HELLO!
GOMEN NASAI, I KNOW IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO UPDATE THIS FIC BECAUSE A LOT OF THINGS HAD BEEN GOING ON, NOT TO MENTION SCHOOL HAD JUST BEGUN – WITH MY HECTIC SCHEDULE AND ALL! LOL! ANYWAY, I WOULDN'T BE UPDATING MUCH FASTER UNLIKE BEFORE BUT I ASSURE YOU THAT I'LL DO MY BEST TO UPDATE AS SOON AS I CAN GET MY FREE TIME! GAH! SO MUCH WORK TO DO!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE MANGA AND THE ANIME, NARUTO.
SIR KAKASHI'S IN LOVE? By Sutefani-chanCHAPTER 4
TENSION AT THE ICHIRAKU – MEET THE TEACHERS
Iruka took the keys from his pocket and opened the door, leading them to his humble apartment. Them – as in Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke. The place was nice though, and cozy enough. The walls were painted cream but the bottom part was made of wooden vinyl aligned vertically, side by side – somewhat forming a fence but with a long wooden plank running along the fence of wooden vinyl outlined it. From where they were standing (just behind the front door), a small kitchen with a small and low round table was located on their left. On their right was a small living room with a comfy sofa and a low, rectangular wooden coffee table before it. Before them, just a few meters away were two shoji doors. Beside the kitchen area, another shoji door stood. All in all, the place was fairly nice, even though there were a few cracks forming on some corners of the walls.
"The door on the right before you is, uh, my room and on the left is another room. The bathroom's here, on the far end of the kitchen wall, just there beside that corner," he informed the three while pointing to the bathroom. The three newcomers nodded.
Iruka added, "Oh yeah, anou, Sakura-san and Naruto-san can sleep in my room and the other can be occupied by Sasuke-chan. You will be all alone there, is that alright with you, Sasuke-chan?" He turned to the real Sakura. (A/N: remember? They switched names)
Sakura nodded innocently as the other two winced upon hearing what Iruka had just called them with.
"Anou, Iruka-san? What time is it by the way?" the real Sasuke asked him.
"5:00 pm."
Sasuke blinked but remained his cool. 2 hours had already passed?
"Speaking of which, I got to prepare now since it's almost dinnertime. You three could rest for a while until dinner's ready. Make yourselves at home."
"ITADAKIMASU!"
The three ate happily (with Sasuke eating happily in his own way), kneeling around the low wooden dining table. Iruka had prepared miso soup, rice and fish for the evening.
"YATTA! This is the best miso soup I've ever tasted in my life!" cheered Naruto.
Iruka grinned sheepishly, "Arigato."
The four continued eating silently when Sasuke called out, "Anou, Iruka-san? Do you know a certain ninja named Hatake Kakashi?"
Iruka stared at him, suddenly threatening, "How did you know Kakashi-san?"
Sakura and Naruto stared worriedly at Sasuke to Iruka.
"Word on the street, just curious," Sasuke said coolly and stoically.
Iruka continued to stare at him then sighed, his face now relaxed, "Gomen, I didn't mean to do that. Well, anyway, of course, he's my friend, you see…"
"You mean you know Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto suddenly blurted out. Sasuke and Sakura's eyes widened in horror. Crap! Screw you, Naruto!
Iruka stared at Naruto, bewildered.
"What did you just say?"
"Uh, err…anou…" Naruto stuttered.
"He, uh, you see, "Sakura-san" idolizes him so much that he wants Kakashi-sen – err, Kakashi-san to be our teacher because obviously, well, Kakashi-sen – err, Kakashi-san is a great ninja and Sakura-san wants to be one too," the real Sakura lied.
"Make that a great Hokage!" Naruto chimed.
"Iruka raised his eyebrows at him, half-smiling, "You want to be a Hokage?" Naruto raised his fist in the air in reply.
Sasuke sighed. That big mouth of yours.
"I see," Iruka smiled.
"So you actually know Kakashi-sen – err, Kakashi-san?" Sakura said hopefully.
"Hai. He's a good friend of mine and is a great jounin –."
