OK, guys, how's this for fast delivery? Really, i almost sort of wish i could do two chapters a week, but god . . . this things broke any record previous at 35 pages, i don't have another in me to give you in the same week. My spirit would break, lol. So, things are starting to pick up now with them being ninja . . . sort of. First off, i wanna thank some people!
isee4: It's reviews like yours that make me write with the force of a thousand suns. I'll be sending you the bill for a new laptop soon.
narulover4000 and Zero123456789: To be the first story you guys have favorited . . . well, it's just an honor.
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing of Naruto, rights belonging solely to Masasi Kishimoto, nor do i own any songs english or japanese that pop up over the course of this story.
Chapter Seven
The First Steps, of Uzumaki Naruto
The reading of the book was postponed for the next morning— really, the group had to admit that they needed the night to process and, at times come to terms with, the information presented to them. So while Kushina alternately rebelled and reconciled with the new information about her not-so-innocent baby boy and future daughter-in-law, the others either laughed themselves to near sickness or just accepted it as best as they could. The next morning breakfast was a rushed affair, as they were all eager to read on. Things were going to pick up, they could tell, now that Naruto had taken his first firm foothold into the ninja world. Rin and Obito hurriedly set the tray with food and drink down, eager to start.
"So who's—?" Minato started off unsurely, before being cut off by overenthusiastic waiters.
"ME!" The others clamored. Minato sweat dropped, not knowing how to decide. Finally, he said in a measured tone, "Well, I guess it'll be Kushina this time, since she never finished her chapter for understandable reasons." Handing the book over to the wildly grinning Habanero, she thanked her boyfriend with a big kiss on the cheek, releasing it with a smacking sound.
"Katsu, you really need to make time for training!" Naruto chided the girl as she gulped down a bottle of water. Though they both had their own obligations on the opposite sides of the spectrum, they made it a point to still train together when it was convenient. Such as now, in the very infancy of the day, when the sun was still sending bloody red streaks through the trees to paint them in its emerging glory as it topped the trees.
"So they're back to early morning training." Obito concluded.
"Nothing wrong with keeping up a good regimen." Jiraiya endorsed.
Katsu frowned at him, wiping her mouth when she tossed the now empty bottle onto the patio table across the field. "Naruto, I'm still just a civilian, I've got other duties to attend to before training. Really, that was just to help you! You have a team now, and people to spar against that will do so gladly. Didn't we agree you'd make nice with the clan brats and beat them black and blue?"
"I'm sure he just wants her to know how to defend." Tsunade said with her arms spread along the back of the couch.
"Yes, but it won't be as easy anymore. Really, I doubt she can find enough time in the day to keep up with Naruto as she used to." Rin supplied.
"While you make a valid point, something tells me the boy won't stand for it. For the one who helped him grow, he won't let her fade off into the sidelines without a hell of a fight." Jiraiya rebutted, smirking.
Naruto sighed, running a hand through his tousled blond spikes, the motion tugging up his white t-shirt that he wore for morning workouts along with an old pair of orange pants that survived the reconstruction. "Yes, and I've been having some very productive training sessions . . . with Kakashi-sensei. Hime, please understand . . . I . . . I got used to knowing that even if for some reason I wasn't there to help you in a dangerous situation, you would be able to help yourself well enough. But, with me growing stronger, I want you to do so as well. I don't want you to get rusty and then not be in good shape for when there's a . . . I don't know, some emergency that requires fighting skill."
The females all made 'aww' sounds, and even Obito wiped away a tear from his eyes. Kakashi couldn't help but tease him for it.
"You were doing so well, Obito, you went nearly a whole week without crying."
"Shut up! This can touch even the most miserable of men." Obito retorted, with a soft sniffle.
Katsu wouldn't be taken in by his soft words— no matter how incredibly sweet and thoughtful.
"He found a girl just like his mother." Minato said with a soft chuckle, wincing at Kushina's punch for embarrassing her.
"Naruto, chill out, it's not like I've totally said 'fuck it, he's good now I can just quit training!' No, I like to do this and I train when I can . . . with my own stuff. It's kinda hard learning another taijutsu style when I was so used to first the academy basics as a foundation, and then my own taijutsu style. You're making me work exclusively on the Kung Fu Hustle, and I'm still so new to it that I'm mixing in my other style without meaning to!"
"Always so troublesome." Minato sighed. The others groaned in mock annoyance. "Damn all-around ninja," They jeered with laughter.
Naruto was adamant, "That's fine! This style is all about unpredictability, so mixing the styles will be fine! But before that, I just want you to get a solid basis in the style, so you can not only mix and match, but switch solidly between the two. Thus, why I said Kung Fu Hustle only. Now—"
Katsu crossed her arms in front of her like an 'X'. "Oh come on, we've been at this for an hour!"
"Just another hour Kurohime." Naruto coaxed the girl.
"Damn Uzumaki training till everyone with them drops!" the room howled, laughing at Kushina's angry denials.
Katsu's face scrunched up like she was seriously considering a mutiny, before relaxing under her resigned decision. "Alright . . . come at me." She slid into the beginning stance of their taijutsu style, which really didn't look like much of a stance. Just her standing with feet shoulder with apart, body twisted just a bit on her right leg that was pushed a bit ahead, like she was leaning her weight on it about to do a spin. Her hands were balled into solid fists, the right held at hip-height and the left arm was cocked behind her a bit to make her fist almost behind her hip. Though it might look loose and unsteady, all parts of her feet were anchored firmly into the ground, and her posture was strong and controlled.
"It doesn't sound threatening . . ." Kakashi observed, knowing the statement was false.
"But, judging and underneath and all that." Obito said, smirking widely.
"Aw, you guys are even finishing each other's sentences now!" Rin mock cooed, laughing at the boy's heated accusations and denials.
Naruto copied her stance, though his body was twisted a bit to the left, with its leading. Without warning, Katsu went right for Naruto. Naruto tensed, before going at her head on— the two clashed in a fury of fists, elbows, hands and knees. The style was all about improvisation; the scroll had actually encouraged them to use more than just your fists and feet. Elbows, knees, hell— your forehead, wrists, heels, anything that you could possibly think would give you an advantage in your fight, use it. Needless to say, Naruto— being a brawler at heart— was immediately enamored with this style. Katsu also held the Kung Fu in a special place in her heart, but she saw it as an interesting thing to learn rather than a necessity— her first taijutsu style was plenty for her, not that Naruto would listen.
"That is just wrong!" Tsunade said, disgusted.
"What?" the others squawked.
"Who the hell would give an Uzumaki the go-ahead to free-for-all?" Tsunade joked with a smirk. The others immediately caught onto the joke and laughed heartily, agreeing completely with her.
Katsu and Naruto were both on the offensive it seemed, but there was a defense position to this style— just not the defense you'd think. After all, the best defense is a better offense right? So when they weren't dodging and ducking, bobbing and weaving, they were going at each other with the intent to maim, or at least break several bones at once. This made for a rather exciting fight, naturally.
"Is it as exciting as the resulting fight when Minato actually forbade Kushina from training for two weeks?" Jiraiya gawped, before laughing at the scandalized faces of the two aforementioned people.
"Nothing. Absolutely . . . nothing. Could be as epic as that fight." Team Minato said firmly, faces deadly serious.
"Forgetting the fact that the fight totally defeated the purpose of my actions." Minato muttered, narrowing diamond blue eyes at his red headed princess.
"Watch it!" Katsu growled warningly as she narrowly avoided an elbow to her nose, kicking Naruto straight into his side, watching smugly as he rolled on the ground before halting his momentum. "I really don't want to have to explain a black eye, or a broken nose to my boss. She'll automatically assume it was you— which is true— but then she 'll just lord it over me as another reason why I should cut ties with a 'monster' like you."
"That'd be a funny story to tell around the water cooler at break. Oh, what happened to my eye? See . . . what had happened was . . ." Obito joked, taking a girly voice to mime such an event.
Naruto jumped into the air to send a quick couple foot jabs to her, satisfied when she knocked them all away and still had enough momentum to try a roundhouse kick to his upper thigh as he was still in mid-air. "Yeah, thought she might be one of my opposition. It's why I don't go visit you at work."
Katsu pouted, even as she bent over backwards at the waist to let Naruto's punch pass over her and make him unbalanced from the surprise. Grabbing his forearm and bicep in a strong grip, she back flipped and brought him with her, using her knee to maneuver his body under hers so it would meet with the rough ground. Naruto's breath left him in a whoosh.
Rin winced. "Why do I get the feeling this is a light spar, no matter the near-killing intent?"
"It probably is." The adults shrugged like it was no big thing. Train hard, work easy . . . something like that.
