A/N: Got a keyboard that works for my ipad now. However when I use it autocorrect doesn't work and it doesn't like to do any symbols. So there will definitely be some mistakes. It also means I have to copy and paste this to upload it, so the format gets fucked with a little. I've been like knock down sick for a couple weeks now, really bad flu, so this is the first chance I've gotten to update, hope you like it.
Chapter 2: Friends Or Foes!
Eyes narrowed in annoyance Nobara listened to the two harpies argue, their voices reaching an irritatingly high pitch as they pushed and shoved at each other. Seated directly above Sasuke as she was Nobara's ears were getting a pretty thorough beating. Sharing an annoyed glance with her Shikamaru, seated right next to her, she slumped forward onto her desk, trying to cover her sensitive ears. Sometimes Inuzuka ears were a curse just as much as they were a gift.
"Tch, idiots." She mumbled to herself, resting her chin on her palm as she watched the disaster commence.
"Move it!" Sakura demanded loudly, shoving Ino back a few paces, eyes glaring daggers.
"Listen, Forehead, I got here first, everybody saw it." Ino shrieked in reply, flailing her arms ridiculously at Sakura. "I'm sitting next to Sasuke!"
Sighing dismally, Nobara wondered if Ino and Sakura were always going to be fighting over the same man. The very notion was ridiculous! They had years of ninja training before they even had the time to think of boys. And who would wanna drop out of ninja training just to get married and have kids? Nobara knew some women who kept their ninja status after they had kids but very rarely did any of they go any higher than Chuunin. And who would want that?
And over Sasuke to begin with! Sure the guy was hot but his personality could freeze fire! What was the fun unless you could mess around, be yourself and let loose around your guy? Sasuke seemed like the self absorbed kinda prick that would expect his wife to stay at home and cook for him. She didn't really know that much about him, aside from his family history, but she knew what he smelled like! He smelled like sulfur, and resentment and hate, all the time, things that would no doubt cause him a lot of trouble in the future.
Shikamaru coughing on a laugh made her snap back to attention, catching Naruto and Sasuke's kiss right before they parted. Staring in shock for all of a second she began to laugh, loudly and without any restraint, tears immediately coming to her eyes. Shikamaru shot her an amused glance as she thumped her desk with her fist, nearly dying. Calming, only to catch the two boys gagging horribly, she let loose another round of barking laughter.
Feeling murderous glares focusing on her Nobara struggled to calm herself, holding her aching stomach and sprawling back in her chair. Kiiromaru pressed his big head into her lap, gold eyes amused and she scratched him behind his ears as she looked up to see Ino and Sakura, as well as at least ten more fangirls, glaring at her viciously.
"This isn't funny, Nobara!" Ino screamed, shaking her fist at the Inuzuka violently.
Still smiling and wiping away a tear Nobara pointed loosely at the gagging boys. "Got some competition now, girls! Better catch up!" She goaded with a smug smile, knowing any one of them would have killed to be Sasuke's first kiss.
Sakura turned to Naruto immediately, pointed her finger in outrage. "You're finished!" Before dragging Naruto into the group of vicious girls.
"Poor Naruto." Shikamaru scoffed, slumping forward again in his seat.
"I'm sure he'll be fine." Nobara answered nonchalantly as Iruka entered the class and began to settle everybody down. She absently scratched at Kiiromaru's ears and gave Ino an amused glance when the blonde sat down beside her.
"Hmph." Ino grumped at her before facing forward, nose tilted haughtily in the air and her arms crossed. This only made Nobara grin sharply, amused by the other girls actions.
"Now, pay attention!" Iruka called from the front, getting everyone's attention immediately. Once he had everyone's eyes he continued. "As of today you are all ninja, you faced difficult trials and hardships to get here…" He paused meaningfully, eyes scanning the class. "but that was nothing, whats next will be far more difficult. You're only genin…"
Nobara vaguely listened to her sensei's words, looking across the room to meet her twins fanged grin with one of her own. They were both confident and thanks to their sister they knew exactly what would happen. Three man cells.
"…now normally we have three man cells." Iruka's words brought her focus back to her teacher. "This year we can't do that, we have an uneven number of students, so there will be one cell of four. Very uncommon but not unheard of. Here are your teams….." He began to call out names in quick order starting with team one.