"WHAT?" Naruto cried," HE'S A JOUNIN? AT THE AGE OF SIXTEEN?"
The three jumped with Sakura and Sasuke both giving Naruto death glares.
Iruka gave him a befuddled look, "Erm, yes. In fact, he became one two years ago or so.
So, Kakashi must be really good, Sasuke thought.
"Wow! Is it true?" Sakura asked, amazed.
Iruka nodded.
"YATTA!" cheered Naruto.
"Tell you what, how about I give you a trip tomorrow and meet a few friends of mine? Including Kakashi-san?" offered Iruka.
"Really?" Sakura's eyes widened. Right on!
"Hn…" – Sasuke.
"Hai," smiled Iruka.
"Yehey!" Naruto raised his fist in the air once more.
"Arigato de gozaimasu, Iruka-sen – err, Iruka-san," bowed Sakura.
"Sure. No problem," replied Iruka sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.
"He's too kind." – Sasuke
"He's too kind to even realize our deception." – Sakura
"That's too deep, Sakura-chan…" – Naruto
"Hmph. Dobe."
"What was that, you ice man!"
"Bakeru! Don't you dare call my Sasuke-kun like that!" she smacked Naruto on the back of his head.
"Aah! Sakura-chaaaaaaan…."
"We should be thankful though that he gave us a place to stay while we're here," she reasoned out.
"And that delicious dinner!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Hmph. He's a ninja. He should have suspected something amiss right from the start," Sasuke said.
"But Iruka-sensei's too kind – like you two had said – which I agree on – and that because of it he totally bought our lie." – Naruto
"Demo…(But) what if he did suspect something and is trying to wait for the right moment to confront us?" – Sakura
Silence.
Sakura sighed," I don't know. My head hurts. I have to go to bed. Oyasumi nasai, Sasuke-kun (Good night, Sasuke-kun)," she added sweetly.
"How about me?" Naruto asked her.
Sighing, she said goodnight to him too.
"Should I at least get a goodnight kiss?" Naruto pleaded. Furious, the girl punched him squarely in the face, "NARUTO NO HENTAII!"
Upon hearing this, Iruka frantically ran out of his room to check if they were okay.
"Sasuke-chan, are you alright?" Iruka asked Sakura and eyed suspiciously at the real Sasuke, who in turn was looking at Iruka as if nothing had happened. (A/N: The usual…)
"Oh, I'm fine. We were just – uh…joking around? Well, Naruto-san here (looks at the real Sasuke) said a really funny joke and um…you know what kind of joke it was…" Sakura lied as she tried to avoid the glare Sasuke was throwing at her. Much as she didn't want to blame her beloved Sasuke, she had no choice. It took her a lot of guts to do that.
Gomen nasai, Sasuke-kun!
Iruka eyed the real Sasuke distrustfully one last time then noticed that the real Naruto's face was a bit bloated and had a mean large red mark right at the center of his face.
"Uh, is Sakura-san alright?" Iruka asked the two (Sasuke and the real Sakura).
"Oh! He just hit his face on something. No big deal!" the real Sakura quickly said.
"Are you sure he's okay?"
"Don't worry about him. He'll be fine," Sakura smiled at him, trying to make it look like everything was okay.
Iruka looked at them worriedly then turning around, said, "Well, I've got to sleep now, quite a big day ahead tomorrow. Oyasumi nasai!" And with that, he returned to his room. An odd bunch, those three are…
When Iruka closed the shoji door behind him and was out of sight and earshot, Sakura hissed, "That's it! I'm gong to bed. Good night!" And with no further ado, she went towards her room and closed the shoji door shut.
"I'm going to bed now," Sasuke said stoically.
"Che!" Naruto muttered.
"Moron."
"WHAT WAS THAT, YOU ICE MAN!"
"NARUTO!" Sakura shrieked.
Suddenly, Iruka came out of his room. "Whoa! Is everything alright!"
"Ah…what a nice morning!" Naruto exclaimed as he stretched his arms wide and rested his hands on the back of his head.
