Uzumaki Mikomi
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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, though I really wish I did!
A/N: Sorry for the wait on this one folks, many things came up recently for me and my betas and we got sideswiped by life. But fret not! I have no intention of letting this pass to the wayside just yet. Now I would like to send a huge "THANKS" to my beta's who did a wonderful job once again. Also I would like to thank someone else; they go by the name of Riiiceballe. This person has sent me a review for each and every chapter I have posted on this story and I'd like to thank them for their enthusiasm for my story. It's always good to have a fan! Anyways, now on to the chapter!
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Chapter 4: Kakashi's Torture
Mikomi woke up before her alarm and stretched languidly glancing around her room a moment.
She blinked when her eyes fell on her alarm clock, 'Whoa…' she thought, 'woke up early today... must be really excited.' She giggled lightly as she swung her legs out of her bed, setting her bare feet on the floor. She shivered when her feet made contact with the cold wooden floor of her apartment.
"I hate this floor in the morning," she sighed as she stood up and clutched her thin nightgown around herself, "Actually… I hate this apartment…heating doesn't work all that well and it's always cold."
She shivered again as the cold air of the apartment passed through her thin nightgown seeming to get through the thin worn fabric with ease.
She had owned this nightgown for years; it was one of the few things the Hokage was able to get for her. He had given it to her as a birthday present when she turned ten; and though it was a great nightgown, she had grown recently and now it only went to her knees instead of to her ankles like it was supposed to.
She sighed again as she headed for her bathroom, 'Please… at least give the shower hot water,' she thought, as she entered the bathroom.
Quickly, she stripped off her nightgown, letting it fall to the floor with her various undergarments. Then, before freezing, she cranked the knob of her shower all the way to the "H" and stepped under the gradually warming jet of water.
She groaned as the water began to turn cold.
"Already?" she whined, it seemed like it had only been two minutes after she had gotten in the shower, and she had only just gotten the shampoo into her hair. She sighed as she finally shut the freezing water off after getting the last of the suds out of her hair, and slid back the half rotten shower curtain. She made her way to the mirror in the bathroom, covering her medicine cabinet, and wiped away the steam to look at her reflection.
'Must have been in there longer than I thought,' she thought. 'My hands are already all pruney.' She grimaced at that, before, once again, looking into the mirror. She smiled slightly as she shook her head, watching her wet hair sway back and forth before allowing it to settle down her back. She noted it was about time for another trim as she felt the hair cling to her back, coming to rest about halfway down her bottom. She then grabbed her towel and wrapped it around herself, and picked up her broken hairbrush.
Mikomi grimaced as she ran the brush through her hair, finding several knots at the ends. She frowned after finishing brushing her hair, she just knew she had split ends and she hated split ends with a passion.
Her hair was one of her prettiest features, or so she had been told, she loved her hair and took care of it better than most girls her age did, though she would never admit it, it was because most of the villagers could not do anything truly damaging to her hair without severe repercussions from the Hokage himself. Quickly, she tied her hair up in to the duel bun-ponytail style she had been using for a few days now and sighed contentedly. She didn't dry it; she preferred to let it dry naturally. It always seemed her hair dried perfectly, no frizz or any of the other problems the other girls seemed to have with their hair. She smiled, remembering that whenever Sakura complained about her hair, she would always mention how her hair was always obedient, sending Sakura into a corner sulking and muttering; Mikomi was lucky her hair obeyed her.
She stopped at the closed door to her bathroom and sighed resolutely, 'It's gonna be really cold...' she thought. 'And I am not looking forward to that.'
She squared her shoulders and took a deep breath before opening the door, still her teeth chattered slightly as she felt the cold air of her bedroom wash past her like an artic wind. She took another deep breath before stepping out on to the cold hard wood floors of her bedroom and headed for her dresser.
Then she felt it.
Someone was in her room.
Her hand went to her thigh and she cursed when she didn't feel the familiar leather of the kunai pouch on either leg. She tugged her towel tighter around her body when she noticed that she knew the person who was sitting on her bed, with his back to her.
"What do you want oji-san?" she asked as a blush started to creep across her body.
"Oh." the Hokage said not turning around, "I came to check in on you when I heard your alarm going off." The Hokage chuckled slightly as he stood up never turning around to look at her, "It's got quite a good alarm I noticed. Seems Iruka knows where to get some good alarm clocks, eh?"
"Um…yeah." She stuttered slightly as she moved further in to the room. "He does."
The Hokage chuckled again, "I was coming to wish you luck with your new ninja lifestyle." he stated confidently. "I believe you can do it, you know. Now all you have to do is go out and show everyone else you can."
Mikomi smiled lightly at his vote of confidence in her, "Thank you oji-san," she said, "I needed to hear something like that." The Hokage smiled as he headed for her living room, "I'll get someone in here to fix that broken window today, while you're at school ok?"
"Ok," she said with a smile, "and thanks again."
The Hokage only chuckled again as she heard her front door close and the lock turn over.
"Kami-sama." She breathed slumping on her bed, "He scared the crap out of me… but it's nice to know that someone believes in me." She giggled slightly as she finished drying off and headed, once again, for the dresser.
She didn't waste much time getting dressed, most of the wrapping she needed to do being second nature by now.
"Finally," she sighed, "I'm ready." She glanced at her alarm clock and noted the time with a frown, "Gotta get going if I want to be on time today," she thought as she headed for the door in a rush.
She barely avoided colliding in to someone as she ran by the training grounds; she simply ignored the curses that wafted to her ears. She snickered as she watched which training area she was running by. 'I still got a little time.' she thought, 'I can go say hi at least.' She smirked as she came upon the grounds, she could already hear the voice of Gai on the winds. 'Wonder if I can sneak up on them.' she thought again, before heading for the underbrush and making her way forward cautiously.
She snickered again as she crept closer to her "prey" noting they didn't seem to notice her at all. She inched closer and closer until Neji glanced in her direction.
"We know you're there," he stated in his cold stoic manner. "Come on out."
She sighed and frowned as she finally slipped out of her hiding spot to look at everyone, proudly displaying her hitai-ite.
"Aww," Tenten grinned at Mikomi, "You passed, sorry I couldn't make it to the graduation. I had to help my folks with a few things."
"S'kay," Mikomi said as she smiled back at Tenten, only to be swept up in to a hug by her "ni-chan."
"I'm so glad you made it," Tenten squealed in her ear. "You worked so hard." Mikomi nodded as she returned the embrace.
Suddenly Mikomi and Tenten were surrounded by green clad arms as they were hefted in to the air. "How are my two favorite girls?" asked Lee as he squeezed them. Mikomi giggled as Tenten swatted at the underside of Lee's arm.