"So that's why, eh? Too bad, I'd always thought how cool it would be for us to go and hang out at each other's work during, like, a lunch break or something." Katsu admitted, wrapping her hands around his neck and squeezing as she brought his head up and down to bang it against the dirt.
"Ouch." The group muttered as one, flinching as if they were the ones getting bitched out like Naruto was.
"Ninjas get lunch breaks? Why wasn't I informed of this?" Obito mock raged, pointing an accusing finger at Minato.
"This is new to me, much as it is to you." Minato played along, looking shocked.
"No wonder the ninjas of the future sound like pansy idiots. They get lunch breaks! In my day, you were lucky to eat the berries you could forage. And you were grateful for it." Tsunade said, miming a grumpy old woman. Jiraiya couldn't help but point out, "That acting . . . it wasn't very hard for you to imitate, was it?"
His witticism was rewarded with a swollen cheek and black eye.
Naruto took a couple minutes to answer; having your head used to dent hard packed earth wasn't easy, not to mention being choked. Naruto bucked up and twisted, dislodging Katsu and allowing his fist to bury itself in her abdomen and send her rolling off. "Katsu, you've known since we met that I wanted to be a ninja. What made you think I'd ever have a lunch break?"
Panting heavily, Katsu struggled up onto all fours, before her lower half rose up onto the balls of her feet and kicked off to the side to avoid Naruto's kick, landing on all fours like a cat— or a fox?— to his right. "Well, I don't know . . . I always saw the ninja in the Tower, right? They'd have coffee breaks and lunch breaks."
"Fucking cushiony office ninjas." The adults said under their breaths, tone acidic.
"Yeah, the office nins. I'm a field nin." Naruto reminded her as he did his best to block a flurry of hits. He jumped away when he sensed the opportunity, wincing at the soreness from the old hits as well as the new ones he hadn't managed to block.
"Good enough for you?" Katsu asked him haughtily, hands on her hips as she breathed heavily. Naruto eyed her for a few moments, before smirking devilishly. "Yeah, though it could improve . . ."
"No, not my son! Not . . . he can't be a pervert!" Kushina's voice was a cross between a wail and a snarl, something that sent dangerous body-wracking shivers through the males of the room.
"Kushina, please! He had no adequate direction for this sort of thing as a child!" Though she detested perverts as much as the next kunoichi, Rin still pled for the boy's case. He was adorable, and gentlemanly, and awesome— was that not enough to forgive his perverse nature?
Katsu, thinking he was still talking about her form, growled angrily. "Well, get on with it!" she snapped, spine straightening to hold herself at her full (not at all imposing) height.
"Well, you'd be faster without so much loose fabric . . . maybe you want to lose the shirt?" Though his tone was professional, the smirk and knowing glint in his eyes was anything but.
"THANK YOU!" Jiraiya sobbed as he lunged for both the Last Namikaze and the Last Uzumaki, trapping them in a massive bear hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you . . . !" he mumbled into their pressed together shoulders, weeping ultimate manly tears of joy.
"This will not come to pass, don't thank me for anything!" Kushina hissed enraged as she struggled to get out from the large man's restrictive embrace.
Ignoring her, Jiraiya continued, "The looks of Minato . . . the stamina of an Uzumaki . . . and the pervert nature from me! It's . . . the perfect student! I'm so PROUD."
Minato, now ticked off, shoved his sensei off and back into his seat with one hand (ignoring the ogling of the others— who knew such a lean man was so strong?) and said, "I think there's more to this than that. Read."
Normally, Tsunade would have bristled at such a commanding tone from someone younger than her, but seeing Minato toss Jiraiya with one hand soothed her. Small pleasures.
Katsu blinked, momentarily confused, before getting it. "I see what you did there. Point to you for subtle delivery." she laughed, crossing her arms and leaning her weight on her left leg.
The game was something they had created on their off time, something other than pranking the village and seeing how long it took to break Iruka's brain— or Naruto's personal favorite— how many one-liners can you get in before Anko starts throwing sharp objects at you? The game was called, "Pillow Talk" and the aim was to slip in dirty, seductive, or sexy lines into your normal conversation, without anybody figuring out beforehand. If it was a hit, the opponent can return fire only if they weren't caught off guard or flustered, or else he/she concedes with a, "I see what you did there," signifying that a point was earned by the one-liner. So far, it was their most intense game yet . . . not like that; this narrator cannot believe you people are so dirty. They are children!
"Best game ever." Jiraiya decided, after having shaken off the earlier shock of having been thrown like some little genin by his own skinny little student.
"That does sound like fun." Tsunade conceded with a smile, snickering wickedly at Kushina and Minato's conflicted faces.
"On one hand, he does the Namikaze men proud . . . but on the other, is it worth the risk of him possibly turning out like sensei?" Minato pondered, troubled, totally ignoring his sensei's splutters of indignation just like everyone else was.
Naruto's smirk turned into the natural sweet smile he usually sports, bowing to the ginger-haired girl. "Seriously though, you were good. I spoke too early before, you've been practicing well." Katsu bowed in return, before skipping off to the house.
"Wait, where are you going?" Naruto asked her retreating back, looking at her bemusedly.
Without turning around Katsu answered, "To get ready. I want to take a really long bath."
Naruto contemplated asking her to join, but her quick, "Separately!" Stopped him in his tracks.
"There is no hope." Jiraiya muttered evilly, referring to Kushina's earlier statement. The woman merely snarled at the Toad Sage.
"Damn." He snickered, though he supposed it was fair. Really, they couldn't bathe together all the time . . . but they certainly would most of the time. "Well, until I'm ready to go in, might as well practice with this axe." Naruto mumbled to himself as he picked up said weapon, giving it a few experimental swings as he walked toward the wooden dummies he had set up in the backyard farther out.
"An axe?" Minato repeated while his eyebrows rose.
"That's an unusual weapon for a ninja . . ." Rin said in a considering voice, a finger on her chin.
Kushina shrugged. "I had two cousins who used axes, another that used a machete . . . and I think one actually attacked with garden scissors on a retractable pole." She saw the incredulous looks from the others. Shaking her head, she said, "Don't ask."
Naruto actually picked up the idea to use this as a weapon when they'd been gardening. Katsu needed a tree that was too close to the house cut down, worrying that during one of their summer thunderstorms, the tree might collapse on the roof and damage it.
She had wanted to buy a saw and do it the old-fashioned, slow way. Naruto, who was reading about how to use chakra to augment weapons, suddenly had an idea. He bought the saw, and told Katsu to stay on the porch under the roof, while he took care of it.
"Like a man." Obito said coolly, identical smirks adorning the faces of every male in that room. The ladies rolled their eyes at each other, but were amused at the testosterone rush their boys were going through.
"Ingenious way to try a new concept though." Jiraiya gave the kid props.
At first, Naruto put the saw to trunk. It was a thin tree, but old, so the saw was actually a bit longer than the tree trunk. Focusing inward, Naruto carefully pulled on his chakra and imagined it going through the metal of the saw, coating it like armor. It was a bit difficult, and it took him about five tries, but in the end he succeeded in making a large cut into the tree trunk— not enough to make it teeter, but deeper than he could have gotten it without his chakra in such a short time. Grinning at his success— and Katsu's happy, girlish cheers— he was about to continue before a flash of dark metal caught his eye. He turned to get a better look at what had caught his attention. It was an old axe they had yet to throw away, leaning against the side of their shed. It was old, and half rusted, but . . . Naruto dropped the saw on the ground and walked over to the axe. Picking it up, he balanced it in his hand, and slashed it through the air a couple of times. Katsu was curious, but kept her silence— Naruto would show her what he was thinking soon anyway.
Naruto walked back to the tree, and stood there with his eyes closed. Just like before he channeled his chakra into the blade of the tool, this time having a better idea and control of what he wanted. He tried his very best to make his chakra form a thin yet complete and firm layer over the axe, sharp at every edge. Opening his eyes, he swung the axe with full force into the cut he had done previously. The effect was clear to see: not only did he cut through the tree, the other sides not touched suddenly cracked and exploded outward in the direction of the swing.
The others burst into celebration, cheering for the kid, until Tsunade waved them into silence. "Hold on, you haven't heard the best part yet." She said grinning.
Naruto would have started celebrating, if the tree hadn't started falling forward— in the direction of the house.
Panicking slightly at Katsu's shriek, he channeled chakra into his legs and kicked the tree— and sent it flying. Across the lake . . . far out into the forest . . . where it landed with a soft thud. Naruto turned and looked at Katsu. Katsu looked at Naruto. They both decided to move on . . . and not mention it again.
"Well . . . at least he did it." Rin defended weakly.
"Win, and yet . . . fail." Obito murmured, conflicted.
