A/N: Welcome everyone, to our longest chapter to date! I really like this chapter, and it's the last one of the Academy arc. Meaning, canon will be hitting us next chapter, and I'm sure it's just going to be all uphill from there. Right? Right! (Between you guys and me, they have no idea what's about to hit them. :D)
So, this one's a series of scenes that occurs over their last year in the Academy, and it was a lot of fun for me to write. We've got reappearances and new characters, and I think its a good time. Remember, if you guys like the story, definitely leave a review! Let me know what I'm doing well, what you want to see more of, that sort of thing. Even if you don't like it, constructive criticism remains awesome and super helpful.
Without further ado, I'm gonna be quiet now, and you guys can enjoy the chapter!
Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, still.
Chapter 8-Academy Arc: Final Summer Days
"Summer will end soon enough, and childhood as well."- George R.R. Martin
"Neji, noooo. Don't leave me," I pleaded, clinging onto his arm and refusing to budge as he attempted to drag me through the front gates of the Academy and towards the amused crowd of parents waiting for us.
"Yumeko, let me go. Please. You're embarrassing me," He hissed, trying to shake me off.
"Good. Does that mean you'll repeat a year and stay?" I asked, smiling at him openly, and he groaned, the light reflecting off the metal of his newly received hitai-ate.
"Yume-chan, leave him be. Why? Because you've been trying for weeks and it still didn't prevent him from graduating on time," Shino piped up from beside us, and I pouted at him.
"I could have tried harder. If I'd involved Shisui-san, there was no way he would have passed," I replied, and there was a shudder from both my boys.
"Thank Kami-sama you didn't," Neji muttered, and finally managed to free himself from my grip. He lifted his arm in the light and stared at it reverently for a moment, and I rolled my eyes.
"I haven't been that clingy!" I protested, and there was a choking noise of disbelief from behind us. I whirled to glare at the offender to find all the rest of our friends looking away innocently, some whistling, others suddenly chattering amongst themselves. Naruto was looking a little too innocent though, and I squinted at him menacingly for a moment. He immediately began to pale, his eyes darting around, looking for an escape route.
"There's our new graduate! We're so proud of our little Neji-kun!" Speak of the devil. Shisui was suddenly in front of us, scooping Neji into a hug and swinging him around. Neji had gone limp as a defense mechanism, as was the only appropriate response when faced with a suddenly overly affectionate Uchiha Shisui. Struggling only made it worse.
"Shisui, put him down," Came Itachi's long suffering voice, and Shisui turned to grin at him, Neji still in his arms. They were both dressed in their jounin uniforms, having been gone on mission the past few days and only arrived to see the graduation ceremony today. Itachi was 16 now, tall, willowy and graceful, looking more so like his mother every day. His hair was in its customary ponytail, and he looked paler than when I'd last seen him. He'd been sick for the past few months, on all manner of different drugs and antibiotics, until someone had finally managed to diagnosis him with latent tuberculosis and he'd switched to treatment for that. It was lucky they'd finally caught it, because if it had been left to itself like I suspected it had in the manga, he would have died. They still sent him out on missions on his good days though, which worried Sasuke constantly.
Shisui was older, 20, but was about the same height as Itachi anyway. He also had his curly hair cut much shorter and an ever-present smile on his face. The man radiated almost as much cheer as Naruto, and had taken both him and my brother under his wing in regards to pranks. I was pretty sure he learned more from our resident Uzumaki than he taught, though. He currently had his tantou strapped to his back, and was covered in road dust, likely from the mad dash he and Itachi had probably made to get back to the village on time.
"Aww, come on Itachi-kun. You know little Neji-kun secretly loves it," He said, winking, and Sasuke let out a disgusted snort from behind us.
"If by love you mean hate, then yes," Sasuke replied, moving forward to kick his cousin in the shin. Shisui danced away, releasing a blue-faced Neji as he did so. Neji gasped for air, doubling over, and Shino and Chouji moved forward to prop him up.
"Troublesome. Where's Hana-san when you need her?" Shikamaru muttered.
"Ugh," Kiba grunted, repulsed. "You'll summon her too at this rate. I don't need to deal with more of their 'eternal romance' and clinging than I already get when she's home!" He shuddered at the thought, and Ino and Sakura laughed. Hana was also off on a mission, but she'd left two days ago, so it was unlikely she would have been back on time. As for her and Shisui, they'd had an on again-off again relationship for the past few months. If Kiba was reacting this way, it must be back on again.
"They're really cute though, Kiba-kun," Hinata piped up, smiling fondly as she watched Itachi and Shisui resume their usual shenanigans, which usually involved Shisui fleeing and Itachi throwing sharp objects to prevent this. The parents, tired of waiting for us and correctly assuming that the teenagers had thoroughly distracted us, had made their way over.
"Congratulations, big brother!" Chizuru cried, flinging herself at Neji and nearly knocking him over. He staggered back a step but managed to stay upright, and his sister smirked up at him mischievously. All the younger academy students had had the day off so that their instructors could be freed up to mark the written portion of the graduating classes' exams. We'd had the day off as well, but had elected to hang out at the Academy to wait for Neji. Chizuru, my brother, Hanabi and their new friends Moegi and Udon had been hanging out at our compound till the parents had finished party preparations and come to pick us up.
"Yes, congratulations nephew," Hiashi said, a slight, but proud, smile on his face, and Neji straightened up in response.
"Oh, my little boy's all grown up," Kanae sniffled, and Mikoto wrapped an arm around her shoulders in sympathy. It looked like only half of the parents had come by to pick us up, the other half having stayed at the compound to wait. Hizashi had moved over and placed his hand on Neji's shoulder, exchanging quiet words with him as he beamed down at his son. Chizuru had detached herself from her brother and gone running over to her mother as soon as her sniffling had started.
"Let's get going, dattebayo! I want to eat Madoka-san's cake!" Naruto shouted, taking off running out of the gate. I groaned and took off after him, flanked by Sasuke. He and I exchanged long-suffering looks, but I was happy. Naruto never changed, and I was glad I'd managed to help him find the family he'd missed in his childhood in the manga.
