SORRY FOR THE LATE CHAPTER! :(
Stuff has been really busy and this chapter is kinda really boring (but necessary). It builds a little on some relationship info and a couple hintings at what is wrong with Naru(to), though it'll mostly stay under wraps still. Also, for those who are wondering, Sasuke WILL become a bigger character in this story soon, hopefully in a way that will suprise you a little bit... hopefully...
Either way, I'm finally posting this on a horrible night and its extra long (for me at least) at EIGHT PAGES D: NO WAY! hahahahaha please don't be annoyed at the lackluster plot points in this, but I had to make the boring transition somewhere... I'm not jumping straight into the Wave Arc either, as there will be some team bonding and possibly one major mission before we reach that milestone!
Enjoy!
**Don't Own Naruto!
It turns out, the trio didn't even have to wait for the sun to drop low for Kakashi to arrive. Instead, he was simply sitting in his reading spot on the tree branches, tucking Icha Icha into his weapons pouch. With a sense of pride, he looked at his new team. They would definitely be handful, what with the entire clash of personalities, but they'd be amusing and more importantly they'd become great.
Sure, Uchiha Sasuke was driven by an inherent desire to kill his brother and held a pride so severe that he was practically a social recluse, but he had displayed the ability to get over that. Plus, Kakashi couldn't deny the boy his skills. The sheer fact that he could already use Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu in a fight had amazed Kakashi to some extent.
And Nara Shikamaru. While he hadn't seen much from this particular genin during the exercise, the intelligence swimming in his dark eyes told more than enough. He had been able to use a map to effectively cut off almost all chances of encounters, forcing the jounin to interfere with genjutsu. If he wasn't so damned lazy and built up his stamina, he'd probably be one of the best.
He couldn't help but smile in Naru's direction.
She had grown: her (abysmal) height, her ninja skills, her willingness to share with others. She had truly grown into a decent twelve-year old from the cowering and annoying ball of childishness she once was. While he still needed to talk to her about the duties of ninja—primarily killing and hurting others—her speed was above par, as was her endurance and affinity for traps, though she obviously lacked a certain tactical aspect of battle if she found it fine to leave her two teammates to notice a trap when it was her job to do so. He already knew her shortcomings with genjutsu and difficulties with ninjutsu, but he'd help her with those as her official sensei now.
He was a sensei now.
That proud smile of his only grew wider.
"Nice job, chibis!" he called out, hidden behind leaves. All three of his genin jumped. Silly little things, so innocently unobservant. He'd have to fix that. "Congrats on passing your genin final!" With a clap of his hands and a swirl of leaves, Kakashi body appeared in the middle of theirclearing. Shikamaru blinked owlishly. Sasuke 'hn'd. And Naruto had no qualms with rushing up and hugging her nii-san. The two boys raised an eyebrow at her. Must be a girl thing. Kakashi absently patted her head.
"You are now officially Team…" Kakashi paused for dramatic effect. His eyes were scrunched up in mirth. The children's heads all inclined forward. "Kakashi!"
There was a following silence.
"…No way in hell am I being Team Scarecrow, Kashi! It sounds like we're just here in the off chance demonic crows invade!" Naru's pout was glowering full force, her arms indignantly crossed across her chest. "That's not cool at all!" she whined.
Kakashi suddenly thought that perhaps he was wrong. Naru was still that annoying ball of childishness.
"I'd have to agree with that useless one there, Kakashi. It sounds stupid to me…" Sasuke trailed off, slight panic in his eyes. No way would he be stuck with that team name.
Rolling his eyes, Kakashi muttered a quick, "Ungrateful brats," which Naruto heard and proceeded to harrumph and go sit near the sleeping Shikamaru and panicking Sasuke.
"Team Kakashi it is! And Team Kakashi it will be until you can beat me in a spar," the jounin intoned to his blanching students. Oh, he was going to have fun with these guys.
Naruto squirmed in the grass with a scrunched nose before nodding with acceptance. She would beat him one day for sure, and get the name changed to Team Maelstrom, believe it!