Well, regardless it worked and so Naruto went to the only store that treated him fairly, Higurashi Weapon's Shop. The man who owned it, and his wife, was nice enough to Naruto, though he didn't know them well. Their prices were fair, and the man was always willing to answer Naruto's questions about weaponry— indeed, he seemed eager whenever Naruto pulled out a particularly hard question that dealt with origins, mechanics, and other little details.
"He didn't list them as precious people?" Rin pointed out, confused along with some of the others.
Obito snorted, answering her. "If he put everyone who gave him even a scrap of kindness under the title of 'precious people', that'd be kind of pathetic, wouldn't it?"
"Yeah." They agreed together, mulling over it. Just because someone gives you the time of day, doesn't mean you should automatically want to walk through hell for them.
So when Naruto asked for a battle axe, Higurashi-san was pleased to help— because there were no battle axes in stock at all, so he would have to make one from scratch. Together, both Higurashi-san and Naruto, with a little help from the man's daughter Ten-Ten, created a sketch of the weapon with all its properties and got to work. It took three weeks to complete with the extra embellishments Naruto couldn't help but throw in, but in the end it was a fine piece of work that the Higurashi's couldn't be prouder of. This wasn't your standard lawn axe, oh no— a double-bladed axe with a shape unlike any axe ever seen before, one that had curves to it like sabers, looking like delicate silver and 18 inches long. The hand parts were solid metal, and if the blades didn't catch you, the slender iron arrowhead in the middle of it going up from the handles would once your neck went between the blades.
"That sounds painful." Obito gulped.
Kushina had stars in her eyes. "Aw, my little baby is a monster on the battlefield." Yes, there'd be no fear of their family dying out with her son so strong and fearsome— she'd get her grandbabies!
Naruto was most pleased.
"Kushina, it's not just Minato who's the psychopath, you are mentally unhinged too!" Jiraiya said as if he was revealing a great secret.
"Well, when you have a demon inside you . . . you never can be quiet stable, you see?" Kushina said unapologetically, not even denying his statement as Minato had done.
Katsu was also delighted with the new additions to his weapons arsenal. She awed over the delicate and almost dainty beauty of the axes, knowing full well the pain or death that could be wrought from them at his whim. So, in addition to training in both the Kung Fu Hustle, his normal weapons (kunai and shuriken), and Bo staff, he also made sure to take time to familiarize himself with his new precious— ahem. I mean his new axe.
"Busy, busy, busy little fox." Team Minato muttered under their breath like a song, shaking their heads collectively.
It seemed that his unusual taste in weapons also gained him a new friend in the form of Ten-Ten. She was a year older than him, already a seasoned genin, who also happened to go by the unofficial moniker of "Weapons Mistress of Konoha." After spending some time with her, he fully understood the name. Ten-Ten was a walking weapons arsenal; having not only an inordinate amount of kunai, shuriken and senbon more than her small frame would suggest, but also scrolls filled to maximum capacity with more weapons.
"Sounds like she's dedicated to her work, as well as eager to make a good name for herself." Kushina said, respecting the new girl.
"Finally, a girl who's serious about being a ninja." Tsunade sighed in relief.
"Too bad she seems more interested in battle than medicine, I'm sure she'd be good for it." Rin commented, popping a blueberry in her mouth.
Naruto knew he would get along with her, as would Katsu . . . on second thought, he really wasn't sure they should meet. At any rate, Ten-Ten was a serious kunoichi, who looked up to strong kunoichi such as Senju Tsunade, Mitarashi Anko, and Yuuhi Kurenai.
"Oho, you've still got a fan club even in that time Tsunade-hime." Jiraiya waggled his eyebrows at his smug-faced teammate.
Tsunade flicked blonde bangs from her honey brown eyes. "Naturally." She allowed.
Naruto was glad to meet another girl besides Hinata-chan who took her training seriously (besides Katsu, because she was a civilian therefore did not technically train in any sort of jutsu . . . and that's the story they'll stick to). Naruto was getting better with the axe, occasionally going over to the Weapon's Shop for tips and helpful talks from Higurashi-san, who gave him good ideas on how to train with the axe, taking from his prior experience as the ninja he used to be, seeing axes in other lands and how they were used. Naruto was getting faster with the axe, and was now working on his dexterity, slowly becoming ambidextrous enough to switch hands with the axe or any other weapon, though not without some slowdown.
Naruto finished his training, wiping sweat off his face with the tail of his shirt as he looked up to see the sun high in the sky. His internal clock, honed by the Academy thankfully, let him know that he had two hours to get ready and meet with Team Seven in order for them to wait thirty minutes to an hour for Kakashi-sensei at Training Ground Seven.
"This is unacceptable, how can I be so predictable!" Kakashi complained gruffly.
"If it makes you feel any better, I am 85% sure that only Naruto has a schedule of your lateness mapped, and the other two are still just clueless." Minato soothed the grumpy chuunin.
Naruto gathered up his weapons and sealed them into a scroll, gripping it loosely. As he went inside and closed the door behind him, he sighed in relief from getting out of the now hot sun. Tossing the scroll onto the couch, he jogged up the stairs bypassing a refreshed Katsu who was heading into the kitchen to make breakfast.
He took his shower and soaked thoroughly in the bath until Katsu hollered for his presence at the table. Dressing quickly he decided to forego the stairs and jumped over the banister, softening his fall to a soundless descent with his chakra. He rose up into a bow at Katsu's applause, before straightening up and taking his seat at the table. As they ate their food, Katsu asked about any changes in their team training or dynamics.
"Well, if Sakura was any indication, I'm sure the team is pretty good now." Rin said optimistically.
Naruto sighed, briefly rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"There go's that dream." Obito said dully.
"Well . . . Sakura at least has gotten a bit better, though I get this strange feeling that progress will reach a plateau if something doesn't happen to change that. Sasuke . . . is even bigger a jackass than normal; always demanding information on my weapons, my taijutsu, where I got them, why . . .
"Not everything is for you." Obito frowned, rubbing his forehead.
He seems to find it impossible and damn unthinkable that I am competent, was competent even in Academy, and will continue to grow.
"Anyone else who grows at either the rate or faster than an Uchiha, really what are they thinking?" Minato mocked with a raised eyebrow, only that and his suddenly stony eyes betraying his impatience with the Uchiha heir.
I think he feels threatened, Kami knows why. So, teamwork either is the usual mess, or it suffers according to the phases of the moon." He paused to smile at Katsu's surprised laughter.
"Without teamwork you won't get very far in Konoha, at least in the beginning from chuunin and below." Tsunade said.
"So, Kakashi has yet to move us on from teamwork exercises which we've been doing since we became genin almost two months ago— oh, and sparring to not keep us sharp. Or improve Sakura, take your pick. And . . . D-ranks. So, how about you?" he finished up, blinking up innocently at her darkened expression.
"Only that?" Minato asked with raised eyebrows, surprised at his student's lack of initiative for his students.
"Really, not even some chakra control exercises, or one little jutsu that'll make their lives easier?" Kushina frowned sternly, looking at Kakashi with some disappointment.
Kakashi, irritated at the guilt churning in his stomach from Kushina's look as well as the way his future self was shaping up, said curtly, "That Kakashi is a different person entirely from the me now. Perhaps, I figured that since Minato-sensei waited until we had some teamwork to give us more teachings, that I'd follow the same pattern!"
Minato narrowed his eyes at Kakashi to a glowing blue glare. "Settle down Kakashi, Kushina." He added in his girlfriend's name when he saw her face twist dangerously, preparing to go head-to-head with his student.
She sighed irritated. "Huh, so teamwork and nothing else . . . Hatake-san hasn't taught the tree walking exercise? No, huh? Well, at least you already know it. As for me . . . it's . . . well, if it's great then everything else I can handle the rare times things crop up." Her answer was clouded and vague, annoying Naruto.
"Well, there's another one who's dissatisfied . . . not that I blame her." Kakashi sighed tiredly, rubbing his forehead to try and alleviate his headache.
"Well, I'm sure there were good reasons, and the ones you said earlier were logical too." Tsunade said helpfully, feeling sympathetic for the young man.
"What does that mean?" his question was more like a demand.
Katsu stared at him as she swallowed the plum in her onigiri, considering something. "Well, just the usual obstacles of adjusting as you go towards your dream. Haruhi-san is a mercurial sort, like Anko-nee, so that isn't much of a problem . . . though; in general, it is the problem. Understand?"
"Not at all." The room chorused.
"Could her boss be bullying her or something?" Rin wondered, mouth puckered like she ate a lemon.
"I doubt she would let anyone get away with bothering her . . . physically, at least. Kids have this thing about emotional distress . . ." Kushina thought out loud, ignoring the kids in the room's disgruntled looks.
