I never, ever insert myself into my character's tags unless I'm trying to do so in a strikeout for comical effect! So pretty much what you read is what Kakashi thinks. And you know, he's a dumb genius and he thinks of SASUKE and NARUTO as examples of "genin." And Naruto could do kage bunshin no jutsu (a kinjutsu, technically) and Sasuke could do a fucking Katon Jutsu! Plus, when he thinks "freshly minted" he means like within the first YEAR. That to him counts as "fresh" because you can remain a genin for many years!

I hope that helps!!!

Edit: AAAND just an addendum.... if you remember what Naruto and Sasuke did within their first year, you can understand Kakashi's POV. =_=;