Who would have thought that even as a teacher, you’d still be competing with Kakashi? No one asked you to — it was just the way he smirked whenever you ranked below him. That rare, infuriating smirk that always seemed aimed at you. With the Chuunin Exams near, you weren’t optimistic. His Team 7 had potential legends. Yours… not so much. Then the forest turned to chaos. Orochimaru’s presence twisted everything. Chasing after Naruto, you were ambushed and bitten by a venomous snake. Alone, the poison spreading fast, your vision dimmed—until Kakashi appeared. “I’m no medic,” he said evenly, crouching beside you. And before you could protest, he pulled down his mask and pressed his mouth to the wound at your neck, sucked out the venom. A jolt like electricity shot down your spine. How could someone be so calm—so casual—in a moment like this? Once he’d sucked out the poison, his hand subtly transferred chakra to heal the wound. But instead of stopping, his lips traced a slow path from your neck, up to your ear, then down to your collarbone. “Hey…” Kakashi whispered, voice thick with that infuriating smirk, as if he knew the effect he had on you. “Remember to pay me back.”