Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Katekyoshi Hitman Reborn! I just wish I did.

Beta: the lovely Midnight-Kitsune11.

Pairing: At this time there is NO pairing for this fic!

Chapter 10: What is happening?

They had left the tower as soon as they were dismissed. Sakura left them soon after. She waved at both boys and strode away, determination almost visibly radiation of her.

Tsuna wondered where she was going, but Kakashi-sensei had asked Sasuke and him to meet him at their usual training ground. So that is where they were going now.

"This is going to be good." Sasuke smirked as they walked through the village.

Tsuna turned to watch him with wide disbelieving eyes. "Excuse me?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I'm just looking forward to fighting that Sand guy."

"Have you gone completely mad? We've fought him in the forest, remember? We were nowhere near strong enough to handle that guy, and that was all three of us!" Tsuna couldn't belief what he was hearing.

Sasuke frowned at him. "We have a whole month of training for that."

Tsuna felt like hitting his storm. Gaara was a ninja who fought with active cloud flames, whether he knew it or not. Even if he managed to teach Sasuke how to use his own flames in a fight, a month was nowhere near enough for Sasuke to win in a flame battle, and even not counting the flames, Gaara was still a very bloodthirsty opponent.

He tried to explain this to Sasuke as they entered the training grounds.

The Uchiha's frown deepened. "You don't think I can handle him?"

"That is not what I'm saying." Tsuna started getting frustrating. Why wasn't he able to explain himself? "It's just that in the forest he was clearly stronger than either of us. You might be training this month, but so will he!"

"You didn't defeat him either." Sasuke was getting angry. "So, what? I'm not good enough to fight him? I'm too weak?"

"I did not say that." Tsuna felt anxious to be fighting about this with his newly bonded Storm.

Sasuke opened his mouth, probably to yell at him now, when Kakashi-sensei appeared before them.

"Yo!"

Either the jounin was ignoring the tense atmosphere between the two boys or he simply didn't care.

"So, training!" Kakashi said cheerfully.

Sasuke straightened, while Tsuna just sighed.

"Here is what we're going to do. Sasuke, grab a bag, we'll be going on a trip."

Tsuna blinked in surprise. Wait… What?

Sasuke? Not Sasuke and Naruto?

"Hn." And without a look at Tsuna, Sasuke ran off.

"Sensei? Where are we going?" Tsuna asked cautiously.

Was the man really going on a training trip with Sasuke? What about him? And Sakura?

He was taking his Storm away? His newly bonded Storm?

"Ah," the man sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Gomen, I'll only be taking Sasuke with me, Naruto-kun. I'm sure you understand."

"What exactly is it that I need to understand, sensei?" He emphasised the word, mostly because he hoped it might make Kakashi realize he had three students, and not just one.

"Sasuke will be facing a difficult opponent. I'll need to able to focus all my attention to his training." Kakashi explained.

Tsuna hesitated before saying: "I'm not sure if Sasuke fighting Gaara is the best idea, sensei."

Kakashi tilted his head. "Why would you say that?"

The blond fidgeted. "It's just, I found out that Gaara is like me. I don't know if he's aware of it, but-"

"Oh, no worries there, he is very aware." Kakashi smiled wryly. "But while this will be a tough fight I'm sure Sasuke will emerge victorious."

"What?" What was his sensei talking about?

"And honestly Naruto, that is no reason to be jealous of Sasuke getting all of your sensei's attention."

"Excuse me?" He asked incredulously.

"Now, now, it's not like I forgot about you. I've arranged a sensei for you as well."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? And who might that be?"

"A tokubetsu jounin, named Ebisu. He'll be the best to help you with basic chakra control." Kakashi smiled as if he had just handed out a huge present.

"The basics? Do you really think that's what I should be focusing on right now?" Disbelief coloured his voice. "And what about Sakura? Are you just leaving her to help herself during the coming weeks?"

