Summary: "Heh, get real, Sakura. As an Uchiha, it's a given that I'm naturally smarter than you." - "Naruto-kun...just know this. As an Uchiha, I simply cannot steal and wear one of your orange jackets...even though I really, really want to." - "Psst! Sasuke-chan! When are we gonna have them address us by 'Uchiha-sama?' Huh, Sasuke-chan? Huh?" Uchiha Kai. Breaking stereotypes and pissing everyone off since...well, since he could talk without gaining suspicion. Male!OC
Breaking the Curse
Chapter One
"Sasuke-chan! Hey, Sasuke-chan! Wake up! Hey, c'mon, wake up, Sasuke-chan!"
Uchiha Sasuke's eyes slowly opened up...and instantly narrowed. Above him was Uchiha Kai, his cousin that acted more like an annoying younger brother. Straight yet messy black hair, pale skin, dark eyes, and a goofy grin - his cousin acted more like an Uzumaki than an Uchiha. But, he did have the Uchiha features that all the girls seemed to totally love.
Still. Just because he was an Uchiha didn't mean he could barge in his room and wake him up whenever he pleased! Cousin, brother - whatever he was, he was still a person, and nobody simply woke Uchiha Sasuke up.
And to be in that position, too. Kai was basically straddling him! If any of the girls saw...they'd probably still love them both to bits. Maybe even make a fanclub.
"Get off of me," Sasuke bit out, glaring now. Kai didn't move, just blinking idiotically. He growled. "I said get off of me!"
"Oh?" Kai's expression turned mischievous. "Something wrong, Sasuke-chan?"
"I will literally burn you to a crisp."
"My, my..." Kai expertly jumped off of the preteen and onto the clean floor, striking a pose. "Right! Anywhoozies, you need to get up and get dressed! We need to hurry to the academy!"
Sasuke blinked curiously. "Are we late?" He turned his head to the digital clock. 7:00 AM. He almost wanted to curse. "It's seven o'clock. I get up at eight. The explanatory meeting doesn't start 'till nine." Sasuke was forcing out the words with venom by now. "Why did you wake me up?"
"We're becoming official ninja today, that's why!"
"..."
"We can't afford to show up late!"
"..."
"E-Er... Well..."
"The truth."
"...We can't let that Hyūga girl get there before us." Kai puffed out his chest, hitting it with his fist. "As Uchiha, we need to show those stuck-up Hyūga that we're better than them at any and every way possible."
A sigh. Sasuke silently got out the bed and walked to the door, noting that Kai was fully dressed. How stupid was he? Without missing a beat, Sasuke stopped at his door and pointed towards the hall.
"Get out of my room."
Kai grinned. "Whaddya think I'm gonna do? Steal your underwear? I'm not one of your fan-girls, Sasuke-chan." Nonetheless, he walked past Sasuke out the door and headed to the kitchen. "Anyway, hurry it up! I'm not letting that bitch get there before me today! Not today on our last day! Nuh-uh! I swear she be coming early on pur-"
Sasuke slammed the door to the bathroom, blocking out his cousin's annoying rant. Seriously, how stupid was he? Having some sort of fake personal vendetta against Hyūga Hinata was beyond idiotic. The poor girl didn't even know how to respond to most of the things Kai said!
Taking off his clothes and turning on the water, an irritated huff passed through his lips. Even though he thought it was a stupid reason to get up early, he still did it anyway. Was that love or just plain submission? Whatever it was, Sasuke didn't care.
Kai was his cousin - the only one besides him to survive the Uchiha Massacre - meaning he was family. And most days, if Sasuke didn't have Kai, didn't have family...he didn't know what he'd do.
"Itachi-kun didn't kill me because, y'know, me and him had a special connection - if you know what I mean. Yep. He would always buy me tea."
The two Uchiha walked the village streets expeditiously. Sasuke was tired of people staring and smiling at him, while Kai simply wanted to hurry and get to the learning institute. The morning sun shone down valiantly, birds cawed and tweeted as they flew through the sky - this was the definition of "peace."
Yet, Sasuke still had his uncaring frown on his face. Kai, however, wore an excited grin as he waved at the smiling villagers.
