Thanks so much for all the favorites and follows! I'm glad everyone likes this story!
I hope everyone keeps enjoying this story! Thank you for all the wonderful reviews, they really raise my spirits!
Also, check out my other story based on Teacher! Itachi and Sakura as the student! Well, more of an apprentice, really! See if you like it! It's a one-shot.
Stay safe, everyone!
Team 8 consisted of Hinata Hyuuga, Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba led by jonin Kurenai. It was a team formation that had been decided months before, years even. The three clans were foremost in their tracking abilities and as more methods came out to hide, their abilities became even greater until the three clans were almost head to head in their own tracking abilities.
Every tracking team consisted of at least one of the clan members. This was the first generation which had all three clans put together- the culmination of all the tracking abilities of the three clans. There was more riding on this team than just politics, and Kurenai knew this. She had chosen this team because she had wanted to nurture Hinata properly.
Selfishly, she had only thought of Hinata, and not of the other two. She had felt a little out of her depth when the Hokage decided on the all-or-nothing decision for this team, but she had accepted because she was capable, wasn't she? She was a jonin, what were three genin in front of a jonin? She had many skills that she could teach them, and they had their own clan training on top of that.
They would already be busy with just that, she thought.
She wasn't blind.
Narumi was a special jonin with taijutsu and teaching specialization. She wasn't even a jonin when she taught in the Academy, but she had been teaching before that. Kurenai was sure of that. No one was that good from the get-go. But, Narumi was the representation everything Kurenai failed at.
Kurenai was a failure as a teacher. She had failed the Kurama clan, and even more importantly, her student. Then she had tried to help Hinata, and failed there too. She loved her students, but she felt helpless in front of them. She wasn't as good as Narumi, but she was trying.
Most evenings, Team 8 would leave her team training and end up at Narumi's house. Even now, she could hear the soft giggling voice of Hinata, and the brash loudness of Kiba. She could hear Naruto start a fight with Kiba, and Sasuke talking to Shino and Hinata. She could hear the soft clinking of utensils on the table as Narumi plated food for the only two teams in her apartment.
Narumi laughed while talking to them, and Kurenai wondered again what she was doing.
So lost in thought was she that she didn't even realize someone was behind her.
"Kurenai-san?" Her eyes widened and she turned around. Kakashi was climbing up the steps with a pack of desserts on his hands. She stared at the desserts, then up at Kakashi, then at the stairs, and wondered if someone had managed to put her under a genjutsu. Her chakra lightly pulsed out, so subtle that even Kakashi barely felt it.
He flushed under his mask at Kurenai's stare basically asking 'since when do you take the stairs and bring desserts?'
He ignored the stare, bringing up his other hand up, bringing the infamous porn book to her attention. Kurenai glanced at it, before deciding to ignore it. It was already a part of Kakashi by now.
"Why don't you go in?" Kakashi said, continuing his climb and walking by Kurenai to reach for the door leading to the apartment her team was in. Kurenai flushed. Left with no other option she nodded.
"Yes, I was planning to." Kakashi hid a smile under his mask and hidden by the book. He had already sensed her standing there for the last three minutes. He opened the door, changed his shoes and stepped in. He invited Kurenai in as well, before walking in casually.
"Sensei, sensei, did you get it?" Naruto came screaming at them, hearing the door opening, while Kurenai changed slippers. She was actually surprised by the number of slippers Narumi had. Did she keep one for every one of her students or something?
"Maa, I think I left it back at the shop. You should go run and get it for me, Naruto." Kakashi replied. Kurenai raised an eyebrow. So the kids had managed to make Kakashi buy for them?
"Kakashi-sensei!" Three voices chorused in irritation. Kurenai snickered under her breath.
"Pardon the intrusion," she interrupted, entering the living room.
"Welcome, Kurenai-san." Narumi smiled at her. "I was wondering when you were coming in." Kurenai blushed, embarrassed at being caught by her too.
"I apologize for the disturbance. I wasn't aware you were a sensor," Kurenai had a few sensor friends, and many of them would get very irritated at people lingering outside their apartments. It was also another reason why sensors were generally posted in the field with people they were familiar with.
Surprisingly, Narumi just waved her off.
"Oh, I'm not. Your students were the ones who found you." Kurenai blinked at her three students smiling at her sheepishly. She smiled back at them, warmth blooming in her chest. Narumi ruffled Kiba's hair.
"You put them through genjutsu training, right?" Kurenai nodded in response. Narumi smiled gently. "That helped their chakra sensing quite a bit too. It increased their sensitivity to mild fluctuations in chakra." Kiba grinning brightly at her and the other two nodded. "You should check their chakra control in their next lesson. They have improved a lot under your guidance."
"Oh," she breathed out, surprised by the praise. Narumi turned around, putting her hands on her hips.