"What ya think, Kiiromaru?" She murmured to her faithful companion, giving his scruff a rough scrub.
"I'll be on Sasuke's team, I just know it!" Sakura squealed, setting off Ino yet again.
"I don't think so, Forehead, he'll be on my team!" Ino growled, finally irritating Shikamaru into commenting from the other side of Nobara.
"I just don't get what you see in a guy like that." He remarked with annoyance, rolling his eyes at Ino.
"You just don't get it, Shikamaru!" Ino told him fiercely, a wealth of knowledge in her tone as she turned her nose up at him.
Almost grinning at the familiar argument Nobara shook her head at the two. God forbid they actually had the same team! They'd rip each other apart and take whoever got stuck with them down too. She met Kiiromaru's gold eyes with amusement, rolling her eyes down at him.
"Duh, I'm not a girl, of course I don't get it." Shikamaru told the blonde with sharp annoyance.
"Cha, I'd hate to end up on your team!" She huffed finally, glaring at Shikamaru over Nobara's head before turning away, arms crossed over her chest.
"….Team Seven…." Iruka scanned his paper carefully and nodded before reciting the names. "Uzumaki Naruto…" Naruto grinned fiercely, the scent of glee mixing with his ramen scent. "Haruno Sakura….." Naruto jumped in his seat, fists in the air even as Sakura seemed to wilt at his side. "….Uchiha Sasuke.." Nobara rolled her eyes again as Sakura began to cheer and Naruto slumped down onto his desk. "…..and Inuzuka Nobara. That's our four man team."
Nobara just barely kept herself from beating her face against her desk. There was no way she was stuck with them! She wasn't gonna have any fun at all! Sasuke was obsessed with the stick up his ass, Sakura was obsessed with Sasuke and Naruto was obsessed with Sakura! Ah, this was horrible!
"Touch break." Shikamaru murmured to her quietly, giving her a sympathetic glance as Sakura and Naruto began to protest the placement quite loudly.
"Yeah." She muttered, eyes cutting across the room to meet her twins grimace. He clearly felt her pain.
"You're so lucky, Nobara!" Ino growled in irritation, jealousy raging.
"Lucky?" She grimaced, looking down to meet Kiiromaru's own grumpy expression just as Iruka exploded.
"There are strict reasons for the placements!" He glared at the silent Naruto and Sakura. "Sasuke has the best scores of all the boys and you Naruto, have the worst!" Laughter spread through the class and Naruto turned red and slumped into his desk. "Sakura has the worst physical application scores and Nobara has the best. You should all even your team out." Iruka glared.
Pride stung, Sakura glared back at Nobara, who only raised her brows at the pinkette curiously. Hand shooting into the air she shouted down at Iruka. "Don't I have the best written intelligence scores, Sensei? Wouldn' I even out Nobara too?" Her voice was sharp and jealous.
Iruka sighed, pinched his nose in frustration and just knowing that this team was going to have some issues. Irritated, he did nothing to soften the blow. "Actually Nobara does excellently on the written intelligence scores, second by only a percentage." He said bluntly before looking down to his list again.
Embarassed Sakura threw another sharp glare at Nobara, meeting the girls almost glowing gold eyes with a scowl. Her rage only grew when she realized Sasuke was glancing back at the Inuzuka now too! When Nobara smiled down at her smugly Sakura felt suddenly nervous as the girl displayed her sharp canine teeth. Spinning back around she gritted her teeth. Inuzuka's were nothing but animals, beasts with no manners whatsoever! Why, her mom had told her all kinds of stuff about the Inuzukas! Nothing but heathens!
Nobara sneered down at the pink haired girl, smelling the girls jealousy and disdain. Sakura hadn't ever really bothered Nobara before but she found herself pretty damn bothered now. The girls thoughts were as clear as her scent, that was to say, crystal clear! Nobara knew what people thought of the Inuzuka's, it sure wasn't her first time smelling the same concoction of disgust, and loathing as she could smell pouring of Sakura.