"Sakura has asked to be granted an apprenticeship at the Hospital. I just arranged it, so she'll spend most of her time there, and of course you'll need your basics fighting a Hyuuga. Their bloodline lets them see chakra, after all."

He couldn't help but stare at the man.

This didn't make any sense. Sure, he knew he'd have to catch up, and hard, compared to others concerning chakra, but it's not like he was defenceless without it and if Hyuuga could see chakra, why should he make it easy on Neji by showing him what he was up too? Wouldn't it make more sense to focus on his flames, the power Neji knew next to nothing about?

"Sensei, do you really think me suddenly knowing the basics concerning chakra will help me win my fight?"

"I'm sure you'll find a way." The man kept smiling, clearly not seeing the problem.

Tsuna took a deep breath and steeled his nerves. "You know what sensei? It's very thoughtful of you to dump me on someone else while you obviously can't be bothered, but I'll be just fine on my own. No need to bother your friend."

With that he turned around and made his way home in a hurry, fighting the tears that threatened to spill.

Kakashi didn't come after him.

That only made it hurt worse.

He opened his door with a shaky breath, ready to just collapse on top of his bed and to stay there until tomorrow.

"Naruto?"

He nearly gave himself whiplash as he hurried to look up.

Iruka-nii was standing by this stove, watching him worriedly with a spatula in hand and an apron on. Haku and Zabuza sat down at his low table.

His apartment had never looked smaller.

Iruka-nii put his spatula down, and wrapped him in a hug. "What happened?"

Wrapped in the warm embrace and feeling the worried Mist flames, Tsuna felt overwhelmed. He couldn't help sniffle and even a few tears escaped him as he told his Mist what had just happened.

"Che, playing favourites, is he?" Zabuza snorted in derision. "Somehow I'm not surprised."

Haku jabbed his partner/mentor/weird father-figure-? in his side, and Zabuza grunted in pain.

"It'll be fine, Naru-kun. We'll help you out." Iruka-nii smiled at him.

Tsuna sniffled and rubbed his face while his Mist led him towards his table.

"Thanks." He muttered as he sat down and eyed the three in his much too small apartment.

He might need to move to some place bigger, if this was going to become a habit.

Iruka-nii gave them all a bowl of fried rice and they ate while talking.

"So, why are you all here? I mean, I don't mind, but I didn't know you two had been released from T&I."

Zabuza grunted again. "We got out a short while ago, during the fights somewhere. Haku's good, but I need to go back every other day to check in with them, and we have Anbu following us around."

"I only need to go back once a week." Haku smiled brightly.

"Yes, yes, stop bragging, brat." Zabuza narrowed his eyes at the boy.

Haku flashed him an innocent smile.

"Anyway, I had expected much worse, so I don't really mind." The Kiri missing nin shrugged his shoulders.

Tsuna nodded in understanding.

"I saw them both on way over here and brought them along. Celebrating is much more fun with more people." Iruka explained.

"Celebrating?"

"Of course, you managed to pass the second part of the exams! That's worth celebrating. I made some food for all of us to enjoy."

Tsuna smiled grateful at the chuunin.

"So, are you ready to explain how you all met?" Iruka-nii's smile hadn't changed, but Tsuna still felt a shiver go down his spine.

He told his Mist about their first, and until further notice last, C-rank, and how exactly he had met his Rain.

Iruka muttered a lot to himself, but he didn't seem to expect an answer so Tsuna just continued on talking.

"Excuse me? Did you just say that your sensei got himself caught and left you to fight a jounin by yourself? What was Kakashi thinking? Letting three genin fight a jounin level nuke nin? What on earth was he thinking? Was he thinking? Does he ever think?"

Haku seemed to have the time of his life watching the chuunin, even while he cleaned the table after they were done eating.

Zabuza eyed the man warily, as if afraid he would suddenly bite him.

Tsuna wasn't sure what to think.

They sat in silence for a while, before Iruka sighed deeply and slumped. "That man is so irresponsible."

Tsuna opened his mouth to say something to protect his sensei, but found he couldn't actually say the words.

