Chapter 3: Roka's Rival! (1,680 words)

The following days went by as smoothly as any team seven could possibly go, that is to say, not very. Kakashi was disappointed that his three walking triggers managed to be the first team to pass his test and could barely handle looking at his students for more than five minutes. They trained, they took D-rank missions, Naruto clambered for everyone's attention and tried to dispel the awkwardness that only he could feel, Sasuke looked down on everyone, and Roka was rather bland and obedient so far, the only moment regarding her that stood out in Kakashi's mind being when she shyly asked for two of his autographs, one for herself and one to bribe her… friend. Oh, and she also seemed to have gotten the true meaning of the bell test right before the timer rang. Other than that, she was practically mute for how infrequently she talked. It wasn't until more than a month later that everything came to a head.

Naruto yawned widely as he made it onto the dewy morning grass of the training grounds.

"Close your mouth, dobe, you'll catch flies like that." Sasuke quipped.

Snapping his mouth closed, Naruto glared at his taciturn teammate. "Hey! My breath doesn't smell that bad, I even brushed my teeth this morning."

Sasuke leaned against one of the training posts and rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Unfazed as ever by Sasuke's terrible attitude, Naruto perked up and started bouncing excitedly. "Hey, hey Sasuke! Wanna spar while we wait for the others? I'm so gonna beat your ass!"

"Tch, in your dreams." Sasuke smirked. "You're on."

Their playful banter continued as they made their way to the center of the field, until Sasuke stopped in his tracks. "Who is that?"

"Huh?" Naruto turned to look. Indeed, there in the middle of their training ground was a short-ish boy with brown hair and a light green tank top sitting cross-legged and wearing a blind-fold. "Oi! Who are you?" Naruto yelled. When the kid didn't respond, he ran up to him. "Hello?"

Sasuke spotted movement at the edge of the tree line and saw their third teammate begin to run over.

Naruto, sick of being ignored, shook the boy's shoulder, causing him to jolt in surprise and quickly remove his blindfold. Naruto tilted his head. "Who are you?"

The stranger blinked and then answered, "Dai. Who are you?" There was something off about his speech, Sasuke noted, and he spoke both aloud and in KonStan sign language. His spoken words were stilted, rehearsed sounding, but something about the tones and syllables was just off.

Ever the tactless one, Naruto decided it was a good idea to mention this. "You talk funny." He said, scratching his head: his head that was soon thereafter slapped by the newly arrived Roka.

"Dai is deaf, you obnoxious imbecilic lout! If you say one more insensitive thing to my little brother, I'll make you regret it!" She too spoke in KonStan Sign language when she yelled, Sasuke noted, but there were some words that he'd never learned in the academy. He could only assume that 'obnoxious imbecilic lout' wasn't a common phrase that needed to be silently transmitted often during missions.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise at their usually quiet kunoichi's angry outburst. "Wha-?! I'm sorry! I didn't know!" Turning back to Dai he shouted, "Are you really deaf? You can't hear me?"

"Uzumaki..." Roka uttered in warning, but Dai's hand on her shoulder stopped her from going further.

"Roka! It is okay. He's just curious." He said in his garbled speech.

Indeed, Naruto was curious, "How can you tell what I'm saying?" He asked eagerly.

"I can read your lips." Dai answered proudly. "Roka-nee has to sign when she's wearing her mask though."

"That's so cool!" Naruto enthused, causing Dai to smile. "But why were you wearing a blindfold earlier?"

"Roka-nee was helping me work on my chakra sense. I can't be a ninja until it's good enough so that it can make up for my lack of hearing." Dai rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "I still need work though since you guys could sneak up on me."

Roka patted his head. "You'll get there," she said then paused, tensing. Under her breath she muttered "damn it. Why the hell's he here?"

Just as she spoke a new figure entered the clearing. Sauntering up to the group, a pale older boy with messy black hair covering most of his face slung an arm over the suddenly hesitant looking Dai. The newest arrival's beige hoodie was left unzipped and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, mesh under-armor underneath accentuating the muscle tone in his forearms and chest. Glancing at Naruto and Sasuke respectively, the newcomer nodded. "Well if it isn't Uzumaki and the 'last' Uchiha." He said sardonically, causing Sasuke to bristle and narrow his eyes. "Wind and lighting/fire affinity, huh? That's an interesting combo."

"Stop showing off Ryusuke." Roka grumbled, still signing while she talked for Dai's benefit.

Naruto looked confused. "Eh? What are you talking about?"

Completely ignoring him, the older boy turned to her and gave an impression of raising an eyebrow behind his curtain of hair. "You don't mean to say you couldn't sense their chakra natures?" He asked in mock surprise. "That's unexpected. As the SAF's 'top sensor'," here his voice turned bitter and dubious, "one would think that you'd be able to perform such an easy task."

