Chapter 1
There was a diner hidden in the back alley of a bustling bazaar in central Konoha. Although those who rose with the sun would never have known of its existence, it became strangely active in the depth of the night. This was the Midnight Diner, open from midnight to seven in the morning, although rarely was there ever a customer after five, because even the most nocturnal souls had to retire at some point in time.
One of the many kindred souls that wandered into the cosy warmth of this homely place was one Hatake Kakashi, a young Jonin who was always down on her luck or lost on some unmentionable road of life.
On this particular night, she seemed even more wary. Well, it was already past four. The young woman worked herself to the bone everyday, apparently. The Shinobi Corps. was a gruelling business, if equally rewarding. The signs of this were evident on her face, despite being hidden away during the day, the scar that struck along her eyelid was pronounced now.
The cook, who was simply called Kishimoto, was a lean middle-aged man, dressed in formal clothing and not one for words. He was a wise man, if a bit eccentric.
He nodded as she entered.
"What road brings you here tonight, Sensei?"
She would often wonder why the older man would always refer to her with such respect. She wasn't a teacher, at least not yet, and few people made a habit of respecting corporate killers, but she guessed the chef was one of those few.
"No such thing this time, Kishimoto-san."
He raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.
"What would you like today?"
"...Fishcakes."
That was new. Kishimoto hummed in consideration for a second before hastily walking into the supply room. Of course, this was because fishcakes weren't on the menu - if you could even call it that. The menu was something of a formality. The cook would whip up anything a customer asked for as long as he had the ingredients.
When he came back, under the dim lamplight, he had his hands on some portions of raw fish, oil, flour and fish paste. She became aware of the fact that it was slightly drizzling outside in the silence.
"Usually even you retire earlier, Sensei, If you don't mind me saying."
Kakashi hummed. It was a musical sound.
"I was with Hokage-sama."
"Ah. Sandaime-sama really trusts you."
She nodded mutely.
"It just so happens that I had stopped expecting your arrival."
The sound of something sizzling on the frying pan was heard, cutting through the air.
"About to close shop?"
Kishimoto chuckled heartily.
"Oh no. The diner's open till seven. It's just that nobody bothers coming after five. In fact, you're one of tonight's final customers. After that it's just a slow wait till sunrise."
A pleasant smell caught her nose as she sat down in a small corner to warm up.
"One of?"
The chef looked up from the frying pan.
"Sorry?"
"Ah. You said I was 'one of' the final customers you get regularly."
There was a pleasant smile on his face when he understood what she meant.
"Aye. There's just one more customer I get every night. He comes at around five. He's a young one. In fact, he said he'd be finished up earlier today. You might catch him."
"What's a kid doing around this late?" There was a bit of shocked amusement in her voice. Kishimoto laughed again. A throaty sort of sound.
"He's a special kind of kid. Involves himself in odd sorts of things. Believe it or not, he's working. Gets off around four."
Kakashi pondered this for a while and shrugged. She thought it wasn't that surprising in retrospect. Probably an independent sort of kid. Like she had been.
She sighed, and her breath was absorbed into the aged walls of the small diner. The elephant in the room was not one that she could ignore, but the splitting headache begged to differ.
"Hokage-sama has assigned me to yet another Genin Team."
He looked up.
"Again?"
"Again."
As he dropped her fishcakes off into a plate in front of her, he sighed.
"Surely though, he should know that you wouldn't pass them?"
The blunt question caught her off-guard and she winced. It was infamous how much of a taskmaster she was, and even more so the fact that she had never passed a squad before. This time however, it was different, whether she liked it or not.
"Ah...It's a bit different this time."
"Oh?"
She nodded, taking a bite of a fishcake as she talked.
"The Council issued a request this time. They were forcing me into an apprenticeship. I had to pull a few strings to get a team instead."
If the observant man was shocked he didn't express it. Instead he hummed considerately. It was common knowledge how big a deal apprenticeship was. The passing down of personal techniques to a chosen protege was something most Shinobi would consider long into their career. It was not, however, a good opportunity for the younger ones. Also, something about Kakashi told Kishimoto that she didn't desire such a heavy investment at the moment.
"So who caused such a stir in the council then?"
Kishimoto was not a member of the Committee Council, obviously. It was composed of rich families and older tribes in the village. Although he had a cousin who was in the council, there was very little he himself had to do with them.
"Ah. That would be our young Uchiha-chan."
His frown deepened. There was something rather unpleasant in Kakashi's wry smile.
"The survivor?"