Neji had graduated at the beginning of March, meaning we were starting our sixth and final year at the Academy in April. With our final year came a lot of emphasis on the mastering of the Academy Three jutsu, as they would be used during the second half of the practical portion of the final exam. The other half would be a regulated taijutsu spar against one of our instructors. The first part of the exam was the written test though, which covered everything we'd ever learned in the Academy, and which was used as part of the determinant for who would move into the practical part of the exam. The last factor included was our rankings over the years, so even if you slipped up on test day, if you'd been highly placed over the years it wasn't as big of a deal.
"Naruto-kun! Stop staring off into space and pay attention!" Iruka-sensei barked, and I was startled out of my reverie in time to whip a hand out and catch the piece of chalk that had come hurtling for Naruto's head. There was a brief pause, and then Naruto started whooping and cheering beside me.
"Nice catch, Yume-chan! Take that, Iruka-sensei!" He cried, beginning to get out of his seat as if to begin one of Jiraiya's happy dances he'd started mimicking, but Sasuke reached over to flick him in the forehead before he could. He yelped in pain but settled back down, and I rolled my eyes in exasperation. Jiraiya had been a rather steady presence in Naruto's life since our introduction to him in our first year of the Academy, taking time out at least once a year to come by and check how our fuuinjutsu progress was going. To the rest of the world, it seemed like he was doing a favour for the Hokage and had taken on two new apprentices, but I knew that he was honestly enjoying the chance to see Naruto so often. The rumours were a good excuse for him to spend time with his godson, something that wouldn't have happened in the original canon for at least another year.
"Sorry, Iruka-sensei. Force of habit," I said sheepishly, and with precision that would have made Ebisu-sensei proud, I chucked the chalk into Iruka-sensei's waiting hand. I hadn't always been particularly great with my shurikenjutsu and bukijutsu, but I'd improved a lot over the years. I still preferred kunai and senbon over shuriken, mostly because I disliked the wrist flicking and concentration necessary to get shuriken to properly behave in the air.
"It's all right, Yumeko-kun. I'm used to it," He said, letting out a sigh before turning back to whatever he'd been writing on the board. I propped my chin in my hand while the other reached out to snatch the pencil Naruto had begun to balance on his nose in lieu of paying attention. He shot me his best puppy dog eyes, but I ignored them in favour of flicking the pencil over to Shino across the aisle.
He caught it easily before flipping it through his fingers at top speed and sending it flying back at me. I caught it overhead, flung it up in the air, caught it again, and sent it soaring back just as Iruka turned around once again. The pencil was nowhere in sight as he narrowed his eyes at our row in the back, and I gave him an innocent smile. It was partially defeated by Kiba and Naruto's snickering, and the glare we were getting from Sakura, but Iruka-sensei let it pass anyway.
What would he have said, really? I was the top student in the class, had been since we'd first started at the Academy, and was a shoe-in to win Kunoichi of the Year. I had also basically guaranteed my status as a prodigy for years to come when, two years ago, I'd managed to beat Mizuki in a spar. We'd had year end spars against our teachers every year before that, as a basic exam to contribute to our rankings, but I'd always drawn other random chuunin who'd gone easy on me because of my family. Mizuki hadn't been trying to make things easy, though, and when word had gotten out about our spar, Mama hadn't been happy. However, since I refused to acknowledge the Orochimaru-aligned traitor as a teacher of any kind, beating him using the skills Mama had started to teach me had been very satisfying.
Mama had taken over my taijutsu training from Ebisu-sensei after I'd finally mastered the Konoha Academy style. Recently, she'd also started integrating in some kenjutsu work as I began to practice with the tantou she'd given me as a gift for my 10th birthday. Nanami-sensei and I were still working on iryou-ninjutsu, and I was still being tutored in fuuinjutsu by her, Ebisu-sensei and Jiraiya whenever he was in town. Naruto was still way better at it than I was, although I had him beat in the calligraphy department. Dad and Grandpa had taken over my instruction in our clan's hiden ninjutsu, a mixture of the fire, wind, and earth affinities most people in the Sarutobi clan shared. I'd learned I had a dual primary affinity to fire and earth, so I was off to a good start for that. Although, I'd also started in with 'chakra coil expansion exercises' two years ago, which had been very not fun.
Grandpa and Dad had informed me that, as the clan heiress, once I was of age (i.e. I had hit genin rank) I would be given the opportunity to sign the clan's monkey summoning scroll. I was all for it, as summoning in battle and the potential to learn sage techniques would come in handy later down the line, but there was a caveat. Summoning took a lot, and I mean a lot, of chakra to accomplish. I was better off than most when it came to chakra stores, but I was nowhere near the levels needed to summon anything bigger than a baby. Thus, chakra coil expansion, which mostly consisted of me exhausting my chakra stores most days to increase the size of my coils and allow my stores to develop. It was more dangerous the older you got, which was why I had started it two years ago, and was still doing it now instead of after I'd graduated. I was carefully supervised to make sure I didn't burn out, but it still made me feel like crap for hours after.
The lunch bell rang overhead and Iruka-sensei and Mizuki hurried us outside before they both disappeared into the bowels of the building, most likely off to the teacher's lounge. Naruto led us over to our usual spot by the trees in the eastern corner of the grounds, and we settled into our usual circle formation. It still felt weird not having Neji around, but the look of pure terror on his face when he'd discovered who his jounin instructor was made it much easier to bear.
"You guys should really pay more attention in class, you know," Sakura said, cutting into my thoughts as she carefully set out her humongous tome on anatomy and proceeded to flip to the page she'd left off at last. Sakura was set to enter the hospital's iryou-nin residency program next year, having apprenticed herself to one of the doctors there. Nanami-sensei had helped set her up with a doctor who'd retired from ANBU several years prior, so she was in good hands. Before that though, she had a lot of studying to do to pass the entrance exam, even though we all knew there was no way she'd fail. I was more than happy that I'd passed the point of having to study intensely to get into a medical training program, since I wasn't planning to enter the Iryou-nin Corps myself. Once had been more than enough for me.
"But I don't wanna learn any more about chakra theory," Naruto whined, flinging himself dramatically across Sakura's lap. She'd yanked her food out of the way in time, used to his antics, but she still had a look in her eyes as if she was contemplating violence.
