History As We Know It
"One Aburame Misaki is more than enough mistake. I will not have another Aburame forsaking tradition only to be buried early. You, more than Aburame Misaki's daughter, are my, Aburame Koto's, successor and granddaughter. Never forget this."
—Aburame Koto to Aburame Koumi.
Chapter 1: Alternate Choice
Disclaimer: I own only the OCs.
The view of his beloved village is spread beneath the window of his office. From time to time, he can spot few shinobi taking the rooftop-routes where they jump from one to another, a classic sight in a Hidden Village such as this wizened gaze watches over the village he has sworn to protect, her each people precious beyond measure. And today he will have another generation of protectors, inheritors of the Will of Fire, the very hope of Konohagakure.
Sandaime Hokage remembers last night's event vividly, when the Yondaime's legacy finally learns of his burden, of his heroic sacrifice. The boy is young, only twelve-years of age. Still naïve, oblivious of what the word shinobi truly meant. Over a decade of peace allows this generation to grow up without feeling the tensions of wars, a generation he wishes will continue to the next and so on. Even without being ironed through blood trials, Will of Fire burns brightly in the heart of the upcoming genins.
Especially in one Uzumaki Naruto.
The boy hasn't had a very good life. Hiruzen might even say the boy doesn't know what exactly constitutes a good life. His heart aches every time he thinks of his grandson in anything but the Hokage, he can't hold any bias, not allowed to favour one over another. But he can't help it when it comes to the boy. He has suffered so much under the village he is meant to protect, the village he has protected the very moment he was born.
This time, he will allow himself to favour the boy just a little bit more. A Genin Team holds only a short while but it lasts forever more. As per his job, Sandaime Hokage has the responsibility to oversee the final team selectionof graduating students. Most of the teams are complete, one is exceptionally challenging. Uzumaki Naruto will be in the same team as Uchiha Sasuke, which is non-negotiable. The jōnin in charge would be Hatake Kakashi and the team would be Team 7, as a tribute to the Yondaime Hokage.
Which brings him to his latest dilemma: the kunoichi of Team 7.
Two files containing the profile of two young girls graduating this year are displayed on his work desk. One shows the picture of a sweet, loveable female with a stunning cherry-blossom hair and sparkling gem-like emerald eyes. The other picture has an unremarkable brown-haired female and almost-nostalgic golden-yellow eyes.
Haruno Sakura and Aburame Koumi.
Their chūnin instructor, Umino Iruka, has noted that these two girls in particular are excellent in their control over chakra, a marking of future genjutsu-user and future iryō-nin. Both girls are theoretically advanced with high memorisation capabilities and intellectual level. Taijutsu is their shared weakness, the lack of fire-power over their otherwise flawless kata forms.
In paper, these two females resemble each other so much that it is hard to make the choice. It isn't very much so in real life where the village's interests is in play.
Haruno Sakura is a civilian-born and raised. Her parents having been chūnin before their retirement. Sakura has no clan-backing, no unique family techniques to speak of: a paper-white genin many jōnin would be interested in forming.
Aburame Koumi is a clan-born and raised. Her father making a chūnin and mother a jōnin. Koumi has the Aburame's backing, no kikaichu in her but the clan's iryō-ninjutsu training under Aburame Koto, the world's second-best iryō-nin after Tsunade: a specifically trained kunoichi.
Simply considering the clan, Sandaime Hokage favours Aburame Koumi over Haruno Sakura. Any other times he would have chosen the latter—what's with the fondness the blond boy has for the girl—but this involves his surrogate grandson who has suffered and the Uchiha boy who has lost so much in addition to a still-hurting ex-ANBU. All three boys who Sandaime Hokage has failed and in desperate need of something to tie them firmly to Konoha.
The current Team 7 with only the three boys can be called dysfunctional at best. Hatake Kakashi has little connections to the village other then his sparse more-peers-than-friends, Uchiha Sasuke refuses everyone and Uzumaki Naruto is rejected by most. Hiruzen needs them to be connected to the village more than ever due to their special positions: a jinchūriki, the Last Uchiha and Yondaime Hokage's only surviving of which Konoha can afford to lose.