Naruto glared at her still unclear answer as he ate his rice and dried seaweed, but nodded to show he'd let it go. Then he remembered her reaction to his report on his team. "You . . . Kuro-hime, do you not like Kakashi-sensei?"
"See, even he knows it." Kakashi said with a depressed look.
"Well, you never were good at first impressions . . ." Rin said, looking sheepish under his dark look.
Katsu blinked at him in surprise, slurping up the last of her soba noodles. "What gave you that impression? I have nothing against Hatake-san."
"That; you call him Hatake-san, not Kakashi-sensei or even Kakashi-san." Naruto pointed out.
"He's not my sensei and I would never be so familiar with a man I've never even met." Katsu reasoned, looking cool and unconcerned. Naruto huffed, feeling a small ember of anger starting to smolder inside him at her purposeful vagueness. He tapped his fingers on the table in a sharp, quick rhythm.
"Oooh, a fight?" Rin fretted.
"No . . . it'll be quick." Minato said with a small, cheeky grin. Kushina looked at him with a confused face, one eyebrow raised.
"Katsuhime, I grow tired of this." Naruto said coldly, not giving an inch even when she winced at his tone, looking uncomfortable.
"Oh, so that's what you meant!" Jiraiya hooted, leaning over to clap a large hand on his student's shoulder. Minato hid his amusement, looking innocent in front of his boiling girlfriend.
"So . . . you knew all along, how that worked . . . ?" Kushina snarled, remembering those rare times she would have been about to blow up on Minato and— instead of just letting it be like he usually would— he would suddenly grow coldly serious and shock her out of her anger.
Letting loose a gusty sigh, Katsu looked sulkily at Naruto from underneath fire-colored lashes. "One day, that won't affect me, and what will you do then? Listen, concerning Hatake-san . . . I've nothing against him as a person— but he, in my own humble opinion, leaves much to be desired as a sensei. It doesn't even matter that he isn't teaching you, I know you'll do fine regardless. But, he won't even give any training to the other two, who aren't as . . . proactive in furthering the ninja art as you— which is surprising on the part of the Uchiha, but I digress . . . he— I – I can't approve of his laziness when it hurts the team nearly as much as your own personal reactions to each other." Katsu took her time to consider the best words to describe her feelings, not once looking up at Naruto and instead swirling the last swig of tea in her cup before drinking it at the end.
"Kami, how could they have ever thought I'd be a good sensei?" Kakashi groaned, hitting his head against the table one last time.
"Really, it does seem like you were right, I can't think you'd ever delude yourself into thinking you could be a good sensei. Did the council force you . . . and why?" Kushina finally spoke up to the boy, civil again with the clearly agitated boy. She did feel sorry for him, really . . . sounds like he gets a tough position in being their sensei, even if he should be glad to teach her sochi!
Naruto considered her words and gave her a gentle smile. "Well, he's not as bad as all that. I think it's fine if he goes over the basics, if we get them down to second nature then it makes learning more advanced things easier in the long run."
"Thanks kid, but I suck and I know it." Kakashi grunted, his lips twitching at the boy's answer . . . so diplomatic and kind, like something sensei would say.
"That's such a Minato thing to say." Jiraiya said, unknowingly agreeing with Kakashi.
Katsu was unconvinced, but she wouldn't keep at it with Naruto any longer. Instead she said, "Well, if you're fine with it, nothing to worry about then, ne? So, let's clean up and head to our respective places . . . I'm bored with school when I've got a much more interesting job after." With that she got up with both her and Naruto's dishes, totally ignoring his hands trying to grab at her dress.
"Hey, it's my turn to do the dishes, what did you have to stick me to the floor with kunai for? For that matter, how did you do this without my even noticing?" Naruto yelled at her incredulously, waving his arms around like windmills.
The group laughed at the visual they got in their heads. "Isn't he the Prankster King? How'd she get one over on him?"
"I'd say she does more than just watch . . . she observes." Minato said easily, arms slung across the back of the sofa on his side as Kushina snuggled closer.
Her titters served to only enrage him further. He braced his hands on the floor, ready to get up, until—
"What were you about to do?" Naruto froze as the whisper came from right behind his ear, Katsu's breath ghosting along the flesh of the back of his neck.
"Can this be . . . her feminine anger finally out to play?" Tsunade and Kushina said in barely contained excitement.
Jiraiya looked at the both of them like they were crazy. "Why do you sound so excited?" he asked them loudly.
"Hey, you weren't about to rip your clothes right? Those kunai, they weren't hurting your outfit . . . but what you were going to do? Would have ruined it." Her voice was a cold, playful, deadly whisper.
Shaking like he caught hypothermia, Naruto shook his head so hard his hair whipped his cheeks till they stung. "N-n-n-no, I would n-never do that, my hime . . ." he stuttered out fearfully.
"Ah, so he understands that too." Jiraiya sighed in relief. Minato nodded in agreement with his sensei.
"I was worried; he might not understand the survival skills needed for such things . . . not without a male influence. But, perhaps Sarutobi-sama did it for us?"
Tsunade snorted in amusement "Yeah, I'm sure old Biwako taught him some things too. That old battle axe, she sure wasn't one to play around with!"
As the weeks past, Naruto was of the opinion that the conversation he had with Katsu that morning seemed to color the rest of his time with Team Seven. Indeed, whenever he and his two teammates had to do drill after drill of teamwork, or complete more and more thankless D-ranks, he found himself growing . . . angry.
"There goes your only supporter." Obito said teasingly to Kakashi. He was answered with a depressed groan.
Really, he understood that being a genin meant he was at the bottom of the rungs, so to speak, but . . . maybe Katsu was right that, they could be doing more.
Mouths opened to say they could, but then they all took a look at Kakashi, and decided to be tactful and keep their mouths shut.
He had even tried to help Sakura and Sasuke with their training. After Kakashi's own workouts— really, Kakashi-sensei was almost as bad as Anko-nee; not that he couldn't handle it, after Anko this was easy, but Sakura . . . well, back to his point: he had tried to help them, even try and teach them the Tree Walking exercise. Sasuke, however, was sure that he could learn nothing from the other two and Sakura was following Sasuke without fail. It's not like he had the opportunity to show them it either, to get them interested . . .
"Brats." Kakashi muttered suddenly. "Take help when it's offered, 'because I sure as hell am not offering any."
"At least you instill the importance of physical conditioning into them. That's as important as anything else; otherwise they'd be too weak to do many things that are required on missions." Tsunade said contemplatively. Kakashi felt grateful for her help, but he still felt sourness in his mouth over being such a lazy sensei.
But the four weeks that passed brought him some quality amusement as well, besides the headaches of his newfound doubts on their team. Katsu had the— she'd say dubious— pleasure of meeting Kakashi-sensei a few times. He'd never forget their first meeting . . .
"Oh this sounds good." Obito said in an anticipating tone, grabbing a bag of popcorn . . . out of nowhere, to the shock of the others. Where did he . . . ? No . . . never mind.
Flashback!
"Team Seven, your mission is . . . to go and pick up my order of take-out from the Sakura no Chawan."Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered Team Seven serious voice, looking at them from under the rim of his wide Hokage's hat. Team Seven's reactions to the comical mission given in such a serious tone varied— Sakura shrieked, "What?"; Sasuke's eyebrows twitched as his customary sound rolled off his tongue; Naruto sighed, chuckling, and Kakashi just read his book without any emotion.
Nonetheless, Team Seven stood to attention in front of their commanding officer— even if Kakashi's face hadn't come up for air from his book since they entered. Naruto however, was conflicted inside. Katsu already told him that the owner didn't like him . . . he didn't wish to inconvenience anyone, even if Haruhi-san was a bitch . . .
"However, you won't be picking it up from the place. I've arranged for the package to be part of the Hospital parcel they were already sending out, just meet the person who has it at the hospital. She'll be wearing a green dress with a light pink apron, you can't miss her. If you're having troubles . . . ask Naruto." Hiruzen's eyes softened with amusement as his gaze trained solely on Naruto. Naruto resisted the urge to start in surprise. So, the old monkey had a plan for even something so small. Well, when The Professor is your Hokage . . .
Sakura and Sasuke stared at Naruto, wondering why he would know more about the mission than him/Sasuke-kun. Kakashi was also curious, but he wouldn't stoop as low as his genin and gawk. "Ah, Hokage-sama, we'll be done with this quickly." With a short bow of deference, Team Seven left for their mission.
Naruto sighed as he ambled along through the crowd with Team Seven, Kakashi walking right behind them and observing the bustling marketplace. Well, Naruto thought, at least his head was out of that Icha Icha . . . really, with the way the man read it almost religiously, it made one curious as to its contents . . .
