Kakashi Hatake

is a Konohagakure Jonin, a former ANBU Captain and the leader of Team 7. He is the son of Konoha's White Fang, Sakumo Hatake, and like his father, Kakashi Hatake is regarded as a genius among his peers. After his meteoric rise though the ninja ranks, Kakashi became the student of the future Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and subsequently became 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. Note that Kakashi can mean "scarecrow" (which was hinted at in episode 101 when he makes a scarecrow of himself standing at the war monument to trick Sakura Haruno).

Background
Kakashi is the son of the legendary White Fang of Konoha, Sakumo Hatake, and like him was known since a young age as an extremely gifted shinobi, regarded by many as the best of his generation. He graduated from the academy top of his class 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 suicide 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 a part of the Team Minato, led by the future Fourth 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 as he was the indifferent genius who shared a complicated relationship with his teammates 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 (age 13 at the time) was elevated to Jonin and received gifts from his teacher and team mates; a special kunai from Minato and a medical pack from Rin. After receiving their gifts, Minato 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 Mahiru’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. Obito then states that his father was a true hero for protecting his friends. 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, despite being injured by Kakashi’s tanto, the enemy was able to blend in with the environment and also to remove all scent to prevent detection. The enemy then moved to attack Obito from behind, but being able to sense his presence through air currents and sound, Kakashi moved to protect Obito. As a result, Kakashi sustained permanent damage to his left eye. Obito, due to the shock of Kakashi's injury, 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, and being crushed by a falling rock. As he laid there dying, Obito had Rin (a skilled medical ninja) implant his Sharingan eye in Kakashi’s damaged eye socket, referring to it as a gift, as he had never given Kakashi one before the mission started. 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. His reputation was widely increased thanks to his success from the first mission he performed as a Jonin and later increased even further from word of him acquiring the Sharingan and amount of copied jutsu (hence his nickname).

Obito's death had a huge impact on Kakashi's personality. Obito's flaky and unreliable traits were adopted by Kakashi, as we see in his adult age; constantly being late to meetings and making fake excuses to his tardiness. Kakashi also became more mellow, having adopted some of Obito's other traits such as his notion for teamwork.

Sometime prior to the Fourth Hokage’s death, Kakashi 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 - 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.

Many, both inside the ninja village and outside, know his reputation but he has few real friends still alive. The closest he has is Might Guy, another Jonin team leader. The pair forms a good comedy duo, with Kakashi assuming the role of the straight arrow while Guy’s over-the-top dialogue and actions often earn him a response in the vein of “Did you say something?” from Kakashi. Guy seems to be the main instigator of their rivalry, often making the situation more complicated and unusual than necessary.

Kakashi’s rivalry is ongoing, and slightly one-sided, with Guy constantly proclaiming that Kakashi is his rival. Kakashi, however, is indifferent to their rivalry, which annoys Guy to no end. Guy randomly challenges Kakashi to contests of skill, and has acquired a record of 50 wins and 49 losses in doing so. Given that the contests that make up this figure are so varied (ranging from Rock, Paper, Scissors to sumo-wrestling), this it is not much of an achievement on Guy's part. Nevertheless, Guy is proud of his record. Guy also serves as a perfect antithesis for Kakashi, with Guy specializing in taijutsu after years of hard work, while Kakashi specializes in ninjutsu by simply relying on his talent and ability to copy the techniques of others. Although, this does not mean that Kakashi is a slacker. When it comes time to work hard, he will put his heart into it. Despite the obvious tension around them, Kakashi has come to view Guy as a comrade and close friend.

Although it is unknown when or why he left ANBU, it is certain that he left between the ages of seventeen and twenty four. He is never seen without the iron guards on his gloves, a characteristic of ANBU uniforms. He also still possesses high respect and connections in ANBU, as he was able to acquire several members to protect Sasuke while hospitalized.

Personality
Kakashi is the son of the genius shinobi, Sakumo Hatake who had respect on par with the "Legendary Sannin". Everyone in the village, including Kakashi, respected Sakumo, until Sakumo abandoned a crucial mission in order to save his companions' lives, but because of that, the Land of Fire suffered a great loss and everyone in the village blamed him. In the end, even the companions Sakumo saved blamed him. From that mission, Sakumo's mind and body became weak and he committed suicide. Sakumo’s disgrace as Konoha’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 succeeding in 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 words of Obito when he set off to rescue Rin 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, it became clear that Obito's death profoundly changed Kakashi, and Kakashi adopts many of Obito's traits such as being more cheerful yet laid back outside of missions and compassionate to others. Unfortunately, he also adopted some of Obito’s bad habits 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 always annoyed at Obito about. He also decided that the mission was no longer the #1 priority when compared to his friends and allies. One of the more important and noteworthy trait he acquired of Obito was his concept of teamwork, which is most clearly seen in the way Kakashi tests newly-graduated students hoping to become a squad under him. He uses the bell test to test his students to see if they can work together despite knowing at least one ninja would fail regardless.

Despite these changes, some of Kakashi's previous personality traits remained, particularly, his bluntness and dispassion. At times Kakashi tends to push everyone away, though he means well. Noting that everyone close to him is already dead, he is unwilling to let others get close to him. 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.

At the start of the series, Kakashi was characterized as carefree and laid back. He rarely shows 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, 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 shows no arrogance; rather is very modest about his abilities.

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, was made on the principle of duty and perfected on the principle of protecting loved ones.