The following morning – after breakfast – Iruka took the three for a stroll around town before he had to meet with his teammates, just like he had promised the night before. The two (Sakura and Naruto) couldn't help but feel giddy and nervous at the same time to see their teachers in their teenage version. Well. Sasuke apparently, was being Sasuke.
They met almost all of their teachers, or so the chuunins and jounins they knew in their time. Not long ago, they met up with Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino's teacher, Yuuhi Kurenai. She was still a gennin when they met her, and Sakura and Naruto agreed that Kurenai was pretty even in her seventeen-year old self. Iruka overheard their conversation and friendly agreed with them about Kurenai, adding a fact about Kurenai and his certain ninja friend named Sarutobi Asuma. (A/N: Well, we know what that means)
They continued to walk until they saw a house in their right. Standing before it was a girl in a white-collared sleeveless black kimono that goes down an inch above her knee. Around her waist was a white bandage acting as an obi. Both on her arms, she wore an arm warmer (very much like the ones Sasuke wore, only that the girl's were longer, covering most of her upper arm down to her lower arm). She had straight, shiny black hair that was tied in a ponytail that goes down to her shoulders. A lock of her hair was loose that falls down on her face, and a Konoha head protector was tied on her forehead. The girl seemed to be waiting for somebody when suddenly she caught sight of Iruka from not far enough, waving at him. Iruka seemed to have noticed her call then went straight to her; the three gennins following close behind him.
"Ohayo, Ashuri-chan!" Iruka greeted the girl when they were already face-to-face.
The girl smiled.
"Yoichi's still not here?" Iruka asked, looking around.
Ashuri shook her head, "Iie. I guess he's late again trying to come up with some lame excuse." She suddenly noticed the three behind Iruka.
"Oh, gomen. I forgot," Iruka muttered sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. Stepping aside to let the three see Ashuri, he introduced the three gennins to the girl.
"Ashuri-chan, these are Naruto-san, Sasuke-chan and Sakura-san. They are newly-appointed gennins but apparently they still have no sensei assigned to them," Iruka said as he introduced Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto respectively. Ashuri smile at them, "Ohayo! My name's Sasaki Ashuri. Yoroshku Onegaishimas! (Nice to meet you!)"
Iruka continued, "Ashuri-chan here is my teammate, along with Yoichi-san but apparently he's still not here yet."
She's pretty, Naruto thought as stared into her dark blue eyes. Ashuri noticed the gaping Naruto and smiled at him. By then, Naruto stared away from her, blushing.
"So, what brings you three here?" Ashuri asked them.
"Well, Iruka-sen – err, Iruka-san here gave us a walk around Konoha," Sakura said.
"I see," Ashuri said, suddenly noticing Sasuke staring at her as if he was examining her carefully. Not a very talkative one, she assumed.
"Actually, we're here to see Kakashi-san on our way to the training grounds," Iruka added. Suddenly, Ashuri's face fell.
"Oh. HIM," she muttered grimly.
Iruka grinned at her. Ashuri snapped at him, "Oh no. Don't you dare tell me you find that amusing, Iruka-san."
"C'mon, that was just a snake. Lighten up. And besides, you're a ninja. A ninja mustn't be afraid of little, harmless snakes," Iruka said, half-laughing.
"Whatever."
Naruto leaned closer to Sakura, "Anou sa… Sakura-chan? What are they talking about?"
"How am I supposed to know?"
"Hn." – Sasuke
"Ne, Iruka-san? Can you do me a favor?" Ashuri asked Iruka.
"Sure."
"Can we please stop talking about it?"
"Now, now, Ashuri-chan. That's not the right thing to do. I think you two should make up, you know."
Ignoring him, Ashuri said, "Sigh! I think we should get going now and fetch Yoichi on our way. You three wanna come?" She asked the three.
"Yatta!" Naruto cheered, "Me wanna come!"
"Arigato, Ashuri-chan!" Sakura bowed.
Sasuke just nodded.
"Alright then. Let's go," and the five of them went. Just as they were walking, Ashuri walked beside Sakura then whispered to her, "Anou…Sasuke-chan? Is Naruto-san usually that uh…stoic?" Ashuri glanced at the real Sasuke who was walking nonchalantly, eyes only focused on the road ahead.
