I looked down at paperwork in my hands, my brain refusing to understand the words my eyes were reading.

"Has there been a mistake," I said with as much confidence as I could muster. "I don't think this is for me."

The Hokage leaned back in his chair and puffed on his pipe. "Not at all. I think you're the perfect person for the job."

"I haven't even been a Jounin for a year, yet, sir. Surely a line up like this needs someone more experienced." Like Kakashi. Specifically Kakashi.

The Hokage seemed amused by my perfectly reasonable doubts. "I don't think you realize how rare someone like you is. Tell me, can you really see Naruto listening to anyone other than you or Iruka?"

I grimaced. Yeah, he had a point. What was I supposed to do, though? Treat the poor kid like shit? Even if I was a native of this world, I like to think I would be above such things. My parents—both the ones here and the ones from before—raised me better than that. There was no doubt in my mind that they would never have blamed a baby for their deaths, especially not if they knew the whole story like I did. If I let that color my interactions with the little ball of sunshine, then so be it.

"I thought the point of these teams was to help the kids get used to following orders even when they don't know their commanding officer or teammates?"

Another puff of smoke filled the room and I resisted the urge to cough. Barely. "Under normal circumstances, yes."

And these weren't normal circumstances. Right.

I sighed heavily. "I'll do my best."

The Hokage looked obnoxiously smug and I reminded myself for the millionth time that I was not by any definition strong enough to take him out. "I expect nothing less."

***

Given what I knew about the original story, I resolved to be as unlike Kakashi as possible. Step one in that plan was being on time.

I stepped into the classroom with a nervous smile twitching on my face. "Team Seven?"

Naruto, blessed angel that he was, beamed at me from across the room.

"Yo, Ryu! You're our sensei?"

My other two students were far less enthused. I could understand why. I wasn't exactly the most well-known shinobi in the Village, after all. In fact, I could count the people who knew my name on one hand. That was fine. That was how I liked it. The fewer people who knew anything about me, the better.

Of course, being the Jinchuriki's sensei—and the Last Uchiha's—would likely be the end of that.

I beckoned for Naruto and his teammates to follow me as I bowed my head in greeting to Iruka, my fellow 'protect Naruto' club member. "Yep. Now get over here, would you? We have things to do today."

I led the iconic trio out of the Academy, Naruto's excited chatter helping to settle my nerves. Everything was gonna be ok. There was no need to worry. If anything, I was the best choice of sensei for this team. With my foreknowledge guiding us, I could enact some real change!

Maybe.

Oh, who was I kidding, this was going to end in disaster, wasn't it? What could a rookie Jounin even teach a bunch of Genin, anyway? I may not agree with Kakashi's teaching methods—cough, cough, neglect—but at least he knew things! Ah! I was gonna make everything worse!

"Um, sensei?"

I did my best to smile down at Sakura. "Yes, my adorable student?" Gah! What the hell was I saying?

"What are we going to do today?"

I realized then that I had frozen in front of the Academy, like an idiot.

"Ahahaha, yes, well," I wracked my brain for a plausible answer. "First things first, we need a skill evaluation! Let's head on over to the training grouds and see what you can do!"

That was a normal thing to start with, right?