While Kakashi has always shown to be a very perceptive and analytical person, his true brilliance is shown when it comes time to be serious. His naturally calm attitude is used to his advantage as it is easier for him to maintain his composure stay focus on the situation at hand and ultimately notice everything around him. Through this, he can make keen and thought-out decisions allowing him to stay steps ahead of his opponents.

Kakashi's personal life is almost non existent beyond his life as a shinobi. His face is always covered in his mask, even when he was a child. In a filler episode Kakashi actually has a lighter mask behind it. And though he states he has many hobbies the only one that seems true is his love for Jiraiya's adult novel 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. Make-Out Tactics ends 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, and closing his eyes so his Sharingan eye couldn't read their lips while Naruto and Sakura took the bells. Considering the book is rated for eighteen years and over, possibly pornographic, and a true story about Jiraiya's life of love, it is possible that Kakashi has a romantic side that he keeps secret. When he had to read out some of the books' contents he was very embarrassed and even Shikamaru looked surprised. Kakashi's favorite foods are broiled saury with salt and miso soup with eggplant, with his least favorite being tempura.

Appearance
Kakashi's personality is further emphasized by his lazy expression, aloof manner, relaxed voice and minimalist attitude. He is usually seen in his Leaf Village shinobi 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 shinobi who has on several occasions been compared to his father, even being told 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.

Since a young age, he has always been seen concealing the lower half of his face. What he looks like is as mysterious as what goes on in his personal life beyond reading his books. Though his face has never been seen, some chapter pages in the manga and scenes in the anime have shown him without his mask, yet instead either covered by something else or facing away. It has been seen that he has a narrow jaw-line. Also in 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.

Team 7 arc
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, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha — Kakashi tested their individual skills, and their ability to work as a team. He gave them a Survival Training Test, which involved the team stealing two bells off of Kakashi's person; only those who retrieved the bells were allowed to eat while the one without one was forced to starve. Despite Team 7's initial doubt of Kakashi's battle prowess, he quickly proved himself an opponent not to be underestimated. Quickily, he dispatched Naruto by turning him against his own clones and then succeeding to restrain him. Then, he just as easily took down Sakura with a cleverly executed genjutsu that caused Sakura to faint screaming. Finally, while Sasuke managed to force Kakashi to fight moderately seriously, Kakashi also made quick work of him.

Kakashi was very displeased with their performance. But he revealed that it was not their skill level that was the problem, it was what led the team to fail the Survival Training Exam; that being 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. After belittling each of performances, he revealed the true goal of this test: teamwork. After seeing how ashamed they were at their performance, Kakashi decided to give Team 7 one more chance to act as a team, but also told them Naruto was forbidden to eat lunch because his earlier breaking of the rules. It was then only after Sakura and Sasuke tried to feed Naruto that gave them their last test; testing their resolve. While shouting at them for again breaking the rules, Sasuke and Sakura surprisingly stood strong for their decision; declaring that they fed Naruto because their team was one. It was there that Kakashi finally passed Team 7, revealing that the true goal was to test their loyalty to each other. Kakashi tells them that they are the first team to realize this; that friends should always come before rules.

Before he started the Survival Training Exam, he invited them to a group session, where he got the chance to learn about their goals and dreams. At the start of their partnership, Kakashi seemed a bit wary of his team—especially Naruto, who he found to be quite annoying. Over time, however, his feelings for his team changed, and he took on a more brotherly role. He would even check up on his students on occasion, like making sure Naruto ate properly. It was later revealed that Kakashi was chosen specifically to be 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.

Journey to the Land of Waves arc
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 despite such missions normally being reserved for at least more experience genin: 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 Konoha. Naruto, however, after hearing Kakashi's and Sakura's praises of Sasuke, protested against Kakashi's decision.

On route to the village, Tazuna told the team more about his attackers hired by the shipping magnate 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, and although he knew the mission was truly B-rank, Kakashi decided to go through with the mission.

Upon arriving in the Land of Waves, Kakashi and the others were attacked by Zabuza Momochi, an S-class missing-nin from Kirigakure. It was here that Team 7 first learned the truth about their sensei's worldly fame as the Copy Ninja. Realizing how dangerous an opponent he would be up against while still having to protect his companions, Kakashi reluctantly decided to use his Sharingan. Quickly Kakashi showed off his skill with the Sharingan by copying and repealing several of Zabuza's jutsu.

Unfortunately, Zabuza's superior experience with water-based jutsu combined with Kakashi's focus being cut in half for his teammates allowed Zabuza to catch Kakashi off guard and trapped him. While Kakashi desperately began thinking of a way to escape, Naruto acted first and, with Sasuke's help, freed Kakashi. Kakashi immediately returned to the battle, this time employing genjutsu tactics to throw Zabuza off along with continuing to copy jutsu.

Kakashi eventually defeated him, but before Zabuza could be finished, his student Haku, threw needles into his body to feign death. Disguised as a hunter-nin from Kirigakure, Haku took the "corpse" and fled. Kakashi was suspicious of Haku because he knew from his days on the ANBU that hunter-nin dispose of a corpse on the spot, but because his body was drained from overusing the Sharingan, he was unable to pursue them. Instead, they continued their mission and escorted Tazuna back to his village. Upon recovering enough strength to get out of bed, he decided to continue training his team for the inevitable rematch with Zabuza. Since they had no idea of how much time they had, Kakashi devised a method to work on their basics while still improving their overall abilities. He had his team practice climbing trees with only their chakra as their collective control needed work.

