Kakashi Hatake

is a Konohagakure Jonin, and at different times in his life, an ANBU member and the leader of Team 7. He was the son of Konoha's White Fang, Sakumo Hatake, and like him, was a regarded as a genius. After his meteoric rise in the ninja academy, Hataki became the student of the Fourth Hokage, subsequently becoming a Jonin during the Third Great Ninja War. Following the war, Kakashi earned renowned fame for his use of the Sharingan, earning him the moniker Copy Ninja Kakashi.

Background
Kakashi was the son of the legendary White Fang of Kohona, Sakumo Hatake, and like him was considered a gifted shinobi. He graduated from the academy at the age of 5, becoming a Chunin a year later. However, his success came at a great loss; his father, once well respected in the village, fell into disgrace after choosing to save his comrades rather than complete a mission, causing Konohagakure to suffer in the war effort. Dishonored, Sakumo committed seppuku after deep depression and a drop in his skills, which caused Kakashi to lead his life strictly by the Ninja code. His White Light Chakra Saber, for which his father was nicknamed, was given to Kakashi.

He went on to become apart of the Team Minato, led by the future Forth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, with Obito Uchiha and Rin, a medic-nin. Kakashi's relationship with Obito and Rin was very much similar to that of Sasuke's relationship with Naruto and Sakura respectively in which they share a complicated relationship that later developed into a close friendship.

In the midst of the Third Great Shinobi War, at a meeting to hear their new mission, Kakashi was elevated to Jonin and received gifts from his teacher and teammates; A special kunai from Minato and a medical pack from Rin. After receiving their gifts, the Fourth informs the team of their mission: they must travel through the Grass Country in the midst of a conflict between Iwagakure and Konohagakure to destroy a bridge. Along the way, Kakashi’s team notices that they’re being watched from the trees by Mahiru, an Iwagakure ninja. Kakashi sees this as a good opportunity to use his newly created jutsu, the Chidori. He arrogantly ran off to attack the hidden foe, only to face off against Mahiri’s multiple Shadow Clones while Rin was captured by enemy Shinobi. Obito immediately stated his intention to rescue her, but Kakashi disagreed on the basis that they needed to complete their mission, opting not make the same mistake his father did. Kakashi parted ways with Obito soon after, and as he reflected on Obito’s words and Rin’s prior kindness, he realized that his father had made the right choice after all. This prompted him to rejoin Obito in the rescue effort, claiming that Obito couldn’t survive on his own.

During the attempt to rescue Rin, Kakashi detected a Rock ninja, and yelled a warning to Obito, who was too slow to react. Kakashi jumped in front of Obito to save him from the enemy's kunai, losing his left eye in the attack. Obito, in return, awakened his Sharingan and killed their assailant. The two managed to rescue Rin, however, a rockfall technique was triggered, hindering their escape. It was then that Obito chose to make the ultimate sacrifice, pushing Kakashi out of its path. As he laid there dying, Obito had Rin implant his Sharingan eye in Kakashi’s damaged eye socket, referring to it as a gift. He died shortly thereafter. As his first act with his new eye, Kakashi avenged Obito by killing the enemy ninja with his now-perfected Chidori technique. Obito's death had a huge impact on Kakashi's personality; initially flaky and unreliable, Kakashi became more mellow, having adopted some of Obito's traits such as his notion for teamwork.

Prior to the Fourth Hokage’s death, Kakashi joined the Konohogakure ANBU where he served as squad leader. During this time, Kakashi rose to fame as Konoha's Copy Ninja, a nickname he earned due to use of his Sharingan eye- having copied over a thousand jutsu. He cultivated a group of students- which included Yugao Uzuki and Tenzo, and recognized the latter as the most successful of this group.

Kakashi also developed an ongoing, albeit slightly one-sided, rivalry with Might Guy, with Guy constantly proclaiming that Kakashi was his rival. Kakashi, however, seemed aloof to their rivalry, which annoyed Guy to no end. When given the chance, Guy often challenged Kakashi to contests of skill, in which Kakashi acquired a record of 49 wins and 50 losses in doing so. Given that the contests that make up this figure were so varied, that’s not much of an achievement on Guy's part. Despite the obvious tension around them, Kakashi has come to view Guy as a comrade and close friend.

It is unknown when or why he left ANBU, but he is never seen without the iron guards on his gloves, a characteristic of ANBU uniforms.

Personality
In his youth, Kakashi was serious and determined almost to a fault; traits that were likely influenced by his desire to set himself apart from his father, Sakumo Hatake. Sakumo’s reputation as Kohona’s White Fang left Kakashi somewhat resentful of his father, causing Kakashi to discourage any resemblance he had to him. After his father’s death, Kakashi decided to live his life strictly by the ninja code, willfully abandoning a comrade if it meant failing a mission. His ideals, however, often came to clash with Obito Uchiha’s concept of teamwork, which Kakashi initially brushed off. It was only after hearing the dying words of Obito that Kakashi realized how wrong he’d been about his father. Because of Obito’s self-sacrifice, he’d come to value the lives of his comrades over any rule-a notion that he would later apply in his assessment of genin teams.

