Chapter Three: News Broken! Not Genin?

Team 6 stood in a tense silence as the three genin—or rather, the academy students stared up at Himitsu, still having issues with understanding the circumstances to their situation. The jounin cleared her throat as she avoided their gazes, the sky suddenly seeming rather fascinating to her.

"Well?" Koji snapped, his patience now extremely thin. His hard gaze met his sensei's as the woman tried to find the best way to describe the situation to the three children.

"…Ok, here's the thing," she began. "Even though you guys are technically 'graduated'…well, how do I say this without breaking your hearts?" the kunoichi asked herself, the three kids staring at her with anxious and annoyed gazes. Taking a deep breath, Himitsu crossed her arms and began. "Even though 30 of you graduated from the academy, in reality, only 12 of you guys are actually going to become genin. Whoever doesn't make the cut will ultimately end up going back to the academy…" Himitsu trailed off and took a moment to evaluate how the genin were doing. Each had their own expression of confusion and frustration on their faces.

"…Oh! And there probably only a…10% chance you guys will actually pass and become real genin." And when she looks back on it, she always wonders if she should have left that little bit out.

Hana stared off into the distance as Ichi crumbled, losing any self-control he had; there was no stopping the waterworks. Koji seemed to be handling the news rather well out of the three, though it was hard to say since he rarely showed any sort of emotion on his face from the time Himitsu had met him.

Taking a subtle step back, the 24 year old smiled bashfully as she locked her hands behind her back. "Well, if you guys don't have any questions, I'll see you tomorrow morning! Don't forget, 8 o'clock sharp! And bring your ninja gear!" And without a second of hesitation, Himitsu had disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The three friends sat in the aftermath of the cruel awakening before Koji stood to his feet. Hana and Ichi watched him carefully before his hands balled up into fists and an almost comical expression of anger came over him.

"What the hell just happened?!"

Taking a deep breath, Himitsu walked into her home, shutting the door softly behind herself. She immediately made her way to her couch as she took a seat and laid down, stretching and shaking her head. "Well, glad that's over."

"I'm sure it went well," she heard a voice say, causing her to quirk an eyebrow up, Kakashi walking out of her kitchen and setting his half-empty glass of tea on the ottoman in front of the couch. Himitsu narrowed her eyes at him as she watched the man take a seat beside her, his visible eyes glued to the page of his book he was reading. She let her mind catch up to her thoughts before she rolled her eyes.

"I see you haven't even seen your kids yet." The jounin shrugged as he turned the page in his book.

"Not just yet, I'm a very busy person," he stated, dog-earring his page ad putting it back into his pouch where it belonged.

"So then, how are they?" the shinobi asked as Himitsu sighed, holding her head in her hand.

"They seem to be alright. I'm not sure how they'll work together though. From what I've seen, they all seem to bicker a bit and the sound is very similar to nails on a chalkboard," she explained. "But who knows. Only time will tell." Leaning her head against her companion's shoulder, Himitsu sighed and closed her eyes. The pair sat in a comfortable silence, Kakashi letting his friend rest against him for a few minutes.

"I should get going," the silver haired ninja finally said as Himitsu nodded, sitting up and letting the man stand to his feet. "I'll be sure to let you know how it all goes," he assured before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"See you," the young woman mumbled as she closed her eyes, letting the darkness consume her and her mind wander.

After what felt like only a few minutes, the lone jounin woke up and found two hours had gone by.

"Hmm…maybe Sakura's finally home," she said to herself before standing up. "Lets go see." Talking to herself was going to be a habit she would never be able to kick.

After the 10 minute walk, Himitsu approached a stairway. She began to climb it step-by-step, reaching the top and then stopping at the door that led to her former home. Grabbing a hold of the golden door knob, Himitsu twisted and pushed; her mother never really locked the door.

"Sakura? You home?" the older Haruno shouted out, slipping her shoes off. She raised a brow at the sound of angry footsteps echoing from down the hallway to her left. An entertained smile spread across Himitsu's lips as she watched her younger sister stomp up to her, a fire blazing in her eyes.

"You know you might fall through the floor if you stomp like that."

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT KAKASHI-SENSEI WOULDN'T BE THERE FOR ANOTHER HOUR-AND-A-HALF?!" Sakura screeched. The 12 year old glared at the way her sister giggled, as if she were enjoying her pain.

