Where Do You Belong?
"Mission success Tsunade." I reported swiftly and kneeled in front of the Hokage. "It appears my rank in the Bingo Book has been upgraded from A to S now."
"Good job Akira." The Hokage nodded her head in acknowledgement. "That would make you the same level as Kakashi."
"My biggest dream…" I muttered sarcastically. "Does this mean I can go back to focusing on my ANBU missions?"
"Don't be disrespectful, brat!" Tsunade started, and looked like she was about to jump into yet another long explanation when the door opened, and three figures walked in. I spun my head and recognized the three figures easily. Sakura, Jiraiya and my little Naru-chan. Naruto had gotten tall and switched his old set of clothes for a new pair of trousers and jacked, these ones being orange and black. "It's been a long time, you two. I'm sure your training produced good results, right?"
"Do you think we'd come back without making progress?" Jiraiya asked with a smile.
"It went perfectly!" Naruto bragged with a thumbs up.
"Then show me those results immediately." Tsunade leaned forward with a challenging expression.
"Show you?" Naruto wondered, looking a bit confused as to how.
"Did you expect to come back and just jump right back into doing missions with no proper assessment of your skills?" I asked him with a snort. "I'll enjoy watching your improvement, Naru-chan."
"Akira-nee-chan!" he ran towards me as if he had just noticed me there. "Wow! You haven't changed at all! Or maybe you've gotten a bit shorter? I swear you were tall the last time we met…"
"One more comment on my height and I will hurt you, Naru-chan." I stated with a sweet smile making the young blond take a step back. "I see you haven't changed though. I'm glad. I missed my little Naru-chan."
"Nee-chan!" Naruto smiled brightly. "I missed you too! You'll see that I've gotten strong now! So strong that I'll take that hat from Baa-chan super quickly!"
"I have full faith in you. You're the next in line as Pranking Regent, after all!" I smiled back just as brightly.
"Can we get back to the testing of the brat's skills?" Tsunade called out impatiently.
"Oh, right!" Naruto turned his attention back to the Hokage, looking very confused. "Test? What test?"
"You'll take on a certain person…" Tsunade started explaining.
"Not Akira-nee-chan, right? She'll burn all of my ramen in front of me again!" Naruto started wailing in fear and I couldn't help but snicker in amusement. Everyone looked at me in confusion.
"No, not Akira… She'll help evaluate you, though." Tsunade answered him, looking somewhat frustrated by how quickly he was distracted. "I didn't send him on missions for several days and had him stand by for this very purpose. Your opponent will be…"
Once again the Hokage was interrupted, this time by Shikamaru and Temari walking in. Naruto and Shikamaru quickly started catching up.
"Then, does this mean that you're my opponent, Shikamaru?" Naruto wondered out loud.
"Opponent? What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked and raised an eyebrow lazily. "I just came to deliver some documents."
"Kami Naru-chan! Can you pay attention for more than two seconds?" I asked him with a chuckle.
"Your opponent is out there." Tsunade pointed out the window.
"Then I'll meet you all at the training ground." I stated, leaving Naruto to catch up with his sensei.
I sat next to Jiraiya in a tree by the clearing of training ground 3 and looked at the almost fully reunited Team 7. It was strange to see them without Sasu-chan. Even after three years, the thought of Sasuke, was a bitter one. 'I should have looked after him better. How could I tell him to call me nee-chan when I left him all alone when he needed me? I should have found a way. Instead of burying myself in ANBU and just watching over him and making sure he was safe, I should have made sure he was happy. I should have been his sister like I told him I would be.' I sighed mentally.
"Akira? They've started so you might want to pay attention." Tsunade hit one of my legs dangling down the tree lightly.
"Right…" I muttered and fixed my attention onto the battle just in time to see Sakura punch the ground and revealing Kakashi hiding in the earth. I snorted at his terrified expression. "I see you taught her well, Tsunade."
"What else would you expect?" Tsunade asked with a snort.
"Oi! I did a great job with Naruto as well!" Jiraiya complained with a dramatic huff.