Kakashi took her acquiescence in stride, allowing for a shift in mood. He briefly went over the details of the next day's meeting before realizing that the training ground they were currently situated was no longer bright with the sun's beams, instead darkened in shadow only speckled by the light of the stars and moon. Grass, the blades not trampled or dug up from training, swayed lightly in the autumnal breeze which also played gently with their hair. Kakashi had initially wanted to show them the Memorial Stone after their training and eat their bentos together as a team, but maybe it was a good time to send them off. There was always another day to explain to them the importance of working together.
This thought only solidified in his head when Kakashi noticed his little blond sister nodding off, her head bobbing sleepily against her chest. Softness reached his brotherly gaze before noticing Shikamaru had, in fact, passed out quite a while ago in the grass and Sasuke's eyes were furrowed deeply in concentration to stay in the waking world.
Sighing, Kakashi ordered, "Dismissed. Get a good rest, but don't forget to eat a healthy dinner." He specifically gazed at Sasuke while saying this, and the Uchiha rolled his eyes in dismissal. The jounin's eyes narrowed dangerously, but instead he waved his troops off home. Pushing off his tree, Sasuke made for a hasty retreat. His muscles were sore in places he didn't even know existed.
"Also, before you go. You all have homework: think on the purpose of this test and tell me its meaning tomorrow. Understood?"
The boy never looked back or showed any sign of having heard.
"Naru?"
"Just one second, Kashi-nii. Let me wake up Shikamaru and I'll be right there," the blonde mess told her brother, lightly. She flashed him a large smile with hazy eyes and, though Kakashi didn't wanted to leave her in a half-dream state, the least he could do was treat her as an adult now.
A somber nod. "Just don't be late," he whispered and skulked off, back to their apartment
Naru snorted. "As if you're one to talk, Sensei." She could sense her brother's wry smile.
When he was finally gone, Naru reached her hand to hesitantly touch her lazy teammate's shoulder. "Yo, Shikamaru. Wake up already you lazy bum, it's time to head home." When he didn't stir, Naruto's shakes got more violent and her whispers grew in volume. He was a clan kid, and an heir at that. Surely his parents would be worried for him if he didn't return home by a decent hour. Especially when his new sensei was the infamously ruthless Hatake Kakashi.
"Shikamaru, come on, wake up! Shika!" In the tranquility of the training ground, her voice seemed to echo and intensify loudly. She growled at his unresponsiveness, moving to the stream nearby. With a wicked snicker, her prankster nature got terrible hold of her as she cupped as much frigid water in her preteen hands as possible.
"You better not be doing what I think you're doing, Uzumaki," came the lazy drawl. Said Uzumaki's hands flew to her sides, releasing the liquid from its cage.
Innocently blinking her eyes in his direction, Naru asked, "Doing what, Shikamaru?"
Instead of answering her question and ploy, the dark-haired boy muttered the usual, "Troublesome woman." He slowly sat up from his grassy bed and rotated his shoulder. When the satisfying 'pop!' came, Shikamaru sighed in slight satisfaction.
Naruto, flinging stray droplets from her palms, sauntered back over. "Stop calling me troublesome, Lazy Bum. We're teammates now," she said, punctuating the sentence with a broad smile.
The Nara glanced at her disbelievingly. "All the more reason as to why you are troublesome…" he grumbled.
The blonde took it all in stride, simply sticking her tongue out playfully. "Hurry up Shikamaru, you should be heading home. It's getting dark."
"I'm fine here, thanks."
Placing her fists on her slim hips, Naru scowled at him. She growled, "Your family is probably waiting for you."
"More like my troublesome mother is waiting to nag at me. Who wants that?"
Naru's eye twitched. She peeled off a layer of flaking mud on her arm before chucking it angrily at the ground. "What's so wrong with that, Nara? It just shows that she cares for you."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes and scratched the back of his neck. He hastily recognized the fact that his teammates ire was growing. "You don't get it, my mother is just annoying," he explained with a slow blink. The heir took his sweet time to yawn widely enough for tears to spring at his eyes lackadaisically. Unfortunately, he miscalculated his answer.