"Chakra theory is essential to mastering ninjutsu, Naruto-kun. You are still having trouble with the Bunshin jutsu, right?" Hinata asked, primly picking at her lunch, her seiza position impeccable as always. Naruto grumbled something under his breath and moved from Sakura's lap. She eyed him suspiciously for a moment before starting to eat, but Naruto had moved to throw himself on Sasuke. Sasuke, who was looking broodier than usual today and had yet to touch his lunch.
"I'm pretty sure he's only having so much trouble because his control sucks," Ino said, and Naruto made a wounded noise in her direction.
"She has a point, Naruto-kun. Why? Because your control is so abysmal you have yet to complete the leaf-sticking exercise," Shino added.
"Why does everyone always have to pick on me?" Naruto moaned, burying his face in Sasuke's neck, who didn't even so much as twitch. I slowly raised an eyebrow at him.
"Because you're an easy target, duh," Kiba said, grinning. Akamaru, seated atop his head, yipped in agreement. Kiba had been ecstatic when he'd turned eleven last year and had finally been able to pick his ninken partner. Hana had gotten hers when she was eight, but that was because of her position as clan heiress. Something she'd mocked him for incessantly when we'd been growing up and he'd whine about the Haimaru brothers.
"His control could be worse, though. Naruto-kun can pull off the Kawarimi and Henge just fine," Chouji said, always ready to jump to the defense when we started to get too into teasing each other. Shikamaru sighed tiredly and rolled over, curling into a more comfortable ball between Chouji and Ino.
Shikamaru and I had been up late the night before going over fuuinjutsu designs that might supress seals, our minds still on the problem of what to do with the Hyuuga Branch House, as far away as that might seem to the others. I knew better, knew that soon enough we'd be dealing with such big threats we wouldn't have time to work on this one, so Shikamaru and I spent some time every month rehashing the plan we'd laid out nearly three years ago. He'd been picked up by his father at around midnight last night, and I just knew that he'd been up even later poring over the notes I'd lent him on some of my ideas. He was starting to reach a level of understanding of seals on par with my own, even though we'd only been working on it for a year and I'd been studying them for more than eight years. Naruto was, of course, still better.
"Sasuke-kun, you've been positively broody all morning. Something you want to share?" I asked, flicking a rice grain at him. It hit his nose and still no reaction, and my eyes widened in surprise. There were looks exchanged, and Naruto began frantically shaking his best friend.
"Sasuke? Sasuke, are you dead?! Please don't be dead, what am I supposed to tell Itachi?! He's gonna kill me! Plus, plus, Shisui will never let me live it down, and Yume-chan is gonna make fun of me forever, and the Old Pervert will-" He was cut off by Sasuke slapping his hand over Naruto's mouth and shooting him an unimpressed look. He almost immediately retracted it with a disgusted sound, wiping it furiously on Naruto's orange t-shirt, and Naruto stuck his tongue out.
"What are you, five?" Sasuke snapped, and Naruto pouted.
"But you weren't responding. Even when Yume-chan hit you with rice," He said, and Sasuke reached up in surprise to rub at his face, getting the rice grain almost immediately. He narrowed his eyes at me, but I smiled unrepentantly.
"You'd have dodged normally," I pointed out, and he sighed and looked down at his hands.
"Sasuke-kun? Are you all right?" Sakura asked, and he sighed again.
"It's…Father is trying to get Itachi to join ANBU again," He said, clenching his fists as he did. Sasuke had begun to grow obviously resentful of his father about a year ago, after years of hard work and effort being summarily ignored in favour of his brother. He still adored Itachi, couldn't find a single fault against him, so around that time I'd decided to step in and suggest he gain recognition by doing something his brother hadn't. In this timeline, that meant Sasuke had decided to go for ANBU. My parents hadn't been…very excited over the news, knowing better than most of their peers what exactly it entailed, and had tried to talk Sasuke out of it, but he'd been adamant. Fugaku had heard of his second son's plans, and been shiningly proud. For a few weeks. Then he'd almost immediately turned to harassing his older son into being 'more ambitious like his brother', and things had sort of devolved from there.
"You know he still loves you though, right? Sasuke-kun, he was so proud of you when you said you were going to try for ANBU," Ino pointed out, and Sasuke made an irritated noise and rubbed at his face again.
"Then why does he want us to be exactly the same?! Can't I have something for myself, just once?" He snapped, and we all went silent. I didn't have an answer for that one.
"Itachi-san's not going to give in. He knows how much this means to you," I finally said, popping a strawberry into my mouth.
"I know. At least big brother understands," Sasuke said, and leaned into Naruto tiredly. Naruto patted his head soothingly for a moment before turning to me, mouthing 'help, he's heavy.' I rolled my eyes, and mouthed back, 'you cuddle him all the time, deal with it.'
"Mikoto-sama understands too, though. She was talking to my mother yesterday about it, and Mother suggested she distract him with food or work the next time he tried. That always works with my father," Hinata said, pulling one of the cherry tomatoes out of her lunch and offering it to Sasuke. He thanked her quietly and ate it, looking a little better about everything.
"Is Hiashi-sama still bothering you about studying iryou-ninjutsu?" I asked, and she let out an amused huff.
"He tries. I usually just remind him that his great-grandmother was an iryou-nin, and he stops," She replied, and I smiled. I'd found that out for her when I was going through the Hokage Archives for a treatise on the Sarutobi clan's hiden jutsu, when she'd first approached me with her wish to study under Nanami-sensei. The rest of us girls had been learning about iryou-ninjutsu for a while before, and finally Hinata had given in and decided she'd wanted to join us.
"I don't see why he has to be so stuffy about it. So what if you're clan heiress? Being an iryou-nin is one of the most respectable positions in the village!" Sakura snapped, looking ready to start in on one of her tirades that mentioning Hiashi's disdain for her chosen profession usually brought on. Ino patted her shoulder consolingly and she subsided, grumbling under her breath but going back to her book.
I suddenly felt three familiar chakra signatures enter my sensing range, the fourth accompanying them not quite as well-known but sparking all over the place, and found myself grinning. Two of the signatures were moving for our position at top speed, their chakra flickering as if they were fighting, while the other two signatures followed behind at a more sedate pace.