"You put us down." Tenten huffed, "Before you squish poor Mikomi-chan."
Lee obliged the request and allowed the girls to disentangle themselves from each other before catching Mikomi as she plowed in to him, embracing him in a tight hug.
"Just thought I'd drop in and say hi before I go to meet my team," Mikomi said planting a kiss on Lee's cheek. "You know, in case we don't get to see each other for a long time."
Tenten nodded as she watched Mikomi release Lee with a sigh, "Well… glad you did," Tenten said, "Sometimes missions can keep us out of the village for a long time."
Mikomi nodded sadly before giggling, "Maybe we can do a mission together sometime." she said, flashing them a bright smile. Tenten couldn't help but giggle as well. "Sounds like fun," Tenten said as she turned to see Gai coming up.
"Ahh Mikomi-chan," said Gai as he walked out of the woods. "When did you get here?"
"Roughly 10 minutes ago," Neji stated, in his usual deadpan voice. "She's been 'saying hi' to everyone." Neji looked at Mikomi with his usual stoic indifference.
"Feh, you need to get a personality Neji," Mikomi said, "I've seen better personalities in two bit comic books."
Neji graced her with nothing but his usual indifference as she sighed and returned her attention to the others.
"Yeah I just thought I'd come by and say hi before I meet my team," she told Gai, "I hope we won't end up missing each other to often."
"No need to worry about that Mikomi-chan," Gai replied, "I'm sure it won't be that bad. You're always welcome to drop by our training grounds here when you have some free time and say hi whenever you want." Gai fixed Mikomi with his "nice guy" pose as Lee praised Gai for his compassion.
Mikomi Giggled lightly turning around to look at the sun, "Oh… I gotta go now," she said, "Bye guys, hope we can see each other often."
"Hai," everyone said, except Neji, "'Hope so too Mikomi-chan." Mikomi disappeared in to the trees as team Gai watched.
"Make us proud Mikomi," Gai Whispered lightly before turning back to his students. "Time for some training!" he bellowed as everyone came to attention.
Mikomi ran through the street with a grin plastered on her face. 'I can't believe this is finally happening' she thought noting the academy coming in to view. She glanced back at the sun and grinned even more. 'Right on time today.' she thought giggling, before scowling slightly, 'Damn it… I forgot to give Lee-kun a good-bye kiss… I'll have to get up extra early later this week to see him now…'
Mikomi came screeching to a halt in front of her classroom door before tossing it open and wandering in gracefully, like a lady at a ball. Sakura and Hinata giggled at her as she took her seat like a proper lady and demurely folded her hands in her lap, looking every bit the stoic princess.
"I see those etiquette lessons are working out," Sakura giggled as Hinata smiled warmly. "Kami knows we worked hard to teach you."
Mikomi giggled giving Sakura a nudge, "Well, we're ninja now, I have to show proper manners," Mikomi said.
All three girls giggled lightly as Kiba, Choiji and Shikamaru chuckled, "I suppose so," said Kiba petting Akamaru.
Akamaru jumped out of his owner's jacket and licked Mikomi's face as Kiba leaned forward, watching Iruka enter the room.
"Well," Iruka said taking attendance, and noting that Mikomi seemed fine for once. "I suppose it's time to give out the team assignments." He cleared his throat as he brought a piece of paper to eye level, "team one…"
It took Iruka a few minutes to get through some of the teams with varying degrees of hurrahs and complaints, "Team Seven," he called out. "Uzumaki Mikomi, Haruno Sakura…"
Both girls squealed and giggled giving each other a hug, "We're on the same team," they said in unison and loudly.
Iruka raised his eyebrow at the interruption before clearing his throat, "So it seems, care to let me get to the last person on your team? Or do you two plan on carrying on all day?" Iruka said in a chiding voice.
Both girls blushed brightly and sat back down, effectively embarrassed for their outburst.
Iruka chuckled under his breath before continuing, "Final member of team seven is…Uchiha Sasuke."
Sakura about squealed in delight as Mikomi rolled her eyes, 'Great.' she thought, 'We get the dark brooding one in the corner.' She frowned slightly glancing over at Sasuke who seemed to be rather bored with the whole thing with his hands clasped in front of his face.
Sasuke rolled his eyes as he glanced over at the girls, though no one could tell it with his hair in his face, 'Great.' He thought. 'I get the two airheads. They'll only drag me down.' He sighed slightly as he returned his attention to Iruka saying nothing; he kept the stoic indifferent mask on as he listened.
Iruka finished announcing the teams and excused everyone to an early lunch, "Be back by noon, to meet your jounin instructors," he called out as the genin filed out of the classroom. Iruka chuckled knowing that only about a third of them will pass the next phase, 'They'll learn eventually.' he thought as he headed for Anko's house for lunch. 'I hope she made those dumplings I love so much.' he thought as his mouth watered lightly and he sped up.
The students had run off to various places to be with their teammates, unfortunately for Sakura and Mikomi, Sasuke had vanished as soon as he left the academy.
Mikomi pouted with Sakura noting that Sasuke was gone. "Damn." she cursed. "He got away, how are we going to get to know him now?"
Sakura only shrugged lightly, "Who knows? Maybe we'll find him." The two girls set out looking for Sasuke, splitting up.
Mikomi smirked slightly as she noticed Sasuke standing in the window of a nearby building, 'I wonder how strong he is…' she thought as she jumped up to the ledge that was close to his position, 'Time to find out.'
Mikomi noticed Ino and her new team, Chouji and Shikamaru, watching her but she pretended she hadn't seen them. She crept closer and closer to the window until she could smell the rice ball Sasuke was eating, a small smirk played across her face as she dove in, tackling him to the ground. She allowed her foot to take out the pole that held the shutter up as she landed a decent punch to Sasuke's face.
"Gotcha." she said.
The scuffle only took a few minutes, Mikomi smirked the entire time, as the look that Ino had to have on her face played through her mind.
Sasuke was faster than she had anticipated and she found herself dodging a couple of blows before she was grabbed from behind and tied up rather roughly.
"What do you want?" Sasuke hissed. Suddenly Sasuke felt himself grabbed from behind.
"I told you I gotcha." Mikomi hissed in his ear as she wrapped rope around his body and tied a rather tight knot. A quick application of tape to his mouth and he was totally helpless, the shadow clone he had tied up vanishing in a puff of smoke.
Mikomi caught her breath and giggled at the now immobile Uchiha, "Well I caught you so easily." she said grinning at him, "And here I thought it'd be a challenge." Sasuke struggled against his bonds futilely, whatever he was growling was muffled by the tape.
