"You're telling this to manipulate me."

"In a sense, but I'm not bluffing?merely stating a truth."

"If I told this to the Hokage, do you expect you would be allowed to become a ninja for our village?"

"Perhaps."

"Perhaps?"

"There are two points of view one could take of my statement. One is that I have such a weak loyalty to this village I would go to another. The other view is that I have such a strong desire to become a ninja, I will continue on in spite of obstacles put in front of me. I do not know the Hokage well enough to predict which view he would take."

"So, even in your worst case, you've still given yourself about a 50% chance of getting a different Jounin?"

"A 50% chance is a great improvement over a 0% chance."

"And what of the team that will be assigned to Kakashi. Are you willing to push them aside to accomplish what you want?"

"If I do not do this, those assigned to my team would be pushed aside instead. No matter what I choose, someone will fail. But as a leader of a team, I would be entrusted with the lives of those on my team. By extension, I must choose the good of my team?the good of my village?above another's. Kakshi preached the protection and cooperation of the team, if I did not make this request, I would be failing them as a teammate."

"I can see you've thought this through. Are you that sure what you are doing is right?"

"No, I'm not. It stands to reason that the three that will face Kakashi in my team's stead could be better candidates than those assigned to mine. I could be harming the village by not wanting to face failure with my own team. I see it not as the 'right' choice, but the best choice presented to me at this time. I can't make all my decisions based on the unknown, I can only make the best decision I can at the current time.."

"I see. Your logic is hard to dispute."

"Hard, yet, not impossible."

"You have made your case, and I will think it over. For now, you've done all you can."

"Thank you Sensei."

---

"Given that you always seem to know what's going on around here, let me skip the summery and just ask what you think."

"Does it matter?"

"I don't know yet, but I'd like to hear it."

"... He's come a long way since I failed him."

"Would you pass him today?"

"I don't know until after I see how he reacts to my test."

"But what are you inclined to do, if you had to choose right now to pass or fail him?"

"I pass or fail the whole team."

"He's getting an excellent team. They had the highest scores in the survival training this year."

"They had an advantage with his experience. Did they work as a team, or follow his leadership blindly?"

"It's a measure of their ability to survive as a team. They scored excellent in that regard."

"Maybe. I'll see for myself."

"But you're making them prove they are not what you expect of them?"

"..."

"Kakashi, I respect you more then anyone but the Hokage?you?ve saved my life twice after all?but I feel I need to grant his request. I want to know the opinion of another Jounin."

"..."

"If you said something to the Hokage, he would no doubt over ride me."

"..."

"Will you?"

"The team assignments are your job, not mine. I'll judge the team that you send me."

"Thank you."

"I wasn't wrong."

"I didn't say you were."

"..."

"Come to think of it, he didn't either. ... He was a different person this year. Before he relied mostly on talent, but this year he had more focus and drive to accomplish what he did. Your rejection probably spurred him on to be a better ninja than he otherwise would have been."

"... good."