Author's Note: Hello everyone! First off, I want to thank everyone who has reviewed, favorited, or followed my story. It makes my day every single time. Second, I wanted to apologize for taking so long to post this chapter. It took a while between rewriting this chapter several times and working full time.

I hope you all enjoy it!

Age 12: Part 2

….

"What. Happened."

Shikamaru didn't recoil at the fiery glare the pink haired woman burned into him. He learned long ago that kunoichis could smell fear. So, he merely quirked an eyebrow at the women, "Gave them their test."

Sakura snorted. Her green eyes narrowed as her arms crossed stiffly over her chest in an attempt not to murder her long-time comrade. Silently, she appraised the two limp and dirtied genin being held by the clones.

Her knuckles cracked and Shikamaru deduced that she seen the handcuffs.

Well, he could think of worse ways to die.

Silently, she pointed a shaking finger at the blood crusted metal between the two twelve-year-olds, "Take that off of them."

"You could just break it."

Her eyebrow twitched, "Fragments could cause extra damage Shikamaru. Take the cuffs off now."

Dull brown eyes calmly took in the pinkette. He estimated that her anger level was about to earn himself a meeting with a hospital bed if he didn't cooperate.

"Troublesome," Was all he uttered, pulling a small silver key from his pocket. He took extra care not to disturb the two under the monster's scrutiny as he carefully unlocked the device and slipped into his pocket. "Better?"

Sakura didn't reply verbally but did send him a nasty glare that would've made iron melt, then gestured to two beds "Put them over there."

To be honest, all she had been expecting was to be healing minor injuries. But when she saw the shadow nin stroll in with her daughter bloody and unconscious she'd seen red.

Silently, she lifted the Inuzuka's wrist first. The laceration went at an angle, dark maroon dried along the straight-lined border of the wound, and from the looks of it she deduced that it was deeper at the top than the bottom.

Her narrowed gaze locked on their sensei, "What exactly did you have them doing?"

"Bell test."

Judging by the thinning of her lips and her scrunching features, she didn't buy it. "It may have been a long time ago, but best I remember handcuffs weren't involved."

"We're a kid short." He shrugged, folding his arms casually behind his head as he leaned against the pristine white wall. "I had to test them on teamwork. They struggled during the entire test. Didn't even notice the clones I sent after them were testing for weaknesses because they were too busy fighting. The result was them dangling from a branch, causing those." He faintly nodded toward the tan wrist still in her delicate grasp.

Pink brows furrowed in concentration, returning her attention to the boy's wounds. Rather quietly, she wrapped her chakra encased hand around Kakato's wrist, letting the green chakra mend the broken flesh. "You still passed them."

"They learned their lesson."

Them holding hands at the end had been enough proof for him that they had finally seen the importance of team members. That when they were faced with uncertainty, they had clung to the other.

The medic ninja didn't offer any more reprimands or questions as she attended to her work. Rationally, Sakura understood the shadow nin's motives and understood the importance of team work on a personal level. She didn't want her daughter to struggle as she had, but that's where strength begun, and weakness ended.

Once she was satisfied that both children were both properly healed, she calmly acknowledged the still present sensei. "I'll call Hinata to come get Kakato and I'll take Konohana after my shift. They could use the rest." Silently, she gestured to the door. "I'll be sure that she's not late in the morning."

Shikamaru could take a hint. With a nod, he slipped past the kunoichi and made it his way out of the hospital. Once he made it outside, the shadow nin released the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. The genius knew he had narrowly escaped the wrath of Sakura.

It looked like those kids would be more trouble than he realized.

"What a drag."

….

A total of eight genin passed their exams and had the pleasure of keeping their rank, while the remainder got a one-way trip back to the Academy. It still hadn't sunk in for those eight that they were officially ninja. But, of course, once the glamor faded away, they found out it wasn't exactly an easy occupation.

Especially, when you and your teammate aren't really on friendly terms.