Over the years, Kakashi had become mellower, having adopted some of Obito’s traits such as his chronic tardiness, due primarily to losing track of time during his frequent visits to Konoha's memorial site, where Obito's name is engraved. Ironically, this very habit was one that Kakashi was often annoyed at Obito about. Despite these changes, some of Kakashi's previous personality remained-particularly his bluntness and dispassion. At times, although he may mean well, Kakashi tends to push everyone away, unwilling to let get close to him, noting that everyone close to him is already dead. However, this changed upon meeting Team 7; during the course of their partnership, Kakashi acted as a brotherly figure to the group, often giving them helpful advice when needed.

Kakashi's personal life is almost none existant beyond his life as a shinobi. His face is always covered in his mask, even when he was a child. And though he states he has many hobbies the only one that seems true is his love for Jiraiya's adult novel Icha Icha (lit Make Out) series. From Team 7's graduation from the Academy up to their first mission after Naruto's return, Kakashi has been seen reading, , and. Tactics end up being his downfall during the second bell test with Naruto and Sakura as the two came rushing at him with Naruto about to reveal spoilers causing Kakashi to cover his ears so he couldn't hear them speak, thus ruining his ability to hear their jutsus, and closing his eyes so his Sharingan eye couldn't read their lips.

Team Kakashi
Amongst the students and instructors at the academy, Kakashi developed a reputation for failing every potential Genin team that took the Survival Training Exam he proctored. When he was given Team 7—which consisted of Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha—Kakashi decided to test not only their skills, but their ability to work as a team. He gave them a Survival Training Test, which involved team stealing two bells off of Kakashi's person; only those who retrieved the bells were allowed to eat while the one without was forced to starve. Sakura's tunnel vision focus on Sasuke, Naruto's impulsive insistence on being a one man show and Sasuke's arrogant superiority complex and loner attitude led the team to fail the Survival Training Exam. Only after Sakura and Sasuke tried to feed Naruto that he revealed the purpose of the test: teamwork.

Journey to the Land of Waves
Unsatisfied with the usual D-ranked missions assigned to them, Naruto motioned for the Third Hokage to give them a real ninja mission. Without hesitation, the Third Hokage assigned Team 7 their first C-ranked mission: escorting the bridge builder, Tazuna, to his home in the poverty-stricken Wave Country. As the group ambled through the forests, Kakashi discovered a strange puddle along the roadside, and deduced that they were being followed. At the instant the Demon Brothers attacked, Kakashi performed the replacement technique, faking his death. After realizing that the ninja were after Tazuna, Kakashi unveiled himself and subdued the ninja before any harm befell on the others. The ambush was enough to confirm his suspicions of the bridge builder, and after confronting Tazuna about his reasons for lying to them, Kakashi deemed the mission too advanced for his genin students. This coupled with Naruto's injury convinced Kakashi to end the mission and take his team back to Kohona. Naruto, however, after hearing Kakashi's and Sakura's praises of Sasuke, protested against Kakashi's decision.

En route to the village, Tazuna told the team more about his attackers hired by the shipping magnet Gato. According to Tazuna, his shipping business was just a front for much shadier activities, such as illegal goods and dealing drugs. He took control of the Land of Waves' shipping routes and created a monopoly by isolating the country from the outside world, preventing free import and export and turning it into an impoverished, hunger-stricken country in the process. He hired Hidden Mist ninja to assassinate Tazuna and stop him from finishing the bridge which would connect the Land of Waves to the outside world and allow its economy to recover. After learning the whole truth from the bridge builder, Kakashi decided to go through with the mission.

Upon arriving in the Land of Waves, Kakashi and the others were attacked by Zabuza Momochi, a missing-nin from Kirigakure. By using his Sharingan, Kakashi managed to defeat him. Before he could be finished however, his student Haku, threw needles into his body to feign death. Disguised as a hunter-nin from Kirigakure, Haku took the "body" and fled. Because his body was drained from the Sharingan, he was unable to pursue them. Instead, they continued their mission and escorted Tazuna back to his village. Because his teams collective chakra control needed work, had them climb a tree by only using chakra. To his surprise, Sakura had completed the task with ease, something neither Naruto or Sasuke could do. The two would continue their training while Kakashi and Sakura protected Tazuna.

When Zabuza and Haku attacked the bridge, Kakashi battled Zabuza while Naruto and Sasuke were trapped in Haku's Hyoton jutsu. Feeling the force of the chakra of the demon fox, Kakashi knew he had to deal with Zabuza quickly. Using Summoning Technique: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique he used his Ninken to trap the Zabuza in place, while he prepared his Lightning Blade to kill Zabuza. Before he made contact however, Haku jumped in the way of the attack, letting it kill him instead. When Gato appeared moments later, Zabuza following Naruto's words turned on him and killed him. With their mission a success, Team Kakashi returned to Konoha.

