Kakashi Hatake

is a Konohagakure Jonin, a former ANBU Captain, and the former leader of Team 7. He is the son of Sakumo Hatake and, like his father, he is regarded as a genius among his peers. After his meteoric rise through the ninja ranks, Kakashi becomes the student of Minato Namikaze, and subsequently becomes a Jonin during the Third Great Ninja War. Following the war, Kakashi gains his reputation and is well-known worldwide for his use of the Sharingan, earning him the moniker.

Background
Kakashi is the son of the genius ninja, Sakumo Hatake who had respect on par with the Sannin. Like his father, Kakashi has been known since a young age as an extremely gifted ninja, regarded by many as the best of his generation. He has received top marks and has showed an innate aptitude for the ninja arts while in the academy. This permits him to graduate from it in a single year at the top of his class at the age of 5, becoming a Chunin one year later. However, his success comes at a great loss; His mother dies young while his father, after some time, falls into disgrace after choosing to save his comrades rather than completing an important mission, causing Konohagakure to suffer in the war effort. Dishonored, Sakumo takes his own life after a deep depression and a drop in his skills, which causes Kakashi to lead his life strictly by the ninja code.

Kakashi is later teamed with Obito Uchiha and Rin under the leadership of Minato Namikaze. Kakashi's relationship with Obito and Rin is noted to be very much similar to that of Sasuke's relationship with Naruto and Sakura respectively as he is known the indifferent genius who shared a complicated relationship with his teammates that later developed into a close friendship.

Kakashi Gaiden
Soon after becoming a Jonin, Kakashi (age 13) was assigned to lead Obito and Rin on a mission that would benefit Konoha in the ongoing Third Great Shinobi War. They were to destroy a bridge being used by Iwagakure forces to move into Kusagakure. Along the way, Kakashi’s team was ambushed by an Iwagakure ninja named Mahiru. Kakashi saw this as a good opportunity to use his newly created jutsu, the Chidori, only to nearly be struck down by the latter's counterattack. Minato stepped in just in time to save Kakashi and finished off Mahiru.

After the daring rescue, Kakashi and Obito had a fallback on what just happened; Obito bickered on Kakashi's reckless, while Kakashi pointed out Obito's cowardice. Fortunately, Minato restrained his two students by showing how wrong both acted in the encounter with the Iwagakure ninja.

Later that night, Obito approached Minato, explained to his teacher on how Kakashi looked down on him, and asked him why Kakashi was so cold-hearted. Minato then told Obito the tragedy of Kakashi's father, the event that explained his harsh demeanor. He also told his student to understand Kakashi.

The next day, just as Minato was about to depart from his team to settle his own mission, Obito acknowledged Kakashi as the leader of their team to everyone's astonishment. Minato then left with a smile after witnessing Obito's actions while Kakashi's team set off to the bridge.

On their way to the bridge, Rin was kidnapped by two other Iwagakure ninja named Kakko and Taiseki. Obito immediately shouted out his concern 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. Obito then punched his comrade to knock some sense into him and aksed him why not. Kakashi simply stated that it would be against the rules of the shinobi. Obito wouldn't hear of it and stubbornly left to save Rin but not before mentioning that Kakashi's father was a true hero. Shortly after parting ways, Kakashi reflected on Obito’s words and Rin's prior kindness. He realized that his father wasn't wrong after all, which prompted him to later rejoin Obito in the rescue effort.

Meanwhile, Obito caught up with Taiseki. In an effort to stop the enemy ninja, Obito failed, leaving him open to Taiseki's attack. Before the Iwagakure ninja could finish Obito off, Kakashi stepped in to stop him. Dedicating his fight for his father, Kakashi helped Obito battle Taiseki with his father's blade. Just when it seemed to be a 2-on-1 advantage to the team, Taiseki used a jutsu to make himself nearly untraceable to turn luck back in his favor, causing him to damage Kakashi's left eye, who took the blow that was intended for Obito. In sheer terror, Obito finally awakened his Sharingan to clearly see Taiseki and killed Kakashi's attacker, allowing them to proceed to Rin.

Once they located Rin and Kakko, Kakashi and Obito teamed up to defeat the latter. After Kakko fell to the two Konohagakure ninja, Kakashi and Obito freed Rin from an interrogation genjutsu. Just as Kakashi's team was about to leave, Kakko emerged and attempted to trap them with a crushing boulder jutsu. The team saw this coming and planned to make a run for it. Just when a boulder was about to hit Kakashi, Obito pushed him aside to take the blow for him. Knowing his life was at an end, Obito intsructed Rin to implant his left Sharingan eye to Kakashi's damaged one. With Rin complying, Kakashi made a full recovery with his left eye and, now having the ability of using the Sharingan and having perfected his Chidori, killed Kakko. He then returned to Obito to see if there was anything he could do for him, but the place was turning into shambles, forcing Kakashi and Rin to leave him behind. With the help of Minato, they ultimately complete their mission, allowing them to mourn Obito's death.

Following his first mission as Jonin, Kakashi became well-known among all five great countries through the extensive use of his Sharingan, gaining his reputation as "the man who has copied over a thousand jutsu" (hence his nickname). Kakashi eventually joined the Konohagakure ANBU where he served as a squad leader. During this time, Kakashi rose to fame as Konoha's Copy Ninja (sometimes known as Sharingan Kakashi), a nickname he earned due to use of his Sharingan eye. As an ANBU captain, he cultivated a group of students that included Tenzo, later known as Yamato, and Yugao Uzuki. He later left for unknown reasons, but maintained strong connections with the ANBU and still wore the characteristic iron guards on his gloves.