"Lighten up, Sasuke-chan," the exuberant raven mumbled to his brooding cousin, still grinning.
"Don't call me that," Sasuke immediately snapped, sending a glare to the other boy that would have froze a regular person.
Kai just smiled in response. "I like it. It at least gets you to respond to me."
"I always respond to you."
"Aww~! I feel loved," Kai teased, bringing his arm around Sasuke's shoulder. The shorter boy instantly knocked the other's arm off, scowling. Kai shrugged as Sasuke started to speed up. "Meh."
"E-Excuse me..."
Kai turned to see a small girl holding out a colorful card. His brow rose up and he bent down to get to eye level.
"Is that for me, little girl?" He asked, now smiling sheepishly. Before he could take the card - he was used to getting presents from random people as he was one of the last Uchiha - the girl started to talk.
"C-Come to our bakery, please! Th-This is a coupon!" And with that she raised the card up to Kai's chest and scurried away.
He looked at the colorful card in confusion - Bina-san's Bakery - before looking up at where the girl ran off to. She was silently clutching onto her mother's dress, who simply ignored the girl and smiled at Kai.
I might as well go get some breakfast, the Uchiha thought blankly, a goofy smile creeping on his face. I mean, I know she's just using me to get more customers - using her own daughter as bait at that - but maybe I can use my Uchiha charm to get some free bread?
"Oh, Uchiha-san!" The lady exclaimed loudly - so the passersby would hear after all - when Kai walked over to her and her daughter. "I'm so happy that you wanted to come here! Come in, come in - the bread is hot this morning!"
...Just as he predicted, the lady offered him a basket of steaming hot bread with the promise of coming again. He just nodded and smiled and chatted respectfully with the lady because, as an Uchiha, he was supposed to do those things.
"Make sure you do come again now!" The lady hollered happily as Kai made a dash out the door and to the academy.
"I will!" He promised back, and because he was an Uchiha, he'd keep that promise. Probably tomorrow when he got up for Kakashi's test...because he was going to be in Kakashi's squad with Sasuke and Naruto. Being with Sakura would also be nice...but she was really an unimportant factor. He could do everything she could and better...
Because, well, he was an Uchiha.
"Are you stupid or what? I always use words no simpleminded person would know."
"O-Oh, hey. What're you guys doing here so early?" Umino Iruka asked as he walked up to the academy. Sasuke, Kai, and Hinata were standing in front of the locked doors, the taller Uchiha giving the Hyūga a look of pure hatred.
Sasuke didn't speak, he simply crossed his arms and looked away with a bored expression on his face; Kai was too busy glowering to give the teacher any recognition; and Hinata was looking to the floor and cowering under the raven's intense stare.
The teacher stared at the trio a bit longer before clearing his throat and taking out his keys to the classroom. "Let's just go i-"
"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? Aren't you?" Kai interrupted, voice laced with anger. He took a threatening step towards Hinata, who in return squeaked in fear. "You're always, always getting here before us. Even when I got up three hours early to get here, you're somehow still first! How?!"
The girl was trembling by now. "I-I don't understand…"
"Of course you don't understand! You just decided to get here extra, extra early because you felt like it, right? That's it, right?"
Even when the boy was undoubtedly angry, his voice was hardly above normal talking volume. That's the Uchiha for you, Iruka thought now, sweat dropping. Able to show how mad they are without yelling.
"I...I…" Hinata tried to defend herself from the harassment that happened to her every other day...but the words just wouldn't come out her mouth. How could she tell him that her family forced her to get there before the two Uchiha because "the best clan is the earliest there." That's what they told her, at least. She didn't really understand it. It sounded trivial; but she was still forced to come as early as humanely possible nonetheless.
Kai sneered - well, Hinata thought it was a sneer, but he could just be grinning. His emotions seemed to change at the drop of a hat, she observed. Or he could just be trying to be funny.
"Does the Byakugan give you the power to read minds now? You must've known I was planning on coming early - that's the only wa-"
"Shut up already, idiot," Sasuke interrupted his rant, punching his cousin carelessly on the head. Kai would have used the word 'playfully,' but Uchiha Sasuke does not do playful. He just doesn't.