"Let's see how they do." Shizune smiled at the spar.
It was no surprise to anyone that Naruto and Sakura still had a long way to go before they would catch up with Kakashi. Despite of this thought, their teamwork and improved skills they managed to push Kakashi so far that he had to go almost all out to avoid losing the bells. Sakura had not only gotten better in taijutsu, she had also learned to act more on instinct instead of just standing still and analysing, a problem she had suffered from immensely earlier. Ironically Naruto had been the other way around, always basing his attacks on intuition rather than information, but it was clear that the three years of training had taught him to analyse and plan instead of just running in head-on. In addition, Jiraiya had fixed Naruto's taijutsu skills and clearly helped him with recognizing genjutsu. It was fairly obvious that Naruto was on chunin level and well on his way to jonin. Nevertheless, the two teammates did not stand a chance against Kakashi when it came down to pure skills. Still, I had to cackle when they used Kakashi's addiction to Icha Icha against him and tricked him into closing his eyes and cover his ears to avoid spoilers. 'Honestly, Kakashi, you pretty much flaunt your weakness…' I smiled and jumped down from the tree.
"Their teamwork is amazing everything considered." I commented, earning nods in agreement from Tsunade, Jiraiya and Shizune. "If they can adjust so quickly to each other after three years apart, they'll probably adjust just as easily to other Konoha nins as well. They've definitely gotten stronger and their skills go well together."
"I agree, they'll do well as Team Kakashi." Tsunade concurred with a proud smile.
Kakashi was crouched over in frustration at the information that Naruto had no idea how Icha Icha actually ended, the other two members were bragging happily about their plan with no knowledge of Kakashi's frustration.
"I've seen how you two have grown." Tsunade told them as her, Shizune and I walked over to the soon-to-be Team Kakashi. "Kakashi do you have anything you would like to say?"
"Well, they did an excellent job stealing the bells from me." Kakashi admitted, earning a nod in agreement from Tsunade and I.
"What are you guys talking about?" Naruto, ever the confused one, asked.
"About what we're going to do with you two." Shizune explained, though Naruto looked even more confused after hearing her.
"What you're going to do with us?" I had forgotten how easily confused Naruto was.
"Uzumaki Naruto!" Tsunade called, still no change in Naruto's expression. "Answer."
"Y-yes!" Naruto stuttered slightly.
"Haruno Sakura!" Tsunade turned her attention to her apprentice.
"Yes!" the pink-haired responded confidently.
"The two of you and Hatake Kakashi… The three of you will form Team Kakashi from now on." The Hokage ordered.
"Team Kakashi…" the corners of Sakura's lips lifted slightly.
"Hey, um, what does that mean?" Naruto asked excitedly.
"The three of us will be teaming up for future missions." Kakashi explained with his normal happy eye smile. "That's what it means. Unlike before we are no longer teacher and students. We'll work together as equal Konoha Shinobi. Got it?"
"Yeah! Got it!" Naruto smiled confidently. "Hey! Let's go for ramen to celebrate our team and my return!"
"No can do." Kakashi stated, earning noise of displeasure from his former students. "I have a Team Report to finish."
"YOU JUST WANT TO READ THAT BOOK!" Naruto yelled loudly with an accusing finger pointing right at him.
"And it's date-night!" I reminded Kakashi playfully. "So, the book will have to wait."
"Mou, so rude, Kira-chan…" Kakashi stated and walked over to me. "You leave me alone for a week and now you're forbidding me from reading my precious gift?"
"Which one is more precious?" I asked him with a raised eyebrow.
"You know you're my most precious." He lowered his voice and pressed his masked lips against my forehead.
"WHAT? Kaka-sensei! Akira-nee-chan! You're not dating, right?" Naruto called out loudly and proceeded to drag me away from Kakashi. "You can't date Kakashi-sensei, nee-chan! He's a pervert and always late! Not to mention you're the ever-awesome Nakamaru Akira and he's all bleurgh!"
I couldn't help but laugh at Naruto's description of Kakashi, though Kakashi looked less than pleased.
