Chapter 6 - Meetings
A modest, informal gathering of several dozen students and their parents was held as celebration for their graduation from the Academy. It allowed for a bit of socialization among the adults, who got to show their pride in their children's achievements, bragging about each one to each other. Rarely did anyone outside the immediate families attend, though a handful of stoic Hyuuga had a circle of quiet deference around them.
"Tenten!" Sakura ran up and hugged her friend once the mingling had begun. "Congratulations!"
"What, you thought I wouldn't graduate? I'm offended!"
Sakura just stuck her tongue out at her.
"Hehe, congrats Tenten," Naruto said as he worked his way closer, chasing after the exuberant Sakura.
Tenten raised her eyebrow, glanced back to where her dad was talking with another of the parents, then turned back and said in a harsh whisper, "If you start calling me an Evil Minion here, I will kick your ass so hard you won't be able to sit for a week!"
Naruto immediately held up his hands in denial, assuring her that he had no such plans.
Tenten slowly grinned at his spluttering, before reaching forward and grabbing him in a half-hug. As Naruto quickly extricated himself from the embarrassing (to him) position, Tenten just smiled and said, "Thanks, guys. It was a lot of fun. I'll be sure to come see you when you graduate too, 'k?"
As the friendly camaraderie reasserted itself and smalltalk started between Sakura and Tenten, Naruto kept looking around. Just as Tenten was about to ask what he was looking for, he started waving over the crowd and calling out. "Sasuke! Over here!"
Tenten looked curiously at the boy making his way towards them through the crowd. He was wearing a dark blue shirt, kept his hands in his pockets, and seemed like he was only showing up out of duress. She commented jokingly, "What, Sakura's boyfriend?"
As Sakura blushed, Naruto spun around and belted out, "No! No way!" Pointing at Tenten, then Sakura in turn, finally spinning around and pointing at Sasuke and reaffirming, "No way!"
Tenten chuckled as Sasuke stared at Naruto in annoyance and confusion. She pulled out a paper fan (that she'd found to be a pretty much permanent necessity with Naruto around) and swatted Naruto upside the head in a friendly fashion. "I was just kidding, ya bonehead."
"Ah, heheheh," Naruto chuckled, before clearing his head. "This is Sasuke," he said, introducing the boy, before turning and saying, "This is Tenten."
"Hn," Sasuke acknowledged.
"A friend of yours, Naruto?" Tenten inquired.
"He's been saying he wanted to meet you. Since you've been too busy for practice and stuff the last couple weeks, we figured he could come see you here at graduation!"
Sakura nodded in agreement, adding, "He plays the flute, and he's really good at genjutsu."
"Genjutsu, eh?" Tenten asked, looking at Sasuke queryingly.
Sasuke just shrugged noncommittally. "It's one of the things I'm training." After pausing, he continued, "I wanted to see what kind of person could put up with these two numbskulls." While seeming casual, he still kept a close eye on her reaction.
Tenten laughed and, resting the paper fan against a shoulder, said, "Yeah, these two in the same class has got to be a nightmare."
"Hey!" a pair of voices echoed out.
Sasuke gazed at Tenten, turned to look at the offended pair, then back to Tenten. "But you don't seem to have a problem with them."
Tenten shrugged and smiled. "Just gotta know where to draw the line, when to say, 'Enough is enough', and let them know—" here she smacked each of the two lightly on the head with the fan "—that they need to tone it down some. Other than that, it's easy to see that they try hard, and as long as they don't give up, that's what's important."
"Hn," was all Sasuke responded with, seeming to take what she said into consideration, and giving a speculative look at the fan she held.
"Anyway!" Tenten interrupted the serious mood. "My dad wanted to say hi to you guys, so come on! He's had enough time to make a fuss about me, and they haven't even put me on a team yet."
While the other three walked towards a small group with, presumably, Tenten's dad in it, Sasuke held back, rather uncomfortable among so many families, so many reminders of what he didn't have anymore, and hating them for it. Though an overheard comment of, "Your mother would be so proud of you." that made Tenten blush and smile sadly, caused a tiny twinge of guilt. Finally he just shook his head and made his way silently out of the crowd.
Sasuke blinked out of the memory as Iruka finished his congratulations speech, and began reading out the team selections. The small gathering celebrating the graduation of their own class had been a similar affair, though ironically not as pleasant.
There was no family for him to mingle with, nor Naruto, and Sakura actually spent the entire time without her axe, standing politely near an older couple that seemed to be fussily annoyed at almost everyone around them.
He made polite nods to the parents of other classmates, but there was a distance that respect for the Uchiha created, even if the clan itself no longer existed. The only one who had it worse was Hinata, with the Hyuuga elders hovering over her. In the corner of his eye, he saw Ino keeping a close watch on the other girl, even if their families remained largely separated. Their strange friendship was one that everyone in class recognized, but that no one really commented on or talked about.