"And you four! Where are you all sneaking off to with the dessert your sensei brought?" Sakura coughed before pointedly stepping away from Naruto who was non-subtly trying to sneak away. Aime looked up at Narumi with an equally guilty expression, while Sasuke looked away with a lightly flushed face.
"And you, Kakashi! Stop sneaking in all the egg plant already!" There was a guilty silence from the kitchen.
Kurenai blinked a few times, before she burst out into laughter.
Barely a week ago, she had heard that Narumi had spent hours schooling Asuma in the art of teaching. To be honest, she had been thinking about asking Narumi's help way before she went to Team 10, but she had kept delaying. She had actually been a little afraid that she was going to told that she was a terrible teacher by one of the most famous teachers in the village.
She hadn't been expecting to be praised.
Her dread disappeared, and she smiled. Warmth was bursting from her heart.
She really loved this village.
On the other hand, Narumi was scolded all five of them for doing what they wanted with the food.
-x-
Narumi washed the foam from the last plate and handed it to Kakashi. Kakashi took the plate and wiped it, placing it in it's usual position in the kitchen. Kakashi had been in her apartment so often, he practically lived there. Though the same could be said with Team 7, Team 8 and Team 3. Though Team 3 just came by to sleep on her floor. Their jonin was releasing all her vengeful feelings on her poor students.
Well, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?
Even then, Kakashi was the only jonin who ended up in her apartment this often. Generally, she was surrounded by children, so it was a nice change. Though Iruka had been dropping by increasingly often to talk to Naruto. Well, Team 7 as a whole had been spending more time in her apartment along with Kakashi.
Well, it wasn't like Kakashi would drop by without the team.
She turned around to look at the living room after wiping her hands.
Kurenai was teaching the two teams genjutsu tricks. Hinata had her Byakugan on and was sitting beside Naruto to stop an explosion, Aime was doing surprisingly well though she was lagging behind even Kiba, who had always problems with genjutsu in the Academy. Kurenai was a good teacher, her initial assessment might have been biased. She had looked down at the new jonin too much.
After all, Kurenai had taught two people already right?
Narumi had judged her too hastily. They had different specializations and teaching methods, but Kurenai's methods suited her team.
"How did you know what she needed to hear?" Kakashi interrupted her train of though, turning to look at her. Narumi kept her eyes on Kurenai, though she felt Kakashi's gaze on her keenly.
She hummed under her breath, thinking about the question.
"Something like teacher's instinct." She let out a smile when Sasuke involuntarily gasped when Kurenai did a genjutsu that looked, felt and reacted like a fire ninjutsu, but it really wasn't.
"As a teacher, I have to understand their insecurities, their strengths and weaknesses better than they themselves know it." She looked at Kakashi, a faint smile lingering on her lips. "It's nothing special, just something gained through sheer experience and psychology."
Kakashi tiled his head.
"As a person totally lacking this instinct, I have to say it is something 'special'. It's a type of talent too." He noted casually, his eye set on the students, though his focus was still on her.
Narumi's eyes widened. The words striking deep within her.
A type of 'talent'.
As a person who had always thought of herself as quite powerless and average...
She used a hand to cover her cheeks, looking down at the wooden floorboards. A deep blush spread helplessly over her face until her whole face felt like it was burning red.
She hadn't been expecting something like that at all.
Kakashi frowned, confused at her odd reaction. Was she contemplating his words that deeply? He looked up in time to see Naruto exhale loudly before collapsing backward and start snoring. The rest of his team rolled their eyes at his antics in unison before focusing back on Kurenai. She stifled a smile at Naruto before continuing to list out the ways it could be used.
Hinata gently untangled her fingers from Naruto's, hidden from other genin eyes.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. Since when did the two start holding hands? He had gotten too distracted. He looked at Narumi who was looking at Naruto with the softest smile he had seen on her. Her eyes were honey-warm, like a mother looking at her child. She huffed, before walking towards the pile of futons she kept in her apartment. Kakashi followed without a second thought.
He should definitely help if they were planning to sleep over. It was quite late after all.
Narumi walked with her shoulders definitely not tensed, and definitely not feeling the distant warmth of Kakashi's body.
Of course not.
-x-
Kurenai kept an eye on Kakashi and Narumi. They were surprisingly domestic and she had spotted the blush on Narumi's face. She grinned to herself, this was going to be very interesting pair.
She watched as the kids slowly got drowsy and she urged them to go to sleep. Instead of going home, they went into another room which she was surprised to find had futons laid out for everyone. Sasuke and Naruto, who woke up just to argue with him, slept in one. Aime, Hinata and Sakura joined two and slept together, and Kiba and Shino in another.
There was more space for everyone but they still ended up sleeping together.
"Why don't they sleep together?" She asked Narumi after she closed the door to the room. She shrugged with a smile.
"They're just used to it, I guess."