Between the choice of a civilian-born kunoichi with the potentials of an excellent iryō-nin and a clan-born kunoichi with partly-realised potentials as an iryō-nin, Hiruzen inevitably favours the latter.
"I hope my decision is the correct solution..." Hiruzen sighs as he picks up the files depicting a brown-haired girl and slips it into a folder titled 'Team 7' while the other file enters the folder of 'Team 3'.
And so, history as we know it begins to change.
[(-O-)]
It is exactly a week after the Graduation when the newly-minted genins are recalled to assemble in the class they have been studying in for years. Soon, a chūnin instructor they are familiar with will stride in and announce the team they are assigned to. Finally, the jōnin teacher that they will begin their real shinobi trainingfrom will come to pick them up and hopefully starts to train them into a powerful shinobi straight away.
In the meantime though, several events begin to unfold in the midst of the twenty-seven graduates under the watchful eyes of the Sandaime Hokage and the jōnins that would soon take them under their wings should they prevail, starting with a surprising presence of a certain blonde-haired boy who managed to earn his hitai-ate through some unknown means other then the Graduation Test, followed by the noisy entrance of two kunoichi in-training who were once the best of friends, which led to a chaotic riot between at least ninety-eight percent of the female population in the class over a seat next to the best rookie of the year.
The highlight of the day has to be when after shoving aside an overly-friendly blonde-haired boy towards a certain pink-haired girl, said boy becomes highly irritated and angered by the raven-haired boy sitting with his two hands clasped together as he waits in silence despite the noises around him, the blonde then climbs over the table to squat and glare at his long-time rivalwhich sparks lightning between the two, neither willing to back down. Not until an unintentional push from the back caused the blonde to fall forward and locked in a shocking kiss with the boy he dislikes so much.
With both boys heaving heavily, trying hard to keep breakfast in their stomaches as they swore vengeance on the other for the horrible experience, the group of kunoichi who isn't at all pleased with the unexpected occurrence, thus lashes out on the unfortunate blond who has destroyed the fantasies of their delicate hearts. As such, the conclusion before their chūnin instructor, Umino Iruka has entered the classroom is one bruised black-and-blue, Uzumaki Naruto.
Of course, the show continues on as Iruka announces to the his former students, their current status within the village and what would be expected of them.
"From now on, you all will be grouped into a three-man cell and under a jōnin-sensei, you will be completing the missions assigned to you," Iruka, or the man often affectionately referred to as Iruka-sensei by his students, carefully enunciates his words.
Apparently, the word 'three-man cell' becomes the focus point for several of the genins. Some are fighting for the position in a team consisting a certain raven-haired rookie of the year, one despises the fact that there will be others dragging his feet and a certain delusional blonde wishes for the presence of his crush on his team.
"We have arranged the teams such that overall abilities are equivalent," Iruka continues, one hand waving out the few papers he has that listed out the names of students and the teams they are in. Said papers eventually garners the interests of the seated genins who are restless, wanting to know their placements as quickly as possible.
Having experienced being a newly-graduated genin once himself, Iruka knows the wait could be frustrating. Thus he doesn't prolong the suspense as he begins to list out names after names and the teams they belong to. With twenty-seven genins, that makes nine three-man cells.
"I will now announce them. Team One—"
From Team 1 to Team 6, skipping over Team 4, there are now twelve more genins that have yet a team. For a certain pink-haired kunoichi, her name has long been called under Team 3, followed by a gloating Yamanaka Heiress and a hair-pulling action of said frustrated girl, her Inner-self has exploded due to the unwanted result. The other blonde in the class has sulked upon discovering his dream of being in the same team as his crush is literally crushed.
"Team 7: Uzumaki Naruto, Aburame Koumi and Uchiha Sasuke."
Despite having known the one girl in his team won't be the the girl he pines for, Naruto can't help but stand up and hollers when he heard the two people in his team.