Kakashi nodded again. Her chopsticks hanging in her fingers uselessly as she completely occupied herself in her thoughts. Sasuke Uchiha was the last living Uchiha, if one would forget to count her elder brother, a man she herself had known well enough.
"And the other two?"
"Ah. Well, there's one civilian girl. She was the top of her class, apparently. Sakura Haruno."
"...Kizashi-san's daughter?"
Kizashi Haruno was a rather prominent merchant, If rather specified to importing and exporting shinobi goods not normal commercial products.
"Yes."
Kishimoto nodded. Although it wasn't well known, Kizashi had once been a Shinobi too. Kakashi had gotten the opportunity to work under him when she was still a Genin. It made sense that his daughter would aspire to be like her father.
"So that makes what? Two talented students? I've heard good things about the Uchiha boy too. So that leaves us with the third one."
As it would happen, Kakashi had been most worried about this very boy. The third member of her Genin Squad. She was unbelievably nervous about the whole thing. Her, Kakashi Hatake, was nervous.
"That would be Na-"
She was cut off as the door to the diner slid open. Her head turned towards it and her whole body froze. There, by the door was Naruto Uzumaki, his dull clothes torn at places, a contrast to the bright orange jumpsuit she'd seen him in and carrying a rucksack filled with...papers? She didn't want to make eye contact but she was stuck looking at him. He looked so much like his father it hurt. His hair was the same striking yellow. His skin was a bit paler than his father's and there were strange whiskers stretched across each cheek. Most importantly, his eyes were bright sea blue, yet narrow in the same way that Minato's had been. She sharply breathed in. And then Naruto turned to look at her.
-( Field and Fox )-
There was a slight rustling as Naruto took off his sandals and wandered into the little diner. His hair was a bit damp due to the rain, and his lack of umbrella made the fact that he was drenched rather obvious. He made eye contact with Kishimoto and nodded, catching a towel in return. He took to moving to the unoccupied side of the little U-shaped oak table, and breathed a sigh of relief in the relative warmth of the room. It was only then that he turned to greet the other customer who he could barely make out in the dimly lit room.
The first thing that ran through Naruto's mind was pretty. The onēsan was definitely very pretty. She had long silver hair and a rather pale face. Momentarily the scar that ran past her closed eye registered. It wasn't a particularly ugly scar. Naruto had seen plenty of those. Her mouth was shaped into a rather prominent frown and there was a small mole right underneath it. More importantly, she was staring at him.
"Hello."
The greeting was meant for both people in the room. The pretty lady nodded in return, whereas the chef smiled.
"Finished work, Naruto?"
Naruto sighed. He looked much older than he was. Kakashi knew this because the third member of her team was supposed to be twelve. He shouldn't have been working deep into the night and he shouldn't have had those dark bags under his eyes.
"Yeah. I'm officially registered as a Shinobi. I had to let work go for now."
The master laughed from the bottom of his stomach.
"Well then, this meal is on me! What would you like?"
Naruto turned his head down and brought his hand to his chin, as if his meal was the most important decision of his life. For all Kakashi knew, it probably was.
"...Ramen noodles and beef soup...actually, can I get some fishcakes with that?"
Oh?
As Kishimoto got to work, Naruto settled in. He turned once again to Kakashi, and smiled.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Naruto Uzumaki."
Kakashi found it much easier to be pleasant when she could keep her cool facade of disinterest.
"Likewise, Kakashi Hatake."
Luckily there was no recognition in Naruto's eyes as they shook hands. It sort of pained her too, that she was just a stranger in the life of her only tie to her past, but that would be changing tomorrow whether she wanted it to or not. It would've stayed that way if Kishimoto-san had not put his own two cents in.
"Ah. Is this fate? A fresh Genin and Jonin-Sensei in my diner at once."
Although it was a passing remark, Naruto's eyes parted slightly more as he looked back at her.
"Truly?"
She sighed. She couldn't work her way out of this one. She nodded.
"Who will you be teaching?"
She smiled wryly.
"That part is a secret."
The chef coughed in a way that could only mean it wasn't a minute ago.
Desperate to change the topic, she reminded herself of something Kishimoto-san had mentioned.
"So, Naruto, you were employed."
He nodded eagerly. He got up from the other end of the bench, now completely dried, and came to sit beside her.
"Yeah. I've been working at the Posts."
She was loosely aware of what those were. Merchants no longer worked independently. There were guilds that owned most of them. Said guilds would set up small centres in large villages that weren't their main operation centres to strengthen relations and for better arrangement of imported and exported goods. The Merchants Posts were those very settlements that the guilds had. There were at least three she was aware of in Konoha.