When he recovered from his yawn, his half-lidded eyes met the furiously flashing eyes of Naruto, the usually bright cerulean dimmed down into a torrential navy. "You're right," she whispered dangerously, "I don't understand."
With that, she began to storm away from her teammate. Pausing quickly, she screamed back, "Get your ass back home so you don't pull us down tomorrow, Nara!" Her voice cracked painfully in the middle, but she continued on as if it hadn't happened.
Shikamaru looked on confused at her retreating back. Women. Who could ever understand them?
_B_R_E_A_K_
"Kashi-nii! I'm home!" Naruto howled, remnants of anger still in her being. She chucked her dirty ninja sandals against the wall, letting them lay in the corner abandoned. Nostrils still flaring and puffing chest, she peeled her orange vest from salty skin to leave her torso only covered by her black shirt. She wiggled out of her scroll belt, letting it drop by the door as well as her weapon pouch, which she hastily slid off her leg with a thump.
Stomping past the tiny enclave that made up their apartment entrance, Naru entered the main room still simmering. She snorted at the table placed in front of their bright red couch, noting the newly organized papers and ink brushes, the way that the pillows were carefully arranged instead of haphazardly being strewn through the house. She noted the delicious aroma wafting to her from the semi-connected kitchen where Kashi-nii probably resided. She snorted angrily again and wondered, what kind of idiot wouldn't want to come home when this kind of care was waiting for him?
"Umm… Naru? You good?" Kakashi called from the kitchen. Naru cursed at herself for forgetting to reel in her unwieldy chakra.
"Yeah, I'll get over it with a nice shower, Kashi-nii," she hollered back, stretching her limbs and cracking her back. She eyed the neat table warily before swiping her hand across the surface, smiling when the brushes were no longer aligned from smallest to largest. Kashi-nii was too anal about these things sometimes.
Padding past the entrance to the kitchen, Naru poked her messy head in. "Wanted to tell you, salt is in the top right cupboard now," the girl warned, seeing Kakashi nod his head thankfully as he was stooped over the stove.
"Thanks Chibi."
Walking to the bathroom door, Naruto attempted to comb her fingers through her hair in a last ditch effort to tame her appearance before looking at herself in the mirror. When her hand became nestled in a series of knots, she forfeited. She quickly opened the door and stripped, taking in the dirt and grass plastered onto her skin and hugging her hair, that plus the addition of her muscles' soreness, she could hear the water calling for her. Naruto allowed the steam to build and swirl around the small room before actually entering the spray of water. It stung and bit nastily at her back, burning away the tension in her shoulders and neck.
Shikamaru didn't know anything. At least, nothing that mattered. Sure he was a genius, brilliant, amazingly witty, but he was simply stupid, incorrigibly so. Naruto growled lightly, reaching an arm back so her fingers could trace the top of her spine and move down as far as her flexibility would let her.
Shikamaru couldn't understand the loneliness she experienced. What she would do to have a mother who nagged her.
After a taxing battle against her hair, Naruto finally emerged from the shower squeaky clean, smelling like oranges and citrus. Her smooth hands had grown wrinkled with over-exposure to water and her skin contained a decent shade of pink that resulted from furious scrubbing.
Getting dressed in a loose shirt and shorts, Naruto wrapped her orange towel securely around her head and directed herself to the kitchen.
With her stipend from the Hokage and Kakashi's constant influx of money from missions, the duo had been able to afford a decently large apartment with two bedrooms and a single bathroom with a large living room. However, where these aspects excelled, the kitchen failed. It had taken almost three years for them to replace the appliances with those of good quality, and the actual room for the kitchen was too small to hold anything more than a small coffee table.
Instead, when Naru grabbed a plate of rice and chicken, she hopped up onto the counter, planting herself cross-legged on the surface and shoveling food into her mouth angrily. Kakashi joined her, simply leaning against the counter as he calmly scooped rice into his mouth. Naruto had the decency to no longer stare in wonder at Kakashi's face without his mask.
