Chapter 19- Interview

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As Sarutobi Hiruzen and Hatake Kakashi walked through the streets of Konoha, the Sandaime started to ask a few questions to Kakashi.

  "Kakashi, I must say I am incredibly interested why a person like you seems to trust this man within such a short period time?

  I believe he has been in the village for less than 72 hours, no?"

  "It's hard to explain Hokage-sama, there's a couple different facets here, and I believe my position to be a bit more logical than you might be assuming."

  "Oho, explain then please."

  "As Shikaku said earlier, Yama was a genin, one. Two, he is currently crippled. You'll get a feeling for what we truly mean once you meet him. He has no presence whatsoever, he lacks any residual killing intent or any chakra fluctuations.

  To be honest, its almost uncanny. I saw him meditating this morning, and he almost seemed more like a corpse rather than a living breathing human."

The Hokage frowned.

  "An ability to hide one's presence to that level seems like something that would raise your guard rather than lower it?"

Kakashi nodded.

  "I would normally agree with you, but I have to disagree with you here. Its hard to explain, but if you called him invisible, you'd also have to call him blind.

  I was skeptical of him at first too, so I would level my full killing intent against him while rousing my chakra for an attack while making no efforts to hide it.

  Even a civilian would notice it, but he has never once showed a single sign of reacting. No fluctuations at all. I even tried it while he was sleeping."

The Hokage scratched his chin before drawing his pipe from a sleeve and lighting it up.

  "I'll take your word for it for now, but you must have more reasoning?"

  "Yessir, the reason I "trust" him is that he cannot actually damage anything in any meaningful capacity.

  In the same way that a jonin-sensei can prevent genin from going astray, I can monitor him while he teaches and prevent him from leading others astray.

  At the end of the day, he simply lacks the strength needed to do any damage, no matter how hidden he is or his intentions."

The Hokage frowned at the final comment.

  "What if you are underestimating him?"

  "I might be. It is possible. However, I would have to misread his capabilities as well as intentions for him to do any damage."

The Hokage continued to press.

  "That cannot be everything, surely you have more?"

Kakashi looked a little hesitant, and opened his mouth before closing it. The Hokage noticed the microexpression.

  "Say it, that's an order. I need to know why you trust this man around our children."

Kakashi tensed somewhat. The Hokage was deadly serious.

  "Yessir! It's his aura and demeanor, sir."

  "Explain further."

  "II can't sir. Have you ever had a bad gut feeling about something even though all logic pointed the opposite direction?"

The Hokage snorted.

  "You don't live to my age without a good nose for danger. Intuition is the unteachable lodestone of a good shinobi."

Kakashi continued.

  "Well, every single gut feeling I have about this man tells me that he is trustworthy and that I can rely on him for anything. I don't know why, but there it is.

  This has never happened to me before, so I initially suspected genjutsu, but even using a seal to freeze my chakra for a split second did nothing.

  I've exhausted all options for breaking a genjutsu, so I must assume my feeling are true, and even if he were able to cast a genjutsu on this level, why would he bother with his current plan?"

The Hokage smoked his pipe a bit more and considered what the young ninja Kakashi had said. He knew that though Kakashi was young, he was most definitely battle-hardened and proven.

That being said, something was still fishy, and the Hokage kept his reservations to himself.

The pair continued their walk towards the Hatake Compound. 

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When Hiruzen and Kakashi arrived at the house, Kakashi didn't even bother to knock, he simple strolled right in and led the Hokage towards the living room.

As they walked into the living room, they both noticed Yama. He was sitting in the same place he was this morning, with the door to the courtyard open.

His head was bowed and his hands clasped in prayer. An aura of solitude was around him. It was like he was the only person in the world.

Kakashi was about to speak when the Hokage raised his fist.

Kakashi immediately froze and waited for further orders.

The Hokage brought his hands together and roused his chakra. The eruption was silent, but the force was palpable. Kakashi's hair blew back away from the Third Hokage as he stared on in shock.

Kakashi had heard the legends about the "Professor" and the second "God of Shinobi" but the last time that Hiruzen had fought someone was before Kakashi was still a genin.

The legends didn't do the Sandaime justice. Kakashi stood there, mouth agape, and thoughts raced through his head.

  How on earth is his chakra so impressive? Its dense and pure; it feels like heavy weight is placed on my shoulders.

  How long would it take me to become this strong?

  Could I even become that strong?

Kakashi was at a loss for words already, but soon, even his thoughts stopped.

Hiruzen leveled his killing intent onto Yama. The accumulation of a lifetime of war, destruction, and death was honed to a frighteningly sharp blade and thrust at the meditating Yama with reckless abandon.

Kakashi was frozen in fear from the residual intent wafting off of the Third Hokage, but Yama bore the full brunt.

Yama however did not stir.