Upon hearing this, Sakura went stiff. Apparently, 'stoic' was not the right word Sakura wanted to hear about her Sasuke-kun. So, coolly, she replied, "Iie (No), Ashuri-chan. Sas – err…Naruto-san's a nice guy, really." Sasuke-kun's a very, very nice guy.
Ashuri shrugged. "Whatever you say so."
Sakura's nerve twitched.
Moaning aloud, she threw her hands in the air hopelessly. "Argh! He's not in his house. He's not in the bathhouse. He's nowhere to be seen! Where could he be?"
Iruka smirked, "Hmph. Typical Yoichi…"
Looking from Ashuri to Iruka, Sakura tugged the sleeve of Iruka's shirt and asked, "Anou…Iruka-sen – err, Iruka-san?"
Iruka looked at Sakura, "Nande (why), Sasuke-chan?"
"Anou, who's Yoichi-san?"
Grinning mischievously at Sakura, he said, "You'll find out soon enough."
Ashuri grimaced, "Well then, I guess that leaves us one place to find him. If he's not there, I'll shave my head. Damn him, Yoichi."
"Oh, not your hair…" teased Iruka.
They continued to walk until they reached a store. Upon seeing it, Naruto's eyes widened in glee. He threw his hands in the air and then bowed before the open establishment.
"AAAH! RAMEN!"
Sakura and Sasuke threw annoyed looks at Naruto.
Iruka and Ashuri smirked at Naruto.
"Dobe," muttered Sasuke.
"You know, he strongly reminds me of someone," Ashuri whispered to Iruka. Iruka snickered and then walked into the store, with the four (Naruto managed to stand up after Sakura knocked him squarely on the head) following close behind him.
Looking around, Iruka tried to find a red, spiky-haired boy amidst the customers sitting and ordering at the counter. He stopped his gaze to his right. A grin was brought to his lips.
Signaling for the four to come, they crept towards the spiky-haired boy past the other customers, with Ashuri sweeping past them and she was now in the lead.
As they were approaching nearer and nearer to the boy, they could hear him speak to himself with satisfaction in his tone.
"Mmmm…this is the best ramen I've ever tasted! I could order ten more to boost my day today! Demo, Ashuri-chan might get mad at me for being late again five times in a row. But I'm sure she and Iruka-san will understand. After all, this is for the benefit of the training –!"
"BENEFIT OF THE TRAINING YOURSELF!" With a single blow, Ashuri knocked the redhead gennin off his seat and landed hard on the ground with swirls on his eyes and a rather large bump on his head.
"Aahhhhh…Ash-chan…" moaned Yoichi.
"And don't you dare call me 'Ash-chan', you tardy pig!"
"Just as I've suspected. Having a ramen feast again, eh, Yoichi?" smirked Iruka.
The three stared at the boy named Yoichi.
So this is Yoichi? Inner Sakura thought, doubting.
"You're late! How many times do I have to tell you that you should show up on time? We've been searching for you and all this time you're here in Ichiraku, eating ramen!" snapped Ashuri at Yoichi.
"Demo, I'm hungry!" Yoichi moaned some more then he suddenly noticed that they had company. "Yo," he started.
As if he was snapped back to reality, Iruka suddenly apologized and then introduced the three.
"Aahh…gomen ne, I forgot. Yoichi, this is Naruto-san." He pointed to Sasuke. Yoichi grinned at him but all he got from Sasuke was a grunt.
"Ohayo!" Sakura waved at Yoichi but then put her hand down immediately, blushing as she caught Yoichi winking at her.
"…And last but not the least, this is Sakura-sa – wait, where's Sakura-san?" he looked around trying to see where the real Naruto had gone off to when he caught sight of the blonde boy sitting at the counter ordering two miso ramen.
Sasuke grumbled, "Bakeru."
"And that is Sakura-san," Iruka sighed.