"Incoming." I warned everyone, immediately drawing chakra to my legs and jumping up into the tree behind me, landing seated on a branch just as the others began to scramble away. In the next moment, there was the sound of an impact as two bodies landed in the spot where we'd been sitting a moment ago and began to roll around, one snarling and sounding panicked. The other was too busy laughing to respond, and as I took the chance to examine them I could see why. Shisui's latest victim was orange from head to toe, and did not look happy about it.
"Hey, Yume. I see you avoided the worst of it," My uncle Asuma said, landing in a light crouch beside me, and I grinned at him. He'd returned from his stint among the 12 Guardians last year, and had been chastised by Mama for hours after. Mostly for leaving without a word, but then she and Dad had hugged him super tight and said that he always had a place with us. He and Grandpa weren't actively arguing now, having decided to reach a ceasefire over whatever had prompted Asuma to leave in the first place. Grandpa was happy enough to have him back for now, and Asuma had come back much more laidback than he'd been when I was younger.
"Of course, since I sensed you all coming. Why did Shisui decide to prank Aoba-san, though?" I asked, and was answered by the bearer of the fourth chakra signature I'd sensed.
"Why does Shisui do anything?" A familiar voice said, and I struggled not to go still as my chest suddenly felt tight. 'Every freaking time. What possible reason do I have to be so concerned, damn it?!'
"Because he's bored," I responded, glancing out of the corner of my eye to see Hatake Kakashi lounging on one of the other tree branches, his classic orange book in front of his face. He was dressed in his characteristic jounin uniform from the manga, hitai-ate slanted over one eye, and spiked, silver hair pointing up into the sky. "You shouldn't be displaying that pervert's books in front of impressionable children," I finally added, turning back to a pinned Shisui, who was still laughing, and a…well he was technically shrieking in a distinctly freaked out tone, but we'd say bellowing, Aoba. He'd lost his shades at one point or another, but you could see the lines where they'd been because there wasn't any orange there.
"How do you know what they are?" He asked, speaking in a monotone, but I could feel the flicker of pleasure in his chakra. I shrugged.
"Firstly, I can read," I deadpanned, pointing to the boldly displayed 'Jiraiya' on the front cover, underneath the title. "Second, anything that pervert writes can't be safe around kids. He's already corrupted one of my friends, I'd rather he didn't corrupt any more." Asuma snorted in amusement beside me and reached out to ruffle my hair. I batted his hands away with a pout, adjusting my pigtails back into place as he chuckled.
"Naruto hasn't been corrupted. You don't see him stalking hot springs, do you?" He said, and I turned to give him a look.
"He's not hit puberty yet. He doesn't understand why Jiraiya does it, but when he gets old enough, his hormones will teach him," I replied, and Kakashi's chakra flickered in surprise. "Until then, he's still enough of an innocent cherub that I don't want him getting worse."
"Your friend is worse than Shisui when it comes to pranks, though," Kakashi said, flipping nonchalantly to another page in his book, but I could feel regret from him almost immediately after. Was it from saying something else, or because we were talking about Naruto?
"He's Naruto," I said, shrugging as if that was all that needed to be said to explain it. "He's been the king of pranks since before I met him, and Shisui made him worse."
"I've done no such thing," Shisui called from below, Aoba having let him up to begin using some spray or other that he'd been handed. The orange was slowly melting off him, so I assumed it was the counter to whatever dye Shisui had used. "Naruto-sama has been an inspiration for ages, I'd never claim credit for teaching him a thing."
"Shisui-san, are you all right? That looked like it hurt," Sakura said, sidling up to him with adoring eyes. The others had emerged from wherever they'd been hiding while the ruckus had gone on, Naruto beaming at the compliment he'd just been given. Ino was eying Aoba with particular glee, and Shikamaru looked dead to the world again.
"Not to worry, Sakura-chan! I'm made up of stronger stuff than darling Aoba-chan," He said, utterly oblivious as he reached out to ruffle her hair and she looked up at him with hero-worship written across her face. I wasn't entirely certain how it had happened, but around the time I'd been expecting to interfere with Sakura and Ino developing a rivalry over Sasuke, Sakura had declared her undying love for Shisui. She'd loved the pranks for years now, but I'd still been blindsided. Ino had yet to say anything about a crush on anyone, but I'd caught her eyeing Neji, Sasuke and Itachi contemplatively once or twice.
Looking around as I felt Kakashi's signature suddenly exit my sensing range, I realized he must have ditched us when Naruto reappeared. I let out a sigh and leaned back on my tree branch, looking up at the way the sunlight filtering in through the leaves danced about, leaving warm spots on my face as it flickered across it.
"Is he…OK?" I asked Asuma quietly, and he reached out to pat my head. I glared at him as he did so, because even though I'd finally managed a growth spurt and was sitting at around the average spectrum of height for my age, being patted on the head still irritated me. I'd spent such a long time being taller then basically everyone around me before…things, that I was still trying to come to terms with being so short. Mama was average in height, and Dad and Asuma were over 6 feet in height. Grandpa was short, though, so I wasn't sure if I'd ever get to be all that tall in this body, and I already missed it.
"I don't know, Yume. He was in ANBU for a really long time," He replied, and I looked over at him questioningly. "Your parents came out OK because they spent more time outside than in, but Kakashi…not so much." At that, he reached for the pack of cigarettes he'd started carrying around after he got back. Apparently, he'd been introduced to them by a friend in the Guardians, and was now addicted to the little death sticks. I snatched the one he'd been about to stick in his mouth out of his hand and shot him a look. He just winked at me and put a cigarette in anyway, and I realized he'd switched it with a little stick from the branches waving around us without me noticing. Grumbling, I let it fall to the ground below.
"He feels really sad. All the time," I said after a brief pause, swinging my feet back and forth as, below us, Shisui began to prance around a suddenly enraged Sasuke. Shino was staying out of it, settled in beside Chouji and Hinata, all three of whom had resumed eating. Shikamaru was napping again, Aoba was still cleaning off, and Ino, Sakura, Naruto and Kiba were egging on one side or the other.
"He's got a lot to be sad about," Asuma said, watching me contemplatively for a moment. "But we're trying to help. Got any ideas?" I paused, lifting my hand to cup my chin and balancing my elbow on my knee so I could prop it up.