"Anyways," said Mikomi, "I think I'll borrow your form for a bit, how's that sound?" All Sasuke could do was grumble as she transformed in to an exact duplicate of him, right down to the signature scowl. "How do I look?" she asked giggling and twirling around so he could see the whole transformation.
She kneeled down to get near his ear, "Can't let your little fan girl out there think you were beaten by me," she giggled again. "Can we?" Mikomi grinned at Sasuke as she stood up, noting the glower he shot her. 'If looks could kill…' she thought as she turned to open the shutter.
"Toodles," she said opening the shutter and placing the pole back where it goes. Mikomi quickly leapt away smirking slightly, leaving Sasuke to glower after her.
Mikomi waited until she was out of Ino and her teams' sight before giggling and letting down the transformation.
"He put up a pretty good fight," she said to herself, "Depending on how long it takes him to get out of those ropes, he might just be worthy of being on the team." She smirked skipping down the road, heading towards the park where she knew Sakura was.
Mikomi walked up to the bench she saw Sakura eating her lunch at. "Give up?" Mikomi asked as Sakura looked up at her.
"Yeah… I got hungry and I couldn't find him anywhere, no sense in wasting my lunch time looking." The pink haired kunoichi replied.
Mikomi nodded with a knowing look on her face sitting next to Sakura and producing her own lunch bag.
Sakura caught the look and raised an eyebrow at Mikomi, "Do you know something?"
"Huh?" Mikomi asked glancing at Sakura, "What are you talking about?" Any trace of the knowing look was gone, being replaced by a totally blank one.
"Uh huh…" Sakura sighed, "Whatever, time to eat!"
Sakura dug in to her lunch as Mikomi ate her peanut butter and honey sandwich.
"You know you should eat better," Sakura stated, "I mean eating that isn't exactly healthy."
Mikomi grunted a reply before glancing at Sakura and swallowing her bite. "It's all I had left," she said, "My fridge conked out last night."
Sakura sighed and looked at Mikomi taking a bite of her food. "Did you call a repairman?" Sakura asked as she swallowed.
Mikomi nodded as she took a drink of her water, "Yeah, but they are all backed up." Mikomi sighed, "It's always hard for me to find a repairman." Mikomi lowered her head slightly as she remembered why it was so hard. 'Damn fox…' she thought, 'why did I have to be the one?'
"Oh?" Sakura asked snapping Mikomi out of her thoughts, "We have a really good repairman living nearby. Maybe I could see if he'd be willing to fix your fridge."
"You think so?" Mikomi asked. Sakura nodded taking a bite from an apple, "Yeah, he's really nice," Sakura said. "He always comes by to fix our fridge for a couple of free sweets." Sakura giggled as she looked at Mikomi, "Who would have guessed he had a huge sweet tooth," she said. Mikomi only smiled happily as she took another bite of her sandwich.
"Thanks," she said. They finished the rest of their meal in comfortable silence.
A little while later
"We should get back to the academy," Sakura said glancing at the sun, "it's almost noon now."
Mikomi nodded finishing off her water. "Yeah… I guess so."
They both stood up and tossed their garbage in to a nearby garbage can.
"You go ahead Sakura," Mikomi said, "I gotta go to the bathroom." Sakura nodded as she ran off towards the academy and Mikomi headed for the nearest rest room.
Sasuke was walking down the pathway when he ran in to Sakura on her way back to the academy.
"Hi Sasuke-kun," she purred as she ran up to him. "Where have you been? Mikomi and I were looking for you everywhere." Sasuke only grunted as he looked at her with the same indifference he used for everyone. After a few moments of her fawning all over him he finally got tired of it.
"Have you seen Mikomi?" he asked her. "I have some words I need to say to her." Sakura blinked before replying.
"Yeah she went to the bathroom," she said, inwardly pouting that Sasuke was looking for Mikomi and not her. Sasuke merely nodded before he started off again, heading for the nearest restroom to the park. Sakura sighed pathetically before, once again, traipsing to the academy.
Mikomi was making her way down the path from the rest room when she noticed Sasuke walking up, scowling.
"Oh so you escaped?" she asked sweetly as she stopped to wait for him to get to her, "That was quick."
"Escaping a knot is basic ninja training," he stated as he stopped in front of her, hands in his pockets, "why did you attack me?"
She shrugged before grinning slightly, "I had to see if you were strong enough to be on mine and Sakura's team." she said flatly, "Seems you are and I'm glad. Sakura really likes you."
Sasuke grunted a reply before fixing her with a piercing stare, which didn't seem to phase her in the least, "I see," he said as he looked her up and down, causing a slight blush to creep to her cheeks. He frowned slightly wondering how this girl could have bested him before he turned on his heel. "We should hurry back," he stated as he began to walk off. Mikomi nodded as she took to following him, giving him a wide berth.
The new genin filed in to the classroom after lunch, most a little late, and took their seats. Iruka cleared his throat, "Okay…" he started, "Your Jounin-sensei should be here soon, please wait patiently for them."
The genin nodded their heads as Iruka picked up some paperwork, "I have to go start my lesson plan for next year," he stated, "I'll see you around." Iruka smiled and waved as he left the class to its own devices.
It didn't take long for the Jounin to begin to show up to call their teams and head out of the classroom while Sasuke, Sakura and Mikomi sat there waiting.
"Where is that guy?" Sakura said in exasperation as she paced back and forth near the lectern. Sasuke merely stared at the door with that indifferent expression on his face, hands clasped in front of his chin.
Mikomi, on the other hand, was finding it rather hard to stay awake; she yawned and stretched moving closer to the front and taking a seat there. "Who knows Sakura," she said. Sakura grumbled as she continued to pace back and forth for a while.
Sasuke finally got bored and wandered to the front of the classroom leaning on the desks in front, hands in his pockets. Sasuke glanced between the two girls he was saddled with and sighed lightly; making sure it wasn't loud enough to be heard by anyone. 'These two really are worthless…' he thought as he watched Sakura pace angrily and Mikomi begin to fall asleep, '…Definitely burdens.'
It only took Mikomi a few minutes to fall asleep waiting, her shoulder rising and falling rhythmically, all of the tension that had been stored in her body melting away. Sasuke glanced at her again noting her head down and her arms around it; her hair was fanned out around her arms.
Sakura was definitely not a happy woman, Sasuke observed, she was pacing even more furiously with her hands behind her back. Sasuke glanced at the clock again and shook his head lightly continuing to watch the irate girl pace and the tired one sleep.
It was almost 2 hours after they had filed into the room when they finally heard the door slide open. Sasuke glanced at the door nonchalantly while Sakura turned a baleful eye to it. After what seemed like an eternity the door stopped and a silver haired man stuck his head in, a little orange book in his hand.