"Oww," he whined, rubbing his head (even though it didn't hurt at all). Looking at Sasuke's exasperated face, he grinned. "I was just kidding. It was just a joke. A simple, non-serious little joke. I swear."
"I think your jokes are a bit too much, Kai," Iruka mumbled, opening the door and letting the Genin inside. I'm a Chūnin - a damn great one if I had to say so myself! - and I can definitely say he was not joking.
As Hinata sat at the top row and Sasuke and Kai sat at the second, a mischievous smile secretly slid on the exuberant Uchiha's face. He really didn't have anything against Hinata at all - in fact, if he had to pick between hate and love, he'd choose love in a heartbeat! He just loved messing with and teasing the shy girl. And being an Uchiha - and her being a Hyūga - it was pretty fun forming a "rivalry" with the girl, based on their clans' dislike of each other. Even though his clan was basically obliterated overnight…
Still keeping the smile on his face, his thoughts began to go elsewhere. Today was the day the Anime would finally be officially starting. Firstly, he needed to get into Squad Seven - if he wasn't in there already. From there, he'd start changing things that really needed changing - for the better, of course. He didn't know what specifically yet, since his mind was really focused on one particular point.
Make sure Sasuke doesn't leave Konoha, Kai rehearsed in his mind, over and over again. When he figured the point stuck, another smile graced his lips. And have as much fun as possible...hehehe…
"You're laughing idiotically again," Sasuke deadpanned, now completely use to his cousin's crazy antics. Sometimes, he wondered why it had to be him to survive the Uchiha Massacre. Couldn't it have been someone smarter, more serious, and old enough to teach him? Did Itachi leave Kai with him just to torture him?
Shaking his head, he realized he was going off into bad territory. He did not want to go there again. The last time he went, Kai did, too, and they were literally sulking for days.
"I said…" The brooding Uchiha spoke louder, noticing his cousin didn't hear him at all and was actually still laughing to himself. Was he going crazy? "You're laughing like an idiot."
"Huh?" Kai suddenly stopped, blinking. He turned to look at Sasuke, and then grinned sheepishly. "I guess I was, huh?" Looking away, he smirked again. Oh, he'd have so much fun.
"Blah blah blah blah blah. You talk alot. Are you in heat or nah?"
"OH MY TEA-GOD! UZUMAKI NARUTO, MY BESTEST FRIEND! WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"
The class literally shook at the volume of Kai's voice. It wasn't very Uchiha-like to yell out like that, he knew, but he didn't care at the moment. Naruto just sat down beside him like he did not fail the test a week ago - and not a single person said a thing about it. Kai personally knew why Naruto was here - as he did watch the Anime - but he couldn't just go out and blow his secret, could he?
Yelling was just...a more awesome way to keep his secret intact.
"Could you keep it down?" Sasuke hissed beside him, glaring. The class was momentarily stunned by the earlier outburst, but was now more-or-less over it. They were sadly use to his outbursts, too.
"Oh, shush, Sasuke-chan. Don't be jealous," Kai teased, before turning back to Naruto, who was grinning at him madly.
Naruto and Kai became friends quickly. Kai wasn't in their class at first - he was in another with another teacher - but after the Uchiha Massacre, the Hokage and everyone else decided it'd be better for the two remaining Uchiha to be in the same class. The first few days, Kai was usually quiet with a look on his face that basically said "I'm thinking about something important, so don't mess with me." As expected, nobody really approached him, and the ones that did were easily ignored.
The second week, though, while Sasuke was still gloomy, Kai seemed to have had a sudden change of heart. He was constantly smiling, talking and being nice to everyone and everything. He was also the girls' object of affection, considering Sasuke was practically MIA and he was the next best thing. And unlike Sasuke, he accepted the attention with open arms, even going the extra mile and dating a few of the girls. Though, he'd always cut the relationship after a week or two, deeming it weird since they were so young.
For some odd reason, though, whenever the kids were supposed to pick a partner to work with, he went directly to Naruto before anyone could ask him. Always. The raven apparently had a lot in common with the blond, so they hit it off quickly; pranking, eating lunch together, and hanging out after school. Sometimes, when Kai was in one of his best moods - and Naruto looked too disheartened to walk away from - Kai would even let the blond stay over for the night. That's what really sealed the deal with Naruto; Kai was just too awesome, it'd be delusional of him not be best friends with the Uchiha boy.