When the clerk had served the bowl of ramen in front of Naruto, the boy immediately took the chopsticks beside the bowl and then without hesitation, he devoured the noodles in one gulp. The four's jaws dropped. Yoichi, however, stared at Naruto with pride. "You like ramen?"
Naruto shook his head, "Correction: I LOVE ramen."
"Honto? (Really?) Me too!"
"Then you two should be perfect soul mates," Ashuri commented grimly.
"No, no, Ashuri-chan. When it comes to the law of ramen-worshipping, two ramen-lovers should not treat each other as soul mates but rather as rivals for the title "THE Ramen King". I, Suzuhara Yoichi, therefore challenge you, Sakura-san, to a ramen-eating showdown!"
"YOICHI!" Ashuri and Iruka both bellowed.
"Naruto, don't…do…it," fumed Sakura.
It's no use, Sasuke thought, there's nothing that you can do.
Sasuke was right for before the three could stop Naruto, the boy immediately agreed and then ordered four bowls of ramen.
Yoichi smirked at him, "Ha! Is that all you can eat?"
Naruto snapped at him furiously, "This is just batch one!" Then he sneered at Yoichi mockingly, "Why? Scared that I might beat you, you spiky-haired freak!"
Sakura's eyes widened in shock. Oh boy! Here we go!
Yoichi's nerves twitched. "Who are you calling a spiky-haired freak, you noisy wart?" Then he turned to the surprised clerk behind the counter. "Four bowls of beef ramen, dozo (please)!"
As soon as Yoichi and Naruto's orders were served, they immediately grabbed the pair of chopsticks before them and the first bowl of ramen each.
"On the count of three, we immediately start and finish batch one. Whoever reaches batch three first will be declared as the winner, and shall hold the title Ramen King." Yoichi explained.
"Sounds cheesy but bring it on!" Naruto cheered.
"Alright, one…"
Sakura clenched her teeth and started to head towards Naruto and knock him off when Iruka held out his hand to stop her.
"Nah, Sasuke-chan. There's nothing we can do about it now, knowing Yoichi. And I assume your teammate is as well?"
Sakura sighed. He was right; when it comes to ramen and challenges, no one could beat the fighting spirit of Naruto.
Sasuke threw an annoyed look at Naruto. Naruto, you ravenous pig.
"Two…"
"Yoichi, I'm giving you a fair warning. If you don't stop this ridicule this instant, you're gonna be real sorry, buddy!" Ashuri threatened Yoichi. But Yoichi wasn't listening. He held the chopsticks firmly between his fingers.
"THREE!" Immediately, the two started devouring the noodles in big gulps, one bowl at a time. By now, they were already on bowl number two.
"Grrr…we're late for training – AGAIN! And it's HIS entire fault – AGAIN! Considering Hideki-sensei's personality, we're dead!" groaned Ashuri.
"Maa, maa, Ashuri-chan. I'm sure Hideki-sensei will understand," said Iruka.
"Since when does he understand? The first rule in his little black book is punctuality; he told us that. I don't want to spend the entire the week collecting twigs in two forests when we should be preparing for the chuunin exams!"
Upon hearing the last part of her sentence, the two gennins' heads turned to her.
"The-what?" Sakura mumbled.
Isn't that the exam you have to take in order to become a chuunin? Wondered Sasuke.
"Oh, speaking of which," Ashuri turned to the two, "Are you three going to take the exam?"
"Ashuri-chan, they still don't have a sensei. Secondly, they're still newly appointed gennins – according to them," Iruka cut in.
"Nevertheless, they have the right. What if they don't need D-Rank missions to actually prove their worth? What if they actually have now what it takes to become a chuunin even though they've just gotten out of the academy? I'm sure we could at least, talk about it and settle things. So what do you guys think?" She returned to the two.
"Uh…anou…" Sakura was fumbling for words to say. obviously, I have no idea what you're talking about.
"We'll think about it," Sasuke said. Ashuri raised her brows at him; it's about time you spoke.
Sakura stared at Sasuke dreamily. Sasuke-kun, you're a genius!
Ashuri was about to say something when suddenly Iruka cut her off, "Oh, look who just came! Over here!" He waved his hand for the newcomer to notice them.