As Kakashi expected, Naruto showed no aptitude for training and Sasuke showed an impressive knack along with gradual improvement. But to Kakashi's surprise, despite his correct assumption of Sakura having talent for chakra control, 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 finally reappeared and attacked the bridge, Kakashi battled Zabuza while Naruto and Sasuke were trapped in Haku's Ice Release jutsu. By covering the area in thick mist as Haku suggested, Zabuza was able to block Kakashi from using his Sharingan genjutsu on him as well as force him on the defensive. When he felt the force of the chakra of the demon fox, Kakashi knew he had to deal with Zabuza quickly and reinforce the seal on Naruto. Using Summoning Technique: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique he used his Ninken to trap 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. As Zabuza attacked again, Kakashi came into complete control of the battle as he easily countered each attack and ultimate damaged both Zabuza's arms beyond use. Kakashi then joins Naruto in using the Multi Shadow Clone to scare off Gato's thugs. When Gato appeared moments later, Zabuza following Naruto's words turned on him and killed him. Complying with Zabuza's dying request, Kakashi carried Zabuza over to Haku, allowing him to die next to the only person he cared about. After giving a proper burial for Zabuza and Hakau and their mission a success, Team 7 returned to Konoha.

Chunin Exams arc
Not long after Team 7's first serious mission, Kakashi, along with fellow Jonin sensei, Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi enter their fledgling Genin into the Chunin Exams. While initially this decision was argued against by Iruka as they still had little experience, Kakashi was able convince Iruka to allow Team 7's entry to the Chun Exams by having them each succeed in test of their skills. During the second part of the exam, Sasuke was branded with Orochimaru's Cursed Seal of Heaven. Because the Third Hokage was preoccupied with the Chunin Exams, Kakashi took it upon himself to handle the Cursed Mark. While unable to remove it because he had little knowledge of its nature, Kakashi was able to instead use the Evil Sealing Method, to forcefully suppress the Seal. Shortly afterward, Orochimaru arrived, complimenting Kakashi on how well he had grown since they had both met, both in stature and shinobi prowess. Orochimaru made no attempt to hide his envy of Kakashi for having obtained the Sharingan. He also revealed to Kakashi that the mysterious new Hidden Sound Village was created and led by him. Knowing that it was Sasuke that Orochimaru was after, Kakashi unleashed his Lightning Blade to make his point and warned Orochimaru he would do everything in his power to protect Sasuke, though he realized attacking Orochimaru at his current condition would be almost suicide on his part.

Also during the preliminary, Kakashi, Hayate Gekko, Might Guy, and Kurenai Yuhi managed to prevent Neji Hyuga from landing the final blow on Hinata Hyuga. Fearing that Sasuke similar desire for power to Orochimaru's would drive Sasuke to go down a similar path, he decided to personally train Sasuke himself for the next month of time before the the of the Chunin Exam. 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 was 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 be Sasuke's next opponent). As Sasuke's current conditioning wasn't enough to properly use ths Chidori, Kakashi had Sasuke focus mainly on the taijutsu he already copied from Rock Lee as he knew that the Strong Fist style would not only increase Sasuke's physical battle prowess, but it would also give Sasuke the needed conditioning, speed, and developed chakra for the Chidori. During the third part of the Exam, Kakashi's regular tardiness struck again, causing him and Sasuke to nearly miss Sasuke's match. As Sasuke begins his battle against Gaara, Kakashi notes that the ANBU security is rather lacking in the stadium. Just as Sasuke seems close to victory, Orochimaru's invasion of Konoha began.

Invasion of Konoha arc
The initial stage of the Invasion was putting a genjutsu on the entire arena. Guy, Sakura, Kakashi, Shikamaru and some others were able to repel the genjutsu. Kakashi then gave Sakura, Naruto, and Shikamaru an A-Rank mission (which he knew Naruto would love): 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 arc
With Sasuke's growing envy of Naruto becoming very visable, Jiraiya requested to leave Naruto to him so Kakashi focus his time on training Sasuke. Kakashi agreed to this (much to Naruto's dismay) and began having several one-on-one training sessions. Later when Itachi and Kisame come to the village looking for Naruto, their uncommon clothes draw the attention of Kakashi Hatake, who has Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi follow Itachi and Kisame. Itachi and Kisame nearly manage to escape Konoha, though Asuma and Kurenai catch up to them in time.

After the two reveal their identities, Itachi and Kisame are quick to battle Asuma and Kurenai after they refuse to let them leave quietly. Despite their high ranks of Jonin, Asuma and Kurenai stood little chance against the two Akatsuki members and could have been quickly killed. However, the arrival of Kakashi, who had gotten worried, managed to keep Asuma and Kurenai from receiving any major damage. After managing to hold his own during a short skirmish, Kakashi found himself a victim of Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan, using the Tsukuyomi. Amazed and terribly weakened by the ferocious genjutsu, Kakashi asked what they were after. When Itachi revealed they were after Naruto, Kakashi revealed he had knowledge of Akatsuki, which made Itachi ordered Kisame to kidnap Kakashi. Fortunately, Might Guy showed up in time to stop Kisame with a well-placed kick before Kakashi ultimately collapsed into a deep coma. After Guy revealed he ordered ANBU to send other teams to help defeat Itachi and Kisame, the two Akatsuki retreat, not wanting to start a war.