The Hokage relaxed his chakra and intent, and the icy manacles that had gripped Kakashi's heart and limbs slowly loosened and fell away.

Kakashi was still somewhat reeling from the experience, so the Hokage stepped forward and called out to the meditating man.

  "I am told you are called Yama."

Yama stirred and his previous aura of solitude melted away like the snow before a warm spring breeze. As he stood up, he turned around and beamed a smile at Kakashi and Hiruzen.

  "Sure am!"

The man named Yama walked over before speaking to Kakashi.

  "Can you introduce me to this fellow?"

Kakashi came back with a start.

  "Yama, please meet the principal of the ninja academy, he will be conducting an interview of you for the position, so please cooperate with him."

Yama nodded his head before speaking with a bow.

  "Thank you for this opportunity."

Hiruzen waved his hand.

  "Think nothing of it. I wish to have as many good instructors as possible.

  It's a very nice night, why don't we have this interview as we walk around?

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Kakashi, you stay here, Yama follow me please."

And with that the Third Hokage walked back out the Hatake compound as quickly as he came, but this time with the mysterious Yama in tow.

Hiruzen was only somewhat interested in this beforehand, but when the man known as Yama didn't even flinch or hitch his breathing when Hiruzen leveled his intent against the man.

Now Hiruzen was very interested.

  By the time I was a young man, even Nidaime-sensei was affected by my killing intent unwillingly. The only one that shrugged it off was Shodaime-sama.

  Hah! So this man is either blind like Kakashi said or as stable as a mountain...

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Yama liked to spend his time meditating. Clearing his mind was about the only solace he had left.

Being in Konoha again was painful. Everywhere he looked, he saw someone's father, someone's mother, someone's family, someone's friends. He saw where someone asked his wife out for the first time. He saw where someone played as a kid.

Almost every face was familiar, and each and every one of those people were in a person's last thoughts. Almost every place held significance and they were the resting places of peace of mind as someone lay dying.

In this great, wide world, who did not know love and who did not love? In this beautiful, wonderful world, who did not have a place to call home?

Love is a fire that grows and spread, it inflames the heart and binds people together, and home is where the heart is.

Every single face he passed by was a loved one.

Every single step was a memory.

Every second haunted him.

So when Yama could, he sat and meditated. He let his thoughts fade to black, reemerge white, and dissipate to nothing.

He had ripped open the tapestry of the world with Shijin's time travel jutsu, and in a way, meditation was weaving his existence back into the record of existence.

When Hokage-jii-chan had called out to him, Yama couldn't help but smile.

There was pain when he looked at the old man's face, and Yama remembered Konohamaru's final moments.

The bitter pain and rage welled up within him, and Yama felt it, experienced it, and then let it go.

Yama couldn't help but smile more. His experience had changed him, but the pain was still there.

And Yama took comfort in this, Despite the pain, he has not denied love, grace, and that from which it comes.

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The Hokage had already dismissed Kakashi. He and Yama ambled through the streets of Konoha. Hiruzen figured that he would show off the academy first, and they made there way there as Hiruzen started the interview.

  "I don't usually have that many questions for these interviews. After all, it really boils down to three questions,

  The first one is fairly simple.

  Why do you want to become a teacher?

  Take a few minutes to think about it before you answer."

The pair walked further, and soon found themselves at the gates of the ninja academy. Hiruzen stopped and looked back at Yama.

  "So, why do you want to become a teacher?"

Yama sighed and met the Sandaime's gaze for a few moments before looking off into the distance.

Yama slowly tilted his head back until he was looking at the stars.

They didn't feel wrong this time around. All was well in the world.

He dropped his head back down and met the Hokage's gaze.

His eyes shone with conviction.

  "I don't want to see people make the same mistakes that I did."

Sarutobi Hiruzen had heard a lot of answers over the years. One of the reasons that he was called the professor was his insistence on involving himself in the workings of the ninja academy, along with his encyclopedic knowledge of jutsus of course.

Many people had said similar things, and Sarutobi didn't like the answer usually. It was an answer that placed importance on the teacher, rather than on the students, and many of the people that had similar answers failed to understand that this job wasn't about them, it was about the kids.

So even though Hiruzen was frowning at the answer on the inside, his face betrayed nothing as he asked a followup question.

  "How does that help the village?"

It was a trick question in a way. Usually the self absorbed people would take this line and run with it. They would start explaining how if they hadn't made their mistakes, they would be much more powerful, and they would teach students to become powerful, and of course powerful ninja would help the village.

It was the answer of a loser who was caught up in "What if" after "What if". Only someone that was extremely narcissistic and short-sighted would truly believe that learning from their mistakes alone would make someone else strong.

Yama looked down at his hands. He curled his fingers into a fist and slowly loosened it before looking back up. While his face was still full of conviction, he now had a small, sad smile.