Konohana sat idly in the soft green grass with her chin propped up on her palm. Silently, she watched the Inuzuka heir and his faithful canine companion attempt the famous Fang Passing Fang Jutsu. The two had formed an unsteady truce that laid the foundation for their team. With the realization that indeed they were stuck with one another, Konohana figured she should do what she did best. Watch and observe.

Blue eyes followed them religiously through the technique as she chewed on her bottom lip. For the majority of the jutsu the pair did perfectly fine. But based on how Kakato repeatedly landed face first on the terrain something was messing him up. But, what?

….

Shikamaru, likewise watched his team, a blade a grass between his teeth, and back propped up against the nearest tree. They had all been a team for officially five months. A long and nonproductive five months. Every day they trained, he watched, and only provided input when strictly necessary. Their biggest lesson wasn't something he could teach them, so he conserved his energy.

The shadow nin's gaze watched as once again Kakato flopped face first on the ground. His pup whimpered worriedly at her master as he picked his bloody face out of the grass and got to his feet again.

This routine continued for several hours, and Konohana never budged once to train a technique of her own. Shikamaru had a sneaking suspicion as to why though. Every ninja had their own signature. It was used in a majority the jutsus and techniques they performed.

She didn't have a signature. Konohana didn't have Sakura's perfect ease with chakra control or knack for genjutsu. She also seemed to lack her father's talent of amplifying any jutsu he got his hands on tenfold. It seemed to him that she was still struggling through, attempting to find something that clicked naturally with her.

All pondering stopped as said pinkette rose to her feet and hesitantly approached her teammate, who hadn't moved from his latest face plant. Shikamaru's eyebrows raised when she crouched down beside the now groaning Kakato. Carefully, she hooked her hands under his shoulders and heaved him into a sitting position, revealing his bitter face.

"What do you want?!"

Konohana refused to flinch as he slapped her hands off his shoulders but did allow a scowl to tug at her lips. "Your aim sucks."

The boy snorted, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked pointedly away from the kunoichi.

"The jutsu is meant for you two to become a spiral to shred through your enemy, right?"

Hesitantly, he glanced at the Uzumaki heiress out of the corner of his eye. "What of it?"

The pinkette's fingers twisted in the hem of her shirt and her incessant chewing of her bottom lip gave away her nervousness. But her firm stare never wavered from his. "You're messing up on the rotation."

"I already know that!"

The pinkette's scowl deepened, "I think it's because Chairomi's size is messing you up."

"Nothing's wrong with her!" He roared in defense, leaping to his feet so he could tower over her. Chairomi growled her agreement, taking a snap at the female's hand.

It was Konohana's turn to growl. In a smooth motion, she rose to her feet and met her teammate's fiery glare with one of her own. "I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that her size throws you off."

Kakato snorted, arms crossed, "How do you-"

"You didn't have any problems rotating around me during the genin test and I've seen you do Passing Fang just fine."

He paused the insult hanging on his tongue and furrowed his eyebrows at the girl. "What are you getting at?"

She took a deep sigh, "Can it be done with three?"

"Three?" The word felt foreign on his tongue, "I guess. My aunt Hana's done it with all three of her ninken, I think. Why?" The realization hit him like a ten-ton weight. Kakato's eyes widened, "You want to do Fang Passing Fang with me and Chairomi!"

To Kakato's surprise, she jumped then a deep blush exploded across her flesh at the accusation. "I-"

"You expect me to teach you a clan technique? Have you lost your mind?! Everyone in my clan has done it with only their ninken. My father-"

"You're not your father!" Came the kunoichi's snapped response. Her hands rested firmly on her hips, blue eyes burning into black. "There's nothing wrong with needing to adjust how you do a jutsu or a technique."

Somehow that only rubbed salt in a festering wound on the Inuzuka's ego. Agitation bubbled in his throat. It was bad enough he was considered a defect among his mother's people, without being at fault as an Inuzuka.