Pre-Sasuke Retrieval Filler arcs
He was later awakened several days later by Tsunade, who quickly voiced her disappointment of how Kakashi faired against his opponents. Despite his weakened condition, he recovered enough to be put back on active duty again and was immediately sent out on missions. 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 called the Moya Brothers 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 afterward, 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 arc
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. Learning that Sasuke had begun reverting to his original desire for power, Kakashi dealt with Sasuke, (while the newly arrived Jiraiya dealt with Naruto) 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 not 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, stating that everyone close to him was already dead. Seeing that Sasuke realized he did know how he feels and that he is only alone because he insists on pushing people away, Kakashi let Sasuke go and 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.

Later, after learning from Tsunade that a squad of Genin was all that had been sent out to retrieve Sasuke, Kakashi defied Tsunade's orders by launching his own search using his ninja hounds. Following Naruto and Sasuke's scents, he closed in on the sight of their battle. Due to the level of chakra used, he was able to detect the battle from some distance away, but arrived at the Valley of the End too late to intercept Sasuke. Rescuing an injured Naruto, he began carrying him back to the Hidden Leaf Village, only to run into a medical unit that had been dispatched to recover the rest of the injured squad members.

Pre-Shippūden Filler arcs
With Naruto and Sakura beginning their training under Jiraiya and Tsunade respectively-though Naruto spends more time out on missions than actually training-Kakashi is left bereft of a squad, thus prompting Tsunade to task him with S-rank missions for him to carry out on his own. Between two such missions, Kakashi returned just as Mizuki led a breakout from the maximum security prison of Konoha, and Kakashi recaptured several inmates before setting out on his next mission, summoning Pakkun to aid Iruka in tracking both Mizuki and Naruto.

in another filler arc, Kakashi caught up with Naruto, Tenten, and Neji and aided them with the Noroishimusha incident in the Land of Birds. While not officially his mission and arriving much later, Kakashi realized the situation was not as it seems, ultimately taking command of the team and thereby deciding to invesitage. This led to Kakashi's fight with Oki's minions Nagare and Hokushin whom Kakashi defeated with relative ease.

In the final filler arc, Kakashi was sent to spy on the Takumi Village when rumors of an up-rising reach Konoha. He later showed up nearing the end of the arc where he was sent as back-up along with Jiraiya to aid Naruto and the rest of the Genin aid the Sand Village.

Rescue Gaara arc
With Team 7 effectively dissolved-Naruto training under Jiraiya, Sakura under Tsunade, and Sasuke under Orochimaru-Kakashi spends the 2 and half years between Naruto's departure and return to develop further enhance and refine his abilities when he wasn't on high-ranked missions to prepare for inevitable battle with the Akatsuki. Kakashi made his first appearance after the timeskip doing what he is normally seen doing; reading one of his favorite books. He comments how much Naruto has grown since last they met. Naruto laughs at how Kakashi hasn't changed at all. After which, Naruto gives Kakashi the newest edition to the Make-Out Paradise's series, Make-Out Tactis, much to his joy. It is then revealed that Kakashi was to be in charge of testing Naruto and Sakura's progressed skills over the past couple of years.

Kakashi meets his former students at the training ground where they first started as Team 7. He then reveals their test is simply to get the same bells they failed to get last time by any means necessary. Before the test begins, Kakashi feels this time will require him to be more serious and thus reveals his Sharingan. Quickly, Kakashi is impressed with Naruto and Sakura's improved skills (most noticably Naruto's improve ingenuity and Sakura's improved chakra-skills.) Kakashi then begins to show off his own improved skills, most noticeably the speed of his movements and sign-weaving abilities, making himself an even more formidable opponent. Naruto and Sakura claim they couldn't follow his movements, this making their efforts to acquire the bells through force prove ineffective. Realizing this, the pair instead yell out spoilers from Make-Out Tactics, distracting Kakashi and allowing them to recover the bells. Tsunade then appears and congratulates the two before officially forming Team Kakashi, with Kakashi as the captain and Naruto and Sakura as his subordinates. Later on, when word of Gaara's kidnap reached Konoha, Tsunade reassigned Team Kakashi's mission: to aid Sand and rescue Gaara from the Akatsuki.

After their stop in Sand, Team Kakashi went on their way to meet up with Team Guy at the Akatsuki hideout. They were delayed when they came upon Itachi Uchiha. During the battle, Kakashi reveals he knows that the Mangekyo Sharingan has gradually degraded Itachi's vision. Kakaashi also noticed that despite how much he had prepared and improved for this second confrontation, Itachi's performance seemed diminished compared to their previous confrontation; Itachi's battle tactics were almost purely defensive and his jutsu were weaker than normal. After a battle, it was revealed that the opponent was not really Itachi, but a member of the Sand Village council named Yura. Seeing how Yura had somehow truly become Itachi made Team Kakashi realize just how dangerous the Akatsuki really is.

Upon meeting up with Team Guy, they had to split out in order to destroy the seal on the hideout's entrance. Once in, they were confronted with two Akatsuki members, Deidara and Sasori. Kakashi and Naruto went after Deidara while Sakura and Chiyo dealt with Sasori. During the fight against Deidara, Kakashi revealed his Mangekyo Sharingan and destroyed Deidara's arm by sending it into an alternate dimension. Kakashi then saved his team, Guy's team, and Chiyo by sending Deidara's ultimate bomb into another dimension. However, this excess use of the Sharingan has left Kakashi weak and immobile.

After Chiyo traded her life to revive Gaara, Team Kakashi and Team Guy returned to Konoha. Their return journey was humorous what with Guy carrying Kakashi piggy back style all the way back to the village.