"What did Hokage-sama mean that we can't miss her? A green dress and pink apron isn't the most conspicuous outfit in this village . . ." Sakura wondered, saying this as much to herself as to the others.
"Care to shed any light on this Naruto? The Hokage did say to ask you about these things." Kakashi said, almost drawled. Naruto glanced back at his sense for a brief moment, before looking at Sakura and Sasuke, who were both looking at him with some curiosity.
"He meant that she has very distinguishing features, I guess you could say. Like how, if you had to look for me, you couldn't miss me in a crowd with my shade of blonde hair and blue eyes." Well that last part was a lie— he had gotten very good at stealth very early on, so no one could find him if he didn't wish to be found. His teammates would either not acknowledge that fact, or outright deny it.
"So, she looks freaky?" Sasuke snorted, getting a dig in at the dobe. Naruto said nothing, only looked at Sasuke with cold, stony, calculative eyes now hardened to a cobalt blue. Sasuke found that he couldn't look away, a fact that angered him . . . but he felt the shiver of foreboding much more clearly than his anger.
"It's not polite to judge someone you don't even know, Sasuke." Naruto rebuked in an almost playful voice, but his eyes never lost their steeliness. Naruto looked away from Sasuke, and Sasuke snorted angrily, jerking his head to the side. He couldn't believe he let the dobe intimidate him like that, so easily . . . !
"Alright guys, no need for sparks so early in the mission." Kakashi said in a half bored, half placating voice as he looked at the two opposites. Sakura agreed quietly, looking between Sasuke and Naruto warily. Sasuke, to make up for that earlier hesitance and fear, shoved to the front of the group to take position of leader. Naruto's eyes narrowed as irritation flared up in him, and he was about to put the Uchiha in his place as his instincts had been begging him to do since the very beginning, until the breeze rushed past his face bringing with it a familiar scent.
His nostrils flared, and he perked up noticeably enough for Sakura and Kakashi to notice.
"Naruto?" Sakura called his name, wondering what he was doing.
"She'll be at the front, probably in the courtyard of the hospital." Naruto said, ignoring Sakura's confusion. Sakura's eyebrows twitched as she grumbled, angry that Naruto ignored her. Kakashi looked at his sunshine-blonde student and asked, "How are you so sure? She might be inside the hospital still."
"No, she'll be waiting for us." Naruto was sure, and though they were still confused, the rest of his team just kept silent and kept walking. As they walked, the looming, large white tower they were approaching got larger and broader, and they could see the various people either walking in or out or the courtyard for patients and visitors to sit in for a break. Coming up on the courtyard they started looking around for their designated person, who had their Hokage's treats. Kakashi spotted her first, and his lone eye widened in consideration as he took stock of her, but he decided to let his genin find her before he said anything— their observational skills needed work. However, when he returned his attention to his genin, he was surprised to see that Naruto's attention was trained solely on the girl, and he suspected the boy had caught sight of her as soon as they stepped foot on the premises, even before he had.
"Green dress and pink apron . . . Sasuke-kun do you see her?" Sakura asked her crush, not looking around so much as training her eyes on the surly boy.
"No, she's probably sitting down instead of doing her job and looking around for us . . . though, I suppose you can't expect much from a civilian." Sasuke said with a slight inflection of scorn in his otherwise apathetic tone of voice.
Kakashi noticed the slight tensing of Naruto's body, so decided to intervene before-hand. "I might have forgotten to tell you this, but the girl was asked by Hokage-sama to not make it too easy for you . . . this is, after all, supposed to be a learning experience. Think of it as a sort of baby-tracking mission. One you and Sakura are failing horribly." Kakashi said reproachfully.
Sakura blushed while Sasuke just snorted, before he caught that last bit. "What do you mean just me and Sakura?" he demanded, turning to glare at the dobe.
"Dobe, you see her?" he asked the blonde, angry when the boy didn't even turn around to answer him.
"Of course, that hair is unmistakable." Naruto said briefly, before hollering out, "Oi, Katsu!"
The rest of Team Seven watched as a girl who was previously sitting with her back to them in an off the shoulder long green dress stood up. Sakura gawped at her long and thick mane of orange hair, looking like a dark fire under the shade of the tree she was under, whilst Sasuke just looked curiously at it and Kakashi considered the bright locks. Katsu turned around with a cheeky grin, waving at Team Seven.
"Well, come on." Naruto said insistently as he started off to meet Katsu halfway, only half noticing his other two teammates jerking in surprise and catching up behind him. Sakura tensed up, automatically suspicious of the girl she'd only seen once, thinking she might be another fan of Sasuke-kun. Katsu and Team Seven met in the middle of the courtyard, where Kakashi stepped forward and retrieved the box from Katsu.
"Well done Team Seven! A reward for you." Katsu said with a smile as she handed each member a small little bag where a sweet smell came up to caress the olfactory senses of each one of them. They each opened their bags up, looking inside to see a different sweet treat for each. They thanked her happily and then compared each other's treats.
"Hey, how come Naruto has the best one?" Sakura complained with a frown as she looked up into the bright gold eyes of Katsu— belatedly, she noticed that her hair brightened up considerably under the sun.
"Best friend privileges of course Haruno-san." Katsu giggled, winking at Naruto as he grinned foxily.
"Oh? I don't recall you mentioning such a pretty girl to us, Naruto." Kakashi joked, smiling at Katsu. Katsu returned his smile with a polite one of her own, but only Naruto could see the lack of cheer her smiles usually carried.
"I did, Kakashi-sensei. This is Kuroshio Katsuhime, my best friend since we were little kids. Katsu, these are my teammates Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke, and my sensei Hatake Kakashi." Naruto said as he stepped away from his team to stand side-by-side with Katsu. Katsu grinned at the two, waving cheerily, before looking up at Kakashi.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Katsuhime-chan." Kakashi said in a lazy yet pleasant tone. Katsu bowed shortly to the man, returning with a, "Likewise, Hatake-san."
"Just Kakashi is fine." Kakashi said, waving away the formality.
"Oh no, I'm sorry Hatake-san but I would never be so familiar with a respectable ninja such as yourself— especially seeing as we've only just met." Her words were extremely polite and said in a tone of utmost composure— but everyone fancied that they could feel the coldness hidden in the words.
"Well, if that's the way it's going to be . . . no helping it." Kakashi said pleasantly, not showing his reaction to her polite iciness. "But, perhaps you want to get to know my other genin a bit before we leave?"
"That would be nice, but we'll have to do it here and be quick, Haruhi-san is in a right mood today." Katsu laughed. "So, Haruno-san, Uchiha-san, are there any missions that stand out to you so far? Naruto tells me that you're doing the ninja equivalent of chores at the moment."
Sakura nodded, still a little wary of the girl, as much for her prettiness possibly attracting Sasuke as her seemingly only having interest in Naruto. "Yes, but that's mandatory. Kakasshi-sensei has us either running aroud on D-ranks or going through teamwork and exercise drills, it's horrible!" she half complained, half joked as she giggled with the other girl.
"Oh, well, at least you guys are getting stronger, ne? So you can beat up any bad guy with ease once you start doing . . . oh, what were they again . . . C-ranks?" Katsu finished up sheepishly, as if she didn't already know the mission rankings and protocol for it.
"Hn. I don't see how just continually doing teamwork drills and sparring makes us any stronger. It's all pointless." Sasuke said coldly, not even looking at Katsu. She was of no interest to him anyway, and anyone who stuck by the dobe like her had no value in his humble opinion . . . pfft.
"Oh? Shika-kun from Asuma-san's team tells me that they don't really do much either, just play shogi or feed Chouji, perhaps get raved at by Yamanaka-chan." Katsu giggled, but Naruto suddenly felt like a landslide was coming at them. "Demo, you know, Hinata-chan says that her team is having so much fun tree hopping! That chakra exercise is worth it to learn, if her testimony is anything to go by."
'So that's her game.' Naruto suddenly realized, before biting the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. From underneath his blonde bangs, he glimpsed up at Kakashi-sensei to see him giving Katsu a long glance, though he quickly looked away when Kakashi-sensei turned to hi.
"My, you're certainly knowledgeable! You must be a good listener, Naruto is lucky to have a friend such as you." Even though Kakashi meant it, he knew what she had done, though he didn't know why, so he was a little annoyed. His annoyance increased when he saw Sasuke suddenly glaring at him like he had just killed his cat, and Sakura was looking offended— not for her, he knew, but for Sasuke—and he just knew they were going to give him a headache down the road.
"Why, thank you Hatake-san. Oh my! The time has passed so quickly, I'm afraid I must go. Goodbye, perhaps we'll see each other again sometime!" with that Katsu hurried off, dress swishing around her ankles as she walked off briskly.