"Why Merchant Posts?"
Naruto looked taken aback and scratched his head.
"Well, uh," he turned to look at Kishimoto-san, who didn't notice his gaze, preoccupied with his work, and signalled for Kakashi to lend him an ear.
Kakashi leaned in, thoroughly amused.
Naruto inhaled before he spoke.
"Do you know about the Kyuubi?"
She froze. Oh. Oh. She whispered back.
"Yes. However, Hokage-sama once mentioned that you didn't know."
He looked sheepish.
"I just found out today. Well, the reason I worked at Merchant Posts is because the people there were foreigners. The other shops wouldn't hire me."
"Looks like you two have hit it off," piped in Kishimoto from the small kitchen, looking at them whispering like giddy children.
Ah. So the answer was in the details. The Konoha folk disliked Naruto. She knew this much. Naturally, they would not hire someone that they bore so much hatred for. It was like that for any job. Nobody would hire someone with a bad reputation - or someone who was on the receiving end of the rumour mill. The only people who would be willing to hire someone with a bad reputation were those who either did not care or did not know. For the Merchant Post, both of those rules applied. The story of how exactly Naruto found out about his...peculiar affliction was intriguing but she didn't want to pry and she had a loose suspicion that the hurricane that had the Administration Office next to the Hokage's Office in uproar had something to do with it.
"So, what kind of work did you do at the Post?"
Naruto's eyes lit up and he grinned. His fang like teeth showed.
"Well, I don't want to toot my own horn but I'm pretty good with coins."
Of course he would be. A boy who had been managing his own expenses since he learnt to count would be adept at that sort of thing. Kakashi knew this, quite obviously from experience.
"So?"
"So I can help with finding fakes. People have been forging silver coins recently. Though there was a decrease when some Konoha Nin found nearby Warehouses and shut them down. The Post had a riot that day."
Kakashi nodded. She was aware of this particular incident, if only because Asuma had hauled ass and won a jackpot through that particular mission. She narrowed her eyes however, wondering how Naruto would have come by fake coins.
"There's also a reason why I worked for three Posts. It's easier for them to have a point of reference. And, if they ask for my credibility, I can always use my experience with one to vouch for my efficiency."
She had to admit, Naruto had given a lot of thought to the particulars of the endeavor and his confidence was probably enough of a plus point in that department. However, there was a problem.
"Merchants are a crafty bunch. It's sort of hard to believe they hired a kid like you."
That was illegal. At least, Kakashi thought it was illegal. Naruto frowned for a moment as if insulted, before grinning.
"Henge!"
The adult he henged into was just an older version of himself. Or more accurately, it was Minato Namikaze, in the flesh. Although Naruto couldn't have known that. He had the chakra reserves to run around in a Henge for hours on end, so that wasn't surprising either. What caught her off-guard was the fact that he'd been running around looking like a twin of the Yondaime and hadn't been caught. Oh. Right. Working after midnight. It also made sense that Naruto worked late. He probably wasn't allowed to work at all, and probably had to be incredibly sneaky about it. Plus, Merchants took days to journey to faraway lands and often arrived in the dead of night. The life of a Merchant began at midnight, as it was said.
Naruto looked at her, still looking like Minato Namikaze, a smug smirk on his face. The world wasn't kind to a tortured soul such as hers, she thought glumly. Who knew Naruto would torture her unintentionally like this?
"Well, what do you think? Pretty neat right?"
There was something off about his henge too. It looked more like a physical transformation then merely an imitation of one.
"Yes. Neat. Also illegal. Could land you in prison for years."
Naruto paled. She patted his shoulder and laughed.
"Don't worry. As your Senpai, I'll keep a secret for you. Plus, that's great practice for a Shinobi. Not even a Genin yet and still tricking and fooling some of the most powerful people in the world of business."
He turned red and sputtered. She had managed to terrify and compliment him simultaneously. Such was the life of the Icha Icha Paradise Expert.
"Although...I am curious about one thing."
Naruto perked up, broken out of his stupor.
"Eh, what is it?"
"Why'd you need a job in the first place? I mean, even I know that you would get a monthly stipend as an orphan and a minor."
If he had looked hesitant before, he didn't anymore. In fact, he looked like she had reminded him about something of great annoyance to his existence.
"Ah! That's right! I've filed complaints about this before. The shopkeepers always sell things to me at higher rates than normal!" Naruto said this all with an indignance baring much more likeness to his mother then his father. When Kushina had a problem with something, she had always been very vocal. Minato on the other hand would just take it.
