10.

Two years later:

Hyuga Shinji was nervous. Hyuga Shinji was always nervous. He'd passed his test along with the vast majority of the class but the news had brought no elation merely left him confused. He wasn't a very good ninja student. He didn't even want to be a shinobi but was left powerless to the machinations of the Hyuga Clan. What the head of the clan wanted, the head of the clan got and the mark carved into the skin of his forehead was a constant reminder of that.

"Team Minato will consist of Noharu Rin, Hatake Kakashi and Uchia Obito."

Shinji released a sigh of relief as Ren-sensei excluded him from that list. He'd sat at the same desk as Hatake Kakashi for more than a year but was still terrified of the silver haired prodigy. 'Poor Obito,' he thought glumly. At least Rin was infatuated with Kakashi. Obito had no such girlish crush to shield him from Kakashi's dark eyed piercing glare. 'Hatake Kakashi down,' Shinji's mind attempted to soothe the nine year old boy's fraught nerves, 'and blissfully Might Guy too.' Shinji's nervous expression soured into a grimace, the memory of sitting there dreading the moment Ren-sensei called out his and Guy's name in succession was far too recent. He had been very close to vomiting.

"Team Hikaru will consist of Hyuga Shinji-"

Oh God.

Oh God, Oh God, Oh God. Shinji's hands fisted in the material of his pale blue oversized woollen jumper as his mind scrambled from one worrying scenario to another.

"-Sarutobi Asuma and Inari."

Shinji's eyes bugged wide. Asuma and Inari! He was going to get eaten alive. His eyes darted to the short, crimson haired girl beside him, her massive sword casting a looming shadow across the desk. 'I'm going to die!' Shinji wailed internally.

"Kato Hikaru?" Asuma drawled casually from the desk behind him, "You have to be kidding me."

Shinji didn't need to glance back at Asuma to confirm the single eyebrow that had undoubtedly risen into his hairline. Not that Hyuga Shinji could manage to look at one of his new teammates considering his brain was currently threatening a mental break down. If anyone noticed the glass eyed boy hyperventilating they didn't draw attention to it.

"Is there something wrong Asuma-san?" Ren-sensei inquired calmly not ruffled in the least the blank 'seriously?' look Asuma replied with.

"Kato-san is a very proficient and capable jounin," Ren continued. Asuma sighed in resignation.

"I suppose you're right," he said, "when he decides to be a jounin."

'What does he do when he's decided not to be a jounin,' Shinji wanted to whimper instead he settled for a dry sob and tried not to imagine Asuma and Inari slicing him up like Sashimi.

As soon as they left Inari filed in behind Asuma and both began meandering off. Shinji blinked in disbelief at the silent co-operation. They hadn't needed to confer or plan or even speak to one another, this ritual of unspoken communication and Inari's trust that Asuma knew what he was doing and would lead them in the right direction seemed age old. 'Of course,' Shinji fidgeted, 'Inari, Asuma and Kurenai are all good friends.' The thought made Shinji's stomach leaden. He was excluded from that equation and there was no doubt in his mind that both would want to brutally murder him for taking Kurenai's reserved space in the team. But it wasn't his fault. He didn't want to be here. He had no choice. He had no choice in anything.

Shinji kept his bleak laments to himself and followed meekly behind Inari and Asuma. His feet dragged noticeably when they passed the baleful stare of the Hyuga compound walls. Inari hung back when his step grew heavy, he noticed, to make sure he wasn't left behind. He had little time to grant it more than a passing thought as the pessimistic nervousness settled back in. On Asuma lead them, hands stuffed in the pockets of his shinobi trousers and stance relaxed, an air of mild boredom on the strong, broad features of his face. His skin was painted with a tan, dark hair messy though Shinji was unable to tell if this was from styling efforts or if Asuma's hair naturally looked like that when he rolled out of bed. Asuma was quite tall and muscular for his age but the effect was hidden behind the laid back slope of his shoulders. Asuma's eyes however begged a different story, the intelligence could barely be concealed as they surveyed the surroundings, storing and picking apart information in a matter of seconds. Sautobi Asuma looked to the world as if he had summed up its number and had all the time in the world to act on his findings, whatever form that may take was his and his alone to know. His companion looked slightly dwarfed beside him. Inari (or Shrimp as most referred to her) was also steady in her identity and environment.

While Asuma's step was cool and blasé Inari seemed more serene, the religious calm of a monk. Her dark crimson hair clung to the pixie features of her oval face. A V shaped fringe hung between two perfectly almond shaped eyes. She was skinny and short but beautiful nonetheless in an almost bittersweet lost way. As Asuma's eyes had betrayed the core of the person behind them so did Inari's; her presence was quiet and thoughtful in a manner that reminded Shinji of the stone sentries that kept a peaceful vigil over graves but her eyes were the dark endless grey of warring storm clouds. Burning. Both carried an atmosphere about them that made the capabilities of their prowess known, though Inari's tranquillity was more approachable there was no doubt that they were both deadly.

'I'm nothing like them,' Shinji thought bitterly, 'I can't look as though I could be dangerous, I'm not confident about my abilities. I'm nothing like a shinobi, I'm nothing at all'.

