One of the first things Kokoro saw when she entered the classroom was a grinning and humming Naruto. She was confused because she thought he hadn't passed. She remembered seeing him sitting glumly on the tree swing near the school. She'd been so wrapped up in celebrating with her dad that she hadn't noticed him until she was being pulled away. She had felt bad and had planned to comfort him some way later, but apparently she didn't have to.

"What are you doing here, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked with a slight attitude. She rolled her eyes at his antics and bounded up the stairs to stand next to them.

"This isn't for dropouts. You can't be here unless you graduate," Shikamaru finished.

"Unless he stole that hitai-ate, I doubt he failed," Kokoro said. She pointed out the blue headband proudly sitting across the blond's forehead.

"Yeah, do you see this? Do you see this?" Naruto said while pointing at his headband. "Open your eyes, Shikamaru. As of today, I'm a ninja, too!"

Kokoro looked at him fondly. She was happy he found a way to graduate after all. Naruto was annoying, but he was a ball of life and energy, too. Every time she was around him she couldn't help but smile and laugh. And get an occasional headache or two.

The door to the classroom slammed open, but everyone in the room ignored it. Sakura and Ino Yamanaka were at it again. Kokoro rolled her eyes at the argument that ensued. Arguing over who gets to sit next to Sasuke was immature, in her opinion. She didn't understand why they fawned over a boy they thought was good-looking. Kokoro had thought some boys were cute, but she never went out of her way to prioritize them over everything else.

She sighed and walked over to her usual seat before putting her head down on her arms. She'd been up all night thinking about the conversation she'd had with her dad the other day. She thought about what he said and was worried about everything that would come with it.

Kakashi placed his hands on the kitchen counter and leaned forward. His face was a picture of worry, angst, and sorrow. He opened the fridge and poured himself a glass of alcohol. He downed it in one gulp and slammed it down on the counter. The sound of the front door opening met his ears.

"Tadaima!" Kokoro yelled as she slipped off her shoes and ran to where she smelled her dad to be.

"Okaeri," Kakashi said automatically. Kokoro took one glance at him and her entire face fell. She was so excited to show him her first perfect score on a test, but he wasn't in the right mindset.

"Are you okay, daddy?" Kokoro asked hesitantly. Whenever he got like this, it was usually because of something he didn't want her to know. She wasn't sure if she would get a truthful answer, but she asked anyway because she knew she felt better when someone asked her when she felt down.

"It's nothing, Koko. How was school?" he asked, shrugging her off.

"I got my first perfect on a test!" she exclaimed, trying to bring his spirits back up.

"That's great! I knew you could do it!" he said. He tried to be cheerful, but he couldn't pull it off.

"What's wrong, dad?" she asked. She threw her school stuff on the table and walked up to him. She smelled the alcohol on his breath and scrunched her nose up. She hugged him and waited until he hugged her back to let go.

"I'm a big girl, now," she said, "so you can tell me anything. I can handle it."

"Is that so?" he said. He sighed and motioned for them to sit on the couch. When they were comfortable, he began to explain.

"Tomorrow, I will be meeting my team," he started.

His daughter looked at him in surprise and said, "You're getting another team?"

"Yes. Lord Hokage thought I was the best fit for this particular group of genin."

"Are you going to fail them again? You always fail your teams," she grumbled.

"It all depends on them."

"So what's wrong this time?" she asked. She knew having the team wasn't the actual problem.

"It's Naruto. He'll be on my team this time," he confessed.

"Why do you get upset every time Naruto is mentioned? Is it because of the Kyuubi?"

"Partially. I'm wary because I've experienced the damage it can cause."

"But?" she prompted.

"...Naruto is the son of my sensei," he confessed. "My sensei died the night of the Kyuubi attack. Every time I see Naruto, I'm reminded of him."

Kokoro was silent as she processed his words. She didn't know what it was like to feel that way, so how was she going to respond? She felt her dad shift and engulf her in his arms. She laid her head on his chest and took a deep breath in, taking in his scent.

"You've lost a lot of people," she stated sadly. He hummed and held her tighter.

"I haven't lost you."

"Will you be okay tomorrow?" she asked in a small voice.

"I'll be fine. I'll have an anchor with me," he told her.

What did he mean bu those words, she wondered. What anchor did he have? He never talked about having anything of the sort, though, to be fair, she never asked. Her thoughts were interrupted when her teacher walked through the door.

"As of today, you are all ninjas," Iruka addressed the class. "To get here, you faced difficult trials and hardships. But that's nothing. What comes next will be far more difficult. Now you're only genin, first-level ninjas. All the genin will be grouped into three-man squads. Each squad will be led by a jounin, an elite ninja."

