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His first impression of her was that she wasn’t so serious about being a ninja and that she cared more about her crush on Sasuke (a true Sakura fan know that it wasn’t exactly like that but I’m talking about his POV specifically).

He noticed she had a lot of potential (incredibly smart, great chakra control, great with genjutsu and he recognized that her will to fight was just as strong as Naruto’s). But that was also just that, throughout all part 1 there was no development or any scene that was focused only with the two of them (I know that it was the writing and also Sakura was meant to go to Tsunade anyways, but you know what I mean).

Actually he was a little rude to her sometimes, even though it was understandable why he did it. But he had very low expectations of her, in his own words “fragile little Sakura”

The OG Kakashi -even though he was an outstanding jounin and a great observer - could be a little judgmental and thought he knew better just because he was older and more experienced. But as he goes through his journey with Team 7, even though he was the sensei, he gradually realized how much he has learned from them. All of his 3 students made him reflect about his perspectives and actions in a way he never imagined he could. They help him heal and grow to be even better than he already was.

What I mean is that just like everybody else in the story, Kakashi also had his flaws and personality development (which to me only makes him even more interesting and relatable) and that’s what makes him such an amazing beloved character.

It’s a little weird how he had no idea on what kind of training Sakura was doing with Tsunade. He was so shocked about her new abilities and growth that infers they didn’t spent time or even talked to each other, that he had never checked on how she was doing, even though she was the only one his old students that stayed in Konoha for all those years.

And once again just like part one, he recognized all her potential but when it comes to real action, he doesn’t let her do much (but with Naruto he’s more than willing to include him, the writing is very contradicting and we all know it’s a little sexist, but anyways).

THIS right here is the moment that I think he really starts to SEE Sakura for who she really is. All of team 7 (him, Naruto, Yamato and Sai) had made a decision regarding Sasuke (go to the Raikage) without including her in the process and also hiding the truth about Itachi from her. I know that they wanted to protect her in a way, but we see how much Sakura hates being protected, all her hard training is exactly because she wanted to be a part of the team, not just watch them from their backs.

I like to think that his apology to her means more than just failing as a sensei on keeping the team together, but also failing at understanding her feelings and not taking her into consideration. From that moment on, especially in the war, we see moments of Kakashi defending her from Sasuke’s harsh words and finally including her on the final teamwork that successfully sealed Kaguya for example.

This moment when he reflects about the 3 of them really showcases how he has a completely different POV on them, meaning that he learned that he wasn’t always right about everything and how proud he was of them. It’s really beautiful how they all grew and matured together.

That’s why I could never consider Kakashi being a father figure, he was barely a teacher to her, and maybe that’s why it leaves an opening on shipping them later on (I’m not talking about the weird problematic people who ships them when Sakura is young, to me Kakasaku is only possible from the Blank Period forward, when she’s very much an adult).