Sai and Sasuke arc
After returning to the village, Kakashi was bed ridden for a week and his position as squad captain was temporarily replaced by his former student Tenzo, now a member of ANBU Black Ops under the codenamed of "Yamato", who possesses with the ability to suppress Naruto's Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's chakra. As such, beyond telling Yamato all he could about his team and Naruto's inner demon, Kakashi didn't participate in the team's battle against Orochimaru, nor in their search for Sasuke. When Naruto returned to the village, Kakashi hears about how seemingly impossible Sasuke's skill has grown. Realizing that they had to catch up to Sasuke and being fully aware of Naruto's potential, Kakashi devised an ingenius plan to aid Naruto in catching up to Sasuke quickly (although he admitted it would still take time and much hard work). Kakashi also noted that if Naruto succeeded in this training, in terms of ability for mastering techniques, Naruto would surpass him.

After being released from the hospital, Kakashi taught Naruto about the forms of chakra and how it can be converted into five different elements. He then explained that through taking advantage of Naruto's extremely high stamina and chakra supply though his Shadow Clone Technique, they could drastically cut down the training time with the same needed results. He also explained that the goal of the training was to create a new jutsu which would surpass the Rasengan. After discovering that Naruto's natural affinity was towards wind-chakra, he began having Naruto use his Multi Shadow Clone to train for countless hours.

Hidan and Kakuzu arc
After Naruto successfully mastered his wind-chakra, Kakashi revealed to Naruto the true goal of the training; to combined the Rasengan with element chakra. Kakashi also revealed that he too could perform the Rasengan, making it clear just how difficult the task was. Following Asuma's death, and feeling certain that Naruto no longer needed him to guide for the training, Kakashi took over as the leader of Team 10 to battle Hidan and Kakuzu, two more Akatsuki members responsible for the loss of Asuma. He took up this role as he knew that Team 10 would go with or without permission. Quickly, he went over the details of Shikamaru's plan and was worked into it.

Kakashi then faced off with the bounty hunter Kakuzu, who planned to kill him to collect the reward for Kakashi, and utilized his lightning chakra to penetrate Kakuzu's highly durable body and seemingly killing him but in fact only destroying one of his five hearts. During the battle Kakuzu released three of his remaining hearts in the form of tendril creatures that attacked the group with powerful elemental blasts. The first creature using a powerful blast of electricity which Kakashi blocked by using the Lightning Blade in both hands to stop the attack. Then two of the masks combined to attack with a mixture of fire and wind attacks that Kakashi noted couldn't be stopped by using water jutsu. Hidan then commented on how he was impressed by Kakashi because he was the first shinobi to survive that attack. Kakashi then baited Hidan into attacking him until Hidan was ambushed and neutralized by Shikamaru Nara thanks to a strategy he and Kakashi had worked out. Kakuzu becomes determined to replace his destroyed heart with Kakashi's. While managing to evade Kakuzu's and his creatures' multiple attacks initially, Kakuzu managed to catch him and was nearly successful in killing Kakashi until a strategy arranged between Kakashi and Shikamaru earlier. Thanks to Kakashi collecting some of Kakuzu's blood from his earlier attack, they were able to use it though an unwitting Hidan's curse jutsu to take out another heart.

Despite Kakuzu losing elements from the loss of two hearts, Kakashi was too weakened when trying to protect his team and attack at the same time, and Kakuzu managed to capture him along with Ino and Choji using his threads, with the intent of taking their hearts to replace his two lost ones. Fortunately, Team 7 arrives, and Naruto engages Kakuzu using his Wind Release: Rasenshuriken move. Naruto's inexperience with the technique made it dissolve before hitting Kakuzu, and Naruto was then left at his mercy. Kakashi is then forced to step in to save him. After Naruto is successful on his second try with the Rasenshuriken, destroying two of Kakuzu's hearts, Kakashi confronts the defeated and shocked Kakuzu who can't understand how he lost. Kakashi simply states that the next generation will always surpass the previous, and then he finishes Kakuzu off with a final Lightning Blade.

Later after the autopsy on Kakuzu, Tsunade declares Naruto's new Rasenshuriken technique as a forbidden jutsu tells Kakashi to make sure Naruto never uses it again do to the damage it causes on the user's arm. As Kakashi talks to Naruto, he starts off by congratulating Naruto on surpassing Kakashi's own ninjutsu might. Naruto then surprises Kakashi by telling him that he already knows about the jutsu's double-edged flaw but is still determined to perfect it, making Kakashi gain new respect for Naruto, but also still worrying for his well-being at the same time.

Three-Tails Arrival filler arc
After new intelligence on Orochimaru's whereabouts reached Konoha, Kakashi was called to investigate. It was decided not to tell Naruto about this as they knew he would come regardless of orders. Team 8 was assigned to this mission due to their tracking and info-gathering skills but with Kurenai temporarily being suspending due to her pregnency, Kakashi was made captain. Quickly after being put in charge, Kakashi went over a plan with his new team. After finding the remains of the deceased ANBU member, Kakashi and his team searched the area and found one of Orochimaru's test subjects for the Cursed Mark. They followed his trail to ultimately find Orochimaru's hideout. Unforunately upon entering, a trap was spung that destroyed the entire base, almost killing the team. Kakashi and Shino deduced that it was a trap to destroy any evidence in case an outside party found it.