Lazily swallowing, Kakashi asked, "What've you been up to while I've been gone?"
Naruto smiled wryly, teeth cluttered by rice. He always asked, and the answer was always the same: "You know the answer to that, Kashi-nii. What have you been up to?" And by now, Naru had long finished her plate and was looking expectantly at her brother.
"And you know the answer to that, chibi," he mirthfully replied. "It's classified."
Naruto pouted, crossing her arms across her chest. "Please Kashi-nii?" She pleaded.
The man in question laughed, bare lips pulling up into a roguish smile. He took both their plates; his went to the sink while hers was heaped on by rice. Kakashi handed Naru her food before pushing his snowy hair from his forehead, regretting the fact that he had already taken off his headband. He took a one-eyed glance at the still pouting girl and sighed in defeat.
"Alright chibi, you win," he mumbled, stealing the girl's plate of food and maneuvering his free arm around her waist.
Squealing, Naruto swung from underneath his armpit like a rag doll before being plopped down on the couch. She scrambled into the corner, hugging a bright pillow to get comfortable for "story time."
The silver haired jounin took one glance at the messed up brushes and raised a silent brow in question. Naru smiled cheekily.
"We'll, I can't say much about it," Kakashi started, sitting down on the other side of the couch, "but I will say that I was a bodyguard for a very important person."
"Was it a princess?" Naruto asked excitedly, her eyes wide.
"Not a princess, but still a leader of a country who was being targeted by an opposing party, and it was my job to..." He paused, debating whether or not to approach the inevitable topic with his adoptive sister, but decided he could go over it when he was "Sensei," not Nii-san. He already griped on her about killing once today, he didn't want to do it again. So he continued, "discourage the opposition and make sure they couldn't get to my employer." He smiled ruefully.
"And? Did they get to your employer Kashi-nii?" Naru asked, knowing the answer.
"Of course not," he scoffed, eyeing the now forgotten rice on the table. "I got to them before they even got close." Kakashi failed to mention the fact that he had found their base in a brothel, infiltrated it, and assassinated the leader and his top men ruthlessly. Even if it wasn't top secret, Kakashi would never tell her that.
Naru cooed at his declaration, glorifying eyes roving his face for any sign of more information. The cerulean orbs shone with pride and excitement, obviously scrying into the future to the day where she would be accomplishing the same tasks for her village.
And Kakashi could only smile sadly at the bright innocence and naivety within them. As a brother, he wanted to preserve that state of mind, but as a Sensei he needed to tear the security from her and bathe her in blood. He felt a pain of regret from the first moment her taught her about taijutsu, wishing the path of a shinobi wasn't one she wanted. Being taught to fight was the first thing she asked from him aside from ramen, so how could he refuse?
Kakashi shook it off hastily, knowing nothing could change her mind now, and he knew Naru never was one to be deterred when she put her mind to something. He flicked her smartly on the nose with a grin. "Alright chibi, I told you what you wanted. You know the drill!" he called affectionately.
While scowling a little at the nickname, the young girl mumbled, "They're still in good condition, keeping most of the hunger away, but they haven't eliminated it... It's like a tiger prowling around the edges of my consciousness ready to pounce when my neck is bared..." Naru shuddered as she said this, hugging her pillow closer to her. "Especially around crowds or when I'm angry or nervous, then I really feel it."
Kakashi pat her head comfortingly, dipping his head to look at her evasive eyes. "Well, we were never sure whether the Fuja Hoin was strong enough to seal it or not, even with the modifications Jaraiya helped us with. Especially if it's a byproduct of the Kyuubi," he gently reminded her. "But you're doing amazing, Naruto." She smiled tiredly in return. "Now," Kakashi started with an eye smile, "let's check up on those seals!"
Slowly twisting so that her back faced her brother, Naruto was prepared for the probing fingers lifting the back of her shirt. She squirmed at the cold touch and clutched at the pillow. Breathing deeply, the blonde stayed silent for the inspection.
