Chapter 10
A strange feeling of foreboding ran through him. He shivered. This was so much like when Kushina had pranked him, Rin and Obito.
He closed his visible eye, standing still in front of the closed door.
What would Obito say if he knew he was getting another team to test. He had a slight feeling that this time, he would pass the team.
After all, his sensei's daughter was in it.
His best friend's nephew was in it.
A sigh escaped him as he ran a hand through his silver hair.
He always watched those two. Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. Rivals who took every chance to jump at each other's throats, who insulted each other, not really realizing those were more endearing and friendly then hostile.
So much like him and Obito.
It pained him.
He always watched the boy walk alone after the academy, train till exhaustion, eyes filled with crazy malice. This wasn't good. The boy was drowning in revenge, and if something wasn't done with it, he would be lost.
He knew perfectly well that the three elders, along with that old coot, Danzo were planning to use Sasuke as a weapon of some sort. They wanted the Sharingan bred. It sickened him. He was even secretly given the task to train only him, effectively ignoring the two other gennin.
He had given them the cold attitude. He would never do that. He would be far to the kids, like Minato sensei was fair to him, Obito and Rin.
Last night he had been through their files. They were interesting. Sasuke excelled in taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu. The boy really was a genius, even I he still hadn't unlocked his doujutsu. He would be a force to be reckoned with, if trained.
But he lacked very important things. He lacked love, which was forcefully taken from him. What Itachi did, wounded the boy deeply, never to be reversed.
He sighed. He would try everything to make the boy see. It was just..he wasn't good at such things, he couldn't comfort people, heck he couldn't even be a good teacher to them, like the Fourth was to him.
Truth is he was afraid.
Apart from Sasuke, there was also Naruto, the yellow ball of never-ending sunshine and joy. She was the opposite of the young Uchiha. It was almost ironic, how their places could have been switched.
She always smiled, no matter what. She ignored the glares and the hate thrown openly at her. She was so optimistic, it puzzled him.
But still, he could still see the hurt she was keeping cooped up. Her eyes would sometimes have the faraway look, when she stared at parents interacting with their children.
But, the situation had changed.
A year ago, when he had gone to secretly check up on her after she had failed her exam the second time, he had arrived to see her smiling a real, genuine smile. And the determination in her eyes as she fell asleep reminded him so much of how Minato looked, when he made goals. It shook him to the very core.
Thus, he followed her.
He couldn't hide his surprise when he saw her interacting with the Hyuuga genius, who had already graduated.
He remembered that day perfectly well.
After all, Gai had joined him in the stalking. (No, Kakashi my rival! Stalking is such an unyouthful word! This is just..er..following and checking up on our students' welfare and brightly burning power of youth!".."She isn't my student, Gai.."…"Minor facts are unimportant!").
This was when Gai had told him about the changes in Neji, and how it seemed, Naruto was the one to egg him on.
Both jounin were smiling, and made a silent agreement not to talk of it. The stalking session never happened. Period.
A snort escaped him.
Naruto was a handful for sure.
Well, they were sure angry by now. 3 hours was a record even for him. He should get going already.
His hand rested on the door. The strange feeling returned.
I hope I am not going to die here…
With that, Hakate Kakashi opened the door and stuck his head in.
A blackboard eraser filled with chalk powder fled at his head and hit the target with a THUMP.
Naruto burst out laughing. Sakura started apologizing. Sasuke just snorted.
Kakashi, however, had a bored look in his eye as he dusted himself.
"My first impression….you are all idiots. Meet me on the roof"
With a puff of smoke, he was gone.
Silence.
"I…HAVE to learn how to do that, ttebayo!"
The trio was seated on the stone steps on the roof, looking expectedly at the jounin, who was leaning on the metal pipe at the edge, hands in his dark blue pants pockets.
"Introduce yourselves. Your likes, disliked, hobbies, dreams", he stated.
Naruto and Sakura shared a look.
"Er..sensei, why don't you go first, so we know what to say..", suggested the pinkette, unsure.
"Me? Ok. My name is Hatake Kakashi.."
