Kakashi Hatake

Kakashi Hatake (Hatake Kakashi) is a shinobi of Konohagakure's Hatake clan. Famed as Kakashi of the Sharingan (Sharingan no Kakashi), he is one of Konoha's more talented ninja, regularly looked to for advice and leadership despite his personal dislike of responsibility. To his students on Team 7, Kakashi teaches the importance of teamwork, a lesson he, like the Sharingan, received from his childhood friend, Obito Uchiha. After the Fourth Shinobi World War, Kakashi becomes Konoha's Sixth Hokage (Rokudaime Hokage, Literally meaning: Sixth Fire Shadow).

Kakashi typically has a relaxed and almost bored attitude, not prone to getting too worked up about anything or by anyone. He tries to avoid serious commitments or responsibilities, doing only as little as is necessary and being ever-modest about his skills and capabilities. He is habitually tardy, showing up when it suits him, using excuses that convince nobody, and later leaving for equally poor reasons. Though Kakashi wants others to believe this is how he always acts, he only does so for matters that aren't of particular importance; Kakashi will always step up for the sake of his friends or Konoha, even if that means showing up on time. His aloof detachment remains intact even on such occasions, however, but this has the benefit of making him more rational than others might be in the same situation. When he first meets his students on Team 7, Kakashi claims to have many hobbies, none of which he chooses to share at the time. He is known to be an avid fan of the Icha Icha series of novels; he always has one of the books with him and regularly reads it, even while talking to others. Naruto Uzumaki identifies Icha Icha as one of Kakashi's few weaknesses, which he is able to take advantage of during a bell test by threatening to spoil the ending of the newest book in the series, forcing Kakashi to shut his eyes and ears and thereby leave himself vulnerable.

Although most people he knows are aware of how much he likes Icha Icha, Kakashi is seemingly uncomfortable sharing the books with others, growing embarrassed by the presumably adult content when he is forced to read passages aloud. In truth, Kakashi is alone for most of his spare time, spending hours visiting Rin Nohara's grave or the Memorial Stone where Obito Uchiha's name is engraved. He tells them about his life, recent events in Konoha, and others they knew, but mostly he shares his regrets that they cannot be with him or that their deaths were his fault. In the anime, after Rin died, Kakashi went through a period of post-traumatic stress disorder, having nightmares about her death and growing depressed whenever others mentioned her. Over time, Kakashi comes to accept that Rin chose to die, so his guilt instead becomes about his broken promise to Obito to keep Rin safe. This fact causes Obito's death to weigh more heavily on him, compounding the regret he feels about what his personality was even hours before Obito died: selfish, condescending, and far too concerned about following the rules. Kakashi feels that, had he cared about teamwork and friendship in the same way that Obito did, Obito's death might have been avoided. Obito's death profoundly changed Kakashi. The Chidori that he originally created simply as a weapon became a tool he would only use to protect his comrades. More particularly, he became committed to teamwork and always places teammates' well-being above the mission's: he believes goals can be accomplished more effectively together, asking for help when he needs it, providing help when it is requested of him, and praising allies when they deserve it. An abuse of one's teammates is the only thing that can makes Kakashi cast aside his normally stoic demeanor, causing him to attack without mercy or his usual sense of sportsmanship. He expects his prospective students to demonstrate this same devotion to teamwork, which none until Team 7 were able to do; despite the high failure rate, the Third Hokage agrees with Kakashi's choice to require it. Kakashi becomes fond of all Team 7's members, even Sasuke Uchiha, blaming himself for Sasuke's criminal acts and his team's growing rift throughout Part II. He holds out hope that Sasuke will correct his behavior, and for his patience he is able to see Team 7 reunified when Part II ends. Might Guy has considered Kakashi his rival ever since they first met in the Academy. Despite his father's warning that Guy might someday prove stronger than him, Kakashi didn't think much of Guy at the time. Guy took this as a challenge and began striving to earn Kakashi's approval so as to show that his perseverance could be just as good as Kakashi's natural genius. When Guy would suggest contests to test how their abilities compared, Kakashi would respond with indifference, only fueling Guy's desire to defeat his "cool, hip, and trendy" personality. At the start of Part I, Kakashi's score is 50 wins and 49 losses, though even when Guy takes the lead the score difference remains the same; considering that their competitions range from eating contests to Rock, Paper, Scissors, the score isn't truly representative of anything. Kakashi eventually comes to consider Guy one of his closest and most reliable friends, and by the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War he acknowledges that Guy has surpassed him.