"What do you know, Uzumaki?!" He snarled acidly, allowing his fangs to be on display. "What could the perfect little princess possibly know-"

"I know what it's like to be compared to someone else and be considered a failure!"

Silence, fell over the training grounds.

Kakato couldn't help his mouth hanging open as he took in the Uzumaki's statement.

Her lips peeled back in a snarl, hating the burning sensation building behind her eyes.

She would not cry.

She would not cry.

With a calming breath, the kunoichi turned on her heel. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."

Then just like that, she walked away from him, never once looking back in her retreat. She didn't want to see confusion in his black eyes and didn't want to answer the question she knew he wanted to ask. So, she found a spot far enough away that she could longer feel the burn of Kakato's stare then began to practice her own jutsu. It'd taken her years to perform Clone Jutsu, maybe if she were lucky, she could pull off Shadow Clone Jutsu in one.

…

Shikamaru had seen enough.

With an exasperated sigh, he rose to his feet to approach the still dumbstruck Inuzuka.

Pointedly, he cleared his throat, making Kakato's head snap to the side. "What do you know about her?"

"What are you ramblin' about old man?"

Shikamaru restrained the urge to slap him silly and merely grunted, his eye twitching, "How much do you know about her?"

"What does that-"

"Answer the question, Inuzuka."

Kakato paused momentarily, eyebrows scrunched in thought, "She's the Hokage and the head medic ninja's daughter, she's got okay aim, and…." He paused, "And…uh…"

Shikamaru stole a quick glance over his shoulder at the kunoichi, her back facing the pair as she flashed through hand signs and returned his attention to the boy. "She's your teammate. She's watched you practice at least three times a week. I would bet she can tell me the mechanics of all your jutsus and tell me your weaknesses."

The Inuzuka's face flushed in anger, "Why that little-"

SMACK!

"Ow, sensei!" The dog nin snarled, rubbing the new lump on his head.

"Shut up and let me finish lecturing you so I can lecture her next." He groaned, rubbing his face over with his palm. "You two are such a pain." Shikamaru fixed him with a look that told him to stop whining and to shut up. "That's her strengths you dope. She has aim and observation, that's it. As your partner, she must know your weaknesses to compensate for you in a battle."

All the Inuzuka could reply with was a silent, "Oh…"

"You're a team. When you're out in the field, she's all you'll have. She'll be the only one there to back you up. So, it'd be in your best interest to learn a thing or two about her. I've turned down seven missions. Seven. All because I'm not sure that in the heat of a battle you two won't turn on each other."

"Seven missions!?"

"Is that the only part you heard?" Shikamaru sighed, suddenly feeling a migraine building. "The rest of your classmates are ahead of you two by a long shot because of it."

"But-"

"Don't make me regret passing you two." Was all his sensei offered as he turned on his heel and turned his attention to the pinkette.

Kakato watched silently as his sensei, true to his word, reprimanded the Uzumaki heiress. Her face flushed and lips thinned. She began shouting, much like he had, and got a smack to the forehead from the sensei. A small tug at his pant leg directed his attention to Chairomi whimpering at his side. Kakato released a weary sigh.

"I know girl. I know."

…

Konohana panted with exertion, her hair long fallen from her braid, dirt and sweat smeared across her features. The inky black twinkled with bright white stars as her sensei's words echoed in her ears. He'd told her the secrecy of clan techniques and then went on a rampage of her lack of training while on the training field with them.

Old habits died hard. Habits that led to her practicing only when she didn't think anyone was looking and in the middle of the night.

Goosebumps rose on her flesh. In a flash, the pinkette had a shuriken flying from her fingertips, only for it to be caught in the capable hands of her teammate.

Kakato raised a brow. The shuriken would have dealt some damage if he hadn't caught it. Maybe, just maybe, the old man had a point.

The pinkette grunted as he settled in the grass next to her, Chairomi curling up by his side, happily panting. "What do you want?"

"I'm sor-"

"Don't," She snapped, eyes dark with the threat.

