Katsuobushi - Chapter 1
When thirteen-year-old Uchiha Sasuke arrived at Team 7's usual meeting spot and failed to spot either of his annoying teammates, he knew something was amiss. The blond ball of vexatious energy was usually the last one to arrive at their scheduled meetings, but pink-haired Sakura was almost definitely the first to arrive every time, usually waiting patiently for her crush to show up so she could fawn over how good his hair looked, or how nice his clothes were, barring the fact that Sasuke wore the same self-prescribed attire every single day.
The annoying girl was most definitely not around.
What caused Sasuke to raise his eyebrows even higher was the fact that their Jōnin team captain and closet pervert Hatake Kakashi was leaning against a nearby tree, his exposed eye closed and his hands in his pockets, as though waiting for his arrival. Kakashi, as high-ranking as he was amongst the ninjas of Kohonagakure, was most decidedly not a punctual person. Arriving at their designated meeting spot at the correct time was nowadays merely a formality, with their team leader once making them wait for a grueling three hours before showing up just to say that he had nothing for them to accomplish that day. As much as he respected the man's abilities, Sasuke had a remarkably low opinion of his sensei's lazy personality and shoddy work ethic.
Kakashi opened his one unshielded eye upon sensing his student's presence and threw out his usual greeting.
"Yo."
"Hn."
As expected from the littlest Uchiha.
Sasuke's innate superiority complex was evident in the way he addressed his superior, his body rigid and upright, his arms crossed firmly over his chest, his expression a mix of haughtiness and nonchalance that was, as far as Kakashi could remember amongst all who he had gotten to know during his lifetime, unique to the Uchiha clan. The black haired boy appeared to be trying to stare down a ninja superior to him in both age and skill, and if any other ninja aside from Hatake Kakashi had tried to match the sole survivor of the Uchiha massacre in a staring contest, they would likely have yielded immediately after being sufficiently intimidated by the boy's cold onyx eyes.
Kakashi, however, was far too used to Sasuke's presence to be remotely affected and far too lazy to give a damn.
After a few tense and unnecessary minutes in his attempted dominant position, Sasuke sighed and uncrossed his arms, breaking eye contact with Kakashi with slight chagrin. Beneath his black mask, Kakashi smirked at his young charge's small pout, his mirth reflected in the crinkles around his eyes.
"What's the mission today, Kakashi-sensei?"
"No mission today, Sasuke. Naruto is unwell and is in no condition to participate in any missions. Since our group is incomplete there doesn't seem to be much point in trying to do anything, so I've already sent Sakura home…"
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. The very idea of Uzumaki Naruto being taken ill seemed contradictory to its very core. As much as Sasuke hated to admit it, Naruto's constitution was even better than his own. He had seen Naruto walk away from severe, sometimes life-threatening injuries. Especially considering how overly and annoyingly enthusiastic Naruto was about missions, he must have been stricken by a truly dangerous illness for him to call in sick. Sasuke honestly didn't care much about Dead Last, but if they were to be a proper team, he supposed it would be obligatory for him to show at least a smidge of concern.
"What's he sick with?"
"The flu."
Sasuke scoffed. He had expected something far more dramatic.
"Typical of the dobe to get sick with something so mundane."
"Hey hey, the flu can be quite dangerous, y'know."
"I've gotten it before. Didn't hurt me. The dobe's making excuses."
"I visited him earlier this morning. It appears that he's too weak to even get out of bed. It's a strange sight, seeing him nearly bedridden instead of bouncing off the walls and ceilings. I even offered to buy him ramen if he could follow me to our meeting spot, but he was too dizzy and feverish to even get up."
"Hn. Like I care."
Kakashi grinned at the boy's bid at indifference. Those who didn't know the little Uchiha well enough might have been fooled by his upturned nose, his blasé posture and uncaring air, but then again, Kakashi of the Sharingan was far too acute and far too experienced in analysing the mannerisms of Uchiha Sasuke to fall for such simple tricks of body language. The slight worry that Kakashi could see in Sasuke's atramentous eyes were the one flaw that he didn't manage to hide, a small chink in his facade of an armor that revealed his true emotions.