Personality
Obito's death had a huge impact on Kakashi's personality. At the start of the series, Kakashi was characterized as carefree and laid back. He rarely showed any excitement towards anything in his daily life. Even when he gave Team 7 their final exam, he showed more interest in his book than how each of his potential students performed.

Like Shino Aburame, Kakashi has a rather solitary and matter-of-fact attitude. His calm and detached demeanor has been called “cool, hip, and trendy” many times by Might Guy. Despite his increasingly growing reputation and prowess as a ninja, Kakashi has shown no signs of arrogance and is rather very modest about his abilities. His naturally calm attitude is used to his advantage in battle as it becomes easier for him to maintain his composure to stay focused on the situation at hand and ultimately notice everything around him. As a result, he can make keen and thought-out decisions allowing him to stay steps ahead of his opponents.

Kakashi is a fan of the Icha Icha series of novels, implying that he is slightly perverted. He is typically seen reading one of the books when not involved in a fight, making it the only of one (of his reportedly many) hobbies that is ever seen in the series. Despite his fondness for the books, he grows uncomfortable when reading passages to others, presumably embarrassed by the adult content. Naruto, on one occasion, has used one of these books against Kakashi, threatening to spoil the ending of the latest installment to force Kakashi to let down his guard (by shutting his eyes and ears) to prevent learning the ending of the story.

Despite his nature in everyday life, he has shown to be a very responsible and dedicated man when it matters. As he learned from Obito, Kakashi knows what it means to have devotion to what is important in life; people he cares for. He does everything in his power to protect his village and allies. Even his signature jutsu, the Lightning Blade, has been made on the principle of duty and perfected on the principle of protecting loved ones. He also places their safety over the successful completion of a mission. Kakashi makes use of this belief when deciding whether or not to take on a Genin team, requiring that the Genin work together instead of doing as he told them. He also makes use of this belief when he disobeyed Tsunade's orders to save Naruto; an action resembling his father's honorable move to save his comrade in spite of his mission. Kakashi is also regularly late for appointments. This is because of his frequent visits to the memorial where Obito's name is engraved, where he loses track of time.

Kakashi has an ongoing, albeit one-sided, rivalry with Might Guy. In trying to prove himself superior to Kakashi, Guy challenges him to competitions of questionable value ranging from Rock, Paper, Scissors to running races. Guy has a record of 50 wins to 49 loses, which he is particularly proud of. Kakashi, on the other hand, shows little interest in their competitions, which only further inspires Guy to defeat Kakashi and his "coolness".

Kakashi is a very good but very strict teacher. Prior to Naruto's team, he has never allowed any of the teams he was to teach become Genin. He uses the same teaching methods the Third and Fourth Hokages used and emphasizes teamwork above all else for he feels that someone who doesn't understand teamwork isn't worthy of becoming a ninja.

Appearance
Kakashi's personality is further emphasized by his generally lazy expression, aloof manner, relaxed voice, and minimalist attitude. He is usually seen in his Leaf Village ninja uniform. Another noticeable feature to Kakashi other than his unique left eye is the thin scar running over it and down to his cheek. He is a tall, fit ninja who has been told that he looks just like his father. He is characterized by his spiky silver hair, forehead protector regularly covering his left eye, and his chronically visible mask. He is once mistaken for his father, Konoha's White Fang, by the Suna Elder Chiyo.

While it has yet to be revealed why, he has since a young age always been seen concealing the lower half of his face. What he looks like remains a point of interest for his students, who try to find out what he looks like in various omake specials in the series. Episode 101, which is devoted to Team 7 trying to remove their sensei's mask, implies that he is in fact quite handsome from Teuchi and Ayame's reaction to seeing his face. In the few instances that he is seen without his mask (although still obstructed by some object), it has been seen that he has a narrow jaw-line.

Part I
Amongst the students and instructors at the academy, Kakashi developed a reputation for having exceedingly high standards on who he would train and failing every potential Genin team that took the Survival Training Exam he proctored. When he was given the current potential Team 7 — which consisted of Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno — he gave them a bell test, requiring that the three of them obtain one of the two bells the he keeps on his waist. They worked independently to try and take a bell, unwilling to work together since one of them wouldn't be able to have a bell.

After Team 7 failed their test, Kakashi quickly expressed how displeased he was with their performance. After belittling each of their performances, he revealed the true goal of this test: teamwork. After explaining the importance of teamwork and seeing how ashamed they were at their performance, Kakashi decided to give Team 7 one more chance to act as a team and let them take a break for lunch. However, Naruto, having earlier tried to steal their lunches, is forbidden to eat. Deciding that they would need Naruto in peak condition if they were to work together, they gave him food anyway. Kakashi saw this act and immediately confronted them, feigning anger that they disobeyed him before passing them. The new team explained that they needed to work as a team first before anything else. He then congratulated them on being the first team to pass under him after revealing the true objective of the test: being loyal to each other.

It was later revealed that Kakashi was chosen specifically to be the leader of Team 7 because of Naruto and Sasuke. Kakashi's duty in addition to training the team was also to keep the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox in Naruto contained and to keep Sasuke from walking down a dark path since they had similar traits that would allow Kakashi to better understand him.

Land of Waves arc
After completing a number of easy missions, Team 7, at Naruto's insistence, is assigned a somewhat more difficult task of escorting Bridge-Builder Tazuna to the Land of Waves. They are later attacked en route by the Demon Brothers. Although Kakashi is able to defeat them with ease, he realizes that there is more to the mission than a simple escort and convinces Tazuna to tell them the truth: that the Land of Waves is under the tyranny of Gato. Tazuna hopes to build a bridge that will free the country, and has thus garners Gato's assassination attempts. Even though the mission is more dangerous than what they have been initially assigned, Team 7 agrees to act as his bodyguard until the bridge is complete due to Tazuna and his villages' poor social status.