The bitterness in her lavender scent increased with a powerful punch, making his nose crinkle and Chairomi whimper as she covered her sensitive nose with her paws.

He scowled down at the girl. "Fine, wench." It was silent all of two seconds before he blurted out, "Do you know how all my jutsus work?!"

Konohana blinked, then arched a pink brow at him, "Um, is this one of those trick questions that will get me killed?"

"NO! I-," He paused, curiously looking down at the pinkette, "I- I just want to know."

"They all basically involve of rotation with your partner and some type of transformation."

Relief spread through him at her vague answer. "Okay."

"Is that all you wanted?"

He watched her rise to her feet to tower over his sitting form. Eyebrows raised as though she expected more of an interrogation. Kakato sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh…that's all…"

She shrugged, crossing her arms behind her head as she turned on her heel. "See ya tomorrow then." Halfway down the hill they'd been perched on, the Uzumaki heiress turned to catch her surprised teammate's gaze. "For the record, I'm sorry."

He didn't reply as she turned away, watching her blue back vanish, and looked down at the brown puppy staring up at him with big eyes. "She's not horrible, I guess."

….

A week later, Shikamaru waltzed onto the training field and nearly tripped at the sight before him. Kakato was sitting silently on the grass, watching Konohana intensely as she trained with her kunai.

The Nara settled down on the grass next to the boy. His gaze never deviated away from the kunoichi beating the tree's bark. "Learn anything?"

Kakato scratched the back of his neck, "She hasn't done any ninjutsu. She seems to compensate for it with taijutsu and her aim, which is….kinda scary now that I see it from a distance."

Finally, some progress.

"Not bad," He smirked, plucking a grass blade to place between his lips. "There might be some hope for you two after all."

Kakato scowled, "She's still a wench."

All the jonin could do was slap his forehead.

…

Their first mission was a simple D-rank, much to the two genins' frustration. Shikamaru had requested an extremely easy mission. It was a step above weeding a garden or getting a cat out of a tree, but not that big of a step. They were assigned to help a small neighboring village rebuild a few houses.

Shikamaru thought that his two students had enough risk by working together without anything or anyone else being thrown in the mix. He currently sat on the small dirt path in front of the house the two genin were working on.

This is when Shikamaru decided to test another theory he had developed.

"Uzumaki!" He hollered, causing said girl to nearly fell off the ladder she was on. "Make some clones."

Her face exploded into a dark shade of pink and her fingers began twitching on the ladder. "B-But, Inu-"

"I didn't ask him to," Shikamaru replied smoothly, fixing the fidgeting girl with a look. "I asked you to. Now get to it, pinky."

Kakato paused in nailing a board on the roof, curiously looking at the pinkette. A small sigh escaped her. With some initial difficulty, she looped an arm around the ladder and formed the necessary hand signs. A perfect copy of her popped into existence below her not a second later.

"I said clones, as in plural, make another."

Konohana gulped, feeling droplets of sweat begin to run down the back of her neck. Just a look at her sensei's firm stare told her that this was nonnegotiable. It didn't help that she could practically feel a hole being melted into her by her teammate.

With a deep breath and slow exhale, she forced her shaky hands to go through the signs again. When another clone appeared with no apparent deformities, she heaved a sigh of relief.

"Another."

Another cringe and a slow building headache later a third clone appeared.

"Make it ten," He stated calmly.

Konohana ground her teeth, forcing her hands to form the signs through the throbbing pain that started to make her ears ring. Ten clones appeared and she leaned forward to press her forehead to the closest ring of the ladder.

Shikamaru remained silent, noting her rapidly paling features, and the sheen coating her flesh. Making ten clones shouldn't drain her like that, unless she was forcing something, "Your control is too tight."

The pinkette groaned, "I know that sensei!"

"Well, miss know it all, did you know that it's because you're a nervous wreck when you do ninjutsu?"

Konohana would've looked at him if it hadn't felt like the world was spinning. Kakato's howling laughter stabbed at her temple as her stomach rocked.