Sasuke was actually worried about Naruto.
"You know I can tell when you're lying, Sasuke-kun. You're actually concerned about Naruto, aren't you?"
Sasuke didn't answer his sensei's question, but from the light blush on his cheeks and the cold glare that he was throwing upwards at his significantly taller teacher, it appeared that Kakashi had hit his mark. Kakashi was practically glowing at his successful figurative prodding at Sasuke's aloof exterior. Making Sasuke break character was way too fun an opportunity to pass up. Kakashi was tempted to ruffle Sasuke's hair to make fun of him even further, but upon consideration of the potential repercussions, he decided that risking losing his hand via an Uchiha Bite just wasn't worth it.
A very naughty idea then popped into his head, Kakashi barely concealing his delight at the opportune situation.
"I want you to go and visit Naruto."
Sasuke's expression darkened considerably, if that was even possible. Of all the things that he could be doing on a mission-less day, namely training, exercise and more training, visiting a sick dobe held nearly no appeal to him.
"Sensei, I'm not interested in visiting-"
"He's your teammate, Sasuke."
"He's my teammate for missions, we're not exactly friendly with each other outside of-"
"He needs somebody to care for him. I don't think having him alone at home is a very good idea."
"Then fucking visit him yourself!"
A normal sensei would have smacked his normal student on the head for swearing at him, but Kakashi, Sasuke and their teacher-student dynamic were most definitely not normal. Instead, Kakashi merely smiled at the thirteen-year-old's outburst, said thirteen-year-old trying hard to burn his teacher with his gaze alone.
"I have things to do. The, er, Hokage has called all the Jōnin together for an...emergency meeting."
"Liar!"
"Oh will you look at the time. I need to go now. All the best, Sasuke-kun. Tell Naruto-kun I said hi."
Kakashi didn't even bother to make his tone more convincing before he vanished in a puff of smoke, his lie sounding almost as lazy as his personality.
Sasuke felt his eye start to twitch, unsure of what was exactly making him angrier, the fact that his sensei has thrust upon him what was rightfully his own duty, or the fact that he would actually have to spend time with a sickly and snivelling dobe. If Naruto's personality when he was healthy was any indication, he was going to be infinitely more intolerable when he was sick. Just as the idea of simply not going over to Naruto's place popped into his head, Kakashi, as though reading his mind, reappeared on the tree next to him.
"Oh yes, Sasuke-kun, make sure you don't blow off my instructions, yes? If you do, I will know. And if you do, I'll be sure to give Sakura-chan a copy of your house key so she can come and go as she pleases. It'll make a very good upcoming birthday present for her, don't you think?"
And just to add insult to injury, Kakashi took advantage of Sasuke's momentary speechlessness at his threat to run his hand through Sasuke's thick, black hair, messing it up considerably before quickly extracting it and giving the rapidly fuming boy a wink.
"Don't let me down, Sasuke-kun!"
Another puff of smoke, and he was gone.
Sasuke stood alone at Team 7's designated meeting spot for a few minutes, trying his best to contain his anger. It appeared that there was now one other man that he had to kill. As his clenched fists continued to shake despite his best efforts to calm himself, he let out a feral growl towards the sky and cursed the heavens.
"God fucking DAMMIT!"
Author's Note - Hello all! I'm new to this fandom, and this will be my first (and hopefully not last) work here. This is going to be a relatively short story that'll be completed in a few chapters, which is a good idea, cause I'm usually quite fickle when it comes to large story ideas.
This chapter was more of a setup for the main idea than anything, I'll be having more fun in the next few chapters. I hope you guys enjoyed this nonetheless.
Reviews appreciated.
~SUITELIFEFAN