"He doesn't seem like the type to want to talk about it," I began, and I heard Asuma mutter 'understatement' under his breath beside me. I chose to ignore that, forging on aloud. "Shinobi don't…we don't really know how to deal with feelings, I've noticed. If giving him space resulted in him flinging himself into ANBU, maybe adjust that. Give him some space, but also give him anchors to the present. If he's stuck in the past, the only way to help him move forward is to remind him that there are other things, other people, around him that he can connect to, forge bonds with. Besides those trashy books." I shuddered at the thought of what they might contain. I'd not cared so much when this world had just been a story, but having lived here for more than twelve years, and having met the infamous Jiraiya myself, I endeavoured to burn those things the first chance I got.
"Anchors, huh?" Asuma said, looking thoughtful, and turned his head to smile at me softly. "Thanks, Yume. You sure you're not secretly an old woman trapped in a kid's body?" He teased, and I immediately tried to punch his shoulder, faking an offended look. He wasn't that far off. He chuckled, catching my fist easily, but squeezed it in gratitude before shifting and flinging himself off the branch to land beside a now clean Aoba.
"Come on man, we promised Gai we'd keep an eye on our resident hermit, and he escaped while you were tussling with a kid," He said, and Aoba let out a huff, pulling another pair of shades from his flak jacket and putting them on.
"The Uchiha needed to be taught a lesson. He's a menace to society," He joked, and Uncle Asuma just shrugged.
"Pretty sure he taught you a lesson, but alright." Aoba muttered something under his breath in response, his temporarily regained calm switching to embarrassment, and leapt past my Uncle, taking off into the trees in the direction Kakashi had left. Asuma chuckled again and took off after him.
"As much fun as this has been, Sasu-chan, I do have a prior engagement. I shall be by to pick you up after school with Itachi, so don't miss me too much!" Shisui said, planting a loud kiss on Sasuke's head before following the other two into the trees. Sasuke made an enraged noise, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, as Sakura began to pout over his sudden disappearance, and Naruto rolled around, laughing. A pretty standard day for us, overall.
"Big sister!" Came a chorus of three voices, and I turned with a raised eyebrow to spot Ko-chan, Moegi and Udon racing toward me from the house. I'd been about to leave to meet up with Hinata, Ino and Sakura for a girl's day out, but the kids must have spotted me first.
"What's up?" I asked, looping my unnecessarily long red scarf once more around my neck so that none of it trailed on the ground. Mama had decided to take up knitting and had already made scarves in varying colours for everyone in the family, including Naruto. His had been, but of course, orange, and he'd taken to wearing the thing everywhere he went. She'd moved onto making socks and hats, and I was not looking forward to the time when I had to pretend a hat that would make a good home for a family of cats fit me perfectly as well.
"Big sis, can you buy us dango?" Ko-chan asked, throwing his arms around my waist and latching on tight, grinning at me brightly. His own light blue scarf dangled along on the ground behind him and I reached out to adjust it, looping it a couple of more times around his neck. He'd cut his hair a while back, protesting that long hair was 'too girly', so now he had spikes like the ones he'd sported in the manga. He and Dad now had the same haircut, and since Ko-chan had taken to mimicking Dad's mannerisms whenever he was around, Dad had started proudly carting him around like his mini-me.
"I don't know…didn't you get in trouble at school a few days ago?" I asked, reaching up to cup my chin contemplatively, and hiding the amused smile that crossed my face at the sudden crestfallen looks on their faces.
"It wasn't our fault, really!" Moegi protested, hopping up and down and leaving little imprints in the recently fallen snow around us. It was early December now, and to my surprise and disgust the weather had been actively cold and snowy lately. It only snowed on occasion in Konoha, and didn't stick around for long, but this cold front had lasted two weeks now. Naruto was loving it, as he did most things that made pranking easier, but I'd had enough of snow and cold to last a lifetime. My original one, to be more precise.
"Yeah! Some civilian kid was being mean to Chi-chan, so we had to get him back for it!" Konohamaru protested, Udon nodding vigorously behind him. I reached into the well-stocked medic's pouch at my back and pulled out a tissue, handing it to him and waving vaguely at his face. Udon flushed, knowing what I meant, and blew his dripping nose. Kid was always sick with something or other.
"Like, 'pulling pigtails' mean, or 'I swear revenge on my ancestors' graves' mean?" I asked, waggling my eyebrows at the three, who started giggling.
"Pulling pigtails," Moegi replied, reaching up to pat at her own as if to reassure herself they were still there. Kami-sama, they were all so cute!
"Well, maybe this kid just has a crush on Chi-chan?" I said, and they all immediately started making disgusted noises at me. I let out a laugh and detached myself from Konohamaru, who pouted about it but let me.
"No way! Big sis, how does that make sense? Why would he be mean if he liked her?" my brother asked, and I paused to think over a way to explain it to them.
"Some people just say that when a boy is mean to you it means that he must like you," I finally said, shrugging. "Honestly, I think it's pretty dumb. If you like someone you're supposed to treat them well, or else they're going to leave and find someone who will." The three children around me nodded as if I was offering them the sagest of advice. It was common sense, really.
"Look, I have to go, but I'll sneak you dango if you can promise to hide it from Mama," I said, glancing up at the position of the sun in the sky and realizing I was running late. We were supposed to meet up at noon and the sun was almost at its zenith. There were solemn nods and promises from the three kids around me, and I waved goodbye as I headed away from the house and towards the Yamanaka flower shop. I needed to remember to pick up a present for Ko-chan while I was at it.
"I'm never going to learn all of this in time," Sakura wailed, slumping face first into the medical textbook she'd brought along with her on our outing. After meeting at the Yamanaka flower shop we'd made our way to the Uchiha district, Ino insisting that there was a new dessert shop that she wanted to try. It was a bit more like a café than a dessert shop, but I wasn't complaining. It was warm, the atmosphere was friendly, and it seemed to be mostly populated by ninja of varying ranks. We were getting a few looks at our booth, as usually tended to happen whenever we went out in public lately, but I just used my usual innocent smile and waved at them. I got some smiles in response, but other people immediately shifted their gazes away, embarrassed to have been caught staring by an Academy student, prodigy or not.