Upon arriving in the Land of Waves, Team 7 is attacked by Zabuza Momochi, an S-class missing-nin and another shinobi of Gato's hired assassins. It is in this point that Team 7 first learns the truth about their teacher's worldly fame as the Copy Ninja. Unfortunately, Zabuza's superior experience with water-based jutsu combined with Kakashi's focus on protecting his teammates allows him to catch Kakashi off guard and traps him with his Water Prison Technique. Kakashi pleads for his students to flee with Tazuna, but they instead choose to work together and manage to free him. Using his Sharingan, Kakashi is able to turn the tide against Zabuza. Before Kakashi could land a killing blow, a boy named Haku steps in and appears to kill Zabuza first. He then takes Zabuza's body away, claiming that he was a Kirigakure ANBU and would dispose of it, while Kakashi collapses from exhaustion due to the strain in his Sharingan eye.

Fearing that Zabuza may be alive, along with suspecting that Haku may have feigned Zabuza's death to save him, Kakashi has Team 7 trained to gain better chakra control while recuperating. In a week, they have mastered the training, and thus resume their bodyguard duty. Meanwhile, Zabuza and Haku, having recovered from the former's battle and having endured a fallback with Gato, later resume their roles as well to kill Tazuna and his bodyguards. While Haku engages Naruto and Sasuke, Kakashi fights Zabuza.

Having learned from his defeat, Zabuza relies on sneak attacks during the battle to keep him from falling prey to Kakashi's Sharingan. In response, Kakashi uses Summoning Technique: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique to locate and pin down Zabuza, making him an easy target for the Lightning Blade. But before he can kill Zabuza, Kakashi is once again interrupted by Haku, who uses himself as a human shield and takes the blow intended for Zabuza, ending their fight.

Gato and the rest of his henchmen later show up to have Zabuza disposed as a result of his failure, only for Gato be killed by his hired assassin. While Kakashi witnesses the event, Gato's henchmen in turn kill Zabuza. In response, Kakashi uses his Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to scare away the thugs. As Zabuza dies, he asks Kakashi to bring his body beside Haku's before he passes. As the Demon of the Hidden Mist finally succumbs to his wounds, he is later buried along with Haku.

Chunin Exam arc
Kakashi is seen to enter Team 7 in the Chunin Exams. After Sasuke is branded with the Cursed Seal of Heaven by Orochimaru during the exam's second phase, Kakashi takes it upon himself to deal with the Cursed Mark as the Third Hokage is shown to be too busy with the exams. Unable to remove it, he instead uses the Evil Sealing Method to try and prevent its usage. Following the preliminary matches, he decides to personally train Sasuke himself fearing that Sasuke's similar desire for power to Orochimaru's would drive the last of the Uchiha to go down a similar path. Deciding that he needed to remind Sasuke to have true faith in his own strength and the importance of protecting what he has now, Kakashi's main goal during the training is to teach Sasuke his Chidori, which was built on the principle of protecting loved ones (in addition to being a strong counter to Gaara's sand shield as he would eventually become Sasuke's next opponent).

He has Sasuke focus mainly on taijutsu copied from Rock Lee to give Sasuke the necessary conditioning, speed, and developed chakra for the Chidori. Their training runs late, and a month later, Kakashi delivers him to his final round match. When the invasion of Konoha begins during Sasuke's match, Kakashi helps repel the invaders. With Sasuke going after Gaara, Kakashi sends Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Pakkun to stop him and bring him back.

Return of Itachi arc
Shortly after the invasion is prevented, Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke's older brother, and Kisame Hoshigaki of Akatsuki infiltrate the village. Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi try to apprehend the two, but miserably fail. When their deaths draw near, Kakashi steps in. Alhough Kakashi is able to hold his own against Itachi for a short while, Kakashi falls prey to Itachi's Tsukuyomi. Severely weakened by the technique, Kakashi confirms that Itachi and Kisame are after Naruto and the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox before collapsing. With Kakashi's knowledge on them, Itachi orders Kisame to kidnap Kakashi. Luckily, Might Guy arrives just in time to drive the Akatsuki members off.

Kakashi is left in a coma after what happened and is not revived until Tsunade returns to the village. Immediately after recovering, he is sent on a new mission.

Sasuke Retrieval arc
Kakashi returns from his mission in time to interrupt a battle between Naruto and Sasuke. Learning that Sasuke has begun reverting to his original desire for power due to his anger at Naruto's superior growth as of late, Kakashi lectures him on the importance of not allowing anger to control him. Sasuke then retorts that Kakashi couldn't understand how he felt unless his teacher's loved ones die, to which Kakashi replies congenially that everyone close to him was already dead. Seeing that Sasuke realizes that he did know how he felt and that he was only alone because he insisted on pushing people away, Kakashi attempts to convince Sasuke to protect those who are still alive, lets him go, and leaves him to think over their encounter. Thus, Kakashi isn't able to either protect him from the Sound Four or stop him from leaving the village.

When Kakashi returns, he finds out that Sasuke has defected to Orochimaru and that a squad of Genin, led by Shikamaru, is all that has been sent out to retrieve him. Ignoring the fact that he has a new mission from Tsunade, Kakashi rushes out to track down Sasuke and the retrieval team. Using his Ninken, Kakashi is able to locate a defeated Naruto, with Sasuke having already left. Unable to pursue Sasuke because of a fresh rainfall, Kakashi takes Naruto back to the village to recover. Ashamed he failed to help his students, Kakashi once again goes to the memorial stone to be alone with his thoughts, wishing deeply that he could have used his gift from Obito to prevent these events from happening.