Naruo's eyes widened. She was seeing the man in a whole new light. This was Yondaime's student after all! Sharingan no Kakashi, with a bunch of jutsu!
He is going to be my sensei! He must be cool, ttebayo! Hope he isn't weird as Neji's sensei though. After all the stories he told me, Maito Gai made it to the very bottom of my 'awesome ninja' list.
Ignoring the fact that he was extremely strong, and a tainjtsu master, he was a weirdo. She just hoped in all her heart that Kakashi wouldn't be like that too.
The fact that he was three hours late seemed to have slipped her mind.
Eyes wide, she stared at him, slightly unnerving the jounin.
Why is she staring like that..Minato-sensei, she is weird..
"..hm, I have a lot of likes and a lot of disliked, dreams? Hm….i have lots of hobbies."
Sasuke and Sakura stared. Naruto's eye twitched.
"Now, Pinkie, your turn."
"My name is Haruno Sakura. I like…"
She paused and looked sideways at her teammates, pondering. Kakashi raised a sliver eyebrow.
Did she think of what Naruto told her seriously?
"..i like a person. I don't like Ino-buta, my hobbies, I guess reading , and my dream is..to make a certain person notice me.", she finished with an audible exhale.
Well..that was different. She reminds me of Rin a bit.
His gaze turned to the only boy in front of him.
"Duck-butt over there, your turn."
He received a fleeting glare from said 'Duck-butt'. Naruto snorted, shuffling her laughter with her sleeve.
"Uchiha Sasuke. I like nothing in particular.."
Kakshis single eye didn't lose the sideways look the boy gave to the blonde.
"I dislike a lot of things. Hobbies-training. Dream, no, I call it ambition is to kill a certain man, and to resurrect my clan"
Itachi…you may not have realized it, but you as good as killed your little brother that night. He is an avenger. This might be a problem. And I will have to keep Naruto away from him while he has this mindset.
His single eye focused on the blonde.
"Blondie, go ahead."
"Heh, my nickname is cool. Anyway, I am Uzumaki Naruto, ttebayo! I like ramen, with all its flavors, my best friend, Inu niisan too! And Jiji..well all the people who like me. I dislike people who judge others without knowing them, and stereotypes. I hate clan obsessed people too, ttebayo! My hobby is training and fuuinjutsu! Oh and pranking. My dream..is to become Hokage, so that everyone will acknowledge me! And well..it would also be good to um…have a family of my won too"
The last part was mumbled, but all the other occupants heard it.
Kakashi eye smiled at her.
Minato-sensei, Kushina-sama, she has turned out great.
Sasuke and Sakura gave sideways looks at their blonde companion.
"Stop staring, ttebayo!", she huffed. Sakura laughed. Sasuke, however, glared.
He watched them interact. They really reminded him of his team..and the densetsu no sannin too. Was history repeating itself? He hoped not.
He didn't want those three to have the same fate as his team. He wouldn't let that happen.
The council had made him pass the team, because Uchiha Sasuke was in it. He had refused. If those three didn't pass his test, set from the times of Hashirama Senju, they wouldn't become shinobi.
Something told him they would be the first to pass.
He had the feeling yesterday when he was looking through their files.
A groan was heard. His eyes snapped back to attention.
He sweatdropped. Sakura was running after Naruto in circles around Sasuke, screaming something that sounded like 'baka' and ' stop calling my Sasuke kun a teme'. The Uchiha was ignoring both of them, an annoyed expression on his face.
Why is he glaring at ME?
Anyway, time for the fun to begin.
He chuckled evilly, earning the attention of the three.
"W..why are you laughing, sensei.." asked the pinkette, rather bravely, seeing the insane laughter, which made the other two back away.
"Hm..", the laugher stopped. One single eye stared them down. "Well, I have news for you three. You guys aren't gennin yet."
Every year the reactions were epic, and Hatake Kakashi enjoyed them. Oh yes, this was going to be fun, he thought, surveying their gobsmacked expressions.
Naruto paced around her apartment, tracing an interactive design with her feet. Her brow was furred, and her hand was around her stomach, the other trailing from her temple to her bottom lip. Her typical thinking pose.