"Well, let's go team!" Kakashi eye-smiled at the lot of them, and then used shuunshin even as Sasuke and Sakura started demanding to know why they weren't taught these things yet, and the others were. Naruto sighed, and plodded along after the two irate kids.
'Oh, Katsu, you just couldn't help yourself could you? I don't think you like Kakashi-sensei.' He thought.
Later on, when he asked her directly again, if she didn't like Kakashi-sensei, she answered a little reluctantly: "No, I don't like him very much, but you're welcome to invite him for tea or something if you want."
End of Flashback!
"Well, that wasn't totally unexpected." Kakashi mused as he leaned back against the couch cushions.
"She may not like you, but you can still have tea anytime you want, because it's only polite." Rin joked, laughing.
"She put you out there man." Obito sniggered, leaning over Rin to punch Kakashi in the shoulder. Kakashi righted himself as he almost fell over on his side, rubbing his shoulder with a glare to Obito.
"Dude . . ." Kakashi said.
"Work hard Kakashi-kun, we can't have you at odds with our future daughter-in-law, now can we?" Minato said in a faux sympathetic voice, when really his shoulders were shaking with the suppression of his chuckles, even though his girlfriend felt no such compulsion to do so.
From then on, the three other times his team met with Katsu, the air between her and Kakashi-sensei was always a little . . . heavy. So, naturally, these visits were always short. Naruto wanted the two to get along, but his place in the situation was precarious at best.
"Don't want to be seen as not taking her side in the matter, after all. They never take it well, even when they're wrong— which is half the time if not more." Jiraiya nodded sagely.
"Timing— do you know it?" Minato drawled, as he watched Tsunade cock her fist back behind his sensei's unknowing head.
Katsu was normally an easy-going person who could make friends with most people. If she didn't like you at the start, chances were you would never be more than a nuisance of an acquaintance at best for the rest of her life. It was very hard to correct bad first impressions with her, unless she was in a generous or understanding mood. Naruto doubted she'd be generous to Kakashi.
"Great, I'll never be invited to their wedding. I doubt I'll even be the uncle-figure in their kids' lives." Kakashi sighed glumly.
"Wow, you thought way too far ahead." Obito said, looking crazily at Kakashi.
"Ninja. It's kind of what we do." Kakashi threw back bored.
Though he didn't know it, Naruto was wrong that time, as all known circumstances had their exceptions. This particular exception happened on a short day for Team Seven, taking only one mission that day after training. That mission: Catch Tora.
"It had to happen sometime." Kushina sighed, shaking their head.
"Oh please, in two months you don't think they've caught this cat at least 20 times?" Rin snorted, Obito and Kakashi nodding along with her question.
Thanks to Naruto's nose and Sasuke's handiness with ninja wire, they proudly held the record for fastest time catching Tora, the time being one hour exactly.
"Impressive." Minato whistled.
"Damn you to hell!" Obito sobbed into Rin's shoulders. The horrid memories of those Tora missions, the scratches and injuries they all accrued— it nearly broke Obito's spirit.
"There, there, she's not here now." Rin murmured as she patted Obito's back consolingly. The adults all sweat dropped.
"Congratulations, Team seven, efficient as always!" Sandaime congratulated the genin warmly, not even twitching at Sasuke's scratched up face and Sakura's rumpled dress. He was a better man than the rest of the ninja in the mission's office, I can tell you that . . .
"The level of self-control . . . could I one day achieve that?" Obito forced out through his giggles.
"I'm thinking that's a no." Kakashi said with a small smile.
"Alright guy, that's enough for today. Team, dismissed." Kakashi said with a bored tone.
"Eh? But it's so early, what are we supposed to do?" Sakura whined incredulously, even as they were trooping out of the Hokage Tower. Kakashi stopped and turned toward them with one half-lidded eye looking at them with boredom.
"Something to entertain or better yourselves perhaps. Maybe Sasuke could take up stamp collecting, and you could take up a bit more training. It wouldn't hurt." And with that, Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Ouch, burn!" Obito cackled.
"Kakashi really now . . . must you be so mean to your little genin?" Minato said in reproach.
Kakashi shrugged. "The world won't be nice or say things in a soft way. Isn't it my job, as their sensei, to prepare them for that with doses of tough love?"
"Touché." Minato said approvingly.
Naruto cackled at the slack faces of his teammates, even as he mentally applauded Kakashi-sensei for switching out with a kage bushing kami knew when. Sighing, he decided to try and help his teammates out.
"Well, since we have all this time, how about we go out to lunch together?" Naruto offered, smiling gently.
"Not interested." Sasuke said shortly, turning around and walking away.
"So much work that needs to be done." Obito sighed.
Sakura looked genuinely regretful. "I would have liked to, Naruto, but my parent's bakery is a bit understaffed at the moment, I think I should go help out . . ."
"At least there's an actual, good reason." Rin said approvingly.
"Yeah, and she said she would have gone if not for her parents needing help." Kushina added with a small smile. "There's hope for her yet."
"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Naruto said it earlier— her progress would plateau if they didn't do something to curb that." Jiraiya cautioned the two.
"Say no more, that's far more important that hanging out with me— you see me every day, and we have a morning snack together! I'll see you tomorrow Sakura." Naruto waved goodbye, and waited for her to return it, before leaving. Sighing, he wondered what he should do, since he had far too much time on his hands, and no Katsu to fill it with . . . Naruto snapped his fingers. There was another team with too much time on their hands that he knew: Asuma-oji-san's team! He'd go and challenge Shikamaru to a game or two of Shogi, and that'd fill up some time. After that, he'd challenge Chouji to an eating contest, and then the rest would be history . . .
"Does he know what he's asking for, challenging an Akimichi in a food eating contest?" Minato asked, a bit incredulous.
"He's got our appetite, and a stories high demon inside of him speeding up his metabolism. I think he knows what he's doing." Kushina assured Minato.
Satisfied, Naruto walked off to Training Ground Nine, whistling a jaunty tune as he did so. In town, Kakashi had reappeared by the Hospital, but that was not his destination. NO, he decided to stop by for a visit to the Sakura no Chawan.
"Oooh, a confrontation?" Everyone intoned ominously, looking at the scowling silver-haired boy.
"More like a plea for forgiveness if I know what's good for me." Kakashi said.
It wasn't too far a walk, so Kakashi was content to set a slow, ambling pace, and he wasn't even reading his book! This got some strange stares from the civilians and ninja he passed, though the reactions of the ninja were a bit more extreme and comical. Some looked up to the sky with a slightly fearful ace for the slightest hint of Armageddon, while some others tensed up and started looking around, convinced that only an S-ranked emergency could make hime look away from his precious Icha Icha.
"You're really dedicated. It's readers like you that make my job as an author worth it." Jiraiya confided in Kakashi, smirking in a salacious manner. Kakashi just shivered in disgust and fear.
None of the above happened, but Kakashi was amused anyway. Pausing in front of the little café, Kakashi noted the small number of patrons, and chalked it up to being the calm before the storm of the lunch rush. He opened the door of the shop, causing a little bell to tinkle and alert the customers and employees to his entrance. A woman with short black hair stylishly cut and a slightly plump, ample figure bustled into the front of the shop, smiling at him with hot pink lips.
"An admirer? You dog." Obito cackled, poking Kakashi. Kakashi slapped his hand away with a glare, turning the black look onto his sniggering sensei and girlfriend.
"Welcome to the Sakura no Chawan! I'm the owner, Haruhi, Kakashi-sama. May I assist you?" she greeted him, leaning her elbows on the counter in front of her. Kakashi smiled at the woman politely, but decided to nip any ideas of bagging him in the bud.
"Aw, come on, Kakashi you got to get out there more!" Minato whined, though the laughter behind his words messed that up.
"Ah, I am actually looking to speak with one of your employees; she's a friend of one of my students. Might I speak with her, her name is Kuroshio Katsu?"
Haruhi hummed thoughtfully, before smiling at him again. "Of course! I'll call her up in a minute, but before that, is there anything you might want?"
"I fancy he's a chai tea sort of fellow, Haruhi-san." Katsu said grinning at her boss as she emerged from the back of the store, carrying a box.
"How'd she know?" Kakashi asked, surprised.
"I figured you for a black tea kind of guy." Jiraiya mused.
"No, that was my father." Kakashi replied flatly, ignoring the Sannin's wince. He shook his head at the man, telling him wordlessly no apologies were needed.
"Ah, Katsu-chan! Kakashi-sama is here to see you. Is she right though, Kakashi-sama?" Haruhi turned to look at the man.
"Indeed, you're very good Katsu-chan." Kakashi nodded. He walked up to the counter and paid for a cup of tea.