"So, what happened? What happened? You already know I was having a midlife crisis when you failed," Kai asked in his best impression of a gossiping teenage girl.
"Well, well, y'know Mizuki-sensei, right? Right?" Naruto started, practically bouncing in excitement. He had a habit of repeating his words when he was excited; Kai didn't mind, though, because he did, too. "Well, he was some super bad guy, and he lied and told me I could be a Genin if I did stole something super important. Iruka-sensei found out, protected me when Mizuki tried to attack me, and then I used this super awesome Jutsu and beat Mizuki up! It was so awesome!"
"That sounds...exciting," Kai concluded, knowing Naruto was leaving a lot of stuff out. He didn't mind if Naruto wasn't ready to tell him about the Kyūbi, though; he knew already, so it's not like curiosity was eating at him. "So, since you beat the bad guy, you became Genin?"
"You got it!" The boisterous blond nodded fervently, now pointing at his headband. "Does it look good on me? It looks great on me, doesn't it?" Kai simply gave him a thumbs up, toothily grinning.
"So that's why you're here, Naruto," Shikamaru said in his dull drone of a voice. Both pre-teens looked up at him, and the Nara sighed. "Guess it just goes to say you can't even trust some of your teachers."
"You're right about that, Shikamaru-kun," Kai chirped rather happily, even though they were talking about the mistrust of their senseis. "Anyway…"
"Hey, hey, Shikamaru, Shikamaru," Naruto giggled, pointing to his headband again. "Does it look good on me? It totally looks good on me, right?"
Before Shikamaru could answer with a "troublesome," Kai spoke up again. "You've been obsessing over that headband for a while now, Naruto-kun," he mumbled, and then gasped. "Don't tell me… You're in love with your headband!"
Naruto spun around. "What?!"
"How scandalous," the raven muttered, slightly inching away. "I-If you want, I could get you some help…"
"I'M NOT IN LOVE WITH MY HEADBAND!"
"O-Okay. D-Don't get hostile." He bent over to Shikamaru, mock-whispering. "Studies show that ninja in love with their headbands are highly volatile and will snap at the drop of a hat. Please, Shikamaru-kun, be careful with this one."
"I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT VOLATILE MEANS!"
Just then, two kunoichi - Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino - burst through the door at the same time, screaming "GOOOAAAL!" and then starting to pant in exhaustion.
"I win again, Sakura," Ino claimed in a bitchy yet exhausted tone.
"What are you talking about? My toe entered the class before yours by a centimeter," Sakura retorted, smirking irritably at the blonde. Ino did the same.
"Are you blind?"
"Are you delusional?"
Ignoring the girls' banter, Kai turned around and allowed Naruto to stare at his crush. Shikamaru was already walking away to his seat. Kai inched closer to Sasuke and whispered to him quietly, "You should associate with your friends more."
"They're not my friends. I don't have such useless things," Sasuke mumbled, still looking straight at the board.
"Friends aren't useless, Sasuke-chan," he retorted softly, voice every bit of serious. Even though he still kept the humiliating honorific. "If I wasn't here… If Itachi-kun killed me-"
"Don't talk about him so familiarly!" Sasuke demanded, now turning away from the board and giving the other raven a hate-filled scowl. "He killed our family, so why don't you act like it?! Do you really not care?!"
Naruto turned away from staring at Sakura to look at the commotion, especially at hearing Sasuke's angry but quiet voice. The boy hardly said a word, so it had to be something important for him to talk like that.
Kai blinked, before looking away. "I care…"
"Just stop talking to me," Sasuke demanded, and with that, the argument was over. Sasuke was visibly fuming while Kai had a blank look on his face, both of them now staring at the board.
Confused, Naruto scratched his messy head, not really wanting to say anything. He may have been an idiot most of the time, but he knew when not to meddle - and now was a time to not meddle. He'd only interfere if it really became a problem.
As soon as Naruto turned back around, he was met face to face with Sakura. Not noticing the glare directed his way - Sakura was actually looking at him! - he jumped up and waved excitedly at the girl.