"She's not Sakura-chan!" Naruto yells out indignantly, his index finger pointed accusingly at his beloved Iruka-sensei, whose temple is now sporting a tick mark of his irritation and a sign of soon-to-be explosion if the boy doesn't back off in the next three seconds.
Not yet finished and easily ignoring the growing ire of the spiky-haired instructor, Naruto begins to look around the classroom, a question spilling out of his lips as he did so, "We have someone like that?"
Obviously, the boy is not aware which one of his classmates and now-teammate is Aburame Koumi. The awkward boy that he is, he fails to realise his inquiry serves to dampened the mood of the named girl upon realising that sharing the same class for four years does nothing to make her presence known to her teammates.
For now however, it appears she has to announce her existence so the boy is aware of her before Iruka-sensei explodes, which judging from the tightening of his fist on the papers, will be initiated within seconds.
"I'm here, Naruto-kun," Aburame Koumi raises her hand, revealing her position as she sits herself between her two friends throughout the Academy: Hyūga Hinata, her best friend, and Aburame Shino, her distant cousin.
Her intervention thankfully delays the explosion that is Iruka-sensei and Naruto directs his wide blue eyes towards the unassuming brown-haired and golden-eyed girl—Sakura-chan's way prettier!—he finds her easily, but his impressions of her isn't the best. He wants Sakura-chan in his team!
Besides, she seems quiet. And...boring, Naruto can't help thinking disappointedly before he returns to his seat with his shoulders slumped forward, seemingly depressed.
On the other side of the classroom, Koumi can't help her own slight dejection at the obvious disappointment from her teammates because she isn't the one he clearly wants to be. She knows that she is not Haruno Sakura and she can't be the pink-haired kunoichi, but...
"I-It's okay, Kou-chan. N-Naruto-kun didn't mean a-anything bad. Y-You are a-amazing, Kou-chan!" Hinata, the sweet girl she is, softly consoles her best friend, her shy stutters remains even after four years of befriending each other, but her heart is as kind as ever.
Shino is more practical in offering his consolation, "Naruto is behaving illogically. You ought to ignore his blatant dismissal, he doesn't know better. Nazenara, you are the best iryō-nin in our generation, Koumi."
Koumi feels a smile coming to her face as she listens to her friends' encouragements. It warms her knowing her hardwork are noticed and appreciated, even when few are aware of them. If her teammates are not amongst these few, then she just has to do something about it, right? There is time for them to know each other as teammates.
"En," she hums, a small smile adorning her snow-like countenance. "Thank you, Hina-chan, Shino-kun," she gazes into the eyes of her two friends (although one has his clan's trademark sunglasses on), clear appreciation in her golden eyes.
Now that Naruto is settled, Iruka continues to announce the teams, "Team 8: Hyūga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino."
Having been friends for a long while now, Hinata is undoubtedly delighted Shino is in the same team as her, although she is a bit disappointed that she is not with Naruto-kun...
"Y-Yoroshiku ne, Shino-kun," Hinata manages to stutter out with a small smile, to which Shino nods his assent wordlessly.
Behind the two members of Team 7, Yamanaka Ino is lamenting the fact that the one girl who is with Sasuke-kun is one of the two girls who doesn't adore the raven-haired boy. And although she is thankful that this means she will have less to worry about this Aburame Koumi snatching her Sasuke-kun from her, she is still frustrated that it isn't her in his team.
As Ino voices out her complains, her deskmate and longtime childhood friend, Nara Shikamaru, comments on her obsessiveness with the Uchiha, which he fails to comprehend. This leads to the blonde girl declaring that she wouldn't want to be in the same team as him, which of course when the last team, Team 10, is announced, turns into an irony. Worst of all, her other teammates is her other longtime childhood friend.
"Team 10: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chōji."
Iruka thus concludes the team assignment, "That's it for the teams."
[(-O-)]
Now that Iruka-sensei is finished with his announcement, Naruto decides it's a good time as any to yells out his complains, which he does without so much as second thoughts of what would occur if he does.