"Actually, Naru-chan, we've been dating for almost three years now." I explained, honestly feeling a bit worried for his expression. Much to my surprise, Naruto turned his attention to Kakashi and gave him the fiercest glare Naruto could muster.
"You better be nice to my nee-chan! If she complains even once, I'm going to unleash my best pranks on you and ban Icha Icha when I become the Hokage!" Naruto threatened, though he didn't look very threatening.
"Maa, maa, my cute little student… Don't be so mean to your sensei." Kakashi complained and ruffled Naruto's hair. "You'll make me think you like my Kira-chan more than you like me…"
"That's because I do." Naruto shot back and stuck out his tongue. "Akira-nee-chan is way better than you!"
Kakashi pouted dramatically.
Waking up in Kakashi's arms after a long mission was the most incredible sensation in the world. 'Though with his team back, it'll probably be a long time until I get to wake up like this again. With us going on different missions.' I realized with a slight pout. Still, it was time to get out of bed.
"Morning!" I greeted and maneuverer myself out of his grip. "Would you mind starting on breakfast while I change?"
"Change? Before breakfast?" Kakashi asked me with a raised eyebrow. "That's new."
"They say it's healthy to break habits every once in a while." I smiled innocently and walked over to the bathroom.
Walking into the kitchen after getting ready was proven to be immensely entertaining. Kakashi hadn't known, but he wasn't the only one who was staying over. Kamiko had let Genma stay over as well and the two jonins were now staring at each other in utter confusion.
"What are you doing here?" Genma asked Kakashi.
"What are you doing here?" Kakashi asked right back. Kamiko chose that moment to walk in as well. The two of us looked at the males in amusement.
"We figured it would be fun with a double-date-breakfast." I called out cheerfully and walked over to finish the breakfast Kakashi had started making while Kamiko started setting the table.
"Wait you live here as well, Akira?" Genma asked in absolute confusion. "I've been together with Kamiko for two years now and I've never seen you here before!"
"Ah, we don't usually bring people over at the same time, the neighbour cat hates it." I explained nonchalantly and started moving the now finished breakfast over to the table.
"That's a ridiculous excuse… Kakashi most be tainting you." Genma snorted, but sat down by the table anyways. Kakashi seemed to have gotten over the confusion of meeting Genma there quickly and sat down next to me and opposite Genma.
"How could you accuse me of changing my adorable Kira-chan?" Kakashi complained, earning another snort from Genma.
"It's not an excuse, though…" I muttered, knowing just how vicious that cat could get if too many people walked past it in a short amount of time.
"That cat is evil." Kamiko nodded solemnly in agreement. Genma and Kakashi both looked at us like we were crazy.
"How did we end up dating these girls again?" Genma wondered out loud.
"My Kira-chan is adorable so I just bothered her until she got used to me." Kakashi stated with a shrug as he looked at the other couple. "Don't know how you ended up here though."
"Oh, I do!" I called out cheerfully. "Anko, Kamiko and I were drinking when we saw you about two years ago and Kamiko stated that third-time-the-charm and then you became a couple."
"What?" Genma looked horribly confused. "That's not how I remember it though…"
"Care to explain, Kamiko?" Kakashi asked Kamiko with an amused expression.
"We had already had two one-night stands so I figured the third one would do it." Kamiko simply said with a carefree shrug.
"But you were all sweet and asked me to stay!" Genma complained childishly.
"Yeah, because it was the third time!" I insisted brightly.
"Eh, no regrets." Genma stated and pulled Kamiko into a side hug. "But wait, I know for a fact that the two of you have not spoken in two weeks, how did you plan this?"
"Ah I know Kamiko always have you over the day after watering her cactuses." I explained my part of the side. "And we've wanted the two of you to meet for ages."
"And I knew Akira would bring Kakashi over the day after Naruto's return and those days happened to match perfectly." Kamiko told them with a shrug.
"How did you even know when those days would be?" Genma asked in utter confusion.
"Because it was a Full Moon three days ago." Kamiko stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world while I merely nodded solemnly in agreement.