For this, Kakashi opened both his eyes, Sharingan flaring to life in order to scrutinize every black stroke and inky line scrolling down her spine. Still in the same perfect condition as the day he inked the characters, carving them into Naruto's back, the chakra infused symbols rested within the grooves of her spine from where her hairline started to where her pelvis began. Thirty-three characters for the thirty-three vertebrae of the spine.
Knowing next to nothing about Naruto's condition, the painful procedure of carving suppression seals into her back was the best he could do, modifying the shape to specifically target the area where reflex begins: the spinal cord. And since that's just what her condition was, a reflex, it was the only place they could locate the Fuja Hoin where it wouldn't interfere with the Shiki Fuin.
"Are you done? You're hands are cold," probed Naru, peering back at Kakashi. He muttered a quiet sorry before leaning back into the heavenly comfortable sofa. He could hear Naru stifle a yawn, snuggling deeply into his side, as dark and blissful sleep swallowed him.
_B_R_E_A_K_
Shifting in her sleep, Naru usually wouldn't want to wake up. It was dark and safe and warm. But today was a different case. Today was a huge milestone in her life, and she wanted to get it started.
Her eyes snapped open to find out her vision was being blocked by a veil of sunny yellow hair. With a groan, Naru pushed herself off her bed and wiped the drool off her face with a scowl. Not the most graceful start, but a start none the less.
Kakashi was once again gone from the apartment, this time leaving a scrawled note on the table explaining that breakfast was in the fridge. Smiling, she skipped to the kitchen and heated up her food, plowing through the rice and vegetables.
Today was the day, the day she was an actual kunoichi starting her career of protecting the village like her brother, and nothing could ruin it. Her grin bloomed into an even larger one at the thought, and her feet took her back to her bedroom, where she slipped on her usual garments.
However, this time, before she went to the entrance of their apartment to pick up her weapons and scrolls, she paused at her dresser. Sitting atop the dark wood was a navy blue band with a metal plate stitched into it. Engraved on the metal was a swirling insignia of a leaf, the symbol of her village that she'd be able to proudly wear.
Reverently caressing the cloth, Naruto's nimble hands lifted it off the dresser and wrapped it tightly around her waist. Brushing her fingers against the cool metal, she breathed in deeply, imagining that the air had a certain clarity now that in never had before. Strengthening herself for the adventures to come, Naru marched into the kitchen, grabbed an orange, and marched out her apartment after grabbing her scrolls and weapons pouch, both of which were hanging neatly beside the door.
She was the first to arrive at the clearing, bright eyed and excited. Tightening the hitai-ate, Naru strode over to the black stone in the center of the training field and sat down facing the waters of the nearby lake. Her orange was long gone, resting peacefully in her stomach and now her empty hands fiddled uselessly in her lap.
A rustle announced the arrival of Sasuke, who trudged over to a tree to lean on. His arrival didn't bring conversation, but rather and even more awkward silence between them.
"So..." Naru began, shifting uneasily. Silence wasn't her strong suit.
"Don't even start it Uzumaki," Sasuke growled. "It's too early for your idiocy."
Naruto's eye twitched violently. They were a team now in name, but obviously not in heart. Nothing had changed since the academy, and she suspected that nothing would for a good long while.
Naruto decided to stay quiet, reigning in the furious screech bubbling in her chest. The Uchiha bastard wasn't worth it. Instead, she tapped away a silent tune on her thighs as her eyes shot lightning bolts at the ground. Another shuffling sound approached. Naruto's eyes darted to see a pineapple shaped head coming near. She narrowed her eyes dangerously.
Their eyes met for a short moment before the boy plopped down onto the grass to watch clouds. Naru sneered. Stupid, lazy ass, geniuses. How was she to survive on a team with these two with her?
She could see in the corner of her eyes that Sasuke looked a little confused at their exchange. He looked toward her curiously before she whipped her head downward.