Such thoughts were not new to Shinji. He'd given up trying to fight them and instead absorbed their denouncements as if they were truth set in stone. Unchangeable and undeniable. Shinji's brooding was forgotten as he watched Inari make her way over to a stall hunkered down in the mouth of a thin alleyway. She conversed with the twiggy woman manning it for a moment before paying as the woman reached into a steaming pot and produced three sausages on sticks. Inari matched pace with Asuma's long legged stride. She reached up and offered him one of the sausages skewered on sticks that she'd just purchased.

"Thanks Shrimp-chan. And yeah, me too," he sighed, "though I'm not sure what they were thinking when they gave us Kato Hikaru as a sensei."

Inari nodded then turned to Shinji and offered him one of the meaty snacks.

"I only eat tofu," Shinji mumbled, hands wringing in the soft fabric of his jumper and eyes cast down, "I'm sorry but thank you."

Inari shrugged and instead handed the snack over to Asuma then set about chomping happily on her own.

"Err, Asuma-san, why did you mean by 'and me too'?" Shinji asked as he now moved his focus onto fiddling with the sleeves, pulling at threads and worrying them between his fingers. He was nervous that he may have indirectly asked something personal. 'Please don't hate me,' he mentally pleaded.

"Shrimp-chan was saying that she's glad me and you are on her team," Asuma drawled.

Inari nodded.

"Oh," Shinji managed staring wide eyed at the delicate slope of Inari's bare shoulders and the blade between them, "how could you tell?"

"Practice I guess," Asuma shrugged, "besides she's standing right in front of you why didn't you just ask her?"

Asuma's blunt reply slammed Shinji into silence; he didn't bring up his inquiries as to why Asuma was so cynical about their new sensei in fear of looking stupid again.

The practical reasons behind the newly forged group's assignment to Kato Hikaru were clear to Asuma. Both he and Inari had scored exceptionally well in the use of ninja blades and Sato Hikaru was a renowned weapon master. He didn't act like a shinobi but his results were unquestionable as were his and Inari's strong grades in Genjutsu and Taijutsu. They had both been at the top of the class when Kakashi left so it was only natural that they were assigned Hikaru to shape them into something truly powerful. In theory he was the most logical choice. In theory. Asuma wasn't lying when he agreed that Hikaru was a good ninja but only when the man deigned himself comfortable to take up the mantle. When the three newly promoted Genin found their new sensei the scene couldn't have illustrated Asuma's point better.

The lavender haired jounin (dyed of course because he believed 'it really made him stand out in a crowd' which wasn't a common desire for shinobi) was naked from the waist up and chuckling musically to himself as he collected clothes that had been strewn across the street from an open window. A woman was leaning precariously out of it as she gestured and screamed frantically for the man yelling at Hikaru to stop. The man filled the door way, his face bright red with rage and screaming so violently at a still chuckling Hikaru that spittle was flying from the corners of his mouth. Hikaru finished plucking up his now-slightly soiled clothing, blew a kiss to the woman and sauntered off seemingly oblivious to the unhealthy grinding of her husband's teeth. Kota Hikaru's comfort with the scene suggested it was anything but unfamiliar.

Inari glanced across at Asuma with a single eyebrow raised.

"This is going to be fun," Asuma sighed.

"Kota-san," Asuma flagged the now cheerfully whistling man as he moved to stroll right past them. Kota Hikaru turned and regarded the three eight year olds as they too observed him. His face was thin and fox-like with high fine cheekbones that left shallow shadows beneath them. The colour of his eyes was a mystery as they were constantly sealed shut in a slightly mocking smile. His skin was an attractive creamy pallor and his lips handsome not too thin or too thick with a perfectly formed archers bow. He had pampered his dyed hair and it sweep sleek and soft like silk to his shoulders, the reflective plate of his Konoha head band curtained slightly on either side by the lavender tresses. Hikaru reminded Inari of a cat, all charm and grace at the surface but something fierce and malicious underneath. Even the boneless manner in which he walked was reminiscent of a cat's sway.

"Yes?" Hikaru eyed each up and down individually.

"We are the Genin Team that has been assigned to you," Inari supplied.

"You do know that you've been assigned one don't you?" Shinji squeaked as doubt twisted in his gut.

Hikaru stood there for a moment without even the barest indication of his thoughts making their way onto his face, expressionless had never seemed so void, before he broke into a huge, feline grin.

"Ah yes of course, the little shinobi who are to be moulded by my oh so capable hands," Hikaru grinned down at them and winked smoothly, an act which would have seemed impossible considering his perpetually closed eyes but Kota Hikaru managed it nonetheless .

"I think he might be a paedophile," Inari mused to Asuma.

a/n:

Okay, whenever I give a date for when I'm going to update just ignore me, completely because my attempts are always sabotaged by my stupid brain. Anyway that's Team Hikaru and your first look at their sensei. I love Asuma and while Kurenai and Inari are my favourite friendship match Asuma and Inari just seem far better suited as team mates.

I really can't say thank you enough for all the reviews, follows and favourites.