Kokoro knew this only because her dad was a jounin instructor. She tuned out all of the whispering around her and turned to her seat neighbor, Choji.

"Who do you think you'll get paired with?" she asked him. He shrugged and chewed on his barbeque chips.

"Hopefully Shikamaru," he said.

"Aw, not me?" she pouted jokingly.

"You, too, Koko," he said as to not leave her out. "You're one of the cooler girls here."

"Thanks, Choji," she beamed at him.

"Listen, please," Iruka said to settle the class. "We want each squad to have a balance of strengths and abilities. I will now announce the squads."

Kokoro listened attentively for her name. She hoped that her dad wasn't her jounin instructor. She'd learned a lot from him, but she wanted to learn other things from other people. Besides, he always tested his teams too harshly.

"Squad Seven: Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchuha, and Kokoro Hatake."

She glanced at her squad members and groaned. There was no way Sasuke and Naruto were going to work together. They hated each other's guts! How was she supposed to survive with two bickering boys?

"Iruka-sensei! Why does a great ninja like me have to be in the same group with a slug like Sasuke, dattebayo?!" Naruto screamed in frustration.

"Sasuke had the best scores of all the graduating students. Naruto, you had the worst scores," Iruka said matter-of-factly. "To create a balanced group, we put the best student with the worst student."

"Just make sure you don't get in my way, loser," Sasuke said.

"Hey, what did you say?!" Naruto yelled, standing up from his seat and waggling his fist at the Uchiha.

"Hard of hearing?" Sasuke asked.

The class laughed, however, Kokoro shook her head. She could already feel a headache forming.

"Knock it off!" she yelled at them from across the room. The two boys looked at her quickly, surprised she yelled at them. Kokoro wasn't known for raising her voice; just for stating her opinion. Sasuke tsked while Naruto rubbed the back of his head and apologized. He glanced at Sasuke and humphed before sitting in his seat and crossing his arms.

"Ahem," Iruka coughed out. "After lunch, you'll meet your jounin instructors. Until then, class dismissed."


Dear Gaara,

I'm doomed! I'm on the same team as Naruto and Sasuke! How am I supposed to complete missions successfully with those two idiots? I kind of wish I was on a different team. I just want to be with level-headed people like myself. I can only imagine the headaches I'm gonna get from spending time with them. I hope you have better teammates.

Now that I get to go on missions, I might run into you or come to Suna. I'll explain everything then. I don't know why Yashamaru hasn't let you see the letters, but I think you should know about them. That I never really left you.

Stay safe!

Kokoro


"He's late," Naruto grumbled. All the other squads had already met with their team leaders, so it was only Naruto, Sasuke, and Kokoro in the classroom waiting. Naruto opened the door and poked his head out. He glanced from side to side before coming back in.

"How come our teacher's the only one late? I'm ready to roll. Believe it!" he complained.

Kokoro sat in a seat at the back of the class. She was silently fuming. She knew exactly who their team leader was and she was not happy he was late. And she knew he knew that she hated his lateness.

Naruto placed an eraser in between the sliding door and its frame. He giggled to himself. Sasuke sat in the front row with his chin resting on his folded hands.

"This is what he gets for being late," Naruto said.

"Our teacher's a jounin. You think he'd fall for that?" Sasuke said in a haughty voice.

"You'd be surprised," Kokoro mumbled from her corner. Kokoro sniffed the air and smiled ruthlessly when she caught his scent. A hand appeared in the doorway and slip open the door. The eraser fell on top of a head full of silver hair similar to her own.

Naruto started laughing and said, "I got him! He totally fell for it!"

Kokoro stretched and walked down towards her team. Her dad picked up the eraser and looked at it before speaking to them.

"Hm. How can I put this," he said trailing off. "My first impression of the group: You're a bunch of idiots."

"You're one to talk, idiot!" Kokoro shouted. Sasuke and Naruto looked at her in shock and then back at their teacher to see what he would say.

Kakashi shrugged and said, "Meet me on the roof."

He disappeared from their view. Kokoro gaped at the space he vacated before storming out of the room to meet him. Sasuke and Naruto trailed after her. When she got to the roof, she saw her dad leaning against the steel guard rails. She stuck her tongue out at him and sat on the concrete stairs.

"All right. Why don't you introduce yourselves one at a time?" Kakashi suggested.

"Well, what are we supposed to say?" Naruto asked as he scratched his head.

"Things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies, things like that," Kakashi said.

"Why don't you tell us stuff first?" Naruto asked. "I mean, before we talk, tell us about you, so we can see how it's supposed to go."