"Yes, you will, Sakura-chan. I have faith in you," Hinata said, reaching out to move away a pink strand of our friend's hair before it found its way in her dessert. Sakura's only response was another moan, and I rolled my eyes.
"You're so dramatic, yeesh. You say that about our tests every year, but you always do really well," Ino said, keeping half an eye on Sakura and the other eye on the Uchiha waiter that was making his rounds, her order on his tray along with several others. I was currently locked in a staring contest with the tabby cat that had taken up residence by the cash register in the front. I had never met the creature before, but it had started staring at me almost as soon as we'd come into the store.
"But this one is different! If I don't pass then Sakamoto-sensei is never going to want to take me on as an apprentice, and then all that work with Nanami-sensei will have been useless!" Sakura protested, lifting her green eyes to stare at the rest of us, and I was startled enough that I broke eye contact with the cat. It almost immediately began radiating smugness, and I glared at it. 'That didn't count! Rematch!'
"Yumeko-chan, are you harassing more defenseless kitties?" Hinata asked, gingerly sipping from the cup of tea in front of her. She paused and then began to gently blow on it again.
"I'm doing no such thing. The cat started it this time, I swear," I replied, shifting my gaze to meet her amused one beside me. Ino and Sakura were seated across from us, Sakura and Hinata both by the window on their respective sides.
"You say that every time. What is it with you and the Uchiha district cats?" Ino said, taking a triumphant bite out of the cake she'd finally been given. She visibly melted, so it must have been worth the wait.
"I don't know! They're always following me around and staring, and I don't get it!" I said, crossing my arms over my chest and frowning. Some part of me wondered if it wasn't because the cats could somehow sense that I was different from everyone else, since I'd been reincarnated from a different world. Or maybe they were being sicked on me by Izumi from across the afterlife, which I wouldn't have blamed her for. I had other theories, but they got far more nonsensical. Regardless of why, the fact that cats had an obsession with me was weird and not something I liked contemplating for too long.
"Well, fancy seeing you four here," A familiar voice said, and I shifted to lean out of the booth to see Shiranui Genma and Namiashi Raidou approaching our table, the tabby cat from the front purring in Genma's arms. I narrowed my eyes at it as the others around me offered their various greetings.
"I didn't know you liked cats, Genma-san," I said, propping my chin in my hand and settling my elbow on the table so as not to reach out and start petting the cat. Just because they stalked me didn't mean I found them any less adorable. He chuckled in response.
"Who, this little guy? He's my cat, I just asked Granny Uchiha to watch him till I got back from my mission," He replied.
"The old woman who owns this cake shop is old friends with Genma, so she usually babysits Ryu for us when we're out of town," Raidou added, reaching over and scratching behind the cat's ears. It cracked one eye open to look at him and kept it fixed till he removed his hand, making a face at the cat as he did so.
"Ryu, don't be so mean to Raidou. He loves you too." Genma said, shooting a bemused look down at the cat in his arms. The cat sneezed in Raidou's direction at that before giving Genma a dejected look. I snorted in amusement as Raidou immediately began grumbling about ungrateful cats and the girls around me started giggling.
"Genma-san, I don't suppose you'd know anything about where Gai-san took his genin team, do you?" I said, and he looked at me contemplatively.
"That's right, he did go off on a C-rank with them a few days ago. Sorry, Sarutobi-hime, but I don't know the location. Why, your Hyuuga boyfriend didn't tell you?" He said, and I squawked in protest.
"He's not my boyfriend!" I cried, and realized that everyone was looking at us again. I plastered on my 'people smile' again and waved at them till they turned back to what they were doing. Ino and Sakura were snickering at me, and Raidou and Genma looked amused at my reaction, Ryu having cracked both eyes open to look at me, askance. Hinata made a thoughtful noise, and I turned to pout at her. "Don't you make those noises at me, Hinata-chan. You know I'm not dating him, nor would I. We're too young! And besides, he's like…like a brother!" I added, silently tacking on that he was way too young. I couldn't look at any of the people around me like that, I felt queasy at the mere idea. 'I'm more than twice their age!'
"I know, Yumeko-chan," She said, patting my hand consolingly, but I could still feel the amusement in her chakra. I pouted at the lot of them and crossed my arms over my chest as the others around me laughed.
"Happy birthday, Yumeko-chan!" Came the chorus of voices around me, and I grinned brightly. It was February 18th, my 13th birthday, and in a matter of two weeks we would be graduating from the Academy. Canon was looming in front of me like an oncoming tidal wave, and I was feeling less and less prepared as the days passed. I'd been training for years, as had my friends, and I'd managed to forge stronger bonds among the Rookie 9 and Neji than they'd had at this point in the manga, but it still didn't feel like enough. Not for what I knew was coming.
"Congratulations on another year of life, Youthful Yumeko-chan! I hope that you will appreciate the present I picked for you! I am certain that it will aid you as you progress into the Springtime of your Life, and your graduation into a genin!" Gai sang from the kitchen, momentarily sticking his head out to give me a dual thumbs-up. I smiled and shot him a thumbs-up in response, and he almost immediately ducked back into the kitchen and began wailing dramatically. I could hear the groans from the assorted tokubetsu jounin and jounin who'd taken up residence there, Genma insisting that Gai could appreciate my exuberance a little less loudly, and I snickered.
"You should stop encouraging him," Neji groaned from his position flopped across the couch, barely able to lift his head to glare at me. I smiled at him brightly in response.
"Why, whatever do you mean, Neji-chan? Your wonderful jounin sensei is one of my favourite people in existence, why shouldn't I show my appreciation?" I asked, pitching my voice loudly enough to carry, and the exuberant shouting started up again. Asuma almost immediately fled into the crowded living room, Kurenai on his heels, and they ducked out into one of the hallways. We'd moved a bunch of the dividing walls to make more room for everyone, but there were still a lot of people. Naruto and Ko-chan were both snickering, with Itachi looking unimpressed at Shisui's attempts to not start laughing as well. Neji just groaned and tried to lift an arm over his face, but aborted with a wince.
"Neji-kun, if you would just let me heal you then you wouldn't be so sore," Sakura insisted, giving him an unimpressed look from her position on one of the cushions on the floor, seated between Ino and Hinata.
