Right from the beginning, Kakashi Hatake was one of Naruto's more mysterious and guarded characters. From his deceptively carefree attitude to his ever-present mask, it was clear the waters ran deep. But who knew what swam in the murky depths? While various bits of his story have surfaced, Naruto Shippuden Set 28 is the first real examination of his life.

Get ready for a fully-contained run through his not-so-halcyon days before he became Team Seven's instructor. And by all means, enjoy the ride—this is truly a look at the man behind the mask. 

Some context: our story opens at the tail-end of the Third Great Ninja War. Peace is declared, The Village Hidden in the Leaves resumes business as usual and the land begins to recover. Which is a nice way of saying grudges are festering everywhere and a new generation's learning how to be good little soldiers. Even at the top, the Hokage office has to contend with faltering PR, tense relations with both enemies and allies, and the omnipresent Danzo looking to make his latest grab for political and military power.

Yet far away on the ground floor, young veteran Kakashi has his own demons to deal with. The guilt and trauma of Rin and Obito's deaths have made the Hidden Leaf's victory taste bitter. This, combined with the nightmares and social isolation, have left the young veteran in a bad place. Kakashi realizes that something needs to change and needs to change now. Enter Minato, who has an idea: make a change in career and join the Anbu. 

And the Anbu turns out to be exactly what Kakashi needs. Not only does it give him a new sense of purpose, and lead him to meet and befriend the future Captain Yamato, it also places him at or near just about every major event that will shape the Hidden Leaf Village and its ninja thereafter. Events like attack of the Nine Tails, the resulting deaths of Fourth Hokage Minato and Kushina, the disgrace and escape of Orochimaru, and even the Uchiha massacre are all framed in the context of a single person's life. Which just goes to show how relentless the tragedies were. All this stuff happened in about seven years! 

Kakashi also gives a more human lens to these events, because he doesn't learn things through the audience's all-seeing eye, but instead as a soldier either serving under or alongside other soldiers. Unlike us viewers at home, he never learns the whole story and has to do the best he can with what he knows. Heck, Minato and Kushina's deaths hit a lot harder this time around seeing them through his eyes. Naruto at least had his whole life to get used to their loss, but for Kakashi it's two more friends to mourn. And one of them is his mentor. 

The final two episodes follow Kakashi's shift from Anbu operative to Genin instructor, along with his eventual assignment to Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke. Yet the fun memory turns outright painful now that we've got some context. So much of Kakashi's treatment of the mismatched trio (and his strange behavior in general) seems different now that we know his history. As an Uchiha, Sasuke brings out some painful memories of Itachi and Obito. And the same for Naruto with his memories of Minato and Kushina. Even Sakura has shades of Rin as she spurns the attention of a loveable goof while chasing a disinterested stoic. Suddenly Kakashi's nonstop push for teamwork and unity makes a heck of a lot more sense. 

We return to the main story in the next arc and I hope we get to see some good news, as Madara’s seeming pretty invincible these days. You definitely don't want to miss this box set though, it features one of Naruto's best flashbacks to date. Even without Sharingan-powered eyes, hindsight is always 20-20 and there's always more to see...

You can see Kakashi in a whole new light by picking up the DVD set right here! 

English & Japanese 2.0 Audio / English Subtitles
Episodes 349-361
Special Features: Storyboards, Art Gallery, Clean Opening/Ending, English Credits

by Chris Turner