Pre-Shippūden filler arcs
Kakashi continues to be sent on missions during the anime's filler arcs, leaving him with very few appearances. He returns from a mission in time to recapture some of the prisoners that had escaped from prison when Mizuki led a breakout. He is later sent to assist with the Noroishimusha incident in the Land of Birds. While not officially his mission and arriving much later, Kakashi realizes the situation isn't as it seems, ultimately takes command of the team, and thereby decides to investigate. This leads to Kakashi's fight with Oki's minions, Nagare and Hokushin, whom he defeats with relative ease.

In the final filler arc, Kakashi is sent to spy on the Takumi Village when rumors of an uprising reach Konoha. There, he discovers the entire village abandoned and the corpses missing. He later shows up towards the end of the arc where he is sent as part of reinforcements, along with Jiraiya, to aid Naruto and the rest of the Genin in helpng Sunagakure, only to discover that Naruto's team has already successfully completed their mission. At the conclusion of Part I, Naruto and Sakura begin training under Jiraiya and Tsunade respectively, leaving Kakashi free to train himself.

Rescue Gaara arc
With Team 7 effectively dissolved, Kakashi spends the two and half years further enhancing and refining his abilities to prepare for the inevitable battle with Akatsuki. After Naruto's return to the village, Kakashi is given from Naruto the newest edition to the Icha-Icha series. Later, Kakashi has Naruto and Sakura take another bell test, with the real objective being to actually capture the bells to see how much they've improved. When they are unable to get close enough to Kakashi to each take a bell, Naruto and Sakura resort to trying to spoil the plot of the most recent Icha-Icha novel, throwing Kakashi off guard and allowing them to take the bells. Following the bell test, Tsunade, along with Jiraiya and Shizune, regroups Kakashi and his former students as Team Kakashi after witnessing their improved skills and later assigns them on a C-Rank mission, to Naruto's disappointment.

While Naruto argues on getting a higher-ranked mission, he and his team learn that Gaara, the new Kazekage of Suna, has been kidnapped by Akatsuki. Team Kakashi is then reassigned to rescue Gaara and is sent to Sunagakure, where they are teamed with Chiyo before heading out. Along the way, they encounter Itachi. Kakashi is able to fight on even grounds in this battle, but notes that Itachi's performance isn't what it was the last time they met as his tactics have been seen as primarily defensive and his techniques have been weaker. With a well-timed maneuver, Kakashi is able to trick and restrain Itachi, giving Naruto the opening needed to finish the fight with his upgraded Rasengan. Afterwards, they discover that this Itachi is actually a brain-washed Suna ninja who who was somehow turned into a perfect clone. They then meet up with Team Guy, which was sent as back-up to Team Kakashi, outside an Akatsuki lair. Unfortunately, Akatsuki sets up a powerful barrier that requires the team to split up, ultimately making Team Guy forced to fight clones of themselves. This however allows Team Kakashi to infiltrate the lair where they find Sasori and Deidara with a recently killed Gaara.

Deidara flies off with Gaara's body with Naruto and Kakashi in the chase, leaving Sasori to Sakura and Chiyo. While pursuing Deidara, Kakashi tries to use his new Mangekyo Sharingan and its Kamui ability in an attempt to remove his head, but his lack of control towards his new technique ends up destroying Deidara's right arm instead, allowing Naruto to retrieve Gaara. With Naruto successful, Deidara tries to using a Suicide Bombing Clone to escape. Kakashi uses Kamui again to get rid of the explosion, saving Team Guy who was nearby. Gaara is later revived at the cost of Chiyo's life, which ultimately makes the mission to rescue Gaara successful. Because he is unable to move due to the overuse of the Kamui, Kakashi is carried home and is left to rest.

Sai and Sasuke arc
After returning to the village, Kakashi becomes bed-ridden for a week. During that time, Team Kakashi's temporary squad captain would be Kakashi's former student Tenzo, under the codename of "Yamato", due to his ability to suppress demon chakra. When a Tenzo-led Team Kakashi fails in their effort to infiltrate Orochimaru's hideout and retieve Sasuke once again, Kakashi learns about Sasuke's tremendous growth and meets Sasuke's replacement: Sai. Knowing that Naruto is disappointed by the failure, Kakashi decides to help him create a new jutsu that would make him more of a match when they meet again. Using the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique at a higher level, Naruto could reduce the amount of time needed to train and master the new jutsu that would potentially make Naruto surpass (in a manner of speaking) Kakashi himself.

Hidan and Kakuzu arc
Kakashi's training for Naruto is revealed to teach Naruto to master his natural element chakra (which turns out to be wind) and combine it with the Rasengan to create an ultimate jutsu that not even Kakashi or the Fourth Hokage could complete. After hearing that Asuma Sarutobi has been killed in a battle with Akatsuki, Kakashi decides to lead Team 10 in avenging him as Naruto has already advanced in his training beyond needing Kakashi's assistance. He leaves Yamato in charge of overseeing Naruto's training and has Shikamaru Nara work with him in on the plan of attack.