Apparently the sound of the door thunking open startled Mikomi because her head came up with a start and her hands released a couple of kunai aimed for the man's face.
The man acted quickly bringing up his free hand to catch the kunai in between his fingers just before they pierced both of his eyes. Sasuke glanced over at Mikomi as Sakura, forgetting her ire, started gaping like a fish and attempted to stutter out an apology.
"Hmm," the man said, "My first impressions….I hate you."
Sasuke frowned as Mikomi rubbed the sleep from her eyes noting the man in the doorway.
The man glanced at everyone before indicating they should follow him, tossing the kunai back at Mikomi.
Mikomi caught them and placed them back in her holster looking slightly embarrassed for trying to kill their instructor so quickly.
It only took a few minutes for the jounin to lead them to a rooftop and lean on a nearby post.
"Take a seat." He said gesturing to the steps in front of him. Once the genin were seated he sighed and put his book up, "Now why don't we get to know each other," he stated, "Tell me about yourselves."
"What do you want to know," asked Sakura looking at the man.
"Well… You know…" the man replied, "Tell me your names, your likes and dislikes, hobbies, goals in life. That sort of thing."
"Umm," Mikomi said looking up at the man, "Why don't you go first, you know, to show us how it's done."
"Alright," the man said lazily, "my name is Hatake Kakashi; I have no intentions of telling you my likes and dislikes. As for my hobbies," at this he stopped to think for a moment. "My goal in life, you don't need to know." Kakashi shrugged and looked at his charges. "Your turn." he said.
'All we got was his name?' Sasuke thought. 'What a waste.' Sasuke sighed waiting for someone to take the initiative.
Sasuke didn't have to wait long as Mikomi raised her hand and exclaimed, "Ooh me first!"
"Okay, Blondie, you first." The man now known as Kakashi said.
"My name is Uzumaki Mikomi," she said excitedly, "I like ramen and my friends and Iruka-sensei and Old man Hokage. I hate the three minutes you have to wait for the water to boil and people who are mean for no reason." Mikomi frowned lightly at the last statement and took a moment before continuing, "My hobbies are trying to eat every kind of ramen out there and making up new techniques. My goal is to become Hokage."
Mikomi finished with a bright grin tugging on her hitai-ite. "Oh I forgot one thing…" she giggled. "I like Lee-kun too," she said blushing slightly. Sasuke rolled his eyes as Sakura giggled.
'So…' Kakashi thought. 'She's got lofty goals.' He glanced at her again, 'Though she did react quickly and apparently from a deep slumber when I entered the room.' Kakashi thought, 'She also seems to be ambidextrous.' He noted that as he glanced at the kunai pouches she had on both of her thighs, 'She also seems to like those pads…' he thought as he looked over her padding with the metal plates. 'Altogether not a bad ninja, her grades were decent.' he continued to think in his own internal monologue. 'Though that demon sealed in her…' Kakashi sighed lightly and looked at the other two students, waiting for one of the others to start.
"I guess I'll go next," said Sasuke, "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I have few likes, and many dislikes. I really don't have any hobbies but I do have a couple of goals." Mikomi and Sakura looked at Sasuke as Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "The resurrection of my clan," Sasuke continued, "and to kill a certain man." Sakura gasped slightly as Mikomi stared at him for a few seconds. He didn't really care; he just kept his cold exterior up and looked directly back at Kakashi ignoring the girls' reactions.
'Hmm…' Kakashi thought, 'Revenge…' Kakashi sighed slightly looking back at Sasuke evenly. 'The famed Uchiha seeks revenge, and to resurrect his clan.' Kakashi thought shaking his head, 'Hopefully we can get that stupid revenge idea out of his head while he's still with us.' Kakashi glanced at the other two genin before returning his gaze back to Sasuke.
The silence was permeating until Sakura decided to speak up, "Well guess it's my turn," she said dispelling the uneasiness in the air. "My name is Haruno Sakura. I like…" At that she glanced furtively at Sasuke and smiled dumbly a blush creeping to her cheeks, "Umm I dislike people who are mean and Ino. My hobbies are…" Again she glanced at Sasuke furtively the blush creeping up in her cheeks along with that stupid smile, "and my goal is to…" Another furtive glance at the Uchiha heir and Kakashi was almost sick.
Kakashi sighed as Sakura lost herself in her own fantasies, 'A decidedly normal ninja with two decidedly abnormal teammates.' he thought, 'do all the girls her age act like that.' Kakashi shook his head to dispel the thoughts.
Kakashi glanced between his new students and sighed again, "Alright." he began, "Tomorrow we will go to one of the training grounds for a final…test."
He almost chuckled when he saw the confusion written on his young charges' faces, even the Uchiha's eyes had widened slightly.
"Weren't we already tested at the academy," Sakura sputtered, "I mean we had to take those tests."
Kakashi smirked though the mask on his face hid it, "this is a different test, this will test how good a shinobi you'll be," he said lazily, "There is something else." All three genin looked at him curiously, 'Oh good that got their attention.' he thought snickering in his head, "something about this test you should know about.' Here Kakashi paused for dramatic effect as if gathering his thoughts; He almost lost it snickering when he saw their faces turn from confusion to harboring a little fear in them.
"There were 30 graduates," Kakashi continued, "but only 9 will become Genin. That's a 66 failure rate."
He chuckled as he saw their faces drop. "This is how we cull out the ones not ready to be Shinobi," he stated. "All of us instructors have to give our students a test to see if they pass or not, those who fail will get sent back to the academy for further training."
He noted all three genin were now frowning, "But…" Mikomi finally managed, "What was the point to the tests we took at the academy?" Kakashi chuckled, "Those were to test your basic skills, this one will assess whether you are ready to become ninja or not."
All three of his students frowned darkly and sighed in frustration. Kakashi was enjoying this, it was almost comical to watch the emotions shift from confusion, to anger and finally to resolution.
"Meet me at training ground 18 tomorrow at 6 in the morning," Kakashi said, "Oh… and don't eat breakfast."
"What! Why shouldn't we eat breakfast," Mikomi shouted at him.
"Oh." Kakashi replied, "That's simple; you'll puke it all up during this test." He almost fell over laughing when he saw all three genin pale slightly and gape like fish out of water. Even the Uchiha was paling badly though his gaping wasn't as noticeable thanks to his hands blocking sight of his mouth.
"Remember," Kakashi said, "6AM." Kakashi smirked one last time as he vanished in a cloud of white smoke.
It took the three genin a few moments to process it all and they all started to grumble at once, all except Sasuke who just stood and began to leave.