"Gai-sensei would be suspicious I hadn't been 'training to my full potential' if you did," He replied, sighing and giving Hinata a pleading look so that she would roll him over. She obliged with an amused huff, getting up and gently rolling him onto his side, which he thanked her for quietly.
"Gai-san goes to get healing from intense training sessions at the Hospital though, doesn't he?" Chouji asked, and we all exchanged looks. 'Frankly, I don't think he does.'
"Definitely not!" We chorused, and there was some giggling at that. I stretched my legs out and leaned into Shino behind me, who was currently in the middle of a shogi match with Shikamaru. From the sounds of it, it seemed pretty intense, though I had no idea how they both got so into the game.
"Yume-chan, have you picked out a genin outfit yet?" Hana asked me from where she was snuggled next to Shisui on the couch, the Haimaru brothers in a large dog pile on the floor beside her. Itachi was on Shisui's other side to separate him and Sasuke. I immediately winced in response. Ino instantly began to puff up, looking outraged, and I braced myself.
"We're going shopping again tomorrow, right, big sis?" Ko-chan cut in, smiling at me, and I shot him a grateful look. Ino deflated slightly as Moegi and Chi-chan both snickered.
"Well, you'd better remember! You've been putting it off for weeks!" Ino insisted, crossing her arms over her chest, and I shrugged in response. I had been, mostly because I'd been trying to pretend that canon wasn't about to hit us like a freight train. The others had already picked out their signature outfits from the manga, as choosing one's genin outfit was considered a 'rite of passage' or some such nonsense. Genin outfits had to be specific to the wearer, something about them enabling a lower expenditure of funds on several random outfits that would only end up taking damage anyways, but also had to show clan affiliation, usually in the sense of your clan symbol or certain colours that matched your clan. Uniforms weren't mandatory till you got to the higher ranks, but even then, the regulations about what could and couldn't be worn were rather flexible.
Mama and Mikoto had balked at Naruto's choice of an orange jumpsuit, but Dad had sided with him, reminding them that he'd been pulling pranks and getting away unscathed in orange for years prior. Fugaku hadn't particularly cared one way or the other, especially once Naruto informed us that he was getting the Sarutobi and Uchiha clan symbols sown into the collar of the jacket, to show off his adoptive families. He'd been smug about it for days after, and Grandpa had been surprised at first, but had gone along with it with minimal protest. Mostly over the excess of orange.
"Why don't you wanna pick a genin outfit again, Yumeko-chan?" Kiba asked, yawning tiredly. He'd apparently stayed up late the night before training with Akamaru, who was napping on his head. He'd also finally stopped using that stupid nickname, for which I was grateful. It was bad enough that I still got variations of it from everyone else, I didn't need it from my friends.
"It's not that I don't want to, just that nothing really 'speaks' to me," I replied, making air quotes with my fingers, and I got a solemn nod from Naruto. He'd had the same problem till, by some stroke of luck, he'd found his orange jumpsuit in some out of the way corner of the clothing supplies warehouse, and fallen in love. Now there were a dozen copies of it in his closet, ready for his graduation.
"It is a serious decision. Why? Because that will be the outfit we wear for the remainder of our genin days," Shino added over his shoulder, and then immediately turned back to the game as Shikamaru made a triumphant noise.
"At least we've got more time to figure that out," Udon sighed, reaching for one of the dumplings on the tray in the center of us and popping it in his mouth. Hanabi was still staring at them, her head cocked, trying to decide which one she wanted to try. She was a pretty picky eater most days.
"We can still change around some of the colours though, and there are hot and cold climate versions we can pick out on request," Sasuke added, subtly attempting to reach over his brother and kick Shisui in the shin. He'd shown up already irritated at his cousin for something or other, and Itachi had looked longsuffering as he attempted to keep them apart. Itachi coughed, clearing his throat, but his disapproving eyes were on Sasuke, who immediately retracted his foot with a sheepish smile.
I stilled, turning to look in the direction of the front of the compound as I felt the arrival of a sparking chakra signature that could belong to only one person. Frowning, I closed my eyes and focused on it as it hesitated at the maximum point of my range, as if it was aware of it and didn't want to cross over and make itself known. My range had grown over the years, till I could proudly say that I could sense things around me in a one-kilometer radius, though I still only picked up emotions at around a 10-meter range. If there was a large concentration of certain emotions I could still get those, but that was because they remained overwhelming. At least I was way better at blocking out ambient chakra.
Finally, the chakra seemed to firm up and it moved in the direction of the house. I opened my eyes and got up, excusing myself as the others around me began discussing something or other. I made my way to the door, past groups of chatting adults, and waited as the signature seemed to hesitate at the threshold of the outer wall surrounding the house. I rolled my eyes and opened the door, stepping out to see Kakashi suddenly leaning against said wall, his book in front of his face, looking for all the world like he'd been that way for ages and not just scrambled into position as I was opening the door.
"Yo," He called out, sending me a casual two-fingered salute, as if he'd just noticed me. I huffed in amusement.
"Uncle Asuma wasn't kidding when he said you were going to be late," I joked, moving across the lawn to stand in front of him, propping my hands on my hips and looking up. Damn, he was tall. His one visible eye crinkled at me, as if he was smiling.
"You know, he never mentioned how uncute his niece was," He replied, and I shot him a bright smile. Cocking my head to one side, pointing my toes in, and clasping my hands behind my back, I made sure to radiate the kind of adorableness that had old ladies on the street cooing at me and giving me treats.
"He also didn't mention how uncool his friend was," I said with all the innocence and sweetness I could muster, and while his eye narrowed, I could feel his chakra flickering with amusement. Dropping the act, I turned back around and marched over to the house, calling over my shoulder as I did so. "Come on in before all the food is gone. Gai-san would be disappointed if you don't." He seemed to hesitate for another moment, but ultimately followed me in, disappearing into the kitchen before Naruto could see him to exuberant shouting, and cries of 'eternal rival'.
"Who was that?" Kiba asked, frowning as several of the other jounin who'd invaded the kitchen came streaming out, attempting to avoid whatever was happening inside. Mama let out a sigh and marched over to enact order, Dad following along behind with a grin on his face.
