SUMMARY: Teams are revealed and Sensei discovers something.
Their efforts pay off.
Ru narrowly escapes being on a team with his stalker.
All three of them are glad that that won't be the case.
The three of them being separated would be hard enough.
Him being stuck with Stalker 3 would be even worse.
They don't have to worry about it.
They are content to enjoy this small victory at least.
You don't ever look a gift horse in the mouth.
Instead, you tense and wait for the fallout.
They end up with a woman named Yuuhi Kurenai.
Or simply Kurenai-sensei.
She is straight to the point, blunt and candid.
They think they'll get along with her fine.
They start with a classic 'get to know each other'.
It backfires a little because they know each other so well that it's their new sensei who is the one learning things.
They try to downplay their camaraderie but they're pretty sure it doesn't work.
Her red eyes are calculating and curious.
Their test is so geared towards teamwork that it is not even funny.
Re still laughs (because it isn't funny). She has the weirdest sense of humour out of all of them.
Ra and Ru have long given up on trying to understand it. It's not like she's going to tell them why and if she does, they won't understand.
They pass their sensei's test with flying colours.
If they didn't work together, they would have been dead by now.
Not that their sensei knows that.
Not that they're going to tell her.
They don't know how much they can trust Kurenai.
They are her Genin but when they become Chunnin, it won't be like that anymore.
She is to teach them how to be Shinobi.
Nothing more.
At least for now.
It doesn't have to personal, they only need to trust her to do her job.
She doesn't need to know.
She pushes them hard.
Perhaps if they weren't Street Rats, they would have broken.
But they can't break like that.
They can't.
They won't leave each other.
They won't.
They don't have to let each other go.
They don't.
They are enough.
They have to go for Team Eight dinners every week.
They can hardly tell her they spend nearly every second of every day together even when they leave, can they?
Even if they can, they just won't.
But what are they meant to do when she announces they'll share the bill between them?
How are they supposed to afford it?
Even if they limited themselves to one dish each, how can they possibly scrounge up enough?
Ru is speechless and Re takes ruthless advantage of this.
She is a devious little creature, somewhere under all that kindness and caring.
Or rather, she learns to be devious for it.
Not that the other two know that.
She indicates for Ra to look after him and lead their sensei a little bit away, just close enough for Ra and Ru to overhear but far enough that her act works. She even throws a furtive glance over her shoulder (glaring at Ru for as long as possible).
"Sorry, sensei, it's just a bit of a sensitive topic. We're all orphans you see..."
Re is a masterful actress - using her memories of feeling emotions to mimic and express them. Her pause is as calculated as what follows.
"Money isn't," here she pauses before continuing on quickly and practically blurting out, "exactly plentiful."
She shrugs and looks downwards self-consciously.
She's even convinced Ra who knows exactly what she's doing.
And she hasn't even lied.
Honestly, where did they find her?
Later, Re will remind her that she found them.
...she knows.
She Knows.
How does she know?
What does she know
The three of them huddle together.
Their sensei called them there with a more serious than usual demeanour.
They're freaking out.
She knows they've been playing pranks.
That's it.
She doesn't know it's because they call Ru a monster but that's all she knows.
Ru is glad that Ra and Re managed to get him to stay quiet until exactly what someone knows is revealed.
They have to work even harder that day and they arrive for work a little late.
But she doesn't know.
She doesn't know and that's enough.
Their pay is docked for that shift and by the time they get back, they can barely move.
But it's alright.
Kurenai has a friend called Anko.
A wild, crazy, epic Shinobi called Anko.
She's vibrant, mad and beautiful.
They manage to suppress their flinches when she gets way too close.
They don't bother concealing their fear when she decides it's time for target practice.
They are the targets.
It turns out there is nothing that motivates you quite like a deadly, deranged person throwing senbons at you.
They don't escape unscathed.
She comes back the next day.
And the next.
Their sensei, the traitor, just smiles amusedly.
Of course, their happiness can't last.
Of course, someone has to go digging.
It all starts when Anko manages to destroy Re's carefully crafted seal.
Her carefully crafted seal that disguises the true nature of her eyes.
Now, they are exposed for what they truly are, the pale lavender, pupiless eyes of the Hyuuga.
Anko doesn't say anything.
That makes them the most nervous of all.
Ra and Ru take both of her hands. They stand together in everything.
Anko takes them somewhere private.
She rambles and curses before asking exactly what she's going to be covering up "for you stupid brats".
From Anko, that is a vow of absolute silence.
(And a way of saying that she's come to like them.
That she doesn't want them to be hurt.
At least not hurt by anyone else.
If they trust her enough not to flinch after that, well they're the only ones who know.)
Re is safe for now.
They are safe right now.
They aren't quite optimistic enough to think it will always be that way.
The three of them get to work on a more foolproof way to stop it ever happening again.