"You're leaving," asked Sakura looking at Sasuke's back. Sasuke merely shrugged and left the two girls there to their frowning and grumbling.
"Feh," Mikomi said, "Don't worry about it Sakura, we'll see him again tomorrow you know." Mikomi giggled slightly as she stood up, "I want to go see if Lee-kun is still training today, before I go home," Mikomi stated, "Want to come Sakura?"
"No that's alright," replied Sakura, "I have to help my folks anyways." Mikomi nodded and gave Sakura a big hug, "Don't worry, we'll get through this test," Mikomi assured Sakura, "I believe in us." Sakura smiled and returned the hug before both girls left the roof for their respective destinations.
Mikomi sighed as she wandered away from Lee's training grounds, 'He wasn't there.' she thought pouting, 'and I really wanted to see him again.' She sighed darkly as she let her feat lead her to anywhere they felt like going.
Mikomi finally ended up at Icharaku's sitting on a bench. "Oh," Teuchi sighed as he turned around, "Didn't even hear you come in, Miki-chan." Teuchi chuckled as Mikomi scowled at the nickname. "Hungry eh?" he asked as Mikomi looked up at him and nodded.
"A couple of miso's please," Mikomi said as she smiled at Teuchi, forgetting the jab at her name.
"Coming right up," he replied with a bubbling laugh and started to prepare her food.
It only took Mikomi a few minutes to finish her food and grin at Teuchi, "Thanks Teuchi-san," she said, "You always make the best ramen." Teuchi smiled kindly as she paid for her meal and watched her go home.
The next morning
Team seven convened at the preordained training grounds. Mikomi glanced at her teammates and noted they both looked dead tired, though Mikomi felt perfectly fine with her normal dazzling smile on her face.
Sakura looked at her first and glowered slightly, "You look fine," Sakura said, "Looks like you got some sleep."
Mikomi giggled as Sasuke glanced at her and quickly placed his usual "stoic" mask on. "I got to bed early," Mikomi said swinging her bag around her and squatting down to dig in to it. "There wasn't much for me to do after we left and I'm used to getting up early so I can see Lee-kun."
Sakura giggled slightly as Sasuke rolled his eyes and glanced around.
"It appears our sensei is, once again, late," Sasuke observed darkly. Mikomi nodded as she found what she was looking for in her pack, quickly retracting her hands she held out three apples.
"Here," she said as she tossed one to each of her teammates. "Figured we could use a snack, Kakashi sensei said no breakfast. He didn't say anything about snacks." Mikomi grinned mischievously as Sasuke looked at his apple carefully.
Mikomi quickly retied her pack and took a bite of her apple. "Don't worry it's not poisoned or anything." she said as she swallowed, noting Sasuke eyeing his apple suspiciously. Sasuke looked at her for a moment before taking a bite out of his.
"Where did you get these?" Sakura asked after she had taken a bite, "These are delicious."
"Oh." Mikomi said, "There's a new store near Icharaku's and they open early, so I popped in and grabbed us some apples." Mikomi shrugged nonchalantly as she took another bite of her apple.
"Oh," Sakura replied, "Foreigners?" Mikomi nodded as she took yet another bite of her apple.
It didn't take them long to finish their apples and toss the cores in to a nearby bush. "Wonder how late he's going to be today," Mikomi wondered out loud. The other two genin simply shrugged and sat down getting comfortable.
"I don't know," Sakura replied, "Hopefully not to awfully late, I promised my folks I'd help them at the shop this afternoon."
A couple of hours later the rising sun found the three genin still sitting there, Mikomi fast asleep curled up on the ground using her bag as a pillow. "Yo," Kakashi said as he appeared in a cloud of smoke, little orange book in his hand, in a tree.
The sound of his voice gave Mikomi a start, again. She sat bolt up right launching, yet another, kunai at her tardy sensei.
"What took you so long?" Sakura exclaimed in frustration, "Are you always going to be late?"
"Well you see there was this little old lady who was lost." Kakashi said, "So I helped her find her way home." Kakashi tossed Mikomi's Kunai back at her as he hopped out of his tree perch and stashed his book.
"R-R-Right…" the three, would-be-Genin, sighed in unison.
In all honestly Kakashi didn't really care if they believed him or not, he just made up these excuses as a game to see how many people would believe him. 'At least these students have the 'suspicion' idea down.' He thought, 'The last students I had believed me with ease. That group would have definitely gotten killed on a mission.' He sighed lightly again, remembering that group and shaking his head.
"Glad you all made it to the right place," he drawled, "now to start with the test explanation hmm?"
"Rules are simple," Kakashi said holding up two silver bells that jingled gently in his hands, "if you can get the bells from me you pass."
"But sensei," Sakura said, "there are only 2 bells that means someone won't get one."
'Ahh… the usual objection.' Kakashi thought. "Correct Sakura," he said nonchalantly, "The one who can't get the bells will be sent back to the academy." Kakashi shrugged as he strode over to a set of 3 posts stuck in the ground.
"What!" his students exclaimed, "You mean one of us has to go back?"
Kakashi merely nodded as he set a clock on the center post, "And you have to do it before noon," he stated turning around. "This isn't like the exams in the academy; you have to come at me like you mean it." Kakashi said, "Come at me with the intent to kill and you might succeed in getting a bell." The three genin gaped at him as he reached out to hit the timer button on the clock, "When the alarm goes off return here, now go." He struck the button and all three genin vanished from sight. 'Ahh they know how to hide at least.' he thought glancing around.
He allowed his senses to extend out getting a fix on his students, though Mikomi was being rather difficult. 'Good chakra suppression.' He thought barely noticing the girl moving. He noted Sasuke in a nearby tree to his left and Sakura was hiding under a clump of bushes to his right.
Kakashi turned around seeing Mikomi standing behind him ready to go, "Ahh you first eh?" he sighed pulling out his little book. "There are 3 skills a ninja uses. Lesson one: TaiJutsu, the art of hand to hand combat." He stood there with his free hand behind his back and reading his book, 'This shouldn't be too difficult, her TaiJutsu scores weren't that impressive.' he thought. "Well come at me then," he said as Mikomi charged at him. 'Direct I see…' Kakashi thought, 'This should fun.'
It only took a moment for Mikomi to make it to him launching a basic jab at his face; Kakashi easily blocked it with his free hand. A vicious sweep went for his legs which Kakashi easily dodged, his eye almost widened a bit as he noticed her other leg come around in a roundhouse kick aimed for his rib cage. Kakashi blocked with his leg and did a flip backwards to land on his feet looking bored.
"That all you got?" he asked glancing at Mikomi.