"Oh, you know you can't stay mad at me," the dark-haired Haruno stated as she walked past Sakura and into the sitting room. Sakura sighed at that as she stuck her bottom lip out, pouting.

"Yeah yeah, fine. But seriously, I didn't know you and Kakashi-sensei knew each other. A little warning about all of this stuff would have been nice," she said as she tapped her foot against the wooden floor, arms crossed over her chest.

"Come on. It's not like you would have been doing something important in that time Kakashi was late. And anyways, does it honestly matter if I'm friends with Kakashi?" the 24 year old stated defensively as she took a seat on the floor in front of the small table, a kettle of tea already waiting for her.

"…Did he say anything about me?" She couldn't keep herself from asking.

"He just said that I remind him of you," Sakura didn't miss the way Himitsu smiled at that as she poured herself a glass of tea.

"So, how did it go anyways?" the older of the two sisters asked as she sipped on her tea, Sakura finally taking a seat across from her.

"It was bad. Did you know that only 12 students can actually become—" the young girl stopped herself there; of course Himitsu knew. "Why didn't you tell me?" Sakura asked with a frown as the woman across from her sighed.

"It wouldn't have been fair if I told you ahead of all the other students. You're my sister and you know I love you, but I have a job to do," Himitsu stated evenly as her little sister begrudgingly nodded. "Plus, this was really all for the best. This is good experience for you—even if you might not become a genin," she also said.

"I hope I become a genin or else Sasuke will leave and go on without me, and I'll be left behind!" Sakura exclaimed as she continued to profess her love for her crush to her sister. The older Haruno smiled weakly as she merely nodded, having not much to say about the Uchiha boy. I don't think I mentally prepared myself for all of this when I decided to visit home, Himitsu said to herself as she finished her cup of tea and then began making her way back to the door of her home.

"Is mom home?" she asked curiously as Sakura shook her head.

"No. She's out getting some groceries for dinner. Are you going to stay?" the future-genin asked hopefully.

Himitsu and Sakura had been close growing up. Although they were nearly 12 years apart, Sakura had always looked up to her older sister. Himitsu had been her pillar in her toughest times, and although there were blotches of time during her past where her older sister had been missing or gone, she still loved her very much—which was the exact reason why her moving out and living on her own had been somewhat difficult for Sakura to deal with.

"Sorry, I have to go. But I'll come back tomorrow to see how everything goes, ok?" Himitsu forced a smile across her lips as she watched her younger sister try and hide her disappointment.

"Okay then. Wish me good luck!" Sakura called out, trying to sound as happy as she could. Himitsu nodded as she knelt down and be at eye-level with the girl.

"Don't worry. This week I'll treat for some dinner and we can talk all you want! I promise." Holding her pinky finger out, the jounin smiled at her little sister, the young girl smiling widely and nodding her head.

"Okay!"

"Now get some sleep…and don't bother going too early…you might not have the patience for him tomorrow!" And with that last warning, Himitsu disappeared down the steps.

The walk back to her apartment had been a peaceful one as Himitsu stared up at the stars in the sky. She walked sluggishly up the steps to her floor, finally stopping on the fourth floor and unlocking the first door to her right. Without any thought, the exhausted jounin slipped her shoes off and cracked her neck.

"Well, I see you've finally decided to come back." Already aware of the extra presence in her home, Himitsu glanced over at her couch as she placed her hands on her hips.

"How did you get in this time, Kashi?" the woman asked as she jutted her hip out slightly to the right.

"You should really hide your spare key somewhere other than under your welcome mat outside," Kakashi answered as he looked up from his novel, his eye curving downward and indicating that he was smiling underneath the mask he always used to cover his face.

"Hah, touché. It's an obvious place but I don't think anyone here will try to come into my home," Himitsu pointed out as she plopped down beside her friend.

"You never know. And since I know you won't do it yourself, I put the key up at the top of the doorframe." A smile appeared on Himitsu's slightly chapped lips as she closed her eyes and nodded, leaning her head back against the back of her couch.

"Thanks."

After a few minutes of silence, Himitsu finally stood to her feet, catching Kakashi's attention. The man watched with curiosity as his friend smiled down at him.

"Hungry?"

"…Why not."