"Good morning, Sakura-cha-"
"Get out my way!" The girl demanded, pushing the blond on the wooden floor. Naruto yelped and hit his head on the wood, whining dejectedly. Smiling her best smile and bringing her hands together, Sakura ignored Naruto and looked straight at the two Uchiha. "G-Good morning, Kai-kun, Sasuke-kun."
"Good morning, Sakura," Kai droned, hardly giving the pinkette a glance. Sasuke flat out ignored her, still not in the best of moods.
"Can I sit next to you two?" She then asked in her sweetest voice.
"Sure," Kai mumbled, still sounding a bit distracted. He even forgot that Naruto was sitting there just a second ago.
Sakura practically gushed. If she had to pick between Kai and Sasuke on who to be with, she'd pick think about it for a while but pick Sasuke in the end. Not only has she known him longer, but she just loved his stoic nature. A smile from him would be the rarest thing in the world, and she'd literally gush if she were to see one.
Kai was attractive too, though, considering he was Sasuke's cousin. The only reason why she wouldn't pick him is because he acted too much like Naruto at times…
That little flaw could be quickly overlooked, though. If he would just ask her...
Blinking out of her thoughts (that usually ended with a nosebleed), she stammered out a "thank you" and moved to sit down. But just as quickly, Ino rushed beside her and grabbed her arm.
"Hey, I'm going to sit next to them!" She yelled, obviously not pleased that Sakura was trying to one-up her.
"First come first served," Sakura yelled back, pulling her arm away from Ino's grasp.
"I came into the classroom before you!"
"I did!" Another girl yelled, walking up to join the argument. She came in before both of them, so shouldn't she get to sit by the Uchiha boys?
"If that's the case, I did!"
"No, I did!"
"I'm going to sit next to Sasuke-kun!"
"I wanna sit next to Kai-kun!"
By then, almost every girl in class was fighting over who'd get to sit next to Kai and Sasuke, and all the boys were just dully watching in slight irritation. How come those two got all the girls' attention? How come no one fought to sit next to them?
How annoying, Sasuke thought about the raging girls. Were they deluded, or simply stupid? On the other hand, Kai was out of his daze and goading the girls on, standing on the desk and saying and doing totally unnecessary things.
"Come on, Sakura! You can do it! Fight for this seat to prove your love!" He would say, jumping up and down on the table.
And things like...
"Ino-chan, I heard that girl right there call you a big blonde bitch! Are you gonna take that?!"
And also irritating crap like...
"For those of you who really, really want to sit next to us, you could skip the fight and pay me a fee of one thousand ryō! It's not certain that you'll get the seat, but it does move you up on the list!"
After those statements - and some others that won't be mentioned - the girls were clawing at each other, screaming incredibly mean things about each other, and throwing money at the exuberant Uchiha boy.
Watching the scene on the Hokage's magical orb, all of the shinobi in the room were...speechless.
"Is...that boy really an Uchiha?" Kurenai mumbled to herself, but everyone heard.
"Yes. That's him. Uchiha Kai: the second best rookie of this year," Hiruzen informed, though they all already knew.
"They're both survivors of the massacre," Kurenai stated. No one said anything, but the same question popped up in everybody's head. Why were they the ones kept alive? They could conclude that Sasuke was kept alive because he was Itachi's brother...but why Kai? They weren't siblings, the age difference determined that they weren't friends - so why?
What made Kai so special? What made him more important than all the other kids his age that were slaughtered by Itachi?
As Kakashi stared at the orb, his eyes wouldn't leave off of Kai. The boy reminded him off somebody, someone he visited every day.
Obito...
When Iruka walked in the classroom to see most of the girls unconscious on the floor (Naruto trapped under them), Sakura sitting beside Kai with dry blood in her hair and bruises all over her body, and Kai putting a load of money in his wallet...he just sighed.
"Alright. Boys, pick these girls up and bring them to their seats. Naruto, do you need to go to the nurse? No? Then get up and sit down. Sakura, please stop cheering and go to the restroom to clean yourself up. Ino, please stop stomping and cursing and have a seat. And Kai, give those girls their money back. When everything is settled, I'll tell you all your next course of action."