"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto stands up as soon as the chūnin is done, his one finger pointing at his rival, "Why is Sakura-chan is in different team?! And why is a top-student like me in the same team with this guy?!"
Already, his wish of being in a team with Sakura-chan is not granted, now he even have to be in the same team as Sasuke-teme?! No way he is accepting this!
Iruka-sensei doesn't appear pleased with his questions, but he answers anyway, bluntly and to the points.
"Sasuke graduated with the highest scores," Iruka intones calmly. Then with his hands on his hips and slightly leaning forward, the instructor stares straight into his eyes and he can't help but gulp because he can see this is not going to be good for him.
"Naruto... you are the dobe!"
Iruka-sensei isn't finished, ignoring the ridiculing laughtersof his classmates, he continues, "To evenly divide abilities between teams, obviously this has to be done!"
Grr! Naruto grits his teeth hard, not wanting to believe he loses in terms of awesomeness to his rival. There's no way he is weaker than Sasuke-teme!
"Don't pull my leg. Dobe," Sasuke mocks him, not even gracing him a glance as he did so.
"What did you say?!" Naruto bellows out in anger, his fist ready to strike any moments now.
Sasuke isn't done with his provocations, "You want to fight? Dobe?"
Dobe. Dobe. Dobe!
He is not a dobe!
Sasuke-teme!
"I'm not a dobe! Teme, you—"
"Stop it, Naruto!" Sakura finally has had enough, her tone hardening as she calls out his name.
Sakura-chan... Naruto can't help the dejection when his crush is supporting his rival instead of him. Why not him?
"S-Sorry, Sakura-chan," he says in the end. In front of Sakura-chan, he just can't deny her. Even when she is doing it for Sasuke-teme.
Laughters aside, Iruka can't help sighing at the behaviour of his favourite student. He knows he can't have a favourite as an instructor, but to Umino Iruka, he as himself, Uzumaki Naruto is the one student he has the closest relations with and the one whose future he looks forward to most. Anticipation fills his chest as he surveys each and every of his students, they are the first class he is responsible for as a chūnin instructor and they are definitely one of the most memorable. He will miss them, everyone of them.
Sighing, he finally tells them the next instruction, "I'm going to introduce the jōnin-sensei in the afternoon. Meeting adjourned until then!"
[(-O-)]
Students are beginning to filter out of the classroom, many of them are already grouping together with their teammates, probably to get to know each other better so they can work better as a team. It is a sound idea, so it's no surprise when Hinata and Shino are getting up to invite their other teammate, Inuzuka Kiba, the boy with red-fang marks in his cheeks and a white small ninken, to a lunch. Hinata has a hard time getting the words out however, and Shino is particularly stingy with his words.
The two tried including Koumi into their team-lunch, but she doesn't want to bother them now that she has her own teammates and it is the best time to get to know them better like the others are doing, so she waves them goodbyes for now.
"I-I'll see you l-later, Kou-chan," Hinata keeps looking back at her friend, worried. With how Naruto has behaved previously and how Sasuke is known to be, it will be difficult for her.
Koumi nods, her home-made bento on hand as she watches her two friends walk out the classroom with their teammate. Shino is concerned enough to send her an encouraging nod and it never fails to cheer her up. Unfortunately though, she realises her two teammates are no longer here and she has no idea where they are at the moment.
"...Why must they be so quick with their exits?" Koumi sighs to herself. She stands up and heads towards the academy's canteen to get two convenience-bought bento, one for Naruto-kun and one for Sasuke-kun.
Even when the two boys are not aware of her existence, Koumi knows the them well enough. Naruto is the one kid that the whole village has an odd reaction to, he rarely has himself a good meal as he is an orphan and he doesn't appear to be well-off since the Orphan's Funds are barely enough for them to go by unless their parents left them some inheritances. She knows he may not be able to afford himself lunch, so she may as well buy him one.
Sasuke... his situation is truly a tragedy. Having lost not only his parents but his whole clan in one single night to an older brother he used to adore is a nightmare she will never wish even upon her biggest enemy. While the raven-haired boy can be considered wealthy, he is hardly the best in taking care of himself and it shows.