  " I don't know how it helps the village. I honestly wasn't even thinking about that.

  I just..."

Yama sighed.

  "I've made a lot of really big mistakes, and I've suffered a lot for it.

  I learned a little from my experiences.

  I just don't want the kids to suffer to learn too."

Hiruzen hummed and nodded. He was actually quite pleased with the answer. It was very seldom that someone passed his hidden trick question. Hiruzen walked though the gate of the academy, leading Yama into the place of learning.

Hiruzen actually ended up giving Yama a quick tour.

They were both old men, so they took their time to walk around and look at the facilities. Hiruzen calmly explained each one.

  "So this is the basic building block of the academy, the classroom. We hold lectures everyday and try to get all of our graduates educated up to a certain standard before we allow them to graduate."

Hiruzen was about to explain a bit further, but he thought he should pick Yama's brain a little more since the man had given such a superb answer to his previous question.

  "What do you think should be most important thing we teach here?"

Yama replied quickly.

  "How to learn."

Hiruzen chuckled at the answer before continuing.

  "Right you are. This academy only graduates genin, which is just the first rung in the ninja ladder. To advance beyond that point, a ninja must be responsible for their own advancement.

  They must be willing to train and learn on their own if they ever want to be promoted.

  What we hope to instill into the children who grace these halls is a thirst for growth and knowledge, and then equip them with the tools to achieve their goals."

The pair walked over to the outdoor training grounds. Hiruzen explained.

  "This is where we host the practical aspects of our education.

  We do physical training, Taijutsu education and physical strengthening mainly, but we do dip out toes into ninjutsu and genjutsu.

  We have a few obstacle courses, some open fields, and a couple dueling platforms along with several shuriken ranges.

  I know that you are crippled, so I won't ask you to demonstrate any jutsu, however, I'd like to ask you a few questions to get a feel for your theoretical knowledge as well as your knowledge in training exercises."

The Professor had earned his title, and he was the most knowledgeable person in Konoha when it came to Chakra Theory and related disciplines, that being said, the genin before him was particularly well informed, about jonin level in theory.

That was surprising to be sure, but Hiruzen was glad to see it. Yama wouldn't need high level theory to teach the kids, but it usually helped. The well educated seemed to have a knack for explaining the beginner knowledge in simple ways that could be tailored to each student for maximum success.

Hiruzen and Yama had discussed Chakra Theory for 30 minutes before Hiruzen was satisfied. Yama had surpassed his expectations, and he a unique theory or two that Hiruzen was somewhat enthralled with, and couldn't wait to test in his free time.

Hiruzen paused for a few moments to switch gears.

  "Your theory is fine, but this is something that you can't avoid, even with your disability. I need you to show me where you practical skills in Taijutsu and Shurikenjutsu fall. You will be responsible for teaching students, and I have a certain baseline."

Hiruzen stepped up onto one of the dueling platforms, and Yama followed him up. The two stood 10 feet apart, facing each other. Hiruzen spoke again.

  "I will limit myself to your speed. You will set the pace of our spar."

Yama nodded. Hiruzen placed his fingers into the seal of camaraderie.

  "In our village, it is customary to make this seal before a spar. You will have to teach this to the children."

Yama mirrored the seal.

The two men settled into their stances. Hiruzen waited for Yama to make the first move.

Yama's stance was eerily solid. He didn't sway at all, and the Hokage was somewhat unnerved by the statuesque rigor. Hiruzen supposed it must be a side effects of the man's injuries.

However, Yama again surprised him with his next move.

It was impossibly smooth and constant. Yama approached Hiruzen with a couple straightforward steps before launching some basic attacks and combinations.

It wasn't exactly the moves that surprised Hiruzen; it was how the moves were performed.

Yama kept the same speed the entire time, never fluctuating. Never speeding up to block and attack or sneak a blow into a hole in Hiruzen's defense.

He just kept moving at the same pace the entire time.

After about 5 minutes, the two stopped their spar. Hiruzen spoke.

  "Your skills are enough to teach the children. However, we will need you to learn some specific Konoha forms and systems. Your current moves are very standard, but we have some more advanced systems that we teach to certain students."

Yama nodded his head. Hiruzen then guided the man over to the primary shuriken range before asking the man.

  "Do you have any shuriken with you?"

Yama simply laughed and shook his head.

  "At my age and with my condition? I haven't been a ninja for a long time."

Hiruzen was forced to agree, so he reached into his sleeves and pulled out a scroll before speaking.

  "This scroll represents most of the shuriken we use here, I would hope that you are proficient with most, if not all of them."

With that said, the Sandaime focused his chakra, and several different types of throwing weapons popped out from the scroll in a coud of smoke.