When they locate Akatsuki members Hidan and Kakuzu, Shikamaru distracts the two, giving Kakashi an opportunity to hit Kakuzu with a Lightning Blade. Although successful, it turns out that Kakuzu has a total of five hearts, one of which (the Earth heart) Kakashi has already destroyed. Realizing that the Akatsuki duo were seemingly unstoppable when together, the team decides to separate them with Kakashi handing a capsule filled with Kakuzu's blood to Shikamaru and the latter leading Hidan away. Kakashi later barely escapes Kakuzu's counterattack when Hidan inadvertently destroys his partner's Lightning heart with his Curse Technique: Death Controlling Possessed Blood.

While Hidan falls to Shikamaru, Kakuzu intends on taking Kakashi's and the remaining members of Team 10's hearts to replace the ones he lost with three hearts remaining intact. In the nick of time, Naruto and the rest of Team Kakashi come to their aid. Using his new Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, Naruto is able to crack Kakuzu's Fire and Wind hearts, leaving Kakuzu defeated. This gives Kakashi the opportunity to finally finish the Akatsuki member off with another Lightning Blade.

Three-Tails Arrival arc
After Konoha learns where Orochimaru is hiding, Kakashi is assigned to lead Team 8 in tracking down Orochimaru and potentially retrieving Sasuke. They are able to find one of his bases, but it is destroyed upon their arrival to get rid of any evidence. They decide to look for survivors and, in doing so, find a number of prisoners trapped in crystals. Perplexed by this, Kakashi is unable to properly investigate, discovering that the team is being spied on.

Kakashi and his team later find themselves attacked by Orochimaru's minions and trapped by Guren's Crystal Release: Jade Crystal Labyrinth Technique. While initially at a disadvantge, Team Kakashi arrives in time to free them from the labyrinth.

Team 8 and Team Kakashi then arrive at a lake where they discover that the Three-Tailed Giant Turtle is located somewhere in its center. Kakashi sends Pakkun to Tsunade to see how they should proceed.

When Kakashi later learns from Naruto that Guren is accompanied with a young boy named Yūkimaru, Kakashi deduces that the child must have an important role to play in Orochimaru's plans for the Three-Tails. Upon meeting up with back-up from Konoha, Kakashi formulates a plan for dealing with the Three-Tails and Orochimaru's men by dividing the team into three groups: a sealing team, a primary defense, and a secondary defense. Much to Naruto's delight, Kakashi also orders his team to retrieve Yūkimaru so they can bring him back to Konoha.

While the plan fails which results in the Three-Tails' escape, Kakashi and his team instead finds an unconscious Yūkimaru. Knowing how important Yūkimaru is to both Naruto and their mission, Kakashi decides to bring the boy back to the team's hideout. There, he instructs part of the team to take care of the boy while the rest of the team join him in finding a missing Naruto.

After learning from Yūkimaru that Naruto and Guren are trapped inside the Three-Tails, Kakashi decides to try their three-team plan again. Once returning to the lake, Kakashi is able to break the field that allows the Three-Tails to hide with Yamato's assistance. Afterwards, Kakashi orders the sealing team to act immediately in sealing away the beast. Unfortunately, the enemy ninja encounter them again. Kakashi notes that their abilites have become stronger than what has been reported from their last encounter. Despite being at an initial disadvantage, Kakashi and his team makes quick work of the Otogakure ninja. Unfortunately, with Yūkimaru witnessing Guren's apparent death causes his power to erupt in full force, causing the Three-tails to break free from the seal and retreat back underwater.

Later, Kakashi's team are given new orders from Tsunade to return to the village to formulate a new plan in dealing with the Three-Tails. During the night before the team returned, Yūkimaru leaves after being treated by Shizune. Aware of Yūkimaru's departure, Kakashi opts not to stop or pursue him, believing that Yūkimaru is no longer in any danger or a danger to them.

Hunt for Uchiha arc
When word of Orochimaru's defeat at the hands of Sasuke reaches Konoha, Kakashi tries to make another stab at retrieving Sasuke. He assembles the members of Team Kakashi and Team 8 (minus Kurenai) into an 8-Man Squad and set out to locate either Sasuke or his brother, Itachi. Naruto is eventually able to find Sasuke's location and the team gives in to the chase, only to be stopped by Tobi. Their efforts to attack Tobi all prove futile through Tobi's unique teleporting jutsu. It is not until Zetsu reports to Tobi that Sasuke has won over Itachi in their own battle that they are able to continue their pursuit. Before Tobi disappears, Kakashi notices, to his shock, a Sharingan eye on Tobi. Despite the team's haste, Tobi gets to Sasuke first and, having lost the trail, is forced to return home.

Later, Kakashi is seen with a deeply depressed Naruto as they hear the news of Jiraiya's death at the hands of Akatsuki's leader, Pain.

Invasion of Pain arc
When Akatsuki's leader, Pain, attacks Konoha in search of Naruto, Kakashi confronts Pain's Deva path after realizing that the initial attack was a diversion. He saves Iruka Umino from certain death, but is quickly overpowered by the Deva path's gravitational-manipulation techniques, repelling all of Kakashi's attacks. When the Asura path arrives to help the Deva path, Kakashi is forced on the defensive until he gets reinforcements from Choji and Choza Akimichi. After figuring out the Deva path's powers, Kakashi devises a plan and uses Choji and Choza's help to take down the Deva path. With their plan almost coming in at full circle, Pain's Asura path uses itself as a shield and their plan is foiled, as the Deva path takes the Konoha trio out.