Mikomi smirked as she launched herself in to the air aiming a solid side kick for Kakashi's shoulder, Kakashi sidestepped that one almost missing the backhand she aimed for his cheek. Kakashi blocked with his book arm, using her momentum against her he redirected it to the left and launched her off to that side.
She grunted as she came crashing down to the ground sliding a few feet. "Damn…" she thought shaking her head.
"Never let your opponent get behind you," Kakashi said from behind her, "That's a bad thing." Kakashi's hands blurred in to a series of seals and he finished with the tiger seal, he went to shove his fingers in her behind when he noted she was no longer there, "Huh…" he said glancing around, "Where did she go?" He allowed his senses to expand again feeling her presence behind him.
"I agree sensei," Mikomi said as she blurred her hands in to a series of seals: boar, ram, and ox.
"Kaihou!" Mikomi shouted as Chakra forced its way out of her forearms and shins. Kakashi watched for a moment before he noticed something fall to the ground and Mikomi's smirk grow larger, "I was just seeing how strong you are sensei," she said as she allowed the weights she had on to fall to the ground dispelling her GenJutsu on them.
'GenJutsu concealed weights.' Kakashi thought, 'Better be careful.'
Kakashi quickly stashed his book as Mikomi charged at him moving at twice the speed. Kakashi blinked slightly as her fist shot out to his face, he quickly bent backwards to dodge the blow feeling the chakra piston graze his nose. 'Whoa.' He thought, 'She's fast.' He barely had enough time to dodge the sweep she aimed for his legs, he jumped in to the air with Mikomi hot on his heels, as she turned the sweep in to a jump and struck Kakashi where the chin meets the throat with an open palm heel strike.
The strike threw him further off balance as she jabbed her left knee in to his right kidney, utilizing the momentum she spun around him to plant both elbow points in to the small of his back. Another spin around him and she landed another knee strike to his left kidney, spinning herself around vertically she landed a solid heel kick to his head.
"Tora Renden!" she yelled as her combination attack finished. Kakashi streaked towards the ground landing with a loud thud.
Mikomi smirked as she saw him land hard and allowed herself a graceful landing. Her face fell quickly as she saw the dust clear.
"Substitution," she squeaked as she noted a rather beaten log lying where Kakashi had been. "Damn."
She barely heard the twang of a string as she flipped back dodging a snare. She frowned as she noticed the second snare streak from the ground and wrap around her ankle, flinging her upside down with a nasty jarring. "Oh damn," she cursed watching Kakashi saunter out of the underbrush.
"Well, well," Kakashi said stepping in front of her, "Impressive, but you have to learn to look underneath the underneath, to see the trap within the trap." Kakashi smirked at her thoroughly enjoying his lecture.
Mikomi could only dangle there upside down and glower at her sensei, "I know," she growled in frustration. "But I didn't have time to react to that one. Pretty good timing old man." Mikomi grinned as Kakashi chuckled.
"Well I'm not a Jounin for nothing you know…"
Suddenly several shuriken came streaking out of nowhere striking Kakashi in the side, forcing him to bounce off of a nearby tree. Sakura gaped as Mikomi smirked slightly. Mikomi noticed that the log that was used against her combo was gone.
"Got him!" Sasuke exclaimed before he noticed the puff of smoke and a log fall to the ground, "A substitution? Damn now he knows my position." Sasuke moved quickly jumping from branch to branch finding a new hiding place.
Sakura couldn't believe it, she could have sworn she saw Sasuke kill their sensei until the log appeared, 'Oh no Sasuke gave away his position with that attack.' She thought, 'I have to help him.' Sakura bounded towards Sasuke's position quickly.
Kakashi watched this all from a nearby safe spot and chuckled, "Mikomi has got some good moves," he thought rubbing his throat, "that attack hurt." He glanced around noting Sakura moving quickly, "now to find my other students." He chuckled moving off.
Sakura was moving quickly through the trees before she noticed Kakashi standing in a clearing, 'Oh no.' she thought stopping quickly and hiding. After a few moments of silence, she let out a small breath of relief, 'He didn't notice me.' She watched him for a few moments before she heard someone behind her.
"Lesson 2: GenJutsu, the art of using your chakra to create illusions that play on your senses, Sakura," Kakashi said as he squatted behind her flashing through a few seals. She gasped as she felt the GenJutsu take hold shaking her head she heard someone groaning her name.
"Sakura."
It was Sasuke.
"Sakura help me." Sakura jumped out of her tree to investigate. She took a couple of steps before she saw Sasuke crawl from behind a tree; he looked like a pin cushion with all the kunai sticking out of him. His blood was soaking the ground,
"Sasuke." she gasped as she stepped forward, "What happened?" Sasuke groaned again.
"Help me Sakura," he said before he collapsed in to a puddle of his own blood.
The tears came to Sakura's eyes as she fainted dead away.
Kakashi blinked. 'She should know this is a genjitsu, it's not that strong of one.' Kakashi thought watching Sakura pass out, 'Maybe I used too much.' He shrugged hopping off. 'One more to go.' he thought.
Mikomi was still hanging in the tree frowning as she glanced over to her right, "oh ho," she thought getting a smirk on her face, "so that's what he meant 'looking underneath the underneath.'" Mikomi grinned mischievously as she took out a kunai and cut herself down.
It took Kakashi a few minutes but he found his final student standing in a clearing. Kakashi watched him before Sasuke turned to look directly at him, 'Well at least he's obliging.' Kakashi thought as he stepped out. "Lesson 3: NinJutsu, the art of using your chakra to make devastating attacks." Kakashi said as he faced off with the Uchiha. Sasuke charged at Kakashi launching a punch at him, 'Won't be able to read my book for this one either.' Kakashi frowned blocking the punch. Sasuke came around with a cross kick which Kakashi caught and held with his other hand. To Kakashi's surprise Sasuke twisted his body to launch yet another punch at his face. This forced Kakashi to let go of his leg to grab the new attack, allowing Sasuke to launch another roundhouse kick at Kakashi's gut.
'Enough.' Kakashi thought as he jumped back spinning Sasuke away from him. Sasuke used the momentum to turn himself around and flash through some hand seals. 'Tiger seal.' Kakashi thought, 'That's a fire jutsu. Genin aren't supposed to know fire jutsu.'
"Fire element: grand fireball technique!" Sasuke yelled as he placed his right hand in front of his mouth and breathed out. A large fireball shot from his mouth burning the ground where Kakashi was mere moments ago.
Finally Sasuke released the fire jitsu and looked at the destruction he caused, "Did I get him?" Sasuke asked himself as he looked around for remains. Suddenly he felt something grab his legs and yank him down.