Kurenai raised a brow in confusion but Narumi didn't notice, her eyes on the table. Kakashi was nursing a cup of warm tea.
"I guess you finally learnt how to make tea." Narumi teased him.
"Hm." He agreed, to both their surprise. "All thanks to you, sensei." Narumi laughed.
Suddenly, Kurenai felt very distinctly understood what it felt like third wheeling.
"Will you be staying for tea, Kurenai-san?" Narumi asked, looking at her warmly. Kurenai very expressively did not glance at Kakashi, shaking her head.
"I should be going already. Thank you for your guidance, Narumi-sensei." She teased the other woman. Narumi scratched her cheek a little shyly, sensing the genuine gratefulness under the teasing.
"You didn't have to worry so much. You were already doing right by them." They shared a moment, smiling warmly at each other.
Kakashi put his cup down a little louder than necessary, interrupting it.
Kurenai suppressed a smile.
"Have a pleasant night, Kakashi-san, Narumi-san." She nodded at them both, before wearing her shoes back and leaving.
The smile she had been suppressing the whole time widened to a grin. Those two were so going to get together.
Now she needed to decide if she should tell anyone or not.
-x-
Narumi sipped the tea Kakashi had made. It was still a little too strong, but still much better than his first attempt.
"You really have gotten better at this," she murmured under her breath. Her eyes set on the tea in front of her. Kakashi walked from the kitchen to her.
"Are you done with that?" he asked her, amusement in his voice. She hadn't been able to handle much more than a sip of his earlier attempts at tea.
"Hm. No?" she smirked at him. "I'm just savoring your only successful attempt at tea." Then a little dramatically, she raised the cup, "A toast! To the only decent tea made by Hatake Kakashi!" Kakashi grabbed the cup from her hand.
"I think you don't want any more of this." She stood up, reaching for the cup, laughing.
"I'm sorry, I said I'm sorry, damn it, Kaka-"
It cut off, when she realized she was leaning her back against Kakashi's chest, her arm placed over his, to reach for the tea. They were...too close. Her heart stuttered.
She coughed, trying to dismiss her embarrassment. She casually pulled away and placed a hand on her hip.
"I swear to god, Kakashi. That tea was actually decent, if you throw it away and I have to make more..." She narrowed her eyes. Kakashi grinned before handing it back to her.
"See? All you had to do was ask." He eye smiled.
She glared at him, before pulling the cup towards her. She looked at it, her eye twitching.
It was empty.
"Damn it, you scarecrow!" She threw the cup at the fleeing jonin.
He caught it, leaving it on the windowsill before escaping.
"This man, I swear to God..."
She rolled her eyes at his antics, going to her unbroken cup, a smile on her lips.
Thank you, my awesome reviewers!
Magic29: Not sure if I am going to show much of Team 8 at this stage now. But Team 3 might be interesting! One headstrong jonin vs ex-Academy teacher.
ChemsF: Thank you so much! The characters have already changed so much, I'm kind of excited to show the contrast!
samisen95: Thank you for your well wishes! I guess the training sessions are turning out quite interesting...
Most Bodacious: I have delivered your heart's desire. Though this is a tad shorter! But it's got a few cute moments.
Reedz22: Thank you so much! I hope you continue to like it.
ChangeMe4574: Yes, he very much will seduce her like that. *laugh* Aside that, well, we'll see! No spoilers!
Guest eun: Thank you! Well, I too dislike the characters who treat them like soldiers instead of people. Those people are so annoying! But that's the point of people- some will, some won't!
PepperonyOwl: Heh. Well, that team is the most devious of the lot. I also find them the coolest, personally. I love Shika, but I'm giving him a slight yandere kind of vibe here. Oops?
His Rose bud 125: She absolutely is, mostly because she's too used to it. It's a natural progression, see? Well, the consequences will hit her sometime...Or not. We'll see. Heh, well, that would be an interesting read, wouldn't it?
dai sennin kurosaki d naruto: You're right. His leaving is more significant than him staying, in some ways. Thank you for the insight.
carlijnsilke: I'm glad you had fun! I did too!
TanzaChan 313: I haven't read that story, but I definitely will, now that you pointed it out! It seemed quite interesting, and like and yet unlike my story! Thank you for pointing it out! And we'll need to wait for the similarity to bloom! Let's see. Though if you want that kind of story, you should check out my other story about Sakura getting taught by Itachi.
Amnesiac Goldfish: I'm glad you liked it! Well, there are some stories like this. I'm sure you'll enjoy a few of them too!
CrystalAris: ...I have no idea how you managed to review twice in the same chapter, but well done! Also, well, I wasn't planning on it! The reverse harem option is totally a coincidence. Uh-huh.
Well, that's what readers are for, isn't it? You can imagine the whole story like it is a movie. I'm glad you liked it so much. Thanks a lot for that review!
Question: Would you like more individual time for Narumi next or team related stuff?