Shikamaru stole another look at his only female teammate. His eyes were laced with confusion as they searched the obviously frustrated girl sitting by herself. There was something off about her and the way she acted. Uzumaki Naruto was lively and foolhardy, never listening to the teachers and always pulling pranks, laughing loudly when nothing was funny. Despite having an obviously outgoing personality, she didn't go out of her way to socialize, pretty much only talking when spoken to or yelling nonsense with Kiba. Shikamaru could vaguely recall the first day the teachers announced in-class sparring. The blonde spitfire cried, refusing to even touch any of the other kids. She had to be sent to the Hokage tower only to return later in the day with a scroll stating that she was exempt from practicing with the class to instead receive private tutelage. She always had great grades in taijutsu, but he had never seen her kata. Shikamaru completely ignored this snippet of info until the other day, when she was practically hyperventilating at the thought of being so close to him.
But then there's the question: why doesn't she have these qualms with Kakashi?
Shikamaru flicked his gaze back to the cloudless sky when Naru's head snapped upwards. From his peripherals, Shikamaru saw Sasuke mimic the action. Several kunai were launched at the three, which were hastily dodged.
"My my, troops. At least two of you were paying attention. Still, Shikamaru over there would be dead."
Kakashi finally decided to appear after an hour of antagonizing quiet. The adult dropped out of the trees, lazily posed and scanning his porn. Sasuke's shoulders drooped, loosing tension he would vehemently deny ever having, when Naru muttered angrily about his tardiness.
"And for that lapse of judgement," Kakashi said, addressing Shikamaru's lack of attention, "you're all going to run fifteen laps around the lake."
"What!?" Naruto screeched, frothing at the mouth. Her eyes screamed murder for the Nara who was moaning in distress on the ground.
"Get a move on, kiddos. We don't have all day!" their sensei chirped, shooing them off with his free hand.
Sasuke silently did as he was told, beginning at a slow jogging pace around the waters. Naruto soon followed grumpily, accidentally kicking the laziest of the three on her journey. She started off faster than the Uchiha. The two were halfway done with their first lap when Shikamaru finally gathered enough energy to stand and begin as well.
As soon as Shikamaru took his first step in circumventing the lake, Kakashi yelled, "Come on, you're shinobi aren't you? This is not running. I said run around the lake!"
The children picked up the pace, Kakashi lackadaisically telling them to go faster and faster until they were sprinting and wheezing, pushing chakra to their muscles to enhance their strength and lessen the strain on their legs. Eventually, they all stopped by their sensei, gasping in a struggle to capture air and vacuum it into their lungs. Naruto collapsed, Shikamaru fell clumsily forward onto his face, and even the prideful Uchiha was felled, leaning on one knee. He still had enough energy however to glare at Naruto, who had beaten him to the end of the laps by a wide margin.
They were all silent for a bit before Kakashi sighed, "Damn you pipsqueaks are slow. We haven't even gone through warm-ups yet and look at you!" With an innocently cheerful smile, he ordered, "I think we could use another ten, yeah? Without the chakra to your legs. Go!"
The trio sluggishly ran, lead by the angriest scream Konoha had ever heard spewing out of a blonde ninja's mouth.
So there you are folks! :) Hope you liked it (let alone made it through this chapter... lol) and hope you'll review to give ideas, opinions, and critisisms!
Lastly! A shoutout to my new favs/followers! THANK YOU: River Nailo-Chaos, Glassstar93, Tempest Nightmoon, Nova Saber, tbroski46, Hebimaru, My-Broken-Destiny, antienoftheshadows, puppykiller9, ArinaSugarBaby, Ameliara, Thermelia, Rickblood, Lainblueraven, Yokata Misu Yosei, Silently Watches, Ducky the Insomniac Panda (do I WANT to know how you came up with that?! hahaha), Legionary Prime, JamerToTheRescue, and ShatteredTheHeavens!
And especially my reviewers from last chapter: Glassstar93, My-Broken-Destiny, SomeoneInterested (thanks again! ;D), christina. (you too! Thanks for another review), and Yuri-Hime-Chan (again as well to you!).
I need one more follower for 50, i think by the way ;) Love you guys! I'll update as soon as possiblehhhh!