Believing them all to be dead, the Deva path leaves. When he comes to, Kakashi sends Choji to tell Tsunade about the Deva path's abilities. But as Choji leaves, the still-active Asura path launches a missile at him, and despite knowing that he is almost out of chakra and would likely die if he uses the Mangekyo Sharingan again, Kakashi reluctantly uses Kamui to dispose of the missile and save Choji. Having expended the last of his chakra, Kakashi is caught up in the verge of life and death. Before passing out, he laments over his inability to protect Obito and Rin in his early years with them and soon finds himself at a campfire with his deceased father, Sakumo, in an alternate realm of afterlife, to whom he tells everything that has happened in his life.

During Pain's destruction attack of Konoha, Kakashi's body is protected by one of Katsuyu's divisions. Sometime later, during his talk with his father, he states that he finally understood his father's actions on that mission of his disgrace and is now proud of him for it. Their conversation is halted when a ray of light beams down upon Kakashi as a result of Nagato's resurrection jutsu. Before seeing his son depart, Sakumo thanks Kakashi and declares that he could now be able to join his wife. Kakashi then wakes up in the Konoha battlefield, with Choji and Choza shocked. Kakashi wonders what happened before a Katsuyu division starts explaining to him the series of events. After the invasion comes to an end, Kakashi fetches Naruto and brings him back to a massive welcoming party at Konoha. There, he compliments Naruto on him finally achieving his goals to be accepted and be appreciated by the whole village.

During a meeting on the status of Konoha with the Fire Country Council, Kakashi is recommended by Shikaku Nara to take the position of Sixth Hokage with Tsunade being in a coma. Initially, the Fire Daimyo and his advisors approves of Kakashi being selected due to his connections with his father, Minato Namikaze, Jiraiya, and Hiruzen Sarutobi, along with his reputation and respect throughout Konoha as a dexterous shinobi. But Danzo, on the other hand, is able to convince the council, with Shikaku's objection, to choose him instead.

Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow
In Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow, Team 7 is given orders for an A-Rank mission to escort the famous actress Yukie Fujikaze to the Land of Snow. Upon arriving in the Land of Snow, they are attacked by three Snow Village ninjas Kakashi had fought years ago when he was still an ANBU captain. It is then revealed that Yukie is actually Koyuki Kazahana, the true heir as daimyo to the Land of Snow who Kakashi saved years ago from her treacherous uncle Doto. Kakashi uses his Sharingan to copy some of their ice-based jutsu to escape.

Realizing what Doto was after, Kakashi switches Koyuki's crystal necklace with a fake one in an attempt to stop him. When Koyuki is kidnapped, Kakashi, along with his team (minus Naruto, mounts a rescue attempt. Soon after Kakashi returns Koyuki's necklace to her, Doto captures her niece, along with the necklace.

Kakashi is later intercepted by Nadare Roga. Knowing his opponent has a high protection from ninjutsu and genjutsu thanks to his armor, Kakashi relies on his taijutsu and defeats him with his Front Lotus. In the end, Kakashi is surprised and overjoyed to find out Koyuki would be starring in a new Icha-Icha Paradise movie when she takes up her role as daimyo.

Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom
In Naruto the Movie 3: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom, Kakashi is sent on a mission of escorting Prince Michiru of the Land of the Moon and his son Hikaru back home. He is joined by his team (plus Rock Lee). Upon arriving, it is discovered that the Land of the Moon has been taken over by one of the king's advisers, Shabadaba, with the help of Three Wandering Ninja. After getting assistance from the royal guards who were still loyal to the king, Kakashi uses an earth jutsu to aid in an escape attampt.

Later, Kakashi faces off against the leader of the rogue ninja, Ishidate, but fails to keep up with his opponent, thanks to being affected by a special gas and ultimately having his left arm petrified to stone. This lets the rogue ninja capture Michiru. After his arm is cured by Sakura, Kakashi joins a circus as a diversion while having his team enter the castle to save Michiru. He then uses his Sharingan and a water jutsu to keep the enemies occupied. In the end, Kakashi overuses his Sharingan and is forced to be hospitalized for several days, thus allowing his team to have a vacation in the Land of the Moon.

Shippūden the Movie
Kakashi only has a few cameos in Naruto Shippūden the Movie. When word reaches Konoha that the legendary demon Mōryō has been released and has begun its quest to control the world, Kakashi is sent out as one of the lead ninja to mount a counterattack on Mōryō's assault of stone warriors. This is merely to stall for time while Naruto, Sakura, Lee, and Neji Hyuga escort Priestess Shion, who has the power to reseal Mōryō. Towards the end of the movie, Kakashi appears with Shikamaru Nara, Might Guy, and Temari to support Naruto and Shion in stopping Mōryō. Here, uses his Lightning Destruction to destroy several stone warriors. At the end of the movie, Kakashi is shocked by Shion's proposal for Naruto to father her child.

Shippūden the Movie 2: Bonds
When the infamous ninja of Soragakure attack Konoha, Kakashi is one of the ninja who fights in protecting the citizens and fends off the attack. Later, Kakashi is put on a team with Shikamaru, Sai, and Shino Aburame to take down the enemy's ship fleet. After working out a plan with Shikamaru, the team is able to accomplish their mission. After Naruto is able to stop Shinnō and destroy his mothership, Kakashi witnesses it plummet and merely comments that Naruto is as hyperactive as ever.

Abilities
Kakashi is shown to be very respected throughout Konoha, as well as being one of the most powerful ninja Konoha has to offer. His reputation has grown to the point that most opponents know of him and find great delight or dread in the thought of facing him. He is also recognized as the foremost jutsu specialist in Konoha due to his high proficiency in all forms of ninja combat and copying over a thousand jutsu with his Sharingan eye. His knowledge of jutsu is so high that he is requested to watch over Naruto should the seal of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox begin to fail. A true testament to his skill is during a conversation between Jiraiya and Tsunade, mentioning that if the need should ever arise, Kakashi would be an obvious candidate for the title of Hokage, implying that his powers are of Kage-level. Both are proven to be true when Kakashi's name as Sixth Hokage is highly considered by the Fire Country Council.