"Earth element: Earthen decapitation." Kakashi's voice rang out as he yanked Sasuke in to the ground up to his neck.
"That should take care of that," Kakashi said as he brushed off his hands, "Should take you till about noon to dig yourself out of that." Kakashi chuckled as Sasuke glowered at him. Kakashi chuckled as he withdrew his book and walked off, 'Better go check on Mikomi,' he thought, 'She's probably cut herself down by now.'
A few minutes after Kakashi vanished in to the trees Sakura appeared from the woods.
"Sakura?" Sasuke asked as he looked at her.
"Sasuke!" Sakura exclaimed passing out once again. Sasuke could only look at her dumbfounded.
Kakashi made it back to his snares only to find Mikomi gone, "Hmm…" he sighed, "Wonder where she got off too."
Sasuke had himself halfway dug out of his prison when he heard something. He froze looking towards the noise. Suddenly a blur flew out of the woods nearby and grabbed him underneath his arms. Sasuke growled as he was forced out of his hole, much to the chagrin of his badly scraped legs. A few seconds later he noticed Sakura on the opposite side as him. He looked down only to see that someone with blond hair was carrying them both.
A few minutes later he noted that his ride had stopped and set him and Sakura on some spongy moss near a dead tree.
"Sakura," Mikomi breathed catching her breath, "Wake up." Sakura slowly woke up glancing around, she noticed Sasuke was alright and latched herself on to him like some sort of leech.
"Oh Sasuke," she sobbed, "I saw you dead…then I saw your head talking to me…and…and…"
Sasuke tried to pry her off but she was strong for such a small woman,
"Everything's ok Sakura," said Mikomi patting Sakura's shoulder, "Everyone's fine."
"Mikomi?" Sakura asked as she looked up finally releasing Sasuke, who was looking rather disheveled, "we're ok?"
Mikomi nodded as she smiled at her, "Here. I got us something," Mikomi said pulling a couple of boxes from a nearby hole in the tree trunk, "It's food, I think we need to eat or we'll never be able to defeat Kakashi sensei."
"Huh?" Sakura asked, "Where'd you get that?"
Mikomi then grinned impishly, "Oh," she said, "While I was hanging in the tree I noticed these sitting on the monument behind those logs in the ground. I figured we needed to replenish our strength and go after Kakashi together."
"But sensei said we wouldn't be able to eat till after the test," Sakura said staring at the boxes.
Mikomi only sighed, "No he said we could eat lunch after we finished the test," Mikomi said, "This just means we get two lunches."
Mikomi giggled seeing comprehension dawn on Sakura's face. "We should hurry," Mikomi said getting serious, "I don't know how long it will take sensei to find us, and we still have to get those bells."
Sasuke nodded as he reached for a box, "But there's only 2 boxes," Sakura said her stomach growling.
"No worries," Mikomi said, "I'll share mine with you."
Sakura smiled warmly, "Thanks." she said.
"No." Sasuke said, halting the two of them. "WE split them. Evenly."
The girls looked at him oddly for a moment before nodding.
After they finished their brunch they began to make plans for taking down Kakashi.
"I still say I am better off on my own," Sasuke said frowning.
"Bah." Mikomi chided, "The only way we're getting those bells is working as a team, and you and I both almost got one."
Sasuke nodded keeping a look out, "We should hurry then," he said. Mikomi nodded as Sakura frowned.
"But there are only 2 bells," she whined, "only 2 of us get to go on."
Sasuke glanced back at the two girls.
"It's ok," Mikomi said putting on a fake smile, which Sasuke could easily see through. "You two can have the bells; I can become a full genin next year."
"Are you sure Mikomi?" Sakura asked, "You're the one working so hard for us."
"Yeah," Mikomi replied, "I'm sure."
It only took a few moments to finalize the plan and the three genin set off.
Kakashi was standing in a clearing waiting for them, 'They have to find me to get the bells,' he thought. 'No sense in wasting my energy looking for them. They've only got a few minutes left anyways.' Kakashi chuckled lightly as he continued to allow his senses to sweep the area.
Suddenly several kunai flew out of the trees straight at him, he easily dodged them all, glancing towards the attack direction.
"Ah-ha," he said under his breath. "Here they are." He chuckled as he felt something slam in to his back and grab on to him,
"Your gonna lose those bells sensei," Mikomi yelled as she appeared in front of him landing a punch on his face. White smoke enveloped Kakashi as Mikomi hit another Mikomi.
The struck shadow clone vanished in a puff of smoke as 4 others advanced on Kakashi's hiding spot.
'Oh,' he thought, 'Now she's serious.' He smirked until he felt something heavy land on his shoulders; at the same time 2 more kunai flew at him forcing him to jump out of the tree attempting to maintain his balance with the Mikomi on his back.
Finally some shuriken appeared out of nowhere and flew by, he dodged those too, but it was close. Suddenly the weight on his shoulders was lifted as the clone vanished and a blur ran underneath him.
'What the?' he thought as he landed gracefully, 'What was that?'
Kakashi chuckled as he felt his genin retreat in to the underbrush. "Well that was a waste," he said as he reached towards the bells, finding them gone.
"What?" he exclaimed as he looked down noting the strings the bells were hanging from, cleanly cut.
Kakashi thought about it for a moment then chuckled again.
"They got me; they actually got me," he said, "First they used the original kunai attack to distract me long enough for the clone to jump on me. They expected a substitution with that one and made me think they had fallen for it again. They had a clone waiting for me in the tree I'd use to hide." At that thought he chuckled again, "That clone jumped on my back as more kunai came at me," he continued.
"That forced me to jump out of the tree, the clone on my back making balancing difficult. The final shuriken barrage was made to look like it was aimed for me, but it was actually aimed at the bells. That is what severed the bells from the string. Lastly Mikomi ran out from her hiding spot to catch the bells and bolt away, teammates hot on her trail." Kakashi laughed this time, 'Good team work.' he thought, 'the kunai attacks were courtesy of Sakura, clones and catching by Mikomi, lastly the shuriken was from Sasuke.' Kakashi shook his head as he headed for the posts, knowing the timer would go off soon.
Three tired looking genin came walking out of the forest as the timer went off, though they had smirks on their faces.
Kakashi chuckled, 'Even Sasuke is smirking about it.' he thought.
"Well done team seven," Kakashi said as they approached, "who has the bells?" He nodded as he noted Sakura and Sasuke reveal their bells while Mikomi stood there with a rather resolute look on her face.
"I see," Kakashi said as he guided Mikomi to the middle post and tied her to it, "it appears we have our genin." They all nodded as Sakura and Sasuke sat down next to Mikomi. "And it looks like another year in the academy for you Mikomi," Kakashi stated. "Since you didn't have a bell, I'm sorry, but you know I have to obey the rules."