The civilians had been getting out of hand. Something about how Naruto's eyes wandered around told her that wasn't the only reason for his former employment.
Oh. Indeed, they may have had the emotional sensibility of a newborn, but the civilians could be sly and cunning, for all their stupidity. What a subtle way to make things harder for the kid. She was interrupted from her thoughts when Kishimoto-san came to the front and served Naruto his dinner.
He henged out of his adult form, thank goodness. Naruto proceeded to dig into, literally dig into, his food, and turned away.
She looked down at her fishcakes. Or the crumbs of her fishcakes that were left, and sighed. Tomorrow - or today? The day had technically begun. Well, although she would've liked to learn more about Naruto, it would feel odd for a stranger to be so intrusive, and she definitely wasn't ready to reveal that she wasn't a stranger. All in due course. She stood up.
Naruto stood up with her and bowed as she left. A respectful little Kohai.
It had stopped raining. The clock struck six somewhere in the village. As she put on her shoes, she glanced back at Naruto.
"Come to the Academy in five hours."
With that she walked out, leaving a confused Naruto and smiling shopkeeper behind.
-( Field and Fox )-
Naruto decided to heed the advice of his newly discovered Senpai and showed up at the Academy at eleven, instead of the allotted time of eight. He almost panicked when he noticed the empty classrooms, worrying that he'd been had. Of course, his worry was unfounded as he discovered that two fellow classmates were still there. His new teammates. He looked at them and sighed, a rather audible sigh as they turned to him as if broken out of a peaceful silence.
Sasuke Uchiha was the definition of a tomboy. Her hair was nearly as short as Naruto's own and her gear was quite obviously not meant for a girl. The baggy high collared shirt she wore managed to look both massive and well-fitted on her. Despite many attempts on Naruto's part to strike a conversation with her, nothing had gotten through. It also bothered Naruto that despite several attempts at getting a rise out of her, Sasuke remained the only person he had never been able to agitate. Even when she looked at him he got the strong impression that she still wasn't looking at him but past him.
As for the other member -
"You're late!"
Ouch. When it came to beating Naruto, Sakura was a professional. A screech followed by a physical display of contempt was practically the same as a friendly hug to him by now. Over their years in the Academy Sakura had been both a mix of kind and incredibly hateful to Naruto, and the strange mood swings always managed to keep him guessing. Just as Sasuke was the class' designated tomboy, Sakura was the most stereotypical nice girl. She was always incredibly fascinated by Sasuke, the resident genius of the year, outstripped in the written section if only because Sakura was the extreme end of the term book smart. In actual combat, well, you should be able to work it out on your own.
"Good morning to you too, Sakura-chan," he said, rubbing his head. Although his encounters with Sasuke were nothing if not unpleasant, he still nodded in her direction. Apparently, feeling a bit merciful today, she gave him a prolonged, "Hn."
The fact that none of the other teams were here clued Naruto in to the reality that their sensei was running incredibly late. Sasuke was nodding mutely to all of Sakura's complaints in such a clear sign of indifference that Naruto almost felt sorry for her. But if their sensei was running late then that meant one of two things. Either Kakashi-senpai knew who Naruto's Jonin-Sensei was, or she was -
Just as he was about to reach the logical conclusion the door slid open. There was a relatively familiar looking person there. It was Kakashi-senpei, but most if not all of her face was hidden. The face mask hid the lower portion of her face whereas her fringe hid her left eye from view. Other then the fact that the only thing visible was her right eye, she looked the same as any normal Jonin.
"My name's Kakashi Hatake. I'll be this team's Jonin-Sensei," she pretended to look at each of them with deep consideration… "My first impression of you guys is...I don't like you. Meet me on the roof."
With that said, she disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sakura and Sasuke looked as if all of their former annoyance with their new teacher had disappeared, replaced with intrigue and...was that idol-worship in Sakura's eyes? Nevertheless, the one with the biggest smile on his face was Naruto. This would be fun.
-( Field and Fox )-
Kakashi had been truthful when she'd said that she didn't like them. The moment she entered the classroom - or her clone entered the classroom, she realised how much of a problem this team was going to be. One look at Sasuke told her everything she needed to know. Anger, and lots of it. Sakura looked as though she felt she didn't even belong there, which - wasn't she the top of the class? Naruto was smiling at her, and to be fair, she didn't have any practical problem with Naruto. There was some odd part of her subconscious that kept thinking there was an air of falseness to him.
When the memories of the clone came back she sighed. The sky was bright and pleasantly cloudy. It could have been worse.
