Kakashi Hatake is the captain of Team 7, leading Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. One of his most defining—and infuriating—traits is his chronic habit of arriving late to every single team meeting.

Yet, despite his constant tardiness, there was one rare instance where Kakashi arrived exactly on time to meet Sasuke. This happened when Kakashi was at a dango shop in the Hidden Leaf Village and suspected that a suspicious figure eating nearby was Itachi Uchiha.

Kakashi immediately contacted Sasuke, urging him to come to the shop. When Sasuke arrived, he was genuinely surprised to find Kakashi already there, right on time, without making him wait at all.

Here are 5 memorable times Kakashi arrived late to meet Team 7:

1. Late to Pick Up Team 7

When the newly graduated Academy students gathered in their classroom, they eagerly awaited the arrival of their respective Jonin instructors. Nearly all the Genin had been picked up, leaving Team 7 as the very last group waiting.

Naruto, already deeply impatient to meet their sensei, grew even more frustrated when Kiba taunted him, claiming that the last team usually gets the worst instructor.

Furious that their Jonin was nowhere to be seen while everyone else had already departed, Naruto decided to pull a prank. Annoyed by the agonizing wait, he wedged a chalk-dust-filled blackboard eraser right above the classroom door.

After a long delay, Kakashi finally arrived. The moment he slid the door open, the dusty eraser dropped squarely onto his head. Naruto burst into roaring laughter at the success of his trap. Unfazed, Kakashi offered a brief, blunt first impression to Team 7: he simply stated that he “hated” them.

2. Late to the Genin Certification Exam

Shortly after Team 7 was formed, Kakashi decided not to accept Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto right away. As their Jonin instructor, he mandated a Genin certification test to evaluate their true capabilities.

During their first meeting, Kakashi ordered them to prepare for the exam scheduled for the following day. He explicitly instructed Team 7 to arrive at the training grounds at 5:00 AM sharp.

The next morning, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto arrived perfectly on time. However, Kakashi didn’t show up until five hours later, rolling in at 10:00 AM. His extreme tardiness left Naruto and Sakura absolutely furious.

With a casual smile, Kakashi offered his excuse: he claimed a black cat had crossed his path, forcing him to take a detour.

3. Late to Depart for a Mission

After completing their grueling mission escorting Tazuna to build the bridge in the Land of Waves, Team 7 was assigned a new mission. However, because Kakashi had yet to arrive at their designated meeting spot, their departure had to be delayed.

The wait dragged on for so long that Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura grew drowsy, nearly falling asleep on their feet. Finally, Kakashi appeared with a relaxed smile, casually greeting his team who had been patiently enduring his absence.

Kakashi then offered his excuse, claiming that he had gotten lost. Though Team 7 tried to tolerate his tardiness, Naruto and Sakura couldn’t hide their irritation—especially since his excuse sounded like a bad joke, made worse by his unapologetic, laid-back attitude.

4. Late After Summoning Team 7

Having endured his chronic tardiness for quite some time, Team 7—especially Sakura and Naruto—began to grow deeply exasperated with Kakashi constantly making them wait for every single meeting.

Sakura was highly annoyed; even though she had overslept and didn’t have time to dry her hair, she had still rushed to arrive on time per Kakashi’s orders. The same went for Naruto, who had skipped washing his face and brushing his teeth just to ensure he wouldn’t be late.

Meanwhile, Sasuke stood in total silence, waiting for Kakashi while enduring Sakura and Naruto’s endless complaints about their sensei’s bad habit.

Eventually, Kakashi materialized before Team 7. This time, his excuse for being late was that he had gotten lost on the “path of life.” The philosophical excuse only enraged Naruto and Sakura further, as they knew it was just another ridiculous, nonsensical lie.

5. Late to Test Naruto and Sakura

This incident occurred when Tsunade assigned Kakashi to evaluate Naruto and Sakura. Over the past two years, Jiraiya had trained Naruto, while Tsunade herself had mentored Sakura.

Now, as the captain of Team 7, it was Kakashi’s turn to test the results of their intense training and see exactly how much they had grown.

Kakashi informed them of the training grounds and set a specific meeting time. Yet, even though Sakura and Naruto arrived perfectly on schedule, Kakashi was late once again, forcing them into another lengthy wait.

After a long while, Kakashi finally appeared before the duo. He offered his usual apologetic excuse, claiming he had run into an elderly woman who needed help on the road.

Although the excuse sounded plausible, Naruto and Sakura were still deeply annoyed. They knew Kakashi always had a perfectly reasonable-sounding alibi ready, but it was almost certainly just another lie.