Tenten had, as promised, stopped by to give her congratulations to Naruto and Sakura, and even to him, oddly enough. She apologized for not bringing her own teammates along to introduce them, but claimed it would be too 'disruptive'. Sasuke guessed that Tenten must be cursed to manage people like Naruto and Sakura, and silently wished her luck.
But now it was time to see what team he himself would be placed on. Who would it be? Could any of them help him get stronger? Not directly, of course, but the strength of the team was a reflection of the strength of the jounin who taught them. The stronger the instructor, the stronger he himself could become under the man's teaching; the stronger the team, the stronger the jounin who would be assigned to handle them. So who within this class would best represent the strength needed?
In raw physical strength, no one surpassed Sakura, but his mind shied away from that answer. He'd need greater mental fortitude than physical fortitude to handle being on a team with her. Aside from that... perhaps Kiba? Chouji? They were both strong fighters. If clan was all that mattered, it would be Hinata, but her personality gave lie to that.
Before he could continue speculating, though, Iruka's next statement interrupted.
"Team 7! Sasuke Uchiha; Naruto Uzumaki; Sakura Haruno! Your instructor will be Kakashi Hatake."
Sasuke stared, his mind not quite able to grasp the calamity of that combination. He didn't even realize his mouth had opened when he heard his own voice shout, "Are you crazy?"
Iruka frowned at him disapprovingly, as many of the class turned to look at him. His voice in disciplinary mode, he asked, "Is there a problem, Sasuke?"
Sasuke's jaw opened and closed briefly, before he clenched it shut and replied, "No, sir."
"Then please don't interrupt. Now, next: Team 8!"
Sasuke stopped listening and turned to stare at the two students who had caused him so many headaches over the last couple years. Strength? Only if insanity counted as a strength.
He closed his eyes and wondered if Tenten would let him borrow one of her paper fans...
Three newly-minted genin waited in the classroom, having watched the other teams slowly drift out as their jounin instructors picked them up. Giddy discussions bounced between Naruto and Sakura, while Sasuke relaxed in his seat by the window, basking in the afternoon sun. Despite the headache that threatened every time he thought about his new teammates, it was still underscored with the knowledge that both of them always pushed their hardest to achieve their goals, even if the goals didn't always make sense.
On the other hand, as the second hand on the clock ticked away, his patience was starting to wear thin. And if his was wearing thin...
"Where is he?" Naruto screamed out. He huffed after that, clearly annoyed, but not actually angry.
"I'm sure he'll be here soon," Sakura said. She had always been far more patient than either of the boys. "He's got the greatest team around waiting for him, right?"
Naruto's eyes lit up. "Yes! He's waiting for us to show how much we appreciate having an awesome teacher! So when he shows up we can impress him, and he'll be all, 'Wow!', and we'll be 'Yeah!', and then we'll go save the princess!"
"Naruto.." Sasuke growled out.
"Just watch!" Naruto proclaimed, sticking his tongue out at Sasuke. With that, he brought out some rolls of paper, a pen and some ink, and started crafting a series of seals.
Sakura leaned over Naruto's shoulder at times to watch him work, but refrained from disturbing him. When she got bored with that, she started doing a kata with her axe out in the main classroom floor area. Sasuke merely waited patiently.
Eventually, Naruto exclaimed, "There!", setting his brush down and taking the seals over to the entryway near the door and starting to lay them out.
"So what did you make?" Sasuke asked.
"Fireworks!" Naruto said proudly. "They're the best thing for a celebration!"
A pause of silent contemplation.
"Those aren't going to set the classroom on fire, are they?"
Naruto froze for a few seconds, and then started laughing nervously. He then swept the seals up and ran back to his desk, starting a new batch. Sakura set down her axe and, after watching Naruto for a bit more, started offering suggestions for a safer display, and considerations for the trigger mechanism. Naruto grabbed the ideas, elaborated on them, and kept drawing like crazy, his hands keeping up with his brain where his mouth couldn't.
After this second set was completed and finally set up, it was back to waiting. The excitement of the celebratory display faded, and Sakura started poking holes in the desktop with her finger.
"He's got to be lost!" Naruto finally shouted out. "We need to go find him!" He jumped up and rushed at the door, though luckily Sakura managed to stop him before he opened it.
"You'll trigger the seals, dummy!" she said, giving him a slap on the shoulder.
Naruto groaned and started walking around the classroom again. "Fine, fine. Hmm. Hey, Sasuke! Why don't you play your flute? That's always nice to listen to."
