Snakes are Venomous, Flowers are Poisonous

Chapter 11: Wake Up Call

 As soon as the shoji doors snapped shut, the room seemed to drop a few degrees as the two shinobi made eye contact. The table between them didn't seem to be enough space to keep Kakashi from tensing further—he was trapped. Yes, he could leave if he wanted to, but it was his duty to meet with his student's new teacher, no matter how much he didn't want to. Even though he could feel his body coiling and preparing for an attack, Orochimaru looked far too calm as he sipped his tea.

"You remind me a lot of your father, pup."

Jerking in surprise, Kakashi narrowed his eyes. Nobody had called him that name in a long time.

"Really." He spoke evenly, even though he wanted to bare his teeth and growl. Why was he acting this way? Orochimaru wasn't going to actually attack him, but that was just it. He wasn't harming him in any way, but taking something away from him—one of his first students. They hadn't been a team for long, nor him a good teacher, but it was hard to let go of pack.

"In many ways, yes," Orochimaru nodded and set down his cup delicately. "However, in the aspect of being a sensei, he was superior."

It would have hurt less if Orochimaru had simply stabbed him with Kusanagi. There had been many nights he had stayed awake thinking about this very thing; he knew he was utterly useless at being a sensei and wished he could ask his father for advice. But, as it stood, that was impossible. The image of his father's cold body, laying in a pool of his own blood, flashed through Kakashi's mind.

"I do not think this is necessarily solely your fault," Orochimaru continued. Kakashi's head snapped up to stare at the man. His gaze was piercing, but somehow sympathetic as he explained. "I know you, Hatake Kakashi. You are a product of war, and it was ridiculous for the village to assume you could easily become something you were not trained to be. Others have taken to the peace well, but you have never stopped fighting. Minato-san should have known better than to give you a genin team soon after taking you off Anbu missions."

"I should have been able to handle it," Kakashi's voice rung with bitterness. He could feel his nails cutting into his palms harshly as he glared down at his tea. Maybe Orochimaru was going to be merciful and simply poison him, finally end this embarrassment.

"With barely any help?" Orochimaru snorted derisively. "You were a child for a handful of years, and a warrior for the rest of your life. You had no idea how to train younglings that didn't already have a dozen kills under their belts. You were an Anbu captain, not an Academy teacher. Your own sensei should have been guiding you, but in the same vein, you did not seek any help to become a better teacher for your students."

Kakashi clenched his jaw and refused to meet the judgement that was coming off Orochimaru.

"You are best friends with Maito Gai. There was never a time you couldn't have asked him to have a joint training session with you and give you an example of how to be a proper sensei. You could have asked just about any of your jonin companions, and yet, you didn't." Every word was a precise strike into his ego, sharply cutting him like the expert swordsman Orochimaru was. "Do you realize how far your students could have come if you had put more effort into them?"

"Sasuke and Naruto have grown a lot," Kakashi said sharply. He wasn't going to argue he hadn't tried, but his students had come far.

"Have they?" The Sannin raised an eyebrow and leaned back slightly to examine Kakashi. "From what I saw, young Naruto still uses the fighting style of his parents and the shadow clone jutsu that he acquired before becoming a genin. Uchiha Sasuke has an impressive grasp on his clan's jutsu, but neither boy have shown much growth beyond what their families have taught them. And, we haven't even mentioned my newest hatchling."