Upon seeing Iruka's signal, the newcomer approached them.
Sakura and Sasuke turned around to see who it was. Sakura gasped. He's…he's…! The newcomer was none other than…
"Yo."
"Kakashi-sensei," muttered Sakura under her breath. Whoa!
"Ohayo, Kakashi-san!" said Iruka. "This is Sasuke-chan, Naruto-san and that one over there beside Yoichi is Sakura-san. They're newly appointed gennins and apparently they have no sensei yet appointed to them."
"I see," said Kakashi as he looked at Naruto and Yoichi, bewildered. He raised his visible brow at them. "Are they…?"
"Don't ask," Iruka replied grimly.
Sasuke stared at Kakashi, studying him carefully. The Kakashi that was now standing before them was no less than similar to the sensei they knew. As suspected, he was wearing his trademark fashion, which was his mask. His silver hair was a bit shorter and his forehead protector was tied askew in the front, covering is left eye – which Sasuke and Sakura assumed that his Sharingan was already present, with the mystery as of why he had it still lingered in their minds.
He wasn't wearing his jounin outfit though, only his jounin vest. Underneath his vest, he was wearing a dark blue loose shirt. For the bottom part, he was wearing black pants and on his feet was a pair of black sandals.
"Ha! One more bowl and I beat you!" Naruto boasted.
"I don't think so, you noisy wart!" Yoichi yelled.
"What batch are they in now?" Sakura asked Iruka.
"Batch two and apparently, they're on the last bowl now."
Suddenly, Kakashi noticed that Ashuri was there as well.
"Yo!" Kakashi greeted her.
"Hello," Ashuri replied blankly without looking at him.
"Haha! I win! I beat you!"
The three (not including Kakashi and Ashuri) turned to the two. They found two completely different ninjas now. The other ninja was sulking whereas the other one was throwing his fists in the air.
"I won! I won! I won!"
Guess who was the "Ramen King"?
Yoichi rubbed his tummy with satisfaction. "I told you I'd eventually win. Nobody can beat the famous Suzuhara Yoichi! But I must say, you fought very well. You took my challenge with dignity and honor, and carried the two all the way to the finish line. I respect you for that."
Suddenly, Naruto stood up and raised his fist in a challenging manner at Yoichi.
"Do you think I give up so easily? Ha! That's where you're wrong! I demand a rematch – ACK!" Sakura hit him hard on the head.
"Bakeru!" She hissed at him. Then, turning to Yoichi, she said sheepishly, "Gomen nasai (I'm sorry), Yoichi-san. Naru – err…Sakura-san's normally like that. He's just plain weird and hyperactive, hehe…"
"I understand you, Sasuke-chan. But a true gentleman must accept his defeat. Sakura-san, as your consequence, you are to fully pay the tab of the orders of ramen we ate for the challenge."
Naruto's jaw dropped, "NANI?" (WHAT?)
"Ne, Yoichi-san? Don't tell me you found another victim to pay your bill again, eh?"
"Now, am I really that predictable?" grinned Yoichi as he scratched his head sheepishly. Upon hearing it, Naruto threw a comical glare at Yoichi.
"WHY YOU –! You think you can get away with it? I won't let you! My name's Uzu – mff! Mff!" Horrified, Sakura quickly grabbed Naruto and covered his mouth.
"Now, now…we all know who you are, Sakura-san. You don't have to tell us," lied the real Sakura then she gave an awkward laugh.
Darn you, Naruto! You're going to put us into so much trouble!
Sasuke glared at Naruto, "Dobe."
Kakashi, Iruka and Yoichi smirked. Ashuri, however, was feeling uncomfortable with the situation.
"Gomen nasai, Iruka-san, Yoichi, but I think we should get going now. Hideki-sensei might be waiting for us," said Ashuri.
"You know, you don't have to be a party pooper, Ashuri-san," said Kakashi. As if automatically, Ashuri glared at him, "Who asked you to talk?"
Everyone else sweat dropped.