Kakashi has been noted to be smarter than Shikamaru Nara, has a better nose than Kiba Inuzuka, a better taijutsu performance than Rock Lee, and a better Sharingan mastery than Sasuke Uchiha (at least compared to their Part I abilities). While this may be an exaggeration, Kakashi has admitted himself that he can think in a similar manner to Shikamaru and has proven several times to be a highly intelligent man capable of thinking several steps ahead. He has also shown like Kiba to have great instincts as he is rarely caught off guard and is able to see through deceptions. Moreover, he has shown great proficiency in taijutsu as shown from being able to single-handedly fight off countless Naruto clones and perform a stronger version of Lee's techniques, couples with the fact that he successfully kept Hidan and Kakuzu at bay, while using a Kunai against his triple-bladed scythe, at the same time protecting Ino and Chouji. Furthermore, his proficiency in using his Sharingan has been great enough to properly train Sasuke in using his during Part I.

These general abilities are greatly improved between Part I and II. In Part I, he has been shown to be unable to keep up with Itachi Uchiha's physical and hand seal speed, even with the use of his Sharingan. By Part II, he is able to keep up with Itachi's immense speed, if not match it. The speed and proficiency of his hand seals have also greatly improved as he is able to performed highly complex jutsu much faster to the point of becoming a blur and with much fewer hand seals (a prime example is how he cut the seals for Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique from 54 seals down to 4) His chakra level sees a similar improvement as well; In Part I, his chakra levels have been shown to be barely average. By Part II, his chakra is shown to have greatly increased as he can perform several chakra-taxing jutsu in rapid succession, even increasing the number of times he can use his Lightning Blade per day, using 6 of them in one battle, and still having enough chakra from to plan using the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Experience
As a Jonin and former ANBU captain, Kakashi is very adept in any form of battle. He is regularly put in charge of whatever squad he is assigned to and works well with its diverse members. Kakashi's naturally calm attitude is used to his advantage in battle, allowing him to stay collected and out think the opponent, similar to Shikamaru Nara. This is primarily because he can quickly analyze the situation at hand and comprehend his opponent's abilities and battle tactics. After doing so, he can use sharp intuition to make quick and firm decisions to switch to the appropriate counter tactics. Against more powerful opponents, he regularly uses various misdirection and trap tactics to weaken them. Kakashi is also highly proficient at evasion, as shown when he was able to fight on par with Hidan, and later with Kakuzu, while simultaneously avoiding taking damage and protecting Choji Akimichi and Ino Yamanaka.

Mastery of Ninja Skills
Kakashi primarily relies on his mastery of ninjutsu to which he has a vast arsenal of. In his moves list, he can attack or defend against opponents in numerous manners. While used less often, he has also shown to have impressive skills in genjutsu, which he could use to throw off his opponents as a set-up for stronger attacks. In addition, he has proven to be very adept in taijutsu, which, combined with his impressive speed, allows him to effectively catch his opponents off guard and evade attacks. Moreover, he has shown high skills in areas such as tracking, trap-making, survival knowledge, and sealing jutsu. His knowledge of sealing jutsu is demonstrated from his ability to seal the Cursed Seal of Heaven on Sasuke.

When Kakashi was younger, he had shown to have inherited his father's uniquely strong and adaptive chakra as well as the ability to manifest it through his clan's special tanto to form a white aura. He was taught several of his master's unique skills including the Rasengan. However, Kakashi was only able to master the jutsu to the extent the Fourth had, as the Rasengan was meant for elemental chakra to be mixed with it. He is well-versed in all forms of armed fighting also, commonly employing something as small as a Kunai to fight against much larger weapons, against opponents who are specialized in armed fighting, as seen when he fights off Zabuza wielding his Decapitating Carving Knife, and Hidan wielding his Triple-Bladed Scythe.

Elemental Techniques
In addition to the sheer number of jutsu at Kakashi's disposal, he is an even more formidable opponent from his extensive knowledge and skill at elemental jutsu for he has shown high mastery for his natural affinity towards lightning chakra, even being able to perform lightning-based jutsu without hand seals. Thanks to his skill along with his unique chakra and Sharingan, he is also highly capable, if not proficient, at multiple elements. His proficiency in earth and water-based jutsu have proven to be at master-level might as he is able to perform earth-based jutsu with great detail in their shape and is able to perform water-based jutsu without an existing water source nearby (obviously a very impressive feat which the Second Hokage was known, and feared for]] He has also shown, to a lesser extent, to be fairly adept in fire-based jutsu and knowledge of wind-based chakra (although in Ultimate Ninja 4: Naruto Shippuden, he has shown capable skill in the latter).

Even though he owes much of his repertoire to his Sharingan, Kakashi is capable of creating his own techniques, as he did with the Chidori. While powerful, the Chidori has two drawbacks, flaws that prompted Minato Namikaze to ban his student from using the technique after seeing it in action. After gaining the Sharingan eye, the tunnel effect can now be worked around as he can now see his opponents clearly, but he can still only use the jutsu four times a day. He later refines the Chidori into the stronger Lightning Blade. Like Sasuke, Kakashi further refines his Lightning Blade and developes several new jutsu, reshaping lightning into the form of dogs or copies of himself. His chakra control, or capacity has apparently been increased to a large degree during the time skip, as he is now at least capable of using six during one fight, while still having a large amount of chakra in reserve.