"Just some friend of Gai-san's," I said, shrugging, and settled in in front of Shino and beside Naruto and Chouji once again.
"He is no mere friend, dear Yumeko-chan! Kakashi-san is my eternal rival! Our score stands at 48 to 49, with he in the lead, but with my hard work and dedication I shall soon catch up!" Gai said, appearing beside the couch as if summoned, and I could hear Mama moving around and restoring order in her kitchen. Dad had been kicked out as well, but he had several cookies in hand and was munching away at them, so he didn't seem to mind too much. Glancing about, I spotted Kakashi leaning against one of the walls we'd left in place, his book out once more. His chakra was hesitant, and if I stared closely I could see him occasionally flicking glances at our group, his eyes focused on a chattering Naruto. There was pain and sadness in him when he did that, and I shifted my eyes over to Gai to see if he'd noticed.
He was currently in the middle of explaining his contests with Kakashi to Chouji, who'd apparently asked, but noticed me watching him and glanced in my direction briefly. I nodded to Kakashi, and he seemed to understand, because suddenly he was entering into one of his 'nice guy poses' and loudly declaring he would offer a demonstration.
"No," Kakashi immediately cut in, appearing before us and flipping to the next page of his book, and Gai started wailing dramatically.
"Oh, my hip, trendy rival! I will work to surpass your coolness one day!" He cried, and the younger children immediately shifted away from the manly tears, most of them crowding around me because I looked like I wasn't bothered by it.
"Big sis, make it stop," Ko-chan hissed at me, pleading, and the others his age nodded frantically. I rolled my eyes at that.
"Oh hush. Gai-san is one of Konoha's top jounin. He's allowed his eccentricities," I said quietly, and noticed Kakashi twitch out of the corner of my eye. "Most of them are pretty eccentric. Take Hatake-san for instance. Most people wouldn't be allowed to be eternally late and carry around one of Jiraiya-san's books in front of their face, but because he's so famous, he gets away with it," I continued, pitching my voice more loudly again. 'Ooh, another twitch.' The children around me all turned, wide-eyed, to stare at Kakashi. He glanced up at us for a moment, a brow raised, and then went back to his book.
"Why would you willingly read that old pervert's books?" Sakura asked, frowning.
"How are you famous?" Kiba said at the same time, peering up at Kakashi suspiciously.
"Ooh, do you know any cool justu?" Naruto added, bouncing up and down in sudden excitement, and I could feel Kakashi's chakra tightening up as if he was overwhelmed.
"Who knows, he holds the record for reaching the rank of jounin at the youngest age yet, among other things, and yes, he does," Shisui answered for him, beaming, and Kakashi seemed to relax a touch. Finally tucking his book away, he slouched slightly, looking over our group lazily.
"You're all Academy students?" He finally asked, and there were nods around the group.
"Most of us are graduating in a few weeks," Sasuke said.
"Then you're too young to understand the greatness that is Icha-Icha!" He said, beaming as if a personality switch had been suddenly flipped, and people slumped in disbelief.
"That's not an answer!" Naruto cried, leaping to his feet and pointing at him, and Kakashi shrugged.
"It's enough of one," He replied, his eye still closed and crinkled in a smile, and I huffed in amusement.
"Oh, Kakashi-kun, I didn't see you arrive," Grandpa spoke up, appearing out of nowhere, and most of the kids around me jumped.
"Gramps, stop doing that!" Naruto whined, sitting back down beside me.
"Stop doing what?" He asked, feigning confusion, but I could feel his delight. "Anyway, Kakashi-kun, might I borrow you for a moment? There was something I wanted to discuss."
"Grandpa, no Hokage business at home, remember?" I said. He winced, glancing around surreptitiously, but Mama was still in the kitchen.
"What your mother doesn't know won't hurt me," He replied, winking, and I let out a little laugh. Kakashi shrugged, apparently not caring, but the apprehension in his chakra was plain to see. Grandpa led him out, trying to draw him into a conversation about the new green scarf Mama had knitted him for his birthday, and I watched them go with a frown.
"Hey, Naruto, you still haven't mastered the Bunshin, right?" I suddenly asked, interrupting the conversations around me as I turned to him. His face immediately fell, and while I felt bad, I'd suddenly had an idea.
"No, and I'm never going to graduate, dattebayo!" He wailed, jumping to his feet and flinging himself at Sasuke for comfort, who attempted to dodge over the side of the couch. He succeeded, just barely, so Naruto latched onto Itachi instead, who looked amused at the sudden turn of events. Sasuke glowered at Naruto as he clung to his brother, and I rolled my eyes again.
"I just had an idea, so stop yelling. Why do you have to learn the standard illusory clone? Why not replace it with another type?" I suggested, and he paused for a moment to look at me. I'd been debating bringing this up for ages, but the sight of what could only have been Grandpa asking Kakashi to take on Team 7 had spurred me forward. Sasuke looked like he was internally debating whether to save Itachi, with the likely con being that he'd be used as a cuddle pillow instead.
"You could learn the Kage Bunshin, which, per Academy guidelines, can be used as a replacement for the standard Bunshin. You could also learn an elemental clone and it would accomplish the same thing," Itachi said, and Naruto beamed at him before detaching himself.
"Oh man, really? Why didn't anybody ever tell me!?" He shouted, and Itachi raised an eyebrow.
"You never asked?" He said, and there was snickering from the group at that.
"If it's an elemental clone you want, I could teach you my Rock Bunshin," Shisui said. "I picked them up from a couple of Iwa-nin a few years ago, but I don't get much use out of them. I don't really have any affinity for earth." Naruto flung himself at Shisui for that, chattering happily and dislodging Hana where she'd been lying across his lap. She looked amused and slid off the couch to snuggle Kiba instead, who immediately began protesting and trying to escape.
'Welp, that's one problem solved. Take that, Mizuki!' Smiling and watching the people around me, Gai attempting to convince Neji to join him and Lee for training in the morning, Sakura, Ino and Hinata chatting about Sakura's exceptional grade on the iryou-nin entrance exam, and Chouji offering food to Shikamaru as he and Shino continued to play shogi, I tried to push down the sudden, overwhelming feeling of dread filling my gut. 'We're all going to be OK, right Izumi?'