Haruhi clapped her hands delightedly. "You sure do have an eye for such things Katsu-chan! Well, just fix his tea and then go on and chat with him, it's slow enough that I don't need your help for a bit yet." Katsu nodded quickly, already setting up a cup of tea for Kakashi. She went for the sugar jar, but hesitated, and then moved to grab the honey jar.
"Oh she's really good." Kakashi mumbled.
Putting a spoon of honey in his tea, she brought it over on a small tray, and they took a seat by the wall far from the window but not too close to the counter either.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of your company, Hatake-san?" Katsu enquired, looking at Kakashi with a glimmer of interest.
"She might not like you, but she'll be unfailingly polite." Tsunade tittered.
"I think I'd prefer if she just spit in my face, I'd know what to do with that, at least." Kakashi admitted uncomfortably.
Kakashi put his hands around the tea cup, letting it warm his hands as he gave Katsu a considering glance. "Maa, I thought perhaps if we got to know each other a bit, this tension between us could dissipate."
"That's an interesting idea, in its own way." Katsu said impassively, crossing her arms and leaning them on the table.
"Tough cookie." Jiraiya commented to himself, smiling at the looks of concentration on everyone's faces as they got into the dialogue.
"Oh? You don't believe I came here just to make nice? That's not very nice of you Katsu-chan, aren't you thinking the worst of me?"
Katsu's eyes narrowed a bit. "I'm just surprised by your request, Hatake-san." She emphasized his last name, letting him know she didn't appreciate his familiarity.
"Catfight." Obito sang under his breath, getting a pillow chucked at him by Tsunade.
Kakashi sighed. "Is it so impossible I want to only get to know you?"
"No, in fact I think it's lovely of you to try. However, it insults me that you think I don't know that when you mean get to know each other, you only mean you'll get to know me and you'll just feed me a scrap or two of half-truth, half-bullshit. Let's not play games, Hatake-san, very few people know the real you. That mask goes deeper than your skin. I don't believe you'll really tell me about you. You'll just tell me of you." Katsu was direct and to the point, not interested in going around in circles with the man in front of her.
The people in the room rocked back as if they had been struck, some whistling.
"Oh, she's got you pegged, 'Kashi." Minato said lowly, looking at his student from the corner of his eye.
"Debate! Debate! Debate!" Team Minato chanted.
Kakashi blinked, taken aback. Then slowly, his eyes cleared up in understanding; he had underestimated this girl, and now he knew it. He chuckled, before drinking his tea—all of it in one gulp. Katsu blinked, she hadn't even seen his mask come off.
"Neat trick." She muttered.
"Thanks." Kakashi smirked. Then he set the tea cup down and leaned closer to Katsu, wanting her to hear him clearly. "Listen, Katsu-chan I could tell the problem you had with me from our first meeting. You don't approve of me being Naruto's teacher because of my habits, right?"
"Wrong!" The group chorused.
Katsu shook her head. "You've got the general idea, but you're wrong actually." Seeing Kakashi's brows furrow, she hastened to explain. "Naruto can take care of himself, whatever he needs to do to get stronger, he'll do it. My thing is the other two— not exactly your fault, I know, but . . . well, don't you think that instead of spending so much time trying to get them to be best buddy teammates, you could just give them the tools and incentives to do so freely?"
"If they're teamwork isn't good, then those advanced things will be of little use, since any formations common for teams will be beyond them." Kakashi argued.
"Very true; I misjudged your actions Kakashi, sorry." Kushina apologized, recognizing the legitimate reasoning for them now.
"It's fine; it's still no excuse anyway. Teamwork might never come as well as I want it to, so what am I waiting for?" Kakashi wouldn't give himself the benefit of the doubt— the thought alone left him perturbed and confused about his own identity.
"Yes, I agree, but let's cut to the chase— it's not about teamwork on the whole, is it? It's about getting the Uchiha to commit to teamwork, and eventually . . . to commit to Konoha."
"So that's the council's aim— to keep the Sharingan in Konoha, they must make the Last Uchiha unfailingly loyal to them." Minato spoke up, frowning at the way they were going about it.
"Giving him his heart's desires and not even faulting him for anything he does wrong is not earning them loyalty, just a bigger headache in the future when things are harder to accomplish than he realizes." Obito surmised, his mouth twisted in a snarl.
Kakashi snorted, appraising her. "I should have expected you'd be so in the know about these things— you are the Sandaime's surrogate granddaughter after all."
"You have the bad habit of underestimating your enemies, Hatake-san?" Katsu asked mockingly.
"Not usually— but you're a different case, and perhaps my time out of ANBU has dulled me." Kakashi admitted. "But back to the topic at hand— yes, I need to teach the Uchiha loyalty."
"So I did get in." Kakashi said with both smugness and relief.
"It must have been after I died, I wouldn't have let you go in there at all, if not until you were thirty." Minato said darkly, sending a searching look to the silver-haired boy who wouldn't look at him.
"His loyalty comes in the form of power." Katsu observed.
"Bonds before power."
"At the risk of hampering the other two member of your cell? Hatake-san, I expect better from a hero such as you! This is just your tiny rebellion from the council forcing you to take on the Uchiha plus two, by not giving the boy the power the council basically assured he would have since that night." Katsu hissed through gritted teeth.
"Prepare yourself— the claws of feminine fury are about to unsheathe." Obito said in a commentator's voice.
Kakashi's eye narrowed in irritation at the girl in front of him. "You just presume a bit too much, don't you?"
"They remind me too much of Kakashi and Kushina whenever you two get into it." Minato realized with a snap of his fingers.
"I call it like I see it." Katsu declared boldly, not backing down in the least from the ire of the powerful jounin in front of her. The stared each other down for a while, ignoring the curious stares of the others in the store, some wondering if the tiny waitress had perhaps incurred the wrath of the well-known Hatake Kakashi.
"Yeah, I can see it." Kushina and Kakashi both admitted, grinning sheepishly at each other.
Kakashi was the first to back off, closing his eye for some respite from the sunburst orbs glaring into his one deep gray eye. "Ok, so, what are you asking for exactly? If it's in terms of training, I'm not exactly keeping them behind. Most genin don't learn advanced chakra exercises like the one you told them of until their fourth month in."
Katsu nodded, having asked Hiru-jiji (her little nickname for her jiji) about it when she talked to Naruto. "Oh, I know, but don't you know these kids aren't normal genin? Team Seven has always turned out great people . . . in a manner of speaking. No, I think it's time to change your teamwork tactics. The ones you utilize now clearly aren't working, am I correct?"
"I'd feel bad for any country when she's in a position of power . . . any country that incurs her wrath, I mean." Jiraiya said with a low whistle.
"No kidding. With her, any country will fall overnight." Minato said, impressed.
Kakashi sighed, leaning back in his chair finally. "Yeah, teamwork has been suffering lately. But what else can I do? They aren't ready to work together, I'm kind of doubtful they're ready for anything big. Well, Sakura and Sasuke anyway. I know Naruto knows the Tree exercise . . . as do you." His eye honed in on Katsu then, who to her credit, didn't show any hint of what she felt about his sudden statement on her face, nor her body language.
"Naruto found out from a pretty snake charmer. As for your team . . . they may be cute little genin, but they are still ninja. A ninja who bases things only on theory isn't much of a practical ninja, right? For those in your profession . . . learning on the job is the most effective way right? Such things are learned best through experience, since they're so unconvinced teamwork helps with chores . . ."
"A trial by fire." Tsunade summed it up.
"They'd have no choice if they didn't want to mess up the mission." Jiraiya grinned.
Katsu trailed off, before standing. Kakashi looked at her, asking her to continue. However, by her set features and her body tilting purposefully to the counter, it was clear to him that she had said her piece on the matter and was done speaking.
Sighing, Kakashi got up. "Thank you for your time Katsu-chan. The tea was delicious by the way, exactly how I like my tea. Perhaps you know a bit more about me than you profess . . . perhaps even more than you think."
Katsu picked up his teacup, not looking at him. "Perhaps, Hatake-san. Goodbye." She turned around briskly, walking back to the counter to return to work.
"Oh, that's cold." Rin said with a laugh.
"I've got a long way to go, future-me." Kakashi cheered on his future self, feeling oddly conflicted as he did so.
'Nobody except the Sandaime ever dismisses me so shortly.' Kakashi thought bemused.
The next morning Team Seven was once again in the forest, having taken up a familiar mission.
"This is Hematite, is everyone in position?"
"Hematite?" Jiraiya repeated, never having heard of it.
"A gemstone, dark grayish-silver in color. Must be . . . Kakashi." Tsunade observed, smirking at the boy's confused face.
"Tourmaline, ready for your signal, Silver."
"That's a pink one so . . ." Kushina said this time.
"Ah, must be Sakura." Rin told them.
"Agate, ready as well."