It was then decided to look for survivors of the hideout to gather any information possible. Instead, Kakashi and his team found to their horror several people imprisoned in crystal before shattering into pieces. Kakashi initially believed it to be some kind of earth-jutsu, but then realized it was something else, apparently knowing what it truly is.

Hunt for Uchiha arc
Later, Team 7 and Kakashi learn that Orochimaru has been killed by Sasuke, but that Sasuke still has no intention of returning to the village. Agreeing with Naruto's suggestion that a team should be sent to capture Itachi Uchiha in order to lure Sasuke back, Tsunade puts Kakashi in charge of the 8-Man Squad consisting of the new Team 7-Yamato, Naruto, Sakura, and Sai-and Team 8-Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka-to accomplish the task. They set out in search of Itachi, only to learn that Sasuke's Team Snake is nearby, thus prompting them to go looking for Sasuke instead.

Kakashi, and the rest of the 8-Man Squad then got into a short battle against Tobi, during which Kakashi is amazed at the enemy's superior time and space ninjuts to even the Fourth Hokage. When Zetsu comes and informs Tobi (Madara) that Sasuke won the battle between him and Itachi, he escapes with Zetsu. Before Tobi departs, however, Kakashi notices that his one visible eye is a Sharingan. Unable to locate Sasuke or Madara, the 8-Man Squad returns to Konoha.

Later Kakashi is next seen retrieving an awakened Naruto, directing him towards the Hokage Residence. As the two make their way there, they run into Gamabunta and Gamakichi, who direct them as well towards the Hokage Residence. It is here, with Sai, Sakura, Tsunade, Fukasaku, and Shizune that the two find out about the death of Jiraiya. When Naruto reacts with hostility, Kakashi simply stands by, empathizing with his student's pain.

Invasion of Pain arc
During Pain's invasion of Konoha he confronts several ninja inquiring about the location of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, eventually leading his search to Iruka. Iruka refuses to reveal anything and is about to be killed. Kakashi intervenes, telling Iruka to leave with the injured ninja. Kakashi then confronts Pain's Deva Path, but despite his methodical tactics and a variety of high level techniques, Pain proves too powerful for him to land a single blow due to his body's special abilities. Things get even worse when Asura Path joins in. Kakashi quickly deduces enemies' strengths and weaknesses, and coming to the conclusion he didn't have the might necessary to win alone. Soon Kakashi was then joined by Choji and Choza Akimichi. After revealing the secret of Deva Path's power and his plan to beat it, Kakashi nearly succeeds in taking Deva Path down, but Asura Pain again intervenes, forcing Kakashi to instead take down the latter. As the battle continued, Choza is defeated and Kakashi is left with barely any chakra. Kakashi orders Choji to go and tell Tsunade about Pain's powers, and activates his Mangekyo Sharingan to save Choji from a fatal blow, knowing fully well that using it in his current state would very likely lead to his death. As he feels himself losing consciousness, he begins thinking about his dearest friends Obito and Rin, apologizing to Obito for failing to protect Rin. Kakashi then finds himself in an area surrounded by darkness approaching a campfire with his father waiting for him, and asked him about himself. Meanwhile, Kakashi and the Asura Path are both rendered incapacitated.

When Choji arrives to inform Tsunade of Pain's powers, he then finds out that his father is still alive but when he asked about Kakashi, Tsunade stayed silent, suggesting he is in a critical state. During Pain's wide-scale blast on Konoha, Kakashi was protected by one of Katsuyu's clones, suggesting that Kakashi is still not beyond saving.

Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow
As this movie is shown to be some point shortly after Tsunade becomes Hokage, Kakashi is still the leader of Team 7. He is given orders for a A-rank mission to escort the famous actress Yukie Fujikaze to the Land of Snow as he had been there once before. Upon arriving in the Land of Snow, they were attacked by three Snow Village ninjas Kakashi had fought years ago while still a captain of ANBU. It is then revealed that Yuki was actually Koyuki Kazahana, the true heir as daimyo to the Snow Country who Kakashi saved years ago from her trecherous uncle Doto. Kakashi uses his Sharingan to copy some of their ice-based jutsu to escape. Realizing what Doto was after, Koyuki's necklace crystal, Kakashi switched with a fake in an attempt to stop him. Later when Koyuki was kidnapped, Kakashi along with his team (except for Naruto who recklessly went ahead) mounted a rescue attempt. After Kakashi returned Koyuki her necklace, Doto made off it and Koyuki, Kakashi was intercepted by Nadare. Knowing his opponent had such high protection from ninjutsu and genjutus thanks to his armor, Kakashi relied on his taijutsu and defeated him with his Front Lotus. In the end when Koyuki takes up her role as daimyo, Kakashi is surprised and overjoyed to find out she will be starring in a new Make-Out Paradise movie.

Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom
This movie takes place somewhere after Sasuke's defection from Konoha. 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 (and Rock Lee as a stand-in for Sasuke). Upon arriving it is discovered that the Moon Country has been taken over by one of the kings advisors, Shabadaba, with the help of rogue ninja. After getting assistance from the royal guards still loyal to the king, Kakashi uses an earth jutsu to aid in an escape. 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 has his left arm petrified to stone which lets the rogue ninja capture Michiru. After his arm is cured by Sakura, Kakashi joins a circus in 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, thus allowing his team to have a vacation in the Moon Country.