"Uh, anou…I think we should get going now. C'mon, Yoichi, Ashuri-san," excused Iruka as he led Yoichi and Ashuri out of the ramen store. But Kakashi wasn't through with her yet.
"Are you acting all bitter because of what I did to you? Or, are you acting all bitter because, well, normally you are?" he called out.
Ashuri snapped at him, "That's none of your business."
"Uh, hehe, we're late now. C'mon," Iruka sweat dropped.
"Why don't you answer me, Ash-chan?" mocked Kakashi.
Darn you, Kakashi. Now you've done it! Iruka glanced worriedly at Ashuri to Kakashi, then to Ashuri again.
Naruto tugged the sleeve of Yoichi's jacket.
"Anou…what's going on? Why is Ashuri-chan so angry? Anou, who is that silver-haired guy?"
"Hatake-san said something not nice to Ashuri-chan, and we don't like it when Ashuri-chan's mad," Yoichi replied.
"Hatake-san?" Naruto wondered as he tried to remember where and when he heard that surname, when Sakura suddenly hissed at him, "That's Kakashi-sensei, you idiot! That's him, ten years younger! Where have you been?"
Naruto's eyes widened. Nani? That's Kakashi-sensei?
Ashuri suddenly gave Kakashi her death glare, her eyes narrowing as her aura changed, turning deeper and darker. Her skin turned pale as black swirls of chakra started to formulate around her.
Yoichi and Iruka panicked. This wasn't the Ashuri they've known before.
Ashuri continued to glare at Kakashi, feeling her blood rise and her heart beat furiously. She could feel the heat of her chakra around her. Feeling power rising inside her, she wanted to release it, wanting to drain it until there's nothing left in her. Chakra started to formulate on her hands, creating mass balls of it. She HAD to release it; she HAD to do it, and she knew it would definitely hurt him…
She loathed him, despised him…
…But she restrained herself from doing so. Taking a deep breath, she managed to relax until the swirls of chakra around her and on her hands vanished and the color of her skin returned to normal. Her eyes turned back to being normal too.
Turning her back on him, she said coldly, "What if I tell you the reason why I'm acting this bitter is the fact that I can't stand you?"
Silence fell upon them as everyone else stared at them.
She continued, "Gomen nasai, but we really have to go now. Naruto-san, Sasuke-chan, Sakura-san," she bowed her head to the three. "C'mon, Yoichi, Iruka-san." Then she walked out, with Iruka and Yoichi following close behind her as soon as they've waved goodbye to the three gennins and to Kakashi. Not long, Kakashi bid goodbye to them too and he disappeared with a puff of smoke.
"That was odd," Sasuke muttered.
"I know. What did Kakashi-sensei do to her?" wondered Naruto.
"Not that, dobe! I was wondering about the weird chakra she showed a while ago. Her aura disturbingly changed and so did her appearance."
"Sasuke-baka! Don't call me a 'dobe'!"
"Sasuke-kun's not an idiot, idiot!" snapped Sakura at Naruto.
"Aww…Sakura-chaaan…"
Suddenly, the clerk handed Naruto his bill.
"Here's your bill, kid, with Yoichi-kun's meal already added there."
Naruto checked the bill then his jaw dropped.
"WHAT! I'M GOING TO PAY THIS BIG!" Searching in his pockets, he took out his coin purse and took out everything that he had there, only to find out it wasn't enough to pay for the entire meal. He looked pleadingly to Sakura. Knowing what this meant, she quickly refused to let him loan money or anything for the matter.
"Sakura-chaaan…!"
"NO!"
"Onegai? (Please?)"
"NO!"
He stared at Sasuke. No, there's no way I'm gonna plead to him!
Bakeru! You need to! A voice in his mind told him.
Struggling as to whether he should or he should not, he finally came to a decision. Slowly swallowing his pride, he forced himself to look at him straight in the eye, and then forcedly clapping his hands together with his eyes closed, he said, "C-Can I–p-please b-borr…b-borrow money from y-you?"
"Kakashi-san really pushed it now," said Iruka as he took a sip from his jug.
Yoichi nodded as he was shining his kunai, "Ashuri-chan wasn't acting that mad before, but with Hatake-san I think she overdid it."