Chunin Exams
Not long after, Kakashi, along with fellow Jonin, Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi to enter their fledgling Genin into the Chunin Exams. However during the second part of the exam, Sasuke was branded with Orochimaru's Cursed Seal of Heaven. Kakashi tried using the Evil Sealing Method, to forcefully suppress the Seal. When Orochimaru arrived, Kakashi said he was willing to die to protect Sasuke, thought realized attacking Orochimaru would be suicide on his part. He would then train Sasuke for the one month of time between the second part and the third, teaching Sasuke his original jutsu, the Chidori.

During the third part of the Exam, during Gaara and Sasuke's battle, the Invasion of Konoha began.

Invasion of Konoha
The initial stage of the Invasion was putting a genjutsu on the entire arena. Only Guy, Sakura, and Kakashi were able to repel the genjutsu. Kakashi then gave Sakura, Naruto, and Shikamaru a A-Rank mission, to follow Sasuke and stop him, as he had just followed after Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro with Gaara deeply influenced by the Shukaku. While they did, Kakashi worked with other Jonin to fight off the invading Sound Village Ninja, eventually defeating them. Together with the other Hidden Leaf Villagers, he then attended the funeral of the Third Hokage, though not before visiting the villager memorial to pay his daily respects to Obito.

Akatsuki's Hunt for the Nine-Tails
When Itachi Uchiha and Kisame came to the village looking for Naruto, Kakashi stepped in to prevent them from killing Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi. He engaged Itachi in a brief battle using their Sharingan, but Kakashi's Sharingan and chakra supply was of it was not enough for Itachi's, and he was defeated by Itachi's Tsukuyomi, and was saved by the intervention of Guy. He was later awakened by Tsunade, and despite his weakened condition was immediately sent out on missions again.

One of these missions was influenced by Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke attempting to discover what was hidden behind his face mask. At the same time, a trio of enemy ninja Kakashi had defeated three years earlier returned seeking revenge, only to be thwarted by Kakashi's knowledge of their presence the entire time and Team 7's own efforts to find out what was behind their teacher's mask. Once the three had been defeated, Naruto asked Kakashi to remove his mask (which he believed to conceal enormous lips, giant buck teeth, or a tiny mouth) to reveal...another mask. Shortly afterwards, Kakashi was sent on a solo mission while the rest of Team 7 went to the Land of Tea for an escort assignment.

Sasuke Retrieval
Kakashi returned from his mission in time to interrupt a battle between Naruto and Sasuke, which had led to them charging each other using the Rasengan and Chidori respectively. Recognizing his own sensei's move put to use by Naruto, Kakashi nevertheless focused on dealing with Sasuke. Tying him to a tree so as to prevent him from running away, Kakashi lectured him on the importance of being responsible in his use of the Chidori and in allowing anger to control him. Sasuke retorted that Kakashi couldn't know how he felt unless Sasuke were to kill everyone he loved, to which Kakashi replied congenially that he was too late. Letting Sasuke go, Kakashi left him to think over their encounter, and thus wasn't in position to either protect him from the Sound Four or stop him from leaving the village.

Abilities
When Kakashi was younger, he was taught the Rasengan by the Fourth. However since the Rasengan was meant for the users chakra element to be mixed with it, Kakashi was never able to master the jutsu. Instead Kakashi developed his own, and only original, jutsu; the Chidori. While powerful, the Chidori had two crippling drawbacks. The first was the speed of the attack and the fact that the user had to run in a straight line. This would cause a tunnel effect for him which an opponent could take advantage of to either avoid or injure Kakashi. The second was the amount of Chakra needed for the attack. The Chidori used so much of Kakashi's chakra that he could only use the technique four times any given day. With the Sharingan eye, the tunnel effect could be worked around as he could now see his opponents movements clearly, but he could still only use the jutsu four times a day. He later refined the Chidori into the stronger.

The Sharingan is however his most useful asset as he allows him to copy any jutsu used against him. The draw back of the Sharingan is that because Kakashi has no Uchiha blood, he can't deactivate it, so if it was allowed to see it would use up chakra needlessly. Kakashi avoids this by covering it up with his forehead protector further giving him a mysterious appearence. Sometime between Naruto's departure to his return from Konoha, Kakashi developed his own Mangekyo Sharingan, presumably without the requirement of killing his best friend. His eye has the ability to manipulate space and was shown to be able to tear off ones body parts and hurl them into another dimension. However since the standard Sharingan costs him more chakra than normal because of his lack of Uchiha blood, the Mangekyo Sharingan uses so much chakra that he had to be hospitalized for a week after using it three times in one day.

After the time skip, during the second bell test, Naruto and Sakura commented that Kakashi is smarter than Shikamaru (whose I.Q. is over 200), better at Taijutsu than Rock Lee (who is a Taijutsu master himself) and has a better Sharingan than Sasuke at the time of his betrayal.

Quotes

 * "Give up, what lies in your future is defeat!"
 * "You've really grown, haven't you?"