Kami. She hated ninjutsu.

Shikamaru threw a rock at laughing Inuzuka, shutting him up with a yelp, "You sound like a hyena Inuzuka, it's annoying."

Kakato grumbled, rubbing the top of his skull, and returned to his nailing with a scowl.

Satisfied, the Nara turned his gaze to the still swaying girl, "Why are you nervous when you do ninjutsu?"

Her mouth felt like cotton. "I…uh…well"

Her sensei exhaled deeply, rubbing the back of his neck. "I know you're not your dad, runt. I don't expect you to whip out fifty shadow clones like it's nothing."

Her cheeks got the first spark of color, and he knew he had hit the nail on the head. Kakato had even paused in his work, looking down at the pinkette with something akin to realization on his fierce features.

"I know what it's like to be compared to someone else and be considered a failure!"

With a loud groan, Konohana's stomach heaved one more time and emptied their contents on the ground below. Shikamaru groaned, rubbing his forehead as he listened to the pinkette continue to gag.

Well, at least she didn't fall.

…..

When she finally stopped vomiting, the world seemed brighter and the air less heavy. Maybe she should focus on her ninjutsu more.

"Better?" Shikamaru asked. All she gave in response was a small bob of her head as her cheeks colored in clear embarrassment. "Good, now you and your clones get back to work. We have to back to the village by sunset."

Without another word, the Uzumaki heiress leapt onto the roof with her clones in hot pursuit. Kakato looked at her, confused as ever. "Why did she-"

"Kakato! Quit gawking!"

His cheeks flushed in anger and grumbled about senile old men, while Chairomi yipped a laugh around a mouth full of nails.

He glared at her, "Traitor."

She dropped all his nails of the roof and he cursed.

…..

Two months later, Hinata had insisted on having Kakato's teammate over for dinner. Her son protested heavily, but in the end all it took was one phone call to the Uzumaki residence.

"Mom! Please don't."

"Oh, hello, Sakura!" The navy haired woman spoke cheerfully. The boy's complaints falling on deaf ears. Her pale finger twisted the cord, "I was wondering if Konohana could come here for dinner tomorrow?"

Both Inuzuka boys banged their heads against the closest wall, placing dents into the light painted surface. The high pitch response filtering from the phone only made them groan louder as only a yes would've made Hinata smile so brightly.

"He would love to have dinner over there tomorrow."

Kakato gaped at his mother, ignoring his father's howling laughter. "Mom!"

The burning glare of white lavender eyes made his mouth close and made him look at his feet like a whipped puppy. He sometimes wondered what his mother was like back when his dad had first met her. Compared to this scary woman, he'd take her stuttering and blushing any day.

When he heard the click of the phone being hung up, he meekly looked up at his mother. She had her signature warm smile spread on her lips. "It won't be so bad."

"You don't know her."

"I'm sure she's a lovely young woman."

Kakato snorted, crossing his arms over his chest, "She's the devil incarnate."

"Then I suggest you get some rosary."

…..

Sakura was having some problems of her own at the Uzumaki residence. Her arms crossed firmly over her chest, green eyes narrowed at her husband and daughter both. "It's just dinner Naruto! Honestly, I'm not feeding her to the wolves!"

Naruto snorted, keeping his precious daughter in a smothering hug. "No! You're feeding her to dogs!"

The medic nin snorted, eyes rolling in exasperation. "You're overreacting."

"No, I'm not! You're going to get her killed!"

A pink eyebrow arched, "And you're not killing her by smothering her to death?"

It took the Hokage a moment to take in the statement before he glanced down and saw his daughter's flailing limbs. With a yelp, he pulled her back and allowed her to get a breath.

Sakura rolled her eyes, then sent her daughter a warm look. "It'll be alright. Just one dinner there, and then he's coming over here the next night."

Both Konohana and Naruto both went white, "WHAT?! HE'S COMING OVER HERE!"

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Uzumakis and their dramatics."