Mikomi merely nodded her head and looked at the ground; it was obvious she didn't want to go back. It was also obvious she had sacrificed herself for the good of her team, Kakashi was proud of her though he couldn't show that just yet.
After a few minutes of awkward silence Kakashi spoke again, "alright you two, congratulations on becoming genin today," he stated, "I'll take that." Kakashi reached out and tried to take Mikomi's hitai-ite, but before he could take it, his arm was clenched in an iron hard grip curtsey of a scowling Sasuke.
"Give it back." Sasuke said coolly, "She deserves to be a ninja."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow as he looked at Sasuke, "Oh really?" he asked.
Sasuke nodded, "She's the one that got us working together and she got us food to regain our strength." Sasuke said, "Without her I don't think we would have passed."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow.
"Besides this exercise is based on teamwork right?" Sasuke continued, "And we worked as a team. I won't leave a teammate behind."
"Yeah," Sakura finally piped in finding her voice, "you can't do this it's not right!"
Kakashi allowed his face to cloud in rage, "Are you questioning me!" he bellowed as his hands flashed through a long series of seals and black evil looking clouds began to form over him.
"Insubordination is intolerable," Kakashi continued his charade, "I should kill you all here. If you're willing to fail the mission then you don't deserve to be ninja!"
All three genin paled for a moment seeing the display of power and feeling the anger roll off of their sensei.
"I will not allow her sacrifices to go in vain," Sasuke said standing up and moving in front of Mikomi, kunai drawn, "we worked damn good as a team and I see no point in loosing that."
"Yeah," Sakura chimed in also moving in front of Mikomi and drawing her own kunai. "This isn't right and you know it!"
"Oh?" Kakashi growled.
Sakura nodded, "The three of us are one," she said, "If you try to hurt one of us you have to deal with all of us!" Sasuke merely nodded his head keeping the same calculating caution he was so good at.
"Hmm," Kakashi said, "Well then I only have one thing to do then." The three genin swallowed but stood their ground, "You pass," Kakashi said smiling at them as the clouds dissipated, "Congratulations!"
(Cue massive sweat drop)
Kakashi chuckled lightly as he saw the three gape at him, "This exercise is based on team work." he started, "We use 2 bells to create a rift in between you all."
"But why?" Mikomi asked.
"Because we need to see if one of you is willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of the team and mission," Kakashi stated.
The genin nodded blankly.
"Then there is the second part of this exercise, seeing if you would stand up and help a teammate. We are in cells of three man teams for a reason; the missions go smoother and easier as teams." Kakashi took a breath and continued, "With a team there is a better chance of survival and completion." He glanced at all the genin and sighed noting their blank looks.
Kakashi turned around as Sasuke cut Mikomi down, "Do you see this stone here?" Kakashi asked indicating a small obelisk of obsidian behind him, "This stone has the names of the heroes of our village carved on it."
"Oh," Mikomi said, "I want my name on that!"
Kakashi only shook his head, "This stone has the names of those who were K.I.A." Kakashi sighed seeming lost in thought for a moment.
"Ermm," Mikomi said looking confused, "I was never really good at acronyms."
"Killed in Action," Sakura supplied looked sad, "The names are of those killed in action."
Mikomi swallowed and looked down sadly, "Oh." was all she could manage through her thick throat.
"Yes," Kakashi continued, "This stone has the names of every ninja who was killed in action for our village."
The genin nodded slightly, "Ninja who fail a mission are trash," Kakashi stated, "Ninja who leave a comrade behind are even worse trash and don't deserve to have their name carved in this stone."
Kakashi turned to look at his genin, "Do you understand?"
They all nodded
"Is the fourth's name on it?" Mikomi asked.
"Yes," Kakashi said nodding and turning around, "Along with the names of my friends." Kakashi sighed tracing a couple of names with his finger, "You won't find his name though," Kakashi finished, "you'll only find 'Yondaime' carved in it for him."
Kakashi sighed as he noticed Mikomi walk up to the stone, "I wonder if my parents' names are on it…" she said as she began to look at all the names. Kakashi also noticed Sasuke walk up and find his family as well.
A few minutes passed in silence before Mikomi sighed and her eyes fell to the ground, "Not a single Uzumaki," she breathed the tears welling in her eyes, "Do I even belong to this village?"
Kakashi looked at her sympathetically seeing her force back the tears, seeing the confusion and pain in her eyes. It was almost a bottomless pit in her eyes; the usual clear eyes were dark and abysmal.
She sniffed gently continuing to force back the tears; she had promised not to cry about this anymore. But it was there, she knew the pain the uncertainty, it was a constant companion no matter how many friends she made.
Kakashi saw this all play in those cerulean orbs, the normal vibrance consumed by the darkness she fought against every day.
It pained Kakashi to see her like that; it was almost like looking in to a mirror. He had felt the same things when it came to his father.
The silence lasted a while as everyone let Mikomi's situation sink in.
Finally Kakashi broke the silence, "Of course you do," Kakashi said as he stepped behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders, "You have the hitai-ite to prove you are a kunoichi of the leaf. Always remember that, Mikomi."
Mikomi took a shuddering breath and looked at Kakashi a sad smile on her face, her eyes gleaming with barely suppressed tears, "Thanks" she whispered.
Kakashi smiled and raised his hand to pat her head gently.
Everyone stepped away from the stone and back to the logs in the ground, "Alright," Kakashi said, "Take these forms and fill them out."
He produced 3 forms from his pouch and handed it to each of his genin, "these forms will become your registration cards." Kakashi smiled at them, "I'm proud of you three," he said, "take tomorrow off and take care of the registration."
All three genin nodded as Kakashi vanished in a puff of white smoke.
Sasuke watched the girls walk away together, his eyes resting on the back of Mikomi. He saw something in her eyes, something he recognized and something he always had hanging over him. Maybe, just maybe, he had found a kindred spirit in this world, someone who knew exactly what it was he was going through.
'Perhaps this team isn't so bad after all.' He thought as he started to walk away, of course, he wasn't going to let that show.
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A/N: Long one I know. But hey I was hoping to get to a certain point and I was suddenly inspired to write more, hehe. Now for some terms I used in the story:
Kaihou: Release (as in emancipate, or liberation)
Tora Renden: Tiger Combo
Now I would like to once again thank my betas and Riiiceballe! Now remember folks…review, review, review, no such thing as a waste of a review (unless it's a flame). Please send me reviews telling me what you liked, what you disliked, and maybe just that you liked it. But anyways, until next chapter, thanks for reading!