Sharingan
Kakashi's most distinguishing ability is his Sharingan eye as it allows him to copy any jutsu used against him, see through any deception, perform genjutsu, and predict his opponent's movements. The drawback of his Sharingan is that because Kakashi has no Uchiha blood, his body cannot completely adjust to it, hence costing him more chakra than it would an Uchiha. Coupled with the fact that he cannot deactivate it (and thus must be kept covered when not using it), he quickly expends his chakra in battle. Because of this, Kakashi only relies on it when he feels it is an absolute necessity to try and avoid possible hospital time afterwards. Despite his handicap with the Sharingan, he is very skilled in using it. Even Itachi Uchiha, a true heir and master of the Sharingan, acknowledges Kakashi's superior proficiency with the Sharingan compared to most true Sharingan wielders.

Sometime between Naruto's departure and his return to Konoha, Kakashi seems to have extended the amount of time he can sustain using the Sharingan as he is seen using it for seemingly a day while testing Naruto and Sakura.

Mangekyo Sharingan
Kakashi's talent with his Sharingan was shown from how well he developed it since first acquiring it. Originally, it was only at Stage 2 in development, but by the start of the series, it had fully developed. During the time skip, Kakashi further developed his Sharingan by unleashing his own Mangekyo Sharingan through unknown means. Furthermore, he has mastered his only known Mangekyo Jutsu called Kamui. This jutsu has the ability to manipulate space and was shown to be able to suck targets or even tear off parts of a target and hurl them into another dimension to reappear in another desired location. When used against Deidara, he noted Kakashi's dojutsu to be of Itachi's caliber, who was infamous for his prowess with Mangekyo jutsu. His skill at it was great enough to target a small speeding target with no affect on any other targets. However, this technique used so much chakra that he had to be hospitalized for a week after using it three times in one day. He mentioned that his prowess with it is incomplete, and his difficulties in the battle with Deidara could be attributed to that fact.

Creation and Conception
Masashi Kishimoto originally intended for Kakashi to debut in the second chapter of the Naruto manga, appearing prior to the other members of Team 7. This Kakashi was designed as a laid back, affected, skilled ninja that ended his sentences with the polite "de gozaru" in the Japanese versions of the series, similar to Kenshin Himura in the popular manga series Rurōni Kenshin and Lance Corporal Dororo in the manga and anime Keroro Gunsou. After speaking with his editor, Kishimoto pushed this debut back, allowing him to better develop Kakashi and the rest of Team 7. Despite this, Kakashi retained many of his original personality traits, being easygoing, unfazed by the actions of others, and usually appearing to be half-asleep. Kishimoto felt that this made Kakashi a compelling leader and helped to keep the diverse members of Team 7 unified. Because he acted as a link between the other main characters of the series, Kakashi was rarely featured prominently in promotional artwork, instead appearing in the background while his students were the focus of the scene.

When deciding upon Kakashi's name, Kishimoto considered a number of possibilities:, , , , and. He eventually decided upon Kakashi and remained glad that he did ever since. In keeping with the meaning of his name, scarecrows were occasionally used to represent Kakashi; Naruto, for example, used a scarecrow that was dressed like Kakashi to help him train for a combat test between the two. Likewise, scarecrows were sometimes added to sceneries in which Kakashi appeared, as was the case with the cover of the Naruto manga volume three.

Trivia

 * "Kakashi" is Japanese for . "Hatake" means.
 * Kakashi always places in the top three of the Naruto character popularity polls. The third Naruto databook, after compiling the results of all six polls, places Kakashi as the most popular character in the series with 48,469 votes.
 * According to Pakkun in an omake chapter published in the Third Databook, Kakashi greatly dislikes being photographed (without his mask).
 * Kakashi is one of the only three known people to defeat at least one of Pain's bodies (the others are Jiraiya and Naruto).
 * Kakashi has a misfortune of being stopped when he's about to kill his enemies:
 * Haku takes Kakashi's Lightning Blade that was intended for Zabuza Momochi, thus killing Haku instead.
 * Kakashi destroys one of Kakuzu's five hearts in an attempt to permanently dispose of the latter, in an attack that would have killed anyone else.
 * Kakuzu counters Kakashi's assault on Hidan.
 * Pain's Asura path intervenes to protect his Deva path from Kakashi.
 * His favorite foods are salt-broiled saury and miso soup with eggplant. His least favorite are tempura and sweet things.
 * He is one of the few characters in Naruto to experience death and be brought back to life. The others to have experienced this are Gaara, Shizune, and Fukasaku.

Quotes

 * "I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate...I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future...never really thought about it. As for my hobbies...I have lots of hobbies."
 * "I'm telling you this because you don't get it. You think you get it, which is not the same as actually getting it. Get it?"
 * "Those who break the rules of the ninja world are scum...yes that's true. However...those who abandon their friends...are worse than scum."
 * "I won't allow my comrades to die! I'll protect you with my life. Trust me."
 * "Sorry I'm late, I'm afraid I got lost on the path of life."
 * "You want to know what's under my mask? Sure, why didn't you say so in the first place? Okay, here we go. Behind this mask...is another mask! Pretty cool, huh?
 * (To Naruto) "Because you're the only shinobi in the world who can surpass the Fourth. That's what I believe."
 * "The next generation will always surpass the previous one. It's one of the never-ending cycles in life."
 * "Well...it looks like...this is it for me. Obito...Rin..."
 * (To Sakumo) "Regardless of what happened, you did the best you could. I understand that now...you broke the rules for all our sakes -- I'm proud of you now..."