  Kunai, Shuriken (throwing stars), Senbon (throwing needles) ; All of a few different sizes popped out.

Yama's smile actually brightened at the view. He spoke.

  "Shurikenjutsu is something I actually still okay at without chakra. I'm no specialist, but decent enough."

Hiruzen observed without a word as Yama walked up and grabbed a few of each. Yama quickly threw them out at the nearby targets, and was in the bullseye on each of them.

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow at the display. Usually genin weren't this good, and this Yama fellow had apparently never been promoted.

Hiruzen watched the entire display before speaking.

  "I didn't exactly ask this, but the second question is 'What practical skills can you actually teach to the students?'

  From what I can see, you will be able to teach Taijutsu and Shurikenjutsu, which meets our baseline requirements, though we prefer teachers to be able to teach ninjutsu and genjutsu as well."

Yama nodded in understanding.

Hiruzen spoke once more.

  "You've only got one more question, but I won't ask it here, and if your answer satisfies me, you get the job.

  Follow me."

Hiruzen left the academy and headed for the Hokage Monument. The pair walked in silence for a bit before Hiruzen spoke.

  "You must've figured it out by now?"

  "What? That you are the third Hokage?"

  "Yeah, did it not surprise you at all that someone of my stature would be interested in who teaches at the academy?"

  "Honestly, not at all. It would be more surprising if a Hokage didn't care who taught their children."

Hiruzen nodded before continuing.

  "That isn't the final interview question by the way, just making a little small talk. Let's go up."

The two had reached the bottom of the stairs at the Hokage Monument. Without a word, they ascended.

Hiruzen did pay a little attention to Yama as they climbed, the man hadn't been out of breath during the spar, and neither had he been breathing heavily now, so it seems that he was still somewhat physically fit.

The two of them got to the top of the monument sooner of later, and they walked out to edge and looked out across Konoha.

Hiruzen and Yama simply watched the quiet, sleeping city. There were still signs of destruction here and there from the Kyuubi, but the village was still whole.

Hiruzen broke the silence.

  "This is the final question, and for you it will be particularly hard to answer."

The Third Hokage straightened his back and his face took on a stern look.

  "Why should I trust you?"

Yama chuckled and showed that small sad smile of his once again.

  "Honestly?"

Hirusen nodded, and Yama continued.

  "Honestly, I don't think you'll believe me."

Hiruzen's demeanor didn't slack in the least.

  "Try me."

Yama laughed ruefully.

  "Okay, well..."

Yama turned away from Hiruzen and looked back out across Konoha.

  "Well, this place reminds me of home.

  It's warm, it's beautiful, and it calls to me.

  When I see its people, I want them to be safe.

  When I see its children, I want them to be happy.

  When I walk through the streets, I feel peace.

  When I lay my head to rest, I feel solace.

  When I look at Konoha, I feel love."

Sarutobi Hiruzen walked up to Yama and clapped him hard on the back, staggering the man.

  "We call that the Will of Fire, and you'll fit in around here just fine."

Sarutobi Hiruzen had a good gut feeling about this.

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A few hours later that night,

Kakashi awoke to a loud ruckus outside his house.

Someone was slamming on his door and yelling.

  "Heey~~ LEmmE IN Kashi! How dare you laevv yuur superiorr in dis shtate@???????????"

A second voice chimed in.

  "UU tell him Old mAn, that kids got no respck fur his elders and betterssssssssss/"

  "Wut thee HEll you mean OLDMAN? Youree an old man you fricking Codger!"

  "At leass I dont haff liver spots on my face you dotard"

  'U Tryna picc a fite?"

  "NO, but Ill end it you gomer!"

Kakashi ran downstairs and whipped his front door open.

Sarutobi Hiruzen and Yama were quarreling with each other and stumbling around on his front door step.

Kakashi quickly took a step back, after smelling the odor coming off the bickering geriatrics. The both absolutely reeked of sake and cheap perfume. They must've hit the cabaret clubs.

Hiruzen noticed Kakashi first.

  "Oh their you are Kashika-kun, be a good boi and help your hogage to a bed!?!"

Hiruzen reached out and ruffled Kakashi's hair. Then Yama stumbled over.

  "Look at ussh, three fellows with grey hair, except poor young kakashi, hes too yung to be going gray and white?"

Yama started to cry and bawl.

  "Only fifteen years and already like this..."

Kakashi's face twitched.

Yama then stepped up and threw his head underneath Hiruzen's arm and propped the old man up.

  "Less help you out thereeeeee geezer."

Hiruzen weekly protested but was pretty much incoherent.

Yama helped the man into the living room and laid him down on the couch as Kakashi followed the two. The Sandaime was asleep before his head even touched the sofa.

Yama then took one of the lounge chairs and promptly fell asleep.

Kakashi simply cursed his bad luck before going back to bed.