Sasuke shook his head on reflex. Honestly, he enjoyed playing, and normally wouldn't have minded, but he always had a gut reaction to reject any of Naruto's ideas. One way or another, they were just going to lead to tears.
"Pleeeeease?" Naruto pleaded, leaning up against Sasuke's desk and trying his best puppydog-eye look. Sasuke remained firm.
"Sakura?" Naruto turned his gaze. "You'd like to hear him play, right? Like, the time with the drums!" he said, pulling out their earliest memory of playing together. "And the..." He couldn't quite mention the time the flute was played, as that was an unspoken taboo in the class, but they still knew what he meant.
Sakura turned excitedly to Sasuke, practically bouncing as she remembered it, before mentioning something unexpected: "You said the drums needed a flute accompaniment, right?"
Sasuke blinked at that. Had he said that? It had been so long ago that he couldn't recall, though drums and the flute did sound good together. There had been a couple times he'd managed something of the sort, playing the flute to himself in the woods near where the festival drums played, but never in class. Besides, why would she be talking about drums? He only had the one instrument on him right now.
As that thought crossed his mind, Sakura pulled out a small storage scroll — one of two, gifts from Tenten, if he remembered correctly. His eyes widened as he suddenly realized that she should only need one for her axe (though she never kept the axe stored while at school). She wouldn't...
She jumped down to the floor and quickly unrolled the scroll. A storage seal was visible. And with a quick slap as she undid the chakra seal—
One last medium-sized taiko drum, along with a pair of bashi sticks.
Sasuke stared.
Naruto stared.
Sakura grinned bashfully.
Sasuke sighed deeply, even as Sakura looked at him hopefully, and Naruto was already jumping around triumphantly. Was there any way he could get Iruka to put him on another team?
Sasuke looked at the clock. Already almost two hours since their sensei was supposed to have shown up. Meh, screw it.
As he pulled out his flute, Sakura jumped for joy and immediately set up to play. Naruto was already shaking his hair out and swinging his head back and forth, before stomping his foot in a way easily recognizable as the start of the festival's demon-banishing dance.
Slowly at first, then with increasing confidence, the two played a simplified tune for Naruto to dance to. Sasuke noted that Sakura had significantly improved in her drumplay since that time... what, over a year ago, wasn't it? He'd thought she had lost interest in it, but it seems she still practiced on her own, if the hidden drum was any indication.
Naruto didn't seem to have any cares that his dance was 'proper' — he just let himself flow with the music. The traditional demon-banishing dance, to drive out evil spirits and cleanse people's homes, was an elaborate celebration that they were certainly not doing justice to. Still... Even if these two were a couple of crazy demons themselves, there were times he didn't mind being dragged in their wake.
Suddenly, a loud 'crack!' snapped him out of his reverie.
Several clouds of smoke drifted up from the floor near the door — mixtures of red, orange, blue and gold — highlighted by flare seals that acted as miniature spotlights. Behind them (relative to the door) a banner had popped up with the word "Congratulations!" written on it.
The three genin were frozen — Sasuke with his flute to his lips, Sakura with the drum sticks above her head, and Naruto with one foot raised and his arms wound back.
With that view, their new jounin sensei spoke.
"How can I say this? My first impression of you is... I hate you."
After a bit of cleanup, Kakashi took them up to the roof for a little introduction meeting.
Kakashi leaned back against the railing, looking at the children in front of him, and trying to decide exactly what he thought of these three.
Sasuke. Only survivor of the massacre that exterminated his entire clan, and perpetrated by his own brother. He was known to have built up a great deal of anger, a desire for vengeance, in the time he was monitored after the event. His file said he had calmed down lately, but his room showed that that was merely a cover for a far more focused drive. That clean, sterile environment, free of any distractions, any possible attachments, was the world of one who had no thoughts but a single overriding goal: revenge.
Naruto. Jinchuriki (though he didn't know it), and son of the fourth Hokage (though he didn't know it). All he knew was that he had no home, no family, no clan. He had latched onto fuinjutsu as some sort of Uzumaki heritage (though that was like saying the Inuzuka had a strong heritage as dog breeders; while true of the clan as a whole, it was mostly false at the individual level), and entirely dedicated himself to that. His apartment, among so many refugee children and children of destitute families, each trying to climb the ranks of a ninja, showed a studious dedication towards rising above that.
Sakura. The merchant clan she was born into had no significant history as shinobi, but the girl was intelligent, and considered talented with weapons. Her room showed an obsession with appearances, of a 'mask' that she showed the world. The detailed mask of 'normalcy' was what she showed her parents. What did she show her classmates? What would she try to show him?
Even as these thoughts churned through his mind, he started speaking. "Why don't you introduce yourselves. You know, likes, dislikes, hobbies, hopes, dreams for the future, stuff like that." How they reacted and what they said showed a lot about them.