Shippūden the Movie
Unlike his past movie appearances, Kakashi only had a few cameoes in this movie. When word reaches Konoha that the legendary demon Mouryō 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 Mouryō's assault of stone warriors. This was merely to stall for time while Naruto, Sakura, Rock Lee, and Neji escorts the priestess Shion who has the power to reseal Mouryō. Near the end of the movie, Kakashi appears with several allies to support Naruto and Shion as they go to stop Mouryō. Kakashi is seen destroying several stone warriors with a lightning jutsu. At the end of the movie, Kakashi is shocked by Shion's proposal for Naruto to bare her child; even more by the fact that Naruto obliviously agreed.

Abilities
Kakashi is shown to be very respected by basically all others in the village of Konoha, as well as being constantly depicted as one of the most powerful ninja Konoha has to offer. Like his father, he has since a young age shown tremendous aptitude for the ninja arts and is one of the most recognizable ninjas in the world. He is also recognized as the foremost jutsu specialist in Konoha due to his high proficiency in all forms of ninja combat (as shown during the Survival Training Exam for Team 7) and copying over 1,000 jutsu with his Sharingan eye since his introduction and has continuously gained more since. His knowledge of jutsu and chakra is so high, that he was requested to watch over Naruto in case the seal on the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox began to fail. His knowledge of sealing jutsu is also demonstrated from his ability to seal the Curse Seal of Heaven on Sasuke. A true testament to his skill is during a conversation, both Jiraiya and Tsunade mentioning that if the need ever should arise, Kakashi would be an obvious candidate for the title of Hokage, thereby implying his skills are of Kage-level.

With his proficiency in multiple battle styles, Kakashi is very adept at comprehending his opponent's battle tactics and switch to the appropriate counter tactics. Against more powerful opponents, he will regularly use various misdirection and trap tactics to weaken the opponent. Kakashi is also highly proficient at evasion, as shown when he was able to fight on par with Hidan, and later with Kakuzu, while also evading 3 of Kakuzu's element thread beasts (wind, fire and lightning).

Kakashi primarily relies on his tremendous mastery of ninjutsu where he is commonly known for using various combination attacks due to his vast arsenal. While used less often, he has also shown to have impressive skill in genjutsu which he will use to catch his opponent off guard for a setup for stronger attacks. Also, he has proven to be vary adept in taijutsu, which he will usually use after a setup from one of the former skills for a quick finish. Perhaps his most impressive trait in battle is his ability to quickly and effectively team up with allies and support them as shown from how quickly he adjusted to working with Team 10.

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. Also, he was chosen as the Fourth Hokage's apprentice. He was taught several skills including his master's signature jutsu, the Rasengan. However, Kakashi was only able to master the jutsu to the extent the Fourth had as the Rasengan was meant for element chakra to be mixed with it.

Despite his infamous nickname, Kakashi has proven himself a brilliant and proud ninja capable of making his own arsenal of jutsu. Realizing how seemingly impossible it was for him to complete the Rasengan, he instead developed his own, and original jutsu that drew influence from the Rasengan's intended form - the Chidori. While powerful, the Chidori had two crippling drawbacks, flaws that prompted Minato Namikaze to ban his student from using the technique after seeing it in action. With the Sharingan eye, the tunnel effect could be worked around as he could now see his opponents clearly, but he could still only use the jutsu four times a day. He later refined the Chidori into the stronger Lightning Blade. Like Sasuke, Kakashi further refines his Lightning Blade and began developing several new jutsu, several of which revolve around his affinity for lightning-chakra, in a fashion similar to Sasuke's variations of his the Chidori, and displays the ability to use the lightning produced from Raikiri into the form of a wolf to attack with or form a strong current to tear through the ground and strike an opponent from a distance. Kakashi has also displayed the ability to manipulate lightning to create a clone, that is very indistinguishable.

In addition to the sheer number of jutsu at Kakashi's disposal, he is an even more formidable opponent from extensive knowledge and skill at elements jutsu. From a young age, he has shown tremendous talent and power for his natural affinity towards lighting chakra, even being able to perform several lightning-based jutsu without hand seals. Thanks to his skill and Sharingan, he is highly capable if not proficient at multiple elements. His proficiency in earth and water-based jutsu have proven to be very useful in several battles and demonstrated great ingenuity and master-level handling in them. He has also shown to a lesser extent fairly adept skill in fire-based jutsu and high knowledge in wind-based jutsu (though in Naruto Shippūden: Narutimate Accel he has shown capable skill in the latter).

The most noticeable trait and useful asset at Kakashi's disposal is Sharingan eye as it allows him to copy any jutsu used against him, see through any deceptions, perform powerful genjutsu, and predict his opponent's movements. The drawback of his Sharingan is that because Kakashi has no Uchiha blood, it costs him more chakra than it would an Uchiha and he can't deactivate it, so if it was allowed to see it would use up chakra needlessly. Because of this, Kakashi will only rely on it when he feels it is an absolute necessity and will avoid this problem by covering it up with his forehead protector further giving him a mysterious appearance. Despite his handicap with the Sharingan, he is very skilled in using it. Even Itachi himself, a true heir and master of the Sharingan, acknowledged Kakashi’s superior might and skill at using Sharingan compared to most true Sharingan wielders. Sometime between Naruto's departure to his return from Konoha, Kakashi seems to have extended the amount of time he can sustain using the Sharingan as he is seen using it for several hours while testing Naruto and Sakura.