"Why are you here?" Roka asked flatly. "I told you not to come bother me and my teammates."

"Then again," he continued, "I was rather dubious that was why they chose you over me."

"Is that what this is about? Even if I weren't on this team, you wouldn't be either." Roka told him. She was still sore from their last confrontation regarding her team placement, figuratively and literally, and she wasn't really keen on a rematch.

"Ugh! What's going on?" Naruto whined. "Who are you, and why are you as much of a jerk as Sasuke-teme?"

The black haired boy growled softly. "I'm Ryusuke, idiot. Try listening to what's going on around you for once, it might help your brain from collapsing."

"Oi!" Naruto shouted indignantly. "I'll show you-!" But his attempted launch at Ryusuke was stalled as Sasuke grabbed the back of his jacket.

"What are you doing here?" Roka asked again.

Tightening his grip possessively around Dai's shoulders, Ryusuke said, "I think what's more important is what you are doing here with my kohai."

"He's my friend too-!" Roka protested until Dai cut in.

"She was training me. Helping with my chakra sense so I can still fight in the dark or if something gets in my eyes."

The older boy frowned down at him for a moment. Eventually he spoke, derision evident in his voice. "Thanks for trying to help Murasaki, but leave it to someone who is actually from our division."

Naruto, his anger momentarily forgotten in the face of curiosity asked, "Division? You mean like class? Hey! Are you from that other ninja school that Roka is from?"

Ryusuke scoffed, "I'm sure a General Forces genin wouldn't know, but the Special 'A' Forces works a bit differently."

The kunoichi of team seven crossed her arms "Stop pea-cocking Ryusuke. We all know what the 'A' stands for." She said.

"We do?" Naruto asked.

"Accommodations." Roka nearly spat. "Now why are you here Ryu?"

"What, does a big brother need a reason to visit his little sister?" He mocked.

"I'm not your sister." Roka retorted acidly.

"Oh? But isn't the SAF a great big family? Didn't I just hear you squealing to the world that Dai was your little brother?"

"I wasn't squealing." She growled.

"Yeah? What do you know? It sure sounded like squealing to me."

"Ugh, just go away, Ryu!"

"Ugh, just go away Ryu!" He mimicked her whining tone.

Sasuke, not quite as amused as Naruto was at seeing their usually silent teammate squabble with her rival/big brother figure, decided to cut in for more information. Something was bothering him and he wanted it clarified. "What are those divisions you were talking about?" He demanded.

Ryusuke cocked his head in Sasuke's direction. "The SAF has four main divisions. Dai and I are from the Sensory Division, which just so happens to have the highest rate of members who move on to join the general forces and go onto Jonin track." He said smugly. "Then there's the Physical Division for those with atypical bodies or are amputees, and lastly, the medical anomalies." He sneered. "That's the division Roka's from. Someone from there getting onto Jonin track is almost unheard of."

"Really?" Naruto asked eagerly. "You must be really cool to make it then!"

Roka didn't answer, merely clenching her fists.

"Yeah, suuure." Ryusuke elongated, "It's super cool. It even has an awesome nickname that people secretly call it."

"Ryusuke." Roka warned, hands beginning to spasm.

Behind his hand he stage whispered, "It's also known as the freaks of nature class."

"Stop it!" Roka growled.

"You don't want to know why she has to cover up like that. Stuff gives you nightmares." Ryu joked. Dai began to look uneasy, glancing between Roka and Ryu like he expected one of them to instantaneously combust.

"Shut. Up." Roka hissed.

Heedless of her anger, or rather, because of it, Ryusuke continued, "She really only got onto your team because the higher ups felt bad for her. Or just wanted to get rid of her. Her own mother can only bear to see her freakish face once a year you know. We've all hoped that she'd die some point in our lives, so try to lose her on some mission, okay? Maybe then you could replace her with someone who's actually useful, like me. Sorry you had to be settled with such a burden in the meantime."

"Dai. Move." Roka signed, with hands shaking from fury, shame and embarrassment.

Barely waiting for Dai to duck out of the way, she flung a kunai as hard as she could at Ryu.

Notes:

So now the boys get to see fury from our timid little mouse. Fight! What do you think is going to happen? Let me know in a review!

Acronyms to remember:

SAF= Special Accommodations Force, sometimes shortened to Special 'A' Force

MAD= Medical Anomalies Division

PID= Physical Impairment Division, sometimes shortened to Physical Division or Physical

SID= Sensory Impairment Division, sometimes shortened to Sensory Division or Sensory

NMP= New Military Police

KonStan= Konoha Standard (referring to sign language)

Next time, on Welcome to the MAD House: Bite of the Blind Dragon!