Turning her head away in irritation, fingers tight in Kiiromaru's fur, she unintentionally met Sasuke's eyes. Raising her brows in challenge she waited for his reaction, one fang showing in a scowl. Sasuke simply met her eyes, his own black eyes blank, then raising one brow at her he turned away indifferently. Blinking at the brush off she barely heard the next team called.
"Hate to be on my team, huh?" Shikamaru muttered to Ino spitefully as Ino began to scream protests.
Grinning lightly in spite of her sudden bad mood she gave Shikamaru a wry glance. "Tough break." She repeated with a little laugh, fingers loosening in Kiiromaru's fur.
"Tch, no big deal, I got Chouji. Ino is just troublesome." He replied with a shrug, eyes at half mast like they usually tended to be.
Nobara shook her head in amusement, tuning out Ino's screaming with difficulty. Looking across the room she met Kiba's eyes, waving one hand in dismissal at his murderous expression. She knew Kiba would have scented Sakura's emotions just the same as she had. Nobara gave her brother a little head shake and a smile, indicating that he should just drop the subject, but she knew he wouldn't. Sakura had just made an enemy for life out of Kiba.
"Now, everybody is free for lunch but I recommend you find your teammates and begin to get to know each other." Iruka said, capturing everyones attention again. "After lunch meet back here and your senseis will be along to pick you up." He clapped his hands and leaned back against his desk, indicating that they should all get going.
Nobara scowled at the sudden rush and decided she'd wait for most of the genin to leave then find her own team. She hated being jostled more than anything. Shikamaru, in complete agreement, slumped back in his chair to wait.
"Meet me at the balcony, got it!" Ino demanded of Shikamaru, already on her way down the stairs, pushing a smaller boy from her path ruthlessly.
"Tch, so troublesome." Shikamaru muttered, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.
Nobara hummed in agreement, watching her teammates disappear out the door. She'd have to scent them out later. "Like you said, least you got Chouji. I'm gonna go mad!" She told her friend, completely convinced she was speaking the truth.
"You have it pretty bad, sis!" Kiba remarked as he stopped beside her, Hinata and Shino standing behind him. Kiba handed his sister her bento box from his bag.
Taking her lunch with a gusty sigh Nobara nodded, face depressed. "Yes, yes I do."
Face suddenly serious Kiba leaned closer, chest pressed to her back and lips beside her ear, wild hair the exact shade as her own blending with her own mop. Kiba inhaled deeply, testing her scent as was the habit of all Inuzuka, to ensure health, happiness and emotions. Shino watched them closely, Hinata stared but the two twins ignored them, the habit was ingrained and would never be broken.
"Do you want me to pound her?" He asked a moment after he processed her scent, no doubt catching a hint of her own anger. Shikamaru raised a brow in question.
"Naa, you know that'll only cause problems." She waved her hand in dismissal again, grabbing her bento box and shoving Kiiromaru's head from her lap so she could stand. "Besides, if I wanted her pound into the dirt, I'd damned well do it my self."
Hinata gasped at the swear, never imagining saying such a thing. Her father would surely never allow such a thing. Realized she'd drawn everyones eyes she flushed hotly, poking her fingers together shyly. "D-Do you m-m-mean Sa-Sakura?" She asked hesitantly.
Nobara grinned a little ferally, sharp teeth poking from her lips. "Yeah, little princess apparently don't like beasts like us. Guess I disgust her finer sensibilities." Nobara answered bluntly, sarcasm thick in her tone.
"How could you know such a thing?" Shino asked, voice only loud enough to be heard. Shikamaru watched, just as curious.
Kiba and Nobara shared a speaking glance, coming to an unspoken agreement, before Nobara answered for the two of them. "You think there ain't much we can't smell?" She asked, yellow eyes gleaming. Throwing her thick har back she continued. "Heck, we can smell what you had for breakfast and even dinner yesterday! I can tell if you're liein' to me, whether you're happy, sad, you name it and I can smell it. You wanna give 'em a demonstration, brother?" She turned to Kiba, mischief clear on her face.
Kiba grinned, perfectly matching the expression on his twins face as the two of them inhaled deeply as one and closed their eyes. Shino and Shikamaru watched them with intent, careful eyes while Hinata pressed a hand to her mouth, wondering if they spoke the truth. It only took a moment for the twins to open their eyes again.