"Me?" Kakashi asked while pointing towards himself. "I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate- I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future- never really thought about it. As for my hobbies- I have many."

"All he really told us was his name," Naruto whispered to his companions. Kokoro hung her head and loudly sighed to show how displeased she was with her dad.

"Are you related?" Sasuke asked the jounin and his female teammate.

"Unfortunately," she breathed out.

"Okay, your turn," the jounin said. "You on the right- you first."

Kokoro and Sasuke looked at Naruto and waited for his answers.

"My name's Naruto Uzumaki! I like instant ramen, but what I like even more is the ramen from Ichiraku's that Iruka sensei treats me to! What I dislike is the three minutes after pouring hot water in the instant ramen. My hobby is eating and comparing ramen! And my future dream is to surpass the Hokage! I'm going to get the entire village to acknowledge my existence!"

"Next."

"I'm Kokoro Hatake. I like sweet food and dogs. I dislike secrets and being late."

She stressed the last word and pointedly glared at her dad.

"My hobby is reading informational books, and my future dream is to become a great kunoichi like Lady Tsunade," she finished.

"And lastly?"

"My name's Sasuke Uchiha. I have a lot of dislikes but no likes in particular. What I have is not a dream because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and destroy a certain someone."

It was silent for a moment as everyone processed his words. Kakashi broke it by saying, "Good. You're each unique, and you have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

Naruto perked up and asked, "What kind of mission are we going to have?"

"It's a task the four of us will do together. A survival exercise. It is unlike the training you did in the Academy."

"So, uh, what kind of training is it then?" Naruto asked. Kokoro stiffened as she paid attention to her dad's body language. She had a bad feeling about the exercise they had to complete. She'd never seen what it was, but she knew it was hard because of the fail rate. Her dad laughed, causing her and her teammates to become uneasy.

"What's so funny?" Kokoro asked suspiciously.

"Heh, well, out of the 27 graduates, only 12 will actually be accepted as genin. The others will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a make it or break it, pass-fail test, and the chance that you'll fail is at least 50%."

Seeing the shocked faces, he said, "See? Didn't I tell you you wouldn't like it?"

"That's crazy!" Naruto yelled. "We worked hard to get here, dattebayo!"

"That's how it is," Kakashi said. "I decide whether you pass or fail. Be at the designated training spot at 5 a.m., and bring your gear. That's it. You're dismissed."

Kokoro abruptly stood up and started walking over to her dad before his words stopped her.

"Oh, tomorrow you better skip breakfast, or else you'll puke."

With that, he left the three genin. Kokoro stood rooted in her spot. Her fists clenched and her face screwed up in anger and frustration. She wouldn't let herself fail. She had to achieve her dreams and see Gaara again. She couldn't do that if she failed.

"Hey," Sasuke called out. She turned to face him and was met with a neutral expression.

"What's your relation to him?" he asked.

"Why do you want to know?" she asked back. He tsked and said, "I just don't want favoritism to cloud his judgment."

"He's my father. And don't worry about favoritism. I have as much an idea of what this exercise is as you do," she said in a clipped tone. She rushed home and slammed the door when she got through the doorway. She spotted her dad casually lounging next to Pakkun, one of his ninken. Pakkun was a brown pug with floppy dark ears.

"Tadaima," she said through gritted teeth.

"Okaeri!" Kakashi said cheerily.

"How's it going, Koko?" Pakkun asked. She deflated and walked over to him to scratch behind his ears.

"You summoned Pakkun so I wouldn't yell," she accused.

"I simply wanted to enjoy the company of one of my partners," Kakashi said with an eye smile.

"Sure," she said before plopping down on the couch next to them.

"So, am I the anchor?" she asked him.

"Figured it out already?"

"It wasn't hard," she shrugged. "You looked at me the most."

"Am I forgiven?" he asked.

"I still can't believe you were so late," she grumbled. "I don't even know how Lord Hokage deals with you. But yes."

"Great! What do you want for dinner?"

"Can I ask about the exercise tomorrow?" she asked.

"You can, but I won't answer."

"Of course not."

"Just remember the motto," he clued her in.


Teamwork. The exercise was about teamwork. She smiled as she finally completely understood the concept. She was optimistic that her team would do well. They passed, perhaps not with flying colors, but they still passed. She just hoped the small amount of camaraderie they established stayed.

A.N.

I just want to say that Kokoro is not completely replacing Sakura. She needs to be on Team Seven for this story and I don't like the idea of four-man cells. So, I changed some things so that Sakura can pass with her classmates. The only thing Kokoro is taking from Sakura is her spot on the team.