"Iie. I think Kakashi-san overdid it," Iruka chuckled.
"Demo (but), what she did was quite odd."
Iruka turned to Yoichi.
Yoichi continued, "Was that an advanced bloodline she just showed?"
"The Sasaki family doesn't have a bloodline limit and you know that."
"I know. Then, what was that?" muttered Yoichi worriedly as he glanced at the direction where Ashuri was currently training with their Hideki-sensei.
"Beats me, but that definitely was not a bloodline limit."
Stretching his arms, Yoichi groaned, "Why does Hatake-san have to be that rude to Ashuri-chan? Just because he's already a jounin doesn't mean he can treat regular gennins like that!"
"But Ashuri-chan's not a regular gennin," Iruka muttered to himself.
"Nani?"
"Oh! Nandemonai! Nandemonai! (Nothing! Nothing!)" Iruka grinned as he stared away from Yoichi.
What are you up to now, Kakashi-san? Iruka sighed.
TBC
AUTHOR'S NOTES: At last! I've finished typing it and now it's posted! Woohoo! Gomen nasai if it took me sooo long to update since school really kept me busy, with the play rehearsals, school paper demands, and the "ever-enjoyable" schoolwork. To top it all off, next week will be our exams and I desperately need to study so it might take some time before I update again.
Ah! I know, one long chappie? But let this be my gift to you since I owe you guys one fast update, and I didn't give you one. So I hope you like this one. Remember: Be a sweetie and leave a review! Alright, pathetic…
I would really appreciate it if you tell me what I lack or the weak points of this chapter, especially if there's something wrong with my Japanese words. Kindly state those mistakes in a polite manner and leave an advice about what I should do to make this story better. Arigato!
Now, on with the reviewer notes:
I wanna give a big hug and thank you to those who read and reviewed this fic!
Kakashigurl20, sekid, Magic Anime Goddess, ReXiaPHoN and Delusionized Hatake!
Kathy: Who's Iruka?Actually, Iruka was Team 7's academy teacher. He is the brown-haired teacher that has his hair in a high pony and he is definitely not Kakashi. As for Kakashi's love…you'll find out soon enough. (Though this chappie already gave a hint)
Corrector of doom: now, I've introduced young Kakashi! Wehehehe…I thought 'yatta' means "oh no…" and yes, thank you for the Kakashi info. He is such a child prodigy…
Cheshire Cat in My Grave: Thank you! Now, about your review. What did you mean about "Isn't Iruka…?"? Just to let you know, if you're thinking that this is a gay fic –which I hope I'm wrong – well, this is not a gay fic.
XoXSilverDragonXoX: Gah! (Jaw drops to the ground) I can't believe this! XoXSilverDragonXoX, I heart your kakashixoc fics especially "In Love With a Ghost"! And now you've read and reviewed my fic! LOL! Forgive me for my sudden excitement. Anyways, I'm really glad you loved it. Wehehe…don't worry. I won't work myself too hard.
And to others who had read this fic, ARIGATO DE GOZAIMASU!
And now I must go. Ciao!
INFO:
SASAKI ASHURIAGE: 15
SENSEI: TAKANI HIDEKI (I made him up)
HAIR: LONG, STRAIGHT BLACK THAT IS TIED IN A PONY THAT GOES DOWN TO HER SHOULDERS.
EYES: DARK BLUE
SKIN: FAIR
RANK: GENNIN
PERSONALITY: CAN BE BOSSY AT TIMES (SINCE SHE'S APPOINTED AS SOMEHOW THE LEADER OF THE GROUP); LIKES TO WEAR BLACK
SUZUHARA YOICHIAGE: 14 TURNING 15
SENSEI: SAME AS ASHURI'S
HAIR: RED AND SPIKY
EYES: VIOLET
SKIN: TANNED
RANK: GENNIN
RELATION TO ASHURI: TEAMMATE (WITH IRUKA AS WELL); THIRD COUSIN OF ASHURI
PERSONALITY: MUCH LIKE GAI'S AND NARUTO'S COMBINED