Having Reborn at his side for years might have left him a bit spoilt concerning teachers, but Kakashi's last actions had really hurt. This was just as bad as Kakashi's behaviour before their C-rank mission.

"I still don't understand why they even gave him a team." Iruka sighed again. "I mean, I do understand, it's only logical, but still that man has never had the most stable situation in terms of his teams. To just pick him out of the Anbu-corps and thrust three new genin at him… honestly…"

"He was an Anbu?" Haku asked curiously.

Iruka-nii nodded. "Yeah, one of the best they had."

Tsuna blinked in shock at that, not having expected it.

"Are you supposed to just reveal that?" Zabuza asked wryly.

"Oh, it's true that Anbu identity is a closely kept secret by its members but even in his Anbu uniform, everyone recognized that hair when he ran around town. It's one of Konoha's worst kept secrets. Everyone knows." Iruka shrugged, before a snort escaped him. "We have surprisingly a lot of those secrets."

Tsuna grimaced. "That's true. But sensei, why would it be logical for Kakashi-sensei to be our sensei?"

"Well, actually…" Iruka-nii blinked in realisation. "Kakashi was put on your team mostly because of Sasuke-kun. Your sensei is the only one in the village with an active Sharingan, even if he isn't an Uchiha. When Sasuke-kun awakens his Sharingan, Kakashi-san would be the only one around to teach him how to use it."

Someone knocked on his door.

"Did you expect anyone?" Iruka-nii asked with a frown.

Tsuna shook his head.

His old teacher got back up and opened the door. A red haired girl with glasses stood waiting at the other side. She wore a headband on her forehead, but because of her fringe, the symbol on it was hidden.

A genin from another village?

"Can I help you?" Iruka-nii asked.

"Euhm… Does Uzumaki Naruto live here?"

Iruka narrowed his eyes, and the two former Kiri nin moved in Tsuna's direction while staying seated.

He rolled his eyes at his Rain, very visibly. The man only grinned.

"I'd l-like to talk to him. My name is Uzumaki Karin."

Tsuna gasped in shock. What? Another Uzumaki?

Iruka eyed her for a second before he motioned for the girl to get inside.

"H-hi." She muttered as she came inside.

"Uzumaki, you said?" Zabuza eyed her with a grin. "Well, you at least have the right colouring."

Tsuna stuck his tongue out.

Zabuza's grin widened as Haku giggled besides him.

The girl hesitated briefly, but sat down anyway as Tsuna flashed her a smile.

"I didn't know there were any Uzumaki left out there." He told her.

She shot him an uneasy smile back. "I thought the same. It has been me and mom for as long as I can remember. She died a few years ago."

"I'm sorry." Tsuna told her.

"So I'm assume you're a genin from Kusa?" Iruka-nii asked with a nod at her headband.

She flinched.

"I'd heard rumours." Zabuza said with arrowed eyes while he studied her. "About a supposed Uzumaki survivor who had been killed off by the village who had given them sanctuary."

"Excuse me?" asked Tsuna with disbelief.

The other guys looked at the girl (Iruka-nii with disbelief that matched his own) and waited for her to talk.

And talk she did.

Tsuna could barely belief what he was hearing.

Her mother had been pregnant with her when Kusa had taken her in, but it hadn't been out of the goodness of their hearts. It turned out that both Karin and her mother possessed a unique healing ability. Kusa exploited the woman until she died from it and now, they were planning to do the same to Karin.

"Unbelievable." Iruka-nii muttered.

Zabuza snorted. "It's not that strange but Konoha has been considered the 'nice' village by the other Shinobi out there, so I get why you might be surprised."

"Is there anything we can do?" Tsuna asked the group as a whole.

Karin watched him with wide eyes.

"D-do you not want us to do something? To help, I-I mean…?" he asked her hestitantly, unsure of her reaction.

She spluttered. "I-I, I mean, sure! But I'm n-not sure you can do anything? Even if you want to?"