"I know Hinata has a garden…." Kiba started, dark brown eyes lit with laughter. "…with lavender, thyme and bay." Nobara continued, finishing his sentence flawlessly. "I know Shino had Onigiri with pickles on the side….." Kiba chimed. "….but he doesn't like the pickles so he didn't eat them." Nobara finished, winking at Shino playfully. "I know Shikamaru was sitting in the park this morning…" Kiba shared a gloating smirk with his sister. "…and he went to the park on the west side of the village, with the tulips growing near the fountain." Nobara tilted her head then added. "And I know Chouji was with him."
"Impressive." Shikamaru drawled once they were finished, truly impressed. The records he'd read on the Inuzuka hadn't said their noses were this sensitive.
"That w-was am-amazing!" Hinata cheered, clapping in delight. Shino nodded his agreement but said nothing.
"Well, that being said I think we outta go eat lunch." Kiba said loudly, folding his hands behind his head, face proud.
"Tch, troublesome." Shikamaru muttered, nonetheless standing to slouch down the stairs without another word. The classroom was completely empty by this point.
"You wanna come eat lunch with us?" Kiba asked his twin, mouth twisting as he thought on her team.
Nobara sighed gustily, throwing a glance down at the silent Kiiromaru before shrugging. "Mah, I should probably find my team, but I'll come find you if I get irritated." Her tone made it obvious that Kiba should expect her.
With that she followed them down the stairs, not looking forward to finding her team, at all! Of all the ridiculous teams to be put on! She figured they'd look at personality matches too before they matched a team, but no, instead it looked like they just threw together the most volatile bunch they could find. Granted, Iruka was right about the scores, but that didn't mean jack if you couldn't get a team to work together.
The very first rule she'd ever remembered learning was team work, not only from her mother but her father too. Inuzuka's were big on working things out together, if they weren't they'd never get their clan techniques to work! How were you supposed to use combination jutsu if you couldn't damn well work with you're team? You couldn't, it just wasn't possible. That and her father had always told her, You're teammates are you're life, without teammates you were dead when you least expect it.
She supposed she was just going to have to figure out someway she could work with them. Cells were important, an important step for a genin, training wise and experience wise. She would just have to make it work even if she had to smash some heads to do it!
"Nobara?" Iruka's voice drew her from her thoughts and she realized she'd stalled on the bottom step, Kiba and his team long gone while she was deep in thought. A dangerous lapse for a shinobi.
"Yes, sensei?" She asked, blinking at him as she focused on his hesitant face.
"I wanted to apologize to you, Nobara." Iruka admitted, eyes meeting meeting hers frankly. "About Mizuki….."
Nobara grinned, realizing what he meant. "Nah, don't be sorry, you thought he was a friend, yeah? And no harm was done, it even ended up with Naruto passing, didn't it?" She replied with a shrug of her slender shoulders.
Iruka laughed lightly, shaking his head at the cheerful genin. Nobara was definitely one of a kind. "Well, I still owe you an apology for brushing you off the way I did. I should know better than to question an Inuzuka's nose. They're always right one way or another."
"Mah, that's right!" She said tapping her nose with a wink. "Not much me and Kiiromaru here can't pick up!" She gave her trusty companion an affectionate pat on his side.
"Well, that said, I'll leave you to you're lunch." Iruka said with a smile, crossing his arms as he leaned back against his desk.
"Tch, you better wish me luck, sensei!" She threw over her shoulder as she made for the door.
Iruka smiled despite himself as he watched the young kunoichi practically trudge out the door. Nobara had always been one of his favorite students, bright and cheerful no matter what. Never malicious without reason and almost wise beyond her years. Kiba was thoroughly his mothers son but in Nobara, Iruka could see more than a little of her father. Nobara could be very frank, sometimes to much so for her own good but she was a good kid.
He felt bad she'd been put on a team that would so obviously not be the best for her. Despite what he'd told them the Hokage usually selected the teams, shifting clan children around until he was satisfied. He only wished that he could convince the Hokage to put her elsewhere, but he'd already tried. The Hokage was adamant this was where Nobara would do the most good.
Shaking his head Iruka decided there was nothing he could do. Releasing a sigh he grabbed his lunch and headed for the teachers lounge.