Kakashi's talent with his Sharingan is shown from how well he developed it since first acquiring it. Originally it was only at stage 2 in development but at the start of the series was fully developed. Sometime during the time skip, Kakashi further developed his Sharingan by unleashing his own Mangekyo Sharingan, presumably without the requirement of killing someone dear to him. Furthermore, on his own he has mastered several Sharingan-based techniques including 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 notes Kakashi's dojutsu to be of Itachi Uchiha's caliber, who is infamous for his prowess with Mangekyo jutsu. While initially having difficulty controlling it from the increased chakra-draining, his skill in this jutsu has become great enough to target a small speeding target with no affect on any other targets. However this technique uses so much chakra that he had to be hospitalized for a week after using it three times in one day. Although usually the eyesight of Mangekyo Sharingan users deteriorate, Kakashi's eyesight doesn't seem to, presumably due to the fact that his Sharingan eye is already transplanted from Obito, as explained by Madara Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha that doing so will save the user's eyesight.

During the time skip, Kakashi spends time working on improving his overall abilities after seeing what enemies of Akatsuki's caliber were capable of. In addition to profoundly increasing the speed of his movements, even more noticeable was the speed of his hand seals. Over the 2 and a half years, Kakashi's hand seal proficiency has become exceptionally stronger and faster to the point his seal forming can appear as a hard-to-see blur. During his battle with Zabuza, it had taken Kakashi roughly 40 seconds and use all 42 hand seals to perform the Water Release: Water Dragon Blast Technique, after the time skip, he was able to complete the jutsu in just 2 seconds with only 8 hand seals, meaning his hand speed is basically 20 times faster and his chakra control has improved enough to require less seals. Also Kakashi, who admitted himself had a barely average supply of chakra during Part I, has also shown to have greatly increased his overall chakra levels to much higher levels as shown during his battle with Pain by performing several chakra-taxing jutsu. Another example of his increased chakra-supply was shown from the amount of times he is able to use Lightning Blade as in his fight with Kakuzu he used six Lightning Blades. His new limit for Lightning Blade has not been clarified upon yet but has also shown the ability to perform it without the need of any hand seals.

During the second bell test, Naruto commented that Kakashi is smarter than Shikamaru (whose I.Q. is over 200), has a better nose than Kiba, has a better Sharingan than Sasuke (at the time of his betrayal), and better at taijutsu than Rock Lee (who is a taijutsu master himself). 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 shrewd and intelligent man capable of noticing and memorizing important facts as well as adapting to most situations with resourceful and well thought-out plans. His proficiency in using his Sharingan was also great enough to properly train Sasuke in using his. He has also shown great proficiency in taijutsu as shown from being able to single-handedly fight off countless clones of Naruto and perform a stronger version of Rock Lee's Front Lotus, which unlike Lee he showed no signs of exhaustion after performing (analogically, he is capable of at least opening the first Chakra Gate necessary to performing the Front Lotus). In addition, Kakashi has shown to have tremendous speed, being able to keep up with Itachi who's own speed cannot be easily seen. He has also shown like Kiba to have great instincts as he is generally aware of everything around him, can see through most deceptions, is rarely caught off guard, and can also distinguish any smell in the area (as long as the scent is strong enough).

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 Himura Kenshin 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 retains many of his original personality traits, being easygoing, unfazed by the actions of others, and appearing to be half-asleep. Kishimoto feels that this makes Kakashi a compelling leader and helps to keep the diverse members of Team 7 unified. Because he acts as a link between the other main characters of the series, Kakashi is rarely featured prominently in promotional artwork, instead appearing in the background while his students are the focus of the scene.

When deciding upon Kakashi's name, Kishimoto considered a number of possibilities:, , , , and. He eventually decided upon Kakashi, and remains glad that he did to this day. In keeping with the meaning of his name, scarecrows are occasionally used to represent Kakashi; Naruto, for example, uses a scarecrow that is dressed like Kakashi to help him train for a combat test between the two. Likewise, scarecrows are at times added to the background of scenes in which Kakashi appears, as is the case with the cover of the Naruto manga volume three.

Trivia

 * Kakashi's love of Jiraiya's Make-Out series and embarrassment at reading it to others suggests that he may have a perverted side of his own.
 * Repeatedly during Part I, Kakashi has been compared to Sasuke, which is possibly the reason Sasuke was originally put on Kakashi's team.
 * Kakashi has never been ranked out of the top 3 most popular characters in any of the six official Shonen Jump polls.
 * The 3rd Databook, which added results from the previous six polls, has Kakashi as the most popular character overall with 48,431 votes.
 * Kakashi is one of the only three known characters to successfully defeat at least one of Pain's six bodies (the other two being Jiraiya, and Naruto).

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 won't allow my comrades to die! I'll protect you with my life. Trust me."
 * "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?"
 * "You want to know what's under my mask? Sure, why didn't you say so in the first place? Ok, here we go. Behind this mask...is another mask! Pretty cool, huh?"
 * "Think before using a jutsu... or it could be used against you."
 * "The next generation will always surpass the previous one. It's one of the never-ending cycles in life."
 * (to Naruto) "I believe that only you can surpass the Fourth Hokage."
 * "In the end, those who tasted revenge...were not satisfied...it ended in tragedy."
 * "The same trick won't work on me twice"
 * "Sorry I'm late, I'm afraid I got lost on the path of life."
 * "That's what happens when you have your eyes shut in the mist."
 * "I can be a very smooth talker."
 * "Those who break the rules and codes of the ninja world are called trash. However...those who don't take care of their comrades....are lower than trash."