The two of them... they need someone to take care of them.
And as an iryō-nin, Koumi knows she can help them. It may not be the best solution, but she can make it better. They are a team now, so she can get involved, right?
These thoughts filled her head as Koumi bought the bentos and began her search for her two teammates. It is hard to locate the two as one of them is a skilled genin and the other is an infamous prankster, even when they didn't try hiding their presences.
The first one she finds is the orange-clothed boy with hair the colour of the sun, he seems to be looking for someone or something himself, his heads turning left and right as he walks around.
"Naruto-kun!" Koumi calls out as she jogs over to him, he pauses in his search as he turns to face her.
"You... Aburame Koumi, right?" Naruto hesitates a bit, not really remembering the girl. At her nod though, he knows he mentions her name right at least.
"Naruto-kun," she stops a few steps away from him, a plastic bag containing three bento: one home-made and two store-bought, behind her back, "Do you want to have lunch together? With Sasuke-kun too."
Naruto appears surprised at her invitation, seemingly not expecting her toinvite him of all people to a lunch. Sasuke, he can understand even when he doesn't want to, but him? That's... new. He wants to say 'yes!' but then he remembers that he is supposed to be asking Sakura-chan to a lunch! Especially now that they are not in the same team.
"Sorry, I'm looking for Sakura-chan right now. We're not in the same team, so I want at least one lunch together with Sakura-chan!" Naruto scratches the back of his head, a sheepish grin on his face. Then he turns around and begins to run, continuing his search.
"Maybe next time, Koumi!" Naruto yells out as he departs, disappearing into the distance, not staying another second to listen to the words the brunette is about to say with her half-opened mouth.
It will be a lie to say if she is not the slightest bit dejected, after all, it appears she really is not welcomed as a teammate.
"...Naruto-kun said no, will Sasuke-kun say yes?" Koumi is very doubtful of that result, but she has to try because it won't be fair if she dismisses the chance when she has yet to try.
Where can Sasuke-kun be? Koumi wonders as her feet take her around the Academy, she knows that the Uchiha doesn't like to socialise in general and is likely to be somewhere others can't easily find him. At times like this, she can't help but think if only she inherits her clan's kekkei genkai, how easy would it be to track others?
Eventually, Koumi finds Sasuke walking towards the other side of the building where it is particularly deserted around this time. She almost can't help the sparkles in her golden-eyes as she finally finds him! She hurriedly hides them though, that way the other boy won't mistake her delight in finding him as her adoring him like most of their female classmates.
"Sasuke-kun!" Koumi calls out, effectively stopping his walk for a brief second, a thrown glance in her direction as she jogs over to him, before he continues onwards without a word.
"Wait! I just want to ask if you want to have lunch together. I tried asking Naruto-kun too, but..." Koumi follows after him, expecting a reply even if it is not a yes. He remains silent as he ignores her however, so that prompts her to say more of her intention.
"It's so we can know each other better, we are a team now, so..." Koumi continues to explain, she wants to try to convince him more, but at that moment, Sasuke stops walking.
Sasuke doesn't turn around to face her, but he stops and says, "I don't need a team."
Then he just walks away.
Koumi can only watch as her other teammate reject her invitation, not unlike before. It's only when she can't see him anymore that she sighs and turns to walk back to her classroom.
"Naruto-kun says no, Sasuke-kun says no..." Koumi whispers sadly, her head slightly hung low. "Can we be a good team?"
From how things are going, the likely answer is another 'no'.
So yeah, how is it?
Reviews are very much appreciated!
I know I'm not supposed to start another story, but as of now, anything KnB-related I have little ideas to go on with. I need to restock some inspirations? Blue Sky, I'm a bit lost on how to continue. So for the time being, this comes out. And I have pretty much settled the directions of this story.
Aburame Koumi is not fully introduced in this chapter, there will be more in-depth description on her characteristics in the next chapter!
Thank you!