"Yes, sensei!"
"Is you mad or nah?"
Umino Iruka cleared his throat - as he did before every speech - and began to talk. "Starting today, you're all official ninja, but you're all still new Genin. It's only going to get harder from here. You'll all be in a group of three, where you will accomplish missions under a Jōnin instructor."
That made the class perk up. A group of three?! All the girls obviously wanted to be paired up with Sasuke or Kai, while most of the boys just wanted to be with their friends.
"I wonder who's going to be in Kai-kun or Sasuke-kun's team," Ino mused to herself, loud enough for Sakura to hear. She was sitting on the row above the pinkette, but was still angry that she wasn't sitting by the Uchiha boys. After all that fighting...
"I don't know," Sakura answered, but inside a fire was burning. Damn it, I'm the one who's gonna team up with one of them, of course!
Meanwhile, Kai was whispering to Sasuke after hearing the brooding boy suck his teeth.
"Do you think we'll be in the same group, Sasuke-chan?" Kai asked curiously.
"Hopefully not," Sasuke answered, but he was lying. If it had to be anyone, then Kai was the best choice; the boy wasn't a useless weakling and Sasuke was already use to his idiocy.
First Sakura-chan, Naruto thought dully on who he'd want on his team. Then Kai. Yeah. That'd be the best team ever.
"We've arranged most of the groups so that overall ability is equivalent. There's also other factors that led us to choose these certain teams, but they more than likely don't apply to most of you all. Also, because of the uneven amount of students in this class, there'll be one group of four." Iruka cleared his throat again and held out the sheet of paper in his hand. "I will now announce the teams."
Kai's grin increased in size as Iruka named teams one through six. The other factors obviously applied to him and Sasuke being the only two Uchiha and not being much compatible with anyone else. And that was more true than not. Sasuke would probably grunt in dissatisfaction but stay on the team nonetheless, but Kai wouldn't stand not being on Team Seven with the main characters. He'd definitely throw a tantrum until he got what he wanted...
As an Uchiha, he had a reputation to uphold, though, so that'd be his last resort.
That group of four was definitely Naruto, Kai, Sakura, and Sasuke, though. He wouldn't have to throw a tantrum, because no other team would make sense with a group of four!
"Next, the seventh group," Iruka announced, and Kai bit the insides of his cheeks out of nervousness. Even though he was sure that he was right, anything could happen, and that made him a bit anxious. "Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura-"
"Yeah!" Naruto cheered happily from the row behind the two Uchiha and pinkette. He was ecstatic, but Sakura was in a totally opposite mood. I'm with Naruto..? She thought sadly.
Iruka allowed the interruptions and then continued. "-Uchiha Sasuke-"
"Yeah!" Sakura cheered, while Naruto copied Sakura's earlier mood. I'm with Sasuke..? He thought sadly.
"-and Uchiha Kai."
"WOOHOO!" Naruto, Sakura, and Kai all cheered at the same time. Sasuke just grunted, but the corners of his lips did twitch into a small smile for half a second.
Naruto was happy that he was with Sakura and Kai, but was a bit annoyed that he was also with Sasuke. Sakura was happy that she was Kai and Sasuke, but was a bit annoyed that she was also with Naruto. Sasuke was content with being on a team with Kai, even though he would never admit it, but he wasn't so pleased that he was with the dead last and the annoying fan-girl.
Kai was just glad that everything turned out just as expected.
"Next, eighth group," Iruka continued, annoyed at being interrupted but glad that Naruto was in a team he liked. "Hyūga Hinata-"
"Y-Yes!" The girl squeaked, a bit disappointed that she wasn't with Naruto but still wanting to know her future teammates.
"-Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino," Iruka finished. Kiba smirked while Shino simply pushed up his shades.
Content with just knowing her team, Sakura turned around and grinned victoriously at her rival. Ino glared at the pink haired girl, fuming.
"Not only do you get to be with Sasuke-kun, but Kai-kun, too?! Why?!" Ino demanded, furious. It just wasn't fair! It really wasn't fair at all!
Alright! Love prevails! Sakura thought happily, giving Ino the victory sign.