Zabuza hummed, deep in thought. "I think the brat just might, actually. Even without being present or without knowing about it, he sure helped us out at T&I."

"What do you mean?" Iruka asked the former Kiri ninja with a frown.

Zabuza shrugged. "It was actually much easier than I expected. When they started becoming difficult, all I had to do was mention I had entered a special Uzumaki contract with the then-last-known-Uzumaki. I claimed clan privileges. They seemed wary enough about that to leave it alone and treated me just fine afterwards. Even if it seems like Konoha thrives of off paperwork."

He grimaced and scratched at a seal that was situated on top of his hand.

Tsuna only now noticed he had that seal on both his hands.

Zabuza saw him look. "Basic chakra suppression seals. They are only visible when I try to use chakra."

He shrugged again, before turning towards the girl. "Well, if you really are an Uzumaki the brat should be able to help you."

"If?" Karin asked vaguely insulted.

The former Kiri shinobi shrugged again. "They like doing tests here. They'll want to make sure. Clan law is sacred in this village, apparently."

"I'll look into it. See what I can find about clan privileges I can find." Iruka proposed. "If you want me to, at least."

"Sure, that would be helpful. Let's hope the council doesn't interfere again." Tsuna muttered softly.

"Yes," Iruka-nii agreed, "they sure seem to like to stick their noses into matters that don't belong to them." He blinked briefly in realisation and continued. "Actually their involvement might also help explain some of your sensei's behaviour, Naruto."

"What do you mean?" he asked with a frown. He wasn't sure he wanted to talk about Kakashi right now.

"Well, as sensei of this year's graduation class it was my turn to write reports on all the graduates for the Hokage. It's something that happens every year. We give the most accurate description of our students strengths, the points they need the most work on and even our suggestions for team placement. One of the elder, Horuma, came to see me when I was busy writing this report and insisted I included a strong suggestion to have Hatake Kakashi teach the last Uchiha. I didn't think much of it at the time, because I had already done so. As I said before, it's only logical if you take the Sharingan into account."

Everyone listened attentively.

"If they continued pulling strings after I submitted my report, it would not surprise me if they approached Kakashi as well."

"What?" Karin tilted her head in confusion.

"So, what? They tell sensei he should only focus on Sasuke and that he should ignore his other students? And he just does so?" Tsuna asked sceptically.

"They just might." Iruka-nii grimaced.

"Are they really that powerful?" Haku asked confused as well.

Iruka-nii nodded.

"Konoha is so strange." The ice nin sighed as he scratched his head.

"Maybe." Tsuna wasn't sure what to think. "But sensei didn't have to go along with it, or he could have at least been honest about it. And while he supposedly found someone to take over his job, I'm not sure I like the person he found for me."

"Oh really? Who is it? I might know them. You didn't say anything about Kakashi having found you a teacher to help you train." Iruka reprimanded gently.

Tsuna flushed. "I, um… I can't remember the name."

Iruka sighed in exasperation.

"But, I honestly don't think that basic chakra knowledge is what I need right now!" Tsuna protested. "I mean, I know I need to learn that, I do, but now is not the right time. I need to get stronger to fight in the exam next month! Basic chakra control is not going to help me defeat Neji. He's really good you know, and I'm worried about that Gaara guy…"

"Hyuuga Neji? That's who you're fighting in the first round?" His Mist asked with a raised eyebrow.

Tsuna nodded.

"You mean to tell me, that your sensei send you off to work on basic chakra control? To help you defeat the one person in these exams who can, however temporarily, take your ability to use chakra away from you with just a few hits?"

Tsuna nodded again, a bitter smile tugging at his lips.

Iruka-nii banged his head against the table he was sitting by.

Zabuza smirked in amusement at the chuunin while Haku was chuckling again.

Karin, feeling a little forgotten, watched them all with wide eyes.

TBC.

Not as long, but I figured it was better as nothing ^^

Let me know what you think ;D Reviews motivate me to write. *hint, hint*

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!