Despite wanting to think of other things while she waited, she resigned herself to observing their methods of getting to the roof. Which - strange as it may have seemed, said a lot about them. Sasuke had arrived in seconds, seemingly completely unfazed. It seemed she was extremely adept at moving at high speeds. Sasuke looked at her but she got the distinct feeling that she was looking right past her. Naruto was second to arrive. Unconventional as always, he had scaled the side of the wall using his clones as ladders. Clones - apparently, that he wasn't supposed to be adept at using. It took her a quick peep with her Sharingan - making sure Sasuke didn't notice - that the clones were not normal at all. They were shadow clones. It seemed that Sasuke was a bit taken aback by the way that Naruto had chosen to get up, as now she was looking at him. Or looking past him. Never could tell with the girl. Naruto also appeared unfazed, and was grinning cheekily. The same sense tingled in the back of her mind.
Sakura was the last to arrive, and seemed incredibly saddened by this fact. She looked to Sasuke then to Naruto.
"Well children. Sit down somewhere."
And so they did.
"I suppose introductions are in order. My name is Kakashi Hatake. I have some likes and some dislikes. My interests are...well," her singular eye twitched for dramatic effect as she thought of the book stashed in her jacket.
"Now. To begin with, Sakura...was it?"
"Yes! My name is Sakura Haruno. As for what I like...spending time with friends and uh...puzzles. Dislikes…( She shot a quick glance to Naruto and he flinched. )...my interests...I'm interested in medical ninjutsu."
That was expected...if a bit bland. She was interested in becoming a med-nin. She humoured herself when she realized that medical jutsu were quite similar to puzzles in their extreme level of intricacy and web weaving.
"Alright. You, Sasuke."
"My name's Uchiha Sasuke. I have few likes and plenty of dislikes. As for my interests...No. My goal...is to kill a certain man."
All within her expectancy. Sasuke was just the exact ball of negative emotions she had assumed her to be. The person her brother had made her. The mood had become a bit glum...if Sakura's shocked expression and Naruto's unnervingly thoughtful look was anything to go by.
"And you, Naruto."
The thoughtful look disappeared instantaneously as if it had never been there. Instead, Naruto's face warped into a Cheshire grin followed by a vigorous nod.
"OK Sensei! The name's Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen. I dislike the time taken to cook ramen. I want to be Hokage! Scratch that, I will be Hokage! As for other interests...I like gardening."
Oof. She cringed internally as she processed the fact that someone had the guts to say that with a straight face - and a finger stuck up his nose. Yet the feeling she had gotten about him was even more pronounced then it had been before. Fake, whispered the voice in her head. This wasn't how Naruto had acted the night before. The person she had met was thoughtful if a bit excitable. He had reminded her more of his father then. Now he was completely channelling Kushina's fighting spirit.
"Hokage is big talk for someone who isn't even a proper Shinobi."
She had fully meant for that to sound as sharp as it was. She cut off his retort by wagging her finger.
"Especially since there's a more than likely chance that the three of you will be heading straight back to the Academy," and this struck each of them with the same force. She even had Sasuke's attention as the girl looked at her for the first time. Ah, what scary kids.
-( Field and Fox )-
Naruto sighed as he locked the door to his apartment. It was finally time for him to relax. There was a puff of smoke as he finally felt the numbed parts of his body after 48 hours of constant henge. He had been lucky that for some reason his henge couldn't be caught by the Byakugan or he'd have been discovered years ago.
His ears twitched in happiness.
Sleep deprivation combined with constant Chakra exertion had left the poor boy with little sanity to spare. He didn't have work anymore, his resignation papers lying on the table in front of him. Yet his troubles did not end. The pretty Jonin-Sensei had revealed an additional test to be taken next sunrise. He sighed and walked into his bathroom.
He looked no different from how he had before, with a few minor changes. Ears not dissimilar to those of a fox stuck out happily from his head, and a bushy tail swished excitedly behind him.
Yes. The fox's troubles would never end. He smiled to himself though. Things were about to get interesting. Iruka-Sensei was right. He wasn't the Kyuubi, but he wasn't exactly human either.
-( Field and Fox )-
Aight, this took a while...No. No. I'm not gonna go around adding more girls to this clusterfuck. I won't know what to do with it then. As for the pairing, it's Naruto/Kakashi with a minor Naruto/Sasuke? I always felt like Sasuke would be fun to write as a tomboy. The Kakashi part was just random intrigue.
As for references, Kishimoto-san is an obvious one. So is Midnight Diner. The whole premise of Naruto having fox-like features came from my newfound obsession with Spice and Wolf. Don't worry, the explanation is sound. ( I think…)
Thanks for reading.