"Why do you girls like them so much?" Shikamaru asked Ino in his irritated voice. He really didn't understand it. Sasuke obviously wanted nothing to do with them, and Kai looked like he was just playing with their emotions a while ago. Did they not see these things?
"Don't you even know that, Shikamaru?" Ino asked, taking a jab at how he was supposed to be oh-so smart yet he couldn't understand why Kai and Sasuke were the hottest boys in the academy.
"I'm not a girl," was his blunt yet correct answer. Ino just stared at him in disbelief for a moment before sighing lethargically.
"That's why you're not popular," she said, musing to herself. "I wouldn't want to team up with a guy like you." In front of her, Kai stifled a chuckle.
"Tenth group," Iruka continued, smiling to himself. These groups were more or less perfect! "Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru-"
Ino's eyes widened in shock as Shikamaru simply smirked. "Looks like you'll have to team up with me."
"-and Akimichi Chōji," Iruka finished. The chubby boy in question was scarfing down chips in one of the first rows. He was happy that he was with Shikamaru, and Shikamaru did tell him that it was a good chance Ino would be in their group.
Ino, however, was devastated. First the lazy bum, then the fatty?! While Sakura got both the Uchiha to herself?! Life just wasn't fair sometimes...
Naruto snickered to himself. For him, it wasn't all that bad. Kai suddenly turned around and gave Naruto a flashy grin, which he returned full force. Sure, Sasuke was on his team, but so was Kai and Sakura. He didn't have much of a reason to complain, to be honest.
"I'm going to introduce the Jōnin teachers in the afternoon," Iruka explained, even more glad now that no one had an outburst about not liking their teams. "Meeting adjourned until then!"
End of Chapter One
Author's Notes: Alright. So... For those of you who read my other Naruto stories, you guys know how much angst and sadness and just unhappy things be in it nowadays, right? Well, I kinda wanted a break from that. And then after reading Naruto: The New Story (my first ever made Naruto story), I realized how happy and great everything usually was. It filled me with nostalgia, and I sorta wanted to, y'know, rewrite it. But wasn't that what I was doing with Grey Eyes? Initially... Until all this other stuff was thrown into it and now it's a completely different story from the original.
So, after doing my R.T.R, one of my awesome reviewers (DaOneInTheCorner) said he found a pattern in my stories. In Grey Eyes, Jalen is Naruto's best friend. In Muddied Orange, Sakura and Arashi are friends. And so now, in this story, Sasuke and Kai are cousins. I'll warn you now, this is mainly for fun. If some things don't make sense or just seem stupid to you, then there's a good chance that's how it's supposed to be. Like how Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and Kai are on the same team. That wouldn't happen realistically, but here? Yeah, it just did. I'm not pulling another Muddied Orange here.
So, this may be what you might call... A crack fic. Idk. I just needed a break from all the angst (and I'm sure you guys do, too) so this popped up. I, personally, like it... And I feel it'll do Naruto: The New Story justice unlike Grey Eyes (since it's turned into something unrecognizable).
Also, if you don't like for an OC to be an Uchiha, you can leave now. If you don't like for good things instead of bad things to happen to the OC, you can leave now. And if you just don't like this, you can leave now. This fic is for fun, not necessarily just to please you, though that'd be a nice bonus.
And also, people who beg for an update, please just stop. I don't mind people saying "update soon!" or things like that, but don't constantly bug me about it. Surprisingly, I have a life, too, and it does take quite a bit of time for me to make these chapters actually likable. Please, don't bug me about the updating schedule either, because I do have to study and do my homework and then make time for my friends and then for you guys (who I cherish just as much as my friends). It's pretty hard.
And I know I have other stories to update, but just because I do doesn't dictate that I can't write more. I love to write, and limiting me isn't really a good idea.
So! That rant seemed a bit depressing, but don't you guys worry about that! I still love you all! ^_^
Question of the Day: How do you guys feel about Kai? Like him? Hate him? Both? Answer in the reviews! Also, why do you think Kai was kept alive during the Uchiha Massacre? And lastly, do you have high expectations for this story?
(Don't worry, Muddied Orange Fans. That'll be the next thing I update, most likely sometime this week!)
Bye-nii~!