The man had told them that out of the 29 who graduated, only 9 would make it to gennin. And they had to pass another test. A survival exam, which meant fighting that teme of a sensei! And he even told them not to eat! Naruto couldn't do that! Plus Neji had sat her on a normal, healthy diet. She was already used to it! And he had said that shinobi have to eat before every mission. It was essential.
What was Hatake Kakashi playing at then?
She turned around, avoiding bumping into the bed, and completed another circle.
Well…at least they were going to meet at training ground 7. She was very familiar with it. Maybe that was why she felt so confident?
She smiled, still poking at her lower lip. Right, first things first; find more information on the man.
Clapping her hands together, she ran to the small shelf in the corfner, where she kept some of the books and scrolls.
"There you are!"
She quickly took out the Bingo Book, and flipped through the pages. It was slightly outdated, but that was understandable, at least, what Neji explained was understandable.
"The very recent Bingo Books are given personally to the most elite shinobi. Mostly the ANBU and select few jounin. Nara Shikaku has it, Hiashi-sama has it too. When they become outdated, or when new data is added, those books go to the ANBU library section, which is simply for safekeeping. For us, those outdated versions are very valuable. The information there might one day save your life in a mission."
Right. When Neji said things like that, she was left with basically nothing to counter with. She really didn't like losing to him.
She gripped the book tighter, then realizing what she was doing, laughed.
I wonder what he is doing now..I haven't seen him for two days.
Wait, I really need to stop this. I need to focus on the Bingo Book, ttebayo! Plus, its not like he will ever like me..and both he and I wont have time for such stupid things, right?
Her chest hurt just thinking about it. But she ignored the pain. She had work to do.
"Hatake Kakashi.
Father:Hatake Sakumo, Konoha's White Fang.
Mother: unknown
Important data: Has graduated the academy at the age of 5, became a chuunin at 6. Nicknames: Copy ninja Kakashi, Sharingan no Kakashi
Signature jutsu: Chidori/Raikiri
The only living student Of Konoha no Kiroi Senkou, Namikaze Minato.
Over a 1000 elemental and non elemental jutsu in his arsenal.
Has the feared Uchiha Doujutsu, the Sharingan.
2 million ryuo on his head.
Killed on sight."
Naruto turned the book over, staring at the cover. This was Iwagakure no Sato's Bingo Book. And her sensei had a 'kill on sight' order.
How the hell…are we going to survive against him? We are just gennin, ttebayo!
Something really isn't right here.
She plopped on the floor, burying her hands in her arms.
I miss Neji…
Right. Heres a long answer to all the reviews (im lazy, deal with it)
Er, the thumbs up thing, Naruto was encouraging and congradulating Hinata. A simple thumbs up worked. To Hinata Naruto is an idol, she wants to be like her, etc, so the simple sign from her made her panic and blush in embarrasment. she hdes behind kiba. he mouthes a thanks to naruto cos he likes hinata. the fact that he drooled when he saw naruto with hair down has nothing to do with it, i mean, cmon, guys drool over lots of pretty girls, but that doesnt mean they love them.
Sasuke isnt in a rapist mood lmao. that made me laugh. He just noticed how pretty she is, and wants to make her the mother of his kids after he finishes off itachi.
I will change naruto's outfit, just not now. its only the beginning guys. xD
I really cant bash a chara. ill try to make sasuke as he is, but he and naruto are gona be friends. i try to stick to cannon.
er, i update when i have inspiration to write. plus im trying to finish this quickly. next month i wont have time at all. i have to do my diploma work, and my graduation exams are coming.
even if i pause the story again, i wont abandon it, that much i promise :) i love neji/naru as much as you guys.
er..right, what the heck is writers block?
and tenten and lee arent dense, i guess i forgot to describe what hyuuga ogichi (point to the one who guesses where i got the name from) was wearing. he isnt even an oc. remeber the hyuuga guy playing cards? just before the pain invasion? well thats him, i just didnt remember the name xD. he had long hair, and from the back can be easily mistaken for neji.
right. im done. any questions? feel free to ask. ill update one more chap today. i really love those reviews! they really keep me going, thanks guys!
ja!