"I like ramen!" Naruto immediately volunteered — no hesitance whatsoever. "And strawberries and blueberries, they taste great with milk. And walnuts, when they're in season. I don't like broccoli, but I'll still eat it. It's not too bad when you stir fry it. And lemonade in the summer!"
"We're not interested in your grocery list, idiot", said Sasuke, cuffing Naruto on the back of the head.
"Oh yeah? Well what do you like?"
Sasuke glanced away, then muttered, "Tomatoes."
"Really? I like those too! Mix it with slices of avocados and—"
Kakashi cleared his throat. He felt like this could go on all day if he let it. Naruto seemed easily distracted.
"Maybe Sakura should start off, instead."
Sakura perked up and smiled brightly. Putting a finger to her chin as she thought, she finally said, "I like... friends who will listen to me. And reading. And my axe." She patted it affectionately. "My hobbies are oppressing peasants and playing taiko drums. My dream—"
"Oppressing peasants?" Kakashi interrupted. The first shapings of the mask he would see, it appeared.
"It's OK," Sakura chirped. "Naruto will save them before they're completely crushed under my heel."
"Right!" Naruto affirmed. "I like to save people who are oppressed by evil overlords!"
Kakashi glanced at Naruto. Now why would he play along with Sakura's fantasies? More hints at striving to gain attention?
"You know," Kakashi said, with a hint of irritation, "maybe you're not ready to be genin after all, if you're not going to take this seriously."
"We totally are ready!" Naruto denied. "And absolutely serious!" he continued angrily. "I didn't spend the last two years studying my ass off just for fun! I'm going to be the best fuinjutsu master ever! And I'm going to make sure I can stop any evil overlords who show up!"
Sakura added, "And every hero needs an evil overlord!"
Kakashi glanced at Sasuke, who rolled his eyes and seemed to be unconsciously grasping for something.
Finally sitting up straight, the dark-haired boy glanced at the other two, then said, "No matter what they're called, heroes or villains, there are some who must be held accountable for their actions, who must pay for the pain they've caused in this world. I want to ensure that that justice is carried out."
Kakashi's eyes narrowed. There was that hint at his drive for revenge, though he seemed inclined to hide his real intent from others, for whatever reason.
So. Naruto, driven, but easily distracted. Sakura, already building up a mask, though the desire to play the villain was peculiar. And Sasuke, playing at justice, but possibly as a multi-purpose tool to control the other two, based on the looks they were giving him.
He recalled how Iruka supposedly described them: scatterbrained. With too much focus on their imaginary worlds, could they even appreciate what they were going to be fighting for? Never mind the seriousness of the fighting itself, should it come to that.
"I see," Kakashi finally replied. "Well, tomorrow we'll start our duties as shinobi."
"Yes!" Naruto was ecstatic, earlier anger quickly forgotten. "What do we start with?"
"Survival training."
Kakashi continued through his prepared spiel — two-third's failure rate, kicked back to the Academy, don't eat breakfast — while watching the genin react in turns confused and outraged. It was always good to get them wound up at the start; those emotions were the key to seeing what they were really made of. And maybe it would temper their more wildly-flung imaginations enough that he wouldn't regret not just failing them all right here.
Before he finally departed, though, Naruto called out. "What about you, sensei?"
"Hmm? What about me?"
"What do you like, and stuff?"
"What do I like?" He pondered the question briefly, before replying, "I wonder..."
With that, he was gone.
"I don't like him," Sakura grumbled as they made their way out of the building. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, pausing before turning towards his home.
"Yeah, seriously!" Naruto vented his own feelings. "What was up with that 'extra test' stuff? We already graduated! And he didn't even say thanks for the celebratory fireworks and stuff!"
"You didn't use fireworks," Sasuke reminded him.
"Whatever!" Naruto threw his hands up and started pacing in a circle, grumbling to himself. "And he was late!"
"Why don't you like him?" Sasuke asked Sakura, turning to her so that he could ignore Naruto's rants.
Sakura made a face before simply stating, "He doesn't listen."
Sasuke tilted his head, waiting for further explanation. He recalled that was one of the things she'd mentioned in her list of 'likes'. Naruto continued to pout, but also seemed to be paying attention.
Sakura tried to voice her objection, but seemed to have a hard time putting it into words. Finally, she said, "It's like he's watching us, observing us, but not actually listening to us." She shrugged after that, trying to dismiss what she could only call a gut feeling.
Sasuke finally sighed and turned away. "I need to go get some supplies for this 'survival training'. See you tomorrow."
Sakura frowned and nodded, and likewise turned to make her way home.
Naruto shouted out defiantly from where he still stood, "Yeah! And we are so gonna kick his ass!"