"I know that's black." Minato piped up.
"Undoubtedly little cousin Sasuke." Obito yawned.
"Citrine, ready, with target in clear sight."
"Citrine? Yellow, how pretty Naruto-chan. But your birthstone is opal, if I'm not mistaken." Kushina said, more to herself than anything.
"Citrine, great codenames by the way, these are gemstones right?"
"Yeah, thanks Tourmaline, we can talk more about gemstones if you want after the mission."
"Now that that's all settled . . ."
"Sorry Hematite."
"OK, we strike in three . . . two . . . one, GO!"
As one, three shadows struck from the trees, converging on their target. The brown cat darted away, but it was too slow. Naruto caught it around the middle and gripped firmly, holding it out away from his body and face where the claws couldn't reach. Naruto looked up to the tree where his sensei stood on a branch, thumbing through his book.
"Ribbon on the ear and chubby— this is Tora, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto informed his leader, who closed his book with a snap.
"Why did we always have to do that? We KNEW it was Tora." Obito asked his sensei.
"Just good habit, really helps for later missions as you ascend the ranks to be that thorough." Minato answered serenely.
"Good job team! Now, let's report back to the Hokage shall we?" Kakashi said happily, walking back towards town. His genin followed him all the way back to the mission's desk, where they returned Tora to his owner, the wife of the Fire Daimyo. As Tora was squished by the very large woman into her bosom, Naruto felt a twinge of sympathy for the cat as he was nearly crushed by the woman's arms. His other teammates felt no such caring for the devil creature.
"Hard to feel sorry for the demon cat that nearly tore your face off." Team Minato muttered as one, earning amused looks from the adults.
As the Lady walked out the room with a yowling Tora, Hiruzen looked down at his desk, flicking through papers filled with a list of D-ranks. "Alright Team Seven, next we have weeding the Akimichi's vegetable gardens, cleaning the Inuzuka kennels, or—" a yowl of triumph followed by a wail of "Tora!"—"catching Tora again."
"Fun times." Kushina said sarcastically.
Naruto sighed, but kept his face impassive, even as Sakura ground her teeth nearly to dust and Sasuke growled under his breath. So imagine their surprise when Kakashi said, "Actually Hokage-sama, I believe my team is ready for a C-rank. They've done the prerequisite number of D-ranks, more actually."
"Way to go, Kakashi!" Obito whooped to the shocked boy.
"And to think, it only took an upbraiding from a twelve year-old girl to get it." Rin said in mock innocence, giggling as Kakashi lightly shoved her shoulder. A part of her was surprised at his candid touch— she thought it would take a miracle to get him to be so comfortable with them. Then she sent a short, sad gaze to Obito as she remembered . . . it took a death . . .
Hiruzen raised grey eyebrows up at Kakashi. "A C-rank, eh? Well, if you're sure . . . I believe Kurenai's team took the only C-rank, however, it was decided that there would be a joint team added, for the client to pay for at a later date. You would be escorting him to Nami no Kuni. As a matter of fact, I think Team Eight is coming back with their client now so you can meet him." As he said that, the door opened to reveal Kurenai and her team, accompanied by a slouching old man with a bottle of sake in his hands.
"One of those clients." They all sighed, Kushina, Kakashi, and Rin frowning as they imagined how the man would smell.
Naruto crinkled his nose a little at the smell of booze and sweaty earth coming from the man, though the faint scent of the ocean underneath all that was rather nice.
"Team Eight reporting with the client Hokage-sama." Yuuhi Kurenai greeted her commanding officer with a professional tone of voice, nodding in greeting to Kakashi, who returned it. Kurenai was a beautiful woman, recently promoted to jounin with her first team. She had wavy black hair and unusual red eyes, wearing a strange dress made of thick bandages with only one long red kimono-like sleeve. She had bandages wrapped around her hands and ankles, with mesh shorts showing from under the dress.
"That outfit sounds a bit dubious, but I remember that Ten-Ten said she was a serious kunoichi." Tsunade said in a thoughtful voice.
"Ah, Kurenai-chan, come in!" the Hokage smiled genially at the Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha and her little genin, who bowed to the man. "Tazuna-san, this is the joint team you'll be escorted by, Team Seven."
"Genjutsu Mistress? Sounds impressive." Kushina said, giving the woman credit. Due to her large reserves, she couldn't really do much in the way of genjutsu, save for breaking them.
The man named Tazuna scrutinized the genin heavily, taking a swig from his bottle. "They look just as thoroughly unimpressive as the other brats. Especially that pink-haired one, her hair is like a beacon; at least the Blondie looks professional enough."
"He didn't insult my sochi-kun, I'm good." Kushina said airily, giggling. The others shook their heads at the silly read-head, laughing.
"Thanks." Naruto said with a small smirk. "By the way, is that Sake from the Frost Country? Please tell me it's at least ten years old."
"A sake connoisseur?" Tsunade gasped with a happy expression on her face.
"No." Kushina groaned, looking helplessly at the two plotting Sannin. "He won't be this time around!" she hollered, shaking her fist at the two.
"We'll see about that." Tsunade and Jiraiya said, grinning wickedly.
Tazuna looked at the boy for a minute before laughing. "You know you're stuff, boy! I like you, how's about you and me talk the drink for a bit?"
"If you've got enough to share." Naruto said easily, ignoring the gawking he was receiving from his fellow gening, Kurenai's disproving look, and jiji and Kakashi-sensei's funny looks.
"Their client went from insulting everyone, to being buddy-buddy with him. Kami, those damn charismatic people!" Obito growled, throwing a pillow with considerable force to his sensei's spiky blonde head. He laughed when his sensei didn't even look away from the book over Kushina's shoulder as he caught the pillow before it hit him.
"That's a question with an obvious answer." Tazuna smirked.
The Hokage coughed a bit to get their attention again. "Well, it seems everything is in order. Team Seven meet up with Team Eight at the gate, at nine o'clock sharp. Dismissed!" he said sharply.
"Hai, Hokage-sama!" the ninja said with a bow. Then they all left, Naruto and Tazuna wandering off to a low-key bar that wouldn't throw Naruto out in the red light district as they discussed which was better: Ta no Kuni sake or Mitsu no Kuni sake?
"Ta no Kuni." Jiraiya said, at the same time Tsunade said, "Mitsu no Kuni." The dirty looks they threw at each other made the others wary, and Kushina hurried to distract them by continuing.
Later that evening, after Katsu had come home and finished cooking food, just as she had set Naruto's plate on the table, in he came with a large smile on his face. Katsu looked at him strangely as he plopped down to sit at the table. Suddenly his hand shot up to grip her wrist, and she gasped as he pulled her down to sit by him, almost on him.
"No manhandling." The woman all said sternly, chastising the boy even if he couldn't hear them.
"That's not what you say when I do it." Minato whispered, his words practically a breath on Kushina's ear as she shivered from his lips' caress on the shell of her ear. Minato moved away, smiling when the others hadn't even noticed them as the other guy's argued with Tsunade and Rin. Kushina blushed fiercely, but hid her cheeks with her even redder hair, taking a deep breath before reading on.
"So, how was your day?" he asked her after she had stopped trying to struggle over to her seat.
"Oh great, really busy but it was fun. You had an enjoyable day, I can smell it." She said with amusement, as she smelt the sake on his breath.
"Yes, our client knows the importance of sharing." Naruto said with an apologetic smile.
"Sharing is caring." Obito and Jiraiya sang, giving each other a high five.
"Client?" Katsu muttered with a crinkling of her nose. Then her eyes widened as she looked at Naruto. "No!"
"Yep!"
"Congrats on your first C-rank mission!" Katsu cheered, throwing her arms around Naruto and swinging the both of them from side to side as Naruto laughed.
"I'm not the only one who indulged, eh?" he said shrewdly, making the giggling girl blush a little.
"Just one cup." She insisted.
"What a crazy pair of kids." Tsunade laughed.
"I'm up for one more chapter before bed, how about you guys?" Obito crowed, pumped at their first C-rank mission, even if it was only bandits.
"Yeah, I want to hear how our son adjusts to actual combat." Minato said, smiling when Kushina enthusiastically agreed with him.
"Well, who will read next?" Jiraiya asked them.
"Jiraiya, you and I only got half of the same chapter. You read a full one, so take this next chapter." Kushina explained, handing the book over to the older man.
"Sounds good to me." Jiraiya said with a smile.
OK, so review and let me know how that was! Oh, and . . . in terms of length of the story . . . well, i'll be putting up a poll a little later on down the road about wether i should add in the movies, i know for a fact i'll be doing crescent moon island, but the others? Well, when the poll is up i'll let you know, don't tell me what you think should be in here in your reviews, k?
Love,
Blood Velvet~3